Chapter I
The Boxer
Within the outskirts of Chicago stands a town hidden from the rest of the world. Blocked by a twenty foot brick barracked to protect the remaining survivors in the area, stands a town where a mayor stands proud and tall while the rest suffer. Not everyone is good but then not everyone is bad.
Twenty miles south of the farm was the remaining survivors from Atlanta. The leader was a man named Rick who carried many dark secrets and a horrible past. His wife Lori and his son Carl along were the only family members and survivors from his town. Along with the Grimes family is the hysterical mother Carol still grieving over the loss of her daughter, The Greene family, Glenn, T Dog, and Daryl, who just barely escaped the attack of walkers on the Greene's farm.
"I honestly need a drink. This sun is killing me." T Dog whined as he walked alongside with Carol and Daryl.
"I'm sure we all need one. We have to keep going until we find some shelter just in case more walkers are in the woods." Carol said.
"Knowing our luck those bastards are probably hiding out in the woods looking for something alive to eat." Daryl said as he walked his bike with the help of Rick.
"Well let's hope a town is in these god for saken' woods. I'm getting too old to walk this far now." Hershel said carrying his rifle behind him.
"Welcome to the Walker World." Glenn said.
"Don't you dare say that. I'll kill you." T Dog said.
"Guys…" Lori said.
"If you don't be quiet I'll kill both of you." Rick snarled at them.
"RICK!" Lori screamed and grabbed her husband. Maggie stopped short and sniffed the air.
"You smell that?" Maggie asked. The rest stopped walking and sniffed the air.
"Smells like death." Hershel said and took out his hunting knife.
"Actually it smells like burning skin." Glenn said.
"Either that storm last night set fire to some trees or another survivor is burning walkers. Should we check it out?" Lori asked.
"I vote a let's just get the hell out of here." T Dog said to Rick.
"We should see what's burning. Someone might have found food." Daryl said.
"Yeah and if survivors are around then maybe water is near too." Carl chirped.
"Just remember we're low on bullets. Use knives and anything else besides your gun unless you have no other choice. I'm sure walkers are still in these woods since they're migrating from the north." Rick said before walking into the forest. Daryl quickly push down his kickstand on the bike and picked up his crossbow before walking into the forest behind Rick.
"How can we tell where the fire is?" Beth asked her father.
"Well we can't tell where the smoke is coming from since the trees are covering the sky but we just follow our noses." Hershel told her before grabbing her hand and walking behind Daryl and T Dog.
"I really don't want to go in there, Mom." Carl told his mom. Lori gave him a small smile and held his hand.
"It's the only way to find out if food is around here or even survivors." Lori replied.
As the gang entered deeper in the forest they quickly killed four straggling walkers silently before they followed their noses. It wasn't long until they stopped for a quick break where they found a small pond.
"Let's just go back. We must have gone the way." T Dog said as he made a small fire and started boiling water from the pond in a small pot he carried around.
"Why are you boiling water?" Carl asked him as he watched T Dog.
"If you boil the water it kills all the germs in it. You don't want to drink water that walkers could've drunk before us. If we drink this we could be contaminated with that filthy disease they carry." T Dog said.
"I'll search the area for food." Daryl said as he picked up his crossbow and started searching the trees for squirrels.
"I think we should find the next available town and just stay there for the rest of the winter. Lori's baby is almost here and she needs to be somewhere safe where I can deliver it." Hershel said.
"Look Hershel every time we try to settle in a town it gets overtaken by those damns walkers." T Dog said.
"He's right. If they're moving down we should move up. What about Chicago or Cleveland?" Carol suggested.
"We don't have any cars except for Daryl's bike." Glenn said.
"We can always find a car it's just that it'll be too cold up there. I bet it's already snowing there. I'm sure all the gas for heat up there is all gone." Rick said throwing a stick.
"We can manage up there. Look the walkers pretty much took over the south. It's time to move up. They must have learned that they'll die of the cold if they stay up there. I say we move north." Lori said.
"Lori and Carol are right, Rick. We can't take this running around anymore. We already lost enough as it is." Maggie said.
"Look I'll think about it but right now let's just find someplace to stay for a while and then we'll move up north." Rick said. At that moment Daryl quickly walked back and motioned everyone to follow him. At once everyone followed him quietly.
"What's wrong? More walkers?" Carol asked him.
Daryl shook his head. "Survivors." He cut down some branches and walked a little farther before the whole group heard a sweet singing.
