I awoke to deep muffled voices. The concrete floor was harshly cold against my skin. Where am I? My hands were bound behind my back. My entire body ached. It took some effort to force my eyes open and then another few moments and blinks to clear my vision.

A run down office.

I lifted my head and quickly regretted it as the gash on the side of my face shifted and split again at the movement. I hissed slightly and winced as I pushed myself up with my elbow and leaned my back against the wall. I glanced around and the memories came flooding back to me.

Terminus.

Definitely not the 'Sanctuary for all' shit that the signs depicted. Unless you consider rape and cannibalism 'sanctuary.'

'Those who arrive survive'

Yeah…only if you're female…and then you wished you were dead.

I scanned the rest of the room…I was alone…for the moment at least. I could hear a few men outside the door to the room. I couldn't focus on what they were saying though. My gaze was fixed outside the window across the room. I could see the trees from the woods that bordered the rail yard. The leaves swaying and glittering in the sunlight. My mind drifted back to better days… Not just the days before… but the days after the world went to shit as well…

The group of walkers had come out of nowhere. 'How could you be so stupid?! Letting them get the jump on you like that?!' My heart was in my throat as my feet pounded the ground carrying me through the forest, my lungs screaming for air. I looked back, checking my six for the walkers.

I never even saw it.

The rope snaked around my ankle, snapping and hoisting me into the air, sending me upside down in a split second. My head hung a few feet off the ground as my body swung from the momentum and my pack slid from my shoulders. I slammed against a tree trunk before swinging back into the small clearing, right towards the oncoming walkers.

Shit!

I reached for my knife to cut myself free, but quickly realized I wouldn't have enough time once I fell to get to my feet and away from the walkers. Using every ounce of energy I could muster, I forced my body up towards my caught foot. Pushing through the searing pain in my twisted ankle I thanked the high heavens for all that rope climbing practice my brother had put me through as a child.

'Get your ass in gear, Cole!'

My brother's voice echoed through my mind. My hands gripped the rope and I forced my tired, worn muscles to haul myself up, supporting my weight on my injured ankle as I used pure adrenaline to shuffle my way up the rope to the thick branch ten feet above my head.

'Push through it! Go! You want to die like this?!'

The group of walkers were directly below me now, their decomposing claws reaching for my hair and back. I cried out in frustration, my hands burning as I managed to pull myself up and straddle the large tree branch, safely out of reach of the walkers.

'Atta girl, baby sis!'

My hands went to the rope around my ankle but my swollen fingers fumbled and couldn't get the knot loose. Keeping my balance I reached back and retrieved the knife from my shorts, sawing the rope from my ankle. It was thick and harder to cut than I'd expected. When the last threads gave loose…so did the knife, slipping from my bloody blistered hands.

"No!" I dove, hugging the branch to my chest as I attempted to catch it. I watched as my father's knife glinted in the setting sun and fell with a metal clunk to the forest floor at the feet of the walkers.

'Now what? That was your last means of defense. Can you last sitting up here waiting, hoping that the walkers get distracted or bored and move on? You were already dehydrated and hungry before they started chasing you'.

My eyes went to my pack sitting uselessly across the clearing and I punched the tree branch, bruising my already battered knuckles. "Son of a bitch!"

…

The sun was a little lower now, casting a deep orange glow through the trees. The only sounds were the raspy breaths and shuffling of the walkers below me, still desperately reaching up for their meal. I had scooted myself back to the trunk of the tree and rested my shoulders against it as my ankle throbbed painfully.

I heaved out a sad sigh. So this is how it would end? I couldn't stay awake forever, once I dozed off in the slightest I'd drop over the branch and wake up in time for the jaws below me to tear into my flesh. I had a gun…but it was tucked in my shorts and out of ammo.

'Even if you managed to get down from the branch, sis, you wouldn't make it ten feet before the walkers were on you…not with your ankle.'

My ankle…painfully swollen inside of my boot. I had to get it elevated somehow. Positioning myself further against the trunk, I brought my foot up and gingerly took my boot off, relieving some of the pressure and stretched it out in front of me on the large branch. I tied my boot by its laces to my belt…just in case I somehow managed to get out of this predicament.

I stared down at the menacing group of rotten walkers when movement from the corner of my eye caught my attention. I turned my gaze to the left and noticed two men moving silently through the trees.

My heart skipped a beat at the thought of possibly being saved.

'Baby sis…they're men.' My brother's voice screamed in my head and my heart dropped. These were dark times. Very few people could be trusted. And two strange men coming across an injured girl with no weapons? Not the best circumstances… I brought my other leg up and tried to make myself unknown on the branch.

They were two redneck looking men. Strong and muscular, the younger one with messy brown hair and the older with a short buzz cut. Both had knives on their belts but the younger one was armed with a crossbow and the other with a rifle. I watched them as they silently made their way in on the walkers below.

