A/N: This is my first attempt at writing a story so bare with me. I'll try to update regularly but forgive me if there are somewhat long lapses between chapters. I welcome any feedback, positive or negative, and would be more than happy to take your opinions into consideration for future chapters. This story is only about half finished in my mind so I welcome your thoughts and opinions. As with everything, please be considerate. Writing, as some of you may know, takes time and I don't want to publish anything I am not proud to claim as my own. As I'm sure you know, I do not own anything from the Walking Dead. The only thing that is mine is Julie Bennett, her family, and some of the other survivors we'll meet later on. Until next time, please review!


"If you promise to stop biting your nurses, I promise I'll work on getting you that lime green Jell-o you're such a fan of." Julie Bennett said in her most convincing voice. The seven year old she was negotiating with narrowed his eyes at her to see if she was telling the truth before nodding his head. Julie smiled and shook his small outstretched hand. "You're a good man, Matty." She told him standing up and laying a small kiss upon the top of his head. Julie was the only one the kid allowed anywhere near him without throwing a fit and the only one that was able to reason with him when he was in one of his moods. None of the nurses liked dealing with him but Julie thought he was a sweet kid, once you got to know him. She'd also been with him every step of the way since he was diagnosed with cancer when he was four years old. Two weeks ago he went into remission and as his luck would have it, he was back in the hospital because his appendix burst two nights ago. Tough kid.

Julie left the room and headed back to the nurse's station where she found all of her co-workers gossiping about the brand new doctor, who they had dubbed Doctor Hot Pants. Julie was almost 100% sure they could have come up with something a little more creative than that but it had been three in the morning when the name was decided upon, so lack of sleep and crappy hospital coffee probably factored into the equation. He'd just transferred in from Chicago after a rather messy divorce with his wife and as far as Julie could tell, every nurse was vying for his attention, even the married ones. Julie hadn't seen scrub pants so tight and so much shimmery eye shadow on the nursing staff since the last hot doctor got married and started getting fat.

"Mathew Tomlinson has promised to stop biting you guys under the condition room service keeps him stocked up on lime green Jell-o." Julie informed them all. Trudi rolled her eyes as she whipped out her nail file and started doing her nails.

"I don't know why you negotiate with that kid." She said.

"Trudi, the kid is seven years old and has spent most of his life in a hospital bed. If I can make him happy by giving him Jell-o I'm going to do it." Rosie opened her mouth to respond when a loud commotion that sounded like screaming came from down the hall.

"What now?" Julie exclaimed in annoyance coming out into the hall and seeing something she'd thought she would never see. Mrs. Richter was walking down the hall, more like hobbling, which wouldn't have been weird except for the fact that Mrs. Richter had died two days ago during surgery. She didn't look too terribly different, other than the blood dripping down her chin. Everyone seemed to know that something was off about this women, could have been the person she had apparently sunk her teeth into that was currently lying on the floor in a pool of their own blood, quite obviously dead. People were running past her and then Julie saw Matty pop his head out of his room and look around with a scared look on his face, which was understandable given the commotion. "Matty, get back and shut the door!" Julie screamed at him as she started running down the hall towards the room. Mrs. Richter had seen him at the same time and hobbled towards him. She wasn't moving fast but she was closer than Julie. Matty had backed up in fear and Julie saw Mrs. Richter walk into his room. A few seconds later Julie was in there too, just in time to pull the dead woman off the little boy and fling her across the room. But the old lady got up and started coming after them both. Julie grabbed the first thing she could find, which happened to be the butter knife on Matty's tray and stabbed it into the woman's head. She dropped to the ground instantly and didn't move again. Julie dropped the knife and turned back to Matty, who was cowering against the wall crying. Julie dropped in front of him. "Are you okay? Did she hurt you?' The little boy shook his head.

"What's wrong with her?" Matty asked.

"I don't know but I'm going to see what I can find out." Julie went to stand.

"Don't leave me!" He screeched. Julie gave him a small smile.

"Wouldn't dream of it." She held her hands out to him and picked him up. They made their way back out to the nurse's station, where pandemonium was breaking out. "What's going on?" Julie asked.

"We called security about Mrs. Richter and they said the dead were walking all over the hospital, eating people." Trudi said crying.

"Okay, we need to evacuate all the patients that we can." Julie said calmly. Trudi shook her head.

"I'm sorry, I can't stay." She said and then ran. Julie watched her run with wide eyes.

"Okay." Julie said trying to think things through. She set Matty down in one of the chairs behind the desk and tried to place a call but the lines were busy. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911 but got another busy signal. "What the hell!" Julie exclaimed trying again and again.

"Julie." Matty said in a scared voice. Julie looked up and saw him standing by the window looking back at her with wide eyes. "I think you should see this." Julie walked over to where he was standing and looked out the window at the hospital drive. She saw pure chaos. There were bodies everywhere and the drive was block by cop cars that were firing at what appeared to be dead people walking towards them. The dead didn't stop though, at least not all the time.

"Don't watch." Julie said turning Matty away from the window and pressing his face against her body. What the hell was going on? Julie heard footsteps behind her and turned around quickly, expecting to see another dead person but found Dr. Jameson a.k.a Dr. Hot Pants.

"Julie, what are you still doing here?" He demanded rushing up to her.

"I..I don't know what's going on." Julie answering honestly.

"Grady Memorial was overrun with these…these…these walkers and they started infecting the city. The people we couldn't save because we didn't know what the virus was that made them sick had been bit by these walkers."

"Are you telling me dead people are coming back to life and are trying to eat us?" Julie asked.

"You need to get the kid and get the hell out of this hospital. It's overrun."

"But what about the other patients?" Julie asked.

"Forget about them." Dr. Jameson said, running away from the two of them. Julie stood frozen for a moment, unsure of what to do.

"Can we go now?" Matty asked looking up at her. Julie smiled down at him and nodded.

"Yeah, we'll go." Julie promised him.

Matty held his arms out to her and she scooped him up and started towards the stairwell. The last thing Julie wanted was to take the elevator and have the doors open to a hoard of angry walking dead people. She was passing by the supply closet when she paused. If this wasn't just happening in Atlanta, if this was all over Georgia, or god forbid the country, those supplies could be very handy. Julie set Matty down next to the door. "I'm going to grab a few things real quick." Julie said kneeling in front of him. "If you see anything or anyone, yell." The kid looked scared but he nodded his head in agreement and Julie dashed into the closet.

