Author's Note- Well then… Hello everyone! Thank you for stopping in on my story. This is just a little one-shot… as of right now. This just kind of popped into my head the other night while watching seasons one and two of The Walking Dead in one sitting. I hope you enjoy! Oh and I don't own anything related to The Walking Dead, I only own my OC… so please don't sue me!

I frowned as I stood on the side of the highway somewhere between the northwestern border of South Carolina and the city of Atlanta, Georgia in the scorching summer sun. Stupidly, I had run out of gas.

I silently cursed as I held my cellphone up to the sky in an attempt to get a signal. No luck. "Of course…" I whispered to myself as I closed my eyes and I held my cellphone up to my throbbing left temple.

I chewed my lip for a moment before popping the trunk of the car. My life sat before me, packed tightly into various sized moving boxes. I sighed and dug through a box filled with miscellaneous belongings. After a few seconds of searching I found what I was looking for; a large black sharpie. Putting the sharpie between my teeth I reached into the trunk of my car once more and ripped one of the flaps straight off the box in one swift movement.

'Will pay for a safe lift to Atlanta.' is what the flimsy cardboard flap that I had scribbled on read. "If my friends could see me now…" I muttered to myself as I walked over to the driver's side of the car, holding up my flimsy plea for help toward the oncoming traffic.

Time ticked by slowly, and before I knew it I had been stranded on the side of the highway for almost four hours, according to my wrist watch, with no luck of getting a ride to Atlanta, despite the steady stream of cars and trucks that continued to flow passed me. Annoyed, I blew a wisp of sweaty brown curls out of my face and propped the sign up on my car, against the rear windshield.

Normally I had a knack for finding the humor in the curveballs that life liked to throw my way every now and then, but there was nothing funny about this situation… I was hot, tired and above all; annoyed.

Suddenly, a glimmer of hope rose in me as a grey pickup truck with an impressive looking motorcycle in the bed pulled up behind my car. In it sat two men, the one in the passenger seat got out and made his way toward me.

He was older, of average height, with short cropped hair. He looked as if he hadn't shaved in a few days and looked quite rundown in a pair of very dirty jeans and an equally dirty undershirt. The way he held himself, cocky and a whole lot smug, screamed ex-military. He was intimidating to say the least and I was almost positive that he could easily snap me in two if he wanted. I calmly stood next to my car doing my best to hold my ground.

"You needin' a ride to Atlanta, 'lil lady?" he asked with raspy drawl.

I smiled at him and nodded before politely answering. "Yes, sir. It would be a help." I said trying to sound as friendly as I possibly could.

He raised an eyebrow and laughed, hard. "Ya hear that?" he laughed; turning around to look at his companion who was still seated in the truck. "Sir!" he exclaimed amused as he continued to laugh. "Ain't you cute!" he commented in between laughs.

My smile quickly faltered as I swallowed hard. 'Maybe this isn't such a good idea...'

"Sure, we can take ya ta Atlanta." He finally drawled after he stopped laughing. "How much ya givin'?" he asked as he leaned against my car.

"Um…" I mumbled uncomfortably. "Fifty..." I finally said, though it sounded more like a question.

He thought for a moment, his lips pursed. "Nah." He answered simply as he crossed his arms.

"What?" I questioned, becoming more and more uncomfortable by the second. I ruffled my hair nervously with one hand, while I chewed the pad of my thumb on my other hand. The awkwardness of the situation was overwhelming to say the least.

"There's two'a us." He said simply as motioned to himself and then to his friend in the truck.

"So?" I asked raising an eyebrow, suddenly becoming annoyed.

"So, make it a hundred and ya gotta deal." He replied with a sly grin.

Stunned, I stared at the man before frowning in response. He couldn't possibly be for real.

He shrugged before continuing. "Well, if ya don' need a ride tha bad then we'll be goin'." He said as he pushed away from my car.

My heart all but sank as I watched him slowly saunter back toward the truck. I really needed to get to Atlanta… "Wait!" I cried after him, sounding so much more desperate than I intended. I grimaced internally at how pathetic I sounded.

He turned around. "Yes?" He responded a little too kindly with a grin.

I could feel my insides squirm… and not in the good way. I took a deep breath before replying. "A hundred it is." I muttered looking down at my feet.

"What's that?" He asked. "I couldn' hear ya through yer mumblin'."

I gritted my teeth in an attempt to keep from cursing at him. "A hundred it is." I replied a little louder.

"Now we're talkin'!" He exclaimed as he rubbed his hands together and grinned once more. "Grab watcha need." He called over his shoulder as he continued to walk back toward the truck. "Oh!" He added as he got into the truck. "Half now, an half when we get ta Atlanta."

I rolled my eyes as I opened my car's passenger side door to retrieve my pocketbook, with it in hand I slammed the door shut and locked the car. Slipping my keys into my back pocket I made my way over to the idle truck.

Propping my pocketbook up on the truck's passenger side window column I peered through the open window at the man in the driver's seat.

He was considerably younger looking with a mess of choppy brown hair and a scraggly goatee; he was as equally rundown looking as his companion. I could see that he was dressed in a dirty pair of jeans and a filthy brown, sleeveless button down shirt; he had large muscular arms that would have made me swoon under different circumstances... I quickly pushed that thought out of my head as he threw me a side glance, his piercing blue eyes catching me completely by surprise. I suddenly couldn't help but think that if he was a bit cleaner he may actually be attractive.

"Thank you." I said to him with a little smile. He simply grunted in response before turning his attention back toward the highway. The older man chuckled darkly, clearly entertained by his grumpy companion.

I rolled my eyes once again as I began to dig through my pocketbook in search of my wallet. "Half now, half later." I repeated, as I finally reached my wallet at the bottom of my bag. My heart sank as I pulled a few bills from it; I was shorter on cash than I had thought. I silently cursed before speaking up. "This is all I can give you for now…" I told the men awkwardly. "I know it isn't half, but it's all the cash I have right now… As soon as we get to Atlanta I'll find an ATM." I rambled nervously, not looking up from my wallet.

I bit my lip and closed my eyes as an awkward silence washed over us.

"Sorry, suga." The older of the two men said suddenly breaking the awkward silence. I opened my eyes and looked at him, confused.

I looked up from my wallet at him, confused. "For what?" I questioned slowly.

"For this!" He answered as he roughly pushed me away from the truck with one hand, grabbing ahold of my pocketbook with the other.

Stumbling back I was unable to catch my footing. I fell to the blacktop, hard. "Gun it 'lil brother!" I heard him yell before laughing in my direction. I sat on the ground, stunned as I watched the grey truck speed off, narrowly missing a blue Prius as it cut into a line of traffic.

I blinked furiously trying to hold back embarrassed and frustrated tears. "Fuckin' rednecks!" I angrily spat as I picked myself up off the blacktop. "Stupid!" I yelled, furious at myself…

"I should have known better." I whispered to myself as I made my way back over to my car. I Suddenly began to panic as the severity of my situation finally hit me, full force; I had no gas, I couldn't get a signal on my cellphone to call for help, I had no idea where I was and now I had no money and no ID, thanks to redneck tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum.

I leaned up against the back of my car once more; I was shaking terribly as I let panic take ahold of me. I chewed my lip nervously; "What in the hell am I supposed to do now?" I muttered to myself. After a few minutes of careful consideration I decided my best bet would be to walk along the highway's shoulder until I came to some form of civilization. With any luck there would be a rest stop nearby…

Out of nowhere, as if on some sort of cue, a huge antique looking Winnebago RV pulled off the highway and came to a halt behind my car just like the grey pickup only minutes ago. Letting my curiosity get the better of me I slowly approached the RV's door.

It swung open to reveal a smiling white bearded older gentleman who was dressed in a plain pair of cargo pants, a busy Hawaiian button down shirt and khaki bucket hat. I couldn't help but chuckle softly; he looked like he belonged on a sandy beach somewhere.

"Car troubles?" He asked kindly as he stepped out of the RV.

"Something like that. I sort of ran out of gas… um…" I paused, for a moment gathering my thoughts. "I'm sorry sir…I don't really have any money…" I said as I motioned toward the flimsy sign that was still propped up on the back of my car. "I just had a run in with two locals and… let's just say it didn't end too well for me."

