A/N: Here is Ch.4! Please review! And reviewer Shirley Cash I will take what you said into consideration. I'm just trying to get the ball rolling on the story and get into the thick of the apocalyse

*Character ages are as follows* Thomas:24 Renea:22 Maria:27 Tyler: 23 Doug:62 Trisha: 58 Nick: 19 Blake: 16 Kylie:15 Ben: 26 Lena:26 Emma: 3

ROUGHLY 3 MONTHS LATER.

"Clear!" Nick whisper yelled from the kitchen.

"Good!" Tyler yelled from the top of the stairs.

"Bathroom is clear!" Blake yelled.

Rrrrrrrrrrrr Ahhh I heard coming from the bedroom door. I could hear a walker trying to get out, drawn by the noise we made in the house. I kicked in the door and it fell to the ground. I drove my machete through its forehead. I stared down at its body. It was once a teenage girl, no older than Kylie.

"Clear!" I called down the hall.

I threw my stuff on the bed and sat down in a chair in front of the vanity.

"Hey babe." Renea came in and kissed me. "Something on your mind?"

"We need food, water, and we need to get off the road." I said. Our journey east was complete, we were just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. But we have yet to find somewhere to call home. A few gas stations, houses, a furniture store, a law firm, and our trucks were all we have had over our heads for the last few months. It was deep winter and the nights were cold so I knew we needed somewhere soon.

"We'll find something." She kissed me again before we heard a door slam open.

"Help!" Trisha yelled. "Thomas!"

I bolted down the hall and found Tyler and Ben lying Nick on the kitchen table. Blood was all over him and a piece of rebar was protruding from his leg.

"What happened?!" I asked.

"We were out back in the shed." Blake explained. "Looking for supplies when a walker jumped him. I pulled it off and killed it but he fell back on this rebar.

"Fuck!" Nick hissed as Maria steadied the bar.

"Should we pull it out?" She looked to me.

"No, we don't know if it hit any arteries." I said. "We don't have the supplies if that's the case."

"There is a vet clinic a few miles back!" Tyler said. "Me, you, and Ben can run there and see what there is."

"Sounds good." Ben said and I nodded. We gathered our weapons and bags and loaded into my truck.

"What should we look for?" Tyler asked.

"Painkillers, antibiotics." Ben answered.

"Coagulants to help stop the bleeding." I added. "He's not gonna be able to move on his own for awhile so as soon as we can move him we need somewhere safe."

About five minutes later we pulled up to the vet clinic and ran inside. I killed a walker that was in the back room before I began searching for what we needed. I filled the bag with everything I could find. Tourniquets, medicine, hydrogen peroxide. I found myself thinking about how it was stupid that we hadn't stocked up on medical supplies as much as we should when I heard a door open behind me.

"Any luck?" I turned around and was face to face with a fat man holding a shotgun.

"Move it fucky." He stepped aside and motioned me back into the lobby.

"What seems to be the problem?" I asked.

"Well this vet clinic is one of our territories, we keep meds here and keep a close eye." Another man with long red hair answered while a third bald man kept Tyler and Ben on the ground, a shotgun pointed at them. "Nobody has dared to come in here yet until you three."

"He'll want to know where the rest of your people are as well." The fat man added.

"We don't have anyone else." I lied.

"We've heard that one before." The redhead smiled. "True or not, the Conductor will find out."

"The Conductor?" I questioned.

"Load 'em up, Robbie." The redhead said to the fat man. "Leo, keep watch while we drop these three off." He told the bald man. He smiled at me and I felt a pain pierce the back of my head before everything went black.

I opened my eyes to a bright fluorescent light. I woke up lying on a dirty public bathroom floor with Ben next to me.

"Where is Tyler?" I asked as I rubbed blood from the back of my head.

"No idea, he was gone when I woke up." Ben answered.

"You tried the door?" I asked.

"More times than I care to admit."

"What're we gonna..." The door opened and a tall man with short brown hair and a teardrop tattoo walked in.

"Conductor wants you after he's done with your boy." He looked at me.

"Who in the actual fuck is the Conductor?" I asked. "And where is my friend?" I got in his face.

"None of your business." He punched me again. 2 more men came in and closed the door. The first was short and stocky and the other thin and frail.

