SPOILER WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS SPOILERS FROM SEASONS 1-4

Chapter One: The Struggles of Getting Lost

Raven pressed her shoulder against a rough tree to rest for a few seconds. She opened the map up again. Was it really this way? No I should've been there by now. I've been walking in circles, haven't I? She rolled her eyes and pushed down the thought. If she hated anything, it would be doing stuff for nothing. She adjusted her backpack's strap to her comfort and prepared to turn back.

Muffled voices, almost inaudible, came from her right. Raven peered into the distance, trying to see through the maze of trees. She didn't hear anything afterwards. It was so faint that she almost believed it was her imagination. But that couldn't be. Her senses were extremely sharp. Well, it couldn't hurt to check. She cautiously crept uphill to where the noise came from. She watched through a nearby bush as a blue truck pulled to a stop in front of what looked like a cabin.

Her eyebrows furrowed as two men hopped out of the truck and opened the backdoor. They yanked out tied up bodies and dropped them to the ground. One was a dark skinned woman, another whose face has gotten a serious beating and another who was a boy that looked like her age. The two guys dragged the bodies into the cabin and shut the door. Raven exhaled and rubbed her face in exhaustion. Could she manage to free these people with so little energy? Normally, she would've been back home two hours ago, but taking a wrong turn caused one serious detour. Walking for miles could really drain out a person.

Raven has spotted many living people who were scavenging the area, looking for shelter. However, she ignored them, not wanting to have to take care of them, or worse, be reliant on them. If she couldn't protect them…, she couldn't protect anyone. But this was different. It wasn't up to those captives to decide if they wanted to live or not. No matter what they did, in their current condition, they will end up dead. Unless she goes out there.

"Damn it." She muttered and ripped a patch of dying grass from the dirt in frustration. Raven crept to the side of the cabin, making sure that she wasn't in range of sight from the window. She took a peek inside and caught a glimpse of one of the men dumping the bodies into a room towards the back.

She heard the other one say, "You sure you saw they got a lotta firepower?"

The man slammed the door and locked it. He smirked and spat at the floor. "I know what I saw, Steve. Saw them weeks ago carrying bags of guns. Once we get their base whereabouts, we won't have to go for supply runs. Ever. We'll be set for life." The guy spun in her direction, making her turn from the window. They better be alive.

Carl wasn't sure when he regained consciousness, but he had heard a door slam shut. The first thing he saw was his father and Michonne lying on the wooden floor tied up. He went to reach out to shake them, but found that he too was bound. They were in some plain, bedroom that was completely unrecognizable. Making sure that no one outside the room could hear, he whispered, "Psst! Hey!" The two remained motionless. He tasted blood on his lips. Finally, the memory of him being knocked out came up. He couldn't just wait for them to wake up.

Carl rolled to the wall painfully. Whoever captured them, they must have thrashed pretty hard. To stand, he had to work with both legs in unison. Suddenly, his weight crashed on him and he landed with a thud. Cringing, he prepared to stand again. His actions were cut off by voices. "Did ya here that? One of them might've woken up." "I'll check it." The creeks of the floorboard inched closer. His eyes desperately scanned the room for something sharp. He was about to scramble for a fallen pen when he heard knocks. Not from the room they were in, but further out. Daryl? Glenn? Someone from the group?

To see through the window of the door, he jumped onto the bed and kneeled. He craned his neck up high to see through. One of the guys was notably large and was blocking almost the entire doorway. But the person there was fairly short. After moving his head around, he finally saw that it was a girl with short black hair wearing a dirtied dark pink hoodie. His eyes widened and watched frozen with fear.

One guy opened the door slowly. Raven's eyes drifted past him and saw the other man close to the door where the captives were held. He made his voice sound genuine, very different from how he spoke a minute ago. "What can I do for you, sweetie?"

She plastered a scared expression on herself. "My daddy! I can't find my daddy! Have you seen him?" Her acts especially went well with her tiny height.

The man looked back and his friend, who shook his head. It was clear that they believed her, or they'd at least try to hide that motion. She had to resist smirking. The man smiled, "Sorry little lady, I haven't." Now she looked down in disappointment. She rubbed the hilt of her knife that she held behind her back. Play it smart, Raven. Wait for the right timing. "And you should be going back to your home or something, it's getting dark and scary out here."

