The sun was our only marker of time. We had no other way to measure the passing day other than its periodic rise and fall, unless you were lucky enough to come across a working watch. By the time I had lead them out of the city the sun had already sunk midway in the sky, and when we reached the highway it was beginning to disappear into the horizon. The unbelievable heat it burned down on the land below suddenly shifted to a cold that stalked us with its oncoming night.

We walked down the paved road, each of our footsteps crunching in uneven intervals. The frozen traffic was swerved through. I could only assume that they were looking for their own vehicles. Next to me the backpack swayed lightly against Shane's side, the worn straps hanging low from his shoulder. It knocked against him with each step but the bag's obvious weight seemed to have little effect on his balance like it had for me a year ago. His eyes stayed on me the whole way, like a vulture waiting for death.

The rest of his group didn't seem to notice that Shane was slowly slipping, even when his teeth bared in a growl at the introductions they gave. I couldn't comprehend why he looked so enraged, It wasn't like I asked for their names. Still, they gave them regardless of my apparent lack of interest.

Rick had introduced himself first, doing the same for Shane who didn't seem like he was going to do it himself. He then pointed to a woman sauntering a little behind us with a child, confirming that this was his wife Lori and his son Carl. They didn't have any relevance in my mind, and neither did T-Dog or Andrea who said their names in an unwavering tone. Carol, who was lagging behind the group, introduced herself along with her daughter Sophia. Daryl was next, but he said it so dismissively it were as if he didn't think it mattered whether I knew his name or not. He was right, it didn't.

I kept walking, head forward and gaze focused on our destination. The only names I felt obligated to remember were Glenn, I did owe him my life after all, and Dale, the old man that had convinced me to help them. As inhumane as it was, I wouldn't have thought twice about leaving them in that building if they hadn't have pleaded with me.

As we made it through a particularly cluttered section of the highway, covered in cars that were so faded and damaged they looked as dead as the corpses inside of them, the group quickened their pace. Dale had hurried to an old, white RV and the rest branched out to their respective vehicles to make sure everything was still in order.

"You seem like you know this part of the city pretty well." Rick finally spoke again, stepping back over to me. "You grow up here or somethin'?"

"Does it matter?" I replied, crossing my arms over my chest.

"It always matters." Rick glanced over his shoulder to the others. They were spread out but listening intently.

I followed his gaze, the silence insisting that I answer. "Then no, I didn't. My last group was held up here for a long time, I took it upon myself to memorize the area. You can never be too careful."

"I hear that." Daryl nodded in agreement, his bow being temporarily set down on the end of his motorcycle.

"You know, we could really use someone that knows their way around... at least until we're ready to move on." Rick spoke once more, blue eyes landing on me.

"I'm sure you could." My tone remained low and indifferent to his words. For now, he could use me, but once they left this city it would be a different story. The group could decide that I'm tolerable enough to let me join them, or they could just leave without a word. Neither was guaranteed. I wasn't sure which of the two options I preferred, though they both seemed better than the likely third option of them just simply killing me. "But groups are a rarity for me."

"And why is that?"

"I'm just careful." I shrugged, leaning against a red Toyota with long scratches on its hood. "Groups slow you down, make you accountable for more than just yourself. They also require a great amount of trust, it's easier to get betrayed that way."

"You don't have much faith in people, do you?" Dale spoke in the background. He had a certain air about him, as if nothing around him had changed, or maybe it was him who hadn't changed. "Not everyone is like that."

"Some are. That's enough to merit caution."

"Exactly." Shane dropped the bag hanging from his shoulder, it's contents drooping then falling to the ground altogether. "Which is why you best not stay too long."

"I don't plan to, not with people like you hanging about." My glare was the only message needed. It was a look that conveyed an instant hatred. Maybe even disgust. That did tend to happen after someone tries to kill you. "I'll stay til morning, then I'll leave."

"Why wait?" He spat back, eager for my departure.

"Because it's nearly nightfall. You and your group are the reason I'm not already gone, I'd suggest a little gratitude but I doubt I'll get it from you."

"She's the only reason we all got out of there in one piece... She's more than earned our trust." Glenn adjusted the cap more securely on his head, looking me over before turning his eyes back to Shane. "We at least owe her the night, especially after what you did."

"Agreed." Rick said soon after, darting a look to Shane that stated that he had minimal say in the decision. "She stays here until mornin'."

My expectation was for Shane to chuck some form of adult tantrum, waving his gun around in an angry stupor. However, instead he seemed a little more relaxed now that everyone was safe and gave a respectful nod at the decision. I could still see the distrust in his eyes but that didn't stop him from wandering nearer to me. I stepped back when he was too close for comfort, narrowing icy blue eyes at him. To my dismay, this didn't appear to bother him at all.

"I'd like to apologise for what I did today." He sounded sincere when he said it, but his expression was almost unreadable. "We recently had our camp overrun and lost a lot of good people. We're all still recoverin' from it."