He stopped smiling and quirked a bushy eyebrow at me, "Are you hurt?" he questioned seriously.

I shook my head before replying, "No, no, I'm just a little shaken." I admitted. "They took my pocketbook… My wallet, my day planner, my iPod… It's all gone. I'm lucky I still have my car keys, and I only have them because I shoved them in my back pocket." I explained.

He clicked his tongue disapprovingly and shook his head. "People are terrible, I am glad you are okay though" He said kindly. "You know, I could give you that lift you're needing. It's no trouble, really."

I stared at the older gentleman in front of me, studying him. This man hardly seemed threatening.

'He seems nice enough...'

"You know, I don't bite." He laughed as he watched me study him.

His laugh was so warm, so inviting… I couldn't help but smile at him, "Yes, I would like to take you up on your offer, sir." I replied still smiling.

"Nah, not 'sir'" he continued to chuckle. "That's too formal for my taste. The name's Dale, Dale Horvath."

I smiled kindly at Dale. "It's nice to meet you, Dale Horvath. I'm Tabatha Porter."

Dale was very comfortable to be around, after a few minutes of friendly chatter I felt as if I was in the presence of an old friend. "So, where are you from, Tabatha?" Dale questioned as he pulled onto the highway.

"New York." I answered simply as I fiddled with my hair. The hours of standing out in the heat and humidity were anything but kind to my curly hair. Thankfully, I was able to pull it neatly into a side braid with little to no trouble.

"Ah. I thought so!" He exclaimed happily. "Your accent is very prominent." I laughed and he continued. "You're a little far from home."

I nodded before responding. "Tell me about it… I've never been this far from home before. It's kind of scary…" I admitted softly.

Dale smiled and nodded his understanding before continuing his questioning. "What brings you to Georgia?" he prompted.

"I actually graduated from college a few months ago and I sort of landed a job right outside Atlanta." I explained. "Teaching in an elementary school, Second grade to be exact." I added. "I'm supposed to start next week. Everything's been approved and finalized"

Dale grinned at me. "That's very impressive young lady. I wish you the best of luck."

I could feel myself blush at the praise. "Thank you." I whispered before we lapsed into a comfortable silence.

We hadn't been driving for very long when we both spotted a car on the shoulder of the highway, white smoke was streaming from the popped hood. Dale and I looked at each other. "You helped me." I stated. "Maybe we can help someone else."

Dale slowly pulled off the highway and up behind the smoking car. From the passenger seat I watched as two blonde women, one older and one younger, peered around from behind the hood of the car eyeing the RV questioningly. After what I had been through today, my heart went out to them.

I was the first one out of the RV and out onto the side of the highway. The older of the two blondes was the first to approach the RV. "Need some help?" I asked trying to sound as friendly as possible.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about engines, would you?" She asked as wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand. Judging from the bedraggled state of her hair and clothes it was quite obvious that these two had been stranded out in the scorching sun for some time.

"I do." Dale answered from behind me as he out of the RV. "I can take a look at it if you want."

While Dale poked around under the hood of the car I learned that the two blonde women; Amy and Andrea, were sisters and they were on their way back to Amy's college in Atlanta after a sisterly road trip.

The younger of the two, Amy, chatted with Dale for a little while before coming over to where her sister and I stood in the shade of the RV. "Thank you." The younger blonde said as came to a halt next to her sister. "We've been out here for hours!" She exclaimed. "Neither of us could get a signal on our cellphones to call for a tow. It's just so strange."

I nodded in agreement. "I had a problem a few miles back. I sort of ran out of gas." I admitted sheepishly. "I'm in the process of moving. I just got a job just outside of Atlanta" I explained. "But, yeah… I couldn't get a signal either. I made a sign out of one of the flaps from one of my moving boxes, a sort of plea for help to get to Atlanta; I stood on the side of the highway like an idiot for almost four hours."

Andrea made a disapproving noise before speaking. "So the two of you aren't traveling together?" She questioned as she quirked an eyebrow at me.

"Well, not at first." I admitted before continuing. "So, after four hours on the side of the highway a grey pickup truck pulls up behind my car… long story short; I thought I had a ride to Atlanta, instead I was sort of mugged by two rednecks."

Amy gasped. "That's terrible! Did you get their names or anything?"

I shook my head once more. "No, all I know is that they were brothers. Anyway, after those two stole my pocketbook and sped away Dale came along and here we are." I said nonchalantly with a shrug. "The traffic's kind of crazy today, huh?" I said attempting to make friendly small talk. "It seems like everyone and their brother is going toward Atlanta today." I commented.

Suddenly Amy's demeanor changed, she became very solemn as she exchanged a worried glance with her sister before speaking up. "Have you listened to the radio lately?" she questioned.

I shrugged and shook my head no. "Why?" I questioned.

"You've heard about that viral outbreak, haven't you?" Andrea asked.

I chewed my lip trying to remember what I had heard. "Well, yeah... I heard about like a week ago. It was all over the news in New York. But I haven't heard anything since. I really didn't take much interest in it. You know how the news media likes to take something so teeny and just blow it out of proportion." I replied.

Amy and Andrea nodded in unison before Amy spoke up once more. "It seems that it's gotten worse in the past 24 hours." She explained.

"Oh?" I questioned as I watched as Amy and Andrea exchanged glances once more before they both moved toward their car. Andrea pulled a set of car keys out of her jeans pocket and proceeded to pop the trunk of the car. After fishing around in the trunk she pulled out a small silver portable radio. Turning the radio on she began searching through channels of static until she came across a country music station. Apparently satisfied with her station choice Andrea then proceeded to shut the trunk of the car and place the radio on top of it.

I stared at the radio as Keith Urban's latest hit graced the airwaves. I glanced over at the sisters who whispered "Wait…" simultaneously. The song continued for a little while longer. Unimpressed and a little confused I opened my mouth to remark, but as soon as I did so the song was interrupted by the unmistakably obnoxious sound of an Emergency Broadcast System alert.

An automated man's voice came through over the airwave. "The governor has declared a state of emergency for the entire state of Georgia. The governor is asking that residents keep to their homes until further notice. FEMA shelters…" the alert began to fade in and out. "Atlanta… Headed that way… Encouraged to seek…"

I felt sick as the alert suddenly cut off and turned into static.

"I think we need to get going." Dale commented solemnly as he approached the backside of the car. "Grab whatever you think you may need." He told the sisters. They nodded their understanding as they sprang into acting pulling various belongings from the trunk and backseat of the car.

We drove in bumper to bumper traffic for a little under an hour until all traffic came to a standstill; the two lane inbound section of the highway was now a parking lot. According to the large green sign on the side of the highway we were about ten miles outside of Atlanta. The sun had set quickly and we were now left sitting in the dark.

"I don't get it." Amy whispered as she fiddled with the portable radio's channel knob. "It's like all the radio stations have been turned off… There's nothing! Not even static." I turned around from my seat on the RV's step to see that Amy had moved from the passenger seat and was now situated at the small dinette table behind the driver's seat.

With a small groan she stood up from the table, stretched and yawned. "I think I might go lay down." She said as she motioned toward the tiny bedroom at the back of the RV where all of our belongings were currently strewn about.

Without saying anything in reply I quietly turned back around, pulling my knees to my chest I rested my left cheek on my right knee and closed my eyes. I honestly couldn't see how this day could get any worse.

I opened my eyes at the sound of approaching footsteps to see Dale. He and Andrea had had gone out on foot to scout ahead hoping to find someone who had some answers. "Well, you had better make yourselves comfortable. It looks like we're going to be here for a while." Dale sighed as he stood in front of me.

I laughed lightly. "Amy already has. She went to lie down." I whispered. "I, on the other hand am too wired to sleep." I admitted.

Dale smiled down at me before offering me his hand. "Come on. Let's go for a walk. Andrea's up ahead talking to some folks who seem to know a little more than we do."

Taking Dales hand he gently pulled me up from the stairs and into the muggy Georgia night.

The scene around us was surreal… There were various vehicles parked haphazardly up and down the two lane inbound section of the highway for as far as the eye could see. There were people all over the place; Standing on the outskirts of the forest that lined the highway, sitting on cars, sitting in cars and huddled in tight little groups. The nervous voices of men women and children buzzed around us. I could literally feel the fear, tension and uncertainty in the air… it was unnerving.

