—  AFTER DECIDING THAT THEY WOULDN'T KILL Jim off, much to Daryl and Nate's distaste, the whole group had decided to set out for CDC, as Rick seemed to think that it would be a safe place to go and that there could be a cure there for Jim in hopes that he would get better. Zoe felt bad for fibbing on the man, but if she hadn't, he would have died and turned into one of those things; this way, he might actually have a chance at surviving. That, and he could have attacked the others, including her family. She had actually confided in her father about how awful she felt about the whole situation, but Rick had assured her that she had done the right thing - so Zoe didn't think much of it after that moment.

Everyone had been packing the multiple cars full of their things, ready to take off onto the road and find the CDC, leaving their camp once and for all, when Shane came up to the group and spoke up loudly, gaining everyone's attention. "Everybody listen up." He called, "Those of you with C.B's, we're gonna be on channel forty, let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a C.B, can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan." He continued, "Any questions?"

No one said anything, but Morales, who stepped forward, ready to announce what he and his family had decided to do, "We're uh... we're not going." He announced to the group. "We have family in Birmingham." He said. They had discussed it all night, after Rick had suggested they all go to the CDC, and they had finally come to an agreement about going off on their own - they would miss everyone, but it's for the best.

"We want to be with our people." His wife nodded in agreement. Zoe watched with saddened eyes, as she sat on the hood of a vehicle with her brother and mom. She didn't want to see the group depart ways, as they had all been together since the start, it would be too hard if everyone were to split up.

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your backs." Shane reminded him, not liking the idea of the group beginning to split up.

"We'll take the chance." Morales sighed, nodding besides his family. "I got to do what's best for my family."

"You sure?" Rick asked, to make sure that Morales knew what he was doing. Going on his own was a big risk that he was wanting to take.

Zoe couldn't bare to lose another person from the group, so she tuned them all out and pulled Carl in for a tight hug, as he seemed pretty upset about seeing them leave, too. He had been quite close with the kids of their family, so he was quite upset to see them go and loose some friends. At least he still had Sophia - the two were pretty close. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Daryl looking pretty annoyed at the fact that Rick and Shane were giving Morales a gun and ammo, as they couldn't afford to be giving free stuff away, their people or not, it was too risky, and he didn't think they should be taking the risk.
Nate was looking straight at Zoe, watching to make sure that she was okay after the other night. Since he had met her, he had noticed that her brother and mom came before everything else, and that family meant everything to her. Now that Rick was here, he could see where she had gotten it from. He respected it, as it had always been him and Daryl, when Merle had left them with their father..

When Zoe caught him looking straight at her in a trance, she felt the blush rise to her cheeks, just as Nate looked away quickly, pretending that he hadn't been looking at her once before. Ever since she and Nate had met, she felt drawn to bring him out of his shell, and she had no idea why. It was like a mission, to get him to open up, and she wanted to complete it. She knew she was getting there.. She also needed to thank him for saving her life the other night, as she didn't know what would happen if he wasn't there for her, she owed him, big time.

Within the next ten minutes of ensuring they had everything ready for the journey and they had all of their belongings with them, they all set off in their multiple vehicles and started to drive towards the CDC, all hoping that Rick was going to be right, and there would be safety there. They didn't know what they were going to do if he was wrong. Zoe didn't exactly know what to think about the CDC, but if her dad thought that it was a good idea, then she will do whatever he suggests. She will always, trust her father, no matter what.

____

After a while of driving down the roads, dodging parked cars left right and centre, the RV had eventually broken down, causing the group to pause with their journey and wait for Shane and T-Dog to come back with something from the gas station, to be able to fix the RV. They couldn't leave it behind, as it was a big importance to the group, so they had to push through and try and fix it with what they had. Zoe was currently sitting on the hood of the car, as the adults were talking over about what to do with Jim a few cars over, just as Nate came over and hopped up next to her, both sitting and watching as the adults commerced in conversation. It wasn't that they weren't bothered about what happened to Jim, they weren't allowed to be involved, clearly younger than the rest of the group.
Zoe sighed when she felt his presence besides her, taking a glance at the broken down RV, before looking up at Nate besides her, "That could have been me in there." She spoke quietly, motioning to the dying Jim currently in the RV, "If it weren't for you.. I never thanked you. So... Thank-you." She told him.

