Author's Note:
Well guys, here is the first official chapter! I wanted it to cover the trip to Atlanta before setting up the camp seen in the first episode. The first couple chapters will cover the time before the group finds Rick and then get into the main story. I wanted to give a little brief introduction to my OCs before you read this. I hope you like it!
Kidada "Kida" Reed: 26 years old, 5'5", brown hair, blue eyes, police officer, only child, parents died the day Rick got shot, her partner is Jacob Calhoun, Adrienne is her best friend (Lyndsy Fonseca is who I imagined for her)
Adrienne James: 27 years old, 5'10", blonde hair, hazel eyes, social worker, youngest brother Charlie is alive, oldest brother Marcus is dead, both parents dead, engaged to Jacob Calhoun, Kida is her best friend (Shantel VanSanten is who I imagined for her)
Charlie James: 19 years old, 6'2", brown hair, blue eyes, college student, older sister Adrienne is alive, older brother Marcus is dead, both parents dead
(Freddie Highmore is who I pictured for him)
Jacob Calhoun: 29 years old, 6'4", brown hair, brown eyes, police officer, unknown family status, engaged to Adrienne James, his partner is Kida
(I pictured Ryan Reynolds for him, but a little younger and slightly taller)
Chapter 1
"Are we there yet?" Charlie asked from the back seat. Kida looked into the rear-view mirror and caught his gaze, shaking her head at his inquiry. An audible groan escaped Charlie's mouth.
"We ain't doing this 'are we there yet' shit either. We'll get there when we get there. I'm already pushing 75 in a 60," she told him. She caught his gaze once more in the mirror and smirked to herself as he sighed in defeat.
Kida looked out the corner of her eye at her best friend in the passenger seat. Adrienne looked so defeated. I just a few hours time she watched her oldest brother, Marcus, turn into one of those flesh-eating beasts and attack her mother. She and Charlie managed to get to the bathroom and hide long enough for their mother's screams to subside. They thought it was safe and they had gone, but they couldn't have been more wrong. Charlie panicked while trying to protect his older sister and shot the thing that was once his older brother between the eyes. Their mother hadn't turned yet, but it was clear that Marcus had killed her. It was only a short time after packing their bags after a call from Kida that their mother turned. Charlie had to take of that too. At least he and Adrienne still had each other, but God only knows what was going through their heads.
Keeping her eyes on the road ahead, Kida reached over and placed her hand on top of Adrienne's. "He's alive. Don't worry. I'm sure he made his way up to Atlanta. Once we get to Shane, Lori, and Carl I'm sure he will either be with them or somewhere nearby. We'll find him," she told her.
They still hadn't managed to get a hold of Jake either. Though, truth be told, she kind of hoped he wouldn't be waiting there for them. It wasn't like she hated Jake or wished death upon him; it was that she knew something had changed about him. Though he was always arrogant and cocky, he still cared deeply about Adrienne and his job. In the past few weeks that had started to slip from him. Being his partner she always saw the best and worst of him on the job and the day she had gone to visit Rick and later returned to the station to find his bribe money she knew the best of him had disappeared. At least for that period of time it did. Maybe he was waiting for them; maybe she was wrong about him. She was extremely doubtful of that circumstance but she hoped, at least for Adrienne's sake, he was alive and well. She couldn't handle another loss.
Adrienne glanced at Kida and forced the best smile she could on her tear soaked face. The sight of her broke her best friend's heart. She loved the James family, they were always like a second family to her. She was thankful at least Adrienne and Charlie made it out. Meeting up with Shane would better their odds of survival. Sure, Shane Walsh was a bit of a flirt and a cocky bastard but he was skilled with firearms and knew survival skills. Kida knew she would need help protecting the last two members of the James family and she knew Shane would be a great help, even with Lori and Carl Grimes to protect too.
The immediate thought of Rick not being with his wife and son began to break her heart. She had just gone to see him earlier that day. If she had known the world was going to go to hell two hours later she would have tried to save him. She'd heard on the radio broadcasts that at-risk hospitals were evacuating patients and she hoped with all of her might that Rick would be transported to one of the larger Atlanta facilities and kept safe from these things. He was a good man, he deserved so much more than he was provided with in the past a few weeks. Maybe one day they'd find him and bring him back to Lori and Carl.
