A/N Hi everybody! I realized that I never introduced myself on the first chapter so i figured I should start that now. (I also made the mistake of posting the first chapter really late so I hope people do actually see this.) My name is Sarah and I've been a walking dead fan since I first started watching it on netflix. Not having AMC for awhile and then not having an immediate streaming site meant that I am always one step behind the series, but I know everything where it counts and I'm rewatching every episode to write this story. This is only my second story, so be kind, but please give me any and all feedback you think is relevant of necessary. And if you think the chapters are too long, please let me know as well and I can figure out a way to trim them or cut the episodes even further. Most episodes will be split into at least two chapters, but it depends on how important the episode is to my OC.

My OC is described more fully in this chapter, and she keep becoming a fuller character with each passing chapter. I'm purposefully giving identifying details, but nothing too intense. I want everyone to be able to picture her in their own way. I never like when they are either so detailed, you have to constantly pay attention and remember it, or when an author gives an actor that they picture. I like seeing everything play out in my head and that means having a solid amount of control over how I see the new characters. Anyways, I really hope people will see this story cause I really like, but I'm going to keep writing and posting anyway because its fun.

Thanks to anyone who finds this and reads this!
Hugs and Kisses. Sarah


They all sat shivering in the back of the truck, simultaneously shocked that the plan had actually worked and shaken by the close call on the loading dock. Rick and Morales sat up front, but everyone else looked around at each other, still too afraid to do anything except stare at each other. T-Dog broke the silence. "I dropped the damn key." Everyone looked around, not sure how to respond. Merle was a redneck jackass sonofabitch, but no one deserves that. They all knew it was an accident though, so no one pressed it. Andrea looked around, surveying the group in the back of the truck. "Where's Glenn?"

Rick replied, "We needed a distraction to get everyone out of there. We'll meet him back at camp." Andrea didn't quite seem satisfied with that answer but she dropped it anyway. The group sat silently then, wet and cold. Rick kept looking back at the group, or at least that's what he told himself. He was truly looking back at Bella, who was sitting against the side of the truck behind him. He still couldn't believe he found her. He never thought he would see anyone from his past again. As much as he had wanted to keep up hope, it didn't seem possible until he found her. He stole glances out of the rear view mirror. Bella's light brown hair was pulled up into a short pony tail while she had to constantly shift her head to keep her bangs out of her eyes. She was fairly tall, standing just a bit below his forehead which made her about 5'7". Rick couldn't help but notice how her tank top and jeans seemed to hug every curve just right and he was a bit surprised that she still looked somewhat healthy. She had always been beautiful, it would take an idiot not to notice. Rick had always thought so at least, and he knew Shane did to. Rick smiled slightly at the memory of when they first met.

He and Shane had just come off their shift and were getting ready to head out. They just had to finish up some paper work, and then they were gonna go hit the bar and play some pool with a couple of cold ones. When they reached their desks, both of them froze at the sight of a beautiful young woman sitting on top of Rick's desk with her feet on Shane's chair. She seemed to be waiting, for what Rick didn't know, but she kept looking at her watch in slight irritation. Shane leaned a little over to Rick and whispered in his ear with a smirk, "Dibs." Rick grumbled in irritation before walking over to the woman. "Excuse me, miss. Is there something I can help you with?" She looked up at him, startled out of whatever trance she had been in before. Rick was mesmerized by her brown eyes, seeing flecs of green and gold as well that made them sparkle brighter than any he had seen. Then, he thought of Lori and felt guilty for checking this girl out. "Sorry. Is this your desk? I didn't realize. Sorry." She seemed a bit flustered and moved off his desk and stood awkwardly. Shane walked up beside him. "It's quite alright. Everything ok?" She looked at Shane. "Hm? Oh yeah, uh, everything's fine. I was just supposed to meet Officer Penn here for lunch but it's been half an hour and he hasn't checked in. I'm getting a bit irritated now. Y'all don't happen to know where he is, do you?" Rick smiled at her accent, pleased to hear she was local, before he scolded himself again. Shane spoke up, "Officer Penn is off on a call right now. He should be back soon. You're welcome to wait here, with us, if you want." The girl seemed to consider this before answering, "Alright, as long as I'm not bothering you all or keeping you from your work." Shane smiled and said, "Darlin' you could never bother me." Rick rolled his eyes, slightly annoyed that Shane's play boy side came out. When Rick saw her slight blush, he felt jealous that she didn't react to him that way. But he again thought of Lori and calmed down. He was married, after all, and couldn't go around flirting with random girls, no matter how beautiful they were. And damn, was she beautiful. He held his hand out to her and said, "I'm Deputy Rick Grimes and this is my partner Shane Walsh." She grabbed his hand and shook before saying, "I'm Katherine Isabella Penn, but everyone just calls me Katie."

