I do not own anything except for my OC, June. TWD belongs to Robert Kirkman and AMC.


After Sophia's spill about how strange she thought my name was, she was oddly quiet. She didn't strike me as a super talkative kid, but the silence was starting to get uncomfortable. Especially with the odd side glances she would occasionally send me.

We were 10 minutes into our half hour walk to the barn when she finally broke the silence.

"Momma told me not to trust strangers." She is staring intently at me when I glance back at her. She is only a few steps behind me, but it seems like she is trying to create distance between us.

"I'm pretty sure we've exchanged names, kiddo. Meaning, we aren't really strangers," even after I say this, she still looks apprehensive. I continue with a cool voice, hoping to calm her, "You can trust me Sophia. I promise I won't hurt you."

Her face gradually softens and I have to strain to hear the next words out of her mouth, "I know that, but everyone always says that you shouldn't talk to people you don't know. You could have hurt me in the woods if you wanted… But you didn't."

So, the kid isn't as trusting as I had originally thought. Granted, if I had been in her position I doubt I would have done much differently. She was scared and alone in the woods without anything to defend herself. Of course she would trust the girl who just saved her life from a walker that's twice her size. Now that there isn't any danger and she isn't struggling to stay alive, her thoughts had strayed to doubts of the mysterious stranger she knows nothing about.

"How about this? When we get to the barn, I'll tell you all about myself. Then you can tell your mother you were with a friend and not a stranger," I hope this will be enough to placate her doubts of me.

She isn't looking at me, but I'm given a nod. Seeing that I won't be able to calm her fears for the time being, I keep walking.

Nearly 15 minutes after our short talk we reach an old, brown barn that looks to have been abandoned long before the dead started walking. After telling her to be on the watch, I have Sophia wait outside with my duffle bag as I scout the inside. I search the entire building twice before I call for Sophia. She stumbles in and it's only now that I realize how exhausted the poor thing looks. Her eyes droop and her shoulders are slumped. I hold out my hand and she passes me the bag. I slowly unzip it and take out a can opener.

"Peaches, beans, or tuna?" is all I ask her. Her nose wrinkled in disgust on the last word and I mentally cheered that I wouldn't have to give up any of my favorite canned food. I pull out two different cans. Peaches and Beans. She points to the peaches in my right hand. I figured that's what she would go for. I was never a fan of beans when I was younger either.

I put the beans back into the bag and take out a can of tuna. I grab the can opener and start on the peaches first. When I finally have the lid off, I pass the can to Sophia. She takes it and mumbles a small thank you.

"You'll have to eat with your hands. I have a rag in my bag if you need to wipe them off."

She nods and grabs for the rag while I start in on my can of tuna. The top eventually pops off and I request the rag from Sophia to clean my own hands off. She complies and tosses it to me. We eat in silence on the wooden floor and I finish my dinner before she does. Pushing my trash to the side, I reach into my bag once again and take out a large, dark red journal and pen. Sophia pauses in her silent chewing and looks at me curiously as I open the journal.

It was a gift from my father that I hadn't found a use for until the shell-heads popped up. I wasn't much of a writer, but I soon found a reason to write.

"My dad gave me this," I start. She lowers her can and I can see I have her full attention so I continue," he was bit almost immediately after the shell-heads starting roaming around. He knew he wouldn't make it. He asked me to take care of my little brother for him."

"You have a little brother?" she asks me.

"Had."

She nods and seems to think for a few moments before responding, "Is that why you saved me? Because of him?"

I look at her thoughtfully, "Partly. For the most part, I just couldn't imagine leaving anyone, kid or not, alone in the woods."

She nods and pokes another peach into her mouth, but her eyes never leave the journal that's now sitting on my lap. I pick it up and open It to the first page. I scuttle over to her so she can see the writing on the paper.

I put it in her tiny hands and continue with my story, "My brother died a little after my dad. I knew I couldn't let them be forgotten though. I would never forgive myself if they were. If would be like they never even existed. So, I started keeping this journal."

She skims through the pages in confusion. "Who are all these people?"

I smile sadly, "The first three pages are for my family."

She flips back to beginning and looks through the first three pages again. The small words in-between the lines are overshadowed by the bold names at the top of each page

Kelsey Marks

Harley Marks

Keith Marks

She stares at me, brows furrowed, "You wrote them all eulogies?"

I shrug, "Sort of. I wanted them to be remembered. Even if it was only on paper."

She flips through the next few pages. All of them have names and writing in them. None have nearly as much content as the first three, but that's because they were gone before I could get to know them better.

"Who are the others?" she asks curiously.

"Just a few people I met after the dead started walking, "I answer her.

Her hands stop and she looks up at me, her eyes curious, "If you didn't know them, then why did you write these?"

