A/N I own nothing but my OCs as much as I would love to own The Walking Dead, I don't.

Rewritten as of July 4th

Two Months Later...

Natalie rubbed her sleep from her eyes. "Dad?" She cried out but her voice was raspy from lack of water. "Max?"

She got up and her feet touched the freezing cold floor of her hospital room. Her family had been there a minute ago but now they were gone. Getting up, Natalie glanced out the window and gasped at what she saw. The loading dock of the hospital was covered in bodies with white sheets on them. A helicopter lay abandoned on the street in front of the hospital. It had come. The apocalypse was here. Struggling to the bathroom to get a drink of water, Natalie relieved her dry throat. Making her way to the door, she saw the note that had been left on the counter.

Nat,

The apocalypse is here. I hate to leave you here, but I have to.

You'll die no matter what we do darling.

They said they would take you to Atlanta ASAP.

If anyone is to survive the damn zombies though Nat, it's you.

You were ready for this I know.

Your brother and I are heading to Atlanta with the Dixons.

You met Daryl Dixon the day of your accident.

His brother Merle is here with us too.

They said there are safe places in Atlanta.

I left guns under your bed darlin.

Don't use them unless ya have to though

We love you so much Nat.

-John

Relief flooded her as she read it but it brought tears to her eyes. Scrambling she grabbed the black bag from under her bed. She pulled out a Glock 17 police issued pistol and a Mossberg 590 shotgun. She decided she didn't want to know where they had come from. Underneath it was her collection of hunting knives with a small sheath. Left in the bag there was still about twenty boxes of ammunition as well as clothes, and it brought a smile to her face as she pulled out a pair of jeans, a black belt, combat boots, and a black Ramones t-shirt with her leather jacket and her dog tags.

Grinning, Natalie changed her clothes quickly and pulled open the door to her room. A food cart had been shoved in front of it and she quickly and quietly moved it away. She had to figure out if anyone was left.

Walking down the hallway slowly, her boots barely making a sound. The only zombies she saw were trapped behind a cafeteria door but locked only by a padlock. A block of wood was nearby so she quickly put it between the two handles.

She was so tired that she returned to her room and fell into a dreamless sleep. In the morning she would leave.

As Natalie prepared to leave, she heard the sound of someone's raspy breathing from one of the rooms. It had a hospital bed in front of it and she quickly moved it aside before opening the door.

"Hey!" She hissed at the sound of water running. A man's head popped out, his eyes boring into her.

"Nurse?" He muttered.

"They are all dead. What's that for?" She gestured to his bandage.

"I-I got shot." He murmured.

"Okay well then, there's a zombie apocalypse out there." She spoke calmly even as his eyes widened. "Ah know ah know it's hard to imagine but it's true. Ah was in a coma, woke up yesterday. We need to get ya out of here."

"I'm Rick Grimes." He stated unsure of himself.

"US Army Corporal Natalie Adkins." She was so used to saying the whole thing.

After a few moments, he was dressed with an old police uniform someone had left in the room. "Ya were a cop?"

"Yes, I got shot on duty." Rick stated as he emerged from the bathroom.

"Ah was on misconduct so ah was discharge and was visiting mah dad in the mountains, got in a car crash ah think. They're heading to Atlanta. That's where we oughta go."

"I need to see my family." Rick stated as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Okay. Let's go." She nodded and picked up her back and put it on her shoulder after tossing him the Glock. "Ya might need this. And shoot the head by the way."

They made their way to Rick's house where he had a breakdown. Screaming and pounding himself on the head. "They probably went to Atlanta." Natalie offered after a moment.

"Why? How do you know?" He asked, his brows furrowing together.

"Mah dad left me a note." She held up the small piece of paper. "We should get to tha police station. See if those things are there or not."

After a bit of quick searching, the two found a black Hummer 2 in a garage. Quickly getting in, the two sped down the street towards the station.

At the station, the two each took turns taking showers while the other one looked for clothes in the lockers.

