Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters. I only own my OC.

A/N: Hey guys so this is my first Walking Dead fanfic so I apologize if it's not that well written. I just got this idea the other day and since then I just wanted to write and now here we have this story :) The story starts around season 3 and will follow the rest of the seasons. My OC Skye Lewis is a very important character to me. An inspiration for her character, kind of came from my niece. Although she isn't mute she is learning sign language and when she told me she was the idea for this story was born. (: Therefore this story well have a lot of feels in it. I really do hope you guys give it a chance :D Also please don't be afraid to leave a review. Thanks! XOXO.

*Edited* 11/01/16

Mute: [noun] is when a person has no power of speech.

Chapter 1: Finding the girl with the whistle

Alone.

That's exactly how Skye Lewis felt. Then again, she had always felt that way...even when the world wasn't infested with the dead. At least back then, when the world was "normal" she had her family to keep her company. Now she had no one.

Looking out the window from the abandoned house she was currently staying at, Skye saw the sun making its way up towards the horizon. She had no idea what day, month, or even year it was anymore...the only thing she could actually tell was when it was the morning, afternoon, or night time. Like right now it was morning. She could see the peaceful view that nature displayed for her. Skye almost expected to hear people doing their morning routines, like driving their cars, grabbing their newspapers, or hearing kids walking to school. But there was no noise. Nothing at all. She knew there wouldn't be...not since the dead started outliving the living.

Nothing was the same anymore.

Skye remembered when the outbreak first happened. Remembered the news stories and how everyone started freaking out about being killed by those...things. She knew they weren't human...not anymore anyways.

She was eleven when it started...now she was what? Twelve? Maybe thirteen? She honestly had no idea. She lost track of time after her family's death. There really was no point in keeping track anymore after that. They weren't with her anymore. So why did her age matter? All that really mattered now was surviving.

Which is exactly what she had been doing. Surviving to see another day in this cruel world. Because that's what the world was now...cruel. It was cruel because it took her family away. it was cruel because now millions of people were dead. And it was cruel because...well, she was alone.

Then again the world had always been cruel to her because...

She was mute.

Born and raised that way since birth. Her parents had told her she was born mute because it had something to do with her vocal cords. So ever since Skye was a baby, she had to deal with not being able to talk. It was never easy. In fact, it was plain hard and miserable. Having to grow up with other children who had the ability to talk and laugh was like a slap to the face. Why was she the only one to be like this? It wasn't fair. She knows by now that the world isn't fair to anyone. Still how she wished that she was able to make some noise. To talk, full on laugh, or even scream.

Oh, how much she wanted to scream. Ever since from the first time she saw one of those things, she's wanted to scream. When it tried to eat her, Skye wanted to yell for help, but she couldn't. Not even a peep came out. And when she thought she was going to die and her life was about to end, her dad got there just in time and killed that monster. He saved her. Ever since that incident, her mother and father knew it wasn't wise to leave her alone. Not with her not being able to give them a signal that she was in danger. So they had her stay real close to them and her older brother William, or as she liked to call him Will.

Skye remembered her brother Will as a real comical kind of guy. Other than her parents, Will was the only one she felt close to. Being mute made her more introverted than the other kids and since none of them wanted to be near the "special kid" as they tended to call her, that left her older brother as her only real friend. But Skye knew that Will didn't really count as a friend. He was after all her older brother.

Still, Skye viewed Will as a hero and a role model. Her parents as well. Since they knew it was all about survival and that staying alive and looking out for each other was now the main priority. But because of her "condition" as her mother used to call it, her family always made sure Skye was always kept safe. Her family knew she wasn't like the rest of them. Skye wouldn't be able to call or yell for help in case another one of those things tried to go after her...so they gave Skye something that would help.

Remembering the item that was around her neck, Skye touched it briefly as a memory began playing in her head...

It was late at night and the Lewis family were bunkered down in another house they managed to hide themselves in.

Skye was still up along with her parents, while William had already passed out on one of the living room couches. Skye understood why. After all that walking and trying to find a perfect hide away, all she wanted was to sleep too, but her parents had asked her to come have a chat with them. Skye had no idea as to why, but she didn't object.

"Skye?" The young girl heard her mother's voice Cecilia say her name. Skye looked at her direction and nodded her head, a signal letting her know she had heard her. Cecilia smiled faintly and took a hold of her hand. "Skye, me and your father want to give you something special."

Special?

What did she mean by special? Skye gave both her parents a perplexed look. She quickly let go of her mother's hand and quickly signed. "What do you mean special?" She asked her, using ASL.

This time it was her father Victor who had answered. "We want you to be safe...so we came up with an idea that we think will give your mother and I a peace of mind."

"And what's that?" Skye asked, once again using her hands to talk to her parents in sign language.

