Welcome to my first Walking Dead fanfiction! I haven't written or posted anything in about 4-5 years so I'm slightly rusty and nervous. This will be a 'post as I finish each chapter' type of story with the goal of posting once a week but don't hold me to that because deadlines make me itchy. This work is unbeta'd but read through numerous times. Any suggestions or constructive criticism are welcomed!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead.
Before the world ended Liesel Madison had a job she loved, a cat named Nora, and a small studio apartment in an equally small outskirt town of Washington D.C.. She had a routine she lived by—wake up at 4 am, go on a five mile run, shower, eat, be in the office by 7 am, come home around 6 pm, read, eat, go to bed, repeat. It was mundane. But, it was what she had fought so hard to build for herself in the 33 years she'd been alive. Then the dead decided it'd be great to start reanimating and eating people. Honestly, it wasn't very considerate.
Now, a year and a half later, she lived in a large gated community with solar power and a big fancy house that was way too big for one person. Her mother would be so proud of her if she saw her now. She still had her routine if that was any consolation, just instead of going to her own office she'd walk to the building they had made into a clinic before Liesel even knew Alexandria was a thing. And if she sometimes got tired of the routine and snuck out when no one was looking, nobody could really blame a girl, right?
Liesel was leaning against a tree a few miles from the town's gates waiting for the car and RV to drive past her to catch a ride. She was almost positive she was going to be greeted with a look and shake of the head of disapproval when she got into the passenger seat of the car but he'd still let her ride along. He always did.
She could feel a light sheen of sweat already building from the hot sun, making her hair stick to the back of her neck. They hadn't had rain in at least two weeks making everything dry and even more miserable than usual. Liesel pulled her long, curly hair into a messy bun that sat high on top of her head sighing in instant relief as a light breeze caressed her neck. She knew that for convenience purposes she should cut it but it had taken years for her black hair to finally reach her waist. She figured she'd given up enough for those walking dead assholes she could keep this one thing.
A smile spread across her face as the vehicles came over the hill. Liesel pushed off the tree walking onto the asphalt, the thick soles of her combat boots making a clacking sound against the road. The car slowed down as the driver rolled the passenger side window down. Aaron didn't disappoint as she leaned down, his head shaking and eyes squinting.
"Fancy meeting you here, stud," she winked, a smile growing on her lips. Liesel waved at the RV getting a smile and wave back from Eric.
"What're you doing, Lee?" Aaron asked bringing her attention back to the blue car in front of her. Liesel hated the nickname. Had ever since she met him in the middle of a herd but once a guy saves your ass you kind of let it slide.
"Coming with." The duh not needed to be said between the two, he knew her too well.
"Did you ask Deanna?" Liesel laughed as she got into the car, throwing the bag she kept in the closet closest to the front door of her house in the back seat.
"Do I ever?"
"Liesel," Aaron sighed, turning his head back towards the road. This is how it always played out. He'd act upset, she'd bat her eyelashes, he'd give in. Easy peasy! "Fine."
"Aw," she leaned over, grabbing the side of his head, and kissed his cheek, "you're the best friend a girl could have."
Aaron put the car in drive, speeding away from her tree, Eric following behind in the RV. Liesel could feel her shoulders get lighter and lighter with each mile between her and Alexandria. It's not that she didn't appreciate the safety that she was offered it was just hard to get used to after spending time on her own. She still had nights she woke up scared, not knowing where she was, then she remembered Aaron and Eric driving in to help her and she could relax a little. She could never go back to sleep on those nights though.
"So where're we heading, oh, capi-tan," Liesel drummed her fingers against her leg, the other hand out the window.
"No where in particular, just looking," Liesel nodded. This was only the second time she stowed away on a scouting mission with them so she wasn't exactly sure what the plan was, but in her experience that's how she operated best.
"How do we know if we can trust them, if they're good candidates to come back?"
"We watch them," Aaron slowed down as he turned a corner, the sound of dried leaves rustling echoing in the air as they flew up behind the car. "See how they interact with each other, or others if there's the opportunity. "
Liesel turned to Aaron, pulling her hand back inside the car, "Is that what you did with me?"
Aaron laughed, shaking his head, "No."
"Then why'd you trust me," she squinted, tilting her head slightly.
