Here's the second chapter. It was a long one to write since I was writing in between work and life

I hope it's well enjoyed

"What... the hell are you?" Rick said slowly as the shock of my actions pierced his consciousness, I'm sure by now the voices in his head were screaming out that it's not right for someone's nails to grow out like that and then retract. I pushed Rick back into the van and looked deep into his horrified eyes; even though I'm sure he had me figured out I couldn't falter from my decision. I needed to do this, something deep inside my soul told me this was the right thing to do. I dreaded this feeling, but no one else was in the position to do this, so I needed to step up,

"I'm not worth saving. Go... I will get to Merle" before Rick or anyone else had the time to think I closed the shutter to the truck. The driver took this as a sign and tore off out of the loading dock. Moaning and gurgling drew me back into my current predicament. What was I thinking, I'm not a hero. Rotten hands outstretched, the bumbling horde made their way to me at an alarming rate. I needed to find a way through them, quickly. Searching for a possible exit I noticed one undead stumble and fall towards me. Grabbing his shirt I pushed him back, sending more unsteady dead falling backwards into a heap. Now, this was my chance. I hopped off the loading dock platform and hurried towards the metal fence. Without wasting time I hopped it with ease, I can't believe I'm making this up as I'm going. This is unlike me; usually I have a plan before I go running into a situation. I made it around to the front of the building without any signs of the dead. I suppose the horde that had followed Rick and Glenn back were all inside the building. Still, it's dangerous to underestimate these things.

I looked up at the roof and used my hand to block out the fading sun. It was larger than the last one I jumped, but seeing as how I didn't have a choice to take the stairs, this would be my only option. I positioned myself and jumped to the first ledge of the building which was just a window with a large sill and a planter box. One more leap and I was on the roof, the sun reflected off of the metal of the large pipes into my eyes. Covering them again I called out to Merle, no answer. Walking towards the pipe I noticed a pool of blood and a severed hand. He didn't... did he? Kneeling and picking up the bloodied hand, I could see a powered white residue, like the consistency of chalk wiped off on the back of the hand. Earlier when he was picking a fight with Glenn, I noticed the same substance on his nose. No doubt this was a mood altering drug. This was indeed Merle's hand, now where is he? Blood droplets led my eyes towards the edge of the building, he didn't jump did he? Standing from my crouch, the building on the other side of the ledge came into view, along with ladder handles. He took off, probably in survival mode since no one was coming to help him. I wasted my time.

"I'm not going after him" I decided, for one I didn't want this job in the first place. Although my gut told me I needed to go after him, I knew it was a bad idea. Besides, he didn't seem like the type to want help from a lady, let alone one who was saving his sorry hide. I stood alone on the top of the roof, where to go from here? Now that everyone was gone I was alone again. I've been alone before, this is nothing special. The door behind me banged and creaked as the undead piled against it in a vain attempt to break the chain and open it. I let out a huge sigh, what am I suppose to do? Should I go back to Rick and let him know I failed to find Merle, or leave this place in search of my quarry and let them think I'm dead. Either way I'll be alone again... why does this feeling of being alone torture me so? Deciding it was better to be on my own I jumped down from the building and landed gracefully on the ground.

"I'll search the city... perhaps he is here" I said out loud to no one in particular. I began my walk through the city.

Hours passed and there was no sign of Johara in the city of Atlanta. Moving on was my best option. Remembering what I could about the layout of the city, I headed back towards the highway I travelled before. Walking down the main street I saw the armoured chariot where I met Rick. The bodies of our undead foes still littered the streets. I found myself stopped and staring at the battlefield at my feet, it felt good to fight with someone again. Depending on someone to watch your back and vice versa.