The group looked saddened by the reminder, but none had the look of true despair in their face like Andrea did. I could only guess that she was close to one of the people they lost, but that still didn't stop me from talking back to the man in front of me. "So shooting people in the head is a part of your recovery, is it?"

"Look, I said I was sorry 'bout that." His stare shifted to some of the group, Lori in particular. Maybe it truly was just a lapse in judgement or an outburst, many wouldn't feel the need to apologise if it wasn't, or perhaps this was a side of him he had tried to cover. Either way, it was obvious he was going to stick to the outburst story. Pretend like he was so upset over those they had lost that he had a momentary loss of control. "I don' expect that you'll forgive me, but I thought I should tell you."

I wasn't sure whether he truly meant it or not, but whether he was a good guy with a short fuse or a bad one was no concern of mine. I'd be gone in the morning, it was the groups problem to deal with. My expression remained hostile but I managed a nod in his direction. "For now, I forgive you... but try it again and see how quickly you swallow my bullet."

It was a bluff, of course. I was completely out of bullets. However, I still had my knives and would feel no sympathy whatsoever by cracking his skull open with it. His nose scrunched up but he returned the nod, the threat seeming pretty reasonable.

"Now that's settled..." Glenn spoke up, drawing our attention to him. "Is there anywhere nearby we can set up camp?"

My gaze flicked to our surroundings, deep in thought before I regretfully shook my head. "Not anywhere safe... and we wouldn't make it anyway. By the time we find a house or deserted patch of land it will be too dark to see when the Decayers are coming."

"Oh... great..." Glenn huffed, looking as if he were thinking through our options before another voice piped up.

"Decayers? That's what you call 'em?" Daryl chuckled in amusement.

"Better than 'Walkers'... That's what you call them, right?" Throwing the smug expression back at him, I let my lip quirk up into a smirk. "What about the ones without legs? Do you call them 'Crawlers'?"

The left side of his mouth tugged upwards to mimick mine. "Nah, they're Walkers too... don' make much sense when you say it out loud like that."

"Can we maybe talk after we find shelter?" Andrea said, voice dripping with annoyance.

"She's right, we can't stay out here in the open." Lori added.

"It looks like there's a decent amount of caravans and RV's around here. We should clear them out and assign a few people to the closest ones." My suggestion looked to sound alarm bells in a few of their minds.

"Are you saying we should stay here?!" Carol gasped, obviously concerned having Sophia in such danger.

"I'm saying we have no choice." I moved across the small gaps between the jammed cars, opening the door of a caravan right next to where we all stood. The smell was immediate, but it was something I had grown numb to now.

Cautiously, I stepped in and scanned the room. The corpse was almost devoid of skin and scattered in burrowing insects. There was a crack in their skull that insinuated that they had already been shot. It took only a minute to drag in outside, tossing it onto the roof of a nearby car. "Don't worry too much, as long as we stay quiet they won't hear us if they come this way."

"You done this before?" Rick asked skeptically but begun looking for another caravan to clear out.

"I've stayed in places much worse than this." Was the vague answer I gave, but Rick seemed to not want to question it in front of the others. "I'd put someone on watch just encase though."

Rick, Glenn and I managed to find another RV a small distance from the other two, occupied only by an old dead couple that we quickly moved to the side of the road together. As soon as we had set them gently down I quickly looked away. I couldn't stand seeing elderly people like that, even now. I knew that both Rick and Glenn had noticed my quick departure but chose to leave it be.

"Alright, now we assign people." Rick spoke up when we made it back to the group. "We have 11 people and 3 possible places to spend the night. What do y'all think?"

"I'll stand watch from the roof of Dale's RV." Andrea offered, checking over her gun.

"Then I'll overlook the other RV." Shane stated in a non-negotiable way. I guess it would be hard to sleep after shooting at someone's head...

"Alright, that makes 9 people." Rick said quickly, eyes flicking to the slowly dying light.

"The other RV is smaller than Dale's, it really only has a bed...even the caravan is fairly compact." I spoke up despite being the outsider in the group. "My suggestion is that T-Dog, Carol and Sophia take that RV, Lori, Carl and you take the caravan, and the rest of us try and fit into Dale's RV."

"Will there be enough room in there?"

"Well... There's a bed and two long seats. I suppose we could squeeze in." Dale confirmed.

"Alright, I know we're all hungry... but we can't risk losing anyone going hunting right now. We found a few cans in the caravan though, we'll divide it between us and eat once we are under cover." Rick picked up a plastic bag from the boot of a silver car he had rested it on. Reaching in, he passed out the cans to each of us and left a few in there for his own family. "Try and get some sleep, we find our way out of here first thing tomorrow."

They scurried into their night's accommodation, so quickly it was obvious that the last attack still weighed heavily on their mind. The only two that took their time with me were Daryl, who was headed to Dale's RV with me, and Shane who sauntered in the opposite direction. Dale, Daryl, and Glenn had already made it into the RV when I entered, shutting the door behind me with a lock.

