Author's Note:

Hey guys! This is my first published story. This is just the prologue to give a little insight to my OC and how things were for her before the apocalypse began without giving too much away. I will delve deeper into her and the story once the chapters are written. I would love reviews to help me out with my story once the chapters are posted and a little feedback on what you think so far of just the little preview. Thank you guys so much for checking it out!

Prologue

Kidada Reed had finally made a name for herself in the department. She had worked hard in college and graduated a year early with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and finished graduate school in a year with a master's degree by the age of 21. Every officer in the King County Sheriff's Department was impressed with her credentials and her results at the end of the police academy. Not to mention, the only other female officer they had left to find work elsewhere. Hiring another female looked good on their behalf and she was hired the same day she applied. Her entire family was there to show their endless support when she was sworn in and assigned a partner, Jacob Calhoun.

Jake and Kida had gone through the same police academy together and were hired in at the same time, though he was three years older. The sheriff's deputy, Rick Grimes, was the one in charge of finding replacements for the recently retired officer and the female officer that had left. He couldn't have found anyone more perfect for the job than Kidada Reed. She was smart, level headed, and knew what she was doing. Jacob Calhoun on the other hand was large, hot headed, and cocky. What she lacked in muscle, he made up for. What he lacked in knowledge, she made up for by miles. They were the perfect team in Rick's eyes and he had no regrets about hiring them. His partner, Shane Walsh, was thrilled to have another female nearby and he made than known on more than one occasion.

Though Kida and Jake bumped heads on nearly everything, there was no doubt they would have each other's back no matter what was going to happen. She eventually hooked her partner up with her best friend, Adrienne James. They had known each other since they were young and became best friends during college. Kida had even been the one to put her name in with the social workers frequently hanging around the King County Sheriff's Department working on cases. Kida worked closely with a few and was able to get Adrienne a job. She was able to fight crime and have lunch with her best friend every day. What wasn't there to love about that job?

After five years with the department, Shane Walsh called Kida to tell her the horrible news. It was 3pm on her day off when she received the call that her parents were killed in a car accident. It was a relief to find out what he and Rick had taken care of it and caught the people who caused it, but Rick had been shot in the process of taking them down. He went into a coma. She wasn't too close with Rick or the Grimes family, but his wife Lori was always kind to her in passing. She admired the woman for being able to deal with the constant work Rick dealt with while raising their son, Carl. Shane had asked her to accompany him to tell Lori and Carl the news about Rick. She agreed and made sure the woman and her son knew what a wonderful and brave man Rick Grimes was.

Over the next week, things began to go crazy. There were reports all over the news about crazed people attacking one another and feasting on flesh. Kida had never seen anything like it. She tried to write it off as untreated insanity or a bad reaction to drugs, but the reports just kept coming. They were told at the department to keep an eye out for any sort of behavior correlating with the news reports. It was around that time that Jake began to act differently. He became more aggressive and during their shift he made numerous stops in odd places, ordering Kida to stay in the car. She knew Jake was always hot headed and cocky, with not much regard for anyone but himself, but she always remained calm and civil around him. After all, he was her partner and he and Adrienne recently became engaged. She knew something was wrong, but she couldn't say anything without proof.

The day the apocalypse began in Georgia was the day she got her proof. She had made a stop at the hospital to visit Rick and check on his status. Upon leaving, she saw Jake across the street in one of the station's unmarked police cars making a deal with someone incredibly shady. That's when she saw the fat envelope being passed to Jake discreetly before he drove off. She had tried to beat him to the station but he had arrived before her. When he took his lunch break she searched his desk and found over $70,000 in different envelopes. He was taking bribes, she was sure of it now. How the hell did he get his hands on so much money? She raced to find someone to report it to when everyone in station began shouting a running outside. The attacks had reached King County.

Once she realized what those things were, she took a few guns from the station along with ammo and raced to her apartment. Her street hadn't been hit yet by those things and she was able to pack a few bags to get the hell out of there. After getting a hold of Adrienne she found out that her mother and her older brother had become those things and her little brother, Charlie, had killed them before they could get to him and Adrienne. After high-tailing it out of her complex and getting to the James household, she helped them get anything they needed into the car and they were out of there. Adrienne tried numerous times to get a hold of Jake but failed every time. Kida knew better than she did that the asshole left without her. While Adrienne continued to try to get in touch with Jake, Kida got a hold of Shane.

They were heading to Atlanta.