The sound of cans clanging outside my window causes me to sit straight up in bed. Sweat is pouring down my face from the humidity of the night. I see a circular light from the other side of the blanket covering my open window. I silently roll out of bed holding my dad's pistol that has left an impression in the palm of my hand from sleeping with it close by. My other hand quickly grabs the magazine from my pillow and locks it in place.

The next sound I hear scares me more than the line of cans clanging in the tree line.

"Someone is definitely in there."

I hold my breath and tiptoe to the covered window and slowly move the blanket just enough for me to peek out into the dark night. There are eight dark figures in my front lawn, but I only know four of them; my biters. I chained up four of them and posted them outside my front door to keep other biters out. I hoped that they would also deter people from coming near as well. I smashed in their mouths and cut their hands off to avoid being bitten or scratched by them. I'm not crazy, just cautious.

"These walkers have been Michonned," jokes a low, raspy voice. "How many do you think are inside?"

I know I locked the front door, but I also barricaded the back door. I scramble to grab my to-go bag and shove my extra clothes, pictures, shoes, and weapons inside. My stomach growls painfully, but I have to ignore it. Suddenly, I hear thumping from outside. There go my biters. I rush to the hallway and listen carefully. The front door handle jiggles, but then it's silent again. My mind starts racing. Where do I hide? This isn't a big house. Should I hide? These people could be different.

I yelp as a loud crashing sound rings from down the hallway. They are trying to break the door down. I hear them say something muffled by the door about hearing someone inside. The night becomes quiet again as they try to decide to take my door down or do something new.

"Is anyone in there?" Twangs a confident, but on-edge voice. "You have two seconds to-"

"Yes," I quickly yell back through quivering lips.

They pause for a moment. "We aren't going to hurt you…I promise."

I walk into the living room and see shadows from outside the door. "How do I know that?"

"We are going to put our weapons away, and-"

"No," I say shaking my head even though they can't see me. "Leave them outside…please."

Someone groans from the other side of the door in annoyance. The twangy voice guy shushes them. I hear guns and something else being put down on my porch. My heart is pounding in my ears as he asks for me to open the door. I walk over to the door and quickly unlock it and back away behind the couch.

"It's open," I call out to them. "Don't try anything."

I wish I could say I sounded threatening, but being half-awake, exhausted, and scared out of my mind, I'm sure I sound like a mouse. The door slowly opens and the four people walk into my living room. The first man is a little scrawny, very pale, and definitely Asian of some kind. The second guy has a beard and greasy hair that is swept back. The way he holds himself tells me he's probably the leader. The third guy is a mess; biker vest, longish hair that is either wet or just super greasy, and he looks at me like he's seeing a ghost. The fourth person is actually a teenager. He's taller than me, but years younger by the looks of it. He has on a cowboy hat and has a bandage around his eye. He looks badass.

"Is it just you in here?" The leader twangs.

I nod and hold my gun to my hip. I put the safety on and look up at the men in my living room. Despite being disheveled looking, they seem to have pretty clean clothes. The Asian man looks at the kid and silently indicates for them to check the house incase I'm lying. I wish I was lying.

"I'm Rick," the man with the beard says. He points to the other guy. "This is Daryl."

"I'm Leah," I say walking out from behind the couch.

"Who put those walkers outside?" Daryl asks a little monotone.

"Me," my eyes dart from Rick to Daryl and back to Rick. "Why are you here?"

Rick ignores my question. "How many walkers have you killed?"

I open my mouth to answer, but I close it again as I try to remember. I haven't killed that many. My dad was the one who took care of them most of the time. It's been about a month since the other people came through and killed him. My mom went crazy after that and walked into the woods. My sister and I heard her screams, but we couldn't do anything. She killed herself soon after.

"I killed three."

Daryl scoffs and leaves the room, following the other guys.

Rick nods. "How many people have you killed?"

I feel my eyes widen, but then I can tell that's a legit question. "None."

"Why?" he walks towards the kitchen as he asks.

I follow behind him and watch him start packing my food into his bag. "I never needed to, I guess."