First thing she grabbed was a few of the contamination bags and then started filling them. She put in band-aids, gauze, tape, scissors, scalpels, gloves, antiseptic, and any antibiotics and pretty much any other medications she could get her hands on. When one bag was full she grabbed another but she needed to make sure she didn't fill too many bags that she couldn't carry Matty with her too. She was quick and grabbed as much supplies as she could.

Out in the hall, Matty was looking back and forth nervously. Julie smiled at him encouragingly and picked him back up, adjusting the bags and him so that she could move if necessary and keeping one of the scalpels in her back pocket for quick, easy access. She made her way to the stairwell and started going down the flights of stairs, trying to block out the sounds of screaming coming from behind the doors. If she had been alone and Matty was already safe, she would have stopped. She would have gone to see if she could help anyone. The truth was, Matty probably saved her life. Behind those doors could have been a hundred of the dead all looking to eat her. Saving Matty was the important thing right now and she just had to block everything else out.

That is until she reached level three and the big sign that read Children's and Maternity ward flashed in front of her eyes. She froze upon seeing that sign. Behind that door could be a hundred other Mattys that needed her help but if she went through that door, she could be risking her own life and Matty's as well. She loved this kid and knew that he had no one else in the world to be worried about him. His parents had given him up two years ago when the medical expenses got too much and he'd been a ward of the state ever since. He had no family because no one wanted a sick, "damaged" child. But these children could be orphans too. These kids could have no one left to care about them if whatever had struck the patients in this hospital had spread across the entire city.

"Julie…" Matty said sounding worried. Julie closed her eyes as tears filled them.

"There may kids in there, just like you, that need our help." Julie told him. He looked at the door with wide eyes and then back at her. "I won't go if you don't want me to." She told him honestly. He swallowed loudly and looked at the door before nodding.

"We should go." He said.

"You sure?" She asked.

"You'll protect me?" Matty asked sounding scared. Julie smiled at him.

"Always." She promised him.

She set him down and put the bags right by the door. She cracked the door and peaked through the crack and saw nothing. No one was running, there was no screaming; it was silent. She opened the door a little more and stuck her head on the other side and still saw nothing. She opened the door all the way and walked through it but saw nothing. The entire floor was in disarray. Papers were everywhere and medical supplies were strewn everywhere. This floor had been ravaged, that much Julie could tell and as such, she highly doubted she would find anyone left alive but she had to at least try.

At a very, very slow pace, Julie and Matty made their way around the floor. She refused to let Matty look in any of the rooms. She was too worried about what she would find. All the rooms were empty though, so at least it appeared most of the parents had gotten their children out in time. That is until she came to one room where she found a family of three, all dead. The mother, the father, and a child of about fourteen. It made her feel terrible to be grateful it wasn't a child much younger than that but she couldn't help it.

She was about to give up and head back to the stairwell when she hear what sounded like a baby crying. She grabbed Matty's hand and led him down the hall to where the infants were kept. She went into the nursery and found one baby; a little girl. She didn't have a name. She was born just yesterday. All her tag said was Byers, her last name. She looked healthy from what Julie could tell. This was why Julie had come but she hesitated. A child Julie could take care of but an infant needed constant care and would only slow them down. She looked over at Matty.

"You won't leave her, will you?" Matty asked. Julie smiled at him and shook her head. Gently Julie swaddled the baby girl in a few blankets and picked her up. She grabbed a few supplies from the nursery, diapers and formula, and then took Matty's hand. They quickly made their way back down the hall and to the stairwell, where Julie grabbed the bags and continued on her way. Instead of going to the first floor, Julie went all the way to the basement, where she could get to the garage.

They encountered no one and in no time at all they had reached her old truck. It wasn't much but it had an extended cab and bed, plus 4x4. She put the medical supplies in the backseat, and strapped Matty in. She gave him the baby and told him to hold on to her tight. He smiled down at the little girl and nodded his head. He'd once told Julie how much he wanted a little sister or a little brother. I wasn't in the way he had expected but maybe, just maybe that was exactly what he'd gotten. She quickly shut the back door tightly and was getting ready to climb into the driver's seat when she heard a gurgling noise from behind her. She turned quickly and saw one of the dead walking towards her. It was a woman in a hospital gown and dirty, blood streaked brown hair. There was a pallor about her skin that spoke only of death and the blood on her chin told Julie she had already fed once.

Just before the woman was upon her, Julie grabbed the scalpel from her back pocket but wasn't fast enough to do anything before she was pinned against the truck by the woman. Julie struggled to push the woman back, amazed that someone that was technically dead could be so strong. The woman's mouth came closer and closer to Julie's neck and that's when the adrenaline kicked in. Julie found her last bit of strength and pushed and woman off of her. As the woman made to run back at her, Julie stabbed the scalpel into her skull. The woman fell to the ground instantly and was dead…for the second time.

The noise of their struggle had brought attention to the other walkers that there may be fresh meat and as Julie looked around she saw walkers coming out of the corners of the garage and towards her. Julie jumped into the truck quickly and slammed the door shut just as a walker flung himself against the door. With shaking hands, Julie managed to get the key in the ignition and turn the engine over. She quickly put it in gear and pulled out of the garage.

"Where are we going?" Matty asked in a small voice.

"We're getting out of the city." Julie told him and then paused to think for a moment. "We just have to make one stop first."

"Where?" Julie sighed at the question.

"I just have to make sure my son is okay."


Julie was young when her son was born; only sixteen. She hadn't been prepared for a baby, as most sixteen year old girls aren't, and actually considered adoption. Instead, the father of the baby and Julie had agreed to keep it and find a way to support it. Her son, Jacob Michael Hampton, had been the only thing that mattered to her when he was very young. When she turned eighteen and it became apparent that his father was not going to be getting a job and support them, Julie enlisted in the army and while in the army, she took classes to become a nurse. Jace's father had been the one to care for him while Julie was away. He spent the money Julie risked her life to make and refused to get a job of his own. Julie had known the kind of man he was but he was Jace's father.

