Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The Walking Dead, AMC or anyone/anything else. This is purely for entertainment purposes and is fiction created by me. This story does not reflect the actual series and doesn't claim to be anything but me having a bit of extra time on my hands getting the mental dialogue from my make believe stories in my head on paper (or computer that is). Any and all original characters created by me are not and do not resemble any known person(s). If you have any concerns or questions about what I've written please contact me and I will be happy to discuss anything. I'm a reasonable person.

*****This story picks up right were my other story "Safe Haven" left off. If you haven't read "Safe Haven" then you will probably be kind of confused. I encourage you to read the other story first, trust me…it's worth the read…..at least that's what people tell me….I hope you like it! Happy Reading!

Nightshade Hollow

Chapter 1

Everyone was packing up camp, getting ready to roll out. Rick had no idea where they would end up but one thing was for sure. They had to get out of there. Too many bad memories were there. Rick felt like the group was falling apart. Shane, Andrea and Eve were at each others' throats the night before. A time when everyone should've been leaning on one another and focusing on Carol and Sophia. Rick couldn't help but feel slightly guilty that no one could stop Carol. He wondered if maybe they should've handled things differently with Sophia. Would it have made any difference? Would it have really stopped Carol from taking her own life?

Then there was Daryl. Rick was worried most about him. He was afraid Daryl was a loose cannon. Ready to blow any moment. Would he be a danger to the rest of the group? Could they still count on him if they needed his help? These were all questions he couldn't help but ask. The rest of the group were having their own concerns as well. Everyone was whispering about the fire he set, just reinforcing that everyone thinks he is unstable. He clearly wasn't handling Carol or Sophia's death well and everything with Eve to top it off.

And Eve….Rick shook his head just thinking about her. She certainly could be useful, being a medic and all but there seemed to be one problem after another since she came into their camp. The constant bickering between her and Andrea was getting out of control. Daryl clearly wanted nothing to do with her so now there was another conflict. The only person besides Daryl that she initially seemed to get along with was Carol, now Carol was gone.

Rick didn't even know what to think about Shane and Eve. Their wild accusations they threw at each other the night before were completely unexpected and the timing couldn't have been worse. He knew at some point he would need to get to the bottom of it. His head was swimming with all his concerns.

Lori came up behind Rick and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You ready to go? I think everyone is all packed up."

Rick turned around to face Lori and wrapped his arms around her. She had tears in her eyes. Rick figured most of the camp would be that way too for quite some time. Losing Carol and Sophia was a difficult blow to everyone. Rick kissed Lori on the forehead and led her to the car.

They had been on the road for about three hours when Dale started beeping the horn on the RV. He pulled off to the side of the road and everyone else stopped. Daryl rode up last on his motorcycle. Everyone had stepped out of their vehicles to stretch their legs. Everyone but Eve, she remained on the RV. She had her head against the window. She didn't feel like being around anyone at that moment. She didn't bother looking at anyone but she could still hear what they were saying.

"What the hell are we stoppin' for?" Daryl asked. "We're in the middle of fuckin' nowhere!"

Dale hopped off the RV "We're stopping because I'm low on gas…gas that I wasn't low on yesterday! How do you think that happened Daryl?" he asked sarcastically.

Rick stepped closer to Daryl "Oh you've got to be kidding me...…it didn't even occur to me last night how you got that blaze going so fast!"

"So?" Daryl raised both his arms in the air then dropping them back down by his sides slapping the sides of his legs with his hands. Daryl knew what he did was wrong. He just didn't care. He didn't want to feel anything anymore and if that meant destroying everything that meant something to him, then he would do it.

The others began to mumble under their breaths.

"Alright…alright just let me think for a second." Rick said "Let's take a look at the map and see what we are close to. Maybe there is somewhere we can camp out for a few days, maybe find some more gas and other supplies.

Rick and Shane went through the map and discovered they were near a small town.

"Ok, everybody sit tight, Glen and I are going to scout on up ahead and make sure the town is safe. We'll be back as soon as we can. If it's safe, we all go in." Rick said.

Rick and Glen hopped in Rick's car and they drove off. Lori and Carl got on the RV.

Carl ran to the back and hopped on the bed. Lori sat down near Eve. Eve didn't bother looking at her. Lori could see Eve's eyes were red and swollen from crying. She didn't look like she had slept at all.

"If you want to get some rest in the back, I can have Carl come up here with me." Lori told her.

Eve just shook her head no and continued to stare out the window.

Lori debated whether or not she should say anything else to Eve. There were many unanswered questions. Lori remembered how Shane had treated her back at the CDC so she couldn't help but wonder if there was some truth to what Eve was claiming last night. Lori felt torn, all she wanted to do was get somewhere safe and grieve for Carol and Sophia. She didn't want to deal with anything else. Seeing the dramatic change in Eve's behavior, and how closed off she was, Lori knew she couldn't ignore it.

"Eve…I want to ask you about what you said about Shane last night…." Lori said.

Eve just sat there in silence.

Lori leaned in closer to Eve "Listen…I know you probably don't want to talk about it but I need you to tell me the truth of what happened."

Lori waited patiently for a response. Eve just remained silent, staring out the window.

Lori lowered her head and took a deep breath. She knew then that Eve wasn't going to say a word, at least not then. She decided to bring the matter up with Rick later, it was too serious of an issue to ignore.