The New World: Chapter one- I was born in a thunderstorm.
I was born in a thunderstorm, I grew up overnight. I played alone, I played on my own I have survived…
-Alive by Sia.
Those three damn questions. I always used to know my answer to those exact three questions, Even if I were to answer them with a certain hesitancy, I always knew. But now… I'm not so sure.
How many walkers have you killed?
How many people have you killed?
Why?
It's funny how much the world can change you, how people can change you. Before the world went to shit I always used to know what I was doing, sure life was hard and I had my fair share of screw ups thrown my way but I always had a backup plan. I was the one who thought ahead, I guess I was always a little socially awkward and I always thought of many ways in which I could royally fuck something up. So, of course, I was prepared for everything and anything, except of course the apocalypse. But hey, who the hell would be?
My name is Ariranwen Faye. Yes, yes I know its mouthful, but that's the cruelty of having an utterly welsh name. So let's just keep it as Reia Faye for short. Besides in a world like this who even cares about the importance of a name anymore?
I walked along the highway on my way to Atlanta, this was the supposed safe zone… yeah sure as if anywhere could possibly be safe anymore. I wiped the sweat from my brow as the hot sun beat down on me, there are no clouds in the sky and the city appears to be silent, this could have been a perfectly beautiful sunny day; truth is we never had weather like this back in wales, sure we had the sun but the temperature never really went above thirty degrees. That's why I came out here in the first place, to have a luxurious summer holiday hah fat chance of that.
I also came to Georgia to visit my dad out here for the first time. My mum and dad had a divorce last year and apparently moving town wasn't a big enough distance for him so he moved all the way to America; that went down a treat with the family. My mother simply huffed and never spoke about it and my younger brother argued about it for weeks on end. So I was more or less an owl sending messages back and forth between them, I was starting to get fed up with it and I decided that I wanted to see my dad in person; I needed a break from my family's constant bickering.
I look over to my left and see all of the abandoned cars on the other side of the road, a shiver runs down my spine. This place definitely isn't screaming safe it just looks…empty. Maybe there's a centre further into the city or something.
I keep walking and I readjust the belt on my hips, I needed to find something else that could securely hold my weapons; this peace of makeshift shit just wasn't cutting it these days. I had my broadsword hanging from my left hip, a knife securely tucked into my pocket, two Sais attached to the back of my belt and finally a gun on my right hip. I've never even used the gun, to be honest, I'm too scared to use it. In wales, we don't have easy access to guns and I've never really felt the need to own a gun, I don't even know how to use the one that I have on me right now.
I stop on the road for a minute, when was the last time I ate? I feel a bit shaky from lack of food and drink so I walk over to the side of the road to try and sit in the shade. I take my bag off of my back and rummage around in there for my water bottle, I slowly pull it out and look at its contents. Oh, bloody hell. I've got about a quarter of a bottle left, this city better have a damn safety centre either that or I'm gonna have to raid someplace.I take three small sips of water I need to spare it until I find some more, I think I might literally kill someone for a cup of tea.
I shifted my sitting position so that my sword wouldn't dig awkwardly into my hip when I suddenly hear a thumping noise behind me. I instantly froze. What if it's a dead head?! I slowly breathe in then out and stuff my belongings back into my bag and sling it over my shoulder. The wall separating the two lanes gave me some cover so I quietly unsheathe my sword and peer over the wall to find where the noise is coming from.
Huh.I can't see anything, I don't see any dead people lurking around. But the gentle banging noise continues. It seems like it's coming from one of the cars, so I squint my eyes and try to distinguish which one it's coming from. I quickly check again for any dead heads and I jump over the wall, and onto the other side of the road, I hold my sword out a little in front of me with both hands gripping it as I approach the car that is making the noises. There's something in the back.
"Oh my god, please no," I whisper, as I come closer. There seems to be a child in the back, dead or alive I can't tell.
I walk to the side of the car and look in, and looking right back at me is a little boy, a very alive little boy with tears streaming down his face as he bats his hand against the glass at me.
I quickly sheathe my sword and move my hands to the door, "It's okay sweetie, I'm going to get you out okay?" I say to him as I try the handle, it's not budging though. I look back up to the boy he appears to be around five maybe six years old, he simply nods his head and his lower lip starts to tremble. I moved to the front doors and try to open them but still nothing works, the little boy's notices my struggle to free him and starts to sob.