"He wants you, he didn't say unharmed." He smiled and hit me again while one of the other men pinned me against the wall while the third tied up Ben. I pushed him off as the man swung again. I ducked and he punched the wall. I speared him through a stall door. One of the other men pulled me off and I turned around and decked him. The third man punched me in the side of the face and I stumbled into the wall. I kicked him in the gut and he flew back into the second man. The first man pulled out a long hunting knife and slashed it towards my stomach. I caught his hand and broke his wrist. I grabbed the knife and rammed it into his throat. The second man came at me with a crowbar and I sidestepped. I ducked under the third mans swing with his tomahawk and pushed him back into the second man. I ran at both of them and tacked them into a wall. I grabbed the third man's tomahawk and wrestled it from his hand. Once I got it I slashed it across his face. I looked down at the second man who was huddled up next to a urinal.

"Please." He pleaded.

"Where is my friend?" I asked menacingly.

"Get on the tracks, walk left and he's the third door on the left." He answered quickly.

"Thank you." I said before I stomped on his face. I untied Ben and we made our way to where he said Tyler was. We slammed open the door and I smashed the tomahawk against the back of a guys skull.

"Guys!" Tyler exclaimed. "Thank god!"

"Let's get out of here." I said as Ben untied him. I picked up the gun next to the dead man and we left the room. We made our way to the stairs when we started getting shot at. We dove behind pillars and a bullet pierced my arm. "Fuck!" I seethed. I leaned around the pole and fired two shots into the shooters chest. We took off for the stairs and hopped in a car parked outside the door.

It took us hours to find the house again but when we did we rushed inside. I opened the door to find Doug on the couch with Trisha.

"Guys?" I asked and Doug looked at me, his eyes said it all. I walked into the kitchen and saw Nick's body on the table.

"We couldn't stop the bleeding." Maria cried. "Doug made sure he wouldn't come back."

"What happened to you?" Renea asked and I explained everything.

"Who is the Conductor?" Blake asked.

"Not sure, but we need to move before we find out." I answered.

We buried Nick in the backyard and we all gathered our things.

"I think we're gonna take a note from your mom's book." Doug said as he handed me the keys to his truck.

What do you mean?" I asked.

"We're not leaving our son." He said. His face solemn and broken.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yeah." He nodded. "It's been a good few months Thomas but between you and I." He paused. "I didn't stop Nick from coming back. He did, and he bit Trisha before we could react. I'm gonna stay with her, make sure she doesn't come back. And then I'm just gonna ride it out where my family is buried together."

"I'm gonna miss you, Doug." I hugged him and tossed his keys to Blake. I climbed in my truck and we all hit the road again. The hole created by losing Nick and leaving Doug and Trisha was felt by us all as soon as we pulled away.

We drove for a few hours before stopping and taking shelter in a post office. We all settled in and tried to get some sleep. I stared at the ceiling while Renea laid next to me. I could feel Renea shiver in her sleep and I pulled her closer. The cold wasn't bothering me at this time. I felt too numb in every sense of the word.I stared blankly into the darkness as it grew thicker and thicker. Eventually, I began to doze off.

"Wake up faggot." I felt a kick in my ribs. "I opened my eyes to find the fat man from the vet clinic standing over me with his gun.

We were all brought to the front of the post office and put on our knees. A dark-haired man in a hoody and some jeans sat on the counter. Once we were all in place he stood up.

"Which one of you killed four of my men?" He asked. "Was it you?" He pointed at me. "You look like you've killed someone today, hell you're covered in blood."

"You must be..." I started.

"The Conductor." He nodded. "Theatrical I know. I run a group who lives in a train station and I'm called the Conductor but.." He shrugged.

"Why follow us this far?" I stood and a woman pointed her gun at me.

"It's fine Nina." He put his hand up. "You killed four of my fucking men."

"You kidnapped us." I retorted, stepping closer to him.

"You invaded my property." He stepped closer as well.

"Are you so stupid that you believe you own all those meds." I sneered.

"Stupid, no." He smiled. "Serious, yes. I'll show you just how much." He pulled out a gun and shot Maria in the shoulder.

"Maria!" Renea screamed.

"Mommy!" Emma cried.