After awhile they hit Atlanta. The highway leading into the city was backed up and not one car was moving where they were. No one was getting into the city anytime soon. They were completely surrounded by cars and other angry people trying to get their families to safety. So many honks and shouts filled the air it was deafening. Kida pulled her phone out of her pocked and dialed Shane's number. He answered almost immediately after the second ring.
"Where are you?" he urgently yelled into the phone over the loud sounds surrounding the area.
"We're stranded out toward the back. Nothing is moving back here, it's completely jammed," she explained looking for something nearby to pinpoint her location to him.
"I'm up on the seat in my jeep looking toward the back. I'm waving my arms. Do you see me?"
Kida strained her eyes to see but all she could see was the back of the huge truck a few feet in front of her. She quickly climbed out of the driver's side of her Jeep Liberty, tucking her gun into the holster on her hip. She made her way around back and pulled herself to the top. She stood on the roof and surveyed her surroundings. Sure enough, she could see arms waving toward her in the far distance. She waved her arms back at him and pressed the phone back up to her ear. "I see you."
"I see you too. Who do you have with you? Calhoun?"
"No. He not with you guys?"
"No. Haven't seen him since this morning at the station," he told her truthfully. She pressed her lips together before answering him.
"I have Adrienne with me. We haven't heard from Jake. I have her little brother Charlie too. Their mom and brother didn't make it," she told him. A sad tone had come over her voice when mentioning Mrs. James and Marcus.
"Shit. I'm sorry Kida. Listen, they aren't letting anyone in right now and-" a loud noise cut off the last of his words before she saw him quickly turn in his jeep and face toward the sound. He was jumping out to run toward it. She saw Lori and Carl emerge as well and Lori took off after him while Carl stayed put with a family. She couldn't tell from as far away as she was who they were.
"SHANE! NO!" she shouted into the phone. It was no use, their call had ended.
Kida jumped off of the car and back into her spot in the driver's seat. She buckled her seat belt and turned to face Adrienne. Her eyes were as big as saucers, she was scared. It was all over her face. She turned to face Charlie and let a plan unfold quickly in her head. She reached over him and grabbed the bag of the few guns she had taken from the station was tossed one to Charlie and another to Adrienne with an extra clip each.
"Both of those are loaded," she told them. She watched the expression on Adrienne's face turn to utter horror at what was happening. Kida knew she had never shot a gun before, but now wasn't the time to take chances. Charlie, on the other hand, was already checking his out. He knew his way around a gun, which Kida was extremely thankful for. "I need you guys to have these ready at all times. If you see one of those things, shoot to kill. Adrienne, the safety on the side needs turned off before you shoot. Don't point it at anyone living and don't pull the trigger until you need to. If you're going to pull the trigger, you have to mean it. Got it?" Both James siblings nodded in response. "Now hold on," she told them before flooring the gas pedal.
She made her way around all of the cars on the highway and watched the families that had abandoned their own vehicles run. She stopped when she neared Shane's jeep and he signaled for a place for them to meet up so she could follow him. Three other cars followed Shane's and Kida's cars until they were far away from the highway. Shane stopped his jeep and stood up on his seat, peering at the scene that was unfolding where they just were minutes before. Kida and the drivers of the other cars followed suit and watched in horror as people were being gunned down. Those monsters had gotten out and into the mix. Kida's gaze met his and they had a silent understanding before getting back into their cars and continuing the trip to wherever the hell the road would take them.
Atlanta wasn't safe anymore and all hopes of a refugee camp were gone. They were on their own.
Thank you so much for reading guys! Please send me a review and let me know your thoughts!
I have gotten so much support from a few fellow authors and I want to give them all a huge shout out! I'd like you guys to go check out the author Poca and her story New World In My View, the author Backstroker98 and her story In This World, Nothing Makes Sense, author MistPhoenix and her story As It Consumes Us, and author crowfliesmyass and her story Horses and Crossbows and her new story Rope!
Chapter 2 will be here soon!