"We have a place," he says checking the label of a box of couscous. "It's safe. It has walls, a doctor, food, weapons, people…you can come back with us."

The three other guys come into the kitchen and tell Rick they didn't find anyone. Rick nods and tells them that I'm coming with them. I didn't even get to give him an answer, but I obviously was going to go with them. No sense in staying around here. I open my bag and start helping to pack my stash of food and bottled water. As soon as we have everything, Rick and the kid lead us outside. The all grab their weapons and I realize the other noise I heard was Daryl putting his crossbow down. We all walk into the woods silently. The Asian guy follows behind them, me behind him, and Daryl next to me. I notice that he's keeping an eye on me.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I say quietly.

He grunts as if my question annoyed him. "You just remind me of someone."

I nod slowly and step over a large broken tree branch. "Is that why you looked at me like that inside?"

He doesn't answer me, and keeps moving without a care of making noise. I start to feel uneasy as they lead me towards the road. I see a car parked on the side of the leaf-covered road. Rick gets in the front seat, and the kid gets in the passenger seat. I internally start to freak out. I have to sit in the back? Squished between two strange men? This is like my mother's worst nightmare. I shake my head and follow Daryl to the car. Without words, it's clear that I'm going to be sitting in the middle. We climb into the car and start to drive off. The kid falls asleep making me wish I could.

"I'm Glenn," says the Asian guy.

I smile faintly. "Leah."

He smiles back and looks out the window. I glance over at Daryl who I catch watching me again. He copies Glenn and looks out the window too. I sigh and face forward. We drive for miles and soon I find myself struggling to keep my eyes open. The car comes to halt and Rick flashes the lights twice. A large gate squeaks open and we drive into what looks like a small community. I sit up straight and look out the windows in shock. How is there a whole community that is safe?

"This is Alexandria," Glenn says when the car parks.

I get out and take a breath of fresh air. A few houses have lights on, but most of them are dark. Which makes sense because it's probably like four in the morning. The gate creaks shut making me jump. The kid says he's going home, and Rick says he'll be right there. Oh, father and son? I stand awkwardly until Rick asks for my bag.

"I'm going to bring the food to the pantry," he says with his hand out.

"Oh," I take it off my back and take out my clothes, shoes, and pictures. "Here."

Glenn laughs quietly and tells Rick he's going to give Rosita a break. I lift an eyebrow in confusion, but no one explains. Rick tells Daryl to bring me to one of the empty houses. Rick also nods to my gun, silently asking for it. I shake my head.

"My dad gave this to me," I put my clothes down and take the magazine out of the gun. "Let me keep this part at least."

Rick looks at Daryl amused and shakes his head. "Keep it."

I put it back together and pick up my things. Daryl starts walking away without a word, so I follow behind him to one of the dark houses. I look around the streets and sigh. How did they do this? Is that…a garden? Suddenly, I trip over the sidewalk and everything in my hands goes flying. Daryl stops and glares down at me. I fumble around trying to pick everything up. Daryl sighs and bends down to help me. He picks up my pictures and stares at them, studying the one on top.

I stand up with him and look at the picture. "That's me and my niece. She's seven- or…was." I shake my head. "I honestly don't know if she's alive. My sister moved to Washington and-"

He puts the pictures on top of my clothes. "I didn't ask."

I shut my mouth and continue to follow him. He opens the front door and leads me inside. His hand searches the wall for a switch and the entry gets lit up. My eyes widen at the fact that they have electricity. He goes back to the door, about to leave, but I start to panic.

"Wait!" I whisper harshly. "Don't leave me, please."

He squints his eyes at me and cocks his head like he didn't understand. "What?"

"I've been alone for weeks…please don't leave me here alone." I lick my lips as tears form in my eyes. "I can sleep on the couch. You can sleep in the bed…if there's a bed."

He looks me up and down and shuts the door. I relax as he steps towards me. I step back as his stomach touches the clothes in my hands. He moves towards the living room and plops himself down on the couch.

"You take the bed," he mumbles.