The other man chuckled and turned towards the captives' door. Now. With lightning speed, she struck his throat with the knife. Hot blood trickled over her whole right hand. She said, still with her angelic voice, "I see." He silently pleaded for her to stop. Now she spoke normally, with sheer coldness, "That's a shame." The other guy whirled at that. Raven pulled the dead body back outside.

She heard the other guy shout something back, his stomping getting closer. She whipped out the blade from the corpse and dodged his grasp by an inch. "Too slow." She said as she kicked his head into the window. It shattered almost completely. The heavy glass pierced his neck and head. Raven's eyebrow raised as the man jerked his body from the glass. He was too weak, unfortunately for him. Raven took him by the hair and brought his neck down on her knee. With that, he collapsed on top of his friend.

The 'No Mercy' rule was something that her father had once taught her when the infection first came around. He said anyone who plans to do wrong must be stopped at all costs. She couldn't risk leaving any survivors. They'd just come back and kill them all. But Raven also followed her own rule. Upon discovering that a person becomes a zombie no matter how they die, she always struck them in the head. So she did just that to both men.

She cleaned her knife on the shirt of the man and walked into the cabin. The boy was looking through the window and was trying to say something. Raven came forth and gave him a puzzled look.

It became clear what he was trying to say as another person came out of the shadows. Caught off guard, the man pushed her down to the wooden floor, her knife spinning from her hand. She caught his hands just as he came down on her with a dagger of his own. Their hands trembled as the point inched closer to her face.

She swung her arms back and the knife stabbed the wood. Her fist connected with his eye, sending him backwards, but he was ready to spring back at her. Quickly, she yanked the knife from the floor and threw it at the man's head. He went limp and fell forwards onto his face, pushing the blade even further into his head. Gross. Normally, she'd take the weapons that he had, but she was definitely not touching that. But, she did pick up her own blade.

It was actually a dual blade. The other half was resting in the left sheath of her belt. Usually she only took it out for emergencies or dealing with zombies. But two men didn't strike her as life-threatening. It was made completely of titanium, besides the rubber grip. The material, plus her strength and skill, equals invincible.

Not wasting any more time, she unlocked the door. Only the boy was conscious, but he was still wrapped tightly by the rope. The men must have stripped them from all of their weapons, or this boy would've been unbound by now. Raven knelt by his side and turned him around (not gently either). She slashed through the knot, so the rope would still be usable. He unraveled it and tossed it beside him.

Raven felt his eyes on her as she worked on freeing the other two and for some reason felt a bit nervous. Finally she blurted out, "What?" He didn't say anything, but shook his head as if he said what are you talking about? He probably thought she was a psycho for killing those men, but murders like that she wasn't sorry about. If she were to have sympathy for such people, she'd have been dead years ago.

She finally cut through the knots and collected the ropes. Raven stood while zipping up her bag and exited the room without another word. She opened the other rooms to loot them. Of course, the guys here had guns and knives. Sweet, a katana. She smiled as she examined the sword. And it's a sturdy one too. Raven stuffed the weapons in a duffle bag she'd found. It seemed a lot for just three people, which means more people should be on their way here. She quickly strode to the kitchen and took everything. They had a lot of can foods which should last her two weeks. Maybe this little rescue mission wasn't that bad. Part of her wanted to say bye to that boy, but she knew she couldn't involve herself with anyone at all. She didn't warn him about the possibility of other robbers returning. If they weren't strong enough to wake up from a knockout by then, then maybe it's better to die there than being torn apart by the zombies. So she walked out the front door.

She was already among the trees when she heard the boy call out, "You're just gonna leave?" She turned her head and was surprised to see all three people standing by the doorpost. Raven considered running down the hill in that instant, but her feet remained planted on the ground.

The older man stepped forward, which began to worry her. When he had come too close, she pulled a handgun out of her belt. To be honest, she wasn't much of a shot from far, but when it's this close, she was confident in getting a headshot. He didn't seem to be shaken at all; as if everyday someone pointed a gun at him. The other two stepped forth quickly, looking helpless because they had nothing to defend themselves, but the man stopped them with a hand gesture. He spoke calmly, "Thank you for getting us out of there." She gave a short nod. "We've been on the run for a while. Haven't had much to eat, except whatever comes by." Raven knew where this was going. They were just like the rest of the humans; blindly dependent on others, even if they were strangers. "If you happen to have shelter somewhere, it'd really help if we could-"

She shoved the gun into her belt and turned around, not wanting to waste anymore time. The rustling of grass behind her indicated that they were serious. "We're not helpless."A female voice stepped in. "We know how to fight and I know you have our weapons." Raven saw her shake her empty sword sheath. That sparked some interest. Having a sword-wielder could be useful if she ever ran out of bullets. However, Raven still didn't know if she was skilled or not.