I pause and take a moment to answer her, "Because no deserves to be forgotten."

She's doesn't say anything, just nods and hands me my journal. I stand and place it back into the bag that's still sitting on the ground, then pulling out two blankets and setting them down on the ground next to Sophia. She is finishing her last peach when she glances at the blankets. I can see the craving for sleep in her eyes and nudge them towards her with my foot. It's getting close to dark and there's no way we're going out in the woods at night. She needs sleep if we are going to find her group tomorrow.

I inform her I'm going to lock the entrances to the barn so we can get a good night's sleep when she grabs my pant leg. I look down at her in surprise and she speaks before I can question her, "You're really cool, June. You should stay with us when we find momma and Carl."

I feel my mouth drop open in surprise. That is certainly not what I expected. Wasn't this kid worried just an hour ago, that I was evil or something? Was I this confusing when I was younger?

Instead of verbally giving her an answer, I shrug and then nod my head. She, taking this as a conformation, smiles up at me and grabs the two blankets. As Sophia gets ready for bed, I walk outside to check for any stray roamers that might have been lurking around the barn. Finding nothing, I stop to contemplate my current situation. It's not that I have anything against staying with a group, I just don't want to get close to people only to watch them die again. That's why there are so many names in my journal. They were there, and then suddenly, they weren't. I also don't think I could just leave the kid after this though. Maybe, just maybe, I will stay with her group and maybe I'll meet this Carl fellow.

Walking back to the barn, I stop as I notice the five-pointed star above the wide door. I find myself smiling brightly at it. It seems that my luck is changing.


I wake up later than expected. I only slept for a few hours, to busy watching for any signs of danger. We should have left hours ago.

To my left, Sophia is snoring slightly and has curled into a ball. I contemplate letting her sleep another hour when I hear a small whimper come from her lips. Her face is pinched up in a scowl. I slowly sit up, sore from sleeping on the hard floor and shake her shoulder. Her scared eyes are open at once and she quickly backs away from my hand. I give her a moment to collect her thoughts and check her surroundings. I watch as the comprehension settles on her face and she looks back at me.

"You okay, kid?" She seems okay now, but I want to make sure.

She lets out a huff and tells me, "I thought you were dad."

Oh. She hasn't spoken of her father and I just assumed he had passed already. She must be upset that it was me instead of her dad, "Sorry kid."

She shakes her head causing me confusion," I'm glad it's you and not him."

And now I'm even more confused. I guess she didn't like her father? That'll have to be a talk for another time. Now, we need to get up and moving.

I inform Sophia of our need to depart and she helps me stuff the blankets into the duffle bag with a slightly guilty face. She was still awake the night before when I came back from checking outside when she noted my lack of blankets. I told her that I would be fine without any. It was the dead middle of summer so it's not like I was going to freeze to death.

Tossing my bag onto my shoulder, Sophia and I set out. She informs me she wants to find her doll first, but I somehow manage to convince her that we should first find the highway. When she asks me how we are getting to the highway, I realize I have no clue where it actually is. I didn't grow up here. I don't even know where in the hell we are.

"So, we're lost?" She raises an unimpressed eyebrow at me and it reminds me of how my dad would look at me when I did something that he deemed incredibly dumb.

"…. Yes," I eventually reply.

She huffs and stomps her foot in irritation. She sure does huff and puff a lot for a twelve-year-old.

"I think we should go this way," I tell her pointing off in a direction to my left.

"Your plan is to walk in random directions until we find the highway?" she sounds like she is about to cry again. Crap. Think of something before the dams burst!

"Look, Kiddo," I get on my knees so I'm face to face with her. I'm at least half a foot taller than her so it sort of works, "I don't know when we'll find the highway, but what I do know is that I'll get you back to your mom, okay?" She wipes the oncoming tears away and nods her head. I stand up and ruffle her hair, hoping to distract her from her momentary sadness. It works when she swipes my hand away and pouts at me.

We start in the direction I had originally pointed to when I'm hit with a startling realization that I might have just lied to a little girl. What if I can't find Sophia's group? What if we finally get to the highway and they're gone? What if Sophia blames me for it?

I shake my head and focus on the present. What matters is the now and right now I have a little girl counting on me to help her.

"So, Sophia. What are the people in your group like?" Her face lights up and she begins her tale.


We've been walking for a few hours with a food break in between the walking and I've heard stories of every one of the members of her group now. She's just finished telling me about a man named Dr. Jenner at the CDC when we hear a gun shot. Nearby. It sends birds flying from the tree branches and Sophia and I stop. I glance down at the girl to my right and she looks excited.

