Mornings were Hannah's favorite part of the day. She loved how humid it was in the mornings and how peaceful it usually was. The temperature was just about right too- it wasn't too cold nor was it insanely hot yet. If it weren't for the snoring coming from Henry's tent, the morning would have been perfect.

She used her spoon to scoop out the last spoonful of baked beans out of the can and she let out a happy sound that very much resembled an "mm." She tried her best to go with as little food as she could get away with. Their supplies were limited and before they had managed to get that deer last night, they had been running low on food that didn't taste like cans. She picked up the small bit of deer she had allowed herself and she stuffed it into her mouth, chewing greedily.

Suddenly a very foul stench caused her to stop chewing and almost made her return the food she had consumed for breakfast. She dropped the spoon she had held in her hand and immediately grabbed her rifle. "Gofamn fstinky ass Walfers," she mumbled; her mouth full with the deer. She turned herself in a circle until she spotted the nasty smelling creature that had been behind her. She immediately shot it, landing the bullet square in its forehead. The Walker seemed to stumble back before it fell down to the ground.

She walked over to it and looked at it with disgust. It looked like it had been a young woman, a couple years older than herself. Hannah bent over and gently removed a necklace that had been hanging on the Walker's neck. It was heart shaped and had some sort of engraving on the back. Forever yours, Ray. She shrugged, backing away from the Walker so that she was able to swallow the rest of her food.

She didn't look at is as looting. After all, it had been hanging on the body of a Walker. It was just an interesting habit she had developed. It had begun as a silly longing to hang on to something that reminded her of her friends that had passed on but it had developed into a morbid kind of curiosity. The jewelry that the Walkers wore allowed her to form some sort of story for them in her mind. She would guess what kind of life they had lived before they had become the Walking Dead. Sometimes she would pretend that dying was some sort of redemption for him. That they had wanted to escape their lives.

This one had been with her man, Ray, for many years. They were childhood sweethearts with history that went all the way back to kindergarten. They had just begun to establish a life together, finally moving in, when the epidemic hit them. They had tried to survive on their own but one day he had come home with a bite. She had desperately tried to nurse him back to health until eventually he passed away. Being heartbroken by the loss of her one true love she had stayed by his side until he came back. She had embraced him and told him how much she missed him. She had allowed him to take her because life without him wouldn't mean a thing.

Hannah put the necklace into a side pocket on her backpack, one which was filled with necklaces, rings and watches of all sorts. She sighed, realizing that the stories in her head were probably not true. But she was a romantic and she wanted to believe that people really did love each other enough to be unable to survive without each other.

"What was that?"

She had been so preoccupied with the necklace that she had failed to notice that both Pablo and Henry were out of their tents. She looked at them and smiled softly. "Walker decided to pay us a visit. She's over there," she said, pointing towards the Walker. Pablo stood on his toes to get a peek but he quickly turned his head away, regretting the curiosity. He walked on over to the food bag and he pulled up a can of apricots. Hannah watched as he struggled with the can for a while, trying to pull off the lid. Almost as soon as she got read to help him, he managed to open it on his own.

"Since you're both up, I'll began packing the tents," she announced, receiving a nod of acknowledgment from Pablo.

"Give me a minute to breakfast and I'll get around to packing my own," Henry said, protesting the idea that she would pack up his things. Hannah shrugged, accepting the old man's protest. Even if she wanted to spare him the work she knew that it would be futile. He was incredibly stubborn and going up against him would only vex her.

Packing together their camp didn't take long. They had set up and taken down the tents so many times that it was almost an automated process. They kept their bags packed at all times to prevent leaving something behind if they had to leave in a hurry and this greatly reduced the time they had to spend packing. She looked at the camp, trying to make sure that nothing was being forgotten. On her back she had her backpack which had the tent fastened to it and she had the duffle bag with the food over that bag. Pablo had his own bag and he was armed with a knife in case he somehow had to face a Walker. Henry had his small backpack on his bag with the tent attached to it.

"Alright, let's go," she said, taking Pablo's hand in her left one while she held the rifle with the right. "Henry, which way do you suggest we go?" she asked, looking to the old man for advice. She had taken control of the situation since Pablo's parents had passed on but she always looked to Henry for help. The old man didn't seem to protest being second in command but Hannah could tell at times that he wanted to have more power when it came to decisions. It was for the better too, he had traveled more in Georgia than she had and he seemed to know how to navigate the state far better than she did.

With old age came wisdom, her mother had always told her.

"I think we should keep west. As long as we don't go back up north, we should be fine for now," Henry replied hoarsely. He honestly didn't know where they should look for shelter but west was as good a place as any to start.

They began walking through the forest, trying their best to avoid the Walkers they would see in the distance. Obviously there was no way to avoid the Walkers at all times and that usually forced them to fire their guns (since they lacked silent weapons of any sorts) but they managed to evade a few Walkers by going quietly and staying out of their sight.

