Chapter One

I don't wanna be a witness, to a path that's overgrown
I don't wanna see this house not be a home
'cause tie has taken toll on what we couldn't see
No I don't wanna be a witness to the end of you and me

Can't go back - Rosi Golan

-0-

"Rick!"

A startled, panicked cry pierced through the quiet house and without hesitation Rick Grimes hurriedly put down his coffee, sprung from his chair and tore into the hallway as quickly as his legs would carry him. He took the stairs three at a time, in a bid to reach the top landing and hurried through his bedroom door. As he came to a sudden halt in the center of the room, trying to catch his breath the sight that met him brought a look of confusion to his face. Diverting his gaze he did a quick sweep of the room before turning to look at his wife who was currently teetering on the edge of her dresser chair.

"What happened?" He asked her, taking another step towards her, only to watch as she reached out a slender hand and pointed towards their bed. "What is…"

"It's under there…that thing Carl brought back from school." She explained, barely suppressing a shudder as she replayed opening the drawer to the dresser and that eight legged monster crawling out onto her hand. Rick stared at the bed and then back to his wife, his gaze lingering on her for a few beats before a chuckle of amusement burst out of his chest. Suddenly he understood his wife's reaction and knew the only way he was getting her down from there was if he got rid of the problem hiding beneath the bed.

"You know its harmless right darlin'?" he asked, already laying down his Colt and getting to his knees beside the bed. He heard the blonde scoff and he chuckled again. Peering beneath the bed, he easily located the tarantula so named Sammy. It had been Carl's turn to take home the tarantula and look after it for the week, and Rick couldn't wait for it to go back tomorrow. Once in his hand he began to stand again and turned around, "See, come on down now."

"Not until that thing is either flushed or locked away." She replied, her nose scrunching up in a way he absolutely adored. Laughing he shook his head again and decided to put her out of her misery, quickly heading out of the bedroom and moving towards Carl's. Seeing the lid hanging off the tank he sighed knowing he'd have to have a word with Carl later on. "Make sure that lid is on!" was the next thing he heard.

"Sorry Sammy, ya know the rules." Rick whispered, placing the eight legged creature inside the tank before securing the lid back on. Turning to leave he headed back to the main bedroom and smiled, there she was still standing on the chair and frowning, her eyes running over him warily when he appeared again.

"I take it you went for the latter option Sheriff Grimes." She commented, half smiling as Rick moved closer to where she was stood.

"Not sure Carl, or his teacher would take it well if we flushed it darlin'." He pointed out, watching as her golden blonde locks fell past her shoulders when she reluctantly nodded her head. Taking the hand he held out to her, she finally climbed down off the stool, turning her green eyes back up his face. Seeing him watching her, she smiled that breath-taking smile that always had him falling in love with her all over again. Her delicate hands slipped over his chest and came to rest on his shoulders as she pushed herself up onto her tiptoes, placing a soft kiss to his lips.

"My hero." She teased, making Rick laugh as his hands migrated to her hips and he pulled her body closer to his own, where he closed the remaining distance between them and kissed her once more.

Sara Grimes had become his wife four years ago and they'd been together for over a year before that. Never had he thought he'd be able to move on from Lori, not after she walked away from him and Carl all those years ago. Yet here he was, happily married to a woman he could never imagine his life without. The day she'd walked into that hospital room had been the day his life had changed forever. Their love had been an easy one, built on trust, friendship, passion, intimacy and understanding. The kind of love and intimacy they shared went deeper than just something physical, it was emotional, pure and unadulterated and unlike anything he'd ever had before.

Together they'd made a home with their children. Carl had embraced Sara as his Mom, never really giving Lori a second thought after learning she'd walked out on both him and his Father. Grace, the bouncy little six year old whom Rick loved as his own had captured his heart all those years ago and he completely adored the excitable little girl, as if she were his own flesh and blood.

Rick groaned against Sara's lips as he turned, pressing her against the bedroom wall, his hands slipping easily beneath her pajama top. Sara gasped when she felt his touch, her arms wrapping tightly around his shoulders as he deepened the kiss. Only as he did an incessant, repetitive beeping sounded throughout the room, shattering their moment of closeness.

Sara broke the kiss first and huffed in frustration as she slipped from Rick's hold and moved across the room, to her bedside cabinet. With a groan Rick pushed away from the wall and stepped into the bathroom, determined to grab a shower before his next shift, "That the hospital?" he called out to Sara.

