Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead in any way, shape, or form. I only own my OC Mae Greyson and any other OC's I come up with. This story is written out of pure enjoyment and is intended for other's enjoyment as well.

Warning: There is strong language, blood, and violence, but if you watch The Walking Dead, you're probably used to that :)

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1: Scorching

It was hot. The heat of the day was growing as the sun drew higher in the sky. Every tree and leaf looked to be boiling over and shriveling up upon the ground. This worried Rick. If this heat continued then more plants - edible plants - could die before they had a chance to get to them. Animals, too, dying of heatstroke and lack of food. Rick had brought a small party out to hunt with him: Glenn, Maggie, Daryl and his brother Merle. They'd been out since the break of dawn, trying to find something, anything, to bring back to the prison. Sadly, everything was dead or dying when they came upon it. Today didn't hold much promise.

The forest was quiet, too quiet, and not many birds were out; not the normal amount there should have been, like in the old days. Back before the world sort of ended. Birds probably thought it was too hot to even sing a song. Rick didn't blame them, but oppressive silence set him on edge, and each twig snap and rustle of leaves did too. He hadn't relaxed since he woke up in that hospital, and didn't expect to anytime soon. Not with the dead about.

"We should call it a day, Rick. We're not finding anything today," Glenn sighed, wiping his brow.

"Glenn's right. We need to go back and hydrate. All of this heat isn't good for us," "Maggie added, panting a bit herself.

"Just a while longer," Rick said. "Let's just finish scoping out this area, and then we'll come back tomorrow to check out the east side."

Without a word of disagreement from the group, Rick pressed on and everyone followed behind him.

Daryl paused for a moment, raising his crossbow and aiming up at the tree.

"Whatcha' find?" His brother, Merle, asked.

"Squirrel, I think. Yeah, see him?" Daryl pointed up.

Glenn followed the direction Daryl was pointing in, and looked hard at the little grey animal on the branch.

"I...I think it's dead. " Glenn said. "It's not moving or anything."

Daryl squinted up, looking closer up. He picked up a rock and threw it at the squirrel, causing it to drop to the forest floor with a soft thud.

"Dammit. Everything's dyin'," Daryl grumbled.

"What'd you expect? It's hot as hell out here," Merle said.

Suddenly, a brownish bird hit the ground right next to where Maggie stood. She jumped a little, letting out a gasp. The group looked at it, confirming it to be dead as well.

"Let's get out of here before this little outin' becomes some Hitchcock film," Merle said, poking at the bird with his foot.

"Just a bit further," Rick said a few steps ahead of them, having little interest in the bird.

"It's so hot, I feel like I'm gonna pass out," Glenn moaned.

"Better wait to pass out back at the prison, cause I ain't carryin' your ass back up there," Merle said, passing Glenn and Maggie.

"Don't worry, I'll try to contain myself," Glenn retorted, too hot and exhausted to think of a good comeback.

The group trekked on for another twenty minutes until Merle spoke up.

"I think it's time to close the curtain on this little shit show, eh, Sheriff? One of us passes out and a Walker comes, we're as good as dead, and I don't feel like dying today," Merle said, his voice exhausted as sweat rolled down his face.

"Hold up!" Rick whispered, peering through the trees. "Do y'all see that?"

The four came up behind Rick and looked in the direction of where he was pointing. A small log cabin was sitting in the middle of these woods, overgrown and seemingly abandoned. There were no signs of someone living there from the outside, but the inside could tell a whole different story. They were all too familiar with it.

"Come on, let's check it out. There could be supplies still in there," Rick said. "Hopefully no one's cleaned it out yet. "

They all hurried silently and carefully to the little cabin, noticing it only had one floor. It looked more like a large shed than a home. Daryl noticed a fire pit on the side, but on further inspection, saw it was completely dry and filled with ashes. No one had made a fire in it in a long time.

Daryl gave a nod and he and Rick climbed up the porch, slowly. Rick reached for the door knob and slowly opened it. It looked as if no one had even bothered to lock it. Convenient...and rather conspicuous. The handle felt loose, almost like it could fall off into Rick's hand if he pulled on it any harder. Old age, or forced entry perhaps...

His footsteps creaked as he leaned inside, with Daryl right behind him.

