Author's Notes: Sorry it took so long to update, I had a lot of stuff and things to do. I'm back now, and suffering a little less from walking dead withdrawal. Anyway, here is the next chapter.


Chapter 2: Through the Fog

Contrariety to popular belief, Karen wasn't a native to Woodbury before the outbreak started, in fact, before she had stumbled upon the town, she had lived on the road with her son, trying to find some type of protection from the hordes of flesh-eating walkers and the maddening world they now were trapped living in. She wasn't as naive as some of the refuges in Woodbury, she knew about the horrors beyond Woodbury's walls, the hunger, the desperation, and the increasing fear everyone was developing for their fellow-man.

The places she had seen before finding Woodbury were terrible, they were either covered in walkers, or picked clean of any and all supplies, and sometimes they were just the worst of both worlds.

She couldn't even count how many times her son or herself had almost been killed, everyday was a new challenge, it was either trying to outrun the walkers, trying to outgun your fellow survivor, or just trying not to starve to death.

Then there were the darker days...when the last bullet in the chamber of her gun, almost looked like salvation. Salvation from all the terror that awaited her and her son, day after day. The ability to see her friends and family again, to finally be able to stop fighting all the time, to at last be able to sleep. In this new world, you were either going to be torn apart by bullets or bites, and the option to be able to end it all your terms, seemed like golden opportunity.

In the end, she couldn't do it though, she just couldn't give up, so she forced her body to keep on living for another day, regardless of what the world had turned into. She still had her son, and that was enough to make her keep fighting.

Then a miracle happened, she had found salvation, but not in the form of a bullet to head, but in the town of Woodbury, and it's leader.

After finding Woodbury, everything else before had seemed like a nightmare that she was finally waking up from. There was no danger, no cites or towns in ruin. There were real people in Woodbury, no bitters, walkers, or whatever hell humanity was transforming into. There was just real, caring people.

In time, she had been able to settle into the idea of safety, and no longer having to fight for survival ever day of her life. She thought that she'd finally be able to put her gun away, and never pick it up again.

Unfortunately, salvation, like many other things in the world they lived in now, turned out to be a lie. Woodbury turned into a ticking time bomb, and their self proclaimed leader, was the one who lit the match. Their leader, the Governor, had started a war with that he couldn't win, and punished the people of Woodbury when he indeed did lose.

She wasn't sure what happened to Governor, but she did know that she'd make him pay for all the horrible things that he had done, she couldn't continue to live in this God forsaken earth, until she was sure he was dead.

The remaining people of Woodbury were ironically taken in by the same group they had gone to war with, and for the first time, in a long time, she was able to see the kindness that this horrifying world still had left in it. They had taken shelter in a prison the group was staying in, and soon after Karen had found seeing the destruction left over by the apocalypse.

So, she had picked up her gun again, and took on the role of defending her new home, and she just hoped she'd be able to at least settle down for a little bit. Living on the road again would just be a nightmare, and she wasn't ready to face that again.

That being said, Karen had seen many horrifying things before Woodbury, during her stay in Woodbury, and then even after taking up shelter in the prison, but for some reason, something about the Mountains of North Georgia, were making her skin crawl.

Ever since Daryl had pointed out that their supply run had taken them to the Mountains of North Georgia, he hadn't said a single word to her, which wouldn't have been too different from how he was acting before, yet this was a different type of silence. His posture was now rigid, tense, his hands were gripping his knees so hard, they were turning white.

Turing her eyes away from Daryl, Karen stared out at the road, mountains were the only thing she could see, well, not the only thing, fog was slowly making it harder for her to the road in front of her. The higher the truck acceded into mountains, the more intense the fog became, it got so bad, that Karen had to drop the speed of the truck, and slowly cruise on through.

Besides her, Daryl was still lost in an almost trance like state, he couldn't hear anything, but a loud a ringing in his ears. Taking long, deep breaths of air, he started to question his own sanity, what was he thinking when he agreed to go on this run without asking where the fuck he'd have to go?

As he continued to mentally berate himself, something started to shake up. Instantly he jumped out of his thoughts, Karen had her hand rested on his shoulder, and was yelling his name.

"Daryl!" She yelled again. "Are you ok, you've been spacing out for the last-"

Daryl cut Karen off by throwing her hand off his shoulder. "Don't fucking touch me, just drive, woman."

"Hey, watch your tone, Dixon." Karen snapped, fixing him a dark glare. "Just cause your having a little episode, doesn't mean I have to suffer because of it."

"Ay, no one asked you to see if I was a'right." Daryl said glaring back at Karen. "Just leave well enough alone. Ain't no concern of yers."

