It was late into the afternoon and what remained of their group was making camp on the side of an old country road. Hershel's SUV had run out of gas and Rick declared this was as good of place as any and they would go scavenging once morning came. Rick refused to let Maggie and Glenn go for a run to see if they could find some gas, claiming the group needed to stay together, now more than ever.

When Daryl brings up Randall and how he and Glenn had found him turned but without any bite marks, Rick looks off to the side as Beth questions, "How's that possible?"

"Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori asked.

"Shane killed Randall." Daryl concluded. "Just like he always wanted to."

"And then the herd got him?"

Rick was silent for a few moments before he dropped the bomb, "We're all infected." Everyone looked at him with disbelief and Daryl inquired what he meant. "At the C.D.C., Jenner told me. Whatever it is. We all carry it."

Most of the others in the group seemed furious with Rick for keeping that from them and when he walked off with Lori following after him, Glenn was muttering angrily to himself.

"What difference would it have made?" Harley questions aloud and attention turned to her and when no one answered she continued, "So, what? People can turn even if they aren't bit? That's fine. Now we know that when someone dies, we make sure they don't come back." she huffed, "Don't know what y'all are getting yer panties twisted for. We keep doin' what we've been doin'; surviving. It don't change nothin'."

There were some mumbles of agreement, namely from T-Dog and Hershel, but still the majority of the group still seemed to hold resentment towards the leader of their group.

Nightfall did not bring any ease and everyone was jumping at every branch snapping, every leaf crunching, every gust of wind. When most were up on their feet declaring that it was time to move on instead of waiting for more walkers to come, Rick stood by and told them, "No one is going anywhere."

"We need to do something." Maggie insisted.

"I am doing something!" Rick argued. "I'm keeping this group together, alive. I've been doing that all along." His anger grew with each word. "I didn't ask for this. I killed my best friend for you people, for Christ's sake!"

As everyone stared in surprise, he calmed himself and said, "You saw what he was like, how he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us. He staged the whole Randall thing, led me out to put a bullet in my back. He gave me no choice." Carl began to cry and as Lori tried to comfort him, Rick continued. "He was my friend, but he came after me. My hands are clean.

Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say there's a place for us, but maybe it's just another pipe dream, maybe — maybe I'm fooling myself again. Why don't you — why don't you go and find out yourself. Send me a postcard. Go on, there's the door. You can do better? Let's see how far you get." There wasn't a single person who made even a noise. "No takers? Fine, but let's get one thing straight, you're staying, this isn't a democracy anymore."

Four Months Later…

The days were cold and the nights were far colder as winter began. Harley was grateful that they did not live any further north or life on the road would be even more unbearable.

They ate what they could and slept when they got the chance, never staying in one place for too long in fear that they'd be overrun soon enough. Harley kept track of the places they've been on a map and while they had been traveling for some time now, they managed to stay within the same area, often circling back to places they knew to be safe.

One of the first things Harley did when the turmoil in the group had settled down a bit was teach Sophia how to work and shoot a gun. The little girl was apprehensive at first, saying something along the lines of 'I don't think mama would like this', but Harley had assured her that this was something her mother would have wanted her to learn, especially now.

The girl was practically a natural at it and Harley felt a small amount of pride and even mentally patted herself on the back, declaring proudly what a great teacher she was. Daryl had told her she had too big a sense of self worth.

It was during their time on the road that Harley fell under the mentorship of Hershel, learning whatever medical jargon she could from the old vet. She found it funny in a way; it only took an apocalypse for her to finally fulfill her father's wish of entering the medical profession although bandaging up scrapes and bruises would hardly be considered a profession.

Hershel had insisted that someone learn the trade in case something were to ever happen to him and while Maggie had a decent grasp on the basic having grown up watching her father perform various procedures on animals, he taught Harley in a more in depth way to the point where she thought her head was going to explode with all the information he was giving her. She was grateful though, she knew that these skills he was teaching her were invaluable.

Daryl had also found his place among the group and Harley was glad to see how he had integrated himself more into the inner workings of the group often joking that he was Rick's wingman. Daryl would just shake his head and tell her to keep quiet.

