Hello lovelies! And welcome to my new Walking Dead story!
I have wanted to get back into writing fanfiction, but I haven't had the inspiration to until lately. So, I'm hoping you will all enjoy this one because I love the show and I worked super hard!

The true title of this story is #Zombie Apocalypse.
Unfortunately, I am unable to insert the #, and spelling out "Hashtag" just doesn't look right to me.
So I will be changing the title, although, I am unsure as to what at this moment.

Yes, I did choose to start the story before the "shit hits", but I promise I will make sure to follow the story line as closely as possible (but adding the tweaks necessaryfor my OC). Please remember that I do not own The Walking Dead, just my own characters.
Time for the premiere of my new story! Please enjoy.

Chapter One: Restart Button

Countdown to Apocalypse: 98 Days

Stepping off the final step of the bus and onto the concrete sidewalk was the best thing to happen to Nicolette "Cole" Matheson in four days, the entire duration of her captivity within the small confines of the metal hotbox as it brought her across the country. She stretched like a lazy cat, raising her arms above her head, and even releasing a small growl of a sound before she finally returned her arms to their place at her sides. The bus driver moved at the pace of a sloth as he found his way to the side compartment at the base of the bus, pulling the door upwards and reaching for her duffel bag in the back. The decrepit bus driver passed her duffel bag to her and then made his way back to the worn in chair that had been his perch the entire journey, looking at her once more with a smile and a wave to wish her well.

She smiled and swung her bag over her shoulder as she started down the sidewalk, looking around and enjoying the slightly familiar surroundings, but also noting the drastic changes that had been made.

The quaint houses, all of them surrounded by picket fences and contained perfectly manicured lawns within, became monotonous after the first ten or so. The homes seemed like they were attempting to replicate the suburbs of the large cities, but all they ended up emulating was something out of the Stepford Wives: uniformed perfection with no hint of individualism or creativity of any kind. Cole found that the appeal of the smaller towns was that they tended to have wide open spaces and neighbors who were few and far between. Cole really hoped that her gran hadn't fallen prey to this bothersome trend; she had always preferred her gran's peculiar taste in decoration.

She had visited this town every summer until she was thirteen years old to see her grandmother, but that joy was cut off eleven years ago, the decision having come from her parents. She had thrown the fit of the decade – accompanied by the throwing of a multitude of stuffed animals and one very unfortunate lamp – when she found out she would not be able to return to the one place she had really felt at home.

Although, someone could have reminded her about the overwhelming heat in North Georgia; they were in the mountains, for shit's sake, wasn't it supposed to be a little cooler?

Gran probably did mention it, Cole acknowledged to herself as she made her way farther and farther from her bus stop, now appreciating her choice in attire. Her light, workout tank top, jean shorts, and Nike running shoes had been the perfect choice since they allowed the breeze to cool off her entire body. Even with her light clothing, she still felt the light perspiration around her hairline and on the back of her neck where her mass of hair was currently tied back in a ponytail. Digging through her small cross body handbag that was slung low on her hip, she pulled out her favorite aviator sunglasses and was instantly thankful to escape the bright light from the glaring sun.

She continued down the road, eventually becoming bored enough to start humming some of her favorite songs from memory since she was unable to use her phone, the battery having died about halfway through the day. She had played her music on repeat from the beginning of the trip until about four hours before she was dropped off at her stop because one of the assholes on the bus decided to bring a rooster on the bus. Who the fuck brought a rooster on a bus ride? The stupid thing was made noise every ten minutes and crowed whenever he felt like, even if it was in the middle of the night, driving everyone insane. In the few hours without her music, Cole had threatened bodily harm on the rooster's owner and had to be held back by another passenger, just to make sure she didn't throttle him and toss him out of a window with his rooster.

Cole began to notice the houses thinning out, allowing for more room in between yards and the lawns becoming a little more natural, and the sidewalk began to look a little downtrodden. She sighed as a small amount of relief flooded through her, knowing that she hadn't become completely lost or traveled in the wrong direction to get to her Gran's place.

As she ran her hand deftly over her forehead to remove the small amount of sweat that accumulated, she tuned into a horribly loud sound coming from behind her, a roaring sound she had not heard in a very long time. A motorcycle. Of course she had seen them where she had been living before, but they normally made the sounds of a small kitten purring, while this one sounded like a lion's rough roar on repeat. She heard the sounds quieting momentarily before she heard a voice, "Hey there sweetcheeks, where in the world do ya think yer runnin' off ta?" Cole turned to acknowledge the man on the motorcycle and saw he had a bigger build with short, greying hair and a small amount of five o'clock shadow. He was on the tan side and wore a short sleeved shirt over a white sleeveless shirt that was left open, a pair of slightly dirty cargo pants, and a pair of worn in boots.