Nate nodded, knowing that she was really grateful for him saving her life the night before, looking forward, he spoke up, "You're welcome." He paused, "Jim wants to be left behind to turn into one of those things." He told Zoe, as he had overheard what the adults were conversing about.
He didn't agree with it one bit, but, knowing the kind of guy Rick was, Jim was going to get his wish granted. It wasn't a bad thing, to be a good person - but with how the world currently was, no body could risk being the good guy. Somebody had to be the bad cop every now and then, and by the looks of it, that guy was Shane..

"What?" Zoe gasped, looking up at him in shock, "Why would he possibly want that?" She asked. The last thing she would ever want, was to turn into one of those things, she would rather die.

Nate shrugged at her question, "Something about his family and being with them again, I don't know. I wasn't really listening." He told her truthfully.

"The worlds really gone to shit, hasn't it?" Zoe sighed, slouching down in her place. Before the end of the world happened, she hated school, but right now, she missed it. She missed the normality, she missed not worrying about dying everyday.. She missed it all.

"Yeah, it has." Nate said, sighing. Nate didn't exactly miss his old life. Having an abusive dad who beat you relentless because he believed the boy had killed his girlfriend, wasn't the best time of his life. But when the outbreak occurred, the man died, and Nate couldn't have been happier at the fact he no longer had to see his face again.. He would never admit that out loud though, afraid what Zoe would think of him if he did.

Zoe looked up at him at his words, only to see him looking right back at her already, causing her to smile slightly, at the fact he seemed to be opening up to her a little more, as she had been trying for months to get him to talk to her, and he had never been interested, that is, until now. She was wondering what had changed in him, but she wouldn't question it, she was just happy he was finally talking. Their longing gazes was interrupted by Rick, who shouted his daughters name, "Zoe!" He yelled, having finished deciding what to do with Jim and needing to set off once again to the CDC. He saw that she was conversing with the youngest Dixon, and he didn't exactly know how to feel about it due to the fact that Merle and Daryl weren't the best examples - so he knew that he had to keep an eye on Nate if he were to befriend his daughter.
Back when Zoe was just turning sixteen, he had a hard time keeping her away from boys, as she had been wanting to be 'that girl', but with the whole town knowing that he was the sheriff, it had been pretty hard for the girl, so it had made his job easy.. He just wished he wasn't going to have to step in.

Zoe turned around to see everyone gathering back in their own vehicles, as Daryl was a walking towards her and Nate, to get on his motorbike, which sat besides the vehicle she and Nate were currently sitting on, which was T-Dog's.
She took one last look at Nate, giving him a soft smile, before jumping down and jogging after her father, hopefully to finally make it to the CDC.

As they pulled into the abandoned city, the engines all cut off as the group looked around at the old war zone. Bodies lying everywhere and empty gun shells on the ground - it was a sight that Zoe had never seen before, and it was haunting.
Gathering together, Shane looked around the group, "All right, everybody." He said, holding up his shotgun, "Keep moving. Stay quiet." He ordered, causing the others to nod at him.

The entire place looked like it had been bombed, with dead bodies scattered everywhere, walker and normal. Glass shards were scattered around, as well as rubbish and broken down cars that looked like they had exploded. Zoe had never seen anything so horrible before, if this wasn't an example that the world had ended, she didn't know what was. She looked besides her to see that Nate was walking close besides her with his cross brow drawn, causing her to sigh in relief, now feeling safe with him there.

