Psalms 91:5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night;

nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

Atlanta had been a huge mistake. We hadn't even made it off the backroads and we were encountering dead heads in herds of 50 plus. We hadn't seen numbers like these since Dallas, so it was painfully obvious their numbers grew within the large cities. We both had decided that the city would be impassable with numbers like these just outside its limits. The idea to go south and bypass the larger towns was Sarah's and it was a good one. Country roads were the safest option and the best route to take from here on out. We would lose time on the way, but time was a commodity that could be handed over freely nowadays.

Hours had passed since our stop outside of Birmingham and I was finding it harder to keep my eyes from being weighed down from lack of sleep. I glanced at Sarah and found her leaning against the passenger window, one hand propping her head up and the other sandwiched between her knees. We needed a good night of sleep. If we could at least get a couple of hours to rest and reenergize we would do better to make up for time lost today.

I continued to follow the road for a few more miles until we came across other vehicles abandoned on the side of the road. It seemed as though the convoy had become overrun and abandoned early on. If we could camouflage our car with the others maybe we'd go unnoticed by roamers or scavengers through the night. I gently veered off the road and maneuvered my way between the tree line and a beat up pick up. This way we would have a clear escape route should we need it while also having cover along one side.

Turning the car off and killing the lights I turned to my sister and gently shook her shoulder. "Hey." Sarah's eyelids barely opened as she turned to me. "Help me lay these seats down. We'll rest here tonight and pick up in the morning."

Sarah didn't say a word as I locked the doors and climbed between the front seats and began moving the jerry can into the floorboard directly behind the driver's seat, then the cooler bags full of cans and water. Sarah helped in laying the back seats flat and positioning our packs into make shift pillows. Next, we pulled clothing from the trash bag and strategically hung shirts in the cracked windows to help in concealing the interior of the vehicle from view.

Once satisfied with our work I pulled the two woven blankets from the satchel bag and handed one to Sarah. She laid her head against her pack, tugging the blanket closer to her chin in hopes of protecting her from the slight chill coming in from the cracked windows. I joined her, pushing against the pack and readjusting the holster on my hip, but comfortable I was not in the cramped car. I breathed heavily, tucking my hand behind my head as my thoughts drifted to what tomorrow would bring. It didn't take long for my eyes to slowly become too heavy for me to bear and I began to succumb to the exhaustion.

"Hey, Jess?" Sarah whispered.

Son of a biscuit eater, Sarah.

"Hmm?"

She paused for a moment and the air became thick with emotion. "You really think we'll make it to DC?"

I turned my head, noticing she had not made an effort to face me as she spoke. "Yeah, I do. We're not quitting this far in the game, Jellybean." She said nothing in return and the silence that grew began to worry me, causing her to wonder if she had her doubts about our adventure. "What about you?"

For several tense moments she didn't answer, and I began to think she had fallen asleep; then she spoke. "I think we'll die on this road. If not this one, then the next or later on down the line."

The bluntness in her words didn't surprise me, to be perfectly honest there were times I would have agreed, but the tone of her voice broke my heart. Pure and utter defeat. There was no determination or longing for life anymore and that was scary as hell. If not for Sarah I would have put a bullet to the brain long before Georgia. She couldn't give up now, neither of us could.

"You're probably right." I whispered, and Sarah finally turned her head to stare at me over her shoulder. "But I'm not letting either of us go down without a fight."

Wordlessly she turned fully onto her left side and brought the scratchy material of the woven blanket closer to her chin. The conversation may have ended, but the wheels were still churning in my mind.

We'd been alone for about a week, but already I could see the tale tell signs of hope being lost. Humanity was no more and that could easily beat a person down; scream out to just give up and give in. I wanted to, but the precious life next to me kept me going and it would be the only advantage I had going. There would be no sacrifice. As long as the two of us still had breath they'd keep going until the end. I'd be sure of it.

"I think it's a miracle we found this car." Sarah whispered. Her eyes were slowly closing from exhaustion and I was soon going to be joining her.

"You know me. I don't believe in miracles." I mumbled back.

"Then how do you explain the gas station?"

I yawned out my answer, "The dead heads we found owned the car. Found a picture under the visor when you were sleeping. Guess they picked the wrong pit stop."

"Hmm." Was my only reply as we both succumbed to sleep.

"Jess wake up! Jessica!" I heard screaming, Sarah's voice was screaming. "Jessica!"

My eyes flew open in alarm and I looked around my bedroom in my mother's house. It was still dark out, but I could see the horizon beginning to brighten with the hopes of a new day.

My brows furrowed in confusion, it was quiet.

Hadn't I heard screaming?

