I had fallen asleep in my truck and when I woke up it was around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. I sighed and got out stretched a little and walked over to the rest of the group. I sat up on the RV with Dale overlooking the quarry while I was sharpening my knives.

"Hey, Dale?" I said looking up at the gray haired man.

"Yeah. What's on your mind Raven." I sighed and crossed my legs.

"Is it just me or does everyone here treat me like an outcast?" He sighed and sat in the chair he had set up.

"I think they just aren't used to you yet. Give them time." I sighed

"I just feel like no one wants me here. Anytime I offer to help out they just ignore me or don't know what to do with me. I just want help out." He rubbed his snow white beard.

"Tell you what. Next time I'm on watch duty you can come with me and I'll let you be on point." I smiled up at him.

"Thank Dale." I said with a smile and he patted me on the head. We sat there for a while till Andrea and Amy came back with over a dozen fish. I hopped down from the RV.

"Holy shit girls." I said looking at their catch. The girls handed the fish to Morales.

"Thanks to you ladies my kids will eat tonight." He said swinging the catch towards Lori who flinched away. Dale had run off after seeing something through his binoculars. I didn't pay much mind to it, I was way too excited to eat some fish for dinner.

"Where did you two learn to do that?" Lori asked them in amazement.

"Our dad." Amy responded happy as a clam.

"Can you teach me how to do that?" Carl said standing next to Morales awing the fish. I laughed and took a drink out of my canteen.

"Sure. I'll teach you all about nail knots and stuff. If that's okay?" Amy said to Lori basically asking for permission.

"You won't catch me arguing." Lori said with a bright smile on her face. I saw Dale coming up the path and so did the rest of the group.

"Hey Dale. When's the last time you oiled those line reels? They are a disgrace." Andrea said with a slight laugh. He seemed a little out of it and worried about something.

"I, uh. I don't want to alarm anyone, but we may have a bit of a problem." Dale turned around and looked over on a hill a little off in the distance and we all saw Jim digging.

"Dale? How long has he been up there?" I asked walking over next to him.

"I honestly don't know. I only noticed him after our conversation on the RV." He said in response. Shane came over and stood next to me.

"Okay, well let's go get him." Shane said and we all walked off to talk to Jim. I was pulling up the rear end of the group. Everyone seemed worried about Jim. Except Ed, he hadn't left his tent since I busted open his face.

Once we finally got to Jim I was already sweating bullets. It had to have been easily 100 degrees outside today. Especially with that sun beating down on us. He didn't seem that far away but, I was obviously wrong because it took a good 15-20 minutes to get to him. The rest of the group standing by Jim had stopped for a second and then he just kept digging.

'What the hell is he digging for? Did he bury something? Is he going to bury something?' Questions flooded my mind as I watched him keep digging.

"You're hurting yourself. It's 100 degrees today. You can't keep this up." Dale was obviously worried about him.

"Sure I can. Watch me." Jim said and just kept digging. Something about it was all so unsettling. I couldn't put my finger on it but something wasn't right about him. He wasn't his normal self.

"Jim, they're not gonna say it so I will. You're scaring people." Lori said moving to the front of the group.

"You're scaring my son and Carol's daughter." Jim stopped and looked at her.

"They got nothing to be scared of. I mean, what the hell, people? I'm out here by myself. Why don't you all just go and leave me the hell alone?" Jim was obviously getting frustrated with everyone being there. I walked up to the front of the group.

"Look Jim, we think you need to take a break, okay?" I said standing next to my brother.

"Why don't you go and get yourself in the shade? Some food maybe?" I finished.

"Hey I'll tell you what. Maybe in a little bit I'll come out here. I'll help you myself." Shane said, trying to get Jim to just stop.

"Jim, just tell us what this is about. Why don't you go ahead and give me that shovel?" I asked him to hold my hand out.

"Or what?" I looked at him a bit taken back by his words and I looked over at Shane.

"There is no or what. I'm asking you. We're asking you. I'm coming to you and asking you, Just hand me the shovel, please. I don't want to have to take it from you." I asked him again. I was starting to feel my heart break. He didn't trust me, hell no one did and I couldn't really blame them. I mean they kinda looked to Shane for leadership and then I came around and caused problems. Jim stopped and looked at me.

"And if I don't, then what? Then you're gonna beat my face in like Ed Peletier, aren't you?" I looked down and my wrapped knuckles.

"Y'all seen his face, huh? What's left of it." Jim yelled to the rest of the group.

It was just making me feel worse and like I was the monster and not Ed.

"See, now that's what happens when someone crosses you." I looked Jim dead in the eye completely emotionless.

"That was different, Jim." I said with a stern voice.

"You weren't there. Ed was out of control. He was hurting his wife." Amy said, defending me. I looked back at him and gave her a slight nod and mouthed a thank you to her.

"That is their marriage. That is not hers. She is not a Judge or Jury. Who voted you Queen boss, huh?" He yelled at Amy and then turned his attention back at me.

"Jim, I'm not here to argue with you, all right? Just give me the shovel, okay?" I said walking towards him.

"No. No. No." He said and I got closer to him.

"Just give me the." Jim pushed me back and swung the shovel at me.

"Jim!" I yelled at him dodging the shovel. That's when Shane came in and tackled Jim to the ground.

"Okay, Shh shh." Shane said as Jim was yelling.

"You got no right!"

"Stop."