With a deep breath, she took hold of Carl's hand, who was walking besides her and held a tight grip on him, as the group started to walk towards the main building of the CDC, which had looked completely abandoned.. Rick was at the front of the group, with Shane closely after. They had both tried to lift the shutters on the front doors before grunting and stopping when they didn't move. It made the group fear that they had made the wrong choice.

"Nothing?" Zoe asked in fear, still keeping her tight hold on Carl, not wanting to let go, and him not wanting to, either. No one liked being in the city this close to dark, as it was incredibly dangerous.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog called, feeling exposed in the city.

"Then why are these shutters down?" Rick asked, as Daryl turned and noticed a few walkers in the yard, heading straight for them after noticing they were alive. He held up his crossbow in preparation for them coming.

"Walkers!" Daryl called, as he and Nate began to take them down, one by one, shooting arrows in their heads. They made sure not to make too much noise, hence why they weren't using their guns. Nate and Daryl were probably the best when it came to stealth, being able to take anything out silently - they had their childhood to thank for that, with their countless hunting trips and surviving in the woods away from their abusive dad..

Daryl then turned to Rick and started yelling at him about making the wrong call, causing the kids to start crying in fear that they were going to die. Zoe pulled Carl tighter into her as she looked around at their surroundings in fear. They couldn't be stuck in the city this late at night, it was too dangerous. Nate glanced back at her to see that the girl was scared, and he didn't like it one bit - he wished that they hadn't come here, it had obviously been the wrong choice. But it was a chance that Rick had to take, so he didn't blame him one bit.

"Rick, this is a dead end." Shane told Rick, moving back towards the shutters with his gun held high. He knew they should have gone to Fort Benning, if only his friend had listened to him.

"Where are we gonna go?" Carol asked in worry, clinging onto her daughter for dear life. Zoe was the same with Carl, not letting him go under any circumstances. She wasn't going to risk it, and the fact that Rick was concentrated on getting the main door to the building open, meant that she needed to step up and keep him safe.

"She's right, we can't be this close to the city after dark." Lori spoke up, as she kept grips on both of her children.

"Fort Benning. Rick, it's still an option." Shane pleaded with Rick, as that is where he wanted to go in the first place. He knew he should have thought harder with the decision - he thought that he was the better man for the job of being the leader, and he wanted to prove that. He will prove that.

"On what?" Andrea asked. "No food, no fuel, it's one hundred miles."

"It's one hundred and twenty five, I checked the map." Glenn cut in, reloading his weapon in case he were to need to use it. Daryl and Nate were still shooting walkers heads, as they approached, fast, and more kept coming.

"Forget Fort Benning, we needs answers tonight. Now!" Lori snapped, as Carl started to cry more.

"It's okay Carl." Zoe soothed, as he held onto her with dear life - he was terrified.

"We'll think of something." Rick told them, stressing out.

Everyone started speaking all at once, telling everyone to move and get out of the area, it was all a big panic. That's when Rick noticed something, as Lori started to pull both of her kids back to the cars. "The camera. It moved." He spoke up, keeping his eyes on what he believed to be a working camera.

Shane was pleading to Rick to get a move on, as Nate walked up closer to Zoe to stand next to her protectively, But Rick wouldn't budge, even with everyone's shouts. "I know you're in there!" He shouted at the camera, slamming on the shutters, acting like a crazy person.

"Rick, there's no one in there!" Lori pleaded. She rushed towards Rick to calm him down, but he wouldn't budge; he was dead-set I'm getting the doors open to keep the group safe.

Zoe held onto Nate's arm as Nate stood in front Carl and her, to stop any walkers from getting close to them.. "You're killing us!" Rick yelled.

"Come on, brother." Shane shouted, attempting to pull Rick back.

"You're killing us!" Rick shouted once more, with more volume.

They all started to run away from the building and back to their cars, to hopefully survive the night and get away from the city, when suddenly, a loud noise from behind stopped them all, causing them to pause in their footsteps. When they all turned around, a bright white light was illuminating on them, as the doors to the CDC opened, Zoe cried in relief, maybe they would survive another day.