— GETTING OUT OF THE woods was something that everyone needed, whilst it was safer to travel in the woods to avoid the people of Terminus who may be following them, still, and Rick didn't want to take any precaution when it came to them. Zoe and Nate didn't exactly care where they were, as long as they were together, they didn't exactly care where they were, or what they were doing, since reuniting, they had been nothing but glad to be in each other's company, but now that the whole group had found their way back to one another, nothing could truly dampen their spirit.. Nate had fallen asleep first around the campfire, all the while Zoe scratched his scalp in a relaxing manner to calm him, it had ultimately worked, and the man fell asleep not long after she had begun doing it; she gave Daryl a smile when the older man looked over at her from afar, and he smiled back, before she finally laid her head back against the tree, slowly falling asleep eventually, gently scratching her boyfriends head as she did so, finding comfort in knowing that he was here with her, and they weren't split up anymore.

The morning when the two of them woke up, they found themselves bundled on the ground, curled together like an egg, and they had slept like that for most of the night, with Zoe wrapped around his arms, as if he was acting as a shield in the night where he couldn't protect her as well as if he was awake. Zoe couldn't help but smile up at Nate when she woke up first, stroking his face with a pure look of love on her own, until he finally woke up and smirked down at her, the girl leaning in for a long kiss as they had missed the feeling of waking up next to one another. It didn't matter to them that they were sleeping on a hard and cold floor, they were together, and that's all that really mattered to them — Nate felt confused when he woke up, forgetting where he was and who he was with, but when he saw his girl stroking his face and gazing at him with nothing but love and adoration, he instantly remembered that he had been reunited with the love of his life and the rest of their family, and his chest immediately warmed at the remembrance. "Morning." He mumbled, as the pairs faces were so close, their noses were nearly touching.

Zoe didn't reply at first, leaning in to give the man another kiss as the sunlight peeked through the tree tops, the whole group beginning to fidget and finally wake up, a few groaning in annoyance since they wanted more sleep. "Morning." She eventually replied, feeling warm in his arms and not wanting to move; they had a small blanket wrapped around them, the exact blanket that belonged to Daryl, so they both guessed that the man had given them his blanket during the night since he was on watch and didn't need it. The sight made the couple smile as they began to pack their things back into their bags, knowing that they couldn't have much time to sit around this morning due to the fact that they had to keep going, and hopefully, find a sanctuary soon enough, and finally settle down again. Nate didn't have much hope at finding one as good as the prison was, since that place gave everyone their own space, their own privacy, and nothing could ever match the feeling that everyone had there; Zoe, on the other hand, kept her hope up, because if she let it drop, she wouldn't be able to go on anymore..

Walking side by side with the rest of the group around an hour later, after having something to eat and some squirrel to eat, thanks to Daryl, Nate held his girlfriends left hand as the walked onwards, scowling when he remembered the bastard that took the ring he found for Zoe, the one that Beth had cleaned for him and kept it for when his head was back in the game, when he finally got the hope that he would get his girl back. He wanted nothing but to propose to her, to be able to call her his wife, to be able to officially say that she was his, but now that the ring was gone and nowhere to be found, he felt like he couldn't do it; the girl deserved a ring, she deserved the absolute best he could give her. Which is why he was going to wait.
Daryl made everyone uneasy when he walked out from the tree line with a load of rabbits on his back, since the night before, he and Carol had sworn that someone was watching them, everyone was on edge, keeping an eye out even more now that they knew someone was watching them from the shadows. They didn't know if it could be someone new, or someone from Terminus, and they couldn't be too relaxed if they were out there somewhere, lurking in the shadows and waiting for the right moment to pounce.

