Chapter 1

It was hot just like any other day in Atlanta. Nobody knew the exact day or month anymore. There was no way of knowing or figuring it out. Since the zombie apocalypse started, time just seemed to stop for all of the survivors. For Rick and his group it hadn't been easy but they managed.

It was just about 7:00 A.M., When Rick heard a small yet needy cry of his newborn baby girl. He got up out of bed even though he never slept much at all anymore. He was always worrying about something or someone and never himself. Only a couple months had passed since Lori's death and he found it hard to move past that. But he was thankful for who he still had, Carl and Judith. Without them Rick wouldn't be able to survive this mad world. As Rick got up from his bunk in his cell block, he often wondered why all of this happened in the first place. Then he'd always tell himself this all happened for a reason, and he and his family had a purpose for still being alive. After reminding himself of that and looking at his beautiful baby girl, he couldn't help but smile softly. Rick picked up Judith in his arms and went out to check on everyone.

As soon as Rick walked into the main room of the prison, he was surprised to see everyone awake and cheerful so early in the morning. Even Judith was in a happy mood being in her father's arms. When Rick stopped with baby Judith in his arms everyone greeted the both of them. "Hey, how did you sleep?" Carl asked, rising from his seated position to stand in front of his father. He had a concerned look on his face.

Rick replied, "Same as usual- had another nightmare." Carl always worried about his dad, he knew the strain of Lori's death and taking care of Judith was taking a toll on him. Rick saw his look and placed a hand on Carl's shoulder. "It's okay, son, I'm fine," Rick gave Carl a little squeeze, "Don't you worry about me."Carl knew that his father could handle himself, and even he tried to prove he was fine on his own as well. Carl chose not to share a room with his father and opted to take a cell by himself close to his dad. They found a table to sit at, and enjoyed eating breakfast as a family. As everyone sat around table and lightly chatted, Rick fell into silence with his own thoughts. Even though there was chaos at first, everyone in the group had somehow gotten closer. Especially now that they had a safe place to live. It wasn't much of a home right then, but Rick believed it could potentially become one over time.

As he was still lost in thought, Rick suddenly felt a soft yet familiar hand on his shoulder from behind. Instantly, he turned to see an elderly man with white hair and matching beard. It was Herschel standing over him. He looked at Rick as if he'd known him his whole life, and was happy to see him. Rick smiled back just as Herschel spoke, " How's everything going this morning?"

"So far so good, let's see how the rest of the day goes." Rick replied. Hershel nodded and spoke once more. "We're gonna need supplies for Judith and some medical supplies. Do you think we can put together a team and do a run today?" He thought for a moment about his idea, "There will be a run, but I'll go by myself. That way the prison will still be guarded just in case" He continued as the older man gave him a unsure look, " I wouldn't want anything to happen to the prison or any of the group. If I made a team and took them with me there would be no one here to defend it, so that's why it would be better if I went by myself." Herschel didn't like the idea but nodded because he knew Rick would go either way. Rick gave the old man a reassuring look, "I can handle myself, just make sure and watch over Carl and Judith for me" Herschel spoke as he now looked over at Carl then at his daughter Beth. " I will, they're in good hands. Beth will help me out too if I need it." Rick gave Herschel a light pat on the shoulder just before the man went to go speak with Beth.

An hour had went by and by then Rick was almost ready to go. All he had left to do was put away some needed supplies in the car. Carl was helping him despite hating to see his father go. After they finished, Rick went to go say goodbye to Judith who was busy sucking her fist while in Beth's arms. Once again, Carl gave his dad a concerned look. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Help keep Judith safe in the meantime." He gently placed his hand on Carl's head and gave him a small smile. Carl glanced up at his dad and stood up straight with his chest puffed out, " I know ... I'll protect little Judy and everyone."

"Good man," he nodded. Rick then walked around the car to the driver side and climbed in as Glenn ran over to the gate and opened it for him. After a few seconds, Rick took off and waved at Glenn to close the gates behind him.

