The good news is that we all manage to escape that dreary, flu-ridden prison for a week. Rick isn't waiting around for Daryl and his away team to return from the veterinary college; instead, he takes Carol on a run to raid a neighborhood for supplies until Daryl and the others get back, even though he's unaware of the difficulties the away team ran into.
Fortunately they're still on mission -- even after being forced to abandon Zach's car -- managing to find replacement transportation in a nearby town. This isn't without its wrinkles, however, as it requires them to deal with the undead members of the family that ran the local repair garage. Tyreese is still displaying suicidal tendencies, and in trying to talk him out of them, Michonne admits that she doesn't know why she's still hunting the Governor. At the same time, Bob confesses to Daryl that he feels guilty about his part in the misadventure that killed Zach, but Daryl won't let him carry that guilt alone. When they reach the college, they collect all the needed supplies but have to fight their way out of the building…at which point the others discover that Bob loaded his bag with not medicine but booze. Amazingly, Daryl lets him live anyway, though it's a near thing. And Michonne tells Daryl that the Governor-hunt is over. We'll just see about that.
Because what happens with Rick and Carol on their run is that they end up encountering a young couple in love. Carol gives the young man some much-needed first aid, and Rick administers his Three Questions, so it looks like the prison will soon have a couple more residents. The four of them split up to cover more ground before returning to the prison, which is when Carol finally confronts Rick over his silence since learning that Carol killed Karen and David. She remains unrepentant -- nor is she heartbroken when their new friends don't make it back to the rendezvous. So when it's time to go back to the prison, it's a trip that is only going to be made by one of them, because Rick has decided it's time to cut Carol loose. He assures her that she's strong, and will survive, and will find others to join. Which is probably true. So…bets on whether any new people Carol encounters will be of the Gubernatorial persuasion? Carol may have become a dangerous friend to have, but I wouldn't want her coming back as an enemy, either.
It's pretty quiet in the prison right now. The show must have already blown most of its extras budget for the season, so just about everyone is laid up sick and besides we're not going to be spending much time here this week. While Rick is off by himself gingerly changing the dressing on the hand he busted up on Tyreese's face, Carol is in the visiting room, telling Lizzie through the glass that she's about to go on a run with Rick. Their conversation provides the soundtrack for Rick's ensuing movements as he discovers that there's not much gas for the Hyundai. Lizzie wonders if this means Daryl is dead, but Carol reassures her that they just aren't waiting for him and the others to get back, after losing all the food in Cell Block D. Lizzie tells Carol that nobody in quarantine is dead yet, but she thinks it's only a matter of time. "It makes me sad, but at least they get to come back," the idiot child says.
Carol tries to straighten her out and Lizzie argues that yes, they come back changed, but she'll be different when she grows up, too. Like that's going to happen. Meanwhile, Rick is making his way to the last place he saw a gas can -- the tiny exercise yard outside A Block where Carol burned the bodies of David and Karen after killing them. On the way, he passes the cell that Karen was isolated in, and has a vision of Carol coming to offer Karen comfort in the form of burying her wicked-ass knife in the back of Karen's neck. Anyway, Lizzie's point is that everyone changes. While Carol is reminding Lizzie to run if there's danger and not be afraid to kill if necessary, Rick finds the gas cans and then returns to the car to discover Carol's giant roll of humongous knives waiting in the back, like she thinks she's going into the Roman Coliseum and will be expected to grill the tiger afterwards.
Carol reminds Lizzie to keep her own knife where she can get it quickly. "Yes mom… I mean, ma'am," Lizzie says unconvincingly. Carol doesn't want Lizzie calling her mom. Would that be because she's a cold-blooded murderer? Rick is clearly having similar thoughts out by the car. Lizzie says she's afraid, and Carol tells her not to be -- instead, Lizzie needs to keep fighting and not give up and one day she'll change. "We all change," she says. Meanwhile, outside, Rick is giving this theme what looks like some serious consideration. Either that or he's got the same headache we all do after having it drilled into our skulls.
So far, the away team (Daryl, Michonne, Tyreese and Bob) seems to be alive, after being on the run overnight. Tyreese has found a creek to rinse his blood-soaked shirt, while the others make their plan for moving on and securing new transportation. But Tyreese seems in no hurry, saying everyone back at the prison has probably died overnight anyway. Who needs the morning when that ray of sunshine is around?