"woah, woah hey you can't cry okay? We don't want any of those things to hear us now do we?" I offer him a small smile and he calms down a little. "Just don't worry, I'm gonna have to smash the glass."
I looked around me for something that could smash the window, I could do with a brick or something. Looking back at the wall I see large pieces of rubble scattered on the floor where a car drove into it. I sprinted towards the smashed up car and grabbed a decent sized rock and jogged back.
"okay," I smiled at the boy, "Let's do this shit." And I smashed the window.
Shit. One thing I didn't account for was the fucking car alarm going off. The high pitched alarm rang out loud and clear for all to hear. I reached my arm into the car and the boy scrambled over the front seats and grabbed my arms. I wrapped my arms around his small frame and carefully pulled him out.
We need to get away before the dead heads arrive, so I put him down on the ground on the other side of the wall and jumped over. As soon as I touch down on the ground he wraps his arms around my middle and buries his face into my stomach.
My eyes widen and I stand there awkwardly not knowing what to do, "uhh," I bring an arm down and around his shoulders, "hey kid we have to get moving okay. My name's Reia, what's yours?" I ask.
He pulls away from me but still holds on just as tight, his big chocolaty brown eyes look into mine.
"m-my name is Alexandre." He says quietly with a very obvious French accent.
I smile once again and walk him across the road and away from the car that's probably attracting dead heads from everywhere.
"That's a nice name, mind if I call you Alex?" I ask politely as he starts to calm down, he wipes the tears from his face and nods his consent. "Right well I was heading over to the city, its safe there. How long have you been on your own?" I ask seriously. But Alex just stares at me. I crouch down to his level and look intently into his eyes.
"Do you understand what I'm saying?" he simply looks at me and gives a shrug.
"I do not English well." He mumbles and looks down at his shoes. Okay great, I more or less failed French in school. Ugh.
"Okay." I say trying to keep things simple, I gesture around me "Not safe." I say and Alex looks back up at me so I point to the city "Safe." He looks over his shoulder at the city he seems to hesitate but turns back around and grabs my hand. He points to the city and tugs my arm, so we start walking again.
I keep a hold on his hand while I slip my bag off and take out the bottled water, immediately Alex's face brighten when he sees the water. I smile tenderly and pass it to him. So much for saving it for later.
After receiving his fill Alex hands back the empty water bottle but suddenly stops in his tracks.
"What?" I look down at him, he's looking behind us so I turn around as well my hand instinctively drops to my sword readying to unsheathe it if need be. But through the waving hot air on the road there appeared to be a man, on a damn horse.
"Well hello, cowboy." I smirk to myself, I push Alex behind me to protect him from the stranger's gaze and I once again rest my hand upon my sword.
The apparent Sherriff- by the looks of his uniform- slows the horse to a stop, "Excuse me, ma'am, I mean you no harm." He says with a southern drawl, he tips his hat slightly to me. "Where is it that you're heading? The city?" he asks. There's something about him that I can't quite put my finger on, he seems reliable as if he is a natural born leader. He gives off this trustworthy vibe.
I squint against the sun and look into his honest blue eyes, "yes… we're going to the city. It's supposed to be safe there." I say sheepishly to the man, he raises his eyebrows at me slightly; must be my accent.
"I'm also heading there, maybe we could help each other out. I have guns and ammo I can help protect your boy until we get to the safe zone." He nods his head towards Alex and I frown.
"He's not mine, I literally just found him. He doesn't seem to know an awful lot of English…do you speak French by any chance?" I smile a little bit up at the man before me.
He laughs a little at my attempt to lighten the seriousness in the atmosphere, "No I can't say that I do. I'm Rick, Rick Grimes. And you are?" he asks lightly.
I toss my short black curls back out of my face, "Reia Faye, nice to meet you, Rick. This little guy is Alexandre." I say, Alex steps around me and walks up to Rick. He smiles up at him and pets the horse.
"Hi, Alex. How old are you?" Rick asks the young boy trying to make conversation. Alex just stared up at rick for a minute and thinks before answering in English.