Following Dale a sizeable distance away from the RV I finally spotted Andrea who was standing at the tailgate of an old yellow station wagon. She was talking in hushed tones to a skinny woman with long, wavy brown hair and a tall, tanned stone faced man. Two children, a girl with short blonde hair and a boy with an impressive head of brown hair, sat on the tailgate of the station wagon playing checkers. Andrea waved when she spotted Dale and I.

"Lori, Shane. This is Tabatha." Dale said as he introduced me to the man and woman that Andrea had been speaking to. Lori smiled kindly at me while Shane held out his hand for me to shake. "And over here we have Carl, Lori's son and Sophia, Carol and Ed's daughter." He said pointing to the young boy and girl who were still playing checkers on the station wagon's tailgate, and then pointing to the left side of the station wagon where a large man and skinny woman with short grey hair stood, from the looks of it the man was fighting with his wife in hushed tones.

Averting my eyes from the fighting couple I looked back over to Lori, Shane and Andrea. "They just stormed the hospital." Shane was saying quietly as he threw a glance toward the children who were still playing checkers. "They were lining up people; nurses, doctors, civilians and shooting them execution style. I got out, went and got Lori and Carl and here we are." He finished with a shrug as he crossed his arms.

"This is more than just a viral outbreak…" Andrea whispered her eyes wide. Shane nodded in response before he continued to talk.

I did my best to block out his voice. Listening to them talk just made me more nervous, and I hadn't even heard Shane's entire story. I suddenly felt claustrophobic. "I'm going to go for a walk." I said to Dale who was leaned against the station wagon listening intently to Andrea and Shane.

"Don't go too far. Just in case…" Dale replied solemnly.

I hadn't walked more than a few feet away from the station wagon when I spotted a familiar looking grey pickup truck, the impressive looking motorcycle that still sat in the bed confirmed that it was the brothers that I had run into earlier.

I could feel my blood boil. "Son of a fuckin' bitch." I swore as I stomped up to the passenger side of the truck. The younger of the two brothers was leaned against the driver's side door dozing from the looks of it, while the older one was kicking back a bottle of beer. As soon as he spotted me he chocked down his gulp of beer before he burst out laughing hysterically.

"You assholes!" I screamed as I kicked the passenger side door with all my might. The younger brother jolted out of his dozing state with a sleepy snort before he turned and glared at me, his blue eyes flashing angrily. "I want my pocketbook back!" I yelled. This only caused the older of the two to laugh harder. "Shut up!" I shouted as I hit the passenger side door again.

"Hey!" The younger one shouted. "Calm yer self, girl." I couldn't help but stare at him; his voice was deep, rumbly it made me shiver. I was suddenly at a loss for words.

"My name isn't girl." I blurted out stupidly. I had no idea why I said that. I bit the inside of my cheek as the older one continued to laugh.

"Oh, cool it, Tabatha Porter from New York." The older one drawled mockingly as he suddenly pulled my wallet from the depths of the vehicle, holding it just out of my reach. "That name don' fit ya. I'll jus be callin' ya sweet cheeks from now on."

I went to grab my walled from him only to miss and crash hard into the passenger side door. He howled with laughter. "Just give me my shit back!" I cursed as I reached in through the window to grab my wallet.

"Is there a problem here?" a voice suddenly asked from behind me. I turned around to see an Asian boy who looked to be around my age. I opened my mouth to answer him but was cut off.

"Fuck off, Chink." The older brother spat. I stared at him my mouth agape I had never heard someone be so bluntly racist. "She don' need yer help." He growled his eyes narrowing.

"I'm Korean." The boy said dryly as he crossed his arms. "Listen, dumbass. Don't you have anything better to do then harass women?" he said boldly.

The younger brother quirked an eyebrow at the Asian boy's bold statement. "C'mon, Merle…" He drawled.

Ignoring him, Merle looked as if he was about to explode. He was out of the truck in a flash after kicking the passenger side door open. His brother followed suit, getting out of the truck only to walk around to the passenger side and casually lean against the truck as he watched Merle take a fistful of the Asian boy's shirt, pulling him dangerously close. "Ya wanna dance, boy?" he whispered menacingly.

This was getting out of hand way too fast. "Stop!" I shrieked, prompting curious stares from the various people that happened to be milling around their cars close to where we were.

"Jus give her things back, Merle." His brother spoke up. Merle roughly let go of the boy's shirt and rounded on his brother who was still leaned against the truck.

"You goin' soft on me Darylina?" Merle snorted as he punched his brother's shoulder. His brother merely crossed his arms in response. "Pussy…" Merle muttered.

"Shut up." His brother replied dryly as he rolled his eyes.

"Look, you've had your fun." I said sounding bolder than I felt. "Just give me my things back… Please." I added through gritted teeth.

After a long pause Merle stalked back to the truck. He ducked in, pulled my pocketbook out and threw it at me forcefully. Catching it, I quickly looked inside. There sat my wallet, cellphone, day planner, iPod and other various belongings.

Making sure that I had a good grasp on my belongings I turned on my heel to walk away when Merle called out to me. "Hey, sweet cheeks." I looked over my shoulder to see him waving two of my credit cards in the air. "We did a 'lil light shoppin'. I hope ya don' mind."

I took a deep breath in an attempt to keep myself composed. Without a word I slowly stalked over to Merle with my hand held out, surprisingly enough he put my credit cards in my hand without a fight. "Fuck you." I whispered before turning back around to where the Asian boy stood waiting for me.

"Maybe later, darlin'" He called after me laughing darkly.

I shook my head in disgust as I walked away with the Asian boy. "Thank you." I whispered gratefully. "I'm sure that would have gone on a lot longer if you hadn't come along."

"Ah, don't worry about it. It's always a pleasure to help a pretty girl get her belongings back from two stupid rednecks." He laughed. "I'm Glenn." He said holding out his hand.

"Tabatha." I replied with a smile as I shook his hand. "Are you out here in all of this alone?" I questioned as I motioned to the scene around us.

"Not really." He answered as he motioned for me to follow him. "I met a few people. We've been kind of sticking together out here. What about you?" he countered.

"Same, they're back down the highway a little ways." I answered pointing behind me down the crowded highway. "They're really nice people…" I added as I continued to follow Glenn. "Do you know what's going on?" I prompted as we walked.

Stopping in mid stride Glenn turned to me, his face serious. "You haven't heard?" He questioned. When I shrugged and shook my head no he continued. "That viral outbreak in a nutshell… It's causing those who have been infected to reanimate when they die."

I stared at him in disbelief. "The dead are coming back to life?" I asked incredulously.

"Pretty much..." Glenn answered with a nod of his head. "One of the guys that I've met up with said that he lost his entire family to a group of undead, He said that they ate his family!"

I shivered despite the muggy air around me. "It sounds like something out of a really bad horror movie." I whispered as I wrapped my arms around myself.

"Come on." He whispered as he motioned for me to continue following him. "My group is up a little further."

"Glenn!" Cried a pretty colored woman who was perched on the trunk of a white car, she was flanked by two men; one white one colored. "There you are!" She exclaimed with a nervous smile. "We thought you got lost." She added as slid down from the trunk.

Glenn chuckled lightly. "I don't get lost." He said with a grin. There was a short awkward silence as the woman and both of the men eyed me. I opened my mouth to introduce myself only to have Glenn cut in. "Oh! Guys, this is Tabatha… Tabatha, this is Jacqui" He said pointing at the woman in front of us. "And that's Jim and he's T-dog." He said pointing over to the two men who were still perched on the trunk of the car.

"It's nice to meet you." I said with a smile. My smile soon faltered when I saw that Jacqui, Jim, T-dog and Glenn were all nervously staring up at the overcast night sky. Looking up as well I saw what looked to be lightning behind the clouds. A hush went over the crowded highway as more people curiously paused to look up at the sky.

"That's not good." Jacqui whispered nervously as she slowly retreated back toward the car. "Something's not right. I can feel it." She said as she turned to the men.