"Yeah, 911…" she called back, trailing off. Rick nodded, knowing the demands of her job, his own were the same.

"You gotta go right now?" he asked, pulling his shirt over his head as the shower warmed up. Sara never answered, "Darlin…?" Rick moved back into the bedroom, kicking off his boots as he did. Only when he straightened he stumbled back into the wall, from the horror that greeted him there. Blood stained the walls all around him, the carpet was soaked through as were the sheets on the bed and there in the center was Sara. His beautiful Sara lay across the bed, her skin torn and shredded, pieces hanging off her as she gasped for breath, blood pouring from her mouth with each exhale, her startling green eyes pinned to him as she struggled to talk.

"R..Rick…" she spluttered, a gurgling sound coming from her throat and he ran to her, dropping to his knees on the bed, not sure what to do or where to put his hands to help her. Her mouth opened and closed as she stared at him, "R…Rick…y-you, did this…you're fault…we needed you…where were you?" she asked and it was only then Rick looked around and there was Grace. The beautiful little girl he now called his own, lay in the center of the bedroom, her body torn apart like her Mom's.

"Why did…you…leave us Dad?" she asked, blood spluttering from her mouth, "You killed us!"

"Dad!"

Rick shot up from his make shift bed, his hand shooting out to grasp hold of the arm in front of him, the one braced against his shoulder. His long fingers wrapped tightly around a small wrist as he struggled to catch his breath, immediately his senses were on high alert as his heart beat wildly against his chest.

"Dad." Carl gripped tight hold of his Dad's shirt, giving the older man a slight shove in order to wake him up fully. When Rick finally looked at his son, registering why it was he had awoken so suddenly, Carl noticed him finally breathe, though he never relaxed, his hold on Carl's arm never loosened, but the boy didn't mind, he was used to his Dad waking up like this.

"Carl." Rick shook off the lingering remnants of sleep

Once again he was faced with the reality of their situation. One would think he could somehow escape this horror when he slept but it followed him into his dreams as well. Tainted every memory he had of his wife and their daughter. They were gone. He'd failed them. When they'd needed him the most he hadn't been there to protect them and now, he only had his imagination to guess what had happened to the rest of his family, that and the memory of the blood all over their living room.

"Hershel said to wake you. Daryl's found some storage containers for us to crash in." Carl explained, once more looking a lot older than he should do at his age. It broke Rick's heart but also made him incredibly proud at how his son had come into his own. "You dreamin' about them again?" Carl asked when the silence continued to linger between him and his Dad. Rick looked at the boy sharply and frowned, before reluctantly nodding his head.

"I miss them too Dad. I should have tried harder…" Carl trailed off and shook his head, the guilt and anger he felt over that day he'd been separated from his sister and Mom was almost overwhelming. It only spurred on his hatred for Lori and Shane who were still adamant they did nothing wrong. Rick reached out and grasped his boys shoulder, forcing the thirteen year old to look at him.

"Carl, it's okay. You didn't get a choice; the important thing is you're still here…" Rick assured his son, not wanting to revisit the same subject again. He couldn't, they couldn't. Things were hard enough now trying to survive hour by hour, Rick couldn't think about what he'd lost. The loss was so great he knew if he really acknowledged it, he couldn't survive the pain, the crippling reality that this was it, this was life and he'd never see his family again. What he had to do now was make the most of who he had left, what he had to do was keep Carl safe, keep their group safe.

Nothing else mattered. Nothing else was allowed to matter right now. Survival had to be their main focus.

They had to survive, because no one else had.

-0-

Sharp green eyes carefully assessed the area, searching for any kind of movement among the trees, as ears listened out for the tell-tale sound of walkers nearby or other people. After all, walkers weren't the only threats anymore. When sure there was nothing else, or no one around them or nearby, Sara Grimes turned back to the tree she'd just climbed down from and held out her arms. "Okay baby, drop them." She said quietly, easily catching the two bags dropped down to her.

Laying them down on the ground, the blonde reached out again to help the small body carefully climbing down and when her feet hit the ground, the girl turned to her Mom and smiled. "See, I'm getting good." The little girl said proudly about her accomplishment with climbing down the tree.

Sara returned the smile and pressed a kiss to her daughter's forehead. Grace had turned seven only three days ago and they'd celebrated by sharing a bar of chocolate and getting some new boots from a store they'd passed through in a nearby town. They'd settled there for a couple nights but like always the walkers had come and they'd had no choice but to leave.