"I didn't think I would ever say these words out loud, but I miss being in prison." Zoe told Nate as they followed behind Rick, Daryl and Abraham, a bunch of the others walking behind them with their own conversations going on. Nate chuckled in amusement as the girl carried on, "It wasn't the best bed, not like Hershel's, or the ones in the CDC, but at least they were beds. I'm kind of fed up of sleeping on the floor and in empty cars." She continued, as Nate instantly felt awful that she wasn't sleeping well. He had been too exhausted to stay awake last night, especially when the girl began scratching his forehead gently, it sent him to sleep almost immediately, but if he knew that she wasn't sleeping as well, he would have let her lie in between his legs, and he would have stayed up with her.

Nate didn't exactly believe he would ever hear those words come from her mouth, either, maybe in their world, but in the old world, where walkers didn't threaten their lives every day, he couldn't imagine the girl even going near a prison, especially since her dad and godfather were cops. "Imagine saying those words before all of this." Nate told her, smiling to himself since he knew that if the world didn't end, he may even be visiting Daryl and Merle in prison, and one day, he may have joined them both; he didn't think he would have done anything bad, probably just robbery or drugs, but he didn't exactly need to tell Zoe that. His life before all of this didn't matter to him anymore, and it didn't to Daryl, either — they both did what they had to, to survive even before walkers began to roam the earth, they didn't come from good families, not like most people he roamed with now, but ultimately, it didn't matter, because the people he traveled with now, they were his family.

Zoe laughed out loud, causing Rick to turn his head slightly, glancing at his daughter before looking back in front, carrying on his conversation with Abraham about finally getting out of the woods for good. "I don't think I would've even set eyes on a prison if none of this happened. Mom and dad were always so careful when it came to even watching things that involved stuff like that. It was crazy." She explained, smiling to herself when she remembered her life before the outbreak.

Nate looked down at her smile and couldn't help but smile himself at the sight, the sight always warming his heart, even if he was dying, if he saw Zoe smile, he wouldn't be able to hold his back, "I can imagine Rick being like that." He said, knowing that if the man was anything like he was now with his kids, he must have been like that before walkers were even a thing. Nate couldn't even imagine growing up with someone that cared so much about him that they didn't want him watching anything scary, he never had that, until now, where he had multiple people that cared for him and loved him.

"Yeah." Zoe sighed, as he definitely was overbearing to say the least, but at least he cared, and she could say that she was alive today because of him. "You know.." The girl began, when they all heard a distant voice far away, yelling for help and sounding like he was terrified of what he was up against; the sound made Zoe and Nate immediately stop in their tracks, letting go of each other's hands and grabbing for their guns at the exact same time, raising them and glancing behind the group whilst everyone else took different directions to look in, just in case this was an ambush.

"Dad, come on!" Zoe heard Carl tell their dad, clearly wanting to help the man in trouble, but the girl didn't exactly know how she felt about that, and neither did Nate. With everything they had been through, the couple didn't think they could truly trust a stranger ever again, not like Carl, who was still to naive to the world around them all. "Come on." He repeated, when Rick hadn't done anything to show that he wanted to help the stranger, either, just like Zoe and Nate, who hadn't moved a muscle in that direction.

But when they saw everyone begin to rush that way, Zoe and Nate sighed at the same time, again, simultaneously acting the same way, "Shit." Nate muttered, following after Zoe as they both took off in the direction of the screaming, just like the rest of the group; they didn't exactly want to help the stranger, knowing that it could lead to something like Terminus again, but none the less, they followed, and by the time they made it to the man screaming for help, the walkers were all dead, and the man was sat on top of a huge rock, shaking in fear and almost on the verge of tears.
He was wearing a strange outfit considering the world they lived in, but Zoe really wasn't one to judge, especially since none of them had showered in months, and their clothes were all stained with blood, mud and sweat, making them all look like they had been living in the woods their whole lives.

When Rick told some of the others to keep watch, Nate and Zoe stayed close, and watched the man on top of the rock, keeping their guns tightly in their grips and nearly raised, just in case this was an ambush and they would have to fight their way out. "Come on down." Rick told the stranger, before he slowly made his way down and jumped onto the floor, looking at them all nervously, as if one of them would jump out and shout 'boo!'. "You okay?" Rick asked, when the stranger didn't say a single word, not even a thanks at the fact that they had just saved his life.

