Dad talks in his sleep. He says that he's going to be with her soon.

Olivia stared at the young boy with shock etched across her face. She gently placed a hand upon his shoulder reassuringly and tenderly squeezed it. She glanced over towards Morgan who was still talking to Rick and narrowed her eyes at him. The two men nodded to one another and made their way towards them. Duane looked at her with fearful eyes and she shook her head, offering him a soft wink.

As Rick began talking, her eyes remained on Morgan and felt her heart tug with fear and sadness. The whole thing… losing his wife and still being able to see her was difficult and upsetting. And the fact that he was unaware of himself talking to her even in his sleep was all the more disturbing. Did she speak to him and tell him that she had heard him talk in his sleep? Or did she leave it and wait until he was asleep to be able to hear him?

It was a complicated situation to be in. He was a good friend of hers, and she respected him like a brother. And what he was going through was brutal, something that she would never wish on her worst enemy. If she was able to do anything - absolutely anything - she would do it in a heartbeat, not even thinking about it. He was a friend, and a friend's sanity was important.

"-in the vehicle."

Olivia shook her head and tried to process the remaining part of the conversation. She glanced at Rick who furrowed his brow at her before asking if she was okay. She nodded.

"Just a little warm, that's all," she whispered, holding Duane close to her.

Rick kept his gaze on her for a moment, worried that she might keel over and collapse.

"Do we have to stay in the vehicle? It's too hot in there!" Duane exclaimed, to which Rick nodded in Morgan's direction.

"Maybe it would be best if the doors are kept open, that way, if you see any walkers then you can get into the vehicle if needed," Morgan sighed heavily. The heat was becoming unbearable and everyone was quickly beginning to feel frustrated.

"Okay? Everything sorted?" Rick asked, to which Duane nodded. He glanced at Olivia with a narrowed gaze.

Morgan pulled his son towards him and hugged him tightly. Olivia smiled at the moment between father and son.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Rick asked, concern etching across his face.

Olivia nodded, her eyes meeting his. "I'm fine. Just tired… dehydrated… but I'm all good."

"Here…" Rick said, disappearing around the vehicle for a moment. He reappeared a moment later with a bottle of water in his hand. "Drink some of this."

"Thanks," Olivia smiled, gratefully. She took a sip of the water then took a deep breath.

"Be careful in there," Olivia continued. Rick watched her for a moment before nodding, his thoughts on his family. "I hope they're in there."

Rick smiled, his heart hoping that his family were safe within the walls of the family home. He watched as Duane walked over to Olivia and stayed closely by her side. The love the boy had for Olivia was evident, and it filled his heart with hope that his son was still out there, somewhere. That he could potentially be in the house. He thought of Carl at that moment and felt tears sting his eyes.

Before he could do anything, Morgan glanced at him and tipped his head for the sheriff to follow him. Rick glanced one last time at Olivia who he was sure saw the tears glistening in his blue eyes, and followed after Morgan. He could feel Olivia's gaze on him but he shook the feeling away, and wiped the tears from his eyes, as Morgan made him take the lead. It was his house, his family… they needed to see him first.

Once the retreating figures of Morgan and Rick faded into the distance and into the house, Olivia turned to Duane. The boy was looking at his sore finger and gently pressing it. She walked to him, and bent down in front of him, resting her hands on his knees.

"You can always talk to me about anything. About your dad… about what's happening… anything that's worrying you… you can tell me," Olivia whispered. "And about what you told me, I'll keep an eye and an ear out, yeah?"

A soft, small and grateful smile formed on his mouth. The worry could still be seen in his eyes but it wasn't as big as it was before.

"Want to do me a huge favour?"

He nodded, and Olivia reached into the foot well of the vehicle and pulled out the map.

"Do you want to help find where we are?"

"Sure," Duane answered, grabbing the pen that Olivia offered him.

Olivia patted him on the shoulder and gave him a wink before standing. As Duane got to work, she stared out at the empty street and towards the abandoned houses. The lives that once lived in every house were gone. Either searching for answers like they were, searching for family or just generally lost.

It was difficult to comprehend that the world as they knew it was no more. The problems they had in their previous lives; bills, jobs, money, family, relationships, the future… all meant nothing now. The life she had always wanted was shattered before the dead started rising, and often, her mind would go elsewhere and ask the question she always feared answering. Was the dead rising a blessing in disguise?