"You are baby." Sara replied, helping Grace with her back pack before putting on her own and securing it around her waist, keeping her hunting knife in her hand. It wasn't much but it was all they had left, that and a gun with four rounds left. Sara knew they were in trouble if they didn't find a safe place to be soon. It was freezing, winter was still here and she felt like she was failing Sara, almost as much as she had failed Carl.

Carl.

Just thinking of him made her ache. She'd lost him, he'd been taken and she'd been able to do nothing about it. She hated that, she hated that he was gone god knows where. She didn't even know if he was still alive and that was the worst. Rick was gone and Carl had been all she'd had left, he was for all intents and purposes her son; she may not have given birth to him but that much was still true. He was her son and now he was gone, just like Rick and it was just her and Grace now. She had to protect her daughter no matter what the cost to herself.

"Mom?" Sara refocused on her daughter and crouched down next to her.

"What is it baby?" she asked, tucking a lock of her daughter's blonde hair back under baseball cap. Grace sighed and touched her Mom's cheek, wiping away a tear.

"You're crying again." She said softly and Sara quickly touched her face, having not realized it. Shaking her head she wiped away the dampness on her cheeks and looked back up at Grace, her daughters eyes watched her Mom carefully, having seen this many times before. "I miss Daddy and Carl too." She whispered, leaning in and pressing a kiss to her Mom's cheek.

"Baby…" Sara reached up to cup her daughters face between her hands when the snapping of a branch not far behind them, had her on her feet and shielding Grace. Sure enough seconds later a walker emerged from behind a nearby tree and started ambling towards them, his jaw practically ripped off. He would have easily been taken down but just as Sara made the move to do so, more began to appear, more than she could dare handle alone. Knowing there was only one thing she could do, Sara grabbed Grace's hand and began to run.

Eventually they made it to the nearby highway, the small herd that had been pursuing them were a long way off. It was only once they had solid ground beneath their feet did Sara allow herself to breath, they were by no means safe but things always seemed worse when you were stuck in the trees. At least here, they had a clear path of where they were going and it was straight ahead wherever that place was.

Looking down at her daughter, Sara paused and crouched down again removing the water bottle from her own back pack and handing it to Grace. The little girl took it eagerly and drank as Sara looked up and down the highway, noting a few abandoned cars. Chances were they'd been left for a reason, they didn't work but she had to try. Making sure the first was empty; Sara reached down and lifted Grace, placing her little girl on the bonnet of the car as she ducked inside.

It took twenty minutes to search through all the cars and all she managed to find were a packet of ibuprofen, a pack of colored chalks and couple of energy bars. None of the cars had worked thus far and as she tried the last one Sara knew it had all been a waste of time. Banging her fists against the wheel the woman began to climb out of the car, reaching down for her backpack. "Mom watch out!"

The scream came too late for Sara to react in time and before she knew her body had been slammed against the car, the stench of rotting flesh invading all of her senses. It was a walker and it had her pinned against the car. She couldn't reach for her knife, she couldn't even attempt to as her hands tried in vain to push him off of her. To make matters worse there was a second walker and he was on her to. Decaying, rotten teeth were snapping at her, trying to bite and she was helpless. She couldn't get out; she was trapped and when her daughter screamed out again, the panic became crippling.

"Grace!" she screamed as her daughter cried out her name again. Hearing that triggered a surge of something inside of Sara and with a strength she didn't know she possessed she fought back against the walkers, freeing herself and knocking them to the ground long enough for her to run away from them towards Grace who was struggling to free her leg from a walkers hold. The little girl was kicking as hard as she could whilst her hands were gripping the top of the car she was sat on, so as not to be pulled down by the undead bastard trying to get her.

Sara rushed forward and brought the knife down violently into the walker's skull, pulling out the blade she pulled his hand from Grace and kicked his body to the ground. Before she could check on Grace though she knew the other two were coming and they were coming fast. When she turned they were within arm's reach when two gunshots sounded through the air and both walkers crumbled to the floor.

With wide eyes Sara looked around, locating her saviors and saw two men and one woman standing beside a beat up blue Ford Explorer. Looking from them back to the walkers, Sara swallowed down the fear she felt and reached for her daughter, pulling the trembling little girl down from the car and quickly crouching down next to her. "Did he get you, bite, scratch?" she searched for any signs of broken skin on Grace's legs but saw none only bruising, or at least the beginning of it. Blowing out a breath, the young Mother pulled her daughter into a tight embrace and held her.