I turned to Glenn whose head was still tilted toward the sky. "How long have you guys been sitting out here?" I asked quietly.

"Too long…" Glenn answered grimly as tore his eyes from the sky to look at me, his brown eyes filled with nervousness and uncertainty.

We heard them before we saw them. Out of nowhere the unmistakable whirr of helicopters filled the air above the highway. I looked up just in time to see three massive military grade helicopters fly over us and toward Atlanta.

Screams of terror erupted up and down the highway as all heads were turned toward the city's skyline. "They're bombing the city!" Someone near us screamed as the sound of explosions began to drift from the direction of the city.

"I have to go back!" I yelled to Glenn over the panicked screams of the people who were in hysterics around us. I was jostled in a crowd of retreating men, women and children as I took off running back toward Dale's RV. I had run quite a ways when all of a sudden I was pushed hard from behind as someone crashed into me, I fell face first onto the hot blacktop.

In an attempt to keep from getting trampled I covered my head with my arms as people continued to retreat around me. I closed my eyes and waited for the panic to stop when suddenly out of nowhere, I felt a large pair of hands grab me roughly around my wrists and hurl me to my feet. I looked up in surprise to see Merle's brother. I had fallen just inches from their truck. I could hear Merle whooping and shouting inappropriately from a distance.

Quickly, Blue eyes scooped me off my feet and tossed me roughly into the bed of the truck jumping in right behind me. I laid on my back looking up at the overcast night sky trying to catch my breath, people were still running all over the place, screaming, cursing… crying.

Almost as quickly as the screaming had started it stopped abruptly. A stunned hush had overtaken the highway.

"Ya okay?" Blue eyes asked gruffly as he stood over me. I nodded my head in response as I gingerly sat up. "Need some help?" He asked as he held out a hand before me. I nodded again as I took his hand, he quickly hauled me to my feet.

"Thank you…" I said slowly as I let go of his calloused hand.

"Daryl." He responded.

"What?" I questioned confused.

"My name's Daryl." He said gruffly as he swung himself down from the bed of the truck. "I gotta go find my brother." He grunted. "I don't wanna see ya up there when I get back, got it?"

Without a reply I rolled my eyes and swung myself down from the bed of the truck as Daryl had only to misjudge the distance and fall flat on my ass.

As I approached the RV the door burst open and Amy launched herself at me. "Are you okay?!" She questioned. "We were so worried! Dale and Andrea are out looking for you." She explained as she clung to me.

Moments later Andrea walked up from behind the RV. "There you are, Tabatha." She said as she let out a sigh of relief when she spotted me. "When Dale gets back we're going to go meet up on the other side of the highway with Shane, Lori and whoever else they were able to round up."

"Where are possibly going to go?" I questioned.

Andrea shrugged. "I have no idea…" she said as leaned against the RV tiredly.

"According to Shane, there's a state park type of place a few miles back down the highway. I think we're going to set up there for a few days." Dale explained to Amy, Andrea and I as he took his seat at the steering wheel.

Amy made a noise of protest before speaking up. "How do we know that place is safe?" she questioned as she clung to Andrea.

"I honestly don't know any details." He told her truthfully. "After what's happened tonight I just think that we'll be better off with a group until we can figure out where to go and what to do."

With no protests from myself or either of the sisters Dale started the RV. As we slowly made our way to the opposite side of the highway, over the grassy meridian which separated the inbound and outbound lanes of the four lane highway I caught an eerie glimpse of a smoldering Atlanta.

Once on the opposite side of the highway Dale pulled up behind a small group of vehicles. Shane stood at the front of the group talking to a Hispanic man and his small family. After he was done with the small family he quickly made his way over to the RV.

Getting up from my spot in the passenger seat I opened the door for Shane; he stuck his head into the RV. "I think these are all the people that are coming with us." Shane said motioning to the small group of cars in front of the RV. "I guess we're about ready to head out. Keep close, okay?" he requested before exiting and shutting the door behind him.

From what I could see, the handful of people that Shane had convinced to come with us from the highway obviously included Lori and her son. But there was also Carol, her husband and daughter, to my surprise Glenn and his people and to my utter chagrin the dynamic redneck duo of Merle and Daryl, and last but not least the small Hispanic family that I had seen Shane speaking with before heading out with our little caravan.

The drive to our destination had been quick and uneventful, thankfully. As I made my way out of the RV and into the clearing that we had stopped in I instantly felt uneasy. The inky darkness around us made me claustrophobic.

"We'll make camp here." Shane called to the handful of people who were milling around their vehicles absentmindedly

"Are you okay?" Andrea suddenly whispered in my ear making me jump. "A little jumpy are we?" She said as she chuckled lightly in amusement.

"I don't entirely like the dark…" I whispered nervously as I slowly began to back toward the RV.

"Can we get a fire going?" Amy called. "It's a bit… Dark…"

"Awww, is tha princess afraid of tha dark?" Merle called from where he was perched in the bed of the pickup.

Amy narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips but said nothing in response.

"Are we safe here?" Jacqui asked speaking up, her voice shaking slightly. "You know… from…"

"Walkers..." Jim grunted.

"Please, the children…" Carol whispered nervously as she tightened her grip on her daughter.

Merle scoffed before chuckling. "Cut tha umbilical cord, lady. Tha world's gone ta shit. Ya can't keep lyin' ta ya kids. They're gonna see one eventually."

"See what?" Carl asked from the hood of Shane's jeep.

"A Zombie…" T-dog answered nonchalantly with a shrug.

Shane took a deep breath before speaking up. "Enough! Everyone needs to calm down. I understand we've all been through a lot…"

"You've got that right." Jim interjected darkly.

Annoyed, Shane held up a hand, indicating for everyone to be quiet. "Yes, we will be safe here. We're far enough away from the city… We've got mountains around us, a quarry, a forest, a lake; we can hunt and fish for our food… We all just need to calm down and get some rest. Yes, the dead are walking around. Yes, Atlanta is out of the question now, but we can band together and get through this. Please, trust each other and trust me."

A short, heavily awkward silence followed Shane's little speech.

"Nice speech, officer." Merle grunted as he lit a cigarette.

Dale, Glenn and the Hispanic man, who insisted we call him Morales, had gone into the dark forest around our campsite in search of kindling for a much needed campfire while Shane had taken post on top of Dale's RV with a shotgun that he had pulled from his own vehicle.

Unsure of what to do, the rest of us were left to awkwardly stand around, save for Merle and Daryl who had distanced themselves from the group. The two of them had begun to empty the back of the pickup truck of it's contents. I hadn't noticed how much stuff was in there when Daryl had roughly thrown me in only a little while ago. I was surprised to see how much of their camping equipment; tents packs, sleeping bags and other miscellaneous equipment looked new.

'…Shit…'

I could feel my blood begin to boil as realization slammed into me… I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself as I stomped towards the brothers. "'Light shopping?'" I managed sarcastically through gritted teeth as I came to a halt at the tailgate of the pickup. Merle stifled a laugh as he and Daryl continued to unload the truck.

"I'm glad I could fund your little camping trip." I said as the last bit of camping equipment was tossed to the ground.

"Yup, ya an' me both, Sweet cheeks." Merle grunted as he jumped down off the bed of the truck.

Silently with my nostrils flared in annoyance I bent down and grabbed a tent pack and a sleeping bag, turning quickly on my heel I made to walk away only to be grabbed around my forearm and pulled roughly back. Clutching the tent pack and sleeping bag I jerked my arm out of Merle's grasp. "Don't touch me!" I hissed through gritted teeth.

"Tha hell do ya think yer doin'?" He growled menacingly, his face inches away from mine.

'Don't show him that you're intimidated!'

Taking a deep steadying breath I boldly stood my ground. "Technically these belong to me." I said simply. "They were bought with my credit cards, my money…"

"Is there a problem over there?" Shane called from his spot atop Dale's RV, interrupting me.

"Nah, everythin's jus grand." Merle replied gruffly.

"That's what I thought." Shane called back before turning his attention to the opposite side of the RV.

After flipping Shane off when he turned his back Merle loomed over me silently looking me up and down. I glared back at him, still holding my ground as I clutched the tent pack and sleeping bag tighter to my person. With a growl he suddenly turned away only to look back over his shoulder and scowl at me before hopping back into the bed of the truck and busying himself with one of the bags on the side of the motorcycle that still sat there.