"Some people just give you a feeling."
"You saying I give you a feeling Aaron," she wiggled her eyebrows earning a bark of laughter.
"Yeah, anxiety."
"We'll walk from here," Aaron said as he slowed the car, parking in the middle of the road.
Liesel climbed out of the car, grabbing her backpack from the backseat, and strapping it on. She rounded the car to greet Eric with a smile before they started their trek to who knows where. Straying back a few feet from the couple, she kept one hand on a strap to her bag, her other on the hilt of her knife at her waist, and eyes and ears open. She hadn't been out in at least three months making her hyper aware of her surroundings. Every snap of a twig from the forest on both sides of them or rustle of leaves behind them had her tightening her grip on the knife.
They walked for a while, Aaron and Eric chatting comfortably with each other and Liesel trained on the world around them. Their steps slowed as a town appeared on the horizon. Aaron turned on his listening device, placing the headphones on his head as he pointed it in the town's direction. He shook his head after a few moments of listening to silence.
"Could be a good place to stay though," Aaron offered as he took the headphones off, letting them wrap around his neck.
"If we clear it first," Liesel added, taking the lead. "Don't want any surprises in the middle of the night."
"Maybe we should just pass it, go back to the RV before dark. We're not meant to be going on a run." Eric was always more cautious of the three, risks didn't need to be made if it could be helped.
"Yeah, okay," Aaron smiled at his boyfriend before following Liesel.
The trio passed through the town cautiously, Liesel and Eric with weapons pulled and Aaron with headphones on. Nothing jumped out though. Aaron thought it was luck, or maybe a group already cleared it giving him hope they'd find other people soon. Liesel, however, wasn't as optimistic. Not a single corpse, dead or undead. That was never a good sign in any situation.
"Maybe we should head into the woods, if there is anyone on the road won't want to spook them." Eric and Liesel nodded in agreement before veering to the right, heading into the thick forest.
"Do you think we should split up, stay within shouting distance if needed?" Liesel asked, going back to her position a few feet behind the couple.
"Probably not," Aaron answered, shifting his bag on his shoulders. "If there's anyone out here I'll be able to hear them."
They continued in silence, walking the length of the road a couple dozen yards into the trees. Liesel pulled her bottle of water out of the side pocket of her bag, unscrewing it and taking a drink. The water felt good in the heat. The sun was high in the sky now, it's scorching rays soaking the earth. Not even the thick leaves from the trees gave any cover. She felt sorry for anyone that had to be out here for an extended period.
After a few moments of silence and still no dead Liesel could feel herself getting anxious. Something felt off since the town and she couldn't figure out why. "I'm gonna go in a bit further-"
"Liesel," Aaron interrupted giving her a look that in any other situation would've made her stay put.
"I'll be fine," she reassured him. "You have the headphones on, so I'll stay within listening distance. If anything happens I'll call." Aaron and Eric looked at each other trying to decide if this was a fight they were willing to start knowing damn well they'd lose. Eric shrugged, giving in first. "I'll be back in an hour, no later." Liesel nodded her head before splitting from them, heading to the right, deeper into the forest.
Liesel grabbed her knife out of it's carrier on her waist, holding it tightly at her sides. She'd never call herself a stealthy person but she'd learned at an early age the less sound you made the better so she made her footsteps as silent as she could while she walked slowly through the thick foliage. The shuffling of feet in the dry leaves made her steps falter, ears straining to hear anything past it. Alive or dead? Soft, wet growls came from ahead. Dead it is.
She walked more confidently towards the corpse, grabbing the collar of it's shirt to keep it turned away from her before plunging her knife into it's head. A rotten smell filled the air as she pulled her knife out, careful not to let the dead body fall. Liesel slowly laid the corpse down, the smell sticking to the back of her throat. Huffing, she stood back up, wiping her knife on the side of her jeans. Seeing the walker made her feel a little better, like she wasn't in a big game of cat and mouse.
Quiet sniffles made the hair on her arms stand on end, head snapping around trying to find the source. Her eyes landed on a woman sitting against a tree a few yards away. She was covered in streaks of dirt, clothes dingy from not being cleaned in who knows how long. Liesel's heart clenched slightly at the sight., it made her want to walk up to the woman, comfort her. It was second nature, something that she'd been trying to dampen since the world went to hell but still remained to be one of Liesel's weaknesses. Caring too much. This woman could be a raging lunatic, could be pretending, waiting for someone to come along before attacking them. You couldn't trust anyone anymore. Not even women in forests wiping tears away with dirty hands.