"That was probably them, right June?" she could be right. I stay still listening for more shots, but they never come. I can see Sophia out of the corner of my eye practically bouncing in place. I'm not sure if following the gun shot is a good idea in all honesty. From my experience, you don't need a gun if you're taking down one walker. Especially, if you're in a group. They should have been able to take it down without causing so much noise. Sophia is tugging on my arm and I know she wants to go look, but something is telling me not to.

"Let's go this way, Sophia," She looks at me with something akin to betrayal.

"But, what i-"

"Trust me, Sophia. If there is one thing I've learned to do, it's trust my gut. And my gut is telling me to go this way," I know she isn't happy with my words, but she follows me when I lead her away.

She ignores me for the next half hour or so. Even when I ask her about her friend Carl she doesn't respond. She had really seemed to like talking about Carl and I had even teased her about having a crush on him, but now she won't even utter the young boy's name.

"You know, you'll have to talk to me eve- "I stop in the middle of my sentence in shock. I've stopped walking and Sophia walks right into my back. There, in front of us in the highway and off to our left, there is an older man with a hat on top of a large, white RV. He, who I'm assuming is Dale from Sophia's stories, hasn't noticed us. He's talking to someone on the ground that is being blocked from my vision by various vehicles. Sophia gasps and climbs up to the road and I follow behind her.

She runs straight for the RV once she has successfully climbed the railing of the highway and starts calling out to the occupant at the top of the RV.

"Dale! Dale, I'm back! June brought me back!" So, I was correct in assuming this was the famous RV owner from the kid's tales.

Dale looks up in surprise when he hears Sophia's voice and is quick to climb down the ladder. I jog to catch up to Sophia and find her hugging the old man who is now desperately trying to keep up with Sophia's babbling. I see him glance at me when I arrive and I give him a small smile, hoping to relax any fears he might have of me. He puts his hand on her shoulder and she stops and takes a deep breath. I guess she had to get everything out from when she was ignoring me.

"Who is this, Sophia?" He asks the kid, but is staring at me.

"June. I'm June," I offer him my hand to shake and he takes it. He grips it and shakes it twice. His eyes are surprisingly kind.

"Sophia says you saved her?" he's looking at me softly and suddenly I am reminded of my grandfather and his kind smile. My heart aches slightly at this memory, but I offer a small shrug in return to his inquiry. "Thank you for that. Everyone has been out searching for her, excluding myself and T-dog."

A grunt of pain makes me aware for the first time of the man sitting on the ground. I look around Dale to find a dark-skinned man with a bloody cloth on his arm. He looks to be in great pain, but he still sends me a grateful smile and a quick, "thanks for bringing her back," So this is T-dog. He seems like he's seen better days. Seeming to understand my thoughts, he goes on to tell me his arm was caught on a piece of metal when he was trying to hide.

"Where's mom?" Sophia asks Dale once T-dog and I have finished.

Dale opens his mouth when a scream is suddenly heard from the woods. The older man goes pale at the sound and Sophia lets out a little whimper.

"Is that one of yours?" I ask him. He nods and although I don't think I was meant to hear, I caught the name Andrea whispered from his lips. "Would you like me to go check on them? I assume Carol will want to see her daughter."

"No. No, there's no need to send even more people out there. I'm sure everyone is alright. They'll be back soon." I Can tell he says it mostly for Sophia's sake by the way he glances at her out of the corner of his eye.

I nod anyways and turn my attention back to T-dog. "Have you taken anything for that?" He shakes his head and informs me that they could not find anything in the cars. I think I may be able to help him then. "My little brother used to get ear infections constantly so I have some Ampicillin on me. Would that be okay to use?"

He looks slightly taken aback by my offer but nods his head gratefully. I find the bottle in the bottom of my bag and take some out for T-dog to take. It isn't much, but I don't have any other medicine on me.

I keel down and hand him the medicine along with a water bottle from my bag. He gives me a bright smile and I grin back. I have a feeling I'll like T-dog.

Sophia's stomach growls loudly and we all let out a small laugh. The tense atmosphere that the scream caused has now lifted. Dale tells Sophia that there is food is the RV if she would like some and she gives an embarrassed nod and shuffles into the vehicle.

He informs me that there is also a bed I can sleep on. I suppose I must look tired since I didn't sleep much the night before. I take him up on his surprising offer and head to the back room he directs me to. I pass Sophia where she is sitting at a table eating and she gives me a happy wave. I smile and let her know I'm going to sleep for a small amount of time and get a wide grin full of crackers in return. It's both disgusting and adorable.

After face planting on the bed (A bed! I haven't slept on one of these in weeks!) I fell asleep dreaming about Keith. He really would have liked Sophia. Dale and T-dog, too. I really miss him.


AN: So most chapters should be around 2,500-4,000 words with a few exceptions. Now that I have the beginning out of the way, the story should go much smoother. Also, in case anyone was wondering, in America a barnstar is considered good luck!