Some of the walkers caught their movement and turned towards them. The men were on the dead in an instant, knives and arrows digging into their heads. They moved with each other, watching each other's back and easily took down the small group of walkers in a matter of moments. Buzz cut quickly moved to secure the area of any straggling walkers while directly below me, messy hair with the strapping build, surveyed the small clearing. His eyes caught my pack and then he bent and picked up my knife. No! I screamed in my head. He turned it over in his hand before lifting his gaze to the rope that swung slightly above his head and then up to me. His hard gaze softened slightly once he laid eyes on me.

"Hey, Merle" a smirk grew across his face as he stepped to get a better view of me. I drew my gun and aimed it at him. "Hey now! Easy does it, girl!"

The other man returned and followed his gaze up the tree.

"Now…I'm going to guess you ain't got no bullets. Seens'how the only dead biters below you are the ones we just put down." Merle sneered up at me.

Fuck.

I eyed them for a moment. My head spun slightly from my dehydration. The younger man's gaze seemed safe, not harsh or lustful like most of the men I've come across…the older one, Merle, on the the other hand..

But what choice did I have at this point? They could easily climb the tree and get me if they wanted. I reluctantly lowered my gun.

'Cole..' My brother's voice warned me. I dropped my head back against the tree, my breathing slightly labored.

"That's what I thought-" Merle chuckled and ticked his tongue.

"Enough." The younger man turned and cut him off. He shouldered his crossbow before turning back to me. "Judgin' by the look'a that," gesturing to my ankle. "S'either sprained or broken. Why don't ya come on down -"

"How do I know you won't kill me?" I rasped out through cracked lips, my throat painfully dry as my vision blurred slightly.

Shit… I scrunched my brow up, pinching the bridge of my nose.

He sighed, dropping his shoulders as he gazed up at me. "We ain't gonna hurt ya."

"Its getting too dark, Daryl, we need to head back to the group." Merle's gaze wandered over me. "If she wants to die alone out here then let 'er."

I eyed the men for a moment, conflicted. Group? I brought my gaze back to Daryl. They both looked healthy. They definitely were able to take care of themselves out here.

I let out a sigh and tucked the handgun back into my shorts. I had no other choice than to give their camp a shot. It would be safer in a group rather than out on my own.

Daryl moved so he was positioned better below me. I paused my movements, gauging the distance to the ground before I hugged the branch to my chest and slowly swung my legs over. I clutched the branch with my arms, steadying myself for a moment.

"Yer good, girl. Come on." Daryl called below me.

I took a breath and released my grip on the branch. There was a fleeting instant when my stomach floated and then I was caught bridal style in a pair of strong arms. Our eyes met for a moment and he smirked and grunted.

"Ya good?" His voice vibrated through his chest.

"Yeah…thanks." I went to move out of his arms but his grip tightened on me. I looked back at him, questioning. "Let me go. I can walk."

"Nuh- uh. Ain't no way yer walkin' on that foot right now." He said as he began following Merle through the trees. Merle had grabbed my pack and Daryl had sheathed my knife in his belt when he picked it up earlier. "S'gettin' dark. Be faster if I carried ya."

I huffed out a sigh, relenting as he adjusted his grip on me. I draped my arm over his shoulders in an effort the help support my weight for him.

…

"Ya got a name, sweet cheeks?" Merle called from ahead of us after we'd been walking silently for about a half hour. I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"Don't mind 'im. He's an ass." Daryl said quietly as he navigated the brush.

"I can tell." I glanced up at Daryl and then over to Merle's back as we entered a clearing. "I'm Cole."

"Well, Cole. Welcome home." Merle turned around to face me and stretched his arms out laughing with a stupid smile on his face. My eyes darted around the camp behind him as my heart rate picked up. Several people had seen us and were making their way over. A man with black hair, hooded eyes and a nose that looked like it had been broken a few times met us as we entered past some tents and Daryl gently set me on the tailgate of a pick up.

"This is Cole. Found her up a tree with a bunch of walkers tryin' ta get at her." Daryl said as the man eyed me, taking an inventory of my injuries. "Busted her ankle up." Daryl motioned at my swollen and bruised foot.

"Cole? I'm Shane." The man met my gaze and smiled as he knelt to look at my foot. "How'd this happen?" He cocked his head as he gently rotated my ankle.

I winced at the movement. "I was running from a group of walkers. Didn't see the rope trap from the branch." I shifted and gripped the edge of the tailgate. "Before I knew it I was upside down with the walkers closing in." I released the tailgate and held my palms out in front of me, my hands shaking as the memory replayed in my mind. "I hauled myself up to the branch."

Shane's gaze snapped up to my blistered and swollen hands before meeting my eyes. He laid his hand on my knee, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Hey…you survived."

I smiled a hollow smile at him. "Survive or die."

He nodded, his dark gaze soft and kind with understanding. "Welcome to the group, Cole. Now let's get you fixed up."

My thoughts were quickly shot back to the present at the sound of the doorknob turning and the door squeaking open. My heart began to pound faster against my ribs and my breathing quickened as heavy footsteps entered the room.

'Survive or die…'