"Seven?" he asks and then he giggles a little.
I walk up to Rick as well now sensing that he posed no immediate threat, "Do you have any water? Alex was stuck in that car over there for god knows how long, I gave him what I could but-''
Ricks Cuts me off by handing a water bottle down to Alex, I breathe a sigh of relief, "Thanks." I say.
"So Reia huh? That short for anything?" he asks.
I let out a huff of a laugh, "yeah, but it's nothing you need to concern yourself with Sherriff Grimes." I say in what is apparently a rather shitty southern drawl. Rick simply laughs at me.
After that it was arranged that Alex would sit in front of Rick on the Horse, he appeared to be exhausted from lack of food and water. So I ended up walking alongside Rick we even made small talk; just the usual stuff like where do you live, where do you come from, got any family. Rick told me how he was looking for his wife and son. I went quiet when he started to talk about his family. My dad was gone, he went around about in the beginning of when the world turned to shit, and I didn't even know what to think about my mum and brother back in Wales. I had cried over that many times before, I cried over all the unanswered questions.
As we finally approached the city I drew my sword just in case there were any dead heads around.
The city was quiet, all I could hear was the horse's footfalls they seemed too loud as if the noise was trying to drill into my head forever. Yeah, it's definitely too damn quiet out here.
I grabbed the reins and stopped the horse, Rick looked down at me questioningly.
"Rick I don't like this, it's too quiet. Surely any safe zones with people- Very alive people- would make some noise. This place looks like a ghost town." I say quietly but with enough force that Rick stops to consider my opinion.
He takes in a breath before answering, "I don't hear the walkers either, if it makes you feel better I'll ride on up ahead a few paces in front. But I have to see for myself, I need to know if my family's safe." He says, he waits to see my reaction. I shake my head at the ground before answering.
"Fine, but I want Alex with me. If we have to run I'd feel better with him in my arms." Rick tries to speak again but I cut him off, "No, this is your crazy idea I'm not having that little boy with you while you play Captain Stupid, he stays with me. I understand you want to find your family but if you get me killed I'll haunt your arse." I say with a slight smirk. Rick sighs at me but puts his arms around a very confused looking Alex and hands him to me.
"Okay Alex, you stay with me." I say simply to him, hoping to whatever God that's out there that he understands what I'm saying. "Always hold my hand." In answer, he takes my hand and holds it tightly and I let out a sigh of relief and smile down at him. Rick rides ahead a few paces and I hold my sword tighter.
We walk through the deserted streets of Atlanta City, I look at the huge empty buildings around me. I couldn't help but think about coming here with my dad, he had planned to take me around America and Atlanta happened to be on the list of places to go. I stared at the empty streets and imagined them gushing with people, it would be a hot summers day like this I would be sitting inside some corner café by a window with the sun streaming in while I read a book, or talked to my dad about Uni. I wanted to laugh at myself, I could almost smell the coffee from that peaceful little café. Its Alex who pulls me out of my reverie with a panicked look on his face.
"Reia!" he exclaims and points at two dead heads getting off of a blown apart bus, Ricks horse jumps back from them. I rush forward with my sword already drawn and I take them down, one blow across the head with the blade always does the trick, I puked the first few times when I had to kill the dead heads. Now I simply grimaced and tried to wipe the blood off of my beloved sword. I looked down at Alex to see that he'd turned rather pale and looked like he was about to be sick.
I ran my hand over his blonde head and tugged him along, I only just noticed that Rick had run ahead on the horse.
"What are you doing?" I called after him, he was about to turn out of sight when the horse reared back and started galloping back our way.
"Run!" Rick shouts at me, and then I saw the huge herd of Dead Heads running after him, His voice was consumed by the snarling of the dead.
"Oh, Shit."
Hi, guys! so this is my first walking dead fanfic! so let's just get two things clear in case you were struggling:
Ariranwen is pronounced as eye-ree-ann-when, and Reia is pronounced as Re-ah kind of like Leah.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, things will start to pick up in the next chapter I promise. I can't forget that My lovely friend Niamh helped convince me to write this story and gave her input, Thank you!
Thank you all for reading, please review because I love hearing from you.
Until next time,
Larissa xx
