Chapter 1

Notes: OMG I know, right?! I know that was a sad ending, I know a lot of people are going to be sad about Beth's death. But we will get through it, I promise. I know it was hard, but not everyone can live, this is a harsh, world after all, and "no one is safe."

Eastman was a simple man; he always had been, but the fall of the world and civilization as they knew it exacerbated that fact.

"Ready, Tabitha?" He asked his goat as he opened the door, but Tabitha hesitated, she seemed nervous and that could only mean two things, walkers, or a predator was in the area. He readied his rifle and peered out, he didn't see or hear any walkers, but he did hear barking. He ventured outside to see a large, black German shepherd come into view, doing his best to ward off three walkers that were bent on making him lunch.

Eastman had to act fast, he could shoot them, but that would just bring more. He grabbed his hunting knife and rushed out to help the poor dog.

The walkers were frail and emaciated, probably some of the first to be turned back when this whole mess began and he made quick work of them.

"Easy boy I'm not gonna hurt you, you hungry? I am vegan, I don't have much, but I can see what I can scare up." He said, but the dog wouldn't come to him, instead he ran a few feet in the opposite direction, and looked back, his glossy coat gleaming in the late fall sun.

This was no feral dog, someone owned this dog, and someone loved him. The dog danced in place and threw an urgent look in the direction he had come. Eastman understood now.

"Hang on, let me put Tabitha inside and get my pack." He said as he grabbed the goat by the horns and led her inside, grabbing his pack and securing the door on the way out.

"Okay, let's go." He told the dog.

Eastman smelled it long before he saw it, the acrid smell of blood, rotting flesh and structures burning; the smell of war.

The dog led him to the end of the tree line, on the other side of the destroyed fence; he could see a body lying in the grass. Even from this distance, he could see half the poor girl's skull was missing and his heart sank.

"My friend, if this is your master, I am afraid there is nothing I can do." Eastman said to the dog, but the dog would not be deterred, he took hold of his pant leg and began literally dragging him toward the scene.

There was a male walker gnawing on what was once the girl's leg, there was a path in the grass where he had drug himself over to her body. Eastman put him down with one stab from his hunting knife and rolled him over to discover that both of his knees had been shot out.

Eastman felt a stab of empathy for the poor dog as he pawed at the remains of the girl.

"I'm sorry, buddy, but there is nothing we can do for her, she's dead." He said as he took hold of the corpse's wrist and began to pull.

"Oh … lord have mercy!" Eastman gasped as another body was revealed. This was what the dog was trying to tell him. Eastman gently rolled the woman over and felt for a pulse, it was faint, but it was there, but she had lost a lot of blood, and they were a good ways from his cabin, he would have to carry her. He hoped she would make it.

By the grace of god, they didn't run into any walkers on, Eastman had a funny feeling the dog had a hand in that, regardless, he was thankful. He gently shifted her so he could open and close the door, trying to jostle her as little as possible. He gently laid her on the bed and hurried to fetch his first aid supplies and heat some water on the cook stove.

He had intended this cabin to be an off grid retreat from his hectic life in the city, and he thanked god he had the mental prowess to rig the well up using solar power. He filled a large iron pot with water and placed it on the cook stove.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, I am going to have to remove your shirt, but I promise I am going to be as respectful as I possibly can." He said. Once the fabric was removed, he could see the wound where the bullet entered her body, but no exit wound, which meant the bullet was still in there somewhere, he prayed it wasn't in too deep.

He scooped out some of the now boiling water and used it to sanitize the tools he would need, on his way out here from the city when things started to go bad, he stopped by an abandoned emergency room and grabbed all he could.

"This is going to hurt, Miss, but that bullet has to come out." He said as he sterilized the wound site as best he could, and stuck the forceps into the hole. Apparently, there was still some life left in the tough little woman, because she woke up quick, and started to struggle, but he had tied her arms and legs to the four corner posts of the bed just in case something like this happened while he was trying to remove the bullet. He hated to do it, but it necessary in order to keep her as still as possible.

"Easy, Miss, I know it hurts, but I almost have it!" He said as the bullet came out with a horrible sucking sound.

"You're lucky this was a semi-automatic round and not buckshot." He said as he examined the bullet, it was still in one piece; he dropped it into the sink along with the forceps and cleaned the wound again with the astringent. He untied her arms and legs, dressed her in one of his shirts and covered her with a blanket, only time would tell if she would make it now.

