A new day began, but it was destined to be a day of farewells.
Calista found Maggie busy in the chicken coop.
"Maggie, we need to talk."
Maggie brushed the husks off her hands. Seeing the seriousness on Calista's face, she seemed to guess. "You're leaving?"
"Yeah, we're leaving today." Calista nodded, her eyes carrying both gratitude and apology. "You and Hershel took us in when we needed it. I won't forget that. But we have somewhere we need to go, and our scattered companions are waiting for us to regroup."
Maggie sighed, her disappointment clear.
After everything with Beth, and that long conversation between the two pairs of sisters the night before, she had truly come to see Calista and Leah as friends she could rely on.
"Do you really have to go? It's too dangerous out there… Where are you heading?"
"We're looking for a nearby prison. It should be around Griffin. That's the rendezvous point I agreed on with my team." Calista spoke plainly. "Maggie, can you help me get a map? It'd be best if we can mark out a rough route to the prison."
"The prison?" Maggie was surprised, but she nodded right away. "There's a detailed map in Dad's study, but I'm not sure exactly where the prison is. We'll have to ask him."
...
When Maggie brought Calista to Hershel, he was sitting on the porch, looking out over the farm his family had lived on for generations. A shadow of worry lingered on his face.
When he heard they were leaving to find the prison, he fell silent for a moment. He didn't try to stop them, only gave a weary nod.
"Go on. Everyone's got their own road. Jimmy, Otis, Patricia."
He called over the three who knew the surrounding area best.
Soon, they were gathered around an old map in the study, discussing which route might lead to the prison and which areas should be avoided.
Jimmy recalled passing near that area when he had gone out with Hershel to buy feed, while Otis had some memory of the forest trails nearby.
As they worked over the map, marking and debating, the activity drew attention.
News that Calista and the others were leaving spread quickly.
Maggie stood with Beth. Beth held onto her sister's arm tightly, her eyes slightly red as she looked at Calista and Leah. "Thank you… for everything."
Leah met her gaze and, for once, gently ruffled the girl's hair, who was about the same age as her own sister.
Calista stepped forward, gave Maggie a light hug, then patted Beth's shoulder. "Maggie, Beth, take care of yourselves."
Rick's group gathered, each carrying their own emotions.
Glenn had an arm around Maggie. T-Dog and Jacqui stood off to the side, unsure what to say.
Carol stood a bit farther back, holding Sophia's hand.
Hearing that Daryl was leaving too, Sophia clutched her mother's clothes tightly. "Mom… Leah and Calista are leaving. Is Daryl leaving too?"
Carol felt a mix of emotions.
She was grateful to Daryl for never giving up on searching for Sophia, grateful to Leah for helping guide them, and she understood their choice.
She crouched down and spoke softly, "They have their path, just like we have ours. We should wish them well."
Carol looked at Calista and Leah, giving them a grateful look for everything they had done for her and Sophia.
When Daryl, crossbow on his back, quietly walked over to the motorcycle, people felt a sense of loss, but no real surprise.
Over the past few days, his closeness with Calista's group had been obvious, not to mention Merle was already with them.
But when Shane, fully geared, also walked toward the tool shed, the atmosphere instantly froze.
"Shane?!"
Rick's voice was sharp with disbelief and hurt. "What are you doing?"
He couldn't understand why the man who had once been his closest partner and brother would choose to leave with people he had only known for a few days.
Rick strode forward, staring at Shane, searching his face for any sign that this was a joke or a moment of impulse.
Why?
Was it because of Lori?
Because I came back and took everything from you?
Or did you think all along that I wasn't fit to lead?
Thoughts exploded in Rick's mind, memories of fighting side by side, their past trust, and this sudden split all tangling together.
Lori's face turned pale instantly. Her hand instinctively pressed against her lower abdomen, as if trying to steady herself.
Shane is leaving. He really is leaving.
She should feel relieved. That tangled past could finally end.
But why did her heart feel so unsettled?
Was it because of Carl?
Or because the man who once held everything together for her and Carl, after Rick's "death", was now truly gone?
Lori stared at Shane's resolute profile, her lips trembling, but she couldn't say a word.
Carl pulled free from Lori's hand and ran up to Shane, looking up at him, his blue eyes full of tears and confusion. "Shane, don't go! You said you'd teach me to shoot! You said we'd always stay together!"
In his eyes, Shane had always been someone strong and dependable, second only to his father.
A child's world was simple. He didn't understand the tension between adults, only that someone important to him was leaving.
Faced with all this emotion, Shane's jaw tightened.
He avoided Rick's burning stare and ignored Lori's pale face, speaking stiffly to Carl. "Sorry, kid. Some roads… you have to walk alone."
He was speaking to Carl, but it sounded just as much like something he was telling himself.
Andrea stood at the edge of the crowd, watching everything unfold, her thoughts in turmoil.
Already pushed to the margins after Beth's incident, seeing Shane about to leave planted a wild idea in her mind. Maybe she should go with them.
Where Shane went, maybe that's where she should be.
This group didn't need her anymore. Maggie resented her, and Dale… she had hurt him deeply.
But she couldn't let go of Dale. Nor could she easily leave this group she had been with for so long.
And could she really fit into a team like Calista's, with its discipline and efficiency?
The conflict inside her made her bite down hard on her lip, her fingers digging into her palms as her gaze flicked between Shane, Dale, and Rick.
The air was suffocating.
Calista took it all in.
She stepped forward at the right moment, her eyes sweeping across the group before settling on Rick, Lori, and Shane.
"Parting is never easy, especially in times like this."
She continued, "But we all have our own paths to follow. Before we leave, we still need to gather some fuel nearby."
She paused, looking at the key figures, her expression understanding. "I think this gives you some time.
If you keep things buried, they'll only turn into something you can't let go of. It's better to say them out loud now. Not to change anyone's decision, just to… leave without regrets."
Her words gave everyone a way forward.
After that, she nodded to Leah, Merle, and Daryl. "Let's go. We don't have much time."
Leah followed quietly.
Merle shrugged, clearly uninterested in the emotional tension.
Daryl glanced once at Rick, whose face showed pain, and at Shane, whose expression was complicated, then climbed onto his motorcycle.