"Rick..." I sighed and walked towards the mountain of metal and sat down on the wheel hard. I was at a crossroads and I needed to choose now. I noticed my feet were dirty, the black nails of my toes have gotten even blacker with the dirt from the earth and the blood from the undead . I tried to wipe away some grime when I noticed a bag underneath the wheel. I slide down to a sitting position and pulled the bag into my lap, I could smell gun powder. I knew what was in the bag before I opened it. Rick must have dropped the bag of guns when he was fleeing the wall of walkers. Perhaps I could return them, knowing humans like them will be in need of something with a bit more kick. I suppose fate has decided what I must do; tossing the back strap over my shoulder I began my journey towards the highway. Tracking them would be a tough job considering they were travelling by that van and me by foot. I heard blonde haired girl say something about a group earlier when she was fighting with Rick. I smelled the faint odour of burning wood closer to the forest earlier during my trek, I shall try there first. I hopped the concrete divider in the center of the highway and walked between the cars into the ditch.

The forest seemed practically untouched by the plague infecting this world. I touched the bark of a large redwood that stood alone in a clearing. The thoughts of my homeland swept into my memories like summer wind, the warm and tingling sensation made my hairs stand on end. My world was like this once; carefree and abundant with natural resources. Now, it was a shell of its former self... another wrong I never righted. I couldn't save anyone... my village... my family...

SNAP! I turned sharply as I came face to face with an arrow was pointed in my face, behind that arrow was a rather sophisticated crossbow, and behind that a stoic hunter. I sensed no malice in the man, this was more as a precaution than anything.

"Who're you?" the man asked shifting his weight and pushes the arrow closer to my face. He was trying to intimidate me I guess.

"Mai" I answered in a low voice. The man did not lower his weapon, in fact, he was itching to fire it. His fingernail flicked against the metal of the trigger, any more force and the arrow will be lodged in my eye socket. Inhaling to collect my thoughts, I noticed a distinct wilderness odour coming from this man, seeing if my hunch was right I commented,

"You...smell like Merle" The man lowered his weapon slightly,

"You know Merle?" he asked. When I could see he hunter's eyes, I noticed the same loneliness behind them just as Merle had; like they were longing for someone to look out for them, for someone to care.

"I met Merle in Atlanta. But there was an attack... Merle was handcuffed to the roof. I went back for him after I got everyone to leave safely... when I got there he was gone"

"Bullshit!" the man yelled pushing me back into the tree, once again the arrow was in my face.

"It's true, all I found was his hand, and no trace of Merle"

"His... hand?"

"He sawed it off in an attempt to flee. I followed some of the blood but I didn't find him"

"I'm going after him" the man said walking off in the direction I came from. I sighed and followed,

"That was hours ago when I found the hand. If Merle was smart he'd be gone and out of Atlanta"

"You don't know Merle like I do, he's my brother"

"Your right, I don't know Merle like you do. But I do know one thing, and that's if someone is in survival mode like Merle was. He won't stay put, he's long gone by now. Chasing a faint trail of hope will get you killed" this made the man stop dead in his tracks. He knew I was right, the shudder of defeat he tried to hide clearly showed that I was right. The man turned towards me and looked at the bag I was carrying,

"You know Rick?" he asked, "cause that's the bag he said he lost"

"I saved Rick in Atlanta, I was bringing this back to him" I could see the wheels in his head turning. He was thinking about bringing me back to their encampment, but he must have heard from Rick about my nails. He was afraid of becoming the next skewer victim.

"Alright...come on" he sighed shouldering his crossbow and walking towards the clearing. Taking his cue, I followed. I was unsure about what he was leading me into, but I followed in silence.

It was dusk by the time we reached the camp. The man Daryl was welcomed with semi open arms, I was shunned almost immediately. I guess new comers to this group are not welcome. I sighed deep in my head, why does this bother me so much. These people don't mean anything to me, yet I feel hurt. Bah, stupid emotions anyways. I dropped the gun bag by the large house chariot and began to leave. I walked right into Rick. At first he was shocked to see me, his blue eyes almost bugged out of his skull. I took a step back pressing my back up against the side of the house,

"Mai... is that you?" Rick asked. He seemed sure that I would have perished in that horde earlier, but here I was standing in front of him not looking no worse for wear. I nodded to his question as a smile lit up his face,

"I'm glad"

"I'm going" I announced pushing myself off the side of the mobile home and walking past Rick. All eyes watched me as I walked through the darkening campsite. I was an outsider, I don't want any trouble from them nor do I want to get attached. Rick caught up to me and lightly grabbed my arm,

"Mai, your hurt'

"No, I'm not" pulling my arm away I continued to walk away from the camp. Another woman, with shoulder length brown hair stepped in front of me blocking my exit.

