Shane hears the kids talking to someone on the back deck as he gets home from his first shift helping build the warehouses the Commander is using to store all the supplies her Marines gather. The buildings they're putting up now aren't even on the little peninsula, but on the mainland just beyond. They expect to be self-sustaining for a while, and Shane agrees with the idea. If the government was going to help - if it even still existed - there would be some sign by now.

He heads for the back deck, expecting to see another kid, or maybe the elderly lady from across the street who brought a pie yesterday to welcome them to the community. Instead, it's a young woman, maybe mid-twenties, with hair streaked with purple dye. She's wearing a full body bright turquoise wetsuit, which seems pretty much overkill for a Florida beach in late summer, and has a mask and snorkel laid on the table in front of her. Cupcake is asleep in her lap, while Max seems to be enjoying being cuddled against her.

Beth spots him first, grinning broadly from where the three kids are clustered around the table on the deck with their visitor, all four with glasses of lemonade. "Shane, come meet Princess."

"Princess?" He arches a brow quizzically.

It makes the woman laugh, even as Shane takes the glass Carl passes him. It's almost too sweet, which tells him Carl was in charge of mixing the pitcher this time.

"I never liked my given name, so I left it behind as soon as I could." She flicks her head, making the purple shimmer. It's pretty against all her dark hair, and Shane suspects he's in for requests from the girls for similar embellishments.

"Why Princess?" Beth looks intrigued as she asks.

"Because Queen sounded like I was old." The chipper reply is a non-answer, but Beth's polite enough to accept it. "I've been assigned to the house next door, which is far too large for one person. Who am I to argue?"

"Max and Wolverine went to visit," Carl says. That probably explains why Princess is cuddling puppies.

"I was just going down to explore the water. I came in with the Marines up from St. Petersburg today."

"You don't have any people?" Sophia asks softly. She looks worried for their visitor.

"Not since everyone started getting sick. Found a place to hide out and stayed til I saw live ones." Princess shrugs, smiling warmly at the girl. "The good side of being a loner before all this is that I didn't lose anyone, not really."

Although she doesn't seem uncomfortable, Shane heads off any further questioning. "Why don't you three get changed and find your sunscreen now that I'm home?"

It's their third day here, and Merle's team is leaving in the morning to continue the search for survivors. The kids helped in the community gardens this morning and attended their first afternoon of classes during the heat of the day. They made it home before he did, but they don't swim without him.

"Will my snorkeling disturb their swimming?" Princess reluctantly sets the puppies on the porch before finishing off her lemonade.

"I imagine it would be the other way around. They'll probably want to ask you a million questions about how it works." Shane collects the empty glasses to take inside. He glances to the house next door and thinks about the fact this woman's been alone for months, and now she's in a strange place. "You're welcome to stay for supper."

The bright smile she gives him tells him it's a welcome invitation even before she speaks. "I would enjoy that very much. If we can obtain some more snorkeling gear, I wouldn't mind teaching the kids. All this beach should be enjoyed to the fullest."

"I'll check in at procurement tomorrow." If they don't have anything, he'll just put in a word with Merle. Reasonable requests are honored, according to the handbook.

"Do you need any help with those?"

He shakes his head. "If the kids are back outside before I am, they aren't supposed to go more than knee deep without me on the beach." Hell, Sophia's still learning to swim, but she's not the daredevil of the bunch anyway. Princess has passed the vetting of the Marines who brought her in and Commander Barrett, so he's reasonably certain about leaving her with them.

She proves a welcome addition to their little group that evening. While Shane has always considered himself high energy, Princess is more tireless than even Carl. Her cheerful nature rubs off on Sophia, who tends toward being more solemn than Shane prefers as each day goes by and her mother is still gone.

When the supper dishes are washed and put away, he catches her looking reluctantly at the dark house next door. He isn't the only one, because the girls eye Princess thoughtfully. They shared their stories on the beach, about all the missing loved ones, but Princess only confirmed she has no one.

"We have an extra room, you know," Beth says, glancing pleadingly at Shane.

"You do?" The bright smile that had started flagging is back, and the girls respond to it like sunflowers to sunshine.

"Yes. Shane and Carl share a room, and we share a room, so that leaves one empty. Maybe you can just stay with us, until some roommates arrive?" Sophia joins into the plan.

Shane decides it's not a half bad idea. Granted, he just met the woman, but she wouldn't be on the island if she were dangerous, and nothing about her sets off his cop instincts. Honestly, she rouses the same protective instincts the girls are displaying. When Princess looks his way for confirmation, he nods.

"I'll just go get my things. Although I may shower over there, just to spare the hot water here."

By the time Shane's done with his own shower, the kids are debating some puzzle at the coffee table, and their new roommate is eyeing the master bedroom warily. "Are you sure about this?" she asks, motioning at the large room that faces out to the Gulf.

