"Admit it, Ranger Rick. You didn't care about the guns. You just wanted your hat." I teased.

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. My grin made him crack an amused smile.

I don't know whether it was because of the nickname or because of saying he only wanted his hat. Now he had the entire outfit for his sheriff position in an apocalypse.

"Don't tell anyone." He said.

A chuckle left my lips as we walked back to the van. We were supposed to leave the guns in it and then continue our search for Merle. After being kidnapped by a gang of old people, I've lost the desire to help out in this mission.

"You've given away half our guns and ammo." Daryl protested.

"Not nearly half." Rick said.

And yet I still get nothing. I suggested me getting a gun to Glenn and T-dog who didn't seem thrilled by the idea.

What am I gonna do with it? Shoot Dixon? As tempting as that is, something tells me Ranger Rick wouldn't allow that.

"For what? For old farts that are gonna die momentarily anyhow? How long do you think they've got?" Daryl asked.

"How long do any of us?" Rick shot back.

We reached the place where we left the van except it wasn't there anymore. I opened my mouth to comment but closed it upon realizing that I had nothing to say. Usually the perks of everyone around you being dead is that there is no one to steal from you.

"Oh my God." Glenn said.

"Where the hell is our van?" Daryl asked.

"We left it right there. Who would take it?" Glenn asked.

I looked at them as if though they were stupid. There's literally only one person left alive in Atlanta that knows about that van. Spoiler alert, it definitely isn't the gang of elders.

"It's kind of obvious, isn't it? Merle took it." I stated.

"He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp." Daryl retorted.

I hummed in agreement. After seeing that we had no other choice, we all decided to go for a long walk back to camp. Dakota is going to be over the moon that her fling was okay. Well if you count having one hand as okay.

Hours passed as we left the abandoned streets of Atlanta and stepped into the woods around it. My legs were aching and I was slowly dying of boredom. No one here was appreciative of my commentary and they'd all asked for me to kindly shut up.

"Just saying, time would pass a lot quicker if there was more communication." I commented.

Groans of protest filled the air as I made that comment. A smug smirk formed on my lips at the successful attempt at annoying them. Making people irritated is my way of staying sane.

"We have very different definitions of communication, Josephine." T-Dog said.

I opened my mouth to reply when we heard gunshots. It wasn't hard to guess where they were coming from. There was only a few miles between us and our camp. Panic rose inside of me at the thought of my siblings in danger.

"Oh my God." Rick said.

"Go. Go!" Glenn shouted.

Without saying another word, all of us started running. I doubt Merle would attack camp and the other option is way scarier.

Rick tossed me a gun as we arrived at camp. There was no time for me to appreciate having a gun because of all the walkers I saw.

"Abby! Dakota! Ryan!" I shouted.

There was no reply. Only the sound of guns being fired and the growling of walkers. My heart felt as if though it was going to leap out of my chest. I had to find them. I had to find my siblings.

Suddenly, I heard a scream from across camp. I recognized it almost immediately and called out for Abby. My feet carried me as quick as they could in her direction. She was surrounded by three walkers lunging at her and she barely dodged their grabs.

I stopped a few feet away from them and called out to the walkers. Their attention was on me now. I raised the gun into the air and aimed at the first walker. The bullet hit his throat instead of the head. I cursed under my breath before trying again.

This time, the walker fell down as I stepped backwards noticing the other two were too close for comfort. My muscle memory kicked in and I took out the remaining two walkers without problem. Abby went to walk towards me but then froze.

"Jo, watch out!" She shouted.

She pointed behind me. I turned around only to see a walker's face inches away from mine. It grabbed my shoulders ready to take a bite out of me but it fell down before it could. I looked up and saw Daryl pointing his rifle at it. He had taken it out just in time.

"Josephine !" I heard a shout.

My mind was too focused on Daryl at that moment. He saved my life. That's the first time he's done something nice for me.

I turned around and saw Dakota running towards me and Abby. Daryl stood near us watching out for any other walkers.

"Where's Ryan?" I asked.

Dakota went to answer just as sobs rang through the air. My breath hitched as I went towards the RV. Andrea was crying over her sister's dead body. There were bites all over Amy's body.

Ryan stood next to them, tears streaming down his eyes. He looked up and I went to his side. He gripped me tightly and sobbed into my shoulder. Amy wasn't my favorite person, but he liked her.

I can't bring her back and I can't take away his pain. I can only be there for him until the pain slowly fades away.

