Authors Note: Heyo, be gentle I'm kind of pulling this plot straight out of thin air (I'm sorta kidding, I've thought most of it out.) Anyway this is completely made up of OC characters and will not intersect with any of the walking dead characters unless maybe I do a special chapter or something. In fact, its set in a completely different state too, soooo theres that. Read to the end to learn about submitting OCs.

Hope you all enjoy ^.^

"What happens then?" They ask, "If I make the wrong choice..."

"You learn to live with it," He answers.

"What does that even mean?" They scoff, crossing their arms and turning towards the ladder.

"It means..." He stops, quiet all of a sudden

"You figure out how to wash the blood off your hands."

Chapter One

Surrender

- Oliver -

5:00 AM, Year One

First light hasn't even broken the horizon yet, I'm not sure why I'm awake but theres a ringing in my ears that says there must be a reason. I stand, slowly regaining a sense of my surroundings. As usual, the darkness of night swamps everything in shadows, the only light coming from the soft glow of a lantern. I quietly push aside the flaps of the ragged tent, peeking into the main camp.

A slight breeze carries crunchy fall leaves from the trees, but other than that all is silent. Still, my gut is screaming that something is wrong. Returning to the tent, I rouse Zachariah from sleep, careful not to jostle him too much. Hes still healing from a nasty fight with a straggler a few days ago. A jagged scratch splits his cheek, and when he blearily opens his eyes I notice they are still rimmed black.

"Whazza?" He mumbles, sleepily. I shrug, pulling away from him, feeling silly for waking him up for nothing. "Whazza noise?" He grumbles, starting to slowly sit up. I scrunch my nose, unsure myself until I realize that what hes hearing is what I've been hearing since I woke. A whistling noise...I had thought it was just a ringing in my own ears.

In an instant hes up, I follow suit digging beneath the pile of blankets for our backpacks. We may have to ditch the tents but leaving anything else behind would be suicide. He grabs my arm roughly, tugging me to my feet and out of the tent in an instant. The ringing is getting louder, both of us recognize the noise now.

"Shit, get the others." He whispers, I can barely hear him over the ringing now. All I know is that any second now the camps going to be facing more than just Walkers, if that noise continues coming this way. I run, dashing to the far end of the camp where a circle of tents has been set up around a fire pit. A few of them are already up, the noise rousing them from their sleep.

One of them, a little girl runs up to me, it pains me to see how frightened she is. "Is it them?" Katie asks with a whimper, hugging her stuffed penguin close to her chest. I don't want to frighten her further, but expressing the importance of getting the hell out of her right now is first priority. "Yes, I think so, go get your bag okay." She nods, turning and running back to her parents tent.

I notice several lanterns lighting up, panic overwhelming me at the sight of the bright glow. "No!" I hiss loud enough to get the camps attention, "They'll see us!" Even if its a little too late to be thinking about that. They listen, weary, and panicked faces all scurrying to put out the lights and gather their possessions. It feels like it takes hours, but it happens all in the span of a few anxious seconds. Zachariah returns a minute later, carrying his rifle.

"Alright folks we gotta be as quiet as possible," He stresses, looking towards the parents of the group, holding their antsy children close by. Oliver frowns as she watches Katie bounce from foot to foot, her parents not so much as sparing her a glance or comforting hand.

"We stay low, and move in small groups, nobody run it'll draw the dogs attention." I say, "Red, Sydwayz, you two come with me," I tell the two men, they nod, drawing their weapons. Zachariah proceeds to quickly and efficiently divide the camp into small groups, making sure that everyone knows the rendezvous point before we all go rushing off. I shoot an anxious glare to the north, where the whistling sound is originating from. Its become unbearably loud, and I know if we waste anymore time we'll be overrun.

"Alright go everyone!" I hear Zachariah say, the sound of the whistle nearly drowning out his words. I look to the two men at my side and nod as Red take the lead. Reds got better eyes in the dark, and with Sydwayz taking the middle position I can cover our backs, and ensure that they aren't following us.

"Goddamn, I though we lost these guys," Sydwayz gripes.

"We did," I say, "They can't possibly know the camps ours." Its a thin reassurance, more so meant for myself than for them.

"Right," Red snorts, "Thats why they had the whistles, because they didn't know it was us?" I lean forward and punch his arm, "Shut up smart-ass, I was trying to be hopeful."

He snorts, but returns to keeping an eye out. The trees here are thick, and I'm thankful that at least the sound of the whistle will drown out the sound of crunching leaves underfoot. Still, each step brings a tiny bit of panic to my brain, what if they hear? God, going back to that place...No, as long as we keep moving, don't let them see us, everyone should be fine.

"Think the others are doing alright?" Sydwayz asks. I shrug, then remember he can't see it so well in the dark. "Who knows," I answer, truthfully. Most of the people in our group are capable enough on their own. Its more so the kids and elderly I worry about, most of the younger group members don't like to take the time out of their day to watch over them.

It doesn't help that the group is so large, if one of us were to slip away nobody would notice for a number of days. Zachariah and I try our best to keep an eye out but two people can't spread their attention that wide without consequences. I almost wish I had taken some of the less capable members with me, but I alone wouldn't be able to protect them.

I don't want to think about it anymore.

"Lets just get to the rendezvous point." I grumble.

- Katie Mason -

5:45 AM, Year One

Mom and Dad won't keep quiet, they've been arguing since we left the camp. Yelling almost, and everytime someone hushes them their faces get real red like they are embarressed, but I know its because they are angry. I keep hearing my name, I don't know what I've done. I'm tired, I want to go back to bed but Mister Tillson keeps saying I have to keep walking.