"Rick is right, there's blood down your leg" the woman commented moving my kimono to the side. I pulled away again this time inhaling sharply, finally noticing that my wound on my side has been opened.

"Let's get you cleaned up" the woman said taking me towards the mobile home. She opened the door and helped me in. An elderly man wearing a fishing hat was sitting in the seat that was in front of the large window, he looked up at his new visitors and tossed the woman a questioning glance.

"Dale, we need to have some privacy please. I'm going to bandage Mai up"

"Ah, say no more Lori" Dale said raising his hand to get Lori to stop explaining, standing from his seat he moved past me before stepping out from the home and closing the door. We moved down the crowded hallway, I noticed pictures of what looked like Dale's family on the walls. These people were hit just as hard as I was, they lost loved ones as well. Lori sat me down on the bench bed in the back of the home. She gave me a warm smile before rooting through the cabinet for medical supplies.

"You're Rick's wife" I stated remembering just now the picture Rick showed me in the city, the smiling wife and the happy child. I could tell that Lori was suddenly uncomfortable. Obviously I hit a nerve of some kind, perhaps Lori wasn't the happy housewife I assumed she was. Lori nodded to my statement as she asked me to remove my kimono. I obliged by first taking off my sword and leaned it against the wall then I removed my kimono slowly as I felt the oozing of the warm blood trickle down my side. Knowing Lori would ask me to remove my dress, I did that as well. Lori didn't seem to mind that I wore nothing else underneath as she examined the seriousness of my wound.

"This doesn't look like a bite... what happened" Lori asked looking at me. Should I be honest with this woman.

'It's ok, you don't have to tell me" she added in after seeing my wheels turning. She cleaned up the blood slowly, saying it was because she didn't want to hurt me. I knew different, she was scared of me. I know now that Rick must have told everyone at camp what had happened. Being scared is a normal reaction to something out of the ordinary, and I commend Lori for treating my wounds even after she knows she's in the presence of a monster. I looked down at the wound for the first time since waking up. I could see the wound was healing at a slower rate, perhaps it was because I hadn't rest in a while. I've been on the move since waking up.

"How long ago did you get this wound?" Lori was bandaging up the cut now.

"Yesterday" I answered. Lori instantly looked into my eyes, this answer seemed to terrify her.

"Y... yesterday?" she stammered asking me again. I nodded.

"This wound is healing without stitches" she whispered lowly not wanting other's to hear her. I nodded again,

"I'm surprised it's not healed fully by now"

"What are you?" she asked giving me almost the same look Rick had given me in Atlanta. Anger boiled up inside me. I saved Rick and the other survivors in Atlanta, I went back for Merle out of my own generosity and I brought back the weapons Rick dropped by the armoured chariot. I was now singled out as some sort of abomination because my wounds are healing faster than normal. Sliding my dress on I stood from my sitting position,

"I don't need to explain anything to you..." grabbing my sword and my kimono I left the home quickly, I stopped in my tracks when I noticed all of the women gathered around the door and some men by the window. These people wanted to know what I was and they thought Lori would get it out of me while bandaging my wounds. I picked out Andrea and Glenn from the crowd, and I focused most of my glare on them. I didn't know the other people and I understood they're curious but Andrea and Glenn saw me in action and they wanted to know for their own satisfaction. Rick and another man walked over towards the home,

"What's going on?" Rick asked. Most of the group quickly dispersed leaving only Andrea, Glenn and another younger blonde that stuck close to Andrea. Lori came out of the home,

"Nothing Rick, I just finished bandaging her up"

"Look, I know all of you are curious about Mai. Truthfully I am too, but this is not something that just comes out. She needs to feel comfortable in telling us, and crowding around the mobile house hoping to catch a glimpse is not a way to gain trust" Rick explained to the small group. I could tell that Rick was sincere. He wanted to know just as much as everyone else but he was willing to wait. The other man shifted in his spot placing his hands on his hips and looking down,

"We're burning daylight Rick, let's do a perimeter check"

"Alright Shane" Rick answered and walked off with the inpatient one. The others seemed to walk off in their own directions leaving me standing alone. The younger blonde came back to me and smiled,

"I'm Amy, I need some help with supper. Would you like to help?"

