Hello, treasured readers!
Thank-you to all who read the first chapter, due to an overwhelming response I've decided to write another one. Today (possibly yesterday, depending on when I post this) was my birthday, and a friend of mine got me comic book 1 of The Walking Dead. I'm almost finished it already.
Just a reminder, I own nothing involved in this story.

Daryl was leading the way, but stopped a good distance away to inspect the situation. The dog had led them to a woman; half starved, greasy light brown hair. Clearly she was in desperate need of food and a bath. Her clothes were covered in a layer of dirt, their original color unrecognizable. She looked terrified; obviously it had been a while since she'd run into anyone.

Taylor hadn't run into a single person in the whole time she'd been wandering. Her heart kept fluttering, grateful that she wasn't alone in the world, while terrified as to what the world could have turned them into. The man who had dismounted the motorcycle seemed to be inspecting her head to toe. 'Must be looking for bite marks,' she thought to herself.

"Erm..." Taylor tried to think of an appropriate greeting. "Sorry of he caused any trouble," she gestured to the dog sitting beside her. "He's not exactly mine, I can't control him...". Her voice cracked a bit, regardless of the fact that she had been speaking into a walkie-talkie not even half an hour ago.

Daryl nodded and, without saying a word, turned towards the RV. "Found the mutt's owner." He called, giving Taylor a nod over his shoulder.

"He's not a mutt," Taylor corrected without thinking. Daryl turned towards her, an eyebrow raised. "Well, I mean mutt would imply cross-bred...He's a pure bred German Shepherd from what I can tell." Daryl didn't respond immediately, seeming to weigh his options. "Still a filthy mutt." He finally said. Taylor didn't dispute him this time.

The door to the RV opened, Dale and Andrea emerging. "Well I'll be damned..." Dale shook his head. "You look like you've been to hell and back."

"I'm still in hell, actually," Taylor said, cracking a half smile. "We all are,". She chuckled lightly to herself, until she noticed the three seemed to be a little unnerved by her behaviour.

Suddenly two men appeared from behind the RV; a man in a cowboy hat (it was Taylor's turn to be a little unnerved by someones behaviour), a man carrying a rather large shotgun and a younger asian man. "So you've been taking care of the dog?" One of them called, the one wearing the hat.

"Uhm...Sort of. He's just been following me, bringing my squirrels and such...I suppose, if anything, he's been looking after me." Taylor bent down to pat the dog's head.

"Well," The cowboy hat clad man said, closing the distance between them quickly "My name is Rick. This," he pointed to the older gentleman "is Dale. That's Glenn," Rick said, gesturing to the asian boy, "And that's Daryl." He concluded, pointing to the first man Taylor had encountered. Rick held out his hand, which Taylor shook briefly.

"Wow," Taylor said, looking at all of them. "Here I was, thinking I was the last sane person wandering these streets..." She shook her head until she noticed the silence. "Oh," she blurted, understand what they were waiting for. "This is Lucky, and my name is Taylor Roberts."

"Well, Taylor, you're more than welcome to travel with us. You look like you could use some supplies..." Rick smiled, glancing at her backpack.

"It's not so bad," Taylor said, tossing it off her shoulder onto the ground. "I've got vitamins to get me by day-to-day, pop for sugar, chips every couple of days..." As she mentioned each item, she'd pull some out to demonstrate.

"Whoa!" A young boy appeared from behind the RV, startling Taylor. She hadn't thought any children would have survived the outbreak, but parents did have this funny way of putting their children first in any situation. The boy was followed closely by a girl of seemingly the same age. "Coke!" Without thinking, the boy ran right up to it, almost grabbing it before thinking better of himself. Rick smiled.

"Taylor, this is my boy, Carl and his friend Sophia." Rick messed Carl's hair a bit. Sophia looked slightly frightened by Taylor, hugging a doll to her chest.

"Hello, Carl." Taylor's smile widened, glancing between him and the coke can she had in her hands. "When's the last time you had a coke, little one?" She asked, kneeling down to his level.

"Before...everything happened, ma'am." Carl answered carefully, his eyes only briefly straying from the can. Taylor tossed it in the air, considering. "Tell you what, little one," she finally concluded, "you can have this can if you promise to enjoy it." The boy looked up at her with a shocked look.

"Really, ma'am?" He asked, gently reaching out and taking it from her.

"Sure, just as long as your dad says it's okay." Taylor's eyes quickly flickered up to Rick, who smiled.

"Go ahead, Carl." Carl looked at the can as if it were made of gold, before looking Taylor in the eyes. "Thank-you!" He said before popping the cap. Rummaging thorough her bag, Taylor pulled out another can- this time, Sprite.