The man spoke again. "Just for a little while. Please." To be honest, she needed help getting back home, since she was pretty lost. Raven made up her mind. These people are going to help her get back and if she thought they were worthy survivors, she'd let them stay. If they ever made a funny move, it's a bullet to the brain for all of them.

"Well let's get a move on. It'll be another two hours or so til we get there." Raven said, as she whipped the katana out of the duffle bag and tossed it to the girl. To be fair, she also gave the two guys guns, simple ones that shouldn't kill someone unless they were shot in the head. She knew one of them was going to bring up the truck that they used. She put a hand to stop them. "I already checked and looted the car. It's low on gas; it's not worth trying to drive through these trees." They nodded and slipped into silence. Then Raven realized that they were waiting on her. "I really hope this is the right way." She muttered just loud enough for the people to hear as she tried to read her map.

Their names were Rick, Michonne and Carl. It was a good thing that they know how to use maps and stuff. Apparently, they were split up from a larger group of survivors. They used to live in a prison, until some crazy dude blew the fence up. Raven would've expected that; a prison covers too much distance, it would be impossible to protect it from all sides. They didn't seem like bad people. Then again, the world is a deceitful place. She was a bit worried about having a boy her age in the group. Not many children can handle this world like she can (not to brag).

The three were panting and trying to conceal their fatigue. Raven was aware that they got a bad beating and hadn't eaten in hours, so she understood that. Plus, she could use this time for some resource evaluation. She stopped moving and faced them. When she turned their tired expressions changed. "You guys need some food. Why don't we hunt for some stuff?"

Carl pointed out, "But didn't you find any stuff in the cabin?"

"Not stuff that can be eaten alone." She lied. Carl and Michonne looked fooled, but Rick was a bit puzzled. He was pretty sharp. He probably worked as a detective or policeman back in the day, which would explain Carl's hat. "You guys know how to hunt, right?" She challenged him. Now he couldn't back out. She suppressed her smirk; sometimes she enjoyed cornering people. It's a kid thing.

"Of course we can." Rick nodded. He nudged his son in the shoulder. "You help scout for any meat. Michonne and I will look for some plants." Not bad. She thought to herself. He seems like a man with a plan. So the group got to work.

For a while, Raven just stood watching Rick and Michonne scavenge the bushes and trees for vegetation. Getting a little bored, she checked on Carl, who was even more bored. "I haven't seen an animal in days." He said, looking at the beautiful view of the hills of trees, miles in the distance.

"Really? I mean sometimes deer pass by where I live." She usually didn't kill them unless she was desperate.

He chuckled. "You know the last time I saw a deer, I got shot through it." He pointed at his stomach. Raven was shocked at that, wondering who the medical assistant in that incident was. Usually these days, you get a fatal wound, you're done for. "So I think it's safe to say that deer are bad luck for me."

"Are you saying that my house would be bad luck?"

He was taken aback. "No! I-I'm just saying that-"

Raven laughed at his stuttering. "Jokes, jokes. Loosen up, will you?" She patted his shoulder and caught a glimpse of his smile. Boy, is he cute. She mentally kicked herself. She hadn't thought something like that for months, back when life was easier. She can't afford to be distracted by him.

They made their way back to Rick and Michonne, who seemed to be admiring a pretty looking flower. It had bell-shaped purple petals and a yellow seed. It looked extremely familiar to Raven. Before the apocalypse, she spent lots of time learning about everything the world had to offer. Botany was one of them. They took a small bite from the plant, just to check it out. As Carl and Raven got closer, she saw it better.

Immediately, she broke into a sprint. "Don't eat that!" She shouted, startling the two. They threw the flowers on the ground.

They spit as much as they could out of them. Raven whipped out a canteen of water and poured it into their mouths and instructed them to gargle. Michonne spat and panted heavily. "What was that?"

"Belladonna. It's a poisonous plant. You have to get everything out now." She stressed the urgency. She didn't mention how it was one of the deadliest flowers in the western hemisphere. She thought she should spare the details. "Did you swallow anything?"

Rick and Michonne exchanged some looks. Michonne answered solemnly, "Yes. Only a bite, though."

Lovely. She put her hair behind her ear, like she did when she was nervous. Carl spoke, "What, can that actually be harmful? Only a bite?"