With Lori drawing close to popping, it was top priority to find a place where they could settle down for more than a few days which had proven difficult. So, when they came across another old rundown house, it seemed like their search was going nowhere.

"Ever had owl before?" Daryl asked as he held up the carcass of an owl he had just shot after they cleared the house.

Harley made a face at the fowl, but with her stomach grumbling the way it was, she knew she had no room to complain, hell, it wasn't like they hadn't been eating squirrel for months now.

As everyone gathered in the house, buckling down for the night, Carl came in with two cans of what looked to be dog food which he was eager to open. When Rick turned around and saw what his son was doing a scowl formed on his face. He stalked over towards Carl and picked the can up, throwing it into the unlit fireplace of the house.

The others looked around uncomfortably until T-Dog motioned outside where a few walkers were straggling through the yard. The group was up in a flash, collecting what little they had and making their way out of the house as quietly as possible. Harley pulled Sophia along with her and helped her into the back of the pickup truck before rounding the passenger's side where a very pregnant Lori was struggling to get into the truck.

"Up ya go." said Harley as she helped Lori into her seat.

Lori thanked her quietly and Harley returned to the driver's side and started the truck, wincing at how loud the engine was. Once Daryl pulled out ahead of her, she put the truck into drive and followed after him glancing in her rearview making sure the other two vehicles weren't far behind.

Within the last few months Harley had been behind the wheel enough that she no longer felt a wave of dread overcome her whenever she drove which proved to be a good thing considering the number of times she ended up in the driver's seat during an escape from a herd.

When they got far enough down the road, the group stopped to discuss where they would be going next. Harley pulled out her map and stretched it out across the hood of the green car.

"There ain't anywhere left." she mumbled when Maggie came to her side.

Maggie frowned as she examined the map pointing to the two large circles on the map, "Once these two herds meet up, we'll be cut off. We'll never make it south."

"What would you say? That was about 150 head?" Daryl asked as everyone assembled by the hood of the car.

"That was last week. It could be twice that by now." Glenn said.

Harley nodded in agreement, "We don't know if there were any other herds close by. Could be a lot more than we can handle."

"This river could've delayed them." Hershel voiced as he pointed at a river on the map, "If we move fast we might have a shot to tear right through there."

T-Dog spoke next, "Yeah, but if this group joins in with that one they could spill out this way."

"So, we're blocked." concluded Maggie.

"The only thing to do is double back up to 27 and swing towards Greenville." Rick indicated.

Harley frowned as she looked at the little Xs she had scribbled on the map as T-Dog mentioned, "Yeah, we picked through that already. It's like we spent the winter going in circles."

"Yeah, I know. I know. At Newnan we'll push west. Haven't been through there yet. We can't keep going house to house. Need to find someplace to hold off for a few weeks." He glanced over at Lori who was waiting in the truck for everyone with Sophia valiantly guarding her.

Everyone agreed with his plan and the group dispersed to go gather whatever water they could from the creek nearby. Harley returned to Lori and offered her what little water she had left in her canteen which Lori tried to refuse, but if the last few months taught Lori anything, it was that Harley was the most hardheaded, stubborn woman she had ever met.

"Drink up, Mama Bear." said Harley before she turned to Sophia, "You doin' okay, Phia?" Sophia nodded, but Harley could tell that the lack of food was taking its toll on the little girl. Harley smiled grimly and ran her hand through the girl's hair, "Don't worry, we'll find somethin' soon."

Daryl made his way over to the trio, telling Harley that he was going hunting with Rick, "You gonna stay here?" he asked although he already knew the answer. Harley hadn't left Sophia's side very often since the farm was overrun and while he knew that her top priority was looking after the little girl, he couldn't help but want her to take a bit of a break from it mostly because Rick was shit at tracking.

Harley gave a nod, "Be careful." she said.

He responded with a chaste kiss on her forehead and a hair ruffle for Sophia who let out an annoyed whine at the man's display of affection. Harley smiled though and waved to Daryl and Rick who disappeared into the woods.

Everyone went about their business until Daryl and Rick returned prematurely from their hunt.

"There's a prison not far from here." Rick explained and it wasn't long before the group was packed up and on the road once again.