Hey guys, this is my first FanFiction ever and also my first The Walking Dead one. It will be based on the show, starting at the beginning of Series 2. I'm going to attempt to write in third person and I have an annoying tendency to change tenses without realising so I will sort that out in a little while. Writing in third person is something that is new to me, so I apologise in advance for any mistakes you might find. I will go through my chapters often and correct any mistakes. I hope you enjoy my story and give it a chance. Please don't be shy if you want to review! Your ideas and responses are important to me :) There will be violence and swearing as viewers of the show and other Walking Dead FanFiction readers may be aware of. There may be other themes throughout the story and some word-for-word parts from some episodes. Enjoy Chapter 1, and please let me know what you think:)

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original story or characters or anything you may recognise from the show.

Chapter 1: The Highway.

Running. That's all Lilly can remember doing for the past couple of months. Running and trying to survive, which has been extremely hard for her. All her life, she had been relying on the people around her to raise her well and keep her safe. But now that was her job, to keep herself and people around her safe. Her mother and father were both bitten at the very beginning of the epidemic, and Lilly tried to be brave that day, but she just couldn't do it.

Lilly clasped her mother's hand, which was shivering and moist.

"Keep your eyes open, you've got to! You can't leave now, you just can't!" Lilly wept to her mother, lying on the mattress.

"We've got...no time left to...fix it..." their mother managed to get out. "It's over...for me."

Lilly shook her head through the tears. "Don't give up now. What if I went and got Doctor Simmons?"

"I doubt there's...anything he could do...anyway." Lilly's mother turned her head slowly to look at Jessica. Jess was dropped off by Lilly's brother-in-law at the house, as he went to see how her sister was doing at the hospital. Her little niece adored her and Lilly loved Jess too. Her dad didn't come back, and so Jess became Lilly's responsibility. Jess was scared, as she hid behind the door, occasionally peeking out. Lilly's mom tried to smile but Lilly thought it was more terrifying than comforting.

"Look after...her, Lilly." Then her eyelids fluttered shut and her head fell to the side.

Lilly should have been brave and gotten up and hugged her niece. She should have conjured up a plan and decided their next move. However, she found herself doing none of that. She just cradled her mother's lifeless body and cried and cried. She didn't have much time to deal the situation before her mother turned, she knew that. A few minutes past before she decided to get up. She reached into the front of her pants to grab the pistol her father handed to her before he died. Lilly heard Jess slam the door shut as she kneeled down and pressed the gun to her dead mother's forehead.

"I'll look after her, Mom. I promise. I'm sorry, I love you."

Then Lilly adjusted her eyes to face the wall and pulled the trigger. Then it was instantly time to leave. The gunshot would bring more of them, a lot more of them. Lilly's house was right in the middle of the city and the walkers would be drawn to them like a moth to a flame. Jess already had their bags packed with tonnes of supplies, and she was shaking like a leaf. Lilly's looked at her with sympathy in her eyes. She wished she could make this all better for her six year old little niece, and to be able to hide in the attic until the government sorted this out. But the reality was, this disaster was staying for a lot longer than she could hope for. Lilly grabbed her niece's hand and checked if the coast was clear from the back door.

"Let's go."

"Come on, Jess. Keep up."

Walkers were following them. A hell of a lot of walkers. Lilly always managed to be faster than them, but her little niece was not into running at all, even when the dead were chasing her. This could quickly turn into disaster for them both. Lilly and Jess had the advantage on the walkers, as they were quite far away from them, but at a bad moment, Jess fell over and instantly burst into tears. There was no other solution than for Lilly to scoop her up and run for their lives. Luckily, Jess was as light as a feather and Lilly could keep on sprinting as a good speed. But it wouldn't last for long, and Lilly wouldn't be able to cope any longer and then the walkers would be on them and then it would be over. Her promise to her mother would be meaningless and she would have let her sister and brother-in-law down, if they were still alive.

Then it was like somebody had thrown her a lifeline. Up ahead, there was an overturned van. Lilly crouched down and went around to the back, facing the direction that the walkers were headed for. Now she had to be quick. From the side, she eased the shutter and threw their supplies in. The walkers were getting closer and closer, still clueless about the girls whereabouts, and Lilly let Jess clamber in.

"There's no space!" Jess cried, panicked. The van was still cluttered with supplies.

"Okay, okay," Lilly comforted her, in a hushed tone. "Listen, I'm going to lie down in the driver's seat, okay? They won't see me. You have to trust me. Be brave, it might be a little be dark. If they find you, shout for me. Otherwise, Jess, please be quiet."

Obediently, Jess nodded her head and Lilly gave her a reassuring smile as she eased the shutter down. She ran to the front of the car but there was one walker that must have caught up with them before the rest. Quickly, she pulled her large knife out from her boot and stabbed it right in the walkers temple. Black blood oozed out from the head of the corpse, as it slumped down to the side. As hushed as she could, she opened the van door and lay down on the overturned seat and held her breath, hoping her best for her and Jess. All she could hear for the next sixty seconds was the sound of moaning and feet shuffling across the highway gravel. Lilly's hands shook thinking about the welfare of her little niece, alone and basically blind in the back of the van. Lilly imagined how frightened she must be, hearing all the noises outside. There was a moment when a walker must have fell against the van and it made quite a unexpected bang. There was no squealing though and Lilly thought how brave Jess must have been not to make a sound.

Silence. Silence surrounded Lilly and the van. She wasn't sure how long she should leave it until she climbed out. "Jess?" she whispered, hoping that somehow she might be able to hear her, but there was no answer. Lilly sighed. Two minutes, she thought. I'll leave it for two minutes.

Then came the worst sound that Lilly ever could have heard.

Somebody started to squeal and scream.

Author's Note: What do you think? I know it's short and I'm sorry for that, but I just wanted to start it off slow, to see what people thought. So did you like the cliffhanger? Who screamed? What will Lilly do? Is Jess okay? I hope you're asking yourself these things:) I'm not sure that this beginning chapter will make a good impression to some people? I hope it does! I just wanted to see if I get any good reviews to encourage me to do another chapter. So, please review! Let me know what you thought.