"What no thank you?"

It was a gruff voice and Sara reluctantly let go of her daughter, standing up right before turning towards the strangers. Stretching her hand out, Sara pushed Grace behind her, holding her knife tightly in her other free hand. She stared back at the owner of the voice and frowned, "Thank you." She said shortly, knowing that just because they'd saved her life and that of her daughters, did not make them friends.

"No thanks needed, Merle was just teasin' ya." A handsome man said as he stepped between the other two and for a moment Sara felt shocked. Shocked at how well dressed this man was, well groomed, clean and there was a very pleasant yet charming smile on his face. He was dressed nicely, wearing black jeans and a black shirt with a vest. All of this was strange, especially by today's standards. "You both alright?" he asked, taking another step forward, only as he did Sara moved herself and her daughter one step back.

"That's close enough." Sara told the man, feeling her daughters hands tighten around the arm that held her back. The man held up his hands, but Sara didn't relax. "We're fine."

The man simply stared back at Sara as though assessing her and if she was honest it made her uncomfortable, especially as his companions were doing the same thing. "You both got some place to be? Someone looking out for you?" he asked and it was almost like he cared.

"It's just us." Sara answered honestly, ignoring the sting in her chest when she said that out loud. The man shook his head and looked to the other man immediately to his right. The woman on his left smiled kindly at Sara. The man Sara assumed to be the leader refocused on her and Grace and took another step forward though was careful to maintain his distance.

"We have a community. We have walls and it's well guarded against biters and others. You're both more than welcome to join us there…ain't right for you both to stay out here, ain't safe." He said and Sara frowned not trusting what it was he was offering. Sensing her hesitation the man continued, "Hot water, food, shelter, a bed…we're creating something close to what the world used to be like, before all this and we need good people to do that…people willing to contribute…"

Sara sensed his questions. What did she have to offer if she were to accept his invitation and go to this apparently safe town? It all seemed too good to be true. Could anything like what they had before exist in this world? From what she had seen so far, Sara struggled to believe it. However looking at these people made her accept that they had somewhere to call home, they were clean, well fed. "I was a nurse…before all this." She offered up willingly, to which the man smiled.

"Is that right? Names Phillip Blake, though my people call me The Governor…their nickname not mine." He added with an amused chuckle, extending his hand out to Sara. For a moment the woman simply stared back at it before she slowly pocketed her knife and reached forward, briefly shaking it.

"Sara Grimes and this is Grace."

"Hello there Grace…" The Governor said as he looked at the young girl still hiding behind her Mom. Sara looked down at her daughter; the young girl stared back at her and nodded her head, agreeing with Mothers decision. "There'll be plenty of children there for you to play with Grace." He promised the young girl, before looking back to her Mother before giving a nod to the man he'd called Merle. "Then it's settled, there's just one thing I have to ask of you…I need to protect my town and it's people…so I need you not to be able to find your way back if you by chance have to leave, just in case there are more of you…"

"I told you it was just us." Sara interrupted, feeling a little uneasy as Merle went into the car and retrieved something; she once again went to grip her knife when the woman stepped forward after a nod from The Governor.

"It's just a precaution, so if you leave you can't find your way back. You're blindfolded and driven straight into the town…we've all had to do it." The black haired woman assured Sara. Sara shook her head again.

"It's just us, we have no one who can follow us or anyone to go running to." She tried to tell them but the Governor shook his head, looking genuinely sorry to be asking this of them.

"Anyone who comes to Woodbury is blindfolded on the journey there that is the only thing I ask of you, that's it. If you refuse then I'm sorry but, you can't come in." he explained and Sara closed her eyes, "And we'll need any weapons you're carrying."

"So basically you're asking me to put all of my trust into you, on the promise of some kind of community that may or may not be real and hand over my weapons and risk my daughter's life?" Sara asked, shaking her head and chuckling at them. As if on cue the heavens opened and it started to rain once more, as if the Gods themselves were trying to convince her to go.

"We can leave the kid without a blindfold…right Governor?" The woman asked looking back at him. Sara watched the Governor's jaw twitch as he stared back at the dark haired woman before he reluctantly nodded his head and returned his gaze to Sara.

"If it'll make you feel better your daughter can keep the blindfold off, all we're trying to do is protect ourselves." He explained honestly and Sara believed him. Nodding her head slowly she looked down at Grace again, the rain pelting down all around them and leaned down to press a kiss to her head.