Six months before Julie was to be out, she took two bullets to her torso. She'd been honorably discharged and sent back home. By that point, Julie had had little contact with her son because of Jace's father and Jace was nervous around her and didn't want to see her. To make matters worse, Julie had gotten addicted to the pain killers prescribed to her and when those were no longer available, she had turned to illicit drugs to ease the pain. For anyone that became addicted to drugs, they could easily tell you that it was something that happened rather abruptly and before they even became aware of it happening. But there she was…a drug addict that had had her son taken away from her. She got clean and after a lot of work got a job working as a nurse in the hospital. Julie was now twenty-seven, clean, and working as a nurse on the intermediate floor of the hospital. She had tried hundreds of times to connect with Jace but the damage was done.

But now, before she left the city, she had to go to the apartment he lived in with his father and make sure he was safe. He was still her son and her responsibility. His father had finally gotten a job and was supporting the boy now, which was how he so easily kicked Julie out of her son's life. So, Julie drove the seven miles from the hospital to the apartment building they lived in. The city was a scene of pure chaos. Cars and people were everywhere. The dead were running all over and Julie had to yell at Matty to keep his head down and not look out the window. She didn't want him seeing all this.

When they got to the apartment building, Julie was relieved to see the street looked fairly quiet but she wasn't taking any chances. She unlocked her glove box and pulled out the nine millimeter handgun she kept there. She grabbed the clip out of the locked middle counsel and slipped it into the bottom of the gun. Julie had been around guns all her life and the military had done nothing but make her more intrigued by them.

After once again checking her surroundings, Julie took the baby from Matty's arms and helped him out of the truck. She rushed into the building, holding Matty's hand, and up to the third floor where she knocked on the apartment door. She waited ten seconds and when she heard nothing, she knocked again with a little more force. "Who is it?" A scared voice yelled from the other side. Julie sighed in relief. Jace was okay. "Jace, it's me, it's your…" she paused because the kid refused to call her mom. "it's Julie." She finished, hating how that sounded. The door quickly opened and she saw her eleven year old son looking up at her with wide terrified eyes.

Jace was the spitting image of his father, which wasn't a bad thing. He had shaggy dark brown hair, big green eyes, and he was already tall and very athletic. The only thing he'd inherited from Julie was his nose, which on him was a blessing but on her, not so much. Jace looked frantic. She saw the TV on turned to the news where all you could see were walker attacks and the CDC urging everyone to stay inside with their doors and windows locked. Julie shut the door behind her and quickly locked the knob, deadbolt, and chain before having Matty sit down and putting the baby back in his arms.

"Who are they?" Jace asked looking at Matty and the baby. "Are they yours?" He demanded looking up at his mother. The question seemed silly to Julie. Matty was a mixed child. His mother was white and his father was black. He had buzzed dark brown hair, brown eyes, and very light brown skin. He looked nothing like Julie. The baby was as white as can be, bald, and well that was about it. Julie could understand the question when directed at her.

"No, they're patients from the hospital."

"You kidnapped them?" Jace asked sounding panicked.

"No, Jace, I didn't kidnap them. The hospital was overrun by those things. I got them out."

"But what about their parents." Julie shook her head at Jace, who after a moment understood her message and nodded in understanding.

"Where's your father, Jace? Is he here?" Jace looked around frantically. "Jace," Julie took his hands and sat him down on the couch. She sat in front of him on the table and waited till he was actually looking at her before continuing. "Where is he?"

"In the bedroom." Jace answered with tears in his eyes. Julie looked down the hall and after a moment she could hear a faint scratching on the bedroom door.

"Was he…infected?" Julie asked.

"I think so." Jace answered as a few tears fell. "He came home yesterday holding his arm funny and there was blood everywhere but he wouldn't tell me what happened and then today I went to check on him and he was…he was dead and now…now…he isn't."

"Why didn't you call anyone when you found him dead?"

"Because I was scared. The news was going on about all these dead people walking around and I didn't know what to do."

"Jace, I need you to listen to me because this is very important." Julie said in a serious voice. Jace looked at her with wide eyes. "Has your father bit you or scratched at all?" Jace shook his head and Julie sighed with relief. Her biggest fear was that her son was now going to become one of those things. "Okay, we need to get out of the city. Jace, pack your bag quickly, only the necessities. I'll get whatever food and supplies I can find around here and then we're leaving."

"What about dad?" Jace asked. Julie forced a smile on her face.

"I'll take care of it." She promised. The look Jace gave her said he understood, at least to an extent what she meant by that but he didn't question. He took off for his room and quickly began packing. "Matty, sit tight and we'll be out of here soon."

"Who is that?" Matty asked pointing to Jace.

"That's my son, Jace."

"I didn't know you had a son." Matty said in a confused voice. Julie smiled.

"Yeah, he doesn't like to brag about it much." Julie answered honestly.

In the kitchen Julie was able to find a decent amount of provisions. She found a few cases of bottle water and lots of two liter bottles of soda that she used for water after emptying all the soda out and filling it up in the sink. She found non-perishable food items, like beans, canned vegetables, rice, an absurd amount of Spam, and things of that nature. She grabbed a few knives and found matches, flashlights, batteries, lighters, candles, and a few tubs of Crisco. Crisco may seem useless but add a wick and you've got yourself a candle. She found some bleach in the laundry room that could be used to sterilize water and grabbed a few pots for boiling water. She wasn't sure how long this thing was going to run but she'd grown up with a rather obsessive older brother who was convinced he was going to live to see the end of civilization and as such she had a few obsessive survival tendencies of her own.

In the bathroom she found some medicines and a rudimentary first aid kit that would help out as long as the injury wasn't too severe. She also grabbed the one thing no one ever thinks about in an apocalypse; toilet paper. She raided the linen closet and found a few more useful items and set everything on the table. She managed to find a few duffle bags and started loading everything into them when Jace came out of his room carrying two bags. Now came the hard part.

"Jace, you understand what I have to do, don't you?" Julie asked her son. He looked up at her with wide eyes that quickly filled with tears.

"Can't we just leave him?" Jace asked in a strained voice. Tears filled Julie's eyes and she wanted more than anything to tell him yes they could but she shook her head. "Why not?"

"Because when he gets out, he could hurt someone else." Julie told her son. "And it isn't fair to him. Your father is gone, Jace. You know that, don't you?" Jace nodded his head and wiped his eyes.

"But what if they find a cure."

"Sweetie, it's too late for him." Jace wiped his eyes again. "So, I'm going to do what I have to." Julie said in a firm voice.

"Please don't!" Jace begged letting a few tears fall. "We could save him."

"We can't, Jace, I'm sorry but we can't and I can't leave knowing that he could hurt someone else." Julie told her son honestly.

