The rays of the sun peeked over the lush trees and warmed the cold earth, casting a yellow glow over the housetops. Another day had passed in the wasteland that once had been a whole civilization. Now it only consisted of walking corpses and few of the living.

The world had changed, Cassandra thought. But the madness remains.

Cassandra was crazy, there was no doubt about it. If she had been sane, she would not see her dead sister and friends up and about when they had died long before all hell broke loose. Now she was not alone with seeing the dead which could be seen as a comfort. The only difference was that the other dead were walking corpses and couldn't communicate, unlike the ghosts in Cassandra's mind.

She didn't remember much from the beginning of all chaos - only that she had killed someone. Her memory was foggy, and frankly, she didn't want to remember. She had been alone, cold and covered in guts and blood.
For six months she had been alone, walking amongst the dead in disguise. One day, when the herd had finally turned around and left her, she had found a notebook in an old shack. It was unscathed, fortunately. The first page contained only two words, 'Kill me'.

"How are you feeling?"

Cassandra perked her head up at the voice and was met by the kind, blue gaze of Andrea - a woman she had both come to admire and hate after months of surviving together. "I'm okay." Her answer was short, as her words always were. Taking up too much time could prove fatal if you let down your guard. Cassandra wasn't trying to be rude, she was simply afraid. Afraid to make friends or enemies. Friends that could be lost so easily, enemies that are always a threat.

Andrea gave her a weak smile and decided to walk back to her lover, Rick - the leader of the group, and soon this newfound community.

This place made Cassandra uneasy. Alexandria. Everyone seemed to be playing pretend like children do as if the world was normal and everything was fine. The only ones she didn't dislike were Eric and Aaron who always treated her with respect, unlike many of the other residents.

She did like it there, she did, but there were so many unwanted watchful eyes wherever she went. This place had a stench of lust and death. It was lingering in the core of the ground. Maybe she was overreacting. It was possible, but even Carl got a bad vibe from this place.

Cassandra did not - under any circumstances - trust Rick Grimes. If he would ever somehow, sometime see her as a threat to him or his darling son, he would kill her without a second thought. He had done so before and nothing would stop him from doing it again. It was quite ironic that he had been a cop before, and now had gone to killing those in his way. His excuse was always that he did it for his family, but nothing can excuse a man for killing another individual. It was more monstrous than the walkers, considering they couldn't think rationally anymore.

'And they call me crazy' She shook her head at her thoughts and looked out over the town that grew at a rapid rate. From her seat on the roof, no one could see her. Unless, for some reason, they too were on a roof. She could sit and draw for hours without getting disturbed up there. Not that anyone would wonder where she had gone - unless something was terribly wrong. In that case, she was to blame.

Rick had brought together a group to fix the wall, as it was weakening and the walkers would soon breach it. It would breach, no matter how fast they tried. The walkers were already in masses, pushing against the wall with all the power they had. Cassandra hoped they would get in. She hoped they would kill Rick. He had killed her friends, mercilessly.

In fact, a lot of the people he had killed had been her friends, and she could only stand there and watch them die. She had begged and begged, but no one had listened. She was just the delusional girl in the group. She couldn't make friends, could she?

Cassandra wasn't stupid, she knew she wasn't normal. Seeing ghosts wasn't exactly normal. It sounded better when she said she could see dead people, but being the only one seeing them isn't so convincing to people. They didn't scare her, though, they just made her angry. Seeing them made her angry because she was always reminded of the fact that Rick had killed them. Rick didn't kill Billy, Cassandra knew that. Still, she couldn't help but feel it had been Rick's fault. He drove the Governor to kill the others at the prison. It was Rick's fault his wife and daughter were dead.

"Rick!" A voice cut through the thick air. It was Tobin, a man who had once been the head of the construction team but had been replaced by Abraham. He wasn't bright, but he had his heart in the right place and was a kind man.

The wall had finally broken down and walkers were streaming in, snapping their jaws, ready to eat Tobin whole.

In the blink of an eye, Cassandra grabbed the rifle that was seated beside her and made sure the suppressor was screwed on. She fired five clean headshots at the walkers that surrounded Tobin and gave him enough time to escape to safety.

Then the screaming began. Chaos ensued the community and the residents tripped over each other, rushing to their houses.

The screams. She couldn't stand them anymore. They took over every thought in her head. It wasn't the people who were screaming, but rather the dead. The dead were screaming. Silent, without a sound - she could see it in their eyes. They were mindless monsters without a goal, roaming around until they found something to kill and eat and then they would do the same over and over again. The would roam endlessly until their rotten corpses would fall apart into a pile of stinking, rotten flesh.

Cassandra shuddered when Martinez put a hand on her shoulder. He smiled softly, not saying a single word. She tried to ignore him, but the tears soon fell down her rosy cheeks. She whispered to him in soft words, "You're dead. Please... leave me alone. Please..." Her voice cracked, the last words barely leaving her dry, cardboard lips. Talking to them never did any difference. If anything, it made them stay longer. It made them talk more.

After everything had cooled down, Carl had managed to get shot in the eye and survived, Michonne had cut Morgan's infected arm off - an injury he later died of, and Rosita was pissed because Abraham had slept with Holly behind her back and Rick was a total wreck because of his son. Everything seemed to be going to hell - and fast, but apparently, they had a plan. 'That has to be one fucking plan' Cassandra thought and rolled her eyes.

Cassandra had been trapped on the roof after everyone had run inside the houses and the walkers were left roaming the streets. There were so many of them that she would need at least a bucket of ammunition to escape. She laid still and quiet on the roof, hunching down while clinging to the chimney. She started counting. First in English, then in German and lastly in Spanish. Always to fifty, and then she would start over.

After a few hours, she fell nodded off. When she woke up again, all of the walkers were dead. Grunting, she slid off the roof. As she landed on the ground with a thud, Andrea came running toward her, almost knocking her to the ground with a bear hug.

"I thought you were dead!" Andrea exclaimed with a horrified look on her face. She scanned Cassandra from head to toe, looking for any injury.

Cassandra gave her a soft laugh and murmured, "I fell asleep on the roof while you guys cleaned the area. Didn't even wake up before now." Rubbing her neck, she looked down to her dirt stained boots in guilt.

"Well, I heard you've got an admirer." Andrea winked sheepishly, nudging her friend's shoulder. Cassandra raised a brow at her so Andrea explained, "Tobin said you saved his life but he's too scared to thank you. He's trying to find you a present or something as thanks."

"He doesn't need to thank me. I was holding a gun, so I used it. Thanks aren't necessary anymore. It's just human dignity."

Andrea sighed and shook her head at the woman. There was a small smile playing on her lips as she said, "With this community, we'll soon be back to normal." She paused and frowned slightly, "Maybe not completely back to normal, but it's gonna be better."

Cassandra doubted that it would be better. At first, perhaps, but it would crumble as everything else had. Mankind had a way of destroying good things.