"I'm sorry, Ry." I whispered.

-----

My eyes were fixed on Andrea sitting next to Amy's body. Ryan stood next to me as we observed the whole ordeal. His tears had stopped halfway through the night.

Yet I knew he was feeling worse now than before. Dakota was no better after we returned without Merle. He wasn't here and he wasn't there. Just gone.

"She's been there the whole night." Ryan commented.

His voice held no emotions which made me look at him. Ryan has always been the voice of reason, the kind of guy you'd go out to have a drink with and talk about your troubles.

Seeing him cold and emotionless was never a good sign. I'll have to keep a close eye on him.

"Ryan, you don't have to be here and watch. If it's too difficult..." I trailed off.

"I owe it to her. I couldn't protect her so the least I can do is make sure her sister is okay." Ryan retorted.

I bit my lip and nodded acknowledging his words. The last thing I wanted was him hanging out with Andrea more.

She was too self-righteous before her sister died. God knows what she'll become without her.

I looked at Dakota across the camp and decided to go to her. She was sitting down on a log and I did the same. Feelings weren't my strong suit so I didn't know how to approach the subject. If I'm going to try and help my siblings, then I'll at least try.

"I know you loved Merle-"

"He's not dead." Dakota retorted.

I furrowed my eyebrows at her rapid response. Her shoulders were tense as she stared at the ground. As if daring it to do something that'll piss her off. I swallowed a lump in my throat as I tried a different tactic.

"Dakota, he cut his hand off. He was bleeding out, alone on the infested walker streets of Atlanta. No one could survive that alone." I said.

She bit the inside of her cheek as I shifted uncomfortably. Ryan usually stepped in for these conversations so I wouldn't have to.

Yet it appears that I have to be strong for all of us. After everything we've been through, I owe them that.

"Jo, I know you think you're right. But I trust my gut, and it's telling me that he's out there. All I have to do is find him." She persisted.

I sighed before pinching the bridge of my noise. My patience was running low. It's one thing to be heartbroken and a completely different one to be foolish.

If a group of us couldn't find Merle then how could she find him? We followed the leads and turned up with nothing.

"What if you never find him? Then you would've spent your life in vain searching for him. Merle wouldn't want that." I said.

She abruptly got up and I did the same. Her mouth set in a hard line as she tried to contain her anger. It's not something that we were particularly good at. She turned to me as her frustration only grew.

"What do you know what he would've wanted? You're just as bad as the rest of them. Saying that he's dead. Well, I refuse to believe that. I can't believe it." She snapped.

She stormed off and I sighed. There was no point in arguing with her any further. I'll just let her cool off and then she should be fine.

I made my way to Glenn to keep myself busy. Thinking about all the suffering my siblings were in wasn't good for me.

"Need any help with the bodies?" I asked.

Glenn looked up and nodded. He looked behind me to see Daryl and Morales dragging a body.

A part of me felt hesitant to be around Daryl. He did save my life and I didn't want to seem ungrateful for that by arguing with him.

"Hey, what are you guys doing? This is for geeks. Our people go over there." Glenn stated.

"What's the difference?" Daryl asked.

"Our people go over there. We don't burn them!" Glenn exclaimed.

I raised my eyebrows taken aback by his outburst. He seemed a little surprised himself. I couldn't blame him, he truly cared for each and every member of the group. Something that I couldn't boast with.

"We bury them, understand? People go in that row over there." He said.

They dragged the body towards the row to not cause another outburst. Glenn and I grabbed another body doing the same. God, their bodies were heavier than I expected.

"You reap what you sow." Daryl said.

"Shut up man." Morales said.

"Y'all left my brother for dead! You had this comin!" Daryl exclaimed.

He tried to storm off but I stood in his way. A scoff left his lips as he knew that I had some smart remark for him. Just as I opened my mouth to reply, Jacqui started shouting.

"A walker bit Jim!"

Daryl and I turned in her direction to see her pointing at Jim. We seemed to be equally surprised by the news. Our bickering was put aside for now. All of us walked up to Jim to see if it was true.

"Show it to us." Daryl demanded.

Jim looked around in fear and grabbed a shovel. T-Dog grabbed him from behind to stop any kind of attack. Jim just mumbled to anyone who would listen that he was okay.

Daryl lifted his shirt to reveal a walker bite. Jim continued mumbling that he's okay while I wondered what kind of problem this was going to bring.