Bunch of junk in here, Daryl thought to himself as he looked around. His eyes scanned across the room, picking up a lot of dusty knickknacks and mismatched furniture cluttering up the place. Rick spied a bunch of fishing poles leaning against the wall, and his chest felt a bit lighter. He went to inspect them... seemed like they were in pretty good condition. He whistled for Glenn to come in and collect them, carrying them out to haul them back up to the prison during their return trip.

"Alright!" Merle smiled. "Could get some proper fishin' done with those bad boys."

Glenn set them down against a tree and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

"Glenn, you alright?" Maggie asked, touching his arm softly.

"Yeah. Just really hot," he weakly smiled.

"You better just keep watch. I'll carry the poles back," Maggie smiled, lovingly.

Rick and Daryl scanned the living room for anything important. They were able to shove a few quilts and pillows in their bags, and even collect a few extra pocket knives lying about. It looked as if the place hadn't been touched yet which to them was incredibly good for them. Unlike many places they had come across in the previous few months, this place was a gold mine compared to the empty, looted shells that they were so used to.

A sudden creak in the floor boards from the back room doused that thought quickly. Daryl signaled over to Rick that it came from the door down the hall. There were only two doors, and one was slightly ajar. Rick carefully slid down the hall and pushed in the door, stepping slowly inside. A simple bed made out of wood with flannel sheets laid in the corner and more knickknacks were laid about with a bunch of fishing gear and what looked like to be a first aid kit by the side of the bed. Forgetting to take a double look through the room, Rick went in for the first aid kit. He grabbed its handle when suddenly a decrepit hand grabbed his. Lying in the bed under the sheets was a Walker, a very old looking one. His body was rotting away and began to fall apart as it tried to pull itself up to get to Rick. It gave a sickly gurgle as it opened its mouth, emitting a horrible stench. Before Rick could pull out his knife and end the unfortunate existence of the Walker and even before he could even comprehend the scene that was unravelling in front of him, a human being had crept out from nowhere, and had hopped onto the bed and was slamming an ice pick axe into the Walkers skull.

Once the Walker's gurgles and hungry moans came to an end causing a deafening silence to hover over them, the girl turned to Rick.

"You nuts?!" The girl yelled at him, her voice even startling her.

Rick could have asked her the same question, and probably added in "Where the hell did you just come from?" but he refrained.

Rick shook off the Walker's hand, backing up a few feet and putting a hand on his holster. The girl quickly removed her axe and hopped down from the bed. Daryl came in, crossbow raised and aimed at the young woman, ready to shoot. The girl looked a little stunned to see him, and even more frazzled to see the gun at Rick's waist that he was slowly reaching for.

"Sorry..." she said. "It's just... you could have gotten yourself bit."

She was a tall, thin wisp of a thing. Probably hadn't had anything decent to eat in a while. She was pale and looked as if she hadn't seen the sun for a while. Her thick head of chestnut hair was pulled back into a low ponytail with two little berets on the side to hold back her fringe. Small curls were plastered to her face with sweat and she panted heavily still, her heart probably still pumping after killing the Walker. Her clothes seemed pretty clean for the most part. A little worn, but no dirt or grim stuck to them unlike their own. Her ensemble consisted of worn out skinny jeans, that despite their namesake were hanging off her small frame, and a thin button down with a green plaid design adorned her frail body. A cargo vest hung around her, obviously made for a man due to its large size, and a utility belt was wrapped around her waist. She seemed pretty geared up, and with the ice pick, Rick wouldn't doubt her if she said she was on her own.

"Rick..." Daryl asked, his eyes not leaving the girl. "You alright?"

"Yeah, fine," Rick replied. "You alright?"

The girl realized he was asking her this.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks..." She gave a little smile.

Rick and Daryl exchanged glances and lowered their weapons. The girl was obviously not a threat to them.

"What's your name?" Rick asked.

"Mae," she replied. "Mae Greyson."

The two men nodded in a silent 'nice to meet you'.

"My name's Rick Grimes. This here is Daryl Dixon," Rick said.

Mae nodded with a grin. "Nice to meet you both."

"You out here by yourself?" Rick asked, looking around to see if anyone else was about to jump out of the closets.

"Well, now, yes. But I have a camp set up with my cousin and her boyfriend. Just us three roaming around, trying to find a place to crash. You know… somewhere safe. This place seemed pretty reasonable. That is, until I realized you guys already had it claimed," Mae said, downbeat.

