"Oh, hello." Carol peers out from behind the door with an anxious titter, closing it behind her. Hunched, her chin tucked and hands knotted nervously in front of her chest, everything from her hair to her boots tired and faded, she's mouselike in behaviour as well as appearance.

"Is it alright if I sit down? My back..." She walks with small, quick steps, stopping to hover behind the chair and look up at Giles meekly. She's a small woman, but the way she holds herself makes her look even smaller. Fearful tension makes her eyes and voice tremble, adding to her air of fragility.

"Where are my manners, first let me thank you for saving my life. I don't know what I would've done if that girl hadn't come along- Betty? Bless her heart. And thank you for welcoming me. It's been some time since I've seen a friendly face."

She wipes a tear away from her eye with the hem of her sleeve, pursing her lips. Buffy had found her walking down the interstate during a supply run. Just a lost woman looking for her way home, with only a backpack and a knife to her name, going entirely the wrong direction.

It wasn't too far from the truth. Carol had lost her home when Rick banished her, and she'd left the guns in the trunk of the nearest car she could find.

She'll need them later. She always does.