Hey everyone!

I'm so sorry it's taken me forever to get anything out. I want to thank any people who have continued to favourite or follow me and I hope you'll enjoy this new story which I'm really excited about getting into. It's been a few months of planning but I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do. Please Review/Favourite/Follow and let me know what you think and I'm glad to be back in the writing saddle.

How long had she been walking?

A day, two days, a week? Time just seemed relative now as the days and nights rolled into one paranoid filled existence. There wasn't much point to anything anymore, just the thoughts of keep walking, keep hiding and perhaps then she could survive. Her breaths were shallow as she leaned her back against a tree, her hand on her pummelling chest. She knew one was right behind her, but she hoped that it had lost track of her by now.

She peeked over her shoulder, allowing her to see around the tree. Sure enough, one of those things was straggling behind her, growling instinctively trying to follow her scent. Her knuckles were white as she gripped her weapon tightly. The knife was the only thing she had left; her gun was lost in a chase about a day ago. She couldn't go back for it with a group of those things snapping at her. She inhaled deeply before swinging her whole body round at force, nailing the thing in the head. Blood splattered onto her face as she twisted the knife in its skull, just in case. The bone cracked harshly under her hand before its jaws ceased moving and its head hung loosely on the blade.

"Motherfucker." She hissed through clenched teeth before leaning against the tree and using a push through her leg, she pulled the weapon free with another splatter of blood coating her arm and face.

She hadn't seen many around the woods now, she guessed the higher up the mountains she headed, the less there would be. With a sigh she knelt down and looked at the body now with a mighty fine hole in its skull and grimaced when her hand searched through its pocket's. She didn't want to search through people's pockets but she needed anything she could get her hands on, and these things didn't necessarily need their old possessions. Her hand's clasped around a wallet and some ammo; she had no idea what for. She wasn't a gun person, but she took it anyway just in case she found a gun it would fit in. You never know what you could find on some people.

She opened the wallet which displayed a photo of a woman holding a toddler in her arms at the beach. The woman looked young, perhaps slightly older than her was smiling widely, teeth a bright white even though the photo was stained slightly yellow. Her eyes were big and full of happiness, her young son sharing her eyes. The girl bit her lip and swallowed the dry lump in her throat and touched the photo before finding his ID. "Sorry Mark Campbell, your family seemed really nice." She whispered, her voice cracking slightly at the thought of him. The brunette always wanted to remember that these things were once people and not just things wanting to kill her. She put the wallet back in his pocket before standing up and wiping her knife on the denim of her jeans continuing to walk upwards, hoping to find somewhere safe to camp at least for a night.

She kept her knife close as she heard some rustling around her in a small clearing, too quiet to be one of things so it could be an animal and at this point, she'd eat whatever she could grab. It stopped for a few moments so she assumed it was safe and continued walking in what she hoped was the direction to some form of larger clearing until she tripped. The ground collided with her hands before it did he face as she fell on her front. Her breaths escaped her chest unevenly, almost as if she was winded from the experience. She could hear a faint a ringing around her as she tried to move her foot that was tangled in something, most likely wire of some kind. She twisted her body round so she was lying on her back and sat up slightly.

"What the fuck?" She hissed as her hands reached down to her feet, examining the clear wire that had tangled around them. She quickly glanced around her; none of those things were around so it would easy to get herself out. She muttered to herself about fucking hunters before realising that this meant people. Actual survivors that have supplies or it could mean a rogue hunter that's now just out to catch people to eat. She'd seen enough movies to know that apocalypse meant cannibals at some point, and it would be her dumb luck to find them.

Whatever it was, she didn't like her chances so began cutting herself out of the wire that held her ankles. "Gotta love the mother fucking apocalypse." She sighed gently to herself as she managed to get one of her ankles free, causing the cans around her to jingle. Her head shot up quickly to check around her at the sound, hoping that she just wasn't ringing the dinner bell. The surrounding brush remained still and the air gentle and quiet. Still happy she was secure; she began cutting at her other leg when the snarl she had become way too familiar with came from above her.