"I'm heading to my gran's house, but what's it to you?" Cole said with a smile as she continued walking, his motorcycle following at a slow and steady pace beside her, which wasn't a huge problem since there were no other vehicles on the road. She lifted her sunglasses onto the top of her head so that she could keep eye contact with him since she had always seemed to have the ability to sense someone's true intentions by keeping eye contact.

"'Cause, I can't just let a perty lady walk 'round here by herself. Some of these guys ain't the nicest," the man on the motorcycle said, his gruff voice accentuated by his accent. The man sounded like he had smoked multiple packs of cigarettes a day, since he was four.

"I think I'll be fine. I'm very good with handling men, especially the bad ones," Cole said with a chuckle and a playful wink in his direction, her tongue poking out of her lips to show that she was joking with him. She watched as his mouth pulled back into a grin and he began laughing whole heartedly, although it sounded more like a merging of laughter and wheezing.

She laughed with the man momentarily as she continued making her way down the sidewalk, dodging some of the pieces that had been lifted by roots pushing upwards, or maybe someone just decided to take a sledgehammer to the sidewalk.

"Well, if yer into bad men, ya found yerself one of the baddest," he chuckled to her, revving his motorcycle, as if the sound would somehow magically make her find him attractive.

"And here I thought you were just a Good Samaritan," Cole retorted, shifting her bag over her shoulder, a slight smirk on her lips at her witty response. Normally, she would not have been able to think up such a clever remark until after the conversation was over, but this man just made her want to keep on her toes. He laughed at her comment as well, but she noticed his patience waning quickly, which made her guess at the fact that women probably threw themselves at him and his bike. Too bad she was not one of those women.

"Now now hun, I was only tryin' to help ya find yer way and maybe offer ya a ride on my bike. Whatcha' might end up ridin' on later is up to ya," he grinned at her with a Cheshire smile, thinking his blunt innuendo would help his case. Cole couldn't contain her laughter as she burst into a fit of laughter and giggles, bending at the waist to grab onto her stomach, unable to believe that this man was really that forward. She heard him curse in her direction and she finally calmed herself down enough so her ability to speak returned, "Look, you seem like the kind of guy who can make those pickup lines work and I'm sure ladies throw themselves into your bed after hearing them, but I am not one of those girls. Although, I truly respect you for trying to pick up a complete and total stranger, which takes guts."

She watched as anger flared behind his eyes, but it dissipated as soon as it appeared, and the man chuckled once more. "Ya got some kind of balls turnin' me down and laughin' at me like that, but it's yer loss, sugar tits," he informed her with a shrug of his shoulders. He gave her a quick nod as a good-bye before revving his motorcycle once more, but speeding up down the road and away from her. Cole no longer heard the motorcycle after a few moments, revealing the speed of the motorcycle man, either fleeing from his embarrassment or from her.

It took Cole another fifteen minutes or so before she finally found her gran's trailer. The siding was painted a shade of tan which paled in comparison to the front door that was painted a bright shade of teal with filigree designs painted on in other neon colors. The steps leading to her front porch were painted a bright orange, but the color was chipping and fading from wear. Her gran's small piece of land had a few trees spotted on it, so she'd taken her eccentric taste into nature as well, hanging color stained mason jars and small wind chimes on the available lower limbs. Cole smiled at her grandmother's ways, but also remembered that the home had needed some major work when she was here last; the roof leaked, the pipes dripped, the guest toilet wouldn't flush, and there were many more problems that she hadn't understood when she was younger. Inspecting the roof with sharp eyes, she was taken aback when she realized that her gran's roof wasn't just fixed, it was practically brand new. When had that happened? Who had fixed it?

At least it's fixed. Now Gran won't have to worry all the time, Cole thought, shaking her questions away and making her way up the porch steps and knocking on the door. "Hey Gran, are you in there?" She called out, waiting for only a few seconds before the door was flung open and she felt her gran's thin arms wrap around her, crying out something that sounded like, "My grandbaby!"