"Let's just say sharing with Carl is a bit of a chaperone thing," he tells her. "And the other room on the backside of the house has two sets of bunk beds with a full size bed on the bottom. The girls use the master bath, while Carl and I share the hallway one." The girls' room just has a queen bed, but they don't seem to mind sharing in the room that faces the street.

"I can share with the girls. It'll be like a little sorority for us. As for the room, as long as you're sure. Seems like you need the space more than me." She eyes his height assessingly, and it's the closest she's looked at him. It's also the most relaxed she's been around him versus the kids. The more he interacted with the kids, the more her smiles toward him shifted from too bright to more natural.

Somewhere in her past, something's made Princess afraid of men, either in general or just men his size. Either way, she seems to have filed him away as safe, which he's happy about. As much as he liked being big and intimidating with men when the job called for it as a deputy, having a woman fear him just isn't something he ever wants happening.

Even her clothing adds to his growing feeling that someone has been seriously cruel to Princess at some point. The wetsuit in the heat had been odd, but some people do like a bit of protection in the ocean. But when she returned with her things from the other house, she's wearing a pastel green men's long sleeved dress shirt over a bright orange Florida gators t-shirt. The color clash is enough to make someone look away, especially paired with orange and black tiger striped leggings.

Shane would bet just about anything the choices are as much to make people avoid looking closely at her as quirky fashion sense. Until she's a lot more comfortable with him, he's not asking. The woman's already had a day full of stressful strangers, from being scooped up by a squad of Marines to the mental and physical exam required on arrival.

"The puppies may wander in the night. They have a puppy pad in the alcove and typically use it, but every now and then an accident happens. It's usually me that finds it with a bare foot, which the kids find hilarious." It's a timely warning, because Nugget is trotting into view.

"I'm fine with puppies. It's so nice to see dogs again, especially little ones most wouldn't bother to save." She watches as the tiny brown Pomeranian explores her room, which the dogs haven't been allowed into before.

"I can't say a Pomeranian ever crosses my mind as a pet before, but leaving them behind with no mama would have been cruel." Nugget snags the bed's dust skirt and tugs, but Princess scoops him up with a quiet admonishment. She pets the little fluff ball, who wiggles with joy.

Shane leaves him with her, figuring she needs puppy therapy, going to his room to read. When he glances back toward Princess, she's just watching him thoughtfully, like he's a puzzle as complex as that behemoth the kids are tackling downstairs. He wonders briefly what she'll think of him when she does figure him out.


Glenn joins Rick in what was once the exercise yard for the King County Detention Center. The older man is starting out at the distance, watching the sun rise. It's been his habit since they found Shane's cryptic note telling any searchers to wait at the jail after repeating a high school prank at the courthouse.

"Did Shane really hoist the shop teacher's boxers up the courthouse flag pole?" Glenn asks, finally giving in to curiosity. Rick had laughed his ass off at the note before asking Dale to donate the only pair of red boxers any of them had.

"Yeah, he did. That was a mild prank, and he never got caught on any of them. At least not officially. I always thought the principal was suspicious, especially of the time his car got relocated to the chicken coop. But busting an all state running back during football season on a suspicion wasn't happening."

Glenn grimaces, knowing someone like him never would have escaped punishment like that. Still, he wishes someone had pulled something like that on his asshole of a principal. That shiny BMW in a livestock pen would have been a sign karma exists.

"Hey, Glenn? Dale wants to work on changing that belt on the RV," Otis calls out. The revived search for the missing kids has given the older man hope for his own family's survival.

Leaving Rick to the watch he'll keep until lunchtime, when Andrea will swap out, Glenn goes to learn something useful in keeping the ragtag group together. If they're lucky, today will be the day someone will come in response to their signal.

They're all eating lunch in the exercise yard, at folding tables dragged outside where there's at least a possibility of a cross breeze, when the sound of engines echoes through the deserted town. Whatever is coming is big and diesel, no stealth about it. The majority of them fade back to cover, while Rick keeps watch.

Three Humvees pull up and out of the passenger side of the lead one steps someone Glenn honestly gave up for dead. He swallows hard, seeing the redneck's grim expression as he approaches Rick at the fence. Gripping the chain link with a prosthetic hand, the big man drawls, "I see you didn't get your skinny ass eaten, Officer Friendly."

Rick's been stiff as a board since Merle appeared, but he nods jerkily. His gaze is riveted on that metal and plastic hand. The rest of the group ventures out, and Glenn watches Merle study them all. "You seem to be missing a few essentials, Officer. Like my baby brother."

As much as Glenn doesn't want Merle's attention, he takes in the uniform and calm speech and decides it might be better coming from him, not Rick. "We got split up by a forest fire. Haven't been able to find a sign of Daryl, Lori, Carol, or three of the Greenes." Maggie slips her hand in his and squeezes reassuringly. Like Otis, she shed the oppressive grief once Shane's letter confirmed all three children were alive and well.