"We don't have it claimed," Rick said. "We have a place and a group of our own. We were just out here looking for food, but everything's shriveling up and dying. "

"Yeah. " Mae laughed bitterly. "I've noticed that too. Can't find a berry bush to save my life."

"How stocked are you and your cousin?"

"Pretty low. Got two jars of peanut butter and some power bars, but that's pretty much it. Max, my cousin's boyfriend was lucky enough to shoot down a duck a few nights ago, but that's long gone now," Mae said. "How many people are in your group?"

Rick decided this girl seemed pretty trustworthy. She didn't hesitate to tell him anything and didn't come off as threatening. She seemed pretty well-to-do if she had made it this far with just three people. They could always prove useful back at the prison. One of them could hunt and Rick could already see Mae was fearless when it came to Walkers. He decided to give her the offer.

"'bout eleven," Rick said.

Mae's eyes widened.

"Wow. That's great," she smiled. "Very lucky."

"Everyone's very hospitable and our place is safe. We're stationed up at the prison south of here. We have a portion cleared out and secure. If you'd like, you and your group could come back with us. I'd have to meet them first of course," Rick said.

"Really?" Mae asked, completely shocked. She could cry and jump for joy at the same time. It showed on her face how amazing she felt this was. "Of course you can meet them; we set up camp not too far from here last night. I-I'm sorry, I just... thank you."

"Welcome. Now, let's finish sweeping the area, grab what we can and we'll follow you back to your camp," Rick said.

"Right," Mae smiled. "I already checked the bathroom. No meds or anything. Only a box of tic tacs. Looks like this nature guy didn't believe in medicine."

"Yeah, nothing but a John and a sink in there," Daryl confirmed. "Best give the kitchen a quick look through."

The three headed out back into the living room as Rick stashed the first aid kid in his bag.

"Looks like he was getting desperate to use that thing, though," Mae nodded at the first aid kit, putting a box of matches from the table in her pocket. "Died before he could use it."

"Got bit on his neck," Daryl said, opening up a couple cabinets. "Probably tried to fix the wound and locked himself away in here. Too bad he didn't know medicine wouldn't help the son of a bitch becoming a Walker. "

"Walker? Oh, you call them Walkers?" Mae caught on.

"What do you call 'em?" Rick asked.

"Nothing clever. Max and Audrey just call them cannibals or flesh eaters. But at least Walker sounds a bit better, in a weird sort of way," Mae said.

Rick understood what she meant, and nodded to her.

"Alrighty, let's blow this joint. Old man had nothing," Daryl yawned.

"At least we got the fishing poles," Rick said, heading for the door. "We'll tell Glenn and the others to head back while we-"

"Rick!"

Maggie called over, kneeling on the ground next to an unconscious Glenn.

"What happened?!" Rick exclaimed as he ran over to Maggie.

"He just passed out! I think he has heatstroke," Maggie said, worry straining her voice.

Glenn grumbled a little bit.

"What in the world took you two so long?" Merle asked, not noticing Mae until she peered out from behind Rick and Daryl. "Who the hell is that?"

"This is Mae Greyson. She saved me back inside the cabin from a Walker," Rick said, checking Glenn's temperature with the back of his hand against his forehead.

"She comin' with us?" Merle asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Maybe," Daryl said. "Most likely. "

"Here-" Mae said, rushing to Glenn's side and pulling a large water bottle from her backpack. "Take off his shoes and socks and roll up his pants. He needs to get as much clothing off of him as possible. Does anyone have a rag or cloth I could use?"

Daryl pulled out a bandana from his pocket and handed it to her. Mae dabbed the bandana until it was soaked and started to pat his face and neck with it.

"He needs to cool down quickly or it could get worse," Mae said.

"We need to get him back to the prison," Maggie said, looking up at Merle.

"Don't look at me, sweetheart! I ain't carryin' him up. Already told him that. Plus, I'm one handed," Merle said, waving his homemade prosthetic at her.

"Everyone's hospitable?" Mae grinned at Rick.

"Everyone but Merle," Daryl said. "Lousy brother that he is. "

"Love you too, Darlena," Merle smirked.

Oh brothers, Mae thought. What an interesting group.

"Daryl? Rick?" Maggie asked desperately.

"Hell, I'll do it if the lout won't help," Daryl grumbled, moving towards the unconscious man.