"Are you tired too, Pal?" I ask my penguin, he nods his head and I hug him tight. I hate when my eyes start feeling all droopy, and my feet are starting to hurt really badly. I just wish I hadn't left my shoes behind. Or that Mommy would have remembered them...she used to always help me with them.

I step up to walk beside Mister Tillson, tugging lightly on his tweed suit. I can't see too well, but I think he might be frowning. He doesn't stop walking, but looks down at me. Everyone say hes scary because he looks angry a lot, and hes got all these weird scars on his face. But I think hes just lonely. Hes nice to me, and he never pretends like Pal is a toy.

I hold Pal up now, "Where are we going?" Pal asks. Mister Tillson pats Pals head, "Somewhere safe," he answers. Pal nods happily "Somewhere they can't hurt us?" I ask, bringing Pal back to my chest. "Thats right," he answers.

I smile, suddenly feeling a lot better. Before he can get to far ahead of me I hold out my hand, I can't tell if hes surprised but he only hesitates a little before taking my hand. I marvel at how much larger his is, and more wrinkly too. His hands are scarred up too, with the same strange pattern thats scarred his face.

"Hear that Pal," I whisper, "We'll be safe."

"I wouldn't bet on that kiddo."

- Zachariah -

6:50 AM, Year One

Morning light began to break over the horizon. It had been a mad dash to get out of the area as soon as possible but now with the light and the whistle completely gone there were more dangers to face. They had only ran into a handful of Walkers, but the closer they got to the city the worse it became. It didn't help that the trees weren't thick this near to the city, and there were more empty fields and lots to deal with. Not to mention the lack of cover where most of the residential neighborhoods had been leveled during the first phases of bombing.

"You doin' alright, Rosie?" I stop, slowing my pace to match her limping gate. Allowing the rest of the small group to continue on. She leans heavily on a walking stick, her dark skin covered in streaks of sweat. I offer an arm, but ever prideful she waves me away. "I'm fine, just wishing I was young again." She laughs, I have to force a laugh, given her expression she must notice.

"We're almost there," I assure, looking over the horizon at the rise of demolished buildings in the distance. Only a few have been left standing in the aftermath. "Yeah, you heard from Oli?" She asks, pointing a shaking finger at the walkie talkie strapped to my belt. I shake my head, knowing Oliver may have forgotten, or may be out of range still.

"They went with the thugs," Rose says, pursing her lips. I shrug, "Oli can take care of themself." I say, fully aware of Rosie rolling her eyes. "All I'm saying is theres a weird attachment there, and you know it, Zach." There is, I know it, but its not my place to tell Oliver who to associate with.

"What about Tillson, or Patricia?" She asks, fixing her steely gray eyes on a point in the distance. I turn and watch with her as Bonnie proceeds to take out a walker with a quick whack between the eyes. Even from this distance they can hear the squelching, and cracking of bone as its brains and blood escape from the concave hole in its head. Its long since stopped bothering any of us.

"Tillson's got the Masons to worry about, I doubt he'll have the time to call in, and Patricia's group already reached the warehouse." I answer. She nods thoughtfully, "Thats good, at least most of the kids are safe..." She sighs, rubbing at her eyes.

I let out a yawn, feeling my own exhaustion weighing heavy on my body. I could probably sleep anywhere right about now. Not to mention the added sting from the wound on my side, the stitches popped open earlier while I was running around, and its been a hindrance ever since. Can't stitch it up without Patricia though, shes the only one with medical expertise in our group.

kcchk kcchk. The walkie talkie blares to life.

'Yo, we've got the warehouse in sights.'

I grapple for a short moment with the walkie talkie, bringing it up to my face just as Olivers message concludes. "Alls good then? Let me know when your inside."

'Sure thing Mom."

I sigh, "Don't make me ground you."

'Fuck you Zee, -' 'Shut up!" Reds voice comes in loudly over the speaker. 'Oh god.' The Walkie Talkie cuts out, but I recognize the tone of voice they are using. Somethings wrong. 'Oh god, oh god'

"Whats wrong?" I ask, panic seeping into my voice.

'Fuck, fuck! Its a goddamn bloodbath Zee, oh god... what the fuck - ' Oliver screams, 'Let go, fuck, fuck, let go! Zee don't bring them here! DON'T BRING ANYONE HERE!' All sound stops, I pause, silence fallen around our small group. I bring the walkie back to my mouth. "Oliver?"

"Red? Sydwayz? Goddammit anyone?!"

"Shit!" I toss the Walkie Talkie to the ground. Rose puts a hand to my shoulder, but I shrug it off, falling to the ground and groaning. "What the fuck are we going to do now?" I hear someone ask, I laugh.

"Hope to god the Dogs don't sniff us out," I answer.

Authors Note: I'm accepting OC Submissions through PM (only) So if you want to see your OC take place in this story check out my bio and get the form there. Now, a little bit of info on whats going on.

So this is a completely OC TWD story set in a different state. The bad guys in this story are not a mock version of the wolves btw, they aren't actually called the Dogs, thats just what Oliver and Zachariah call them. They have no 'official title.' but these two OCs call them this for a very important reason that will be talked about later.

I don't want to give out too much info on the OCs yet, but currently we have Oliver, who if you haven't noticed is a nonbinary character, and one of the main focus characters so far. Zachariah who is a leader of a sorts of this band of survivor. Katie whose point of view we will see often is seven years old and her parents who so far seem to be rather neglectful. Mister Tillson (First name Rashan) is sort of a second in command after Oliver. And Patricia is the groups medic. Rose is an elderly woman who likes to mother hen whenever she isn't acting crotchety. Sydwayz and Red are Olivers friends, and as described by Rose "thugs." of a sorts.

I'm accepting quite a few OCs but not all of them will be main characters, and EVERYONE is subject to being killed off, so keep that in mind.