"You're just saying that because you hate him and you want him dead!" Jace yelled at her.

"I know you want to think that but it isn't true." Julie said wiping a few tears away at the fact that her own son could think so little of her. "I would never want anything that would hurt you so badly, regardless of how I feel about him."

"But…he's my dad." Jace said in a sad voice that begged Julie to change her mind. Julie shook her head.

"Not anymore, baby." After a moment, Jace nodded his head and wiped his eyes. "I need you to stay out here." Julie told him. "Promise, you'll stay out here."

"I promise." Jace mumbled. Julie nodded her head and turned away before he could see her start crying.

Julie shook it off and headed down the hallway to the closed door. She stood outside of it for a minute and swallowed down the tears. Julie hated this man. He hadn't taken her son from her, she'd done that herself, but he sure as hell hadn't helped her out any. Despite all that, there was a part in her heart that still cared deeply for him. He had given her Jace and had taken care of him when Julie wasn't able to. She didn't love him but she didn't want to kill him either, especially for Jace's sake, but she knew what she had to do. She had been honest with Jace; he wasn't the same man he once was, he wasn't the man Jace knew and if she left him, it was only a matter of time before he hurt someone else and Julie wouldn't let him do that. He wouldn't want that.

Before thinking about it, Julie pulled the gun out of the back of her jeans and held in front of her. She looked down at it for a minute before putting it back in her jeans. Yes, it would have been the easiest and safest way to take him down but she didn't want Jace to hear that. So, instead, Julie pulled the scalpel out of her back pocket. It would be harder but at least Jace would hopefully not hear anything. After taking a few more deep breaths, Julie put her hand on the doorknob and opened the door.

Charlie, Jace's father, rushed at her immediately. He looked remarkably similar to how she remembered him. His hair was dark as ever but now he was paler than she'd ever seen him and his green eyes didn't look green anymore. She wasn't sure what color they were but they sure as hell weren't green. The big difference between walker-Charlie and every other walker was there was no blood on his chin and Julie intended for it to stay that way.

She raised her arm and waited till he was right on her before stabbing the scalpel into his brain. Charlie stopped immediately like the other two had and dropped on the ground; dead once again. Julie looked down at his body and forced herself not to cry. He was an asshole but he was an asshole she had once loved and the one that had given her Jace.

She shook her head and began raiding the room. Jace had been pro-gun and Julie knew she'd find something good in his room. Under the bed she found another nine millimeter and one full clip. She found his keys and opened the safe in his closet and found two shotguns, a rifle, and three more handguns, as well as ammo for all the various caliber weapons he owned, and quite a large amount of it too. She grabbed his gun bag and loaded everything else. She also found his hunting stuff, like his knives and his beloved combine bow and some arrows. She zipped everything up and made her way back out to the living room.

"Is he…?" Jace asked.

"I took care of it." Julie told him in a firm voice. "We need to leave. Matty, can you carry the baby?" Matty stood up and adjusted the baby and nodded his head. Julie smiled at him before turning to Jace. "I need your help carrying this stuff." Jace nodded and started picking up the bags. Julie grabbed one of the smaller caliber handguns out of the duffle and held it out to Jace. "You know how to use this, right?" Jace looked at the gun with wide eyes before nodding. "You sure?"

"Yeah, dad used to take me shooting every few weeks." Julie nodded him and handed off the handgun to him. He felt the weight in his hand a moment before dropping the clip to make sure it was full and then pushing it back in. He then racked the gun once, checking the chamber, and then tucked the gun into his jeans, but not before making sure the safety was still on.

"Taught you well." Jace nodded.

"He said you taught him." Julie chuckled and nodded.

"Someone had to." Jace looked up at her sadly and nodded before turning to head towards the door. They all quickly made their way back to the truck. Matty was in back and Jace sat next to Julie holding the baby. Matty was pretty offended that Julie had given custody of the baby to Jace but she figured Jace would be better able to hold onto the baby in case of an accident, which seemed increasingly likely given the state of things in this freaking city.

"Where are we going?" Matty asked from the backseat.

"I have a small place outside the city. We'll stop for the night there before heading out to my brother's house.'

"Uncle Silas?" Jace asked in a confused voice. Julie nodded. "Isn't he kind of crazy or something?" Julie chuckled and nodded her head.

"He's something, that's for sure." Julie said honestly. "But he's got a place pretty far out there and he sort of has an end of the world fascination."

"So he knew this was going to happen?" Jace asked. Julie shook her head.

"Unless he's a psychic, no, but he always found surviving the end of the world fascinating and got real obsessed with preparing for it."

"Looks like he got his wish." Jace muttered. Julie thought about it a few moments before nodding her head. Silas wasn't going to be happy about the end of the world but he wasn't going to be upset about it much either, which was almost the same thing.


The drive out of the city took much longer than Julie thought it would because the roads were so blocked up. Finally, Julie resorted to taking back roads out of the city. The roads weren't as empty as they usually were but most people relied so much on the interstate that they weren't all that familiar with the back roads. Julie took the back roads when she wanted to not have an aneurysm dealing with the idiot drivers on the freaking roads.

"Julie, what were those things?" Matty asked from the backseat.

"Uh, I'm not sure, buddy."

"Were they zombies, like in the movies?" Julie chuckled.

"Zombies aren't real, dork." Jace retorted. Matty stuck his tongue out at him.

"I wasn't talking to you, booger eater." Matty snapped back. Julie chuckled.

"That's enough." She said in a firm but nice tone. The boys both stopped and were silent for a moment.

"If they're not zombies, what else could they be?" Matty asked, as if zombies truly were the only explanation for what was going on. "I mean, they're dead guys that are walking around trying to eat people's brains. I'm pretty sure that's the definition of a zombie." Matty said in a convinced tone.

"Fine, they're zombies." Jace said with an eye roll.

"Would they eat anyone?" Matty asked a few minutes later.

"What do you mean?" Julie asked.

"I mean, do they know the difference between a big person and a little kid?"

"I don't think so, buddy." Julie answered honestly.

"So, they'd eat me or Allie?"

"Who's Allie?" Jace asked in a confused tone.

"The baby." Matty answered in a voice that said it should have been obvious to everyone.

"Allie?" Julie asked sounding confused.

"Yeah, I figured she needed a name."

"So you picked Allie?" Jace asked sounding confused.