"Now, you wanna sit back down? Or does someone need to die?" He smiled at me. I punched him in the face and dove on top of him. A man grabbed me from behind and pulled me off. He punched me in the face and I returned the blow knocking him out. Renea ran out of the room with Emma and Maria while Ben and Tyler lunged at the fat man. Lena picked up a metal rod and smashed the woman in the head before she could react. The Conductor grabbed his gun. I dove on top of him and wrestled him to the ground. After knocking the gun away I began beating his face in until I felt knuckles break and then I kept going. The man I hit tried to pull me off but I felt him be pulled away from me. I continued beating The Conductor until a gunshot brought me back to reality. I looked down at him. Blood was gurgling from his mouth and he was barely conscious. I picked up his gun and pressed it against his forehead. His eyes pleading with me, trying to beg for forgiveness but unable to speak. I pressed it harder against his skin and pulled the trigger. We drug all the bodies outside and stacked them up in a pile.

"Is everyone ok?" I pulled my gun out and turned around.

A man was approaching me. One hand on his holster the other in the air.

"I mean no harm, just heard the shots and wanted to make sure it wasn't my people. I'm Clarence, Clarence Parker."

"Thomas Everett." I lowered my gun.

"This group kidnapped us, we got away and they followed us here." Tyler explained.

"I understand." He sighed. "Not everyone has retained their humanity." He offered his hand and I shook it. "How many people you have?"

"Had ten this morning. Less now." I answered.

"That's how it goes." He said solemnly. "Listen, I got three others if you want to join up with us."

"You trust us?" I asked. "Why?"

"Because I need to believe not everyone is a monster." He admitted.

He left a came back with his other 3 people. 2 women named Lisa and Megan, and another man named Shawn. Lisa was a petite redhead from Colorado and Megan a heavy set, humorous blonde woman from Australia. They had been roommates in Miami when it all started. Shawn was a buff man with tattoos who was a mechanic before. And Clarence a skinny black man who was a lawyer. They had just decided to move north, hoping things were easier where it was colder. They had started in a group of seven but now it was just them.

"So where are you all headed?" Clarence asked.

"We've made it about as far as we planned." I answered. Renea was tending to Maria while Lena watched over Emma.

"How is she?" Tyler asked once Renea walked into the room.

"In pain but alive." Renea answered as she sat on my lap.

"So." Megan asked. "What now?"

"I'm not sure about you guys but we're sick of being on the road." I said.

"Us too." Shawn nodded. "We need somewhere to go, somewhere safe and as untouched as possible."

We all agreed with nods or grumbles. Once everyone ate and began relaxing I stepped outside to get some fresh air. Clarence followed me out and began talking.

"Those people look up to you." He said.

"Yeah, I guess." I answered. "Though I don't know why. Maria has been shot, we lost a kid this morning. He was nineteen and his name was Nick. We buried him and his parents didn't leave him. If I'm the right guy to look up to then why weren't they inspired enough to move on?"

"You can't put that on you." He said. "Trust me."

"Got some personal experience?" I asked.

"Yeah, I do. five years ago my wife and daughter died in a car crash. It took everything I had, every day, not to swallow a shotgun shell. I can't even imagine how much harder that would be now."

"I'm sorry."

"Why?" He shrugged. "You're not the drunk driver that plowed through them."

"How do you keep going?" I asked.

"Hope." He smiled. "It was my daughter's name, and as stupid as it sounds, holding on to it feels like I'm holding on to her."

"Makes sense to me." I smiled back.

"Listen, I didn't want to say anything because it's a long shot. Haven't even told my people yet, but I think I know a place we can stay." He leaned in.

"Where?"

"About an hours drive there is a place. A luxury gated apartment community known as Mountain View. I'm talking strong, tall fences."

"Why haven't you went yet?"

"Not enough people." He said. "Place was a rescue center, didn't work out well. Has more walkers than all of us have ever seen."

"Wouldn't be so sure." I chuckled. "Stay away from Atlanta." I added when he looked at me curiously.

We went back inside and told the group. After making a plan we all agreed upon it was time to rest.

"Sleep up." I told them all. "Tomorrow, we take our home."

Ch.4 done! NEW CHARACTERS ARE AS FOLLOWS. Clarence: Donald Glover Lisa: Ellie Kemper Megan: Rebel Wilson Shawn: Chris Andersen(NBA Player) Review!