I am just a poor boy
Though my story seldom told
I squandered my resistance
For a pocket full of mumbles such are promises
All lies and jests
Still a man hears
What he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
When I left my home and my family
I was no more than a boy
In the company of strangers
In the quiet of the railway stations running scared
Laying low seeking out the poor quarters
Where the ragged people go
Looking for the places
Only they would know
Lori held her breath as she heard the person singing.
"It's a male but before I heard a girl singing and she sounded young." Daryl said.
"It's probably a whole family." Rick said before pulling back another branch and saw who the mysterious survivor group.
It looked like a large camping site from where the group was standing. They saw three large RVs where a group of people were laughing and eating while by the large fire was a man playing the guitar with a little girl with short blond hair. In the fire Rick could see that at least 12 walkers were burning and melting.
"Should we just walk in?" Carol asked. Just as she said that T Dog broke a branch loud enough for the survivors to hear and quickly the guns came out.
"It was over there!" One said pointing to where Rick's gang was where they were still hidden. At once the three toughest men walked over while the little blond hair girl ran over to the group of women by the RVs. Quickly Rick walked out from the trees and raised his hands.
"Whoa don't shoot!" Rick said as the men raised their guns.
"Who are you!" One of them shouted.
"I'm Rick Grimes and I have a couple of other survivors from Atlanta." Rick said keeping his hands raised.
"Survivors from Atlanta? We were there just a few weeks ago. It was overrun by those things." The man said looking at his buddies.
"We've been in the countryside for quite a while. Would you mind if you drop your weapons and let my group come out?" Rick asked.
"Oh sure no problem. Man survivors from Atlanta? That's pretty amazing since we only saw those assholes all over the place. They killed off a couple of us but we managed to escape." The guy laughed. He watched as the others from Rick's group appear from the trees.
"This is Lori my wife and Carl my son. Over there is T Dog as we call him, Glenn and Maggie, Hershel and Beth, and finally Daryl and Carol." Rick said pointing to each of the members of his group.
"I'm Chris and this here is Mike and Nikki. Over there is my wife Lauren and my daughter Bella." Chris said and pointed at his wife and the blond hair girl.
"How you do?" Rick asked Lauren.
"We're managing." Lauren said giving Rick a small smile.
"Where are all of you from?" Carol asked.
"Well we picked up a few of these people but most of us are from Chicago. At first we had at least 30 in the group but we were attacked in Graceland and then Atlanta. They killed off half of us and the other two died of natural causes. Only one is gone to hunt for dinner. Come sit with us. We have a few beers we can spare." Nikki said.
"A beer? Haven't had one in months." Daryl said walking towards the brownish color RV. Just then the little girl screamed.
"WATCH OUT!" Bella screamed pointing from behind Daryl. Daryl quickly turned with a knife in his hand to stab the walker when he was splattered with blood. The walker fell down dead with an arrow deep in his head.
"What the hell?" T Dog said confused. Lori handed Daryl a handkerchief and looked around to find where the arrow came from.
"Mike throw that body in the fire. Back from hunting already?." Chris said looking up at the trees. A cloaked person jumped down from the trees with a few squirrels and a large ugly raccoon hanging from the neck. The person was holding a large wooden bow and had an arrow bag around the body. Quickly the hooded stranger pulled the hood down and the biggest brown eyes, Rick had ever saw was the first thing that stunned him. The hunter had the longest auburn hair and the prettiest eyes. Her face was a little red from running and her clothes were bloodstained but her beauty caught Rick's group by surprised.
"Rick and everyone else, this is Angelique. Angelique this is Atlanta survivors. Seems like the last of them too." Chris said as Angelique handed the animals over to Nikki and walked over to Daryl.
"You're lucky I spotted it and shot it. Next time keep our eyes open." She said before she turned to Rick and shook his hand. "Angelique Casterini is the name. I'm a survivor from Chicago. Chris's family saved me and my family from those dead things. Sadly my father died in Atlanta. My mother was dead long before this all happened. Only Sarah, Holly and I are left in my family." Angelique said and waved at her sisters. Her sisters smiled and waved back. Holly had long raven hair and green eyes by Sarah had mocha colored skin and long wavy black hair.
"Sarah is adopted. Holly is my older sister." Angelique explained to them.
"Pleased to meet you." Rick said nodding at them.
"You all must have lost a lot of members in your group." Holly said.
"Yeah we lost a couple at the farm we were staying at and more at a campsite we stayed at before." Lori told them.
"Are there any walkers left in Chicago?" Carl asked.