"It's short for Allison." Matty said defensively.

"Why Allison?" Matty shrugged.

"It was on a show I used to watch." Matty answered.

"That's ridiculous." Jace said.

"I think you're ridiculous." Matty answered back.

"Well, I like it." Julie said before the two could start bickering again. "What about her middle name?"

"Allison…." Matty thought about it. "Mae." He said finally. "Allison Mae Bennett."

"Why Bennett?" Jace asked.

"Well, Julie's last name is Bennett and she's going to be her mother now." Jace snorted.

"I wouldn't hold my breath on that one." Jace said.

Julie felt the tears fill her eyes at Jace's words but she tried not to let him know that it bothered her what he was saying. Jace was eleven and didn't always understand the impact words could have. She couldn't really blame him either. He was so young after Julie got back and she wasn't around much while she recovered from the both the gunshots and her drug addiction. By the time Julie was really ready to be a parent, he was already almost eight and didn't want much to do with her. The idea of her being a parent was probably just as bizarre as everything else going on around him right now. It still hurt like hell to hear her own kid say. She wouldn't let him know it hurt her because she didn't want him to feel bad but hiding the tears was one of the hardest things she'd ever done.


When they finally made it to Julie's place, she was relieved to find it untouched. She lived outside of the city by about ten miles and her nearest neighbor lived a few miles up the road. She was surrounded by woods. She was hoping they'd be safe there for one night. Julie opened the garage door using her remote and pulled the truck in, closing the door behind her. She felt fairly confident that there wouldn't be anyone or anything in her house, what with her living so far out and not exactly being visible to many people but with three kids she wasn't going to take the chance.

"You guys sit tight. I'm going to check the house out and if everything is okay, I'll come get you." Jace opened his mouth to argue but Julie cut him off with a look. She climbed out of the truck and turned back to Jace before she went inside. "If you hear or see anything, I want you to get Matty and Allie out of here." Julie told her son. He looked at her with wide eyes for a moment before nodding. After making sure that Jace was going to do as Julie told him, she slammed the door shut and headed to the side door that connected the garage to the house.

Living so far out, Julie didn't usually lock the garage door to the house. She opened the door and went inside, shutting the door behind her and locking it. If something went down, Julie did not want Jace trying to do the opposite of what she had told him to do and she sure as hell wasn't going to make it easy on him. Once inside, Julie pulled the gun out of her jeans and took the safety off before searching the house. The house wasn't a big one; just two bedrooms and one and a half baths with a partial basement. So searching it didn't take long. There was nothing out of place and no walkers hiding in her closets.

"Okay, it's clear." Julie told the boys going back out to the truck. Jace hopped out still carrying Allie and Julie helped Matty out of the back, although if you asked him, he could have done it himself. "Jace, get a bottle ready for the baby and find something in pantry for Matty to eat." Julie told her son when they were inside.

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to board up all the windows." Julie answered.

"Why?" Jace asked in confusion. "I thought we were only going to be here one night."

"We are but there are a lot of desperate people out there right now and if they want in here, I'm not going to make it easy for them."

"But we could help them." Jace said in an annoyed tone.

"Maybe." Julie answered. "But we don't know them and we can't trust them. Anyone that comes in could hurt one of us or take all of our supplies."

"So, we just don't help anyone?" Jace snapped. "I thought soldiers always put others before themselves."

"I am, Jace." Julie told her son in a hard voice. "I'm putting that little boy in there and that little girl in your arms before myself." Julie told him. "I'm putting your safety before mine. Do you think I want to turn away people, especially ones with children?" Julie almost shrieked.

"No." Jace mumbled.

"I have to protect you guys before anyone else and if that means being the bad guy, it's a role I'm used to playing, especially where you're concerned." Julie told him honestly. "Now, make a bottle for the baby and get the kid something to eat." Julie walked away before he could respond.

Julie had lots of plywood in the garage. Why? She wasn't actually sure. She'd bought it for some purpose but never got around to using it. It went along with the stack of two-by-fours next to it. She boarded up all the windows with the plywood and long nails and then used the two-by-fours to reinforce it, making it a little more difficult to break through. Any idiot with a shotgun would make quick work of it but it'd at least keep the dead out, or so she was hoping. Like Jace had pointed out, it was only one night and the chances of someone finding the road to her house and stumbling across it were slim. That's why she'd picked it. She'd craved solitude after living all her life in either a packed city, packed military dorm room, or a tiny apartment with paper thin walls. The house hadn't been much when she'd bought it, which was how she'd gotten such a good deal but she'd made it her own over the past couple of years and if this walker thing went on long, she was going to miss it.

Once she felt the house was secure she started gathering things for the kids to use for the night. She got pillows, blankets, and constructed a makeshift crib for the baby using a laundry basket and some blankets. If the kid was more than a day old, she would have found something safer but the chances of the baby rolling and suffocating herself on the blankets were beyond slim. When she went back to the living room she found Matty lounging on the couch watching some old DVD of Jace's that Julie had hated watching when he was a toddler and Jace sprawled in the recliner holding a sleeping Allie in his arms.

Gently they placed Allie in the basket and then Julie had Jace help her drag the mattress from her bedroom to the living room floor. They made the bed, which had been hard since all Matty wanted to do was jump on it, and then both boys reclined back on it to watch a movie. Julie was dying to watch the news but she didn't want to expose the boys to that so she went to the bedroom and turned it on with the volume on low.

There wasn't much to see. People were being urged to lock themselves in their homes and not allow any strangers in. If infected, they were supposed to report to any hospital for "treatment", which Julie took to mean a bullet to the brain. The shots of the city were bleak and straight out of a horror movie. Fires burned in garbage cans and the only people to be seen were walkers. Julie watched as members of military walked down the street, firing rounds into every walker they came across. That was when the screen went back to the anchor. Julie doubted the government wanted that footage being made public. It wasn't just Atlanta, or even Georgia that had been infected. As of this moment, until further information could be gathered, it was being considered a national pandemic. There was no explanation of how it had happened or what was being done to stop it, which meant no one knew what to do. The only solution was to wipe out anyone infected in order to eradicate the virus.

Julie switched the TV off and sat in her bedroom in the dark for a few minutes. She was terrified she was going to get to her brother's house and find him gone, or worse turned into one of those things. She didn't have a survival plan. She was banking on him having one. If he didn't have one, she had no idea what they were going to do. The lives of three children were depending on her and she hadn't even been able to be a mom when there was only one of them.