Instead of answering her mother Cecilia pulled out a golden necklace from her pocket...only it wasn't only just a necklace...it was a whistle?

Skye stared at the whistle in bemusement. Why were her parents giving her a whistle? It was beautiful no doubt about that, but what was the point of it?

"I know you must be wondering why we are giving you a whistle." Her mother said interrupting her thoughts, she sighed and gave Skye a meaningful look. "It's so you can use it in case you're in danger and need our help."

Skye furrowed her eyebrows before her mother kept explaining. "Skye, your father, brother, and I won't always be there when you need us and since you can't...well..." Her mother couldn't seem to find the words to say to her. She still hard time accepting her only daughter was mute.

"Since you can't yell for help like us, you'll have to use this instead." Her father finished saying giving her a sad smile. "It'll be like a alarm, notifying us when you're in danger and need our help." He said and then gave a warning look. "But only use it in emergencies, okay? If you use it to just make loud noise it'll bring in those things towards us and we don't want that." Victor said keeping eye contact with his daughter. "So, only use it when you absolutely have to alright?"

Skye nodded her head, understanding the rules her parents were telling her because she knew loud noises attracted those things.

Once again her mother grabbed her hand, only this time she handed her the whistle. Skye examined it thoroughly and realized that there was a charm on the whistle's chain. She brought the charm closer to her eyes and smiled when came face to face with the pretty bird charm.

"Do you like it?" Her mother asked her, and Skye immediately nodded her head. Of course she did!

Cecilia smiled. "Your father and I knew you would. You always did like birds."

Skye smiled a bright smile towards her parents directions and gave them each a hug that was filled with love.

She felt her heart ache...how badly she just wanted to say thank you to them. Like actually say thank you with using her voice. Sadly that was impossible.

So she did the next best thing.

She signed to them that she was thankful and that she loved them with all her heart. And although it was nowhere near the way she wanted to say it, her parents still felt happy and said they loved her in return.

Putting on her whistle necklace around her neck...she felt complete.

Skye that night feel asleep happy knowing her parents loved her. Except she had no idea that within a couple of days, she would be the only one of the Lewis family to be left alive.

Thinking about that memory was bitter sweet for Skye. It was the last time she had a heart felt moment with her parents, because with in a few days later they died and so did her older lovable brother William.

They had gotten attacked when they were walking through the woods in midday. When a group of those things came out of nowhere and surrounded them. It was unexpected and everything happened so fast...

Her mother had been the first one to get attacked. Getting bit from behind the neck she never had the chance to fight back. The second to go was her father, who was to grief stricken with losing his wife that he failed to notice that he too was being circled by them. Within seconds he too was dead.

Leaving behind only Skye and Will. Immediately, her older brother told her to run as fast as she could, giving her one of his hand guns and pocket knives to protect herself with. He knew he was a goner and all he wanted now was to make sure his little sister was safe. That he had to protect her with all the energy that he had left for one last time. So with a loud yell, he attracted the monsters towards him and ran in the opposite direction And as William Lewis was followed by these things, he knew he did the right thing because he gave his little sister a chance to live.

Skye on the other hand remembered staring at the space where her brother had ran off to in complete aghast. She heard the yells and cries of heer brother as he was being followed by those evil things, knowing...he was now dead too.

She remembered being in a complete mess that she began to silently cry. But even then she knew that she had to leave, otherwise her brother's death would be for nothing.

So she ran and ran until her legs felt like they were on fire. And boy did she remember them hurting so much. But the pain was better than being dead...

It wasn't until it was nearing dawn that she finally stopped, and she didn't know if it was pure luck or something but up ahead outside the forest she saw a line of neighborhood houses. That's where she decided to hide off for a few days. But sadly she couldn't stay there for long because she had no food or water to sustain herself with. She needed to keep moving forward if she wanted to survive.

So for the next several months, or what felt like months, Skye was on her own. Going into abandoned houses and stores and taking shelter there for a few days, leaving whenever she needed to make another supply run, and killing off those things when she needed to. That was how life was for her...and it seemed endless.

But she was alive...and that's all that mattered right?

Skye didn't know the right answer for that question anymore.

Coming out of her thoughts, she let go of her whistle necklace and continued to look at the morning sun. She was stalling though, because she knew she had to leave this house. She had been here for a few days now and was running low on supplies. Which meant she had to find a new place to stay at. A place that had food and water because lately it was beginning to get hard to find those two important items.

Slumping her shoulders, Skye got up from the window seat. She grabbed her backpack that had inside her few items such as her, hand gun, pocket knife, a few cans of food, and a water bottle that was now almost empty. Although her hand gun no longer had bullets, she still carried it around because it was the last item her brother had given her, just like the knife.

She adjusted her backpack over her shoulder and put on her converse that were beginning to fall apart. Looking down at them she pursed her lips. Perhaps in the next store she'd take shelter in she'll be able to find a pair of shoes in her size.