Rick was shaken out of his flashback when he narrowly avoided hitting a car abandoned on the road. He then forced himself to keep his eyes on the road and away from Bella for the remainder of the trip.

Unbeknownst to him, Bella was looking at Rick just as much as he was looking at her. After she encountered the hospital and saw the state that her old neighborhood had been in, she had little hope for finding other people, let alone someone she knew. As much as it hurt her to admit it, she was glad that Rick was the one she found first, above her sister and her dad as well. She couldn't help but feel guilty about that but considering where they were before the virus swept the area, she had little hope to find them alive and she didn't want to think about finding them any other way. She looked at the man who had been basically her brother for years. When she first met him, she couldn't help but marvel at how handsome the man was. Even now, she could still see the warm, friendly southern gentleman she met all those years ago. The man before her was rougher, though, and scruffier. He had a five o'clock shadow of sorts, but his fair was still fairly short and maintained. Bella admired his muscles as he drove, straining to maintain control of the large vehicle. She appreciated how he managed to keep most of himself from before; she couldn't count the number of times she saw people lose themselves because of all this. Her heart swelled a bit as she thought back to how protective he was of her when Merle harassed her, and even though she knew she could take care of herself, it was nice to know someone was there looking out for her.

Morales told Rick to turn down a side road, little more than dirt, and Bella looked out of the window to see where they were headed. They drove up to a clearing that was full of vehicles and camping equipment. Rick stopped the car and everyone got out, running to their respective families before heading back to grab the equipment. Rick and Bella walked to the back of the truck and started grabbing bags since they didn't have anyone to greet. As they rounded the truck, Bella saw Glenn standing by the car. Morales called out, "Hey helicopter boy, survivor, come say hello." Bella and Rick shared a look, her pleased that she had the better nickname, and they both left the bags where they were to meet the group. They started walking forward while Morales explained who they were. "The guy's a cop, like you, and the girls been living by herself in the city this whole time." Bella and Rick stopped when they saw who Morales was talking to. Shane looked at them in disbelief, not quite sure what to think. Beyond Shane, Bella and Rick saw Lori and Carl the same time they saw them. Carl ran out to them, "Dad!" He ran and jumped into his arms, Rick doubling over out of relief. He walked over to Lori and enveloped her in his embrace as well. Bella stood off to the side, tears building in her eyes at their reunion. She didn't notice Shane looking at her until she met his eyes. "Katie?" Hearing his voice finally made it real as she ran towards him and jumped into his arms, causing him to drop the gun he was holding onto the ground. "Katie, is it really you? Tell me it is. Please, tell me it's you." Bella's tears finally broke through as she laughed slightly and replied, her voice wavering, "Yes, Shane. It's me. It's really me. I can't believe I found you. I thought I would never see you again." Shane wrapped her up in another hug, not willing to let go of her just yet. She didn't notice the look that Lori and Shane exchanged as they hugged their respective people. Both groups broke away and looked at each other. Rick walked up to Shane and gave him a hug, thanking him for keeping his family safe.

Carl looked at Bella then, his eyes widened further when he recognized her. "Bells?" Bella smiled widely at his old nickname for her and rushed to wrap him in a hug too as Lori looked on, a little less pleased by her appearance, but happy still nonetheless. Carl said, "I can't believe you're here. With you and dad and Shane and mom and me it's almost like we're a family again." Bella looked into his eyes, moved to tears yet again by the hope she saw shining through. She straitened up and looked at Lori before giving her a hug, albeit a bit one sided. "I'm glad to see you too Lori. I'm so happy you guys are ok." Lori broke away and said a bit strained, "It's nice to see you, Katie." Bella replied, "Its Bella now, but it's really nice to see you too." Shane and Rick had joined their little group again and Shane asked, "What?" Bella looked at him, "Bella. I go by Bella now." Shane seemed puzzled so she shrugged and gave the same answer that she gave to Rick, "New world. New name. New me." Shane seemed satisfied with that answer before wrapping her into yet another hug.

Rick was a bit confused by how relieved Shane was about Bella but he just chocked it up to seeing another friendly face from the past. She and Shane were about as close as she and Rick were; she was just as much their sister as they were her brothers. Shane turned to the group and addressed them all, "Everybody. I'd like to welcome my brother Rick Grimes as well as Kat-, er, Bella Penn to the group. I knew them both long before the apocalypse and I can't even begin to describe how much hope this gives me that this world ain't so bad. I want everyone to treat them with as much respect and acceptance as anyone else in this group. Do I make myself clear?" Everyone nodded in agreement, clearly willing to accept these two for everything they've done for them, and for how much they clearly mean to Shane, Lori, and Carl.