The photo albums were missing, and a small glimmer of hope crept into Rick's heart. That had to mean something. And it did… Lori would never have left without at least taking something with her, a small token of the life she had before. The photo albums meant so much to Lori; all the captured moments that were now gone, with the family she had known and who had passed on before and after the outbreak, and the memories that, if put together, would extinguish the threat of the dead. And Rick knew Lori… she would have fought tooth and nail to ensure that they were with her. If she couldn't take Rick with her, the photo albums would take his place and he understood that by taking the albums with her, she was in some way taking a small piece of Rick with her.

As his hand touched the air where the photo albums had been, he was aware of Morgan entering the room. He had gone ahead and searched the house, as Rick was scared just in case Lori had ended it. A thought had popped into his mind, and no matter how hard he tried to push it out, he couldn't shake the fear he felt. If Lori had taken the photo albums, had she left the house with Carl and made her way out of this, or as Morgan's boots echoed from the floors above, had she taken the short walk upstairs and ended it, surrounded by the photos of her life? He was fearful, petrified just in case he had lost them. But when Morgan came into the room and shook his head, indicating that his family were not there, he offered a grateful smile.

"She took the photo albums," Rick said, standing to his full height.

"And some clothes," Morgan added. "I checked the wardrobes and most of her clothes are gone, as well as your son's clothes."

"They're alive…" whispered Rick.

Morgan bit his lip and shrugged. "Could mean that… but it's been, what? Two months since the world went to shit? If they are out there, and if they are still alive, still roaming around, then they're very lucky."

Rick knew he was right. Morgan said the words he was too scared to say. If they are still alive. Five small words, yet they were heavy, as if a weight was tied to them. They held so much hope, so much optimism. And he hoped the doubt of the sentence didn't convey with the reality.

As Duane sat in the passenger seat and his attention focused solely on the map Olivia had given him, Olivia took the opportunity to turn her attention on the surrounding area. It was a nice neighbourhood; one that she would have loved to have been able to call home as she grew up. The large trees and picturesque houses filled her heart with the possible memories of children growing up and living there.

She moved towards the large tree situated on the front lawn of Rick's family home, and smiled as she saw names carved into the wood.

C-A-R-L

L-O-R-I

R-I-C-K

A rough and jagged heart was etched into the bark underneath the three names. Olivia smiled, as she grazed her hand over the markings.

She thought of a time when her sister was around, and how they would spend warm summer evenings lying on their backs and looking up at the sky as the clouds broke apart and joined together. Their imaginations ran wild and allowed the clouds to create different shapes. They would giggle as they remembered jokes they heard and run as fast as they could when their mother called them in for dinner. They were young and carefree. The way it should always have been. But as she glanced back towards Duane, she felt almost guilty at the realisation that she, along with Rick and Morgan, had a childhood in which she could remember, and Duane… well, his childhood was over as soon as the dead started to rise. It was painful to think about, that Duane, as young as he was, would never be able to think back to his childhood and remember great things happening because it was brutally taken away from him. All his childhood would consist of would be running away from the dead and hoping to make it another day. He would never remember the joys of making new friends, going to college, or doing the job he wanted to do

She stole a glance towards the vehicle, her eyes focussing on Duane sitting in the passenger seat, busily finding their exact location on the map. She smiled and turned back. She stared at the house for a moment, thinking of the two men inside.

She would speak to Rick about Morgan, telling him about the fears that Duane had about his father. It was a serious matter, especially now that Duane had heard it himself. What had Morgan meant when he said 'he was going to be with her soon'?

A moan - the distinctive throaty moan that could only come from the dead - reached her ears, she turned around. The street was empty, but she had heard it loud and clear. Shuffling sounded next, and the sound of something dragging their feet against the ground. Her heart leaped into her throat and she moved towards Duane, and it was then that she saw it.

A walker had made its way towards the vehicle, its eyes greedily looking at Duane.

Rick found himself standing in the door frame of Carl's bedroom. It had been months since he had last seen his son, or even held him and kissed him goodnight. It had been so long that a piece of him feared that he would never find his son or his wife ever again, that he would never see or hold them again in his lifetime. Would he ever see them again? Was he just chasing the sun?

He was scared, that much was for certain.