"Walkers? Is that what you all call them?" Chris asked.
"Yeah what do you call them?" Carl asked.
"Assholes." Sarah said and the group burst out laughing.
"Oh by the way we should leave tonight. I just killed a couple of those walkers while I was hunting." Angelique said as Holly handed her a beer.
"Are you planning on moving north?" Rick asked.
"Yeah probably back to Chicago for a while. We heard Canada is walker free. They killed all of them and set up border patrol along the border of America and Canada. They'll let any survivor in." Mike told them as he handed Daryl, Rick, T Dog, and Hershel beers.
"Would you mind if we tagged along too? We'll leave you after we reach Chicago." Rick said.
"Hey we need more fighters. My wife is pregnant again and it looks like yours is too. You guys can join and even stick around until we reach Toronto. Us boys can't hunt since we have to protect the RVs so Angelique hunts but we're afraid those walkers might one day finally kill her so we need more hunters." Chris said.
"You mean like we can stay for good?" T Dog asked.
"Sure! We can fit ten more of you guys in the RVs." Sarah said smiling at T Dog.
"Um do you have any extra gas lying around? I have my bike on the side of the road and that thing is my baby pretty much." Daryl said. Chris laid his beer on a table and went inside his RV for a second before he came back with a small red gas can.
"Take Angelique with you. This should be enough but if go south make a right on the next intersection and you'll have to walk your bike about a thousand feet but you can park it behind my RV." Chris said handing Daryl the gas can.
"Thanks. How did you know where we walked in?" Daryl asked.
"Nikki went out about a mile to the town to find some supplies and saw you bike on the road. Sorry to say that town is walker infested. You're lucky you guys found us." Chris said.
"Enough chit chat! You three gut those things while we make the pasta." Laurel said putting her hands on her hips giving Chris the death glare.
"Lovely isn't she?" Chris asked Rick.
"Oh just amazing." T Dog said following behind Sarah. Angelique threw the arrow bag over her shoulder and grabbed her bow.
"Let's go. We only have about an hour until the sun goes down." She said to Daryl.
"Bring her back alive!" Carol joked to Daryl. Angelique stopped as soon as she went through a small patch of braches and looked at Daryl.
"Lead the way." She said.
"Hey thanks for saving my ass back there." Daryl said walking ahead of her.
"You look too strong to be killed off that easily. You owe me now."
"How long were you in the trees?"
"Actually I got there just in time to see it a few feet from you. I was surprised no one else saw it."
"You must've shot from a hundred feet away. Where you learn to shoot that far?"
"My family has this thing where first born kids are chosen to learn archery. It's a tradition but Holly was the first one to break it so they turned to me to learn. Holly hates weapons period so my dad taught me how to use throwing knives, guns and a bow and arrow."
"Ever thought of using a crossbow?" Daryl asked waving his crossbow at her.
"Those could me in a heartbeat. I prefer my Celtic bow." She said waving her bow at him.
"May I?" He asked holding out his hand. She handed him the bow and he looked at it amazed. "The design must be ancient."
"It was passed down. My father always told me that we came from a royal family in Ireland. The ancient Queen Brighid is my ancestor."
"I came from a family of rednecks pretty much." Daryl said and Angelique burst out laughing.
"Nice history."
"Well not my fault I'm not as interesting as your family. How old are you anyway? 19?"
"I'm twenty four. How old are you? Forty?"
"Actually I'm thirty three thank you very much."
"Nine year difference. How much do you bet we have different music taste?"
"I bet you like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and those crappy rappers."
"WRONG. I like U2, Bruce Springsteen, Pink, and I just started listening to Mumford and Sons and Imagine Dragons. They remind me of the old days back in Chicago."
"You know your life isn't over yet. I bet other survivors are somewhere in America. Marry one and have a few brats."
"Eh I don't really want kids. Especially during this time. The group needs me for food and if I have a kid inside me they won't let me do shit except sit on my ass and read. They do that to poor Laurel."
A branch cracked from behind them as they both turned and saw two walkers following them.
"I got them this time." Daryl said shooting them both in the head before Angelique could fire. Daryl walked over and took the arrows out of their heads and used Lori's handkerchief to clean them.
"Nice shot. I'm impressed." Angelique said as they continued walking.
"The group relies on me to hunt for food too by the way. I bet they're going to pair us up from now on."
"I wouldn't mind that at all actually. I secretly hate most of the people in my group. Chris and Nikki are the leaders but they're the reason my dad died."