She couldn't contain her scream as the thing landed on top her, its jaws trying to grasp at any flesh it could. As if by instinct, she held her forearm to its neck to try and keep the thing away from her. She kept screaming, her body just using any adrenaline it could to get help from the people who set this up. Its face was grey and rotted, the smell hitting her nostrils hard. There was blood and skin stuck in its yellow, rotted teeth as they snapped at her, trying to get any ounce of flesh it could. Its eyes were clouded over; making it seem there was nothing left in this thing in terms of humanity.

It was an animal, a predator needing to feed on her to survive.

Her spare hand searched frantically on the ground for her knife, a rock, anything that could get this thing off of her. "Someone help me!" She screamed, her voice coming out as a cry as she shrieked between words. Her knife wasn't anywhere near her hand and if she tried using the other, the thing would clamp around her neck and that would be it. One way ticket to zombie central. She gulped staring up at the zombie above her and began accepting her fate. She was going to die here, all because of some dickhead's trap.

Suddenly she heard a grunt, one definitely not made by the zombie. As soon as she noticed it, the corpse was lifted from her body and a man had whacked in its head with a bat next to her. Her breathing was laboured as the man looked over to her, his eyes questioning her until he pretty much leapt on top of her, a knife appearing on her throat. "You bit?!" He yelled directly at her, spit landing on her face as her hands flew up to his arms trying to push him off.

"I ain't bit I swear, get off me!" She shouted back, her hands straining at his force.

"You scratched, anything?!" She shook her head this time, the blade of the knife slightly digging into the skin of her throat. His eyes calmed as he stepped off her, running a hand through his bushy brown hair. Her hand held her throat, skimming over the small scratch now across the skin. She could feel the air escaping her lungs through the muscles of her neck as she tried to catch enough to sit up. He was knelt beside her, cutting the wire off of her feet before standing up and offering his hand. She gingerly accepted it as she stood up, her legs like jelly from all the adrenaline leaving her body. "Sorry 'bout that." She shrugged, her hands landing on her knees as she breathed deeply.

"That walker was righ' on top of you. I thought you were done for." She scoffed at him before straightening her back and facing him.

"Walker? That's what you call 'em?" He nodded, his face looking to his left.

"Ain't gonna be calling 'em zombies am I?"

"That's what they are." She responded quickly before running a hand through her knotted hair, trying to stop her hand from shaking. "Thanks for saving my ass though, appreciate it." He shrugged, his dark eyes examining her carefully.

"Heard yer screaming, can't have that it'll just bring more down on us." She nodded once before smiling ever so slightly. "Well, I still appreciate it, thanks."

"Shane, is it done?!" A woman's voice yelled from the distance before appearing to their left from behind a small thicket of trees. "Lori, go back to camp. It's fine." Shane ordered gently, looking at her with caution. "This the girl that was screaming?" Lori questioned, completely ignoring the looks Shane Walsh was giving her. He nodded before lifting the baseball bat behind his head to rest of his the back of his neck. "Scared our entire camp." Lori admitted standing next to the deputy. "Sorry, I was being attacked and I guess its instinct." The shorter girl explained to her trying to ignore the urge to roll her eyes at the woman. What else was she meant to do with a walker on top of her, pray to God to save her?

"Your group, where are they?" Lori asked, pulling her long brown hair to one side as she examined her, interrupting the young girl's thoughts as Lori started having her own about the stranger. She was young, that much she could tell even through the dirt all over her face and body. Her clothes were wrecked, her hair hanging around her shoulders glistening in the sunlight even though it highlighted just how filthy she was.

The girl shrugged.

"I don't have one."

The older brunette bit her thin bottom lip and glanced at Shane. He knew that look. "Lori, no we can't. We got enough mouths to feed."

"She's what, 21, 22? We can't leave her alone." The younger brunette sniggered. "I'm 24."

Lori gave Shane another look before making him sigh. "Fine, but she's on your shoulders." He stated, walking the way Lori came. She rubbed her lips together as he walked past her and hugged her arms across her chest. "You can stay with us, it isn't that safe being alone y'know?" The younger girl chuckled nervously and rubbed her lips together. "I don't want to impose on Shane." She stated quietly, a slight bitter taste in her mouth as she said his name. Lori shook her head and took the few steps to get closer to her. "You wouldn't. We all need people nowadays."