Everyone pitched in to help unpack the truck. Once that was done, Rick went with Lori and Carl to get settled a bit into what was now their family tent. Bella stood around a bit awkwardly, not sure where she was going to stay. An older man came up and said, "Hi, I'm Dale. I wanted to introduce myself properly and welcome you to the group." Bella smiled warmly at the kind man. "Thank you." He asked, "Are you settling in alright?"

"Just about," Bella replied. "I'm not sure where to sleep though. I have my own sleeping bag, but I don't have a tent."

"Well, you're welcome to stay in the RV with me, Andrea, and Amy. It might be a bit cramped but we can make it work." Bella looked torn. "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to put anyone out." Just then, Shane walked up. Bella and Dale looked at him expectantly, and he started to shift a bit awkwardly. Bella looked to Dale and he seemed to understand, "I'll go check on the supplies, see what you all managed to bring back." Bella nodded at Dale with a smile before turning back to Shane, waiting for him to say what he wanted to. "I, um, was thinking, since you don't have a tent or place to sleep, if you wanted to, maybe, share my tent with me. It's pretty big, and I take watch a lot so I'm hardly ever in there. I just figured it would be nice to be around someone you know, and lord knows, I'm happy to see you again and…" Bella interrupted Shane with a bright smile. "I'd love to. Thanks, Shane." He sighed in relief and led her over to his tent. She settled in and then everybody sat around the fire for a nice dinner. Shane sat in a chair, and seeing that everybody else seemed to have a spot already, even Rick, who was cuddling up with his family, Bella sat down between Shane's legs and leaned back. Shane smiled and made sure she was comfortable. The pair gained a few knowing looks from the group, especially Andrea and Amy, but no one said anything. Rick noticed home comfortable Bella and Shane were with each other and couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy again before quickly looking over at Lori and Carl.

Rick told the story about how he woke up from his coma alone in this strange and dangerous new world. His story made Bella shiver slightly with worry and fear. Shane felt her and leaned forward to wrap his arms around her shoulders and she leaned back into his embrace. When Rick was done, Dale looked over at her and asked, "Mind sharing your story as well? We're all a bit curious. Glenn said that you had been living by yourself in Atlanta this whole time." At that, Shane tightened his arms around her a bit more. Rick's eye twitched just a bit, but Bella noticed and shifted slightly, forcing Shane to remove his arms from around her to plant them on her shoulders instead.

She sat up a bit straighter then started, "Before the disease broke out, I had been working in DC for a non-profit advocacy group. I got a call one day from my sister, Hannah, who told me that daddy had had another heart attack and it didn't look like he was going to completely recover from this one. He had been having heart trouble for years; he never seemed to quite figure out how to take care of himself, always so worried about my sister and I since our mama had died a few years earlier. I flew back home as soon as I could, but as soon as I got there, all hell broke loose. I finally made it to the hospital, but it had already been overrun by biters so I had to leave. I made it to Atlanta after hearing about the military presence and refugee center. I was in the city when the military fell, and the refugee center was overrun. I can still hear the screaming sometimes when everything is quiet, and bein alone didn't help much either. I still don't quite know how I survived that long, but I had found an apartment in one of the big luxury buildings on the top floor. The rich had been the first to leave so there wasn't anybody left in the building to turn. I secured it the best I could and holed up in there until I ran out of supplies. I could usually pop in and out to get some, since I could see most of the city from the apartment, but I barely slept so I could only be alert to a certain point. I was on a run when I ran into your group, and after seeing Ricky again and how nice most everyone else was, I figured runnin back with a group of mostly strangers was better than being alone."

During her story, everyone stayed respectfully quiet. Once she was done, she leaned back again and Shane replaced his arms around her. Carl looked between her and Rick before saying, "Mom said you were dead." Rick replied, "She had every reason to think that." Bella noticed the look that Shane and Lori shared. She filed it away as something to ask about later. Lori spoke up, "Like Bella said, when things got really bad, they told me the hospital was gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta. It never happened." Bella spoke up, "I'm not surprised, after Atlanta fell." Rick chimed in, "And from the look of that hospital, they got overrun."

"And looks don't deceive." Bella looked up to watch Shane. "I barely got them out." Rick said, "I can't tell you how grateful I am for that Shane. Can't begin to express it."

Dale spoke up, breaking the tension a bit, "There goes the words fallin short again. Paltry things." The group was interrupted by a large crackling sound a little ways down. Bella looked over at the small family. She hadn't officially met them, but she could tell that the dad, Ed, was bad news. Shane said, "Hey Ed, rethink that log," almost like a question but everyone knew he was telling him to take it out. Ed replied, "Its cold, man."

Bella could fell Shane stiffen a bit before saying, "Cold don't change the rules, does it. Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance right?"