"It'll be okay," Morgan said, as he came to stand next to Rick. "We'll find them. And we won't stop until we do."

"I really appreciate it, thank you," Rick said. "Thank you for everything that you've done so far."

"There's got to be some good left in this world," Morgan acknowledged. "As long as we have each other then nothing can go wro-" he stopped short as a scream filled their ears.

Morgan turned around at the sound, and found that Rick had already started running towards the sound. He followed after his friend, racing downstairs and out of the house, and onto the road. It was then that he saw it, and he had to take a moment to really capture the scene. Walkers were everywhere, and it reminded him of the previous night in the parking lot of the hospital. He watched as Rick set about killing the dead that had swarmed around Duane and Olivia. Morgan followed suit and started killing walkers. Rick fought his way through the dead. There were six walkers surrounding the vehicle and even though it could have been a lot worse, six was still a lot.

Morgan and Rick dispatched the walkers quickly, and made their way towards Olivia who was currently being straddled by a walker on the ground. Olivia was struggling, her body weak and the walker stronger than she had anticipated and expected. Rick grabbed the walker by the shoulders and pulled the man off her. The walker fell backwards, his body smashing to the ground with the force of Rick's strength. He pointed his gun at him, watching as the walker tried to claw at him. The sound of the bullet penetrating the skull of the man and the bone cracking under the pressure of the force sounded in their ears. As the life left the walker, Rick stole a glance at Olivia. She was leaning against the vehicle, her face was pale and her whole body shaking. Her eyes were wide, scared even, and her breathing was erratic. He knelt down to her level, slowly moving his hand towards her face where he lifted her head so that she could look at him. He stared into her fearful eyes and smiled sadly.

"Hey," he whispered.

Olivia blinked at him but didn't say anything. A quiet moment passed between them.

"Is Duane okay?" Her voice was small, vulnerable.

"Yeah," Rick began. "He's okay."

Olivia nodded and let out a shaky breath. Rick turned to look at Morgan who held Duane close to his body. That was a close call, he thought. He wouldn't make that mistake again.

It was late evening and the sun was slowly saying goodbye to another day, with the day slowly drawing to a close and the night sky offering a cooler night. The stars twinkled in the sky, resembling glitter on a dark canvas. Olivia smiled up to the sky, before closing her eyes to relish the cool air on her skin. She couldn't remember the last time she felt coolness on her skin since the summer weather began. It was a long, long time ago. A world away, it felt.

The screen door opened and closed but she didn't turn around. She could hear footsteps upon the wooden patio, down the steps before falling silent upon the grass. She had taken her shoes off, to feel the grass underneath her feet and in between her toes. There were moments like these where things didn't matter, that everything she had seen in the new world didn't pierce her thought bubble, and she was able to feel like it wasn't happening. That it was just a nightmare. One that she could wake from.

"Hey," a voice that, over the past few days, she had gotten used to called out behind her. She smiled and turned just as he came to stand next to her. He'd had a wash, cleaning the dirt and grime from his face. He was a handsome man with blue eyes that you could lost within. She hadn't noticed it before, she was used to seeing him with his eyes closed and him dreaming of a world completely different to the one he was living in now.

"Hey…" she smiled, before returning her gaze to the sky. The pinkish tone of the sky was darkening to a navy shade.

"You okay?" Rick asked, his voice soft and quiet.

Olivia thought for a moment, before nodding slowly. "Yeah… I guess so."

Rick nodded and stared out at the garden he'd spent many hours in trying to please Lori. His gardening skills lacked but his imagination always ran wild as he glanced at the climbing frame he had made one sunny Saturday afternoon. Carl had been delighted, and a smile so bright that it could light up a room had etched across his face. He loved playing in the garden, spending many hours playing on the frame. The frame came with monkey bars, a slide, two swings and a climbing part. It was magnificent. Rick had been jealous at the fact that he had never even set eyes on a thing as amazing as that whilst growing up.

He closed his eyes and thought back to the endless summers he would spend with Carl in the garden. The squeals of delight coming from Carl, the chuckles coming from him and the excitement building as Lori came down the steps with glasses of cold lemonade ready to be devoured by her two favourite boys. The days were long and warm and the nights were short, which only fuelled the need to get outside and play. He missed it… it would be the first summer that his family wouldn't be here and the first summer he wouldn't get to see the smile on his son's face.