She laughed softly, dropping her duffel back onto the porch and hugging her grandmother, petting her back calmly, knowing her gran was probably crying or on the brink of tears. Cole began blinking away the tears that burned at the corner of her eyes, she hadn't seen her only grandmother in eleven years, and she had missed her dearly.

"Hey Gran, I've missed you too," Cole cooed to the woman, soothing her as best as she could. "Why don't we head inside? It's hotter than I remembered out here," she laughed, pulling away from her gran and directing her inside the door. She leaned down momentarily to grab her duffel bag, but she left it next to the doorway, leading her gran into the living room and onto the couch.

She sat her down on the bright purple sofa, smiling to herself as she realized no amount of Stepford houses would ever make her gran change; Gran would never deter from her quirky ways. The walls of the living room were an off white color and they were the least colorful things in the room. Gran's living room looked as if the color wheel just kept spinning and splattered all over the room; the couch and love seat were a matching set, but her side tables had been sanded and painted into a shade of yellow that went with the couch, in a strange way.

Focusing back on her family member, she reached out and handed a small box of tissues to the woman, watching as she wiped her face and dotted at the corner of her eyes where her tear ducts would be found. "I'm so happy to see you, sweetie. And Lord have Mercy, you've grown up so much!" Gran gushed as she put one a bright smile for Cole, her joy bringing a smile to Cole's lips as well.

"I'm really happy to see you too, Gran. Thanks for letting me stay with you for a while. I really needed to get away," Cole nibbled on her bottom lip nervously, wringing her hands as they were in her lap. She felt Gran's hand on her shoulder and she looked up at her, "Divorce is hard honey, I'm sure your mom and dad didn't mean to bring you in the middle of their war."

"I know they didn't, but it feels like they want me to pick one of them and never speak to the other again. They're the ones with the problems, not me." She growled about it, remembering the blow up of massive proportions the day before she left. She hadn't even told her college that she was leaving; she just packed up and bought her bus ticket the next morning, knowing she'd pick up the pieces of her life when she decided to return.

Her mom and dad had been fighting through their divorce for months. They fought over money, the house, the cars, and even her. She was their only child and she loved them both very much, but she was so thankful that she was 24 and wasn't going through this as a child. So, in their attempts to gain her favor, her dad bought her a car so her mother bought her a purebred stallion. When her parents found out she was gone, they decided to ship their presents – more like bribes – down with her. Her new car would come to her gran's house and her stallion would be housed in a local stable, all expenses paid.

"That's not what they're trying to do," Gran told her, but they both knew she was lying. Her parents were obsessed with keeping up appearances and their statuses in society; the talk of their divorce was spreading through their elite circle of people like a wild fire. They had split up most of their assets already, so whoever Cole chose to spend more time with would be the "winner".

Wanting to change the topic of conversation, Cole shook off her feelings before looking up at her grandmother, "I'll definitely go and look for a job so I can help cover some of my living expenses. I don't want to just squat in your guest bedroom."

"Oh sweetie, I already knew you would want a job, so I talked to Miss Terri at the bar and told her you were a bartender back home. You start tomorrow night," Gran smiled at her and Cole felt her eyes go wide.

"Gran, I worked in a bar back home, but I wasn't a bartender. I learned a few things, but I can't mix frilly cocktails or anything like that," Cole said nervously, not wanting to have her gran stick her neck out for her, only to fail.

"Nicolette, this the mountains of Georgia honey, do you really think anybody wants a martini? If you happen to encounter some snotty, little shit who does order one, Terri will take it and teach you how to do it," Gran said, making Cole's mouth drop in shock, apparently the south had made her gran a little tougher.

Lowering her head and laughing to herself, Cole couldn't contain her amusement. This was her carefree, peace-loving grandmother, spouting cuss words to her. It was just too funny! Inhaling and exhaling a soft sigh, she looked at her gran with a big smile, studying her features. Her gran was only shorter than her now because of her hunched back, her original height in her prime had been about 5'6, but she was now shorter than Cole's 5'4 height. At the age of 78, Cole was surprised with the fact that her gran's hair still had color in it, a pale shade of blonde with silver streaked in. Her green eyes were bright, albeit a little glassy from Cataracts, but her cheeks were still rosy and prominent. Normally, when someone in her family grew in age, they tended to become porcelain pale, but living in the Georgia sun had kept her grandmother's skin a soft tan.