"Okay." She agreed, turning back to the Governor and his people. Holding out her knife and gun she looked between the three of them, "This is all we have in regards to weapons; we lost everything else a couple weeks ago." She explained to them, noting the dubious way in which Merle looked at them before taking the weapons.

The woman went and picked up Sara's bag and then in turn took Grace's and threw them into the back of the truck. Sara frowned and the Governor noticing stepped forward, "You'll get them back when we get there, I promise." He assured her and Sara nodded, following the group to the vehicle they were all climbing into before stopping at the back seat doors. The Governor stood behind her as Grace climbed into the car and Sara gave her daughter a reassuring smile before the blindfold was wrapped around her eyes, blinding her.

Sara could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck and felt anxious, her hand reached for Grace's in order to assure herself she was safe. When Grace's hand took her Mom's, Sara released a breath, resisting the urge to cringe when the Governor helped her into the truck, his hands on her waist guiding her. Once inside he let go and she reached for Grace, pulling her tightly into her side protectively.

This was the tie she began to second guess her decision to get into the truck. She couldn't see anything, there was no guarantee he was taking them to his Community. Chances were there wasn't even a community to go to and she had just risked both her own life and her daughters for what? An empty promise? She had nothing to protect them with.

"We'll be there in no time at all." The Governor said from the front seat and all Sara could do was hold onto Grace just that little bit tighter.

-0-

As promised, they were there in on the road less than twenty minutes before the truck was pulling to a complete stop and doors were being opened. Sara felt Grace shift beside her but she never let go, that anxiousness she felt increased as she heard voices, "Grace, baby, where are we?" she whispered.

"It's a town, like they said Mommy, there are people out there!" The little girl sounded excited and she tried to move from her Mom's arms towards the windows, Sara though held onto the little girl. "Mom there's no walkers, there are kids too!"

"I told you." The Governor said and Sara jumped as her door was opened. She felt him move in to remove her blindfold and fought the urge to tense at his close proximity. When the fabric fell away from her eyes, she had to blink a few times before she could focus. Her eyes went from The Governor down to her daughter before she dared look outside. Sara took the hand the Governor was offering her and climbed out the truck, reaching back inside to help Grace do the same.

"Can we have our bags back now?" Sara asked, spotting the two rucksacks still in the back of the car. The Governor shook his head and closed the car door.

"Not just yet, we'll need to go through it just to make sure there aren't any more weapons or…"

"It's just clothes and some personal things from home; I gave you everything we had before." Sara pointed out, holding Grace to her side when the little girl made to move. The Governor nodded his head and smiled, almost like he was expecting her argument.

"We have forty-three other people here; I have to think of them. We want you here but we have to be cautious, everyone here has had to go through the same thing. We're just being careful, that's all." He told her and Sara nodded. She understood, she was being cautious herself but so far he'd been honest with her, so she decided to trust him.

"I'm sorry it's just…we'll definitely get them back?" she asked, relaxing her stance in front of him and grip on her daughter, Sara stared back at the Governor watching as he smiled again and nodded, waving his hand for them to follow him.

"I promise, my men will take a look and they'll be brought right up to your room." The Governor told her and two armed men passed by them, heading towards the car. "That's Martinez and Shumpert, they help keep this place safe." He informed her and Sara nodded her head, watching the men going into the car for her bags before she turned and continued on her way after the Governor.

They headed out onto what Sara assumed was the main road and paused. Sara gasped in surprise as she took in the sight before her. There were people and not just a few there were more people than she'd seen in a very long time, there were children playing football. It was like looking into the past, on what the world used to be. "Where are we?" she asked the Governor.

The Governor grinned back down at her, obviously pleased with the look on her face. Stepping forward and turning to face her, he held outstretched his arms, "Welcome to Woodbury."

-0-

So this isn't the first Walking Dead fic I've written but it's the first Rick/OFC one and I'm incredibly excited about it. I have a lot of it already planned out and a time table of when each Chapter will be posted.

This is an AU of course. Rick and Lori are divorced and with other people when the apocalypse begins. As you can see the family is torn apart and the reasons behind this will be revisited in flashbacks. Things are set to get harder before they are reunited. So please let me know what you think, I know there aren't a lot of Rick/OC stories out there, so I will admit to being a little worried. Show some love people!

Chapter Two will be posted on Wednesday!