After driving a few miles away from the prison, he found a safe place to pull the car over. He withdrew a map from the car's creaky compartment which was marked with places they could acquire supplies safely. They had mapped out and searched every single location within radius of the prison except for one, which was a pharmacy and market. The reason none of them had been there yet was because last time there were walkers surrounding the building and they didn't want to risk wasting ammunition or having anyone get hurt. Rick wanted to check it and see if it had less undead populace surrounding it. There was potential in salvaging medicines or possibly

non- perishable food. Gently setting the map down, he took off in the direction of the pharmacy while driving slowly and without his lights on. The last thing he wanted was to draw attention to himself.

Once Rick finally got close to the pharmacy, he parked the car somewhere out of sight so no one would find it or could take it. Then he grabbed his revolver and a rifle out of the back. Without looking back he made his way in the direction of the store being as quiet as possible through the woods. Rick stopped abruptly when he started hearing a faint noise of something rustling in the bushes behind him. After a few moments of careful listening, he decided it was too weak of a walk to warrant any concern, possibly an animal of sorts. As Rick got closer he made sure to scope out the area before going forward. It was then he noticed a couple of roamers wandering in front of the building. Nothing he couldn't handle though, is what he thought to himself. The only disadvantage he had was that his rifle didn't have a silencer, but the revolver did. He needed to get closer to them, but that wasn't something he was about to do willingly.

Instead, Rick decided it was best to sneak past them without causing a ruckus in the process. He looked for a way around them and saw that there is a pathway on the right hand side of the store. Rick started to pursue that pathway, but when he did he could hear the unmistakable sound of that rustling from earlier getting closer. Instantly, he took off swiftly and quietly towards the alley. As he got closer, he was able to sneak under the fence without much trouble. A bemused feeling overcame him once he was on the other side of the fence. What he saw was a walker graveyard

-there were a bunch of them, some scattered, some piled up- every single one of them were dormant. Someone had been here, Rick thought to himself. "Now I have to actually be careful" he said quietly. Judging by the smell of boiling, rotting flesh and all the blood dried up, he could tell they had been dead for a while. After turning one over with his foot, its head rolled off a few inches away. Covering his nose and mouth to avoid the stench, he kept walking down the path without making a sound.

He made sure to check his surroundings before he looked for a way into the pharmacy. After a quick sweep around the building to the back, he found the shipments garage door brought up just enough for a person to crouch under. Taking up his revolver, he knelt down and peered underneath the garage door only to find there was no threat. So far so good, he thought to himself reassuringly. It seemed like nothing human or dead had been left in there, but the real worry was what lied in the store itself. Although the pharmacy inside was quite dark, Rick remembered to pack a flashlight. He turned it on and squinted through the narrow lighting so his eyes would adjust. A grin of triumph soon graced his face when he saw what appeared to be full shelves of supplies. It seemed too good to be true… entirely too good. Why had this stuff not been touched or tampered with? Surely someone had come through here; those walkers didn't just kill themselves. All of his senses were screaming to be on alert as he flashed the light down a few aisles. He didn't find anything out of the ordinary- no items scattered, no shelves completely emptied, no bodies. Everything was as if it had been frozen in time.

A few hours went by as he collected what was needed for their group. He made a few trips back and forth to the car to unload whatever he could carry. The last trip he made was to get a few more boxes of formula for Judith. Rick stumbled upon a comic he thought Carl would enjoy, so he grabbed that too. He could tell it was time to leave since hours had passed and he noticed that it was almost sunset. Rick was heading to the door he came in through but stopped when he heard a loud noise coming from outside. The walkers that were left out there would surely take notice of the sound and start to follow the noise. He knew he was in trouble and had to hurry before any of them came. Rick now ran quickly underneath door. When he emerged outside, he saw a stranger beating a long stick against the metal shutter of the garage. The man had an evil grin on his face as he withdrew the stick.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Rick hissed under his breath. Before he could get an answer, however, a walker had already made it behind the building. A feeling of dread washed over Rick as he realized the severity of their situation. Slowly more of the walkers friends began pouring in behind. Within no time, they would be surrounded.