Hey guys. So this idea for a Walking Dead fan fiction came to my head recently and now that I'm off for Christmas break I decided I would give it a go. Please let me know what you think and give me any critiques you feel are necessary. ^_^ This story is set before the Dixons met up with the group.

Ok, so this is the first chapter. Things will be a little vague in the beginning, but I will go more in depth later in the chapter. For this chapter and the rest, if anything is in italics, it is the character thinking to themselves. I also plan to write all dialogue in a southern dialect while keeping the narrative in "normal" grammar. Just so you know so you aren't confused. Now on with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from The Walking Dead; everything belongs to the respective owners. I make no profit from writing this.

Chapter 1 – Panicked

Everything happened so fast it made my head spin. So many thoughts were running through my head it was hard to keep myself calm enough to think clearly. I grabbed anything left that could be of any use to me and put it in my bag. Then I ran as fast and as far as I could. I knew I had to keep an eye out for the dead as well. The only weapons I had were the ones I took with me before it all happened, my pistol and hunting knife. I knew well enough to only use the pistol if there was no other way to get out of the situation alive. I would need to stick to my knife and some careful maneuvering if I wanted to find somewhere safe.

It was early morning so I had the whole day to figure out a plan before nightfall. I didn't know the area I was in at all. I just prayed I would stumble upon an abandoned house or some other form of shelter. I wasn't too comfortable with the thought of spending the night out in the open, in the middle of the woods… alone. That thought alone pushed me to pick up my pace. In my panicked state I was paying less attention to where I was going and what was in my path. As I was making my way through the dense brush I tripped over a tree root causing me to nearly face plant while sending my bag flying off of my shoulder as I tried to catch myself. I was on the ground attempting to catch my breath when I heard some rustling close to me.

Oh shit.

I quickly tried to pull myself together to effectively search for my now missing bag. I remained on the ground crawling around and sifting my hands around and through the bushes feeling for the bag. I wasn't fast enough. The rustling had gotten louder and now there were the disgusting groans I was all too familiar with hearing. Before I could turn around, my leg was grabbed by one of those things. I desperately tried kicking it to keep it from biting me while I looked for anything I could grab to bash its head in. There was nothing. Not a rock, heavy branch, anything.

Fuck. I'm goin' ta' fuckin' die right here, right now. Like this…

Whoosh…. Crunch.

Suddenly I heard it drop beside me. I looked over to see an arrow through its skull. About the time I looked over at it I heard a man yelling.

"Whooo! Nice aim, little brother!" echoed the voice.

I finally made it to my feet and looked around for the source of the voice. Suddenly two men began walking down the embankment toward me. One had brown hair and carried a crossbow while the other had salt and pepper hair and wielded a large hunting knife. As they got closer, the seemingly older one leaned down and picked up my bag.

"This yers princess?" He asked as he started rummaging through my stuff. Meanwhile, the other man pulled his arrow out of the now twice dead man's head.

I almost got killed, now I'm gonna get robbed.

I just stood there slightly taken aback by the man looking through my things.

"Ya ain't got much here." He laughed slightly. "Wouldn't live too long with just this." He stated as he zipped up my bag and tossed it back to me.

"I think we should bring 'er along, Daryl." He said to his brother. "The Dixons could always use a pretty girl around." He added as he winked at me.

"Whatever, Merle." The other man finally spoke not looking at either of us. It seemed like he was just giving in as to not argue with his brother.

Great, I can already tell I ain't wanted.

"Alright little brother. I say it's about time fer us ta' head on back ta' the truck an' get them squirrels cooked." Merle stated.

Daryl led the way to their truck as Merle walked alongside me.

"So what's yer name girl?" He asked giving me a slightly flirty look.

Ugh what a pig. Beats bein' out here alone though.

"Claire Harper." I replied then looked ahead again to see an older grey pickup truck in the distance with a motorcycle in the back. I could also see a green tent not too far from it.

When we got to the truck Daryl sat down his crossbow and pulled out a knife to start skinning the squirrels. Merle began working on getting a fire started in their small fire pit. I sat down awkwardly near the fire pit and put my bag down beside me, unsure of what else I could do. Neither of the men seemed bothered with me not helping. I still felt bad though.

Why would they wanna keep me around if I can't do shit?

By the time Merle had the fire going, Daryl already had squirrel meat ready to be cooked. I watched as Daryl skinned and cut up the squirrels and I could tell this was definitely something he had been doing for years. Merle put the squirrel meat in a pot that hung above the fire.

"So… how old are ya, Claire?" Merle asked as he gave me a smirk.

I really gotta try an' put an end ta' this.

"Old enough." I replied harshly. "Question is if yer dumb enough ta' try it." I heard Daryl breathe out through his nose as if he was going to laugh. When I looked over he was skinning the final squirrel with a smirk on his face.

"Whooo feisty! I'm gonna enjoy havin' you around darlin'." Merle answered. I had only seemed to pique his interest.

Well that definitely backfired…

When all the squirrel was finished cooking, we all ate around the fire.

"So how long had ya been out there alone?" Daryl asked.

"Just this mornin'. I replied. I really didn't want to talk about what had happened, but these two saved my life, it was the least I could do.

"What happened?" He continued.

"Well… I had been in a group with some people from my college. One of us got pretty sick so 'er brother, Josh, left the group ta' try an' find some help. He had been gone for days, we thought he wuddn't comin' back. One evenin' I went ta' excuse myself from the camp. Not too long after that I heard the screamin' and gun shots. I hurried as fast as I could ta' find out what'd happened. I saw a group of men standin' in our camp with guns and they had Josh with 'em. They must've just fired a few warnin' shots because no one was dead yet. There was more yellin' before they shot Josh in front of everyone, then finished off everybody else. There was nothin' I could do. I woulda stood no chance. They weren't military, but they had guns like 'em. They walked around and took all of our weapons and most of our food. I waited until they left an' tried to scavenge up anythin' useful. I was runnin' away and tryin' ta' find somewhere ta' go and that's when I met ya'll."

"Holy shit!" Merle exclaimed while chewing the last of his squirrel.

"Sorry ta' hear that." Daryl answered.

"Thanks ." I replied. I sat there eating my squirrel still thinking about the events that had happened. I just guessed that those men lied and offered Josh medicine if he brought them to us.

No other words were said while everyone finished their dinner. The silence was finally broken by Daryl.

"It's gettin' late. We got a busy day comin' up. Claire, you can sleep in the truck an' me an' Merle'll take turns keepin' watch."

"Alright." I agreed. I grabbed my things and made my way over to the truck. As I opened the door I heard Merle call out once more.

"Night girlie! If ya need anythin' give us a holler!"

I didn't even need to turn around to know that he had a smug look on his face. I got in the truck, closed the door and let out a long sigh. It had been a long and crazy day. Just when it looked like everything went to shit, I had met two saviors in the woods. Strangely I already felt comfortable with them. I didn't know what was to come, but I felt safe with the brothers and I was confident that we could get through anything together.

Ok guys, so that was the first chapter. I hope you all liked it. I'd also really enjoy some feedback. If it is too hard to read the dialogue since I wrote it in a dialect, I would be happy to change it. Just let me know because if no one complains about it, I will continue to write it that way. ^_^ Thanks for reading!