"Go to Georgia, they said. There's less biters, they said. Fuck them all," Peyton grumbled hoisting her backpack over her shoulder. The heat was killing her. A Northern girl in the south was not a good combination. She had lived in the southern part of the states for almost four years now and she had yet to adjust to the heat.

For being on her own she thought that she was doing okay, she was hungry but not starving. She had a gun but was running low on ammo. The hunting knife she picked off of a biter, having bashed the poor suckers head in with a rock.

She was beginning to get desperate, it'd been weeks since she saw another human. One that was alive. Her fear over mankind grew while biters bothered her less.

Walking in the woods, Peyton kept an eye on the road. It was her way of knowing that she wasn't getting lost.

"Next bar I see I'm gunna go there and have me a stiff one," Peyton had gotten into the habit of talking to herself, it was nice to hear some kind of voice that wasn't a groan.

The highway stayed in her sight as she continued to walk in the woods. Her feet felt like they were going to give out on her.

The familiar groans of biters snuck up on her. Turning around she saw not a few that she knew she could kill but instead a massive herd. Dozens, if not hundreds were coming her way.

Adrenaline kicked in, her feet no longer hurt as she pushed herself to run.

The weight of the bag on her shoulders felt like it was slowly her down. In front of her she spotted several coming towards her.

How the hell did I get stuck in between this?

Groans kept getting louder, the only way to escape was up. All the trees around her had branches that were too high to jump too.

Running away from the herd behind her she brought out her knife stabbing the biter closest to her, right in the ear, there wasn't much protecting the brain there.

A tree with a low hanging branch was off to her left. Making a dash for it she jumped, her hands scraped against the bark. Hoisting herself up Peyton continued to climb. She didn't feel safe enough to stay on the lower branches.

Groans of biters clawing at the tree startled her, they had seen her. I will not get eaten. Not today.

It was sturdy enough to hold her weight, but one slip or move and she would plummet into the hoard the scratched at the base of the tree. Hugging the tree, Peyton rested her forehead against the trunk, scratching her skin.

"Sweet baby Jesus how the hell did I get here?" Peyton's sarcasm was thick, "Ain't like your listening, huh big guy." Peyton found herself chuckling, born and raised Catholic she had feared death, afraid that she would be sent to Hell. This world now, it was hell.

Hours had passed, but some of the biters had stayed persistent. Scratching at the tree. She wanted to jump down from the tree and kill all of them. The jump though would at minimum would sprain her ankle.

Before the world had gone to shit Peyton was studying for her Nursing degree. Only had a few weeks left before graduation. She had been working a night shift when she saw her first biter. It had scared her, seeing a person who hadn't walked in years get up on their feet and shuffled towards you.

Peyton had been a coward. It was the first thing she thought of when the man was walking to her, her fear had only been confirmed when the old man bite her coworker's neck. It freaked her out. She had been a coward and ran.

It had been her cowardness that potentially saved her life. It had been her need to survive that got her the hell out of Florida.

Night fall quickly came and soon the sun began to rise. Her arms and legs were shaking from grasping the tree so tight, her thighs were on fire from supporting her body weight. Peyton wanted to sleep, eat, and take a shower. Today she could accomplish one of the three.

Climbing down the tree she stood on the last branch, looking, hearing, for any signs of biters. It had gotten quiet after that herd passed through. Almost too quiet, she was expecting there to have been some stragglers, waiting for her to make her descent down the tree.

Nothing.

Looking around once more before she jumped Peyton was positive that there weren't any biters nearby.

Peyton was well past the point of exhaustion, taking the hunting knife out for one hand and her gun in the other, she kept them ready for something that would be around the corner. There was something always around the corner.

The road was still in her eyesight, she wasn't a tracker like her brother was, he had tried so many times before she left the secluded Midwest but she never was able to pick it up.

"Let's go Pey, keep your ass movin'," She muttered, maybe she was going insane. Months of seclusion from other people could do that to a person.

The leaves were making too much noise, not wanting to draw attention to herself she reluctantly headed to the road. Less noise, but much more exposure to the enemies.

She had lost track of how long she had been walking on the road, the watch on her wrist had died long ago. That's when she heard it, the roar of an engine.

Looking back she spotted a green SUV, if she could see it then they could see her. Maybe they'd mistaken her for a biter, keep on driving. Not taking a chance she ducked behind a car, keeping her gun and knife in hand. She did not want to die today. Not yet. It was not her time to go.

"Lower yer weapons," The voice startled her, she dropped her knife out of fear, "Turn 'round," She did as the voice instructed. A crossbow was pointed at her face.

"How many walkers have y' killed?"

Peyton's eyebrows furrowed at the question. What the hell, she thought, "Why do ya care?" She demanded, her gun and knife laid on the ground in front of her. Defenseless she looked at the man with the crossbow.

"If ya think I've kept count for over a year, you're mad."

The crossbow lowered a bit, Peyton had finally gotten a good look at the man. He was extremely dirty, like he hadn't had a bath since the beginning of the apocalypse.

"How many people y' killed?"

Peyton thought back to her friends and the group she was with a few months ago. She remembered how sick she felt when she was about to pull the trigger, then after it was done she didn't feel sick, she felt thrilled. Killing people that she knew gave her a twisted feeling of enjoyment.

In the past two months she hadn't seen a single person after her encounter with that mad man. He had stripped her of everything she had owned, Peyton was avid to stay away from the living.

"Five."

"Why?" His crossbow had raised back up, hearing the news must have made the man on edge.

"They were bit. A couple of them biters came through camp in the beginning. Two friends begged for me to kill them, who wants to turn into the undead. The other three - they were bit later on. Did the same for them," Peyton didn't break eye contact with him, "Why do you care? Will it make your conscience feel better after you put that bolt through my head?"

It felt like an eternity as she waited for death to come. It never did.

He lowered his crossbow instead, "Got a camp not far from here."

"I don't need a camp. I'm going up north."

A voice from behind her startled her, "Why? It's cold up there."

Peyton huffed knowing everyone had thought the same. It was cold, but to her it was safety, "How many people do you think are trying to survive a Wisconsin or Minnesota winter?" She turned to see the man behind her, he looked Asian—maybe Chinese, "If there's not a lot of people, then there's not a lot of biters."

"Come to our camp, recharge. We'll give you supplies and you can be on your way," Peyton shook her head, she did not like the sound of that.

So many things could go wrong. What if it was a trap?

He continued despite her protest, "You look like you're gunna keel over soon, we gotta look out for each other now that the undead are walking."

Every instinct she had flowing through her body, it was telling her not to go with them. Peyton wanted to stop running, even if were just for a day. A warm meal, not constantly watching over her shoulder, and some half decent company. It wouldn't be all bad.

"Alright. Just to recharge. I need to keep heading up north, I need to get there before winter hits."

The Asian held out his hand, Peyton accepted getting help up, "I'm Glenn."

He shook her hand, "I'm Peyton Blake."