"Jus git outta here." Daryl spoke up from where he was perched on the truck's tailgate.

Quickly turning on my heel I headed back toward the RV with my spoils in hand. I was very happy to see that Dale, Glenn and Morales had returned from the forest with an impressive amount of kindling and they had gotten a small campfire lit.

Glenn sat in front of the fire, stoking it while Dale, Amy and Andrea bustled around in the RV. Morales and his family as well as Carol and her family seemed to have turned in for the night in their vehicles. While Jacqui, Jim and T-dog sat on the other side of the campfire looking exhausted.

"I think it's time for bed." Lori was saying to her son as I sat down next Glenn. Poor Carl looked less than thrilled but after mumbling a small 'good night' he silently followed his mother toward Shane's vehicle.

"So…" I began as I pushed the tent pack toward Glenn. "Have you ever pitched a tent before?"

The directions that the tent had come with may as well have been written in ancient Greek because they were no help whatsoever. By the time Glenn and I had finally gotten the tent up correctly the sun had started to peek over the horizon.

Upon entering the tent I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was quite a lot bigger on the inside then I had thought it to be. It could easily sleep four people. "Well, come on." I said motioning for Glenn to enter the tent. "There's enough room for us and probably two other people to sleep comfortably in here."

Glenn who looked like he was about to fall over from exhaustion didn't have to be told twice. He scrambled into the tent and quickly lay down on his stomach. "It feels so good to lie down." He murmured before sighing contently.

I had never been camping before and under different circumstances being in a tent would have been pretty cool… at least for this city girl. I quietly zipped the tent shut and didn't even bother to kick my flip flips off as I laid down on the opposite side of the tent from Glenn. Closing my eyes tightly I silently begged for sleep to take me away for a few hours. To my annoyance it didn't come easily.

After what felt like an eternity of listening to a snoring Glenn I finally fell into an uneasy dreamless sleep.

I awoke hours later in a stifling hot tent. Looking to my right I saw that Glenn was long gone. Though, before he had left it seemed that he had unzipped the tent's windows so I wouldn't suffocate and for that I was beyond grateful.

As I unzipped the tent and stepped through the small door way I tripped over the sleeping bag that I had left near the campfire last night and a small box that had a picture of two small frying pans, a tin cup and two plates on it. "Stainless mess kit…" I mumbled as I read the bold writing across the side of the box. "Guess I bought this too…" I threw the sleeping bag into the tent and zipped it shut before tucking the small box under my arm and heading toward the RV.

I was surprised to see how the camp had grown in the few hours that I had been asleep. There were various vehicles and people scattered here and there that had not been with our little group last night. A few people had pitched tents, while others had set up lawn chairs near their vehicles.

Dale waved to me from atop the RV when he spotted me walking toward his monster of a vehicle. He looked quite out of place with Shane's shotgun in his hand and a pair of binoculars around his neck. I quickly deposited the mess kit box on the small dinette table inside the RV before exiting and making my way up the ladder to the roof. Dale slung the shotgun over his shoulder and held out a hand as I reached the top of the ladder. I smiled up at him as he gently pulled me the rest of the way onto the roof.

"Wow, nice view!" I exclaimed as I took in my surroundings. Behind the RV I could see the steep quarry that Shane had talked about last night, at the bottom of the quarry sat a large lake, and further beyond the quarry passed more forest sat the faint skyline of Atlanta.

"We should be safe here, thanks to the mountains… though camping is going to be a little challenging in the winter. I honestly think we have a chance." Dale commented as he surveyed the areas surrounding the campsite through his binoculars.

"A perpetual camping trip is the last thing I thought I would be doing here in Georgia when I packed up and left New York." I laughed.

Dale laughed in agreement before responding. "That's the last thing any of us thought we'd be doing, sweetheart." He said as he lowered his binoculars to look at me.

"What do we do now?" I questioned.

"Survive…" He answered simply.

I shrugged and nodded in response. "I guess so…" I mumbled as I looked toward Atlanta.

The rest of my time with Dale was quiet. I had learned that he had been on watch for almost five hours and that it was going to be Jim's turn when he returned with Shane and T-Dog from their perimeter check. Jacqui, Amy and Andrea, along with Lori, Carol, Miranda and their children had gone down to the lake at the bottom of the quarry. Merle and Daryl had left early this morning to go hunting and Glenn along with Morales had gone on a supply run to the outskirts of the city.

In an attempt to busy myself I went back down into the RV to collect my belongings; my pocketbook, a duffle bag and one small moving box. That I had pulled from the trunk of my car before taking off with Dale. Slinging the duffle over my shoulder along with my pocketbook while I tucked the moving box under my arm as I made my way out of the RV and back toward the tent that I now shared with Glenn.

Leaving the tent flap open behind me I dropped my belongings and reached for the sleeping bag that was laying in the middle of the tent.

I carefully unrolled the sleeping bag and placed it on the side of the tent where I had slept only hours ago. It certainly felt soft enough to be comfortable to sleep on for a prolonged amount of time, though the color was much to be desired. I wrinkled my nose as I took in the putrid green color of the outside material.

Sitting cross legged on the sleeping bag I pulled my duffle bag to my side, unzipping it I smiled when a book on top of my clothing caught my eye, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I had forgotten that I had packed it in my duffle. It was certainly a welcome surprise. I carefully picked the book up, gently running my fingers over the worn cover before placing it next to me on the sleeping bag.

Diving back into my duffle bag I pulled out a pair of flip flops and a plain pair of sneakers which I placed at the foot of my sleeping bag before moving my duffle bag aside and pulling the small moving box toward me.

My heart sank as peered into the small box. "There's nothing in here that can be of any use!" I exclaimed as I sifted through the box. A few more books, a photo album, cellphone charger, iPod charger, a pair of sunglasses… I groaned and kicked the box away, annoyed.

"Honey, I'm home!" Glenn called suddenly from outside the tent before he ducked down and stepped in, his arms full. "I come bearing gifts." He said dramatically as he dropped the items that he was carrying in the middle of the tent.

"Welcome back!" I exclaimed with a smile as I scooted toward the pile. "Did you actually go into the city?" I questioned as I curiously sifted through pillows, blankets and various articles of clothing.

"Nah, Morales and I went back to the highway. Atlanta's still smoldering… we didn't think it was safe just yet. We raided the trunks of a bunch of abandoned cars." He explained as sat down on the other side of the pile. "We got so much stuff!" He exclaimed excitedly. "Lots of camping equipment; tents, lawn chairs, sleeping bags things like that… Morales found a bunch of prepackaged food, pop tarts, chips, granola bars. We also found a few containers of gasoline. We really lucked out."

I smiled broadly at Glenn. "That's fantastic!" I praised, making him grin from ear to ear.

"I see you've settled in." He said motioning to my side of the tent. "I'm going to go get my things from Jacqui's car. I guess I might as well get comfy here." He said standing and making his way out of the tent.

"I'll be here!" I called after him as I continued to sift through the pile before me.

When Glenn returned a little while later I had separated four various colored t-shirts from the pile, three blankets, two pairs of men's jeans, two pillows in blue pillowcases and a pair of women's jean shorts. "…and a partridge in a pear tree…" I sang softly to myself.

"What?" Glenn chuckled as he unpacked what little bit of belongings he had in his backpack.

"Nothing…" I said quickly with a sheepish smile as I gently threw the blankets, a pillow and the men's clothing over to where Glenn sat.

The longer that Glenn and I chatted the more I had to admit that I really enjoyed being around him. He was funny, sensible and extremely down to earth. After working together and getting the tent in some semblance of order I finally felt as if I could stay here for an extended amount of time with little to no problem.

"Well then… Home sweet home I suppose." I commented as I stood up and stretched. "Think we should go out and meet up with the others?" I questioned looking over at Glenn who was lounging lazily on his makeshift bed of blankets.

"Yeah." He answered sitting up. "We should probably see if we can be of any use."

I followed Glenn out of the tent to find the camp around us slowly coming to life, people were sitting or standing together in small orderly groups talking quietly amongst themselves, tents were being put up and small campfires were being built.

