A/N: Hi there! I've taken a few years/ maybe a decade or so off of writing. Got the bug again so we'll see how this goes. I have my story plotted out pretty far. Just have to start laying down the words one at a time and soon I hope to have a kick ass story! I have put some explanations I thought necessary at the bottom so I didn't interrupt the flow of the story.

By the way, I hope it's clear which characters are mine. AMC, etc. has all the good ones!

Enjoy.

The world had changed, suddenly and with no warning. For weeks there were obscure news articles that no one really paid attention to. It was written off as a side effect of the latest designer drug. No one thought that it was real. Not until hospitals and police stations started getting overrun with the shambling and relentless dead. Then people started to believe.

Elly got the call early; she had already started packing leading up to her last day of class at CENTCOM in MacDill AFB. She was a SSG in the Army and had been sent to a specialty course at a different base. She was getting pulled and had to report back to her unit. ASAP. That was very unusual, her course was very hard to get into and was given priority within the unit.

Chaos within the base was reaching a fever pitch. Patrols were out in force; which Elly had never seen stateside. Barricades were placed, extra supplies were unloaded, and the aircraft never stopped circling. The base was locked down to all incoming personnel and all non-essential and civilian personnel were being sent home. Elly tried to get a lift back to her own base on Space A, but all the outgoing flights were restricted. Catching sight of her instructor on her way back to her lodgings, Elly stopped to let MSG Peeples that she was being recalled.

"Master Sergeant, I've been ordered back to Bragg." The NCO stopped and looked at her, not surprised in least since the Threat Condition had been upped to Alpha.

"Do you still have your weapons?"

"Huah, Master Sergeant." Elly replied in the affirmative. They were secured with the rest of her gear in her lodgings.

Her instructor nodded and started walking. "Come with me." He led her to one of the new checkpoints set up nearby. He ordered them to hand over a combat load of 5.56 rounds, as well as 9mm magazines. "Here, take these. This isn't going to be over quickly, get to your unit as fast as you can but be ready for anything out there." Elly quickly stuffed the magazines into the pockets of her uniform. She also shouldered the box of MRE's he handed to her. She clanked when she walked now but the nervous fluttering in her stomach increased tenfold.

Elly wasn't afraid to say it: she was scared out of her mind. She didn't want to leave the safety of the base if the rumors were true, but she had no choice. She had orders. So Elly packed her gear into her old pickup and got out of the city. She had spent her formative years near MacDill so once she left Hillsborough County behind her, she took the backroads out of the state.

Unfortunately, her knowledge didn't extend to Georgia, which is how she ended up stuck in a traffic jam outside of Atlanta while the sun sank lower in the sky. Elly sighed as she flipped through radio channels that were no longer broadcasting. She flicked off the radio and stared out the window; before long the highway was buzzed by five Black Hawks heading towards Atlanta. Elly stepped outside her truck, joining the growing crowd in the road. They all watched in horror as the bombs were dropped.

Well that was it. If the government was so desperate as to attack a civilian population, they were in the deepest of shit. Elly didn't think she would make it back to Ft. Bragg. The roads were clogged and the world looked like it was going to hell in a handbasket.

After the fires in distance died down, a small group around Elly began talking about finding a safe place for the night. Someone suggested an old quarry not too far away. The rag tag group pulled away and managed not to attract too much attention in the dark. It was well past midnight when they pulled into the relative safety of the abandoned quarry. A few groups put up tents but Elly decided to stretch out in her truck. It was only mildly uncomfortable for her 5'5" frame. The blanket she pulled out of the back held off the slight chill of the Georgia summer night.

Dawn came slowly, bringing with it a realization that there was no going back to their own lives. Everything had changed and they had to get used to this new world really quick. Elly yawned and stretched as much as she could in the cramped cab. She pulled out her toothbrush and a canteen cup, going about her morning as she had for countless days spent on field exercises. By the time she had finished, other people in the camp had begun to wake up and go about their day.

A petite brunette and a little boy no more than twelve stepped out of the tent closest to her.

"Morning." Elly called out as she put away her things in the front seat of her truck, careful to cover her M4 before they could see it.

The brunette nodded with a ghost of a smile on her face. "Good Morning, I'm Lori. Lori Grimes." She replied, "This is my son Carl."

Elly smiled back and shook both of their hands. Carl grinned up at her as she shook his. "Hi, I'm Elly Masterson. Nice to meet you."

"Are you in the Army?" Carl asked her. Elly realized that though she didn't put her blouse back on, she still had her camo pants, shirt, and boots on. It was a little obvious how she made her living.

She nodded. "Yes I am. I'm supposed to be getting back to my base. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to do that now." Stuck alone and without any hope of guidance from her superiors, Elly had to decide what to do. Part of her strongly felt the need to be where she was supposed to, to follow her orders and to be shoulder to shoulder with her battle buddies. Part of her wanted to never reach Ft. Bragg; she was terrified of what she might find there.

"You should stick around and let things settle down first." Lori said, "It's not safe to go anywhere just yet."

Elly reluctantly agreed. "I'm worried about my squad. But they have good NCO's to look after them for now."

Lori smiled, "Glad to hear it." They continued on, probably to find a place to relieve themselves. Carl had started hopping from foot to foot and his face had gotten red when Lori excused them.

Elly pulled out a granola bar for breakfast wishing to god that she still had some coffee left. She stuffed the bar in her mouth and started pulling bags out of the back of her truck. After changing into civvies, she got to work setting up a lean to by the side of her truck. As she bent over her bag to locate her woobie, she heard footsteps approach.