Glancing back up, Skye continued making her way downstairs and was about to make it down the fourth step when she heard the front door handle jiggle... her eyes went wide in fear. Without even waiting another second she ran back upstairs and went into the master bedroom and closed the door—locking it. Backing a few feet away from the door, she grabbed her backpack and took out her knife, ready to use it in case one of those things broke it down.

She quieted down her breathing as she listened to the front door open, and heard the footsteps as it entered the house. Listening closely though she heard more than one pair of foot steps. She counted...there seemed to be three.

That wasn't good...

Skye could handle one or two of those things, but if there was more...well she'll put up a fight that's for sure.

With a look of determination, Skye held her knife in a tight grip and listened as the approaching footsteps were now going up the stairs. She listened as two of the pair went into the bedroom that was next door. The other pair was still walking the hallway but froze...and she knew it was standing outside the master bedroom.

Skye took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes as she watched the door handle begin to move. It continued to move but the door wouldn't open. After a few more tries she heard muffled sounds that almost sounded like...voices?

Skye tilted her head.

No those couldn't be voices...those things couldn't talk. She never once heard any of those things talk. All they did were make muffled or groaning noises. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her.

Skye jumped in the place she was standing when the door began to rattle. Whatever or whoever was on the other side was trying to bust it down. Taking deep breaths she readied herself for what was about to happen.

After the third push, the door busted wide open and not even waiting another second Skye lunged forward with her knife ready to stab the monster. A pair of arms though wrapped around her when she went forward and Skye began to fight back. She started swinging her knife around but felt it drop to the floor. So then she began moving around the arms that had her in a tight hold. Skye thought for sure she was about to get killed and eaten, but a sudden voice made her lessen her movements.

"Whoa! Hold on! I ain't gonna hurt you." Skye fully stopped when she knew for sure it was a voice that belonged to a human. It was a man's voice and he sounded southern.

Once the man felt the young girl stop with her struggling, he slowly let go of her but kept her close to him. He turned her around swiftly and crouched down to be in eye level with her. Skye looked at the man and saw that he was tall and had curly dark brown hair with dark scruff surrounding his face. She squinted her eyes when she saw that he was wearing a sheriff's outfit? Was he a sheriff? Looking back up she saw his blue eyes staring at her.

"Listen my name's Rick, Rick Grimes, alright? And like I said, I'm not going to hurt you." He said and looked over the young girl thoroughly. On closer inspection, he notcied that she looked to be around twelve or so, roughly around the same age as his son Carl. She looked a bit undernourished, but to him that was understandable. Everybody who was still alive nowadays was that way. He also noticed that she had light brownish hair. It was tied loosely in a pony tail and her eyes were a light green color. She had a button nose and he could tell that if she smiled, she most likely would have dimples. Only there was no smile on this young girl's face. No only a look of uncertainty and surprise. And at this Rick furrowed his eyebrows. Surely she wasn't on her own? A young girl like her must have someone with her. Otherwise how in world would she have survived this long? She was just a child. He needed to know if there others with her.

So with a deep breath he lowered his voice, and questioned her. "What's your name? You look a little to young to be by yourself."

At this Skye frowned.

Great. The only other survive she meets in who knows how long and he wants to talk. Only problem with that was that she couldn't talk and she hardly doubted he knew sign language. I mean who left in the world still knew how to communicate in sign language?

At seeing her silent and with no response to his question, Rick furrowed his eyebrows. "I just need to know if there's anyone else here with you." Once again there was silence and Rick continued to think it was because she was afraid or maybe shy. So he tried again in a softer, kinder voice. "Are you alone?"

At this question, Skye nodded her head.

Rick was the one to frown this time. She was alone? "So there's nobody with you?"

Skye once again nodded her head and she looked up when she heard the foot steps from the other room enter the master bedroom. She became tense again and Rick saw this. He held up his hands in a surrendering gesture. "It's okay, they won't hurt you either." He gently reassured her.

Calming down a little bit, Skye got a better view on the two figures. They were both older men. One of them was Asian with dark short hair and dark eyes. He was carrying a gun as well, and had it pointed down when he came into the room. He was staring at her in what looked like almost a perplexed expression. The other man was a rugged looking and had brown shaggy hair, who instead carrying a gun, had a crossbow. He instead of looking perplexed like the Asian fellow, looked at her like he was scrutinizing her.

"This here is Glenn and Daryl." Rick said as he the look of confusion on her face. "They're with me."

The Asian guy who Skye now knew was named Glenn spoke up. "Is she okay?" He asked in concern.

Rick nodded his head. "Yeah she doesn't appear to have any bites or injuries."

"We checked the other areas around the house, but nobody else is here." The other guy named Daryl said in a gruff voice.