To ward off the bad thoughts that were beginning to encroach upon her mind, Julie began gathering whatever supplies she could find in the house. She had her own guns, ammo, and a couple of bows, plus a hell of a lot more arrows than Charlie had in his closet. She also had a rather large collection of hunting knives. She hadn't meant to amass such a collection of any of this stuff. It had just happened. She'd lose something, buy a replacement, and then find it, only to lose both of them and buy another one. Before long she had at least two of everything. She also had a stockpile of batteries, matches, lighter fluid, non-perishable food items, bottles of water, and other things she felt would be necessary for survival should they find themselves stranded in the woods at any point in time. She also had enough full gas cans to fill up the truck three times, which was quite impressive given how big the tank was on that thing. As she was beginning to process how she was going to everything in the truck, it was then that Julie was insanely glad she'd never traded the truck in for a car that got better gas mileage. It also made her insanely glad she hadn't taken the topper off the back of the truck like she'd been meaning to do for years.

"Can I help with anything?" Jace asked, catching Julie in the hallway as she prepared to make, hopefully, her last trip to the truck.

"I'm just about done." Julie answered getting ready to pass him.

"What's in that room?" Jace asked, pointing to the door that was closed right in front of him.

"That's uh…" Julie looked at the door uncomfortably. "That's your room, actually."

"My room?" Jace asked sounding surprised. Julie nodded her head. "But I never…I mean…"

"I know, I know." Julie said quickly. "I wanted you to have a place of your own in case you ever…you know…came around again." Julie said awkwardly.

"That's…"

"It's nothing." Julie said before he could continue. "Now, there are a few more bags in the bedroom that need to go in the bed of the truck." Jace nodded and started to walk away. "And make sure you lock the door on the topper." She said to his retreating back. Her only response was a small wave of the hand.

When Julie was sure that Jace was not going to come back, she opened the door and poked her head in to the room. As Jace got older, Julie tried to update it a little to make it more appropriate for his age, just in case. Now it was kind of impersonal because he was getting to that age where his interests were changing so often it wouldn't have been possible to keep up even if Julie lived in the same household as him. The only thing that ever stayed constant in this room was the picture by the nightstand. It was the last picture Julie had of the two of them. It was taken when Julie was on her last leave before getting shot and became the worst mother of the year. It was taken as soon as Julie had reunited with him. She was still in her fatigues and he was wearing a little matching army uniform and waving an American flag.

"The truck is loaded and locked." Jace said coming up behind her. Julie jumped and turned around, forcing a smile on her face. "What were you looking at?" Jace asked. Julie shook her head.

"Nothing." She said quickly. "Let's go finish that silly cartoon Matty is watching." Julie tried to shut the door but Jace stopped her and walked into the room.

"Is this the picture from your last deployment?" Jace asked picking up the picture.

"You remember that?" Jace chuckled and sat on the bed.

"Of course I do." He said. "I was, what, four?"

"Five, actually." Julie answered coming to stand next to him. "You were so proud of yourself because your outfit almost perfectly matched mine." Julie said smiling.

"Well, you were my hero." Jace said with a sad smile on his face. "I guess things change." Jace put the picture down and walked out of the room. Julie looked at the picture one more time.

"Yeah, I guess they do." Julie walked out of the room, shutting the lights off, and shutting the door behind her.


Julie couldn't sleep that night. She was too worried people breaking in or about someone hurting one of the kids while she slept. She watched the three of them sleeping and was overwhelmed by how peaceful they looked. Jace looked a lot like he used to when he was a younger. There was no fear, no worry, and no anger on his face. He was just an eleven year old, hopefully dreaming about something other than the nightmare going on around them. Matty, well Julie had watched Matty sleep enough over the past few years to know that right now he was dreaming about being an astronaut. Every morning when Julie had done rounds with him when he was sick, he'd told her his dreams and over the years Julie got good at recognizing the faces he made during certain dreams. Baby Allie was like any other baby. She had no idea what was going on around her. Julie remembered when Jace was this little. She spent hours watching him sleep for no reason. She'd known logically that when the kids sleeps, you sleep but he'd always looked so peaceful and precious, just like Allie did now. Of course when the two, four-thirty, and six AM feeds came around, Julie was less inclined to find the baby girl precious.

It was during the six AM feeding that Julie realized she had a situation. The formula she'd been able to smuggle from the hospital would only last another day or two at most. Plus, newborns went through diapers at an insane rate. Not far from the house was a smaller town that had a store dedicated to babies. Everything was "all-natural" or "certified organic", which meant it was twice the price of what you could find in the grocery store. Chances were, however, people were more concerned with one of two things; 1) getting the hell out of dodge with whatever they already had, or 2) getting the bare necessities like water and food. A store dedicated to just babies and toddlers was likely going to be left alone. She could drive there, stock up, and be back in less than two hours. She was sure of it.

She was, however, faced with a problem. She didn't want to leave the kids alone in the house while she ran to the store but the last thing she wanted was to take them out in the open and expose them to God knows what. If they stayed out of towns and off main roads, Julie could get them to her brother's place in about a day. Venturing into a town exposed them to risks. The town could be filled with walkers and the last thing she wanted was for her son or a seven year old kid to have to kill someone, even an already dead someone. There was also the chance of exposing them to the virus through the bite or scratch of one of the dead. Honestly, from the sounds of it, no one was 100% sure how this thing was spread. They all speculated it was merely through bites and scratches that involved some kind of bodily fluid transfer from one of the dead to another individual. However, there was the chance it could be airborne or passed like the cold or flu bugs. Could a person who was bit but not yet turned infect a healthy person from a cough? Was this virus always deadly? Most importantly, what the hell was this virus?

Logically she knew she couldn't take the kids with her. If Allie started crying, it would drag attention to them, from both the living and the dead. She also knew Jace would want to come with her because he was her son and would see it as his job, as the "man" in the situation to protect the others. But he needed to stay. Not only because taking him with her would only distract her but also because she couldn't leave a seven year old alone for two hours with a newborn. She knew she had to leave them but it was the last thing she wanted to do but she knew that she had to. The bed of the truck was full so everything she got would have to fit in the backseat. Thankfully it was a big backseat. Carefully, Julie woke Jace up and took him into the hallway so that Matty would keep sleeping.

