Never Give In

Nick x OC fanfiction

Chapter One

Every time I see your face

It reminds me of the places we used to go

But all I've got is a photograph

And I realize you're not coming back anymore...

This wasn't how things were supposed to turn out. Ben and I were supposed to make it through together- everyone was supposed to live... But he was dead. He's been dead for… God, I can't even remember how long.

I took a deep breath as I put out my small fire, throwing my bag over my shoulder and walking through the forest. I was alone, now. For months I've been on my own, hardly surviving. I've had gotten so weak... It took everything in me to keep going.

I pulled out a photo from my back pocket. I frowned as I stared at the picture of Ben and me. It wasn't much, but it was all I had left- other than a ring, but the picture meant so much more to me than the ring, because I would never forget his face.

I could hear the groans of walkers coming near, but I couldn't run anymore. I was tired, weak and I wanted the pain to stop. I had fought hard for so long... Now I was just empty and lonely. I hadn't eaten in a few days, and only managed to drink a few cups of water... I was practically just skin and bones.

I turned around, facing the walkers that were coming towards me. There were so many of them... A dozen? Maybe more... I couldn't take on two at a time, let alone twelve... I closed my eyes as I let my fear consume me. I didn't want to die like this. I didn't want to become one of THEM...

No, Ben would've wanted me to fight... He died so that I could live...

I screamed as I stabbed a walker through its head, stumbling back a few paces. The others just kept advancing. God there were so many. I managed to stab another before falling back against a tree, covered in blood. I looked around wearily, hardly able to see anything. Loud noises and bright lights were all I saw, the walkers fell to the ground and my eyes closed, the darkness consuming me once more.

I woke with a start, sitting up quickly. I let out a gasp as I felt a sharp pain go through my stomach.

"You're alright!"

I looked to my side and saw a man with a plaid shirt staring at me, blood on his hands. "I'm not going to hurt you... My people found you in the woods- I'm just stitching you up." I stared at him for a moment before nodding, forcing myself to lie back down.

It had been a long time since I had seen what I hoped to be a friendly face.

"You're a doctor?" I asked quietly, looking at the man, who I guessed by his accent was Spanish. He nodded.

"Before it happened I was. You don't have anything too harmful- but you are very dehydrated. I'll go get you some water." He stood up from his stool and began to walk away.

"What's your name?" I asked before he left the tent. The man stared at me a moment before smiling.

"I'm Carlos."

I sat quietly as I waited for Carlos to come back. He seemed friendly enough, but these days you couldn't assume anything. I let my legs hang off the edge of the cot as I examined the room I was in. It was the kind of tent you would see at the immunization spots in fields. It was smaller, though. I was assuming we must have been outside, but I couldn't tell for sure. The ground was covered in some sort of plastic.

These people were very thorough.

Carlos arrived a few minutes later, handing me a full bottle of water. As he handed it to me another man walked into the tent and I felt oddly vulnerable as I downed the bottle of water.

Carlos looked at the man wearily before leaving the tent. I set the bottle down beside me and stared up at the man. I realized then he was holding my backpack. He must have been one of the people who had saved me.

"How are you feeling?" The man asked kindly, standing a few feet away from the cot. "We found you out in the woods surrounded by walkers, lucky we heard you screamin'."

I looked at the man with a cautious stare. "I'm alright, I guess."

"You don't gotta be afraid, no one here's gonna hurt you." The man smiled at me. "My name's William, but most of my people call me by my last name, Carver."

"I'm Tasha." I replied slowly, acknowledging his honesty.

"Well, it's nice to meet ya, Tasha. You been on your own long?"

I nodded. "At least a couple months, but I lost track. I've met up with some people but... They weren't good, I guess." I thought back to the other groups I had come across. They were just full of rapists and liars, and I was hoping that these people weren't like that.

"Well I'm sorry to hear that. You're more than welcome to stay with us." Carver set my backpack beside me on the bed. "You don't have to decide now. Get some sleep." Carver smiled at me before leaving the tent. I assumed the group was large enough that people would take watch at night, but I didn't want to let my guard down.

I was woken by Carlos the next morning. I had slept for ten hours and he thought I should get some food into my system. Plus he thought it would be good for me to get to know the others.

"I'm not really good at making friends." I told him quietly as I walked out of the tent into the blazing sunlight with him.

"Just be honest. I'm sure most of the group will like you." I sighed as I watched Carlos walk off to a little girl who, to me, looked around twelve or so. It made me cringe inside.

I missed my father. I really hadn't thought of him for so long that I nearly forgot the pain in my heart.

"How did you sleep?" Carver's deep voice came from my side. I looked up at him, forcing a smile. "I slept better than I have in weeks... Thank you."

Carver smiled. "Just glad we could help. Follow me and I'll introduce you to the crew."