I had. It was Sarah's voicing calling out for me, there was nothing but silence now. There were no birds chirping their morning greetings outside, no bustling in the kitchen, even Mr. Rostine across the road would be outside listening to the radio with his cup of coffee while watching the sunrise. I heard nothing, and it frightened me.

I jumped out of the bed, spotting my duffel bag on the floor outside the closet and it all came back to her.

Dallas.

Sarah.

Momma.

I began to panic and my heart skipped a few beats as I hurried to the duffel bag, grabbing my .45ACP and turning to the bedroom door.

"Jessica, please!"

My hand froze on the knob upon hearing my sister's frantic voice screaming out my name. There was so much fear in those two words. She was begging for me, for my help. I threw the door open and was met with a blinding light. A noise so deafening it made my ears ache. I clasped my hands over them in hopes of drowning out the noise, but it did me no good.

"Sarah!" I called out. There was no answer. "Sarah!" I waited for an eternity, or at least it felt that way, until I finally heard her voice answer me.

"Jess, wake up!"

Wake up? I was awake. Didn't she realize that?

The noise became louder and rumbled, causing a vibration in my chest. It rose in random successions and intensity until finally it ended all together.

"Jess!"

I felt a hand on her shoulder and I lashed out, knocking it away and throwing myself forward into a sitting position. All at once I realized where I was and who was with me. Sarah was on her knees looking at me with a mix of bewilderment and fear. It had been a dream. She was here now, and she was okay. Relief flooded me as I relaxed against the pack I had been using as a makeshift pillow.

She was safe, Sarah was safe.

My heart dropped as I replayed the dream again in my mind. There had been one other person that was not present.

Momma.

My teeth gnawed at the inside of my cheek as I thought back on our mother. Sarah may be safe, but our mother wasn't here, and I felt a great deal of guilt as I tried my best to push back the memory of that first morning.

"Jess." Sarah whispered to me and I looked up to her under thick lashes. My own personal guilt was so debilitating that I didn't want to see my sister's face and be reminded of that day any more than I already had been. "There's people outside."

Instantly I became away of the sounds of chatter and footsteps all around us. Dead heads were not capable of speaking and their stride was too sluggish and uncoordinated to be whatever awaited. It was an unsure situation whether people or the dead would be a more welcoming visitor. We needed people we could trust and pull resources with but trying to find a group such as that was becoming more and more challenging and dangerous. The more time passed the further humanity crumbled and with it every once decent person.

It's not as though we could all pull together and do a world wide trust fall.

"Hey, guys. Check this out." It was the sound of a young man's voice just outside of the vehicle that caused me to spur into action. My eyes found Sarah's, they were filled with unshed tears of panic and uncertainty. Immediately I went into protective sister mode and motioned for her to move away from the back hatch, positioning myself in front of her as if a human blockade. I unholstered my Ruger, instructing Sarah to have her weapon ready, and aimed towards the back window.

A shadow crossed the driver's side and I watched out of the corner of my eye as the person attempted to look through the makeshift curtain of T-shirts. Another shadow joined the first, this one larger and, judging from the stance, carrying a weapon of sorts. Sarah's trembling hand came to rest on my shoulder as she gave me a gentle squeeze. I glanced back to her, offering a reassuring smile and nod of my head before pointedly looking down at her weapon, silently telling her to be ready. I turned my head back to the windows, watching as the two slowly approached the back of the station wagon and paused. The larger figure nodded their head and took a measured step back, presumably to aim their weapon into the vehicle and directly at us. I quickly turned to Sarah pointing my finger first to her then at the smaller target.

You take that one.

I pressed the same finger into my chest then pointed directly at the larger shadow standing directly behind our vehicle..

I got this mother fucker.

Sarah slowly maneuvered herself to my left, but as the older and more protective sister I remained rooted in front of her. If shit was about to go south I would die knowing I did my best to protect her. We both took aim at our intended targets and waited with bated breath as the smaller one reached for the handle to open the hatch. The mechanical click of the latch releasing echoed through the interior of the car and I forced myself to keep my cool and not shoot on the spot. We had the upper hand of having the barrier opening outwards and revealing the threat before they saw us but letting loose a barrage of bullets with dead heads around was just another death wish. As the hatch slowly raised I saw the first sign of their uninvited guests. A pair of worn blue jeans just outside of the vehicle belonged to the person opening the door. A second pair of legs appeared a few yards away, dark brown cargo pants covering a well-worn pair of boots. The hatch raised slower and slower until finally it reached its maximum height and revealed the scene before them.