"S'going on?" Jace mumbled, trying to rub the sleep from his eyes.

"We don't have enough supplies for the baby. I'm going to run to town and pick some stuff up."

"I'll go with you." Jace volunteered, like she knew he would. Julie shook her head.

"I need you here with Matty and Allie."

"But…"

"Jace, I need you to protect them while I'm gone." Julie told him. "Keep them safe and then once I get back we'll leave right away and go straight to your Uncle Silas'." Jace sighed but nodded.

"How long will you be?"

"A few hours at most." Julie told him. "There's a CB radio in the bedroom and I have one in the truck. If you get into any trouble, barricade yourselves in the bedroom, with a weapon if possible, and use it." Jace nodded. "I may not be in the truck so keep trying until you get me. With any luck I'll be back within an hour or two, depending on what I find."

"What do we do if you don't come back?" Jace asked after a moment.

"I'm coming back." Julie told him, walking away.

"But what if you don't?" Jace asked to her retreating back.

"Make sure the kid gets a good breakfast and feed the baby in a few hours if she's getting fussy. Board the door up behind me." Julie said putting her boots on and shoving her nine millimeter in the back of her jeans. "Any questions?"

"Yeah, what do we do if you don't come back?" Julie sighed.

"Whatever you have to." She told him honestly before walking out the door.


The town was dead. Not in the sense that everyone in it was dead but in the sense that she couldn't see a single person. It looked like everyone had just vanished overnight. Julie knew that Atlanta had been declared a safe-zone, which she knew it was not. She assumed that everyone had headed there. Either that or they really were all dead. There wasn't a human or a walker in sight and that was enough to give anyone the creeps. She wanted to be fast so she parked her truck right in front of the store and got out, looking around to see if there were any threats. She once again saw nothing.

The door to the store was unlocked, which was unnerving. Julie slowly made a pass through the store and found no one, alive or otherwise. She quickly began stocking up on what she thought she'd need. She was starting to pack bags full of diapers when she saw cloth diapers. These weren't the diapers her grandparents had used. They were cloth with cute prints but with an easy wipe down liner on the inside so that cleanup was much easier and, as gross as it may sound, washing wouldn't need to happen as often. She hated the idea of a cloth diaper but it made more sense. She grabbed lots of them in fun prints, her favorites being the American flag, camo, and a pink pair with a black Batman logo on the butt. She then stocked up on wipes. She knew they wouldn't last forever and eventually she'd have to find an alternative but she got what she could.

The most important thing was food. She grabbed as many cases of formula as she could find and loaded those up first. If the kid had to walk around naked or in clothes that were too big for her, she'd survive. Without food, she wasn't going to last too long. She then grabbed jars of baby food, hoping they'd all be around long enough for the kid to need it and if not, it was at least something for her and the boys to eat in case of an emergency. She grabbed clothes in various sizes, getting bigger sizes that she would grow into instead of smaller ones that would be useless in a matter of weeks. Pacifiers were a must as far as she was concerned, as were some sort of teethers and baby medicine for when she was teething or just sick. She grabbed a few toys and even a couple she thought might interest Matty. The last thing she grabbed was a stuff animal for both Matty and Allie; a monkey for Matty and an elephant for Allie.

She was walking outside to put the last bag in back when she saw two men at her truck. She dropped the bags and pulled her nine millimeter out of her jeans and walked quietly around the back of the truck. "Hurry up, Merle." Said one of the men. He was wearing a flannel button up with the sleeves ripped off, jeans, and holding a crossbow. He had short brown hair and a good look about him. All she could see of the other man was his feet as the rest of him was inside her truck, clearly trying to hotwire it.

"I highly suggest you put the cross bow down and get the fuck out of my truck before I put a bunch of holes in both of your worthless bodies." Julie said in a menacing voice, leveling her gun at the man's head. The other man quickly got out of the truck and pulled a gun on her. Two against one wasn't great odds since she now had a gun and an arrow pointed at her head. The man that had been inside her truck was clearly the older of the two and he had a sick, menacing look about him.

"Looks like you're outnumbered." The older man, Merle, said with a sick smile. Julie smiled back.

"Yeah, but I figure I can shoot at least one of you before you shoot me." She said. "My guess is you'd be pretty upset if your brother here got shot over a truck."

"How'd you know…?" The younger man started to ask.

"Daryl, shut up." Merle snapped at him.

"It was a guess." Julie admitted. "Now, I'll ask one more time, back the fuck away from my truck."

"Doesn't sound like asking to me." Merle said. "Surely we can settle this peacefully."

"Yeah, by you backing the fuck away from my truck." Julie repeated. Daryl glanced down and saw the bags Julie had put down, including the ones with the stuffed animals.

"You got kids?" He asked. Julie nodded.

"Three of them and I promised them I was coming back." Julie said glancing at him.

"How about you give us a ride to Atlanta and we'll go peacefully." Merle suggested.

"No." Julie answered quickly. "I'm not giving you time to find a way to rob me blind."

"We wouldn't…" Daryl started.

"He would." Julie said looking right at Merle. "Besides, Atlanta is gone."

"They said it was a safe zone." Daryl protested.

"They lied, trust me. I just came from there last night."

"I'm not leaving the truck." Merle said in a firm tone.

"Then you're going to be walking with a limp." Julie moved the gun towards his leg and was getting ready to fire off a shot when Daryl stepped between them.

"Wait!" Daryl shouted. "We'll leave." He said. Julie looked hard at him to see if he was telling the truth. "We'll go." He repeated and Julie believed him. He grabbed his brother by the arm and dragged him towards a truck. Julie assumed they weren't after the truck but what was inside it.

"He's going to get you killed, you know that, don't you?" Julie yelled at Daryl. He looked back at her for a moment before continuing on. Julie waited for the truck to drive off before lowering putting the safety back on her gun and tucking it back in her jeans and getting in the truck, where she had to take a couple of deep breaths.

After Julie was sure the two men were gone, she hit up a few other stores for some more supplies. She got clothes for both the boys, mainly Matty, who was wearing clothes he got from Jace. They were huge on him so she got him clothes that might actually fit. She also got what no kid ever wanted for Christmas, socks and underwear. You could never have too much in an apocalypse, right? When the truck was beyond full, Julie headed back home. Her experience in town reinforced to her how important it was to avoid people when the truck was so full of supplies. There were dangerous people out there that would not care what they had to do in order to get what they needed. It was all life or death right now and she felt so incredibly dumb for leaving a truck loaded up with supplies parked outside with no one around to watch it. It wasn't like she had an alternative but it wasn't her smartest moment.