I nodded mutely as I followed him across the grass to a large picnic table where at least a dozen, if not more people were sitting at. I stared nervously at my hands. I was never good at meeting new people, especially not knowing who I could trust.

"I would like you all to meet Tasha." I looked up at Carver before glancing at the table full of people. "We found her in the woods, and she'll be stayin' with us." I felt my stomach tighten as I saw the food the group was eating. Some sort of meat it looked like. I took a deep breath as I sat down beside an older woman, looking self-consciously at the plate. "You're to make her feel welcome. She's one of us now."

One of them? I didn't exactly think that yet. I wasn't even sure if I would stay. But it couldn't hurt to eat, right?

"Tasha? I'm Luke." I looked up and saw a man with brown hair smiling across from me, putting his hand out. I shook it lightly, forcing myself to smile back.

"It's nice to meet you." I spoke kindly, but it was more of an act than anything. I didn't know these people and I wasn't going to be taking any chances.

"This here's Nick-" He pointed to the younger man beside him. Nick gave me a shy nod, causing me to frown. He had black hair and bright blue eyes. He also had a hat on- was that a Halo reference on his hat? God, it had been so long since video games even came to my mind.

"I'm Barbra, Nick's mom." The older woman smiled at me before placing a hand on my shoulder. "My brother Pete is somewhere around here."

I smiled at her, feeling numb at the thought of the chance that they were just acting friendly. I couldn't become attached too quickly.

"Dear, when was the last time you've eaten?" Barbra asked me after a few moments of silence. I looked up at her before staring down at the plate of meat in front of me.

"A week, maybe. Everything's kinda been a blur the past couple weeks. I've just been trying to survive…" I lifted my fork and took a small bite of meat, not knowing how long I'd have food supplied whenever I needed.

"You've been by yourself this entire time?" Nick asked, looking at me from the corner of his eye. I shook my head as I chewed the meat.

"No, I started with a big group actually... But that didn't work out." I looked numbly at the plate. "I've been on my own for a few months, I guess. I mean, I've come across smaller groups but... They just weren't that nice." I took another bite of food, feeling overwhelmed by the amount of questions everyone was asking. I understood that they wanted to get to know me, but I wasn't really willing to let them in completely. Not yet.

"How old are you, if you don't mind me asking." Luke stared at me with an intense look and for some reason I couldn't look away.

"Um..." I thought for a moment. How old was I? Eighteen? No... No that couldn't be right. I bit my lip hard, realizing I was still only seventeen, for a couple months still. "Seventeen, I think. Maybe eighteen... My birthday's in a couple months." I finished the rest of my meat rather quickly, feeling nauseous.

"Why? How old are you?" I asked after a few moments of silence. Nick laughed from beside Luke and I couldn't help but smile as I took a sip of the water that Barbra had brought me. "You've been interrogating me, the least you could do is play twenty questions with me." I joked, smiling at him. It was odd, I couldn't recall the last time I joked. It was probably before- no, I couldn't think of that right now. I had to be positive.

Luke grinned smugly, leaning his elbow against the table. Luke, Nick and I were the only ones sitting now. Everyone else had jobs to do, I guess "Twenty-Six. Almost Twenty-Seven."

I laughed. "Wow, you definitely don't look that old." Luke feigned a hurt expression, causing me to laugh even more.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He replied smugly, taking my glass of water, drinking a huge gulp.

"What about you, Nick? How old are you?" Nick stared at me a moment, a small smile on his face. Nick seemed to be the more serious of the two men. "Twenty-Two."

My smile faded as I thought about Ben. It had happened so fast- one moment he was alive and the next... He was suddenly gone.

"You've been through a lot, haven't you?" I looked up to find Luke and Nick both staring intently at me. I managed to smile, shaking off the sudden sadness.

"Hasn't everyone? Everyone's lost someone or knows someone who has died." I shrugged, trying to act like it wasn't a big deal. They didn't buy it.

I sighed. "I'm gonna go see what stuff I have in my bag..." I stood from the table slowly, giving them both a small smile before walking to the tent I was staying in. I sighed in defeat as I sat down on the cot, tears falling down my face. I opened my bag slowly, rummaging through the small amount of items that I did have.

I had three sketchpads, a lighter, a few dozen pencils, a knife and an old, worn photograph. I wiped the tears from my face as I stared down at the photo in my hands.

Ben wouldn't have wanted me to wallow in self-pity. He would've wanted me to try to be happy. I took a deep, shaky breath as I shoved the photo in my jean pockets, wanting to keep it close to me. Maybe these people were genuine; I had to give them the benefit of the doubt. I had to have hope.

I smiled as I stepped out of my tent, unknowing of what was to come.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed! PLEASE leave a review they really help me out ^_^ I adore Nick and Luke so much (: I'll try to post chapter two ASAP!