The stranger sighed before swallowing a small lump in her throat and holding out her hand.

"Ella."

Lori smiled slightly before shaking her hand. "Lori."

The two women smiled briefly at each other before Lori pointed in the direction of her camp. "I'm sorry you got caught in that trap by the way." Lori said, trying to make conversation as they walked up the small hill to the camp. Ella shrugged.

"It's alright; it was a good trap for those things. Shane must be a good hunter."

Lori shook her head as they approached some small tents all set up together. "No, we have hunter in our group. Daryl Dixon. He set it up." Ella nodded, walking past a few people who gave her weird looks but she shook them off. "He's that guy there that Shane's talking to." Lori pointed to the slightly shorter man who looked angry as Shane explained to him what had happened. Ella sniggered at his anger before taking Lori's offer to sit next to her. "I better go apologise to him huh?" Lori shook her head quickly. "No, we kinda leave them to it. He and his brother aren't the nicest people in the world." She explained with a slight snigger. "Best to just leave them be."

The younger woman shrugged and looked back over at the hunter who just seemed pissed as he stormed past the entire group, his eyes on fire as he glanced at her, muttering something under his breath. Ella rubbed her lips together, avoiding his glares before running a hand through her hair. "Come on, let's get you acquainted with everyone." Ella nodded at Lori's suggestion as she called out several names, gaining the attention from several people around camp. Ella turned her head and watched them approach her, a polite smile appearing on her face as the diverse group of people introduced themselves to her.

There were families, family and even kids who shook her hand and offering her names that she would no doubt forget in a matter of minutes. All she could recite was the politeness her mother taught her; "It's nice to meet you," she said to the final person, an older man who looked like a friendly grandfather to the group even though he had a rifle hanging over his shoulder just to remind Ella how fucked up the world was now. "I'm Dale, I live in that RV up there," he pointed to the vehicle sat proudly on the top of the slight hill.

It seems to almost melt into the background of the mountains in the sunshine, but maybe Ella thought, that was the lack of water and food in her system making her brain blur the outlines. "You're than welcome to stay there, if you planning on staying that is," he offered with a concerned look over his features. Ella sighed gently before nodding her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "If that's okay with you, I mean," she bit her lower lip gently, her thumbs absently stroking the skin of her covered biceps. "I kinda have nowhere else to go."

Dale nodded in understanding as the girl quickly wiped her eye with her sleeve and exhaled sharply before smiling at him. Everyone had lost someone by now; everyone had that look about them. The look of fear, maybe even death just haunting them. "Let's get you settled and fed then huh?" The woman, Ella believed she was called Jacqui suggested putting an arm around her shoulder and leading towards the entrance of the RV.

"Dumb bitch," the hunter muttered to himself before spitting on the ground. She messed his alarm up pretty fucking good. "Shoulda fuckin' looked where she was goin'."

With a sigh he knelt down, inspecting the fishing wire that she had hacked through to escape. Yeah, there was no way he could repair this wire. He picked up what he assumed was her knife, the damn thing that cut through his alarm. Giving him more work for these fucking clowns.

Fucking Merle and his stupid ass plans to get supplies.

He sheathed it carefully behind his belt, making a mental note to be careful when he got back up. With a sigh he took the small reel that old ass in the hat gave him out of his pocket and quickly measured the amount of wire he needed to create a new alarm. As he was stretching the wire across the small clearing he noticed something on the ground reflecting in the sunlight. His eyes narrowed, the fuck did that bitch drop now?

He picked the item up, analysing it in his palm. It was a bracelet, he could see that. One of them ones with the stupid, expensive charms on 'em. Must have slid off her wrist he thought shoving it into his pocket. No matter how much he disliked the girl for wrecking his trap and making more work for him, probably meant something to her. Bitches like that always had expensive shit that had some sorta value to 'em.

Daryl may have been an asshole, but he wasn't that much of an asshole.