"Alright Gran, I'll be there tomorrow. I will try my best," Cole told her, standing from her seat and grabbing her duffel from the door. "It's still okay to use the guest room, right?" She asked and her gran nodded, moving into the kitchen and Cole knew the woman was already cooking up dinner ideas in her head.

Heading down the hallway that was splattered with photographs of the family; she walked past the hall closet and opened the door after it, revealing the guest bedroom. It hadn't really changed, except for a few minor decorations. The room was a soft nude color, with dark wood side tables and a vanity in the corner, the full-sized bed adorned with a comforter set that looked as if the design had been painted onto it. Cole noted that the room, other than vintage perfume bottles as decoration, was devoid of her grandmother's usual styling. This room looked like it had been redesigned to suit her tastes and purpose.

She had to blink away the tears that were forming in her eyes as she began to unpack, setting her clothes out onto the bed and the vintage trunk that sat at the foot of her bed, folding them properly or hanging others. Her grandmother must have scrambled so hard to redecorate this room when she had called a few days ago to let her know she was coming.

Damn, I love that woman, Cole thought as she finished up packing, closing the door to the room as she left, following the delicious smell of food that was coming from the kitchen. "Gran, whatever that is, I am going to gorge myself on it!"

Cole had not expected the amount of food that Gran was making as she entered the kitchen. Was the woman trying to feed an army? Eight large, baked chicken breasts were cooling as Gran continued to stir some butter into a huge pot of mashed potatoes, and from the smell, the final large pot was filled with green beans. There were hot rolls already placed on the table in the middle of two table settings, but Gran had two other plates ready on her counter top. "Jeez Gran, are you trying to feed the whole town? Are more people coming to dinner?" Cole asked, taking a seat in one of the kitchen table chairs, grabbing a roll and tearing off pieces before she popped them into her mouth.

"No, just the two boys down the road. They don't really eat much and they'll forget completely if I don't bring them food," Gran said, scooping out a large serving of mashed potatoes and plopping them onto the plates; she did the same with the green beans and put two chicken breasts on each plate, along with two rolls.

"They aren't taking advantage of your kindness, are they Gran?" She asked, a little wary of these boys. Her gran had always been a bit too kind and trusting with others; Cole had watched her fall for several sob stories and end up in trouble, so now that she was here, she would make sure Gran would never get taken advantage of.

"No sweetie, not at all. The older brother is a bit rough around the edges and he'll attempt to weasel money out of me, but he knows when to cool his jets with me. The younger brother is hard worker and doesn't open up very well, but I'm cracking that surface, I know it. They've had a pretty rough life and no one really wants to associate with them that much, but they helped with fixing this old place of mine, so if they need a hot meal, they know they're more than welcome to get one from me." Gran said firmly, finishing up the plates and wrapping them in aluminum foil to keep them hot, then plating both of theirs with much smaller portions.

The meal was fun and lively, the conversation never ceasing for more than a few moments so they both could eat bites of their dinner. Cole told her gran about her small apartment back home and how she had enjoyed living apart from her parents, about her college and how she loved the classes she took, and finally about the few friends she had made and would miss until she went back.

After dinner, Cole picked up all the dirty dishes and began washing them and putting them on the drying rack, but when Gran asked if she had wanted help, she shooed her away. Instead of battling it out with Cole's stubbornness, her gran decided to take the plates down the road to the boys, promising Cole she would return soon.

She finished the dishes and made her way to the bathroom, turning on the shower and undressing quickly and stepping into the hot spray. Her hair and body products had been waiting for her and she enjoyed cleaning the grime of her journey off of her body. When she was done, she dried off with the soft terrycloth towels and brushed her teeth for bed. She was exhausted and missed sleeping in an actual bed and since she had her first day of work tomorrow, she decided she definitely needed some kind of rest.

Plugging her phone into her charger, she waited for it to come back from the dead before she set a new alarm for herself for in the morning, wanting to wake early and go for her daily run. As she was climbing into the bed sheets, she heard Gran walking through the front door, calling goodnight to her. Cole returned the sentiment, pulling the sheets up to her neck, and burying her face into the pillow. It smelled like Gran's home and the Georgia summer. It smelled liked home. As that thought crossed her mind, she smiled before letting her eyes close and drifting off to sleep.

So, what did you guys think? I really want to know, so please don't hold back! Any kind of criticism is good criticism and will help me become a better writer. Remember to leave reviews, favorite and follow. You can even send me a private message - I will answer all/as many as I can.
Until the next chapter, my dears!

Hugs and kittens,

cortneymonster