Liesel moved to stand behind a tree, hiding in case the woman decided to look up. Getting caught wasn't part of the plan. She watched her for a few minutes, feeling like the biggest stalker in the world. How did Aaron and Eric do this regularly? She was continually fighting the urge to go to her, offer her right then to go back to Alexandria. She needed a shower and from her thin form, food.
She stepped from behind the tree getting ready to go to the stranger when she heard the soft groans of the dead making her stop. Liesel readied her knife again as she watched the walker approach the woman willing to step in if the woman needed it. Squinting her eyes she watched as the woman just sat there, what was she doing? The stranger had to hear it so why the hell wasn't she moving? The walker crashed into the tree, hands reaching for the woman greedily. She stood then, turning around, grabbing it's arm before stabbing it in the head. The stranger pulled her knife from it's skull before letting out a sob, collapsing back to the ground.
Liesel couldn't do it anymore. She put her knife back in the waist band of her pants, turning away from the woman and heading back to Aaron and Eric.
"There's a group," Eric stated quietly as Liesel approached the couple, Aaron sitting on the ground, speaker pointed towards the road.
"Probably the group the woman I saw is in," she mumbled in response making Aaron look at her.
"Did anything happen," Aaron asked, sliding one headphone off as Liesel sat down next to him.
"Nah," she sighed picking up a twig. "I want a fucking cigarette, though." Eric laughed quietly joining them on the forest floor as Aaron placed the headphone back, listening to the group some more.
"Have one," he shrugged.
"It'd attract people," Liesel mumbled as she stripped the bark away slowly. They sat in silence as she peeled the twig bare, tiny shavings covering her jeans. She placed it in her lap before picking up another and starting the process again.
"Wanna talk about it," Eric asked after five twigs were worked under Liesel's fingers.
"Not particularly," she whispered picking up another stick. Eric grabbed it from her hands making her look at him. "She looked horrible, Eric," Liesel sighed, snatching the stick back from him. "Like at any second she was going to keel over. They need food, water," she scoffed throwing the stick at the tree across from her. "It's insane how easy it is to forget what it's like out here. This morning I woke up in a bed with sheets, took a nice cold shower, and ate a fan-fucking-tastic breakfast. She probably slept on the ground, hasn't bathed in weeks, maybe months, and most likely doesn't remember the last time she ate."
"We can't save everyone, Lee," Eric bumped his shoulder with hers. "We can try to. Lord knows I want to. But we can't."
"That's not acceptable."
Aaron pulled his headphones off, standing up, interrupting whatever Eric had opened his mouth to say. Liesel and Eric followed Aaron's lead, wiping the dirt off of their jeans.
"They're moving," Aaron tied the speaker to his waist, headphones pushed around his neck. The trio watched as the group piled into their van, heading towards Alexandria.
"So what do we do now," Liesel asked, crossing her hands in front of her chest as she looked back and forth between the two men.
"By the sounds of it they don't have much gas. They'll run out sooner or later—most likely sooner. So we'll follow them, we'll catch up eventually," Aaron nodded, adjusting the straps of his bag.
"And if we lose them," Liesel didn't like this plan. What if they didn't run out of gas? What if they reached their vehicles before they could? What if they turned down a road leading somewhere completely different? What if?
"Trust me, Lee."
Liesel sighed, throwing her arms up. "Your rodeo!"
She wasn't too proud to tell someone that they were right and she was wrong but the nice thing about having a best friend at the end of the world is you didn't have to. At some point the van the larger group was traveling in stopped, at least that was their assumption as it sat abandoned at the side of the road. Sweat pooled in the bends of Liesel's body as they continued to trail after the strangers. She wished she would've picked smarter clothing, the heat was getting to the point it was unbearable. Liesel silently asked herself if they should've let themselves be known earlier and offered the group some of their gas. Nobody deserved to walking out in this. She guessed it would've defeated the purpose of watching them and seeing how they worked, how they survived.