They had to stop frequently so that Henry could catch his breath. He was well into his seventies and he had apparently had a couple of knee surgeries before the apocalypse. Hannah suspected that he was in much more pain than he let on; she often caught him wincing quite a few times. The old man was obviously trying his best to not slow them down and for that, Hannah was thankful.

"Mama, look!"

The urgency in Pablo's voice caused Hannah to turn on her attack mode. She let go of his hand and pulled up the rifle, aiming it in the direction where he had pointed. But instead of seeing a Walker or some other kind of threat, she saw a well and the further she tried to look, the fewer the trees seemed to be. She lowered her hands and returned her left hand into Pablo's. She looked at both Pablo and Henry, giving each of them a hopeful smile. They had only been on their feet for maybe five, six hours. She hadn't expected them to find something in such a short amount of time.

On the inside, she laughed at that thought. Since when had six hours become a short amount of time? She could easily recall the time when an hour felt like forever.

They picked up the pace and in no time they had reached the well. The sight that awaited them at the well as both magnificent and terrifying at the same time. There was a small town that looked like it was relatively intact, which meant that they would be able to stay there as long as it didn't get overrun with Walkers. The terrifying part was the fact that there were plenty of Walkers in sight, roaming the streets of the town. Hannah looked at Henry, her brows furrowed and her expression quizzical.

"Let's take what belongs to us from those creatures," he said with a growl, causing Pablo to perk up with excitement. Hannah put down the load that she had been carrying on her back and she pulled the ammo that had been sitting in the bottom of her bag. She waited for Henry to do the same.

"Pablo, stay close to me, alright?" she asked, looking at the boy with a pleading expression. He nodded. "Yes, mama," he said, grabbing on to the bottom of her shirt. Henry nodded to her and they headed towards the town, leaving their things behind at the well. The last thing they needed was cargo slowing them down.

Saying that the group was tired as a vast understatement. They were not only physically worn out but also emotionally. Between trying to defend Hershel's farm and trying to get out of the ordeal alive, they had lost far more people than they should have. After Daryl's outburst Beth had toned down the sobbing, trying to keep it more to herself in hopes of not riling him up again.

Everyone was sort of just in their own corner, mourning or thinking about what had gone down just a few days ago. Rick had thought it was a good idea to let everyone cool down a little bit before getting on the move again. It wasn't fair to ask them to get up right after losing so much. Especially Hershel and his family. They had lost the farm which had meant a lot to him. Rick had been tempted to feel bad about what happened to Hershel's farm but then he had been reminded that it hadn't been their fault. The Walkers would have eventually found it either way.

"Hey Carl, come back here," he said loudly to his son, who was standing a little further away than the rest of them. The boy turned around and scurried back towards his father.

"Dad, do you hear that?" he asked, his eyes wide with excitement. Rick furrowed his brows and tried to listen for something out of the usual but all he could hear was the chatter of the group and the sounds of somebody stepping on twigs.

"Hear what?" he asked, concerned that there was some sort of danger just around the corner. Carl took his hand and lead him to where he had been standing. That's when Rick heard it.

The sound was far away but it was an unmistakable sound. Gunshots and a lot of them. His first instinct was to think of Andrea but the idea was quickly dismissed when he realized that there were at least two different guns firing away. He looked at Carl. "Have they been going on for long?" he asked. Carl shook his head. "They only started a couple of minutes ago."

This was it. They had had a few days to cool off and collect themselves. Of course, some of them were still angry at him for not telling them that they were all infected but he had made it clear that if they didn't leave, they would have to listen to him. "Daryl," he called out, catching the attention of the man he now considered to be second in command. Daryl threw down the piece of wood he had been entertaining himself with by whittling. He sauntered on over to Rick.

"Whatcha want?"

"Listen… Do you hear that?"

Daryl listened carefully. It didn't take him long to pick up on the sound of gunshots in the distance. He looked at Rick, wondering whether it would be a good idea to travel in that direction. After all, the gunshots could be coming from that crazy group that that kid Randall had been running with.

"Sound like a bunch o' idiots," Daryl finally commented.

"Maybe we should try and… find whoever shooting there. There might be shelter there," Rick said, obviously deep in thought. Daryl shrugged.

"Don't know. 'Em Walkers will be fightin' o'er who gets there first," Daryl commented. "Might be a good idea though. Can't stay out here forever."

"I think we need to gather everyone up and go then. Don't know how long we'll be able to hear the gunshosts," Rick said, heading towards the rest of the camp. Daryl shrugged, not minding having something to do again. It was better than sitting around, waiting for something to happen.