She got back to the house after two hours and found Allie sleeping, since that's basically all newborns did besides eating and pooping. Matty was reading a comic book on the couch, which meant he'd found Julie's stash of old books and comics from when she was a kid. She still read comics but called them graphic novels instead. Jace was eating in front of the TV. When she walked in, the two boys looked up at her and she smiled. It felt so good to be home that the last thing she wanted was to leave but she knew that she had to. They were in a relatively remote location but they were too close to the city. Once those things started leaving the city, they'd eventually end up here. It wasn't a safe place for kids to be raised in. Her brother's house was further out with no one around for miles and miles.

"Told you I'd be back." Julie told Jace, who rolled his eyes.

"Any trouble?" He asked. Julie thought about telling him about the two guys but decided he didn't need to know. It would only make him feel more unsafe and that's not what she wanted.

"Nope." Julie said shaking her head. "But we do need to get going. I'm going to change the baby and get a bottle ready for the road. You two pack up whatever you need to and we'll be out in fifteen, okay?"

"Can I take these cool magazines with me?" Matty asked holding up the comic.

"They're comics, dork." Jace told him.

"Actually that one is a graphic novel." Julie informed them both.

"What's the difference?" Jace asked.

"Graphic novels are for adults."

"Anything with that many pictures is not for an adult." Jace told her.

"Just take what you want as long as it fits in the duffle I gave you." Julie told Matty, who smiled happily. "And here are some clothes that should fit you." Julie said tossing him a bag with an outfit in it.


Twenty minutes later, the group was out the door. The baby was in her carseat in the back in a brand new outfit, complete with a cloth diaper and a bottle waiting for when she woke up. Matty was sitting the middle of the front seat, flipping through a comic, asking Jace every other frame what a word was or what it all meant. Jace was trying to read a book he'd gotten from Julie's collection but was having very little luck with it since there was an inquisitive seven year old sitting next to him. Julie was surprised how well he was suppressing the urge to snap at the kid next to him. He had a hell of lot more patience than she would have had their roles been reversed.

Julie was the middle of five kids; two older brothers, one younger brother, and one baby sister. She knew what it was like to have an annoying kid constantly asking questions and never giving you a moment's peace. Thinking about her siblings made her throat close up a little. She figured Silas, who was the oldest, would be okay but she didn't know about the others. Chris lived in Tennessee with his family and she wasn't sure this thing had spread that far yet. Thomas was three hours away with his family. Her sister, Rosie, was in Arkansas with her family. Their parents were dead. With the phone lines being down, she didn't even have the chance to call her siblings and warn them or tell them where she was going. What if they headed to Atlanta like those brothers were doing because they'd heard it was a safe zone? What if they were infected? What if she never saw them again? They had all been very close growing up. The closeness Julie had with them ebbed a lot when she went through her addict phase, except with Silas. Silas was the only one that been there for her through it all.

The relief Julie felt when they pulled up to the gate that surrounded Silas' property was overwhelming and she felt tears filling her eyes. Silas had always had a thing for survival, even as a young kid. Julie was five and Silas had been ten. She wanted him to take her down to the creek because she'd left her shoes down there but it was getting dark and she was too afraid to go by herself. Instead of just saying yeah whatever like a normal older brother. Silas had grabbed a backpack with food, water, and other "essential" survival supplies he always had ready and on hand. This was the type of thing he'd done. When their parents died in a car accident seven years ago, all five kids got a lot of money. Their father came from money and their mother had been the foremost plastic surgeon in the country. Julie had invested some of hers, bought her small house, and put money in an account for Jace's college. Silas had bought an old abandoned plantation home complete with slaves' quarters and stables. He fixed it up to be not only livable but quite lovely. He also had supplies including food, water, weapons, ammo, and his own well will filtration system. For Christmas last year, Julie had gotten him a way to collect rain water in order to filter it and use it as a drinking water. The house also had numerous generators and could run for days off of stored up solar power. It was a fortress and exactly what they needed. Julie pressed the small button on the intercom box by the sliding gate and waited.

"What?" A hard voice asked. Julie smiled. Silas had never been real good with manners and etiquette.

"It's Julie." Julie said, hearing her voice waver with relief. After a brief pause in which Julie assumed he was adjusting the camera pointed at her vehicle to focus on her face to ensure it really was her, the gate slid open and Julie made her way up the long drive to the house, where her older brother was waiting. He looked the same as always. He was tall, had dark brown, almost black hair, a thick beard, and cool blue eyes. "Hey Silas." Julie said climbing out of the truck.

"You made it." Silas said, relief evident in his voice as he walked over to his kid sister and hugged her in a way only big brothers could. A few tears leaked out of Julie's eyes at his hug and she nodded her head against his shoulder.

"Yeah, we did." Matty was already out of the truck and Jace had gotten Allie out of her carseat and the three were making their way over to Julie and Silas.

"I thought you had one." Silas said in confusion. Julie chuckled.

"I do." She pointed to Jace. "That's Jace."

"You're bigger than the last time I saw you." Silas remarked.

"Si, the last time you saw him he was five." Julie reminded her brother.

"Treating you any better?" Silas asked his little sister while glaring at her son.

"Not now, please." Julie begged her brother. He looked over at her and after a moment nodded. "This big guy here is Matty." Julie said putting her hands on Matty's shoulders. "He was one of my patients in the hospital. The baby is Allison, also a patient at the hospital."

"You kidnapped them?" Silas asked. Julie shook her head.

"The hospital was overrun with walkers." She explained. He nodded.

"I'm glad you're here." Silas said after a minute.

"Have any of the others made it?" Julie asked. Silas didn't answer right away.

"I've heard from Chris and Rosie. They were going to try and make it out here but I haven't heard from Thomas." Julie nodded and tried to swallow both the relief and the tears. "Let me show you guys around and get you settled into some rooms."

"We can stay?" Jace asked. Silas gave him a perplexed look.

"Of course you can, as long as you don't mind helping an old man out with some chores around the place." Julie scoffed at his old man comment but Jace shook his head.

"Of course, sir." Jace responded formally.

"Good." Silas turned and started walking towards the house. Julie and the kids followed. For the first time since yesterday, Julie felt like she could breathe.