Eastman awoke to sunlight streaming through the window of his bedroom, he and Tabitha had stayed in his room, he had locked the door just in case the poor woman didn't make it through the night. He tried to get the dog to come with them, but he refused to leave his master and laid down at the food of her bed.

Eastman grabbed his hunting knife and crept up to the door and listened, he didn't hear anything so he opened it cautiously and peered into the main room of the house. From his room, he could still see she hadn't moved from bed, maybe there was still hope. He walked slowly up to the side of the bed, knife ready, just in case, hoping he didn't have to bury yet another person.

He felt her forehead, a little warm but, it was a tad warm in here, thanks to the wood stove. He checked her pulse and hope rose within him as her pulse beat heartily against his fingers. She was still unconscious, but she was going to be okay.

"Good job, little girl. You rest now and wake up when you're ready." He said as he smoothed her hair back from her forehead.

A quiet bleat from Tabitha drew his attention.

"Okay, okay. I know, I overslept." He said as he gathered his gardening tools, the tomatoes and peppers should be ready and he didn't want the insects to get to them, the greenhouse was great for keeping out the cold and the other animals, but the insects were undeterred.

The worms did get to some of them, but all in all he got a good yield, and returned with a basket full of tomatoes, several different kinds of pepper, and a few carrots that were ready.

"Let's set these inside and see if I can't scare up some grub for that dog of hers, I can't imagine he would want to eat an oatmeal burger." Eastman said as he opened the door and slid the basket of vegetables inside, and tied Tabitha to her stake in the middle of the yard on his way out.

Luckily, he didn't have to go very far before he saw a nice, plump rabbit, that would do nicely.

"I'm sorry, my friend, but your sacrifice will feed another." He said as he pulled the trigger.

"I hope you enjoy this, because this wasn't easy for me, I don't like taking a life, any life. If you guys are going to stay here for a while, as I suspect you will, then we're going to have to fine you some dog food." Eastman said as he set the place down in front of the huge German shepherd, who devoured the meat hungrily.

"You want to go out? You haven't taken a constitution all day." He said once the dog had finished eating, he perked up and ran to the door, his long bushy tail sweeping back and forth.

"Just don't go too far, you never know what's out there these days." He called after him.

Just then, he heard sounds and movement from the bed, it was the woman, she was awake, against all odds, she had made it. Eastman fetched some water from the pot on the stove and poured it into a glass.

"Easy now, don't gulp it, you'll make yourself sick." He said as he took it away from her.

"W-where am I?" She asked, her voice raspy from not being used and barely above a whisper.

"My name is Eastman, you have your dog to thank, he's the one who led me to you." He said, as if on que, he heard a scratching at the door. He opened it and the huge dog came bounding in like a puppy and washed the woman's face with his large, wet tongue.

"Do you remember anything?" Eastman asked her as he offered her more water.

"We had a homestead at the white house, a group attacked us, a guy … used to be in our group shot Beth, the bullet went right through her and hit me." She said, her pretty aquamarine eyes filled with pain as she remembered it like it happened yesterday.

Her memories suddenly came flooding back to her as her eyes widened in panic.

"Did you find anyone else?!" She asked as she tried to sit up.

"No, just you and that poor other girl." He said as he gently pushed her back against the pillow.

"Good." She said with a satisfied smile as she relaxed again. "That means they got out."

"They?" Eastman quipped.

"The rest of my group, I was afraid that might have stayed and tried to help me, but they didn't, they left, they did the right thing, that's what I hoped they did." She said.

"That's a very selfless way to look at it." Eastman said as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"They are like my family, they're a pain in the ass sometimes, but I love them." She said with a shrug and a grin as her eyes grew heavy once more.

"Oh …. I never caught your name, I'm Charlotte." She said as she slid her open hand to the edge of the bed.

"Eastman." He said as he gently shook it.

"Thanks for saving me, you didn't have to do that."

Eastman chuckled. "Thank your dog, he wasn't going to have it any other way.

"Yeah, I know, he's a good boy. When I get better I will do the hunting for him, I know you don't like to kill any living thing, I heard you talking about it this morning." She said with a wry smile.

Eastman shrugged. "I believe all life is precious."

"I can respect that, tell you what, until I can get out there again, if you bring them, I'll clean them."

"Deal." Eastman said with a grin.

Notes: I liked Eastman, but I didn't like the whole thing they did with Morgan, so I decided to change it up a little. I hope you all like it. This was very hard for me to write! I am not sure why, but I struggled with it a lot.