But I always thought I'd see you again...

Jamie and Daryl. Daryl and Jamie. They made no secret of their relationship at the quarry camp. The teenage Jamie and the thirty something redneck had been an item for a while. It was on Jamie's eighteenth birthday that their romance became physical.

Dale made it known that he didn't agree with it. Two men together just wasn't natural. But Dale didn't understand them.

Jamie was flamboyant, while Daryl was more reserved. Jamie's universe revolved around Daryl, but Daryl focused on hunting, tracking, and doing what he could to keep the group alive.

Early in the morning, Lori wasn't able to sleep. Blame it on the already stifling weather, her six month pregnant belly, or her emotions, which were in overdrive since Rick slipped into the coma. She went from asking Daryl and Jim to take her back to his hospital to flat-out begging Shane to changed his mind and take her there. Everyone refused. She was all by herself, and the pain of being separated by her first and only love was slowly tearing her apart.

She awkwardly got out of her tent, and after using the RV's bathroom to answer the call of nature, she sat on some of the rocks by the tree line, just as the sun came up. This quarry, the sunset, the sunrise, her, and Rick. In college they met and fell hard for each other. She had been with him for a dozen years, and had eight year old Carl, six year old Judith, and another baby due in a few months. Her utter despair at not knowing what happened to Rick consumed her. She thought they had the kind of marriage in which one would hold the other's hand when they slipped away. He was not only ripped from her grasp, but she didn't know what happened to him. If she thought about it too much she'd start crying again. She didn't know what happened to his body. Either he was eaten by those things, or he turned into one. Both situations send chills down her back.

She watched the sunrise, just as she and Rick used to do at the very same spot when they were in college and during their first few years of marriage. She had to keep her mind busy. Anything to try not to think about what happened to Rick. She started gently singing "Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light...My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim...I had to stop for the night"

It was a warm Atlanta evening. Their college graduation was just the month before, and Rick was getting ready to go to the Police academy while Lori was enjoying the next month off before she started her career as a school teacher. Rick drove Shane's black Jeep, and unzipped the top. The warm weather cooled as they sped down the highway, blasting the Eagles "Hotel California" as the wind whipped through her hair. Rick had it all planned. She was smiling and laughing as he sped up the drive of an old quarry.

It was almost dusk when they parked, they each took a flashlight, and Rick held a blanket in one hand and Lori's hand in the other. They were completely alone, standing side by side and watching as the sun set and lit the sky ablaze in a mass of deep colors. She saw some movement from the corner of her eye and when she turned her head he was kneeling on one knee. He told her that he loves her, and he can't imagine living the rest of his life without her by his side. Her hands were shaking as he slid the half carat diamond ring onto her finger and asked "will you marry me?"

She almost shouted "yes" with enthusiasm, then they laid on the blanket on the ground and made love until it was dark. She laughed as Rick led her down the path to the water, both still naked as the say they were born.

They swam naked until their skin was pruned, made love again on the edge of the lake, then walked back, naked and wet to the blanket. They found their clothes, although Rick teased her by withholding her panties from her, and they drove back to their small apartment just in time to see the sun rise.

Lori tried to ignore the sound of sex that filled the air. She was sitting next to Shane and Andrea's tent, and figured that Rick would get a kick out of what was going on. When she walked back to the RV to get some breakfast, Carol was already awake, with Sophia by her side, not doubt avoiding Ed again. She had to walk past Daryl and Jamie's tent, and could hear them enjoying the morning romance.

She took a juice box, one of the few things left after Daryl, Merle and Glenn made a supply run, and drank the too sweet juice as she looked at the vast expanse that was the once thriving city.

"Car!" Dale yelled.

There was some commotion as Shane, Daryl, Merle and Glenn got themselves together and, armed with weapons, stood waiting to see who is in the white box truck rambling up the road.