"God damn, this town really had its fair share of Walkers," Hannah commented as they picked up the items they had left at the well. They must have taken down at least thirty Walkers but luckily only suffered a couple of close calls. Henry chuckled heartily, only to have his chuckles to turn into long and deep coughs. Hannah and Pablo stopped, waiting for Henry to recover from the fit.

"Don't you two be pitying me," he said, walking as fast as he could, quickly passing the two of them. Hannah and Pablo followed him as they went up to the town. "And don't think there won't be more Walkers. We made quite a ruckus with all that gun firing," he reminded them. Hannah knew he was right, they were going to have to face a lot of Walkers, at least in the next few days. She reminded herself that once they had settled in, they had to remember to look for some weapons in the buildings of the house, preferably ones that weren't as loud as guns.

"Pablo, which house do you want to stay in?" she asked as soon as they entered the town. She had promised him earlier that he would have the freedom to choose where they would be spending the night and she had told him to look for a nice looking house while they were taking down the Walkers. She didn't care where they slept, as long as it had a bed big enough for the two of them.

The boy let go of her hand and walked towards a single story house that had a rocking chair on the porch and a mailbox in front of it. He had been eyeing it from the moment they had entered the town. It reminded him of the house he used live in with his parents. "I like this one," he said, looking back at Hannah. She smiled brightly and headed over to the boy's side. They walked side by side, Henry following them, towards the house.

Turning the doorknob, Hannah was relieved to find that it was unlocked. She opened the door and Pablo immediately ran in and threw down his bag. "Be careful!" Hannah called out as he ran into one of the rooms. They had no idea whether there were Walkers in the houses but she suspected that if there had been, they would have come out in order to join in on the fun that had gone down earlier.

"Mama! Come look at this!" he called out from one of the rooms. Setting her things down, Hannah made her way into the room he had called from, only to find him standing on a huge bed. "A real bed!" she said loudly, jumping on to the bed and laying down on it. It was beyond nice being able to experience the luxury of a real bed. The tent had been all they hand under them for the last few weeks and frankly it was beginning to affect Hannah's back.

"Looks like you picked us a nice home, Pablo," she said, receiving a small smile from the boy. She liked the sound of that, home. She hadn't had on in what felt like forever. When you were out camping, nothing really felt like home. There was no safety in sleeping in a tent and constantly looking into the forest for enemies. Even though this home wasn't exactly safe, it was better than what they had been dealing with the past few months.

While Pablo and Hannah were celebrating the fact that they had a bed, Henry took it upon himself to look in the cupboards. He was more than pleased when he discovered that the previous inhabitants had stocked up on cans that they didn't seem to have a chance to consume. Whether there was any good stuff left in the town grocery, they at least had enough canned food to keep them going until they caught more animals. Perhaps this time they could bring their carcasses back some and get more meat off of them.

He picked up his shotgun from where he had left it and he slowly made his way out of the house. He wasn't going to interrupt Hannah and the boy in their moment of bliss but he sure as hell wasn't going to stay in the house and wait for the Walkers to come a knocking at their door. He sat down in the rocking chair and let out a sigh of relief as he was finally able to rest his old feet. They had been killing him for quite a while now although he tried his best to toughen it out. Hannah had given him some painkillers she had found in one of the cars they had searched through while on the highway. They had made things easier, without a doubt, but when the effects would wear of the pain would be greater than before.

He was too old to be traveling around Georgia. He knew he had told Hannah that they would go to Florida if they had to but he knew that he would never have made it all the way down there. He would have had to stop eventually for good. His knees weren't made for traveling the country and if the world hadn't gone to hell he would have been on his way to have yet another surgery. He closed his, allowing the exhaustion to take over.

It wasn't until roughly two hours later that he was forced to wake up when the front door of the house slammed. He jumped slightly in his chair and looking to the front door quickly, only to see Hannah and Pablo, both giggling like mischievous little children. He understood right away that they had been trying to wake him up. "You little rascal!" he said, jokingly, as he stood up and walked towards Pablo. The boy giggled as he was tickled by the old man.

When he was through with playing around, Henry stood up straight and looked at Hannah with a quizzical expression, wondering what she wanted with him.

"We're going to explore the town. See if we can find a house with some toys for Pablo. Try and find a way to secure the town a little," she said, putting a hand on the man's shoulders. "You should go in and have a rest. The best is very comfortable," she said with a wink, knowing that the man was probably exhausted to the bone.

Henry opened his mouth to protest but quickly shut it. She and the boy could handle themselves and he knew it. They wouldn't have survived this long if they weren't strong enough to keep alive. The boy hadn't yet had a real chance to defend himself but he listened well and he was careful. The redhead was a survivor, she was a good shot and she seemed to keep a level head when they needed one the most. "Alright, you two stay safe out there," he said, opening up the front door. "And don't you let go of that knife, son. You never know when you're going to need it," he warned Pablo before disappearing into the house.