"You assume I know how to cook because I'm a woman?" I asked. Amy blushed instantly and looked everywhere but my face. She was embarrassed to make such an assumption. This brought a smirk to my face,

"I'll help with supper"

Supper consisted of fried fish and heated beans in a can. Everyone sat around the fire laughing and enjoying stories of how Rick made his daring escape from the hospital and made his way back to his family. I sat furthest away from the fire, watching all of them interact. To think even in this time there are still precious moments where one still needs to laugh and smile. I threw the bones of my fish into my small fire, these people were still in the hopeful stage. Hope is something that will get you killed, and its best to abandon it before it becomes a delusion.

"Mai" a small voice called. I looked towards the group as everyone was now staring at me, Amy was smiling and patting the log beside her, "Please come and join us". This girl seemed to pull at my heart strings. I nodded grabbing my sword from its leaning place against the tree and walked over. Amy was kind enough to wash my clothing to get the blood out, and it felt nice to have clean clothes on. I sat down beside the blonde haired girl. The conversations all stopped as people looked uneasily at each other. The boy sitting between Rick's legs was the only one staring at me. This invitation was only because Amy felt sorry for me, no one else wanted me there. We sat there in silence for what seemed like an eternity before the small boy broke the silence,

"Why do you have a sword, why not a gun?"

"Carl, don't pry" Rick chuckled ruffling his son's hair.

"Guns in my world backfire easily, it's better to have something that won't jam up" I explained pulling out my sword with a "shink" noise from its sheath. The blade shimmered in the camp fire. It's been a while since I've looked at the craftsmanship of my sword, the only thing that's really kept me alive.

"Your world?" Carl asked again. I looked at the small child, his eyes not leaving mine. He was a strong boy this one, he wanted to know about me simply because he needed to trust me. In order to trust me, I needed to share with him my story.

"Yes, my world"

"Are you an alien?" Carl asked now finally interested, this I found hilarious. I laughed loudly scaring everyone in the campsite. I placed my sword back in its sheath and laid it down at my feet,

"No boy, I am not" picking up a stick I began to draw two globes in the sand with a line connecting the two, "my world is parallel to yours"

"Why?"

"It has always been this way since ancient times. My world and your world are connected by a simple thread that allows us to travel to this plain and vice versa. The thread is called in my world is called Foreverium, or binding thread. In your world I believe it's called Magic"

"Wait... so your saying, your magic?" Amy piped up. Everyone now was looking at me. I looked back at them before turning my attention to Amy,

"No, I am not magic, nor do I have anything like that"

"But your nails... and your healing... and your sword" Glenn stammered. I knew this would come up, my origins. The group was naturally curious about me and I don't blame them. I was unsure about if I should even tell them, it would only ostracize me more. I heard Lori call me a monster earlier in the evening to one of the other women, Carol.

"She doesn't have to tell us anything she doesn't want to" Rick piped up jumbling my thoughts. Everyone just gave a simple nod and looked back at the fire, Carl studied the drawing in the sand.

"Why do they call it the binding thread?" he asked pointing to the line connecting the two spheres.

"From what I understand, the two worlds feed of the energy produced. Whenever someone here dies of normal causes, someone in our world is born. When someone dies in our world, 3 people are born here"

"Why so many on our side?"

"We age differently in my world. Days there are months here, therefore there's more energy to give when we die"

"Are there humans in your world?"

"Yes, humans there are mostly farmers, since there is nothing special about them. Often they are food for..." I trailed off, that is something that really shouldn't be brought up.

"For the walkers?" Carl asked finishing my sentence. Everyone looked at me again, some had glares, others had bewilderment.