Jim waved to Glenn and I from atop the RV when he spotted us walking his way. We both waved simultaneously back up at the man before entering the RV.

Dale and Amy were seated at the small dinette table playing a game of go fish while Andrea was seated in the passenger seat pouring over a paper map. "Tabatha!" Amy greeted happily when she spotted me as she looked up from her cards. Putting her cards face down on the table she got up and quickly hugged me around the neck.

"There they are!" Dale exclaimed brightly as he took Amy's cards and reshuffled them into the deck. "We were wondering where you two were." He added with a coy smile.

I rolled my eyes and made a face of disgust at Dale as I let go of Amy. Dale laughed heartily in response. "Glenn and I were just getting our things organized in the tent." I explained as I threw a side glance at a blushing Glenn who furiously nodded his head in agreement.

"Speaking of which, where did that tent even come from?" Andrea asked from her seat at the front of the RV.

"I took it from Merle and Daryl last night." I replied truthfully. Andrea made a face as she quirked an eyebrow suspiciously at me but said nothing. "I sort paid for it…" I added.

Amy gasped suddenly. "Wait… no…" she began as she frowned. "They aren't the two rednecks that you said mugged you yesterday… are they?" She questioned.

"They are." Glenn answered. "They took Tabatha's credit cards and bought a bunch of camping equipment."

"Is that where that mess kit box came from that was left in here this morning?" Dale asked as he stood up from his seat at the table.

"Yep. I bought that too apparently…" I replied with a shrug. "It was just sitting right outside the tent when I woke up earlier. I nearly broke my neck falling over the stupid thing. I figured it could be put to better use in here" I said as I motioned to the teeny kitchenette to my left.

"You should tell Shane what they did!" Amy whispered fiercely. "He's a cop."

"He was a cop." Glenn retorted. "I don't think he has any jurisdiction here… or anywhere anymore for that matter."

Amy made a face and rolled her eyes at Glenn in response before sitting back down at the table.

"But still, what they did wasn't right." Dale said as stood in front of me. "Do you want something to be done about it?" He questioned as he put a hand on my shoulder.

I shrugged as I thought for a moment before responding. "At this point I really don't think that it matters. I mean if everything that happened last night hadn't I would want to press charges, obviously but given the state of things it seems stupid. I think it's better to just let it go."

"Well if that's how you feel… we can't force you to do anything you don't want to." Dale said as he passed me and exited the RV.

Nothing more was said on the subject, which was fine with me.

"Hey, do you wanna go swimming?" Amy suddenly asked. "The lake at the bottom of the quarry is huge and Andrea won't go in with me." She added in a whisper.

I wrinkled my nose and smirked. "You know, I totally forgot to pack a bathing suit for the apocalypse, Silly me." I laughed.

After being assured excessively by Amy that the lake was safe, as was the area around it, I agreed to go swimming though I lacked the proper swimming attire. I was about to go get a pair of shorts from my duffle bag when Amy produced a dark purple two piece number. "I don't need it back." She assured me. "It's just an extra that I packed before our road trip." She explained.

Standing in the RV's bathroom I stared at myself in the mirror above the small sink. The two piece bathing suit that Amy had lent me was anything but flattering, at least in my eyes. I wasn't overweight by any stretch of the imagination but between the bandeau top and clingy boyshort bottom I felt utterly uncomfortable. Just the thought of bearing that much skin around a camp full of strangers made me shudder. The dark purple of the suit managed to both make my green eyes pop and make my already pale skin look even paler.

"Come on, Tabatha!" Amy urged on the other side of the door. With one last quick look at myself in the mirror I grabbed my clothes, took a deep breath and exited the small bathroom. Amy smiled and whistled when she saw me.

"Stop that!" I hissed as I threw my t-shirt over my head, hastily yanking it down my exposed midsection.

She rolled her eyes and laughed as she grabbed my hand, tugging me out of the RV and into the hot sun.

As Amy, Glenn and I made our way down to the lake we were greeted by the sounds of splashing water and laughing children. Carl, Sophia, Eliza and Louis were happily swimming around the lake like a little school of fish.

On the far side of the lake Shane was perched on top of a bolder with a shotgun in hand. He slowly patrolled back and forth looking around for any sign of a threat.

Miranda was the first to spot the three of us as we made our way to the end of the rocky shore. With a friendly smile and wave she got up from the rock she was sitting on with Lori and Carol, the woman who I had seen being yelled at by her husband last night on the highway.

"I see the two of you came prepared." Miranda said kindly as approached us.

"Amy came prepared." I corrected with a smile.

"Are you two coming in?" Carl happily called from the water.

"I am!" Amy called. In one swift movement she had pulled her t-shirt over her head and kicked her flip flops off before running into the water and swimming toward the children who excitedly splashed her as she approached.

I couldn't help but scoff when I saw that Amy had given me the skimpier one of her two bathing suits.

Avoiding the splashes of the children Lori and Carol made their way over to where we stood. "Tabatha… right? I don't think we met last night. I've heard a lot from Dale about you." Carol said to me as she and Lori came to a stop. "I'm Carol." She said with a small smile.

"It's nice to meet you." I said returning the smile.

"Glenn." Lori prompted. "We can't thank you or Morales enough for going on that supply run earlier. It's so nice to have a tent." Carol and Miranda nodded in agreement. "I'm so glad we don't have to sleep in our cars again."

Glenn smiled broadly at the praise. "It was nothing…"

Quietly backing away from Glenn and the gaggle of women I slipped my flip flops off before making my way into the lake with my t-shirt still on.

"It's about time!" Amy whispered as I swam over to where she and the children were playing. "I thought I was going to have to come out and pull you in." I laughed softly and submerged myself before she was able to splash me.

I effortlessly glided through the cool water making my way toward the middle of the lake where I floated peacefully on my back staring up at the cloudless sky. I couldn't help but think how drastically everything in my life had changed in only a matter of hours... It was frightening. My heart suddenly began to ache when I began to think about home.

There was no doubt in my mind that what the military did to Atlanta they had done to all major cities across North America when the epidemic become too much to handle… My old coworkers, my friends, even my old classmates… they had been sitting ducks.

'If I hadn't jumped at that job outside of Atlanta…'

I quickly pushed the morbid thought out of my head when I heard a faint splashing coming toward me. "God, you're fast." Amy commented as she came to a stop next to me.

"I swam competitively in high school." I admitted as I floated to an upright position facing Amy. "I never won medals or anything, but it was still fun and it kept me out of trouble."

"I would have loved to have been able to do that." Amy sighed dreamily. "I always enjoyed the water. You know… when I was little…" She began. "No, forget it's stupid." She whispered closing her eyes and shaking her head.

"Oh come on, what? When you were little…" I began in hopes that she would finish the sentence.

"I used to pretend that I was a mermaid when I would go swimming." She said quickly. "I'm not entirely sure why I just told you that." She admitted shyly. "Don't go telling my sister that. She thinks of me a child enough as it is." She added with a frown.

I smiled softly at Amy. "You're secret's safe with me." I whispered.

We chatted while we floated for a little while longer when suddenly Amy became very interested in the goings-on behind me on the shore. I turned around to see Glenn teetering on a rock that was sticking out of the lake. "Oh no…" I laughed when I saw that Shane had quietly snuck up behind him, unbeknownst to Glenn.

Amy stifled a laugh as one of the children yelled "Look out!" though it was too late. With the shotgun slung over his shoulder Shane pushed poor Glenn into the lake.

Laughter erupted all around and echoed merrily throughout the quarry.

"Ya looked hot, Glenn." Shane stated before laughing loudly.

I couldn't help but continue to laugh as Amy and I made our way over to where Glenn sat soaked in the shallows of the lake.

"Are… you… okay...?" Amy asked breathlessly in between laughs as we kneeled in front of Glenn. "Oh… you're soaked." Amy laughed even harder as she laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." She whispered through her laughter.

Poor Glenn looked embarrassed as ever but managed to laugh as he took the hand that I held out before him. "Come on." I grunted softly as I helped him up out of the shallow water.

"Shane, that was terrible." I heard Lori scold as we made our way over to where he and the women were standing. "What if he had gotten hurt?" She whispered fiercely.

