After returning to the camp with the department store survivors and an emotional reunion with his wife and son, Rick decides to go against Shane's advice and go back to Atlanta for Merle Dixon and his dropped bag of guns accompanied by Merle's younger brother, Darryl Dixon, as well as Glenn and T-Dog.

Rick and the group leave Atlanta and encounter a threat on the highway the likes of which they've never seen. Elsewhere, the group search for a missing person.