"Yeah, I asked if she was by herself and it appears so." Rick informed them.

"What's her name?" Glenn asked Rick.

Rick sighed. "I don't know she hasn't told me."

"What's your name kid?" Daryl asked her.

At this Skye pressed her lips together, frustrated.

After a minute of silence the three men looked at the young girl in bewilderment, not understanding why she wasn't talking. Was she doing it on purpose? Did she just not want to talk to them? Why was she keeping quiet?

"Your name?" Daryl asked again in a firmer voice.

Well I have to do something. Skye thought to herself, trying to come up with an idea on how to communicate with them. She looked over the room trying to see if there was pen or paper somewhere to use but there wasn't.

Great. How was she supposed to tell them her name? Or the fact that she was mute.

So she shook her head slowly.

The three men just stared at her even more perplexed.

"We just want to know your name." Rick said, and Skye heard his southern accent again.

Even more silence.

"What cat got your tongue?" Daryl asked impatiently.

Yes, a cat has my tongue. Skye thought bitterly rolling her eye. Even though she knew that this Daryl guy was probably making a joke, it still caused her feelings to get hurt. But she masked the hurt and instead gave him a glare and slowly nodded her head. This gesture was taken in by the three men.

"Wait." Glenn said, the first to guess on what was wrong, spoke. "You mean you can't...you can't talk?"

At this Skye vehemently nodded her head and gave him a smile in relief. Happy that somebody finally understood.

"At all?" Daryl asked, this time in a placid voice instead of a gruff one.

Skye nodded her head and saw how all the men frowned at this.

"You mean to tell me that a small twelve year old girl who can't talk, who has been on her own for who knows how long, has managed to survive this long?" Daryl asked in disbelief and acclamation could be heard in his voice. He looked impressed. "Huh? Guess we got ourselves a true survivor here."

"So what are we going to do with her?" Glenn asked Rick looking at the young girl.

Rick turned back to face the young girl, who he still hadn't gotten her name. "Well we can't leave her that's for sure." He gave the girl a soft expression. "I know you just met us, but we have a group with other survivors and I think it would be best if you came with us."

At this Skye backed away slowly from the men. A group of survivors? Meaning there were others who were alive? That sounded great! But did she want to go with them? Slowly she touched her whistle around her neck and sighed. Maybe it was perhaps a good idea to go with them...

Rick saw the whistle that was around her neck, an item that he didn't see before. Tilting his head he wondered why she was wearing it? Was it some sort of necklace?

Skye saw that Rick was eyeing her whistle so she quickly hid it, tucking it inside her shirt. She looked back to the three men and thought about Rick's question for a few more seconds before she nodded her head, finally giving him an answer.

Rick looked relieved and faint smile appeared on his face. "Okay, get your stuff and we'll be on our way."

Skye grabbed her backpack that was on the floor, along with her knife as well and made her way towards the three of them. She glanced back at the room one last time before following them out the bedroom door.

Once down the stairs, Skye watched as Glenn and Daryl walked through the front door. She however paused from going outside. She shifted her feet back and forth.

This was it...

Walking out this door meant she was going to be around other people...new people...people she's never even met before. Was she really ready? She had gotten so use to being on her own, that it made her wonder if she was even capable of being in the company of others.

Doubt started to eat her away, when a hand on her shoulder brought her back to reality.

She looked up and saw a pair of blue comforting eyes.

"Come on kid, let's get you somewhere safer." Rick said to her reassuringly. "Maybe once we meet up with the others you'll finally be able to tell me your name." He said with a jested smile.

Skye smiled back and a sudden idea came into her mind. She raised her finger slowly and pointed it up.

Rick, not fully understanding why she was doing this, squinted his eyes. "The ceiling? What about the ceiling?"

Skye scoffed and shook her head. She pointed her finger again towards the ceiling more forcefully.

Okay, so if she didn't mean the ceiling then what did she mean? Rick took a second before he guessed again. "You mean the sky?" He asked her.

Skye jumped in place in excitement when he guessed right.

Rick smiled at seeing her so happy. "What about the sky?"

Skye pointed up again and then at herself. It took about two times for her to do this, for Rick to finally understand.

A look of realization hit him. "Your name is Skye, isn't it?"

Skye nodded her head and gave him a bigger smile. Finally he knew!

Rick chuckled lightly. "Well it's nice to finally know your name...Skye."

A/N: So what did you guys think of this first chapter and of Skye's character so far? :) Did you guys like the story behind the whistle and flashback? What did you guys think of her first interaction with Rick, Glenn, and Daryl. Pretty awesome huh? :D Also, don't worry about her not having any Carl scenes in this chapter because she will have a lot in the next one. Which btw what do you think their reactions are going to be when they first see each other :D Hmmmm? Till next time my lovely readers!