A young Asian man stood to the left of the vehicle, a Glock 17 in his right hand. He never raised the weapon, instead stared at us in astonishment – as if believing we were there was like believing in the tooth fairy or Santa Clause. His head turned to look at his partner and my gaze fell on the other person. He was older than the kid, but not much older than me, 5-10 years max. He looked like a mix between a hairdresser's worst nightmare and wet dream with the greasy mop plastered to his head. It just depended on how you looked at it. Unlike his partner wielding the Glock 17 like a true rookie this man held a crossbow, the crosshairs leveled dead center to my forehead.

Well good morning and fuck you too, Robin Hood.

"Put the guns down." Mr. Greasy ordered. I glared at him, a look he returned with full force.

"Easy." Asian took half a step forward, freezing immediately when Sarah shifted her weight in order to follow his advance. "We're not going to hurt you." He promised.

I scoffed in return, never lowering my gaze from Robin Hood. "That's what they all say nowadays, right?" I exchanged a look with Asian, "'We ain't gonna hurt ya. We just want what you have.'" I repeated the same lines said by the last group of men to cross our paths. Sarah and I had been lucky that our food and water was all that they took. Morons. Any other person would have killed us and taken all our shit. "I'm assuming you aren't the Georgia welcoming committee either?"

"We're not taking anything from you," he said. The two men looked to one another, then Asian glanced to the right side of the vehicle. There were others.

Asian slowly and deliberately holstered his weapon, showing us his hands in a show of truce. My eyes side swiped to Robin Hood to see if he would do the same. As if reading my thoughts, he narrowed his eyes silently telling me he wouldn't be as willing as his companion.

"There others?" I asked Asian.

"Ain't none of your business." Hood warned.

I turned on him, "Bullshit. We're not standing down until I see everyone in your group."

"Got some mouth on ya. Ya lookin' to get shot?" I simply smirked, challenging the man.

"C'mon." Asian coaxed both of us. I didn't dare look away from the trigger-happy hillbilly across from me. Whatever he saw in his companion caused him to level his eyes upon me as he blew out an agitated puff of air from his nose and lowered his crossbow.

"Yur turn, Freckles." If looks could kill this idiot would be dead twice over. I glanced at Sarah, nodding my head once and we both lowered our guns.

I rounded on the man once more, "You're gonna refrain from calling me that, Merida." Calling him any other archer's name would be too much of a compliment, referring to him as a Disney Princess was putting insult to injury. Which was a shame because the feisty Scot was my favorite of any of them.

He chose to ignore my comment as the two men exchanged a serious look, silently debating with one another. Robin Hood looked to his left and jerked his head, beckoning the other member of their group to come forward. I watched as a shadow appeared in the window to my immediate right until it disappeared near the open hatch of the vehicle. A tall, slender young woman with chin length hair appeared. Her eyes were harsh as she aimed a Walther P99 at my head as we huddled in the back of the station wagon.

Seeing the threat Sarah raised her gun aiming at the other woman; the scene blew up in an instant. Asian raced to the woman's aide, coming to stand in Sarah's line of fire. Robin Hood lunged forward, crossbow at the ready and lined up once again to fire a kill shot to the head, this time to my sister.

Oh hell no. This idiot was going back to the Ice Age.

I came to my knees, my Ruger aimed in the archer's direction. If he let an arrow loose he'd only lose the battle with a 40mm to the temple.

"How's this gonna end?" I questioned Asian, never allowing my eyes to drift from the kill shot in the center of the hillbilly's forehead.

"I told you, we're not here to hurt you." He glanced inside the vehicle, obviously taking note of the packs pressed into the floorboard. "Or take anything from you."

"How are we supposed to believe you?" Sarah asked.

The trigger-happy Amazonian woman hidden away behind Asian side stepped her barrier, weapon lowered to her side. She must not have seen a threat in the two of us to be so bold as to let her guard down so soon. She was either extremely stupid or overly trusting. Either way, letting your guard down around these parts would get you killed. Must have a death wish or something. "Where are you headed?"

Sarah and I shared a look, silently battling the desire to share our destination or to keep our wits about us and lie. Sarah answered him, "DC, there's a safe zone set there."

Asian and Robin Hood didn't seem convinced by the news. I was skeptical as well, but what did we have to lose? Your choices were to settle and fight for your survival alone or within a group or stay on the road and keep going until you found somewhere safe. We couldn't afford to settle alone and had yet to find a group to call our own, so the road was our best chance.

"How far have you travelled?" Zena Warrior Princess asked.

My eyes found her, wondering why we playing a game of Guess Who? At a time like this. "Started out near Fort Worth, found a camp in Texarkana and stayed there for awhile."