Zoe cringed when the man crouched over and threw up all over the ground, whilst some of the others looked away, and Daryl and Nate rolled their eyes at the man's behaviour. "Gross." Zoe muttered, letting her gun drop slightly, as it seemed unlikely, now, that this man was a part of an ambush of some sort.

"Sorry." The man apologised, emptying his gut and standing back up again, trying to compose himself, "Yes. Thankyou." He finally said, Nate now lowering his own gun at the sight of the man. "I'm Gabriel." Gabriel introduced, as if the group he was looking at seemed friendly or inviting in any way..

"Do you have any weapons on you?" Rick asked, not bothering with the introduction as he just wanted to get to work with finding out who this man was and why he was out here all alone, dressed like he was and acting like he was.

Gabriel laughed, he laughed at Rick's question like it was the most dumbest thing someone could ask him, and when he glanced at Michonne, the woman didn't have an ounce of amusement on her face, instead, almost glaring at the man for laughing at their leaders question. "Do I look like I would have any weapons?" He asked, as Nate couldn't tell if he was being serious or not. None of them truly looked like they would know how to handle a weapon, but they could..

"We don't give two short and curlies what it looks like." Abraham spoke up, taking the exact words out of Nate's mouth, none of them getting a good vibe from the man, and wondering why he believed that laughing at Rick's question was okay. Zoe didn't seem to get a good feeling about the man, either, but she didn't know if it was because she had a hard time trusting anyone they came across, anymore.

"I have no weapons of any kind. The word of God is the only protection I need." Gabriel answered quickly, knowing that his humour wasn't sitting right with this group. Zoe instantly raised a brow at the man's words, looking him up and down and wondering how he had made it so far acting like this — how could God be protecting him, when around every corner, was a walker ready to eat you whole? The girl just couldn't understand how he could still think like that, when the whole world had ended, and no one was truly good anymore.

"Sure didn't look like it." Daryl commented, making Nate snort quietly, agreeing with his brother that what he had said was completely stupid. They needed weapons and family to protect them, not the word of God.

Gabriel smiled in response to the Dixon's, "I called for help. Help came." He said, looking around the group with a small smile on his face, but only meeting looks of pure confusion and unhappy faces, not amused at all with his words and the way he had taken their help as God's help, when in reality, if it wasn't for Carl shouting at Rick to go and help Gabriel, they wouldn't even be here.

The next words that came out of his mouth didn't help him anymore than the first words, either, but when he revealed that he had a church, Rick had ultimately made the decision that they were going to go and check it out for themselves, Zoe and Nate staying close as they followed behind everyone, keeping their eyes peeled yet again. "I don't know how I feel about this." The girl whispered, looking behind them once again as she just couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, she was freaking out, but still couldn't dig huge out if it was because of the lack of trust she now held, or if something was truly wrong. Whilst Gabriel was making jokes at the front with Rick, everyone else kept their eyes peeled.

"I don't, either." Nate agreed, knowing that they couldn't easily trust this man just because he was dressed like that — they trusted the people of Terminus, and look where that got them..

"You don't think he's sending us to an ambush, do you?" Zoe asked Nate, glancing at the back of Gabriel's head at the front, spotting her dad stop in his steps, glaring at the man, before carrying on walking again.

"If it is, he's dead." Is all Nate had to tell her, before she began to calm down slightly. When he glanced down at her face, be sighed, "Rick's not stupid, he's not gonna walk us into an ambush, nothing to worry about, okay?" He told her, knowing that she knew this, but she had been extremely nervous since she had been attacked. He wished he could make it all better, but he also knew that it was going to take time, but it was time that they didn't exactly have.

