Rick made his daily rounds through the prison he and his group of survivors called home, checking on the items and small projects essential to their survival. First he stopped by the cafeteria to recount the rations represented by the pile of canned food they had stored, it was never enough, but he counted at least a weeks worth of rations left.

He stepped out behind the cell block to see how much rain water had been collected after the downpour the day before. The air was hot and humid, drawing thickly into his lungs as he breathed, and causing him to start sweating A lot of water had been collected, the trio of blue plastic barrels were nearly full.

He stopped to pour some water out of the valve at the bottom of one of the barrels and wash his face. Then he proceeded to the prison yard, where the group's makeshift farms was coming along nicely. Five rows of corn, six of tomatoes, and another five of green beans stood undisturbed. They would have to be watered soon.

Last, he checked the store of ammunition inside the prison armory. There was still quite a lot. There had been thousands of rounds, all of it 5.56, and at least ten M4 rifles in there when they had arrived, and the ammunition was half gone, but Rick figured they still had enough to last for a good long while.

The problem was that not all of their guns used the same rounds, and each bullet fired from one of the weapons they had brought with them was not easy to replace. The ammunition for anything not taken from the prison formed a small pile in the corner of the room.

They were also running low on medications. A life threatening illness had swept through the prison several months ago, and most of the medical supplies had been used up. Three of the other survivors, Daryl, Glenn, and Tyreese had gone on a supply run early in the morning to gather the rest of the medication stash they had discovered at a veterinary college a long distance away.


Daryl drove up the country road towards the college, Glenn sat in the passengers seat of the large black Ford pickup truck while Tyreese rode in the back, keeping an eye out for walkers. The last time they had taken this road they had run into a huge group of walkers, and none of them were taking any chances.

"Do you think that horde is still out there?" Glenn asked Daryl.

"I figure they probably worked their way somewhere else by now" the hill billy replied, "if not, we may have to go cross country to get around them"

"Well, it's a good thing we brought the truck then"

"We'll need it to get everything out of there, we're not leaving anything behind this time" Daryl stated, "We don't have the fuel to continue driving this far out on a regular basis"

"Y'all!" Tyreese called from the back, "I see something to our left, in the trees."

"What is it?" Glenn asked, poking his head out the window.

"I'm not sure, but it looked like some kind light in the woods."

"You think we should check it out?"

"We're not stopping." Daryl grumbled, "I've been driving all morning and we're almost there"

"Walkers don't make light" said Glenn, "There might be survivors in the woods. Which means we have to at least look."

"Too dangerous"

"We don't know that yet, we need to give them a chance."

Daryl stopped the truck. "What do you think?" he asked Tyreese.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to look…"

"I know I'm gonna regret this," Daryl signed as he made a U turn and drove back the way they came.

A few minutes later Tyreese spotted the light again. "Stop! I see it!"

Daryl stopped again and they peered into the woods. There was definitely a green glow coming from inside the wood line.

"The sun's already up." Glenn said, "Whatever's making that must be really bright."

"Ok" Daryl said, "Lets go on foot, the first sign of trouble and we'll head back to the truck."

Glenn got out and started walking slowly towards the wood line, shouldering his M4 and keeping an eye out for any movement. Daryl followed with his crossbow at the ready, and Tyreese followed behind him, rustling through the tall dry grass.

They had gotten only a few yards from the truck when Glenn stepped on something in the underbrush, something sticky.

"Hold on!" he said motioning the others to wait.

"What is it?" Daryl asked coming up next to him, "God damn!"

Hidden from sight by the tall grass were fragments of flesh, bones, and organs, littering the ground, caked in dried blood and wafting a putrid scent.

" I think these were walkers." Glenn said.

"They sure as hell smell like them"

"There's more over here!" shouted Tyreese

"Let's keep going." Daryl suggested, "Watch out for crawlers."

The proceeded carefully towards the light in the wood line watching carefully for any walkers still alive enough to grab at them. The entire side of the road and into the woods was covered in smashed fragments of walkers, not a single piece of them more intact than the occasional arm or leg.

They entered the wood line, still walking over corpses.

"There must have been thousands of them!" Glenn exclaimed.

"From the looks of things these have been dead a long time" Daryl said "I think this might have been our horde"

"Who on earth could do this?" Tyreese wondered aloud, "These walkers weren't shot, it looks like they were blown to bits and then crushed"

"Maybe there's your answer."

Stretching in front of them was what looked like a tall wall of transparent green glass, only it wasn't a wall at all. Even from a couple yards back they could feel heat radiating from it, a powerful smell of ozone, like overheated electronics, mingled with the scent of the dead as they got closer.

"What is this?" asked Glenn, "Whoever built this, it certainly wasn't a group of survivors."

"This looks like a gov'mnt project to me." Daryl said, leaning closer.

The wall hummed faintly.

"Don't touch it." Tyreese warned.

Daryl leaned back, picked up a stone, and threw it at the wall. The rock dissolved instantly with a sharp crack, turning into a powder that hung in the air for a second before dissipating.

"Whew! Glad I listened to you!"

"Watch the noise" Glenn said. "Lets follow this thing and see where it leads."

The wall ended a short walk away, protruding from a huge metal spike, as thick around as a tree, and at least eight feet tall.

"Look at this thing!" Daryl said "It must weigh a more than a car!"

He stooped down and examined the ground round the tip.

"It's been here a while, and it's set pretty deep into the ground too. I don't know how something like this could get here without leaving a trail."