"I just want to thank you for earlier…" Olivia said, her voice quivering slightly.

Rick turned and watched her for a moment. She wrapped her arms around her to stop herself from shaking. It wasn't because of the coolness the night sky had brought, but because of fear. He wanted to comfort her, the way he would often comfort Lori when she heard bad news but he shook away that thought.

"I don't know what happened. I froze… I felt numb…" Olivia whispered. "I've never felt like that before. The walker was just… there… and I could see his teeth aiming for me but I couldn't do anything. If it wasn't for you… then I-"

"Hey," Rick whispered, resting a reassuring hand upon her shoulder. "Ssh… it's over now. Don't think about it. Living in a loop of 'what if' isn't going to make you better. It happens. I'm just grateful you were there to protect Duane."

Olivia glanced at him and bit her lip. She gave him a tearful smile.

The two of them fell into a comfortable silence. Rick thought about Lori and Carl, wondering where they were. If they were still in King County. He had searched the house, noticing that the photo albums had all but disappeared as well as most of their clothes. The hope in his heart grew.

"Do you ever wonder if you were made for this world?" Olivia asked, turning to him.

Rick shook his head. "None of us are. We had to make the most of what we had before all of this, and it's the same story now. We do our best, and we make do with it."

Olivia nodded, and turned back. "When things first got bad, there were times when ending it all seemed right. But I'd look at you, in that bed and hooked up to the machines and think, 'If he can continue breathing and fighting to survive, then so can I'."

Rick watched Olivia and saw how she narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth as if she was going to continue. But when silence filled his ears, he bit his lip.

"Was it bad?"

She looked at him from the corner of her eye and nodded. "It felt like the worst nightmare that you've ever had, except every time you pinched yourself to wake up, nothing happened. You just ended up bruising yourself. Even now, there are some moments when I wake up and believe that it was just a dream and forget everything that I've seen… the cries coming from my colleagues as they were torn apart, the sounds and cries from the patients… then I get a whiff of the scent of blood, and death, like it's still in my clothes. And I remember."

Rick shook his head and closed his eyes. "It must have been awful."

Olivia was silent as her eyes moved back to the sky. The stars twinkled brightly above them, and wished for the day that she would be able to wake up one morning without the fear of dying or being eaten by a walker. She hoped for when the outbreak was controlled, and the walkers were gone and everything was restored again. Of a time when humanity and those left behind would be able to rebuild their lives and be able to plan for the future instead of planning for the day ahead, and trying to stay alive.

Olivia nodded. "Yeah, it was."

Rick pulled out a photograph from his pocket and stared at it for a moment, and Olivia glanced over and watched as he handed it to her.

She wished for Rick to be reunited with his family. His wife Lori was beautiful and had one of those faces that you could trust. The love for her husband and son was clear in her eyes. They were all smiling, with happiness evident on their faces and in their eyes. And Carl… was his father's double. He was a cute little thing and she could tell, as she stared at the picture Rick had shown her, that he was a fire cracker. He was so young, innocently thrown into the horrors that world had presented to him. Was he still the same little boy that stared back at her, or was he growing up, leaving his childhood behind? Like his father, he would grow up to be a handsome man. And Rick; he was younger in the picture, and his hair was shorter than what it was now, but she felt at ease looking at him. For so long she only had his comatose state to look at, and now, with him standing at the side of her, his eyes also on the picture she held in her small hands, he was different. She felt as if she had known him her entire life, which she had never felt before.

"I just want to thank you again… for staying… for having hope, and not giving up."

Olivia smiled, handing the photograph back. "Don't mention it. I'd like to think if it was me that others would have done the same."

"We should get inside, it's getting late," Rick whispered, putting the photograph back into his pocket. At that moment, Olivia yawned. Rick chuckled and took the lead as the both of them made their way back inside the house.

The sleeping plans were easy to organise: Rick would take the bed in the master bedroom that he used to share with Lori; Duane would take Carl's bed; Morgan would take the couch in Carl's room; and Olivia would take the couch downstairs. Morgan had the first watch, and Olivia had the second whilst Rick would rest to ensure he would be okay for the journey the next day.

The three of them found that as soon as their heads met with the soft pillows, their bodies immediately relaxed and sleep welcomed them with open arms. They dreamed of a world where the dead remained dead, and the living were brought back.