"Same goes for you, Sophia. As long as-" Taylor cut herself off abruptly. What if the girl had no parents, and Taylor made the poor girl cry?

"Rick?" A female voice this time. "What's going on up there?" A woman with long, dark hair, accompanied by one with a buzz cut came into view. They spotted Taylor and stopped abruptly.

"It's okay," Rick called, waving them over. "She's not infected."

"And how the hell do we know that?" Daryl spoke for the first time, addressing Rick, seemingly outraged. "Fer all we know, she could have bite marks all over her. We just met the bitch, we don't know if she's bit or not."

This seemed to grab everyone's attention, and all eyes were on Taylor. "Erm..." Taylor scratched the back of her neck with her free hand. "I'd...Well...I'll to a strip search, as long as it's a woman doing it...If that would make you all feel better." Taylor handed the Sprite to Sophia without warning, who took it and with a small squeak which Taylor interpreted as 'thank-you', ran towards the buzz-cut woman. Taylor shifted uncomfortably with all eyes on her.

"Beside, where the hell you comin' from? Ain't no other survivors we come across in a long time." Daryl took a few steps towards Taylor, almost sizing her up. Taylor stood her ground, genuinely confused.

"Back off, Daryl..." The man with the shot-gun spoke for the first time, taking a step forward.

"No, it's fine." Taylor cut him off. "I'm heading towards Columbus, I have family there. I want...Well, I want to know if they're alive is all. If not, I don't know. If they are, I suppose I'll stay with them."

"You ain't answering my question, 'case you hadn't noticed. Where'd you come from?" Daryl asked, taking another step toward. "And the fuck did you find equipment like that?" He gestured to the gun and machete attached to her belt. "That ain't somethin' a little girl should be carrying around."

Taylor twitched a little bit, but took a deep breath in. She was about to answer when the long-haired woman intervened. "Stories can be saved for later." She said calmly, stepping between the two. "If you don't mind," She turned towards Taylor, smiling a bit, "I'd like to make sure you're not infected first,".

Taylor nodded a bit before looking around. "I'd rather not do it out in the open, if you don't mind." The sun had set at this point, leaving a nice chill in the air. Taylor drank it in; it had been a long time since she felt comfortable enough to enjoy any type of weather.

"Go into the RV." Dale called. "I'll stay out here with Andrea until you get the okay."

Taylor smiled a genuine smile. "Thank you." She allowed the long-haired woman to walk ahead, leading the way. As soon as the door to the RV closed, the woman began apologizing.

"I'm so sorry for this, especially Daryl. You have to understand, we have children to think about. Even if you are infected, we'll get you comfortable..." The woman ran a hand through her hair while Taylor stood there, dumbfounded. "Oh, shoot. I forgot to introduce myself." The woman laughed a little before calming herself. "My name is Lori, I'm Rick's wife." The woman held out her hand in the same manner as her husband. Taylor giggled a little bit.

"Sorry it's just that you two have the same mannerisms." Taylor took her hand. "I'm Taylor, as I'm sure you know by now. Don't worry," Taylor assured, holding her hands above her head, "I'm not infected. I understand that you can't just take my word for it, don't worry." She peeled off her filth covered shirt, before doing a little circle and repeating the same thing with her pants.

Lori let out a sigh of relief. "Okay." She nodded, half to herself and half to Taylor. "Lucky for you, we're headed towards Columbus too. There's a fort that we're hoping is still standing...We have some supplies that your welcome to, so long as you don't mind my kid getting into your knap-sack." Lori took a breath. "Thank-you for giving him that can, it's been a long time since he's had anything like that."

Taylor chuckled a little. "Don't worry, I'm used to making sure people are comfortable and taken care of." She took a breath, remembering her old life when her main concern was the comfort of her passengers. She shook her head, chasing away the thought. It was better to simply forget your old life sometimes. "When you're a kid, you think junk food is the greatest and wish you could live off of it. When your older, you realize it couldn't possibly work. Then this happens, and you realize it's your only option." She shook her head. "I'm just glad someones enjoying it, I've had enough of that stuff for the past few weeks to last me a lifetime."

"Where did you find all of it anyway? I mean, most stores were looted in the first few days." Lori asked, leaning against the wall behind her while Taylor put on her shirt.

"Well, you see-"

There was a knock at the door of the RV. "Is everything okay in there?" Rick's voice came from outside the RV.

Taylor shrugged. "Stories can be saved for later." She repeated Lori's earlier words.

"Come on, let's go before they go bursting in here thinking you're eating me." Lori tried cracking a joke, heading towards the door. Taylor followed closely after.

Sorry to keep it brief guys, I've got an essay to work on and a couple other things to go. I'll update as frequently as I can, I promise!

Reviews are always welcome.

-PassiveAggressive101