"No, I was going to say demons"

"Walkers are demons?" Amy asked. I shook my head,

"My world consists of creatures that are different in nature. Demons roam freely in my world, causing havoc and destruction. Than a race called the Lavarians, they possess powers beyond my comprehension; they live in a silver city located in the center of my world. They govern and control the whole population. We have lived in peace for thousands of years under the watchful eye of King Ghinsean and Queen Asheena. Under the King and Queen come the Mages, beings who control the very fabric of the Foreverium, and regulate the world by feeding life back into the many fabrics woven throughout. There was a council of three that are in charge feeding life back into the world; Galvian the Black, Ryouken the White, and Johara the Red"

A collective wow came from the group, who seem to hang on my every word.

"So what did you do in your world?" Glenn asked, "I mean... you have a sword and you know how to use it... "

"I suppose in your world I would have been a police officer. In my world I was the Commander of the Royal Legion. We carried out the orders of the King and Queen to the letter, and protected the land from the dangers of our world. This sword was given to me as proof of my leadership; I received the sword when I was young and I've guarded my world ever since" my words felt heavy on my soul. I was the Commander than, now... I am nothing.

"You seem only in your 20's now" Lori noted, "how old are you?"

"As I said before, we age differently in my world. I might look young, in reality I'm 432"

"Bullshit!" Daryl exploded from behind the group. He shot up from his spot and pointed at me, "magic and shit ain't real! She's makin up stories"

"You believe in the walking dead, but not in my story?" I questioned. Daryl stammered and shook his head. He sat back down and continued cleaning his crossbow.

"Did you have a family?" Amy's question hit me like a ton of bricks. I hadn't thought about them since it all started.

"I...I did..." I started. I remembered everything from that day, the fire... the destruction...

"You lost them, didn't you?" Amy's cool hand touched mine. I pulled away and threw the stick into the fire,

"Yeah, all because of Johara" I started. I needed to face my own past in order to face Johara now. He ruined my life, and he will pay.

"What... what happened?"

"We always suspected Johara, he was always sneaking about and lurking in the shadows. He was always very neglectful of his duties and condescending towards the other Mages and even the King and Queen who trusted their council completely. The head of the council, Galvian, beseeched the King to allow him to replace Johara with someone more suitable and trustworthy; the King, who still had trust in Johara, couldn't bring himself to do it and ignored Galvian's plight and turned away the old man. When I came back from my errand for the King, I noticed Johara speaking with him in private. At the time I didn't know what it was for so instead of interrupting I went to see my mate, or husband as you called them here, the White mage Ryouken. He seemed troubled but did not want to speak about it. I know now it was because of Johara and how they were trying to be rid of him behind the King's back. I tried to get Ryouken to speak about what was happening but to no avail. The King summoned me and like a blind sheep I went to him. I should have never have answered the call, if I didn't. Everyone I knew and loved would still be here. The King ordered me to take my best soldiers and eradicate the demon menace on our borders, a task I accepted and carried it out. Before leaving Ryouken came to me and asked me not to go, but to go home to our children to keep them safe. I refused since an order from the King must be carried out. I left for the border town of Mysteria, when I got there it was..." I paused in the story, having all these memories come flooding back was overwhelming. I could tell the pause made everyone in the group that was listening nervous. My lips were parched and dry from the air and my throat ached for water. Rick offered me a bottle of water which I took without hesitation and sipped slowly allowing the water to trickle down my dry throat and dissolve my thirst.

"Mai... what did you see at the village?" Glenn broke the silence like glass, I looked over at him my eyes grim.

"I saw death, everywhere" I started, "someone had gotten to the village before us and killed everything. Not even the animals were left alive"

"Why... did you King send you into a dead village?" Shane finally piped up after hearing only the tail end of the story, he tossed some more firewood into the fire, "it doesn't make any sense"