Shane held up his hands in surrender. "It was just a little practical joke, Lori. Lighten up a bit." He hissed before turning toward Glenn. "You know I was just playin' around, don't ya, man?" he asked lightly.

"It's all good, man." Glenn replied smiling.

"See?" Shane said turning back toward Lori who had crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance. "No harm done." Lori gave Shane another disapproving look before nodding her head lightly.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked Glenn as the three of us journeyed way back up to the camp.

"I'm fine. It was funny." He admitted with a smile. "Though Shane better watch his back. I'll strike when he least expects it."

I did my best to stifle a laugh as Amy burst out laughing loud enough for the both of us. "Yeah, I'd like to see that." I said incredulously as I shook my head.

"Oh you will… you will…" Glenn whispered mysteriously before he burst out laughing along with Amy and I.

As we walked into the still laughing quietly we were greeted by a frowning Daryl who was sat at the edge of camp on a tree stump gutting a furry little animal. "Good lord, can ya'll be any louder?" He snapped as he looked up from his work to glare at us.

"We're just having a little fun." Amy scoffed as she made a face. "Try it sometime." She added before stalking off toward the RV closely followed by Glenn.

I watched intently as Daryl growled in response to Amy's statement before going back to his work. The brown flannel sleeveless shirt and shredded blue jeans that he was wearing were just about filthy as the rest of him. Daryl was covered in sweat and grime, which I assumed was from his hunting trip. His large hands were covered in layers of blood and filth that made my stomach churn. Averting my eyes from his disgusting hands I couldn't help but stare at his well-toned biceps as they tensed with each cut of his knife and each yank of entrails.

Daryl suddenly paused and looked up from his work at me questioningly when I didn't move. His blue eyes were enhanced by the dark dirt and overall grime that covered his face. My breath caught in my throat as I momentarily locked eyes with him. "Where're yer pants?" He questioned gruffly.

I frowned and blinked questioningly at him only for him to quirk an eyebrow and smirk at me in response. "Oh god…" I whispered as suddenly became very aware that I was still dressed in my soaking wet t-shirt over the skimpy bathing suit that Amy had given me. I felt my cheeks redden in embarrassment as Daryl continued to stare at me with mild amusement.

I covered my reddening face with my hands as I turned around to walk away…

"Whoo-wee!" Whooped a raspy voice from behind me… I didn't have to turn back around to know that it was Merle. I should have just ignored the older redneck and kept on walking, but I stayed rooted to my spot for some unknown reason. "Would'ja look at what tha cat dragged in." He exclaimed a little too enthusiastically. As I slowly turned around I saw that he had made his way over toward Daryl. "Ya done forgot ya pants, sweet cheeks." He laughed. "I ain't complain' though. Yer lookin' mighty fine all wet wit yer hair all over tha place, ain't she?" He asked looking down at his brother as he punched Daryl's shoulder.

As usual Daryl simply shrugged and grunted in response before going back to gutting the animal in his hand.

"Are ya waitin' for somethin'" Merle questioned suggestively as he sauntered forward toward me.

"Nope." I retorted coldly as I turned on my heel and began to walk toward the RV.

Merle chuckled from behind me. "Would ya look at tha, Darylina? Sweet cheeks really does have some sweet cheeks." He laughed. "God, wha I would do ta that ass!" He yelled with a suggestive growl.

I turned back around toward the brothers in midstride, my eyes wide and my cheeks burning. "You're disgusting!" I spat as I hastily pulled my t-shirt down in the back in an attempt to cover myself better before turning back around.

"I ain't never been wit a Yankee girl." Merle called as I walked further away. "You'll come 'round soon enough! I'll be waitin', Sweet cheeks!"

I bit my tongue, hard as I retreated in an attempt to keep from turning around and cursing profusely at Merle, it worked.

I ran straight into Dale as I entered the RV to grab my jeans. He looked down at me questioningly. "Why is your face all red?" He asked gently as he stood in front of me. When I didn't answer he put a gently hand on either of my shoulders. "Are you okay?" He prompted quietly.

"I'm fine…" I whispered. "I just came to get my Jeans so I can go back to my tent and change."

"You can change here if you want. Amy's in the bedroom but the bathroom is free. Glenn and I are going to make our group some dinner real soon. I've got some hot dogs and hamburgers and other odds and ends." He said as he nodded toward the kitchenette. "It should be enough to satisfy everyone. Andrea's going to go down to the lake and gather everyone."

I couldn't help but smile up at Dale. "That sounds good." I whispered.

I must have taken longer than I thought to get changed, because when I emerged from the RV in a borrowed blue striped shirt from Amy and my old Jeans Andrea was back and complaining very loudly about someone.

"That man is Disgusting!" She exclaimed to Dale. "Sugar tits! He called me sugar tits! Do you believe that?" She cried. "I wasn't even talking to him! I was just walking by him and his brother when he started just out of the blue…" She spat. "Amy, Stay the hell away from Merle." She demanded as she turned around to look at her sister who was seated in folding chair near the campfire.

"I plan to." Amy replied flatly as she ran her fingers through her wet hair.

Dinner with our small group of people, excluding Merle and Daryl who had set up their own campfire near their tent to the far right of the RV, had actually turned out to be a very nice experience.

After dinner T-dog took his position atop the RV with Shane's shotgun, he was to be the night watch. Lori along with Miranda had taken everyone's plates and headed into the RV to clean up. They were followed closely by Morales and the children who said they wanted to play cards. Carol's incredibly shady husband left the campfire without a word to go back to their tent, leaving Carol looking conflicted.

"So…" Glenn said suddenly. "Why don't we take some time to get to know each other?" He suggested with a smile.

"Okay." Shane answered. "I'll play along… I'll go first." He said before clearing his throat. "Before all this I was a deputy police officer for the King's County Sheriff's Department. That's about it… next." He said as he looked to his left at Jacqui.

Jacqui pursed her lips as she thought for a moment before speaking. "I lived in Atlanta and worked for the city's zoning department." She said simply. "I was on my way home from a short vacation with a few girlfriends when everything started to go downhill." It was Jim's turn next.

"I'll pass." He said glumly. Jacqui took his hand in hers and patted it knowingly, comfortingly… Suddenly remembering what Glenn had told me on the highway I realized that Jim must have been the one who had lost his whole family to the Walkers.

All eyes shifted to Andrea who was seated next to Jim. "Well then… Um… I was a Civil Rights Lawyer. Amy and I were on our back to her college in Atlanta after a little road trip when we had some car troubles. Dale and Tabatha were nice enough to stop when they saw us on the side of the road and here we are." She answered truthfully.

Amy shrugged from her seat next to her sister. "College student… Liberal Arts" Was all she said.

"Well, I'm a retired widower." Dale began. "Uh… My wife and I had planned to take the RV across the country a few years ago, but she got sick. After she died I decided to go ahead and take the trip by myself."

Carol cleared her throat nervously before speaking up. "I'm just a plain old housewife." She stated vaguely as she threw a nervous side glance over to the tent where her husband was.

After Carol all eyes were on me. "I… um…" I began nervously. "I'm a recent college graduate from New York City. I have a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education; I'm certified to teach Pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. I had a job lined up for me at an Elementary school right outside of Atlanta, but I guess that's not happening..."

Carol suddenly spoke up, gently interrupting me. "I packed a few of Sophia's textbooks before we left for Atlanta. Do you think you'd be up to continuing her lessons?" she questioned anxiously.

"Sure, I don't see why not. I'm not about to let four years of college go to waste." I answered with a smile before looking to my left at Glenn. "Your turn." I whispered.

"I was a pizza delivery boy." He admitted with a grin.

"That was fun." Jacqui gently commented as she stood up. "If this concludes tonight's activities I think I'm going to go try to get some sleep." She said as she stretched a little.

"Well, what about Daryl?" Carol questioned as she motioned toward where he was situated in front of a small campfire outside his tent, he was alone. "He's been sitting over there alone for a while…" she softly as her voice trailed off.

"Hey, Daryl!" Shane called as he cupped his hands on either side of his mouth.

Looking behind me I saw Daryl look over his shoulder at the sudden calling of his name. He glared at us before gruffly asking "Wha?"