"Are you sure you don't want the bed, Dale?" Glenn asked the old man, sitting on the end of the mattress.

"No, that's alright. This seat will do me just fine." He answered, eyes suddenly flicking to me as I sat next to Glenn. I was hoping to get one of the chairs, but Daryl had occupied the last one. "I'd like to thank you for getting us out of there. Most would have left us."

The guilt sat not on my chest but inside my brain, along with the thoughts I had in the moment it was happening. I didn't deserve to be thanked but even if I did it would have been surprising all the same. Most people just felt entitled to your help as fellow 'survivors'. "I almost did."

"But you didn't." Dale opened his can, digging a severely bent spoon into it to reveal baked beans.

"Yeah... well, you have him to thank for that." I motioned towards Glenn, who gave a bewildered look at my words.

"Me?" He said in disbelief. "Why?"

"I'd be dead if it weren't for you... even if it was one of your own, I don't like owing people. Now we're even."

"But you don't owe me for something like that..." There was a warmth to his eyes when he looked at me that I hadn't seen since the dead started to rise. They were like hot chocolate on a cold, winter night that wrapped around you like a thick blanket. I found comfort just knowing that there were people like him still out there. People that could calm you with a look and make you feel at home. At a time like this there was nothing more out of reach then a sense of belonging or normalcy, so even if it was false hope he gave with his gaze, it was still the most grounded thing I had seen in a while.

"Not anymore I don't..." I answered stubbornly, glancing away from him. Instead I turned my attention towards the food in my hand, finally reading the label as 'creamed corn'. I took out the cleanest knife I had and carefully cut open the top, pouring a little into my mouth and pulling it away to chew. I hadn't had creamed corn in years, it was even better now that food was scarce.

Daryl twirled an arrow around his fingers skillfully, having finished his Tuna almost as soon as he had received it. Silence bared down on us until he decided to break it. "What you say your name was?"

"I didn't." I answered simply, not having seen any reason to give it before then. "It's Christabel, Chris for short."

"Have a last name?"

"Hunter." I took another swig from the can.

"Must be the worst thing about the apocalypse for you, with a name like that." Daryl snickered. It wasn't uncommon, most people found my name ironic.

"Yeah, that and the lack of sexual partners. You probably haven't noticed, but most of the population are walking corpses." I felt a chuckle escape me at the same time it sounded from Daryl. "Not very attractive, not to me at least."

Daryl pointed his arrow at me with a grin. "At least someone has a sense of humor around here."

Dale shook his head but it was mostly lighthearted. A grin set on Glenn's face, looking from me to the others but I tried my best to avoid returning his gaze. Daryl set his arrow down, shifting to lay flat on his back. The seat was fairly short so his legs dangled off of the edge, same with Dale who decided to lay down soon after finishing his dinner.

"So, what did you do before all this?" Glenn asked, curiosity showing in his expression.

"I was a University student." I answered, hoping to not get too far into it. Not because it made me uncomfortable, that life felt so long ago that talking about it was like relaying someone else's life. It was because I didn't see the point in getting to know people I'd never see again. I was to leave tomorrow, and on the rare possibility that I ran into this group again in the future, most of them would be dead.

"Really?" Glenn sounded all too interested in other people, too caring. It must have come naturally to him.

I gave a curt nod, chucking my empty can onto the floor and shuffling back to rest against the mattress. It was odd whenever I had the opportunity to sleep in a bed. I was so use to sleeping in uncomfortable places that a mattress had gone from a luxury to almost intolerable.

"I delivered pizzas... So I don't really know what that would have been like." He sounded almost embarrassed by his past job, but he said it regardless with a hand reaching to rub the back of his neck.

Glenn's previously full can joined mine on the floor, but he didn't look to notice that he was sleeping in the same bed as me until he turned around. His eyes widened, face flushing red at the idea. He must've had it pretty good up until now to never have to sleep with a girl.

I rolled my eyes, turning over so that I could no longer see the nerves radiating from him. His hat was placed onto the table between Dale and Daryl before he returned, shakily moving to the top of the bed and placing his head next to mine on the pillow.

Whenever any part of our bodies touched during the night, he would instantly jolt away. It didn't appear like he'd get much sleep with that much anxiety coursing through him. I had my own problems sleeping to think too much about his though.

Falling asleep was like being caught in a hurricane of thoughts to me. Every fear of the future and close calls of the day would replay in my mind, demanding careful analysis and planning for the next time it happened before I could be allowed to sleep. And finally when the eye of the hurricane had passed and my mind was left free, only then would I feel sleep slipping over me.

This time the careful rustling of Andrea on the roof and Glenn's heavy breathing were the only things threatening to keep me up, but compared to the distant groaning of Decayers they were nothing.