Ed challenged, "I said its cold. Just mind your own business for once." Shane made to get up so Bella stood up as well and followed behind slightly, to introduce herself properly to the family, but also to make sure the situation didn't get out of control too quickly. "Ed. Sure you wanna have this conversation with me?" Ed gave in. "Go on. Pull the dang thing out. Go on." Bella thought Ed was talking to Shane at first before she saw his wife get up to handle it. Bella bristled at this and moved forward as well, but Shane stuck an arm out to stop her. Shane moved over to step on the flaming log before crouching down. "Hey Carol, Sophia, how are you all this evenin'?"

Carol looked up and said, "Fine." Shane nodded. "Ok." Carol continued, "Sorry about the fire…" Shane interrupted, "No, no, no. No apology needed. Y'all have a good night ok. Appreciate the cooperation." He made to leave before he remembered Bella behind him. "Oh, and this is Bella Penn, the new addition to the group. She wanted to formally meet everyone in camp." Bella stuck her hand out to Ed, who looked at it with disdain before turning away. She turned to Carol and Sophia then and said, "Nice to meet y'all. I'm Bella." She shook Carol's hand. "If y'all ever need any help or anything, all you gotta do is ask." She turned to Sophia and said, "And I do a mean French braid if you're ever interested." Sophia perked up a bit and looked to her mom who nodded and replied, "That'd be lovely. Thanks, Bella. I'll let you know." With one last look to Ed, who still refused to meet her eyes though he seemed totally fine looking at other parts of Bella much to the chagrin of Bella and Shane, they both left and walked back to the group.

They settled back into a similar position as before and the group started a discussion on how to tell Daryl Dixon about his brother. From what she gathered from her short experience with Merle, she was hoping Daryl was nothing like his brother or they would have some big problems when they told him. Bella checked back into the conversation when she heard T-Dog say, "I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze into it at one time. It's not enough to break through there. My point, Dixon is alive. He's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us." Everyone stayed quiet then, not sure what to say. Soon after, people started heading off to their respective areas. Bella watched Rick, Lori, and Carl head to their tent, glad to see them like that. She couldn't help but feel a little jealous and sad that Rick was able to find his family when she had no idea about hers but she quickly dismissed the thought. Rick's happy so I'm happy. She turned to Shane by her side and he said, "I got the first watch. Go ahead to bed. I'll try not to wake you when I get in." He gave her one last hug before they went their separate ways.

Bella tried to settle down the best she could and closed her eyes. Dreams of the hospital, the city, and worst of all, her family plagued her. Her sleep was restless and light so when she heard movement around her, she immediately awakened. Forgetting for a moment where she was, she sprang into action when she felt someone inside the tent with her. The assailant quickly got the best of her and held her down. Shane whispered, "Bella! Bella stop! It's just me. Calm down."

"Oh, God. Shane I'm sorry. I forgot where I was."

"It's alright. I'm sorry I woke you." Bella looked up at Shane, fully aware that he was still on top of her from subduing her and didn't seem to be in a hurry to move. "You didn't. I've been havin these dreams, nightmares more like, since all of this crazy shit happened. I haven't really slept in a very long time. I thought that it'd be better now that I had people with me, but I guess I still have to get used to everything." Shane stayed quiet for a little bit, understanding exactly what she was going through. Then, before it could really register in her mind, Shane leaned down and kissed Bella, long, hard, and hot. Bella almost immediately started kissing back. Both of them moved against each other, like they once had, reveling in the feel of each other's bodies on them again. Shane managed to get his shirt and Bella's off before her brain caught up with her body. As she felt Shane's hands make their way down her sides to her pants, she shivered with the light touch, but put a hand out to Shane's chest and tried to push him away. "Shane, stop. As much as I've missed you, I just don't feel right about doing this right now." Shane didn't stop though. He didn't even seem to register her words. His hands made his way into her jeans and started rubbing her on the outside of her underwear, the way that always got her hot and bothered. She was lost in how it felt for a moment before she pushed on him again, more urgently and said, "Shane please stop. Someone could hear us. Shane, seriously." He started to pull down her pants so she grabbed his chin and forced him to look at her. She was taken aback by the carnal hunger and what she thought was anger she saw in his eyes before she said, "Stop Shane. Not like this. Not tonight." Shane finally seemed to register what she was saying. He sighed heavily and whispered, "I'm sorry, Bella. I was just so caught up in having you back again. I missed you so much." Bella understood. "Shh. It's ok. I missed you a lot too. But I really just need a good night's sleep for once. Is that ok?" Shane looked at her for a moment. "Of course it's ok." Bella put her shirt back on, but did take off her jeans when she realized how uncomfortable sleeping in them was. Then, Shane laid down next to her and Bella scooted close to him. He wrapped his arms around her as she found a comfortable position with her head on his shoulder, and they both fell asleep. That night, Bella truly slept for the first time in months, content and safe.