After a few more miles they were close enough to the group again that Aaron could hear them through his headphones. Liesel turned her head and noticed a few straggling corpses following after them. She nudged Eric, tilting her head towards the road before bringing her pointer finger to her lips. Nothing quite like getting caught by the attacking dead. Eric motioned to Aaron before heading a little further into the forest but still following along the road.
"Do they know they're there," Liesel whispered once out of eyesight from the walkers.
Aaron nodded, "They aren't taking them out yet."
It was smart of them, Liesel thought. Nine times out of ten someone living could out walk a dead one and the group definitely didn't seem like they were at their best. Enough, at least, to use energy that they didn't need to. She wiped sweat from her forehead before retrieving her water bottle, guzzling it down greedily. Before she left Alexandria she had packed three additional bottles in her bag so she wasn't afraid of drinking. Liesel watched through the trees as one of the men tried to give the woman from the forest a bottle with some water in but she refused to take it. Liesel looked down at the now empty bottle in her hands before throwing it angrily to the ground. Aaron looked back at her questioningly and she shook her head in response.
"They're breaking," Eric said softly as he stopped moving, head motioning to a couple going into the woods on the opposite side of them.
"Probably looking for food or water. If that group doesn't catch up with them," Liesel motioned back to the walkers, "the dehydration will."
"We can't just walk up to them, Lee," Aaron sighed. "I know this is the hard part. Wanting to help but not being able to. We need to keep our distance."
"Can we at least get them some water?" Maybe this was the real reason Deanna didn't want her to go out. Maybe it wasn't because she wanted to protect her from other people, she was trying to protect her from herself.
"Not yet," Aaron shook his head, "but soon."
Eric smiled at her before turning and continuing to walk. The group of strangers were slowing down and the group of walkers behind them was getting larger. It still wasn't big enough to make Liesel anxious, only about ten of the sons a bitches, but her worry for the group didn't waiver.
After a few more miles Aaron stopped, moving one headphone to the side, "They're getting ready to take on the group."
Liesel crept closer to the road trying to get a clear view of what they had planned. Six of them stood on one end of a bridge, three on either side, the rest on the other end standing safely. She watched as they patiently waited for the group of corpses to make their way towards them. The man with the beard dodging one before pushing it down into the ravine the bridge covered.
"They're fucking geniuses," Liesel let out a breathy laugh, smiling. One of the women broke away from the group, walking up to one of the dead and stabbing it through it's skull. "I don't think that was part of the plan," she whispered to the men behind her as she watched the larger group deal with the small hiccup. The trio stood silently as the group killed the remaining walkers, the growls slowly fading from the air as the last one fell to the road. The tension from the group rolled off in waves. They were close, so close to breaking Liesel could taste it. "They're going to die out here if we don't do something."
"The RV's only a few miles away," Eric whispered, "we could head back and get them some water. Make contact tomorrow after they've rested and gotten some fluids. Would probably make them easier to approach."
"Okay," Aaron nodded slightly turning away from the group. "Lets head back."
They'd given them all the extra water they brought—four gallons and fourteen bottles. Placed them in the middle of the road as far ahead enough that they wouldn't be seen. Aaron set the note he'd written in the camper next to the bottles, 'From A Friend'. Hopefully they believed it. A large part of Liesel doubted it, but she channeled her inner Aaron and held on to a sliver of hope. She didn't stick around long enough to find out, choosing to head back to the RV once the water was set up. Damn did she need a cigarette.
As soon as she closed the door of the camper behind her she fished in the front zipper of her bag, pulling out a pack of smokes and her lighter. She inhaled deeply after she finished fumbling one in between her lips and lighting it, relishing the burn down her throat from the nicotine.
It'd been a year since she had to be out here and it terrified the shit out of her that she forgot what it was like. Forgot what it was like to only be alive because of the person standing next to her, not knowing what else she could do besides keep moving, how hard it was to convince herself to survive. She was so thankful for Alexandria. It came to her at the most perfect time but damn had it made her soft. Nobody there knew what it was really like out here. They were all soft.
Liesel opened the door of the RV, throwing her cigarette to the ground as rain started pouring from the sky. She smiled softly, leaning against the door frame. She didn't want to make the group of strangers soft, she hoped they would make Alexandria stronger.