"You got no right!" Jim was struggling against Shane and I just walked away. As I was heading back to camp I pulled the bandages off my hands. My knuckles were still cut open and raw, but at this point. I didn't care. I could hear Shane trying to calm down Jim. That was till I heard Jim talking about how his family died. How the biggest lie you could tell anyone was that no one would hurt them. He was right, it was the biggest lie.

You tell your caravan that no one would hurt any of them because we were the strongest and then I was the only one that survived. I told myself that everyday in the mirror and I still let men I thought loved me hurt me. It was the world's biggest and most told lie.

"You know the only reason I got away was because the dead were too busy eating my family." Jim said looking right at Lori.

'God that's gonna mess her up.' I told myself. Jim's face was dead and emotionless. He had finally calmed down enough to be taken back to camp and that's just what we did.

Shane tied him up to a tree and left him there. We chalked it up to Jim just having heatstroke. I decided to wander off into the woods and climbed a tree. I was always better on my own and after everything that Jim said I was sure no one wanted me around for a while. I sighed and stared up into the trees.

"I wish I had my camera. This would be a beautiful picture." I said out loud not really thinking.

"You always were able to find beauty in the worst times." A voice said from down below. I had pulled out my hand gun and aimed it at the person. It was just Shane.

"Why'd you leave?" He said climbing up into the tree with me.

"Didn't think people would want me around. After what I did to Ed. And what Jim said. I guess I'm the monster to the group." Shane shook his head.

"You aren't a monster Raven. You're a kind and caring person and you don't tolerate people you care about being hurt. That doesn't make you a monster." He took a deep breath.

"Look they don't know you the way I do. Raven, you're my best friend. Hell you may be my sister but we both know that doesn't matter unless you got the paperwork to prove it. I know you." Shane said moving closer to me. He took my free hand in his and looked down and my bruised and tattered knuckles.

"I know what you've been through. I know the type of person you are." His words were like a knife cutting into my very soul. The way he was holding my hand wasn't like we were ever related or anything like that. It was like he was finally confessing his feelings to his high school crush. I won't lie when I first met Shane I had a thing for him but, by law we were related and it would have been wrong but, now the world was over and to anyone's knowledge we were just friends who ended up calling each other siblings like Rick and I. The only one in the whole camp who knew we were siblings via adoption was Lori. I was snapped back to reality by Shane placing a hand on my cheek.

"Raven, I've known you for what feels like my whole life. I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you. I know you're not a monster. And I will make sure the others know that too even if it kills me. I love you Raven." Shane leaned closer to me, our lips centimeters apart; that's when I hear Dale hollering for Shane.

"Shane!" I looked at Shane and jumped out of the tree running to my truck.

'What the fuck was that! Pull your shit together Raven. He's your brother. I mean not blood related or anything like that. No stop. It's still wrong!' I was mentally beating myself up over this.

I walked back into the camp and Shane was talking to Jim. Lori and Carol were helping the kids with homework. End of the world and the poor things, still had school.

"Jim, take some water?" Shane asked Jim.

"Alright." He said Shane lifted a cup to his lips and Jim drank.

"Pour some on my head?" Jim asked and Shane did so soaking the man.

"Cooling you down, huh?" Shane asked.

"Yeah." He responded with a chuckle. I was leaning against a tree watching Shane. You would think after what just happened not 5 minutes ago I wouldn't be staring but I couldn't help it. He was a good man. Cared about everyone and made sure everyone was safe. He only wanted what was best for everyone and I admired that about him. Shane looked up and caught me staring at him. I gave him a weak smile and looked somewhere else.

"How long are you gonna keep me like this?" Jim finally asked Shane.

"Well, yeah. Until I don't think you're a danger to yourself or others." Jim nodded and looked over to Lori, Carol, and the kids.

"Sorry if I scared your boy and your little girl."

"You had sunstroke. Nobody's blaming you." Lori said to him.

"You're not scared now, Are you?" Jim asked the kids.

"No sir." Sophia said to Jim. She was a shy kid. I rarely ever heard her talk or say anything. It was probably because of her father.

"Your mama's right. Sun just cooked my head." Jim said to Carl.

"Jim, do you know why you were digging? Can you say?" Dale said, still worried about Jim.

"I had a reason. Don't remember. Something I dreamt last night." Jim said to Dale.

"Your dad was in it. You were too. You were worried about him. Can't remember the rest. You worried about your dad?" Jim asked Carl.

"They're not back yet." He said to Jim.

"We don't need to talk about that." Lori said, rubbing Carl's back.

"Your dad's a police officer, son. He helps people. Probably just came across some folks needing help, that's all. That man, he is tough as nails. I don't know him well but...I could see it in him. Am I right?"

"Oh yeah." Shane responded.

"There ain't nothing gonna stop him from getting back here to you and your mom, I promise you that." I saw Shane look over at Lori with an odd look on his face. Jim then turned to me.

"Raven, I'm sorry for what I said. You didn't deserve it." I shrugged.

"It's fine. You're not wrong." I walked off over to the RV.

"Alright, who wants to help me clean some fish?" The kids got up all excited.

"Sweet. Come on, Sophia." Carl said running after Shane and Carol followed behind after Lori told them to stay with her. I watched as they all gathered around the fire pit and started to gut the fish. They looked happy. Everyone looked happy except for me. I lived in my own world of misery aside from this new world.