Zoe knew that she was over worrying, she nodded, keeping her eyes forwards as she readjusted her grip on her rifle, taking a deep breath in and trying to shake the thought of an ambush from her mind. She couldn't help it, whenever she thought of coming into contact with any strangers, she thought back to those men, and her chest began to hurt at the thoughts, her head started to throb, and the fear took over again. She didn't know how she was going to get past it, or how long it was going ti take, but right now, she knew that she could trust Nate, and staying close to him is the best option for her. "I'm just being paranoid, it's stupid." Zoe muttered, shaking her head as a dry chuckle escaped her lips, the girl laughing at herself for being so stupid.

Nate held his arm out to stop the girl from walking any further, Zoe looking up at him with pure confusion written on her face at why he stopped her, "You have every right to be paranoid, and everyone knows that. You're not being stupid, don't ever say, that, okay?" He told her, looking down at her in all seriousness, hating how she kept putting herself down when she couldn't help what she had been through. He raised a hand and cupped her cheek, "I love you so much." Nate whispered, as Zoe felt her tears start to well in her eyes, glad that he understood why she was acting so paranoid.

Her lips twitched into a small smile, "I love you more." She mumbled, pressing a quick kiss to his mouth when he leant down for her to reach him, "I don't know what I'd do without you." Zoe added, as Nate smiled right back at her.

"Let's hope that never happens, then." Nate joked, knowing that the two of them would never be separated again, not if he could ever help it. If anything threatened her, he would risk his life to make sure she was okay, and she knew that, everyone knew that. He motioned his head in the direction that the others were walking in, "Let's go. I wanna see this church with my own eyes." He said, before the couple began walking again, eventually catching up with the group and stopping alongside them outside of the small church, a very clean looking one, like it hadn't been touched by the dead at all.

Zoe stood by Maggie's side as she watched Nate go inside the church with a few others, whilst everyone else stayed on lookout. The man waltzed in with his gun held up, ignoring the gut wrenching feeling at being inside of this place without a ring to give his girlfriend, it reminded him of weddings, and marriage, and it hurt, knowing that the one thing he truly wanted to give Zoe, was with someone he didn't even know was dead or alive, and it frustrated him to no end. None the less, he walked further into the church, keeping a watch on Rick's back as he checked the main room, none of them truly trusting this man one hundred percent, allowing Glenn and a few others to check the back for anyone that could be hiding, and when they couldn't find a single sole inside, Rick whistled loud enough for the others to hear, alerting them that the building was empty.

Zoe looked up at the church double doors with squinted eyes, watching as everyone else walked in after telling Abraham that they weren't splitting up the group again for the small bus, but she could hardly listen, looking at the building with an uneasy feeling in her stomach, until she felt Nate join her side, having been watching her by the front doors. "What's wrong?" He asked, unsure as to why she was looking up at the church in the way she was, he couldn't understand it, the one time he couldn't read her.

Zoe shook her head, keeping her eyes on the church doors as Abraham glanced over at the young couple, having not spoken to them much at all since he started rolling with this group, and he couldn't quite understand them, yet. "I don't know, it just.. It feels wrong to go in there." Zoe instantly admitted to him, not feeling ashamed in the slightest to admit what she was feeling. When Nate didn't answer her, waiting for her to elaborate, she sighed, "I've killed people. Going in there feels wrong." She whispered the last part, not knowing if she even should be going in there, she felt like she was breaking some kind of rule. Even if she didn't believe in what Gabriel was talking about, she couldn't help but feel like this because of everything that may have happened in this church, it just felt dirty to be going in there since she had taken multiple lives away.

"We've all killed people." Nate told her softly, hating that she was blaming herself for what she had done, "We do what we need to do to survive, you shouldn't feel dirty for going in there, I should be the one feeling like that, but you know why I don't?" He asked, as Zoe finally looked up at him, waiting for him to elaborate further. "Because we do what we have to, to survive. The things we've done is to protect our family, and you shouldn't feel this way because of what you've had to do." He said, the girl not realising how good he really was with words.

He held out his hand for the girl to take, Zoe glancing back at the church again and realising that she was going to have to go in no matter what, so she took in a deep breath, took the man's hand, and let him lead her into the church, unknown to them, thus being a completely new chapter for them all, but only time could tell what would happen next.