Karen glare depend at Daryl, but she turned her eyes back towards the road. "Whatever, Dixon. Lets just get this over with, before you turn into an even bigger prick."

"Bitch." Daryl muttered.

"Asshole." Karen countered.


It had taken them an hour of driving, but they had finally found a town to stop in. Karen all but jumped out of the truck, relieved to actually be able to stretch her legs. Sitting still in that truck with a disgruntled Dixon was beginning to drive her mad.

The relief of being out of the truck soon faded away though, once she was able to actually look at the town they had stopped in.

Desolation.

That was the first word that came to mind as she looked at the town, there was no signs life, no clues that life had ever been there in the first place. Now, that didn't make much of a diffrence from what many other places looked like now in their crumbling world. But something about this place was different.

Maybe it was the way the empty buildings were illuminated by the broken rays of light, that were shining through the thickening fog. Or maybe it was the trees slowly moving in a sickening slow pace, making the black forest that surrounded the town, look forbidden. Even the snow, that she personally thought always looked beautiful, was now glistening in patches across the murky earth.

There were many places left in this world that were terrible and horrific, some because of the walkers, because of the terrible conditions that other survivors left it in, and just hopeless bleak ruins humanity had left behind, but this town...

This town was horrific simply because it existed. It wasn't the result of human or walker intervention…it was the lack of it. Or at least the lack of its effects…There was something dark and timeless about the empty, dirt covered buildings; the twisted, tangled forest beyond; the constant fog…

It didn't matter that the world had ended, because for this town, it looked like the world had casted it aside long ago. Whatever was wrong with this place, it would always be that way, maybe it always had been this way. There was nothing any human could do about. Whether a giant community was built over the town, or someone burned the town down to the earth's core, and swept away the ashes, nothing would or could ever disguise the feel of the place. What was really the sickening part of the town's presence though, wasn't what the eyes could see, no, it was what the eyes couldn't see. There was a darkness seeping out from every inch of this town, and even if it were to be destroyed, there would still be the sickening feeling, that something had survived...

A cold whisper of a word crept its way into her ear: Beware...

Karen watched as Daryl exited their truck, she noticed that he was fully geared up, his crossbow was off his shoulder and firmly in his hand, a hunting knife was attached to his hip, and a combat blade was attached to his shoulder, and she could already guess that he had his IMI Desert Eagle hidden somewhere under his leather jacket.

Just looking at how armed Daryl was, made Karen un-sling her AR-15 semi-automatic rifle off her shoulder, and grip it as tight as her hands would allow.

Daryl was staring off into the fog, looking at something that remained unknown to her, because of the fog. She squinted her eyes, trying to see what he was looking at, but the fog was too thick.

"You see something?" She asked stepping closer to him, raising her rifle subconsciously.

Daryl stared out into the fog for one more moment, than shook his head. "Nah, ain't shit out there." He said. "Just the fog playing tricks on me."

Karen sighed in relief, she wasn't sure why, but the idea of fighting anything, from a place like this, just made her soul go cold. "Lets get moving then." Karen said lowering her rifle a little. "I think I saw some a building that we could scavenge from." She started to walk ahead, not waiting for Daryl's response.

"Lead the way." Daryl replied, still not lowering his crossbow. Stopping mid-step, Karen looked over her shoulder and stared at him.

Did Daryl Dixon just say "Lead the way?"

Since joining the prison group, she had gone on about a dozen or so supply runs with him, and never, not once, has he ever told her to take lead in anything. Sure if it was someone like Rick, he wouldn't mind letting the man lead over him, but when it came to her, she would always get the shit end of the stick.

Karen smiled a little back Daryl, thinking that maybe the two of them were making some head way in getting use to the other. She started walking ahead of him again and called out "Alright, Dixon. Follow me."

Following close behind Karen, Daryl kept an ever vigilante eye on her, and their surroundings. He couldn't afford to let his guard down, not now, not here.

He was sure Karen hadn't even seen the sign at the entrance of the town. The sign that read:

Welcome to Arkham hill

That sign wasn't meant for welcoming though, it was a warning, an alert. By entering this town, they had just started a game, that neither of them knew the rules to.

It had been some time since he had been back in this shit hole, he hadn't seen the damn town since his mother had died in the accidental fire, that burned down his childhood home. After that, he had moved away to live farther down the mountains with his old man.

What Karen didn't know though, was that Daryl wasn't letting her lead, because of some trivial trust reasons.

He was letting her lead, because when he was staring off into the fog before, he could have sworn he saw some thing staring back at him...


Author's Notes: Well, that's the end of chapter two, thanks for reading and if you have any questions, criticism, or any positive feedback, please review!

Till next time

~Solareon