"Lets get back to the truck" Glenn said "We still have a job to do"

"And I'm guessing the road is going to be clear" Daryl added.

They got back in the truck and drove in the direction of the veterinary college. None of them felt like talking much, everything was silent for except for the muffled roar of the engine.

Around evening they finally pulled up into the parking lot of the college.

"Heads up" Daryl said as he cruised slowly between the abandoned cars in the parking lot, stopping in front of the brick lab building. The trio got out carefully, flashlights and weapons ready.

Glenn opened the door to the building and sat still just inside the dusty corridor, listening for any sound.

"Doesn't sound like anyone's home" he said quietly.

"Good, lets load up and head back" said Daryl, handing each of them a couple of duffle bags and a backpack.

They moved quickly and cautiously to the medicine room, trying not to break the glass that littered the floor from the broken display cases on either side or bang up against any other debris that might attract walkers.

Glenn cleared the medicine room with his M4. There were rows of glass cabinets filled with a large store of various medical supplies. Originally intended for animal use, but suitable to replenish the prison's medical supplies.

The group got to work emptying everything into their bags. Syringes, antibiotics, tranquilizers, bandages, even the hand sanitizer.

Snap. A sound came from the hall outside.

All three stopped in mid motion.

"I've got it." Daryl said, grabbing his flashlight and drawing back the string on his crossbow. He notched a bolt and stepped out into the hall.

But what was outside wasn't a walker. It was large, insect like, and had six strong legs as well as a pair of smaller arms. It's dark black eyes shined in the light like smooth stones set in its thick green body. It was clinging to the side of the wall.

For an instant, the bizarre vision didn't seem real. It jumped down to the floor, landing with a heavy thud and let out a piercingly loud series of clicking sounds. The creature scuttled towards Daryl, it had a sick sweet smell, like stale vomit.

"No!" Daryl screamed, and let his bolt fly wildly, deflecting off the creature's body and sticking into the ceiling.

Daryl crashed back inside the room, smacking into Glenn as he tried to run out the door, the two collapsed on top of one another on the dusty floor.

"Run! Run!" Daryl shrieked. There was a mad scramble as the creature burst into the room after him, knocking the doorframe out of the wall. Tyreese broke a window and jumped out onto an awning outside. Glenn and Daryl followed as the creature nimbly jumped out of the window after them, landing on the flimsy metal awning, which buckled under it's weight.

Glenn felt frantically for the safety lever on his M4, switched to automatic, and fired off a burst of rounds into the creature's chest.

It let out a loud shriek and fell backward to the ground. He didn't know if it was dead, and he didn't wait to find out. He raced down the awning after Daryl and Tyreese, jumped down, and sprinted toward the truck; heart pounding and ears ringing from the shots.

The truck exploded into a bright fireball with a concussion that slammed through his chest and knocked him off his feet. His head swung back into the concrete of the parking lot, blurring his vision and shooting pain through his entire body.

"Daryl! Tyreese!" he yelled, scrambling to his feet. He'd dropped his flashlight and gun.

The flame from the burning truck cast a bright orange glow into the thick billow of smoke that filled the parking lot. Then, behind the smoke, a series bright pinpoints of light hovered into view.

The ground under his feet vibrated rhythmically like a sinister drumbeat, as a low ominous foghorn sound emanated from the lights.

Glenn stared back through the smoke at the approaching object. Tyreese grabbed his arm,

"Run you idiot!"

He turned to run after Tyreese when a rocket shrieked overhead, into the smoke. "Get down!" Tyreese yelled, tackling Glenn to the ground as the rocket impacted with a tremendous crash and flash of light.

The parking lot as came to life as a least a dozen armed men wearing camouflage and carrying rifles moved efficiently out of the darkness and into the lot, taking cover behind the cars and setting up a perimeter around them.

One of the men approached Tyreese and Glenn. Tyreese picked up his rifle and pointed it at the stranger. "Woah there!" the stranger said "You might want to put that down!" He was a tall man with a thick dark beard, wearing fatigues and a black leather jacket, and carrying an AK-47 in ready position.

Tyreese glanced around at the perimeter of armed men and reluctantly lowered his weapon.

"Good call" the man said, lowering his rifle as well. "I'm Tom, I know there's little time for introductions, but we need to get moving in a few minutes and you're coming with us."

"Like hell we are!" Tyreese snapped.

"Yah, like he says!" Daryl shouted, emerging from the shadows outside the perimeter, his crossbow pointed straight at Tom. "We ain't going nowhere!"

"Daryl! Don't be stupid!" Glenn shouted back, as Tom and the rest of the perimeter raised their weapons.

Several bursts of automatic gunfire sounded in the distance. Tom's radio squawked.

"That's the last of the skitters down, we have to move now" Tom said calmly to his men.

"Not with them you aren't!" yelled Daryl.

Something moved in the darkness behind him.

Daryl spun around quickly, but not quickly enough to avoid the punch that snapped his head back in an awkward motion, knocking him out cold. His crossbow clattered to the ground and was immediately retrieved by the blond-haired teen who threw the punch. The boy was dressed in black and carrying a rocket launcher slung on his back.

"Thanks Ben" Tom said

"Hands behind your back!" One of the perimeter snarled. Glenn and Tyreese complied and were quickly handcuffed.

"Lets go."

The men slipped blindfolds over their heads and led them off into the darkness.

End Chapter One