I was fairly young when it happened. I can't necessarily tell you where I was or who I was with at the time because I wasn't really paying attention. There was only one thought going through my mind. Don't let them touch Eric. Survive. Don't let them touch Eric. Survive. I kept telling myself. I took my brother and ran. In all honesty, he didn't really need me to help him. He was older than me at about 13 and knew how to take care of himself and others better than I did. But I did. The only thing I really remember is when he was almost killed, I saved him of course. That doesn't mean it wasn't terrifying, though. But that was a long time ago. Things are different now.

Never let your guard down, Mel.

I shoot up from my pillow and my knife is already in front of my body, poised to kill if needed. I can already tell I'm covered in sweat and there's nothing in front of me other than a filthy wooden wall. Not that I'm complaining.

Everything you've got is a miracle. Never take it for granted, lil' sis.

Eric's constant pestering runs through my mind and I subconsciously run my hand through my hair and start to roll my eyes when I realize that absolutely no one will see it. I whip my head to my left at a sudden rustling and standing by the doorway of the house we've set up camp in is Michonne. She hold up her hands in a mock surrender and I laugh quietly and sheath my knife. I slowly make my way out of the very comfortable sleeping bag and start to walk over to her when I trip like the klutz I am. I suppress the scream at the back of my throat and fall onto the ground… which is a little to lumpy to be wood. I look down and see my brother smiling at me as he pretends to attack me by actually tickling me (which is much worse.) I giggle and look to Michonne who is looking very amused at my predicament.

"You planned this, didn't you? Jerks. Sometimes I wonder how I deal with you two at all." I say with a grin lighting up my face even though I haven't eaten in days.

Quit whining, most people aren't even alive. By the way, do you really need to wear that shirt? It shows too much skin for my taste.

"You and me both, sister." Andrea says as she shoulders her way past Michonne and extends an arm for me and Eric. Winter had just ended and I certainly didn't miss anything about it. All I could do was try not to think about how my family would snuggle up on the couch together and drink hot chocolate to try and make up for the usual heat in our home in Georgia.

Don't think about the past, Melanie. Take life a day at a time. It only distracts from the now and you know we can't afford to be distracted.

After a while of planning and trying to make sure Andrea would even make it through the day, we collected our supplies and broke camp, heading out with the dead on chains to scavenge.

"Where is our final destination anyway?" Andrea asked after a long period of silence.

"Well, I'm thinking we can g-"

"Shh. What's that?" I cut off Michonne as I spot a large object in the sky hurtling towards where we're standing. Just as I realize what it is and the others do to, it crashes maybe 40 feet away from the group. Yep, definitely a helicopter. I'm sure I should be thinking if there are any survivors, but I've been taught differently and it's kept me alive this far. I exchange looks with my brother and we run out to the crash, scavenging any supplies we can. I get a few guns, some ammo, and protective gear before they come. I run to Eric as fast as I can and grab him. We run back to Michonne and Andrea and jump behind a bush as they arrive.

The dead aren't the only threats. Don't place your trust in people too quickly. Society is corrupt.

Of course when he steps out I pull out my knife and ready my gun. I might not be a good shot, but Michonne certainly isn't better, Andrea is sick, and after what happened in the beginning of this, Eric isn't shooting any time soon.

~Flashback~

Eric picked me up and ran down what used to be our home. What was he running from? What used to be our little brother. It chased us into what I knew was my parents' old bedroom. Not a great idea. Immediately we were cornered by our own mother and father, our little brother not far behind. I was too young to fully understand the danger but Eric certainly wasn't. He had snapped off the end of the nearby bed's wooden frame. The bolts had been shot for a while and dad was about to replace them before it happened. He stabbed our mother in the head with tears streaming down his face and I was already pulling out the knife dad had kept in the drawer next to his old bed. As my undead brother came at me, I let out an anguished cry and struck him with as much force as I could muster with my small and afraid frame. He dropped dead and I thought it was over. It really was my fault that it happened. My brother was too worried about me that he was overpowered by the thing that was once my father who loved and cared for me and Eric. He went right for my big brother's hand. My brother screamed so loud that I thought we were certainly done for. Then I remembered what he meant to me and decided that I was not losing all of my family. I used my pure rage to stab it with every ounce of my strength, killing it immediately and getting it off of Eric. He was writhing in pain and all he could do was shove the knife back in my hand and tell me to cut it off. Now, at an age like that, these kinds of things are hard to believe, much less carry out. I was oddly clever for my age and never questioned my brother's decisions. He pushed his arm out in front of me and I clenched my eyes shut as tight as I could and cut until his hand was clean off. Apparently, our screams were heard because a man who I later learned was the called the Governor came to the rescue.

~Flashback End~

As soon as I spotted him again, memories resurfaced and I would have pulled the trigger if it weren't for Eric taking it without any hesitation and giving me a look. I rolled my eyes and run my hand through my hear at his annoyingly wise decisions. I gritted my teeth and mumbled,

"Why do you always have to be right?" That's when everything went south.