"Damn. Gonna be some disappointed kids if I only bring in half their relatives." Merle sighs deeply. "Daryl's good at looking after himself. Wouldn't be surprised to find him holed up somewhere waiting with the rest."

"All three kids are safe?" Maggie asks, needing confirmation.

"Safe as can be and working on their tans. We need to do a supply sweep, but we can have you folks joining them by nightfall. Be packed and ready in two hours."

Merle heads back to the Humvee after issuing the order, leaving them to stare at each other. Nervous laughter shifts to happy, and Maggie hugs him so tightly he can't breathe, chanting Beth's name softly against his shoulder. After thinking Carl and Sophia dead and beginning to despair that Beth and Shane fell to the walkers, too, they're hours from reuniting. Miracles do happen, sometimes.


Today's a bad day for Carol. Even the lure of the garden doesn't get her out of bed in the tiny bedroom she and Patricia share. Hershel goes in to sit with her, taking her hand and opening the Bible he found among his cousin's belongings.

While Carol doesn't respond directly as he reads aloud, her tears dry up and he can tell she's listening. She's never seemed to care what passages he reads, and he still doesn't know if she's a woman of faith. It could just be his voice being soothing.

After an hour, he closes the worn Bible and lets go of her hand. "Gonna go out and see about some fish today," he tells her. "You like catfish best, right?"

Carol nods, stretching as if every movement pains her. "I'll help Patricia. She doesn't like being alone outside."

It's a situational awareness Carol's lacked in her grief, so he's glad to see she's paying more attention. "No, she doesn't, and the garden waits for no one." He pats her too thin hand and smiles. "Tomorrow, I'm going to finish the shooting lessons Deputy Walsh started. It's best we all know how to defend what's ours."

That gets him an actual flicker of interest, and Carol studies him for a moment before nodding agreement. By the time he and Jimmy load the truck for the fishing trip, Carol's dressed and moving slowly across the backyard, basket in hand. One day at a time is all they can ask of her. Hershel's own grief seems to be receding at last, so he hopes Carol is healing as well. They owe it to those that they lost to live the best lives they can, after all.


After Lori's breakdown three days ago, she's noticed a change in Daryl. The man no longer shies away from her like a feral cat. He's not suddenly touchy feely, but he doesn't deliberately side step anytime she's close and it doesn't involve his injuries.

They've loaded the truck with everything useful they can glean from the resort town on the island. For just two people, it's a lot. Now they're studying a couple of maps in a big road atlas after supper, trying to decide what happens in the morning.

"Southwest further into Florida is risky as hell," Daryl mutters. "Lotta big cities, too many old farts. Might up our chances of finding a surviving doctor, but gonna up the number of walkers, too."

"And we already know how deserted Georgia is." The part of Lori that dwells in the name Grimes tells her to head north and try to find Rick. The part of her that doesn't know how long she's been pregnant thinks she should be finding Shane as well. A more cowardly part of her dreads either of those, but she doesn't let it run the show.

"West could be different. Places get more spread out. Might have survived better." Daryl flips pages, studying Alabama, then Mississippi. "Don't trust the military, but Walsh had a point about Benning. If any base was gonna survive, my money's on them."

"And if they didn't?" Lori isn't sure what they'd do next.

"Cross the Chattahoochee and we're headed west. Just a detour."

Daryl makes it seem so simple, even as he scratches at the splint on his broken arm. He says it's healed enough for the motorcycle, but she won out on the point that having the truck means more supplies and a place to sleep. They can't always count on finding a vacant house.

Lori rests her hand against her belly, which shows no signs of the life within. She took four tests yesterday, all of which confirm what Daryl first pointed out. They need to find a doctor, and there's a time limit. While she has no doubt Daryl would do his best, he's not capable of a c-section if she can't birth the baby on her own. What he would have to do then, to save the baby at Lori's expense, is not a horror she wants to visit on a man she regards as her friend.

"Benning it is. We'll plan on Mobile after that. Hug the coast line and hope the towns evacuated as much as this one did." Tourist areas mean fewer full time residents and fewer walkers. They're both capable, but they're only two people.

"A'right." Daryl shoves back his chair, going to wash their supper dishes. It's an unexpected habit of his, to switch off chores. If she cooks, he does dishes. If he cooks, he leaves them to her. They don't really have to tidy up, with leaving here tomorrow, but for all his grubby seeming nature at the quarry, Lori is learning that Daryl craves things neat and tidy.

Hopefully they'll find somewhere safe, and soon, and then they'll have help finding their missing family members. As much as Lori thinks she should find Rick and Shane, she needs a medical doctor more. The unplanned road trip will have to last a while longer.


A/N: Princess may be a little subdued in this, but as Shane notes, she's already been through a lot of upheaval that day.

Poor Lori... She and Daryl are road tripping the exact wrong way to easily cross path with Commander Barrett's Marines. But they'll eventually find a few other familiar faces by heading west.

Rick's reunion with Carl and Shane, plus Maggie's with Beth, will happen next chapter, obviously.