"Whoo weee! Look at that ass baby brother. Didn't think we'd see something so fine when the world went ta shit." Elly sighed, wishing to hell that she hadn't recognized that voice. Unfortunately, there was no mistaking that crude redneck accent even after all these years. She slowly stood up and turned around, dreading what she would see. 'Shit!' Elly thought as Dixon's eyes widened in recognition. The racist bastard was pretty much as she remembered him, scruff and all despite army regulations. Next to him stood a smaller man with the same blue eyes and smirk on his face. "Well, well, well. If it ain't Private Bitch herself!" Dixon drawled as he tried to tower over her, expecting her to back away.

Instead Elly crossed her arms and straightened her spine, glowering right back. Not giving an inch. "That's Staff Sergeant Bitch to you Specialist Moron. Oh! I'm sorry, Dishonorably Discharged Specialist Moron." Dixon's face got an interesting shade of red. By now a number of their fellow survivors had started to watch the exchange. A few had already experienced a run in with the older Dixon and were watching apprehensively. Dixon's companion put a restraining arm on his shoulder.

"You best watch your words girlie." The redneck warned, shaking off the hand attempting to pull him back. "You ain't got them Ranger pussy's watching your back no more."

Elly didn't rise to the bait but stood her ground. "That's the thing Dixon," She replied. "I never needed their help to deal with the likes of you." Dixon clenched his jaw and tried to get in her face, almost pulling a hand back.

"Hey!" A dark haired man in a Sherriff's t-shirt shouted as he swaggered up to them. "We got a problem here?" He demanded as he pushed Dixon back. He sauntered backwards with his hands up, finally letting the other man pull him back.

"No problem officer. Just getting reacquainted with an old battle buddy."

Elly snorted, "Buddy my ass."

"Don't think we're done here." Dixon growled as he was pushed away, towards what she could only assume was the direction of his tent.

As soon as they were out of earshot she groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose, 'Why, of all the people to survive the apocalypse, did she have to run into Dixon.'

"What was that?" The man in the Sherriff shirt asked her, the menace gone from his voice. "Merle Dixon would squash you like a bug."

Elly smirked. "You'd be surprised." Before he could ask any more questions Lori walked up and started the introductions. Apparently this guy Shane was her dead husbands partner. The crowd took the opportunity to meet everyone else as well. Elly tried to remember all the names but she knew it would take a while to remember everybody.

"You better watch it with those two Elly." Shane warned. "Those Dixon brothers are bad news. How do you know 'em?" He asked while giving her an appraising look. Elly thought that his gaze lingered a little too long on her chest.

She sighed, knowing it was better to get her side of the story out before Dixon could. "I only knew the bigger guy. Didn't even know his first name. You know how it is in the Army." Shane nodded. "Well, I had a few run ins with him on my first deployment. He didn't like the word no as I recall. Started a big incident when he got tired of being turned down and accused me of sleeping with my entire security detail." The other man smirked.

"Yeah that sounds just about his speed. Don't let him bother you. If you need anything, anything at all just come find me. It's no trouble." Elly took a second to notice that Shane was trying to flirt with her. He was leaning forward, his hand on his hip as he tried to emphasize the protector role. She really tried not to snicker. It was cute in a bit of a pathetic way.

"Yeah, I'll do that." She replied, just barely keeping a straight face. Something told her he would not do well with being laughed at. "Desperate much?" She muttered once Shane swaggered away. Elly heard a laugh behind her. Turning she saw an older man, Dale, in a bucket hat with a big grin on his face.

"Well it is the end of the world. I think he's looking to repopulate the planet single handedly. You're the fourth woman I've seen him flirt with this morning…no offense!" He said holding up his arms, still smiling good naturedly.

Elly couldn't help but laugh. "None taken, can't say I'm surprised though. I used to know a lot of guys like that. I've gotten used to dealing with them."

"Well, at least take what he says about the Dixon's to heart at least." Dale gently warned. "they are not good people."

She smiled warmly at his concern. "I'm not worried about that. Dixon I KNOW I can handle." She assured him before she went back to her tent building.

It was near to midday when Shane gathered the whole camp together. Elly stood on the outskirts watching the group interact. They were a bunch of clueless people here. She sighed, only a handful of the men looked like they might be able to step up. Shane voted himself leader, but there were a few others that looked capable to Elly.

Shane was droning on about rules, jobs, and vigilance and Elly was trying to pay attention; so she missed the blue eyes watching her from across the clearing.

A quick explanation of some of the military terms/ situations:

CENTCOM - central command. I can't say that they wouldn't have courses running for certain specialties. I do know that there are Army personnel on the AFB. Might be possible.

MacDill AFB – Air Force Base is in Tampa, Florida

SSG- Staff Sergeant. An E-6, usually in charge of a squad of varying numbers, around 5-6 lower

enlisted.

A combat load – 210 rounds of 5.56 for the M4/M16, 7 magazines of 30 rounds each. And yes they all fit in uniform cargo pockets it's just a pain in the ass.

NCO – Noncommissioned Officer, holding a rank of E-5 or higher. Also known as a Non-Com.

A woobie – also known as a poncho liner. It is the soldiers best friend. It's a pillow, a blanket, a curtain, an extra bag, anything you could think of.

If there's anything else confusing, please let me know!