"It shouldn't kill you if it gets treated. But considering how weak you two are from fatigue and injuries…" They stared at her. "Let's just say we better get some shelter." They hastened their pace this time around, trampling over the bitten belladonnas.

Raven was a yard in front of the three. Finally, she spotted a little curved cliff up ahead that should keep them hidden. "Down here." She pointed to the place.

Rick was the first to drop, which was mostly because his recent injuries. He fell on one knee and Carl tried to catch him. "Dad! C'mon we're almost there." Raven rushed to his side and helped Carl carry him by the arms.

"You doing okay, Michonne?" She glanced at her sweating face, which wasn't looking too good.

However, she shrugged it off. "I'll be fine." Raven liked that solitary attitude of hers. It reminded her of herself.

"Good. We're getting closer." Raven said as they continued.

Soon enough, growls were heard in the vicinity. A few zombies were roaming towards the cliff-cavern. "Walkers." Rick muttered. Walkers? People never seem to run out of names for them.

The number was manageable; only six of them. "I'll handle this." Raven said reaching for her duel daggers.

Carl grabbed her arm to stop her. "I'm going with you."

"No. Stay here and take care of these two." She demanded and began walking down the hill. "Got it?"

He had a reluctant tone, but finally he said, "Got it." She saw that dishonest look in his eyes. She'd better make this quick before he could interfere. Even though this was a perfect opportunity to see how well he is in combat, having Rick and Michonne in bad condition isn't the safest test.

"Good." She ran down the hill, which alerted the crowd of walkers. Raven brought a knife down on one's head and thrust the body towards another one. Before one could bite her from behind, she swung her knife backwards, digging the point into its forehead. As she yanked it out, she felt the satisfying thud of the body.

"Raven!" Carl shouted from afar. She barely caught sight of the walker coming from her right. Her knife slid into the corpse's mouth as she fought to keep it back. Raven ducked from its thrashing arms. She pushed from her legs and smashed the head to a tree. The blade sliced through the head and connected with the tree trunk. Blood sprayed all over her cheek.

She was surprised to feel the rumble of a body drop behind her. She jumped away as a reflex. It was Carl, holding a small bloody knife. She felt the urgency to scold him, but her priority was getting rid of the last two walkers.

"Wait." A brittle Michonne put her hand on Raven's shoulder. Confused, she lowered her weapon. She unsheathed her sword and chopped off the zombie's outstretched arms. She then proceeded to take out its teeth by smashing its mouth on a large, nearby rock. Why not just kill it? "You still have that rope from before, right? Mind if I use two of them?" Raven shrugged with indifference, but she really didn't see what was going on. As Michonne began to tie a noose around the walker's neck, Rick caught the last one and began the same process. "Having harmless walkers can hide human scent." She said to Raven.

Raven smiled and it clicked. "Like a walking shield. Very nice strategy."

"Thanks." She tightly knotted the noose. "Made it up myself." She handed the end of the rope to Carl and helped Rick finish the second one.

Sweat dripped from their faces and Raven knew that the poison would be taking action soon. Raven quickly tied the rope ends on her belt. "C'mon." She wrapped Michonne's left arm and Rick's right around her shoulder, along with Carl's help. Soon they reached the shelter. She placed them against the stone wall. She put down the duffle bag and a few can foods. "Carl and I are gonna look for an herb. I think I have an idea of where to find it. It's about a mile east from here. We'll be back in a few-"

"Absolutely not. We have to stick together. We can rest to regain some strength and then continue on to your place." Rick said. His words were slurred a little, which made Carl a little uneasy.

"There's no time for that. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to keep you alive." She stared Rick down. It was clear that he was deciphering if she was safe to leave his son with. "We're going." She spun and pulled Carl away. She tied the walkers to trees, which should keep them safe from walkers.

"You come straight back here." Rick warned to their backs. "If anything happens to him, you won't be forgiven."

Raven snorted. "If anything happens to me, then you're all screwed. But luckily, I'm pretty damn stubborn when it comes to survival." Michonne was giggling a little bit as she reclined on a gray stone and Raven wasn't sure if it was because she agreed with her or she was starting to hallucinate from the sickness. She hoped it was the former.

"We'll be back as soon as possible." Carl assured him as they walked off.

… … … … …

… … … … …

Welcome to my first Walking Dead fanfic! First off, if you're reading this, thank you for giving my story a chance. If you guys want more, leave a review and follow! It helps me out a lot. :) Stay awesome

~Beanie Wayland