"And how do we know these people are okay to live with?" Adeline whispered. We had learned that in this small room, our voices carried into the adjoining cell block. "I mean, they could be cannibals for all we know."

I shook my head, running my fingers though my grimy blonde hair. "I think they're okay. I mean, they fixed my ankle for the most part and they've shared what little food they have." I stared around, my gaze lingering on the dirty sheets and pillows that had been provided for us.

The room Adeline and I had been locked in for the past day and a half must've been a common room in a prison. I shuddered. Prison was a place I never thought I would spend even a second of my life in, but here we were, held up in here for protection from the outside world. How ironic.

"Sure, they're okay now," Adeline argued, wrapping her arms around herself defensively. "Later, though. Maybe tomorrow they'll attack and eat us like the zombies do."

I rolled my eyes as I used one of the tables to pull myself up. I stood, putting on my weight onto my good ankle. "There's a pregnant lady, for Christ's sake. I highly doubt she's feeding her baby human meat."

"Hey, Barbie doll."

The voice caused a jolt of surprise to shudder throughout my body. I gasped and, without thinking, pressed my foot onto the floor. I hissed in pain, falling to the hard concrete floor to hold my foot in my hands.

"Did you really have to yell?!" I snapped at Daryl. He leaned against the barred door, his arms lazily resting on the center horizontal divider.

"Well, if ya'll hadn't been whispering this whole damn time, I wouldn't have scared you," he rebuked, giving me a bored stare.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Adeline shake her head. A laugh stopped in my throat. I coughed to clear it away. "'Ya'll'?" I repeated. "Oh, I get it. You're one of those back-assward rednecks, aren't you? I'd bet your mom is your auntie too, huh?"

"Harper!" Adeline screeched. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Daryl licked his bottom lip as he lifted his middle finger in my direction. Without another word, he pushed himself from the bars and disappeared into the cell block.

My sister advanced toward me, yanking me up from my armpit. "Seriously?!" she hissed, spittle flying onto my face. "You do realize he saved your ungrateful ass, right? These people are helping us and you're treating them, especially Daryl, like shit."

I yanked my arm from her grasp and sat back onto the seat behind me. "You're the one who didn't trust them five seconds ago. I was testing him, you know? Trying to see if he'd kill me for saying something like that."

Her eyes narrowed into a dangerous glare, but before she could argue with me, the barred doors squealed open. Expecting Daryl again, I opened my mouth to shout out some more insults, but when Hershel hobbled in, my mouth instantly clamped shut. There was no way I could say anything like that to this man.

"Now, I understand Daryl isn't welcome around you two," he began, looking at each of us for an explanation.

"Just her," Adeline admitted and nodded in my direction. "I'm fine with him, really. I apologize for her."

"He was coming to see if you two needed anything…personal. Some of the group is going on a run."

"Personal?" I asked. "And what is a run?"

"A run is a trip into the nearest town to gather supplies. I meant personal as in…well, tampons and anything of the like."

Adeline's face looked as flushed as mine felt. I watched her, waiting for her to reply to him. I was too embarrassed to say anything.

"Yes," she finally choked out. "Tampons would be great. Thank you."

Hershel nodded and disappeared just the same way Daryl did.

o-o-o

"How long do runs usually take?" I asked the pregnant woman who had introduced herself as Lori a few hours before. She gave me a small smile, absentmindedly rubbing a hand over her belly.

"Depends on if they find anything," she answered, standing on her toes to peek over into the top bunk of the bed Adeline and I would be sharing. "Could be a few hours or maybe a day or two."

I patted the mattress, which was much more comfortable than the floor we'd slept on. The cell we were given was insignificant, but I was thankful for it. After a thorough pat-down to make sure we didn't carry any weapons on us, we were allowed into the cell block.

"This is just for safety precaution," Lori had explained as I stood naked in front of her. She had made sure that the area was completely blocked off from eyes other than her own as she searched me.

"I understand," I had replied, staring at her stomach. "I would act the same if I was expecting."

Adeline poked her head out from around the corner. She smirked at me as she messed my hair with her hand. "You were right – everyone's friendly. Although, I can't speak for your back-assward friend when he gets back."

Guilt hit me harder than I thought it would. Lori chuckled mostly to herself before muttering, "Daryl is Daryl. He doesn't waste his time staying mad over petty arguments with a…what did he call you?"

"A Barbie doll," I answered. The laugh that escaped my mouth surprised even me. "I don't look like a Barbie doll, do I?"

"You kind of do," they replied simultaneously.

o-o-o

"So, what's your story?" Carl asked. All the eyes on us – Carl, Lori, Carol, T-Dog, Beth, and Hershel – made me feel almost like I was being interviewed. And the fact that a 14-year-old boy was the interviewer didn't help my feelings.

"Um," I muttered, looking to Adeline for help. We sat around the tables in the common room. Carol and Lori had cooked some sort of concoction that consisted of meat (?) and potatoes (?). Whatever it was, it tasted amazing.

"Before or after all this?" she asked, taking a spoonful of her food into her mouth.

"Both."

"Well, we grew up in Berkeley Lake," my sister started. "We were both homeschooled by private tutors. After we graduated high school, I went right off to college while Harper just took her time with furthering her education."

Beth's eyes widened slightly. "Berkeley Lake? You two must've been pretty wealthy then, huh?"

Adeline and I exchanged glances. "I guess you can say that," I muttered, stuffing more food into my face.

"Our father was a successful lawyer and our mother was at the top of the Wal-Mart corporations. I wouldn't say wealthy, just better off," she added.

"What did you do for work before this?"

Again, we exchanged glances.

"Wait," Carl said, holding up his hands. "You're telling us neither of you have had jobs before?"

"We didn't need to work," I answered, my cheeks growing hot. "Our parents gave us all the money we needed."

The group fell silent as we continued to eat. Part of me wondered if our upbringing would affect our new relationship with these people, but when Hershel's wrinkled face sported a smile, I knew I was wrong.

"Then I'm sure you two could learn a few things from us, just as we can learn a few things from you."

The entrance to the prison flew open and in a hurry, the people surrounding us acted. Weapons were grabbed and everyone stood in an attack stance. Even Adeline jumped to her feet, her hands doubled into tight fists.

"Tampons, right?" Daryl announced, throwing a box roughly at me. It slammed into my chest, the cardboard nicking my chin, before I caught it in my arms. He stormed past us, making his way into the cell block. A loud banging noise echoed.

As everyone relaxed, Beth's older sister, Maggie, paced toward me. She placed a heavy hand on my shoulder and gave a smile. She had a very nice smile.

"Whatever you did to piss Daryl off, I wouldn't suggest doing it again."