"Daryl, I need you to come with me," Rick said. "To meet Mae's group."

"Damn it to hell, sheriff! Can't you let your little boyfriend go for five minutes?!" Merle groaned.

"Cut the crap and don't be difficult, Merle. Carry Glenn back or I'll give Maggie permission to shoot you!"

"Watch how you speak to me, boy, or I'll knock your teeth so far back you'll be blowing them out your nose!"

"Um, not to interrupt, but someone needs to take him back now," Mae interjected.

"Fine!" Merle growled and scooped up Glenn unexpectedly, nearly knocking Mae over.

Maggie helped Mae up, giving her a kind smile, quickly following after Merle. Mae could hear Merle grumbling as he and Maggie quickly moved through the forest.

"Let's make this quick, alright?" Daryl said.

"Glenn will be fine once he gets to the prison. Hershel will take care of him," Rick said. "Lead the way, Mae. "

With her new companions behind her, Mae felt a sense of safety she hadn't felt in a long time. Of course, she had no proof that they were telling the truth and this was some elaborate way to kill her or worse… but trusting them felt better than not trusting them. They all seemed like good people, well... maybe not Merle.

"Should be coming up now. You can see our tent," Mae smiled as she pointed ahead.

Indeed, Rick and Daryl could both see a blue tent just ahead.

"Audrey!" Mae called out softly, but loud enough for anyone nearby to hear. "Max!"

There wasn't a response.

"Max? Audrey?"

Rick suddenly felt a twist in his stomach as he saw a body lying on the floor of the camp. It was that of a woman in a mangled brown dress.

"Oh my God..." Mae froze.

The woman had an arrow through her head, so now she was completely dead.

"Mae, I'm sorry-"

"That isn't Audrey," Mae said. "And... that's one of Max's arrows."

Mae scoped out the tent and all around, panic setting in.

"They're gone. They're stuff is gone too... both of their bags. Just gone..." Mae said. "The corpse must have scared them and they took off..."

"Do you know where they could have gone? Did you have a plan if this happened?" Rick asked, trying to calm her.

"No... Like I said, we just made camp here last night. We're new to this area. They could be anywhere right now or worse…" Mae's voice cracked and she suddenly broke down in tears.

"Oh my God..." She sobbed and sat on a fallen tree.

Rick came up and grabbed her shoulder, kneeling down next to her.

"You've been survivin' this for a while now. Sounds like Audrey and Max were pretty good at survivin' too. Probably thought this spot wasn't safe anymore after that Walker came and went off looking for you, or went to take shelter somewhere else till things cleared out," Rick said in comforting tones.

Mae wiped her eyes and looked back at Rick.

"You think so?" Mae asked.

"Most likely. Now the best thing to do now is-"

"Hey!" Daryl interrupted. "I think I found their tracks."

Rick stood up with Mae, and followed Daryl as he led them south east. It was until they came across a river that Daryl sighed and wiped his head free of sweat.

"Looks like they crossed the river. Pretty shallow over here, but it's only gonna get higher by night fall," Daryl said.

Daryl was obviously wiped out and could barely think anymore. Rick looked extremely warm, with sweat rolling down his face, but he didn't seem fazed by it much.

"Listen, I appreciate you both trying to help me find them, but I can see your both exhausted from the heat. I'll keep looking for them," Mae said, heading towards the river. "You guys can go on back to your camp. I'll be fine."

Rick knew she wouldn't be. Not in this heat. If he and Daryl left her now, she'd be dead by night fall.

"Come back with us and rest. You're in no shape to keep lookin' either," Rick said.

"Thanks," Mae smiled, despite her own fatigued state. "But I have to keep looking. They're my family. "

That's when Rick knew he made the right choice in trusting this girl. She was one of them at heart, and now only needed to join them.

"I know what family means to a person. As soon as I offered you to come back with us, that was an offer to become a part of ours. Do what you have to do, but if you want to find us again, our prison is just south of here, left of the river. You won't be able to miss it," Rick said.

Mae smiled at the both of them.

"Thank you... both of you. I won't forget your kindness." Mae said.

"Good luck. Hope you find them." Rick said. "Don't forget… It's just south of here, and left of the river."

Mae waved to them before she walked through the river, disappearing. Rick and Daryl watched her retreating figure until it faded away in the distance, and wished her a safe journey.