"You need people?" Sarah asked.

The trio looked to each other. Asian turned his head to stare at the woman with a quizzical look, she nodded at him, then his eyes looked to the archer still holding aim to Sarah's forehead. He gave the other man the same look of question to which he received no answer to. Asian turned his attention back to Sarah and I, studying us as if to settle the internal battle that was obviously raging inside of him. After a brief moment, and another pointed look to the woman at his side, he finally spoke.

"How many walkers have you killed?"

The lines in my brow dipped in confusion. "What?"

"Walkers." Robin Hood demanded. As if to prove a point he swung his crossbow to the right, firing an arrow into the forehead of an approaching roamer. Ah. I understood now. The dead had many names; roamers, dead heads, biters and now walkers. It all depended on where you came from and your chosen favorite. To prove my own point, I altered my aim from Zena and the Asian kid to another approaching 'walker' behind the couple, one that they had yet to notice.

I fired, taking the walker down with ease and smiled in satisfaction before looking to the couple in front of me. "Too many to count."

Asian nodded, "How many people have you killed?"

My heart froze, and I felt the breath Sarah had been holding hit the back of my neck. We knew the answer to that particular question but were not willing enough to voice it to complete strangers. This was an obvious test of trust for the trio and as much as I wanted to deny it I desperately wanted to gain their trust. I just had a strange way of showing it.

If they wanted to kill us and take our things they wouldn't have been wasting time with idle chit chat and a ridiculous game of 20 Questions. Whether or not Sarah was ready to discuss this didn't matter, I knew we had to give these people what they wanted.

"One." My voice cracked with emotion. Sarah exuded pain and sadness behind me.

The three caught on to the emotions circling us but continued. "Why?"

My throat tightened painfully as I tried her best to keep my emotions in check and the tears from welling in my eyes. "Because she needed me to." That was all they needed to know.

Whether they were content with my answer or not I couldn't tell, but they lowered their weapons and took measured steps back. Feeling the lack of tension between us and them I lowered my own weapon and glanced back at Sarah who had already holstered her Beretta. I offered her a weak smile, one that she returned. That half ass smile was the reassurance I needed from her to know that I had done the right thing. Not by answering the question, but the meaning behind it. I gave Sarah's hand a squeeze before sliding out of the vehicle and standing before the three strangers.

"You gonna answer her question now?" I crossed my arms over my chest, shifting my weight to one foot and looking the woman in the eye to show my seriousness.

"We need people," she confirmed. The woman mirrored my stance, crossing her arms and saddling her weight to one side.

I smirked. Damn I liked this woman's tenacity! "Jessica Monroe." I hooked my head to the left, motioning to my sister. "This is my sister, Sarah."

"Maggie," she placed a hand on Asian's shoulder and smiled proudly. "This is my husband, Glenn." I offered a small smile to the man and understood the pride resonating from his wife. He'd carried a level head during our stand off and had tried to reassure us that he truly meant no harm. Little could be said for their crossbow carrying comrade. "That's Daryl."

I glanced over to the man pulling the arrow he'd launched in the walker's head minutes ago. Upon hearing his name, he straightened, glancing over at the group. He found my eyes watching him and turned his back to me in order to follow along the tree line, presumably searching for other members of the dead.

So, two out of three wasn't bad. The odds were still in our favor. I didn't mind ignoring Daryl, insert crying laughing emoticon here, as long as he checked himself before he wrecked himself.

I looked to Sarah who was standing rigid next to me. I wasn't keen on joining another group after our failed attempt in Texarkana but surviving on our own was becoming an exhausting task. Maggie was right, they needed people. Everyone needed someone nowadays and it seemed as though she, Glenn and, unfortunately, Daryl were the someone's sent to aid in our survival. Whether or not we could trust the trio, or the other members of their group, was still up for debate. With few options the pickings were slim.

I felt something brewing here, there was a feeling of hope with these people, a feeling that had been blatantly absent within the Texarkana camp. It gave me a sense of comfort that maybe all of this could work out in our favor. What other options did we really have? Survival wasn't simply living through each day. Survival was waking up every morning with a purpose for the day; gathering supplies, chores, hunting, working. Every day and every action needed a purpose to which aided in beginning a new day. These people set out this morning with a task of finding something - whether it be food, supplies or others didn't matter because they had unknowingly saved our lives and increased their group numbers.

"So," I straightened my body and dropped my arms to my sides, "where to now?"

I apologize for the late update. November is a busy month for us with birthdays and anniversaries. I didn't get much of a chance to edit this one, so please excuse any errors.

What do you think about Jess and Sarah's first encounter with Daryl, Glenn and Maggie?