Sakiko cringes in disgust at the sight of a caved in deer body- something clearly having gone to town with a full meal out of it. Shaking off the gross feeling, she continues walking, using a larger stick she'd found to knock away tree branches that were in her eyeline and weeds she didn't trust from her ankles.

She wasn't sure how long it had been since she'd run out of camp, but it was nearing nighttime as the weather got chillier and the sky took to vibrant orange that she would've thought looked pretty at any other time in her life. She'd ran for awhile just to make sure Nanami couldn't catch up to her before she coursed into a slower walk. She snacked on a bag of chips and found some berries that Daryl had taught the twins about- though the deer seemed to be the climax of her walk thus far.

As the sun set further, she began to worry as she had no light source. Then, she stumbled into an open clearing where an old camper and few tents were laid out, one of the tents on the ground with mud covering it. She figures shelter is shelter and heads for the camper, the door already wide open as if greeting her.

"Anyone here?" she questions, peering into the camper.

When there's no sound among the crickets' loud chirping, she pulls the door closed and sets her bag on the floor. She shuffles through the drawers and cabinets, soon finding a small lantern that takes her a few minutes to turn on. Once it's turned on, the inside of the camper illuminates, looking like a scene straight out of a horror movie.

Sakiko carefully steps over the large, red stain on the floor, fearing she knew what it was but didn't want to get close enough to find out.

There was more blotches on the walls, one of the cabinet doors that she'd just had her hand on- the thought making her look to her hand just to make sure she hadn't touched it. But, even though her skin was clean, she wipes her palm on her jeans.

She finds the bed soon enough, setting the lantern on the chair beside it and collapsing on the mattress.

The silence was almost comforting to her- no one telling her what to do or how to behave. Just her, for the first time in her life.

"Not too bad," she whispers, patting the mattress under her, "Not bad at all."

--

Nanami didn't sleep that night. Glenn brought some food to his tent, but the young boy only stared at the plate that lay in the spot his sister once did.

The group searched all day for Sakiko.. Most of them, anyway.

Glenn, T-Dog, Dale, Jim, Amy, Andrea, and Morales helped look for her, that is.

When nighttime arrived, T-Dog thought he heard a 'geek' nearby and ushered everyone back to camp where they promised Nanami to continue the search at first light. Maybe then Daryl would be back as well and their tracker could find his girl.

But, Nanami knew that the moment Daryl got back things would only get worse.

Who was going to be the one to tell him that the group left Merle Dixon behind in Atlanta? Who was going to be the one to tell him that Sakiko ran off?

Nanami dreaded Daryl's return while also being desperate for the man to come back. If he dwelled to long on it, he would become more terrified.

Why hadn't Daryl made it back yet? The four of them were supposed to leave and now Merle was handcuffed to a roof in Atlanta, Sakiko was missing, and Daryl (at best) was running late.

Nanami could only listen to the sounds of the group's chatter out by the fire and cry himself through the sleepless night.

--

Sakiko weighed options in her mind once she woke up and ate her breakfast.

She could stay in this gross camper for awhile longer and risk the group finding her, or she could go ahead and head out to get further away.

She was certain Daryl was back at camp by this point, the group now having informed him of both missing people that he was sworn to keep an eye on. She wondered for a second if he was worried about her before thumping herself on the head for thinking those useless thoughts again. With a few personal scolding words, she grabs her bag and heads back out of the camper.

She didn't know where she was, but wouldn't consider herself lost. She knew the park's entrance was probably getting closer- even more so if she got back to the road. Instead, she puts one foot in front of the other and swears to walk in one direction to try and get out of the woods.

--

Nanami was combing through the woods with Ryan when they heard screams. The two don't say a word, rushing off in the direction they heard it. As they make it back to camp, they nearly run face to face with Daryl.

"Shit, kid, where the hell you off to?" Daryl asks him, ruffling his hair.

"What happened?" Ryan asks, noticing Sophia in tears as she clung onto her mother.

"Eh, kids got caught up with a biter. Ain't nothing happen," Daryl shrugs off the close encounter.

Nanami swallows down the lump in his throat, forcing his feet to move to chase after Daryl as he walks through camp.

"Where's Merle and Kiko? Need their help with the skinnin'. Think Kiko and you both need to learn how to skin squirrels since the biter got my damn venison."

"Daryl-" Nanami tries only for Shane to cut him off.

"Hey Daryl, slow up a bit. I need to talk to you," Shane calls.

"About what?" Daryl asks, coming to a stop in his walk.

He looks over to Nanami, though their eyes don't meet as the boy was staring at the ground. Nanami was angry, but for what, he wasn't quite sure. Shane for cutting him off, Sakiko for running away, the group for not finding her and all but letting her go, the group also for leaving Merle behind, Daryl for showing up so late.. His mind was racing.

"About Merle.. Sakiko, too," Shane answers.

At once, Daryl's guard goes up even more than before.

What did Merle say to get in trouble? What did Sakiko have to do with it? Did something happen to them? Did something happen between them? They'd already gotten into one argument- had it happened again?

"Seems like Merle asked her to snatch a few guns from the RV," Shane begins, "I found the guns and ammo on her. She said Merle told her to do it."

Guilt. Daryl felt guilt creep into his stomach.

"Then, there was a uh- a problem in Atlanta. Merle didn't make it back to camp," Shane continues.

"Didn't make it back?" Daryl repeats, "The hell does that mean?"

"Think that because he didn't make it back, Sakiko got afraid of being in trouble. She ran off yesterday just a couple hours after the group came back."

"Hold on.." Daryl shakes his head, "What the hell are you trying to tell me? Is Merle dead? Where did Sakiko go?"

"We're not sure about Merle.. And we can't pick up on Sakiko's tracks- we were hoping you could. We've tried looking for her but we can't," Shane explains.

"You're not sure?" Daryl repeats once more, "Either he's dead or he ain't. If y'all pricks are looking for her, why are you all holed up here twiddling your damn thumbs?"

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it," Rick says as he walks over as well.

"Who the hell are you?" Daryl asks the unfamiliar man.

"Rick Grimes."

"'Rick Grimes'? You got something you wanna tell me? It best be telling me where the hell my brother and my kid are," Daryl challenges, squaring up to Rick.

"Your brother was a danger to us all. So, I handcuffed him to a roof, hooked him on a piece of metal. He's still there," Rick explains, "And we're doing all we can to find your daughter, but she seems to have been faster than we were ready for."

Daryl shakes his head, pacing around, "Hold on, let me process this."

He looks to Nanami once again and Nanami nervously bites his lip.

"I've been looking.. She's just gone," Nanami whispers, looking back to the dirt.

"So, you're telling me.." Daryl begins, looking back to the two officers.

Rick and Shane take a step closer together, looking wearily to Daryl like the man was a ticking time bomb.

"You handcuffed my brother to a roof and left him there, you lost one of my kids, and have been letting my other kid go out there looking for her alone?"

Rick and Shane couldn't argue- that was precisely what had happened.

"Yeah," Rick answers.

Daryl takes a step back, a glare setting in his eyes before he launches the rope with squirrels tied on it to Rick's head.