"Tucker this is crazy. We cannot put ourselves on the line for complete strangers. Not after all we have been through," grumbled the man in my passenger seat.

I sighed heavily and pinched my nose. I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts. My copper brown curls bounced. He was right, but I could not block the screaming and gun shots out.

"Look Jayce, I know, but if you hadn't have saved me I would not be here either. Why not take a chance on them? They are human beings. We can't just let 'em die!" I banged my fists on the steering wheel. He stared at me, then the road before us, then back at me.

"God woman. You are going to be the death of me. Alright let's do this. You drive up there and draw them towards you. Then throw the grenade out the window and high tail it back to our spot. I'll take the shotgun and get those people out." Jayce grabbed the gun and slammed the door muttering something like 'crazy woman….can't believe we are doing this…' as he headed into the woods.

The group of humans were corned by some picnic tables near the rest stop bathrooms. I knew exactly the best way to draw the zombies away from them and Jayce. I turned on the music full blast and rolled down the windows half way. I locked the doors and took a deep breath. The song playing was some oldie that I did not really recognize, but that didn't matter. Nothing really mattered anymore. I threw my car in drive and floored it. My car rapidly approached the group of zombies running over a couple. My music started attracting the herd and they turned and moved closer to my now stopped car.

"C'mon get closer you nasty things," I muttered to myself.

I put the car in reverse and slowly goaded the herd to keep following me. There were still some stragglers near the picnic tables. I laid on the horn hoping that would bring the rest towards me. My heart started pounding as I saw Jayce move out from the trees toward the group of survivors. The man with the rifle in the front kept shooting the zombies, but the gruff looking guy with the cross bow noticed Jayce and kept shifting his cross bow between the zombies and Jayce as if trying to decide who was the bigger threat. The herd was now on top of my Jeep Wrangler and hands were reaching through the windows. I rolled up my window, but kept the passenger half way window down. I had drawn them pretty far from the group at this point and was waiting for Jayce's signal.

My heart started pounding in my throat as the creatures before me started crawling on the hood of my car. I heard yelling outside my car coming from Jayce and it started to draw the attention of some of the herd. I knew what I had to do in order to ensure the safety of the group. I turned the music up full blast, hit the horn again and grabbed my knife with my free hand. I took it and sliced my left hand open. I backed up the car a little more, rolled down my window a little and let the blood drip down the side of the car. All the zombies immediately responded to this and I knew that if Jayce did not explain himself to the group of humans quicker I would be in big trouble.

I heard pounding on the roof of my car from one of those things crawling around. I broke out in a sweat and my hands were shaking on the steering wheel. Suddenly Jayce's hands were flailing wildly and I knew it was now or never. I hit pedal going in reverse and then hit the breaks turning the steering wheel in such a way that my car would skid to the left. I grabbed our last grenade, pulled the pin and rolled the passenger window all the way down. I quickly chucked the grenade out the window, threw my car into drive and prayed that I would be able to hit a high enough speed in order to get far enough away from the explosion.

"Come on baby, faster," I yelled out loud to my car. I heard and felt the explosion behind me as I hit 70mph. Relief washed over me. I made it okay, now hopefully so did Jayce. I couldn't help let out a loud 'WOOHOO!' because of all the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

There was on old dirt road down the way that led to our planned meeting spot. There was a ravine down this way that most of the time kept zombies from the old shed that we had recently raided for supplies. I pulled up next to the shed, turned off the car, and grabbed my aluminum bat. I waited praying that Jayce had been able to convince the group to follow them and get them all to safety. Five minutes went by but it felt like an hour. I knew it would take them longer to get there because in order to get over the ravine they had to hike north a ways. The song that was currently playing was an old Beatles song. I couldn't help, but sing along quietly. My windows were up, keeping the cold winter air out, but I still couldn't help but shiver. It would be dark soon.

Some movement suddenly caught my eye. It was either Jayce or one of those dead creeps. My grip tightened on my bat instinctively. As the unknown thing got closer I released a sigh of relief. A tall blonde man came into view. His broad shoulders were heaving up and down and his dirty hands gripped a shotgun. Behind Jayce was the group of humans. I threw the door open, looked all around checking to make sure it was clear and ran bat in hand towards him.

"You okay? Everyone alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, we are good. I think everyone's safe. That was a close call though. I was worried you wouldn't haul ass out of there in time." Jayce lowered his gun and embraced me. I could hear someone clear their throat behind him.

"Oh I am sorry. How utterly rude of me. My name's Tucker and this is Jayce. Pleasure to meet someone who has a heart beat!" I beamed at them. It had honestly been along time since I had seen anyone beside Jayce. A man who had an air of authority stepped forward and extended his hand.

"I am Rick Grimes. This is my wife Lori, my son Carl, T-Dog, Carol, Maggie, Glenn, Herschel, Beth, and Daryl. We can't thank you enough. " Jayce and I shook his hand , me with my good non-bloody hand, and nodded at the large group in front of us. Everyone seemed tired, but friendly expect the guy with the cross bow. He still had it up, ready for anything.