"Rick is our leader but he killed his best friend. Ah who cares though he was bad anyway."
"I bet they treat you as an outcast huh?"
"Rick treats me like I'm his new friend but I will never forgive him for leaving my brother on some roof in Atlanta." Daryl said as moved aside a branch for Angelique. She stepped on the road and saw his bike.
"You kept this thing?"
"Yeah it's the only thing I own besides my crossbow." Daryl said as he opened the gas tank and poured the gas in.
"Chris had a Harley but he tossed it in Graceland." Angelique said as she got on the bike.
"Ever rode one before?" Daryl asked as he got on as well.
"Yeah my dad was in Chris's gang before the walkers attacked. I went to Starved Rock all the time with him." Angelique said as he turned the motorcycle on.
"You have to hold on since I don't have a back on." Daryl said and Angelique quickly wrapped her arms around his stomach before he took off. The cold wind bit their skin and faces as they drove through the curvy road. When the intersection came up Daryl quickly turned right until Angelique noticed the smoke from the campfire and they stopped. From a distance they could see the sun setting and Angelique smiled.
"When the sun sets like that it makes me forget we're living in hell." Angelique said as she got off the bike and hung on to Daryl's crossbow.
"This is what you call it? Hell?"
"Well man eating humans are hunting us. I never thought this would happen." Angelique said as they walked into the forest pushing Daryl's bike.
"Well God said the world wouldn't end in water ever again so he wants to end it with walkers." Daryl said and the both laughed again.
"You don't think you'll survive?"
"I'm tired of getting bossed around and holding on to all of this guilt. That lady, Carol, lost her daughter a few months ago and I feel like it's my fault."
"It isn't your fault unless you killer her."
"I know but I blame myself for not looking hard enough."
"Don't carry other people's guilt. You're a good man, Daryl. You don't deserve any of the group's shit. From now on you're a part of us." Angelique said. Daryl stopped and looked at her.
"You guys are willing to accept a red neck?"
"You aren't a red neck. I can tell. You protect that Carol lady."
"Yeah so what?"
"You like her don't you?"
"Actually I don't like anyone." Daryl said and started walking again.
"Why not? She seems your type."
"I just don't see us together to be honest. She lost her husband about a year ago. I don't think she wants to start a new relationship. She just wants a knight in shiny armor."
"Well you're young enough to still get married. I bet you they'll push you and Holly to get married."
"Or us together."
"I highly doubt that. You're too old." Angelique laughed.
They reached the campsite and set the bike behind Chris's RV. Angelique turned to Daryl and smiled.
"Remember what I said."
"I have good memory. I'm not that old." Daryl said taking the crossbow from her and gave a small smile.
"Oh Angelique your back! Hey we need help setting the tables up." Holly said and grabbed Angelique's arm and pulled her away from Daryl. Daryl walked past his group that was sitting by the fire and nodded at Carol before making his way over towards Chris. Carol watched him and looked at Rick.
"Is it me or has been different lately?" Carol asked.
"He was almost killed by a walker today. Cut him some slack." T Dog said.
"Hey what do you think about Angelique?" Hershel asked them.
"She's a good hunter. Did you see those damn fat things she caught?" T Dog said laughing.
"She seems distant but friendly. I was going to talk to her but she went off with Daryl." Carol said.
"You think those two started a connection?" Rick asked.
"I bet. They're both hunters. I bet they talked about what kind of walkers they killed and what weapons they use." T Dog said. The three of them laughed until Daryl walked over and sat with them.
"Hey Daryl how was Angelique?" T Dog asked him.
"She's nice." Daryl said looking at his beer.
"She flirt with you?" Rick said nudging him. Daryl smiled and shook his head.
"Look at Daryl! He's a ladies man." T Dog said saluting him.
"Ha I wish." Daryl said taking a chug of beer.
"How old is she?" Carol asked smiling.
"Twenty four."
"Hey you have a chance. Good for you. She's even a hunter so you can have those special moments alone with her." Rick said slapping him on the back.
"Alright you all leave him alone. He's blushing." Carol joked.
"Under pressure." T Dog said.
"Dinner everyone!" Laurel shouted.
"Finally!" T Dog said quickly getting up and walking over towards the tables. From the fire the man playing the guitar was still humming his favorite tune.
In the clearing stands a boxer and a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminder of every glove that laid him down
And cut him till he cried out in his anger and his shame
I am leaving I am leaving but the fighter still remains
When Daryl heard that piece he took a quick swig of his beer and for the first time in a long time he smiled like he meant it.