Pablo grabbed Hannah's hand with his free one and they began exploring the houses, one by one. Most of the houses were obviously abandoned at last minute. Some of them even had food on the stove that had been left in a hurry, making Hannah wonder whether this house had had some sort of sudden panic. Empty houses, all left in a hurry, that wasn't exactly normal for a small town. At least she didn't figure, although she had no way of knowing.

Her family had lived in a rather secluded cabin, ten minutes away from the town of the area. She had been homeschooled which meant that she had never really had much of a chance to learn how things worked in a town, at least not on a daily basis. It hadn't been until the apocalypse began that she met most of the inhabitants of the town, all of which were now long gone. Henry had lived in a couple towns over and Pablo and his parents had joined in when they were fairly close to Atlanta. The sense of community that had developed in the group had made Hannah wish that she had grown up in a town. Everyone seemed to work together to make things work out and having no experience of living in a town herself, that's how she assumed things worked.

"Mama! I found some toys!"

She climbed down the stairs of the creaky house that was at the edge of the town. "Pablo, where you are?" she questioned, not sure where to find him. She had only surveyed each room quickly, not taking in their contents. If they were Walker free, she moved on to the next house. Suddenly Pablo's head popped out from a door and his hand extended, waving her over. She walked over to the door to see a child's room. For a moment her heart ached when she saw hand drawn pictures hanging on the walls, obviously belonging to the child that had inhabited the room previously.

"Grab any toys you want," she said, picking up a backpack that was resting on the neatly made bed. She handed it to Pablo, who promptly filled the bag with toys. There was an abundance of toys to choose from. Legos, actions figures, toy cares…. You name it, this kid had had it. As Pablo filled the bag with toys, Hannah examined the bookcase that had been filled with all sorts of books, mainly fairytales.

"Pablo, do you like fairytales?" she asked, pulling out a compilation book containing H.C. Anderson's fairytales. She remembered reading those when she was younger, being heartbroken when she read the little mermaid. The Danish writer really knew how to create fairytales that could tug at someone's heart. The boy looked at her and shrugged. "I guess so. Papa would sometimes read them to me," he said, closing the bag that was now filled with Legos and toy cars. He stood up and moved so that he was next to Hannah.

"Then let's take one of these," she said, handing Pablo the collection of Andersen's fairytales.

"I'm hungry," the boy said as soon as they had exited the house. Hannah looked at him and smiled, ruffling his head with her hand.

"How about you go back to the house, put your toys away and wake up Henry. I'm sure he's starving too," she suggested.

"What about you, mama?"

"I'm not hungry. Anyways, I want to do some more looking around," she said. The boy looked at her for a while, almost as if he was trying to decipher what she really meant. After a while he seemed to accept her words as truth. He held up his knife, as a silent promise that he would be careful on his way back. Hannah smiled and gave him a thumbs up. She watched as he ran up the street, turning left at the end. The house was close enough that she didn't worry about him anymore. After all, they had just gone through the whole town and rid it of the remaining Walkers.

Hannah stood a little longer, listening for the door to slam shut. When she finally heard it she went straight to the first Walker body she could see. She searched it for some sort of jewelry, only to find nothing. She sighed, wondering what she was supposed to do with all these bodies. They would just stink up the streets of this new found haven and there was little use for Walkers bodies. The only thing they were good for was to mask the scent of living to other Walkers.

Then she had an idea. If having a permanently-dead Walker on top of you prevented other Walkers from noticing you, wouldn't a bunch of dead Walkers help keep other Walkers at bay? She was sure that they wouldn't completely eliminate the threat of the Walkers wandering into the town but it wouldn't hurt to try to pile them up and try to create a wall of some sort at the streets of the town which were exposed to the outside.

Deciding not to waste any more time, Hannah began dragging the first Walker to the end of the street. She tried her best to do it quickly, but dragging around the bodies of Walkers was a lot more work that she had thought it had been. After a few hours of work she had about two layers of Walkers at every street in the town except for one. It was a disgusting job to take care of but it was worth a try if it meant that it might save their lives. She looked down at herself and cringed at the sight of some sort of dirty goo on her that must have rubbed off from the Walkers.

She went into the house next to theirs and changed into a pair of jeans and shirt that had belonged to someone twice her size. She looked at her old clothes and sighed. It was way overdue that her clothes would get chucked. She had been hanging on to them for a long time, not daring to throw them away when they were covered in animal blood. But she drew the line at Walker goo.

She picked up the rifle she had set on the bed and decided that it was time for her to go home to Henry and Pablo. Tonight, they were going to have a real dinner by a real table, sitting on real chairs and then they were going to sleep in a real bed.

Things were finally looking up.

A/n: I know, I'm stalling a bit with them meeting the group. I guess I just want to carve out their charactesr a little more. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!