Chapter 1

Breaking Ties.

A.N. -Hey y'all! I know I said I was going to have it completed before I started uploading :( BUT, I have the first few chapters done & I am dying to know what you guys think, before I get too far. So, this is the official 1st chapter of Breaking Ties, my sequel story to A New Hope. The chapters will be switching back and forth between POV again, y'all can let me know if you still like that, so I can know to keep it to one character or not & this chapter will be a Jake POV. I'm introducing quite a few new original characters, so I hope it doesn't get too confusing. Anyway, leave reviews! & I hope everyone enjoys:) XOXO

*I do not own any characters of/or The Walking Dead.

The thunder rolls across the eerily dark sky in booming waves. I look up to it, still expecting the rain to start pouring at any moment.

"Where is she?" A female voice demands from me, panic and anger clashing in her words. Now, I look down, meeting the familiar light blue eyes glaring up to me. Nora is a spitfire to say the least, much like her younger sister Simone. I doubt either of them know fear, and if they do, they put on one hell of a front to hide it.

Attempting to move a strand of strawberry blonde hair away from her eyes, she pushes my hand away violently, "Jake. Where is my sister?!" Her voice has moved on to a yell now, so I pull her away from the low-burning fire, away from the hearing of the others in their tents.

"Nora, she'll be back. It's only-" She pushes me away again with a surprising amount of force, and now pure rage is looking back at me,

"You sent her up there! It's been almost three days, Jake! Three!" She kicks at the dirt, her worn out boot sending a clod of soil flying towards my leg, "and if she doesn't come back, so help me I'll break your damn legs and leave you for the biters."

She doesn't mean it, but it none the less sends anger boiling through my veins. I did ask Simone to go up the mountain, to my grandparents farm. The same place I told my sister, Rose, to meet myself and our parents when the virus started spreading, where I hoped it would be safe. Yet, I had only managed let them all down.

I was in college before all this happened, with a football scholarship at Auburn. It was the life any 22-year-old guy could have ever wanted. Parties, girls, drinking, more girls, and the fame of playing for an elite college team. Then, our whole world crumbled right from underneath our feet, sending us spiraling down into a darkness unlike any other. A world where when you die, you'll come back as.. something. Something evil, something no man or woman could ever imagine becoming, because we're all brought up to believe that when we die, we go on to whatever God we choose to believe in. Not rise again with an insatiable hunger for human flesh.

So, now, after exactly one year, one month, and 15 days, I'm standing here looking up the little mountain road that leads to the place I spent most of my childhood. The little road that could lead me to find my sister, the only person that ever stuck with me, put up with all my stupidity, and unknowingly shaped me into the guy I am today, or it can lead to the tragedy that has only played through my mind a million times.

-You still shouldn't have sent someone else to do your job just because you're afraid of what you might, or might not, find. My mind spits at me, and I know it's so true but I just couldn't find it in my heart to bear witness to the nightmare.

I sit now, exhaustion taking its toll, and poke at the burning embers, taking in what little heat they were still giving out. Nora stormed into her tent after she left me, and I can almost feel the anger radiating from it's core now. I let out a sigh, roughly running my hands through my black hair. It's reached almost to my eyebrows again, and the thickness doesn't help much.

-Maybe when she doesn't want to use you as biter-bait, Nora will cut it again.

Another boom shakes my whole body as it tumbles through the clouds, and I finally feel the first drops of rain pelt down on my skin. I barely make it inside my own tent before it's coming down in icy sheets, drenching everything in its path.
I lay back, pulling the beat up old sleeping bag over me, listening to the heavy droplets hit the nylon shelter over my head. It's only a matter of seconds before my eyes feel like lead, but I try to push the feeling away. I don't want to sleep, not until Simone is back safely.

-and Rosa.

I shake my head, feeling like my hopes are getting way too high for my own good. If she doesn't come back with Simone, I don't know. I don't want to think about that. So, I let my eyes close. Let the dark finally consume me, allowing it to silence my thoughts, if only for a few hours.

. . . . .

"Jake." I feel something shaking me, feel the voice ripping me away from the first good dream I've had in such a long time, "Jake, get up bro."

My eyes open, the light shining through the opened tent flap is turning the person in front of me into an inky shadow.
I give the shadow a grunt, nodding my head as I move from underneath the sleeping bag. Then the flap closes, letting a chilled breeze blow across my face. The cold creeps all over my skin, sending a shiver up my spine as I pull my book bag close, searching for a long sleeve shirt.