"Sweetie, you can put that down, little old us ain't going to hurt y'all. I am surprised there are so many of y'all though."

The man named Daryl looked to Rick who nodded and only then did he lower his weapon. He grunted and looked away. Jayce crossed his arms and stepped forward.

"Sorry to interrupt the friendly chat, but it is going to get dark soon and Tuck and I have to hit the road," he started to turn to the car, but I grabbed his arm.

"Y'all got a place to stay for the night?" I questioned. Jayce's arm tensed and he turned his whole body towards me.

"Can I speak to you?" he demanded as he yanked me aside. Rick's group turned towards each other and started to speak. I heard bits and pieces like 'do you think we can trust them?' and 'are we going to stay the night with them?'

"What the hell are you thinking? You can't just offer them up our place. Who knows who these people are? They could kill us and take our stuff."

"They seem like good people. You know I gotta good judge of character. Plus we just saved their lives, that has to count for something. They wouldn't kill the people that saved them." I grounded out. He moved so that his 6-foot frame towered over me, trying to intimidate me into submission. I defiantly jutted my chin up and met him eye to eye.

"They could do something worse than kill you Tucker… I am just looking out for our best." His hands grasped my shoulders.

"Weren't you just saying how you miss what humanity used to be? What happened to the whole love your neighbor as yourself? This is our chance to do the right thing. Plus you know we are leaving our place for the cabin in a couple of days. Why the hell not let these people have a safe, warm place for the night?" My whisper had turned into a yell by the end of my argument and I realized that all eyes were on me.

Jayce growled threw his hands down and mumbled, "Fine, but I don't like it."

I shoved past him and addressed Rick's group.

"Listen and listen good. We gotta place five miles from here. It is safe and secure, but it won't be for long. We have been keepin tabs on the herd in town and they have been migrating towards our place. The cold has slowed them down so we have probably two days before they get too close for comfort. Y'all are welcome to stay until we leave. If we sense even a little bit of a threat from y'all we will go psycho on y'alls asses and take you down. We are pretty hospitable people so don't make us regret this."

"Why should we trust ya?" asked Daryl.

"How about cus we just risked our lives for complete strangers." I pointed out.

"Let us talk about it first," stated Rick as he turned back towards our group.

Jayce angrily stomped over to the car and got in slamming the door. I rolled my eyes at his temper tantrum. Men. Rick cleared his throat and turned back.

"We have decided to take you up on your offer. My wife here is pregnant and we haven't had a safe place to rest in awhile. Plus it's getting pretty cold. We really appreciate it. We have some cars near the outskirts of town that we would like to get though."

"Well the whole back seat of my car is free so Jayce could take four of ya to your cars and y'all could come back this way."

"Alright, T-dog, Glenn, Maggie and I will go. Daryl you are in charge while we are gone."

I walked over to car and told Jayce the plan. If looks could kill I would have been dead. He and the others hoped in the car and hit the road. I walked over to the group, wielding my bat just in case. The crossbow guy was pacing the area with his weapon at the ready.

"This place is pretty secure. The ravine keeps most of the creepers at bay. We still shouldn't be here at dark though."

For the first time he really looked at me. His weapon lowered a bit as his eyes looked me up and down. I couldn't help but blush at the intensity of his gaze. He didn't say anything and kept scanning the area anyways.

"Don't mind Daryl, he is always ready for a threat," came a soft female voice. The woman had sat down on a turned over log and was looking through her pack.

"Carol, right?" She nodded.

"What y'all doing in the open anyways?" I questioned.

"We were looking for supplies. We have been living from our cars the past month, but it has gotten to cold. We were hoping to find blankets and food."

"Well, we have both of those. Jayce and I have been pretty good at scavenging. That is the only thing that has really kept us alive." It got silent again and I really hate silences. It makes me nervous.

"Your hand is still bleeding," Herschel pointed out. I wipped my hands on my pants and grabbed my first aid kit from the my pack. As I took care of it, I made conversation.

"That is a mighty fine sheriffs hat you got there. You the law around here?" I asked Carl. He smiled and replied, "It is my dad's. He used to be a sheriff."

"That is awesome. My dad was just a pastor… the law in a different kind of way I guess."

"What happened to him?" Carl asked abruptly.

"Carl! You don't ask people that." Lori reprimanded.

"No it's alright… uh well he honestly did not last long. He had Parkinsons and all… he was the bravest man I knew though. He died saving me. He said that I had more of a chance than he did. I miss him, but I will never forget him."

At this point everyone was looking at me. I wrung my hands together and was about to change the subject when I heard cars approaching.

"That'll be them. Let's get out of here." I said as we moved towards the cars. I suddenly felt an arm on my shoulder.

"I am sorry about your father. He sounded like a great man of God." It was Herschel. I smiled and nodded as we packed up and moved out. It was nice to be around people again.