"Why don't ya come on over here?" Shane asked.

"I'm good here." He said flatly as he looked away from us.

"Oh, come on, Daryl." Dale called as he stood up from his folding chair. "We're just getting to know each other. We don't bite." He added with a friendly grin.

Jacqui laughed quietly before agreeing with Dale. "He's right you know. We don't."

Daryl turned fully around on the tree stump that he was situated on. He had a knife and a whittled down piece of wood in his hand. He glared at us once again before standing up and making his way toward us with his knife and piece of wood still in his hand. He silently sat down on the other side of Glenn. "Happy?" He growled.

There was a heavy silence, save for the crackling of the campfire, as no one responded to Daryl.

"Good night, everyone." Jacqui said breaking the silence. "See you all bright and early."

Following a light chorus of 'Good night, Jacqui,' and 'See you in the morning.' She quietly retreated to her tent.

Dale turned his attention back to Daryl who was silently whittling away at the wood in his hand. "So, what's your story?" Dale asked gently.

Daryl looked up and simply shrugged before continuing to whittle. "I ain't got one." He replied bluntly not looking up from his knife.

"Everyone's got a story." I said gently as I leaned back on my arms to look around Glenn at Daryl.

"Oh, my baby brother's got a buncha stories, but mah personal favorite is tha one about tha Chupacabra." Merle suddenly boomed as he appeared pretty much out of nowhere. "Weren't ya just tellin' me how all this reminded ya of the night you saw yer Chupacabra? Why don'cha tell 'em that one?" He asked teasingly as he crouched down next to Daryl.

Amy stifled a laugh as Andrea spoke up. "Chupacabra?" She repeated. "You've seen the Mexican goat killer, in Georgia?" She questioned, clearly amused.

"It was years ago." Daryl grunted as he scowled in Amy and Andrea's direction. "I was out squirrel huntin' and I saw somethin' in the woods…"

"Tha somethin' was a Chupacabra." Merle laughed cutting Daryl off midsentence and punching him in the arm.

"The damn thing came through my damn camp." Daryl explained, his voice thick with annoyance.

Glenn laughed lightly before speaking up. "How do know it wasn't a regular dog, someone's pet?" He mused.

"It wasn't no pet dog." Daryl growled.

"Yeah, 'cause it was a Chupacabra" Merle whispered mysteriously with a mischievous grin.

I could see Daryl's nostrils flair in annoyance as he tightly gripped the handle of the knife in his hand. "I know what I saw, Merle." Daryl snarled as he stared at his brother.

"Sure ya do…" Merle whispered as he patted Daryl's cheek before getting up. "We're jus' two good ole boys from Northern Georgia." Merle drawled flatly as he answered the question that Dale had directed toward Daryl. "Ain't nuttin' too special 'bout us Dixon boys."

"You two can hunt, that's special." Carol said meekly with a smile.

"Yup, real special." Merle agreed sarcastically before turning around without another word and walking toward his tent.

Poor Carol looked deflated and embarrassed. "Sorry…" She mumbled.

"No, you're right Carol." Shane said as he stood up from his spot on the other side of the campfire. "If everyone in this group had a specific task to do daily…" Shane started to say before he was cut off.

"Ya want us ta hunt for ya?" Daryl asked as he made a face clearly disapproving of what Shane was getting at.

"It would be a help." Shane replied firmly as he approached Daryl.

"I could wash your clothes for you and Merle in return." Carol offered as she too stood up. "It's not much… but…" She added with a shrug.

"Just think about it, okay?" Shane asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Whatever." Daryl grunted as he pushed himself off the ground. He said nothing more as he curtly stalked back toward his tent.

Everyone had long since gone to sleep, except for myself and T-Dog who was still on watch atop Dale's RV. I sat alone in front of the dying campfire, reading The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which I had retrieved from my tent hours ago.

For the first time since being in the campsite I felt content. I loved reading; books were always sort of a security blanket for me. No matter how terrible my day or, even my week had been I could just pick up a book and read; forget my troubles for a while. It was nice to be able to escape crappy the reality that I was currently stuck in.

I jumped when the sound of a tent unzipping cut through the silence. Looking over my shoulder I saw Daryl sleepily stumble out of his tent. "What're you still doin' up?" He grunted when he spotted me staring at him.

"I could ask you the same thing." I retorted as I turned away from him, turning my attention back to the book in my lap. I looked back over my shoulder when I heard footsteps approaching me, making eye contact with the younger Dixon I quirked an eyebrow at him questioningly only for him to drop his gaze a moment later and continue on right passed me. "Where are you going?" I called after him.

"I gottta take a fuckin' piss. That okay with you?" He answered roughly over his shoulder.

"Charming…" I muttered as I rolled my eyes and wrinkled my nose. I looked back down at my book once again, but I couldn't concentrate on it. My thoughts began to drift as I looked over toward the direction that Daryl had disappeared to.

I abruptly found myself thinking about the small mess kit box that was left outside my tent this morning along with the sleeping bag that I had forgotten by the campfire last night. After tripping over the camping equipment I was so aggravated that I hadn't really given much thought as to who had left them outside the tent, But thinking about it now, I couldn't help but wonder if it had been Daryl.

Against my better judgment I closed my book as I stood up from the folding chair I had been seated on for the last few hours. After putting my book down on the seat of the chair I stretched, grabbed the extra flashlight that Dale had given me before he turned in for the night and padded quietly in the direction that Daryl had gone.

"Daryl?" I whispered softly as I clicked the flashlight on before slowly walking into the darkened forest. "Daryl?" I called a little louder as I followed the dirt path a little deeper.

I was greeted by a gruff, exasperated groan that had come off the path to my right. "What?" He hissed. "What could you possibly want? I'm tryin' to piss here." He growled.

Shining the flashlight in the direction of his voice I finally spotted him a few feet away from me with one hand leaned against a tree while the other held… his nether regions. I could feel my cheeks begin to burn as stared at him from behind.

"Did ya come out here for a free show, girl?" He questioned as he looked over his shoulder at me.

I quickly spun around turning my back to him before responding. "No…" I answered truthfully. "I had a thought and I wanted to ask you a question."

"I'm listenin'." He said matter-of-factly.

"I… um… I was just wondering… Did you leave some camping equipment outside my tent this morning?" Asked apprehensively with my back still turned to him. "Because if you did I just wanted to say thank you." I added with a little smile… Not that he could see it.

The only response I got from him was the sound of urine hitting the trunk of the tree that he was stood in front of. I grimaced at his uncouthness but remained silent only turning back around when I was sure I heard the zip of his fly. I cleared my throat awkwardly as he approached me.

"It's either a yes or no question, Daryl." I said flatly as I stared up at him. He intently stared back at me for a few moments before shrugging.

"I'm goin' back to sleep. I gotta get up early to hunt for you people." He said as he turned to walk back toward camp. Without thinking I reached out and grabbed his arm, only to have him tense at the contact before ripping his arm from my grasp. "Keep ya hands to yerself, girl." He growled.

"What is your problem? Why do you have to be such an ass?" I retorted as I crossed my arms over my chest. "You're a nice guy, I know you are. Why can't you just answer the question?" I hissed through clenched teeth.

"You don't know shit. I ain't no nice guy. If ya don't remember Merle and I mugged you yesterday." Daryl countered as he walked away from me. "I may not be as book smart as yer Yankee ass, but I know that ain't nice." He said in a mocking tone as he continued toward camp.

I bit my lip as stared at his retreating form; Daryl Dixon was nothing short of maddening.

"Is everything okay?" T-Dog called to me from atop the RV when I reached the outskirts of camp. "I heard shouting. Daryl didn't hurt you or anything, did he?"

I shook my head in response before making my way toward my tent.

'It's going to be a long fucking Apocalypse.'

Author's Note- And there you have it, folks! What did you think? I'm not entirely sure if I am going to continue on with this story or not. There are just so many Daryl/OC stories out there… I mean if you guys don't think it's entirely over done I may continue. Any feedback you could provide me with would be fantastic! Please, please… PLEASE read and review! Oh, and don't hesitate to PM me if you just feel the need to. I would love to hear from you guys! Thank you so much for reading. Oh one last thing... All mistakes are my own.