As I emerge from the warmth of the tent, the full brunt of the cold hits me head on. "Damnit." I mutter, heading toward the rained out fire pit. Hunter has already beat me to the punch though, lighting some of the kindling he kept with him last night. We had all looked on at him like he was crazy as he took the armfuls of little sticks and logs into his tent. As we busied ourselves with shooting snarky comments, he just smiled and continued on with his mission, telling us it was going to rain and we would all be thanking him in the morning. He was right.

I slap a hand on his broad shoulder, giving him a shake and a small laugh, "You got us, man. Thank you." I say, he returns with a mumbled, "Told ya so.", and continues to focus on the smoking bundle of dry twigs. Hunter had played football with me at Auburn, and even though he was probably the most reserved of us all, he was a damn good player, never one to let the team down.

Moving away from him, I try to close off memory lane once more by picking up around the little camp, hanging up the soaked through clothes and blankets to dry in the slowly rising sun. Not long after I start though, I see the other man of our small group coming through the wood line, he's got a big owl in one hand and a rabbit in the other, with his inseparable hunting rifle slung across his back. Caleb. The oldest of the group at 34, he had found the rest of us in a whole world of trouble a few months back and led us through the woods, away from the herd of biters on our tail. With our lives in his debt, I had no choice but to let him join us and that choice has turned out to be one of my better, seeing how well he hunts, never failing to bring us something back. I give him a smile, taking the rabbit from his hand and bump his fist as I look at the catch,

"Very nice." I say.

Caleb never talks much at all, and only answers with a nod and half of a smile, which is the only way he expresses emotion that we know of. As I start to turn, following his surly figure and the trail of feathers he's plucking from the owl, a slight movement catches my attention. I whip my head towards the woods, dropping the furry, gray body in my hand and search vainly for anything human, but the new undergrowth is making it more than difficult to spot the source of the movement. My feet move before I really know what I'm doing, and as I near the line, the sound of wood cracking and popping under pressure forces my whole body into fight mode, and I slowly slide my skinning knife from it sheath, preparing for the worst.

Everything becomes so silent I hear my heart beating like it's right in my ears. Everyone behind me at the camp has dropped whatever they were doing, and are looking towards me, also readying themselves for anything. The crunching becomes louder, and now I know it's more than just one of whatever it is. Caleb's rifle cocks, causing me to damn near jump out of my own skin, I turn to see he's right behind me now.

-Shit. How can he move so quietly! Or maybe you just need to pay more attention.

Placing my eyes on the woods once again, it seems that it's all but come alive. I see movement from in front of me, and from the left, then the right, and I don't dare turn to see if they're coming from behind us too. Yet, I don't hear the usual and unique snarling and growls only biters can produce.

-Just people? Simone? Did she find Rosa? Why are there so many then? Just as my mind starts to soar through all the possibilities, I hear a very familiar voice coming from my left,

"Jake, tell them to put down they're weapons."

-That's Simone! She's alive. But why is she asking us to put away our weapons?

Nora obviously hears her sister's voice too, and she runs forward,
"Simone!" She yells, but before she can even get past me, a very angry-looking man wielding a crossbow comes through the trees, he shakes his head,

"Uh-uh. Back up." He says, and with the sights still aimed at her, she reluctantly stops, giving the man an award worthy glare.

Not even seconds later, a second man emerges from our right, holding one hell of a revolver in his hand. While he doesn't look nearly as vicious, his blue eyes still give us all a deathly stare, almost daring any of us to make a move.

"Hang on a second." I say, getting tired of these surprise guests, "That was Simone. She's part of our group, why can't we see her? What do you want?" The anger in my voice is undeniable, and Crossbow Guy is looking at me now,

"You Jake?" He asks, spitting to the side before dropping the ungodly large weapon away from my head.

"Yeah, I am. Who the hell are you?" I challenge, keeping my eyes on his.

I admit, this guy is intimidating, definitely not someone to have on your bad side, but he's got something to do with Simone and he's no friend of mine at the moment. So, to my surprise, he actually laughs. I think it's a laugh, more like a grunting chuckle, but the smirk on his face is all smartass as he turns and whistles towards the trees.

"Oh God, Simone. Are you OK? Did they hurt you?" Nora is nearing her own kind of mental breakdown as Simone rushes toward us, embracing her older sister in a tight hug.

Relief floods through me, as I watch them, finally knowing for certain Simone is safe. Yet, I had forgotten what she even risked her life for to begin with until that reason comes stalking through the trees, wild green eyes fixated on mine, and it's like looking at a ghost of myself.