They made their way to where the guns were and smiled when they found the rack full of weapons. Grinning like kids in a candy store, they each took half the guns and ammo before going into the small kitchen.

There were about five cans of corn, green beans, and baked beans. Everything else had gone bad. The smell was disgusting so they grabbed the cans and went back to where the beds were. Each ate a can of food and put the rest aside for the next day, when they would set off for Atlanta.

Natalie and Rick awoke at five in the morning promptly, and divided the three cans of food among themselves. "I never thought I would be so happy to eat unsalted canned corn." Rick remarked as he finished off his bowl.

Taking the few bottles of water that they had found, the two grabbed their bags of guns and hopped into a police cruiser. The Hummer had been nice, but it was gas guzzler.

"I'm looking for my wife, Lori, and my son Carl who's twelve. Lori was stunning, I mean I don't get why she would ever want to be with me. And Carl, he's smart and he'll protect his mother. But neither of them know how to shoot a gun, or have any means of protection." Rick shared after an hour of comfortable silence.

"Ah'm looking for mah dad, John, my brother, Max, and some employees of mah dads. Mah dad and brother are mechanics, they know how to protect themselves, but ah guess ah fear that they'll do something stupid, try to be heroic or something." She scoffed, it was so unlike her family to do anything for anyone who wasn't their family or their friends.

"What about your mom?" Rick asked glancing over to her.

"Abandoned me 'n mine when ah was a year old. Mah brother was five and he said that she was nice and then one day she just up and left. We neva knew why, but she just took her things and disappeared. So ah was raised in a mechanics shop." And with that the nice quiet was restored to the car, Rick driving and Natalie fiddling with her dog tags.

"We're out of gas." Rick stated a while later as he tapped the gas gauge but the needle was in the red. They pulled to a stop outside of a gas station and Natalie grabbed the red Jerry can. Walking, they came across a graveyard of cars. Bodies sat inside them, flies buzzing constantly around the bodies. There were knives in a tree which Natalie quickly took as well as looking for any gas. They found about a can full before Rick shot a little girl turned zombie.

"Oh mah god." Natalie gasped before looking around and pulling on Rick's sleeve. "We have to go. Something might have heard that."

And so they were driving again. When they reached the outskirts of Atlanta, Rick began to speak into the radio."Now entering Atlanta."

After a few vain attempts, Rick stopped and after a few moments they came to a stop.

"What?" Natalie asked, she had been staring out the window and the stop forced her gaze from looking at the forest to the right of her.

"We're out of gas again." Rick stated and she groaned.

"Damn it." The two tried the house for gas but all they found was a horse. Glancing at each other, they both hopped onto the horse and began towards Atlanta.

The highway was full of burned cars but they kept going anyway, knowing it was their only chance to see their families. They saw a few zombies inside a bus, making the small amount of doubt each of them had grow.

"Rick, ah don't know about this." Natalie stated, right before he took off, Natalie and the horse flying down the street.

They went right into a mass of the undead. Thousands were just standing there milling around. The horse reared sending its riders into the street. Rick dropped his bag but Natalie scrambled and grabbed it and hers just in time.

"THA TANK!" Natalie shouted as she crawled towards it. Masses tried to get at her as she ran and slid underneath the tank.

Pulling herself into the tank through a hole in the bottom, Natalie instantly saw the dead soldier. "Rick!"

He scrambled up into the tank and the two of them closed the bottom. Rick was panting when the soldier moved but a minute later had a knife up to its hilt in its brain. Seeing the hatch open on top of the tank, Natalie rushed to close it before a stray zombie got inside.

"Are you alright Natalie?" Rick asked as he wiped his brow.

"Yeah ah'm good. Are ya bit or scratched?"

"No. You?"

"Wouldn't of come back iffen ah was. We need to find a way out of here."

"Hey you. Dumbass. Hey you in the tank. Cozy in there?" A voice came through the static of the radio. Glancing at each other, Natalie picked up instantly.

"Hello?"