"At the time I didn't understand either. I ordered my men to search out any survivors. We all spread out and searched the village. The smell of death and decay was rampant throughout the village, my newest recruit unfortunately had a weak stomach and vomited up most of what he ate that morning. Others poked fun as I continued hoping to find something. I remember hearing nothing, no birds no animals, no wind. Just silence. This kept me on edge, often times it was a signal for an ambush but my soldiers did not pick up on the absence of sound. Almost instantly I saw movement under a pile of charred corpses. Smirking I walked over and moved the bodies to find a small girl. I could tell she was dead due to her decaying flesh and the obvious rigor mortis that set in, but her eyes were open and moving. The milky whiteness of her blind eyes locked onto me and her jaw opened letting out this wheeze of a moan. She was pinned under the bodies but her jaw continued to open and close like she was trying to reach me. I dared not to touch the girl but I was unsure of what else I could do. A scream of help echoed through the dead village. I didn't have time to tend to this girl, I hurried towards my comrade. When I got to his location, I was in shock. The bodies of the villagers were biting into his flesh and clawing at his armor. He reached out to me yelling my name as another sunk its teeth into his hand and pulling, ripping the thumb clean off. I called out to him, but he collapsed under the weight of the bodies, the sound of crunching bone was heard as he let out a final moan. Another blood curdling scream came from behind me, I looked on in horror as my men... my friends were being eaten by the villagers we came to protect. The best men I've ever trained couldn't fight back against their own countryman, and it seemed that this weakness was their downfall"

"My god... sounds like... walkers" Andrea gasped placing her hand on her throat. I nodded in silence, that day was only starting for me, I continued my story not caring if anyone else listened.

"I flew back to the King to give my report. When I returned to the Silver City I saw only flames of destruction. The Palace was overrun by what you call Walkers. Friends ate their friends, children feasted on their care givers, lovers tore out one and other's throats. It was an absolute blood bath. I needed to fight my way through to the throne room. I blanked out their faces as I tore through them, many of the people I slew were men and women I trained with, I ate dinner with, and I laughed with. There was no more humanity left in them, they were nothing more than shells of flesh with an intense need to feed. When I reached the throne room, the King was already lost. His beloved Queen kneeling beside him, scooping out his intestines and shoveling them into her mouth, all she cared about was satisfying her intense insatiable hunger. A collective moan was heard behind me as the ones I left alive were beginning to make their way down the hallway. I backed away from the door as I felt someone grab my shoulder. Luckily my quick reflexes managed to push away the attacker as I sunk my nails into their skull. I was horrified to see the face of Galvian looking back at me. If Galvian had fallen to this plague, then what of my mate and my children? I had to get to them before this mob. I returned quickly as I could to my village on the boarder of the Silver City. But..." I paused again. The emotions rising in my throat,

"I...I was too late. The village was lost to the plague... outraged I tore through the undead roaming through the streets. I didn't care who they were anymore. When I finished my rampage I walked towards my home at the end of the street. The door was ajar. Pushing it open with my sword I stepped into the darken hallway. The pitiful sound of a child crying radiated through the quiet house. My children... my babies were still alive somewhere. I turned the house upside down looking for them. I found my eldest child, my daughter, lying on the floor in the kitchen. Dropping to my knees beside her and gently picked her up, she was bitten on the shoulder, her life blood covered the floor. She was clinging to life, her breath was shallow. I whispered her name to her, "Serian...Serian..." all she could do was gasp at me, I could tell she was trying to form a word but a gasp was all she could muster. I rocked her gently as she finally fell limp in my arms. My daughter... she was only 10... I didn't move from my spot for what seemed like an eternity. I felt movement from her body, a twitch at first, but then full convulsions. Her eyes opened to reveal bloodshot retinas, her skin pale as the moon. At that moment I put two and two together, these things were not unleashed on us like an airborne virus, it was transferred by bites, and the when the host dies they reanimate becoming the walking dead. I couldn't let my child live like this, I had to put her out of her misery. I can never forget plunging my sword through her skull. Her eyes did not close but continued to stare at me, her unwavering gaze of persecution. I gave my child a proper burial in the backyard by her favorite tree. I needed to find out what happened to my mate and my son. I searched the streets again, looking under houses and bodies until I found him. My toddler, Lyon, covered in blood and dirt. He wasn't bitten by anything, from what I could make out he was trampled by the fleeing crowd. It sickened me that no one would bother to pick up a child in their attempt to flee... I...I'm sorry I can't talk anymore" I finished my story as I felt tears stinging my eyes. I stood from the fire and excused myself.