"Esperanza Cruz, I want you to know that I love you. You, Carmen, and your mother were the best things that ever happened to me. You don't know how much strength it gives me to know that you will survive. That's why I'm not afraid to die anymore. I'm sorry I wasn't a better father to you. Losing your mother was the worst thing that ever happened to me, to all of us, and by being so blind to my sorrow, I lost you. I lost myself. I lost everything. Alex would be so disappointed in me right now." I listened to my father's calm voice in the ensuing chaos. "Chica, if I don't make it, I want you to stay strong. Remember what your name means. Every decision you make will either result in your life or your death. And above all, don't trust ANYONE. It's a dog eat dog world out there and it will continue to remain that way. Men won't hesitate to take a beautiful, young woman like you by force. People will kill you because they can. Remember that. And remember that I'll always love you, chica...I'm glad I got to speak to you one last time...I thought I'd never be able to make things up with you again..." The animalistic roars and shrieks of fear grew louder. "I'm coming home, Alexandra..."

I turned off my phone after listening to the voice mail again. This had been the first time I listened to the voice mail. That was three months ago. I wish I had taken that call, but Debbie was a monster and had attacked me. I furiously bit at my fingernail. I felt a sharp pain as I split the nail in half. Blood trickled down the nail. Now it was stinging. Just like the pain of losing my family. Thoughts of what could've happened to my Dad filled my head. I covered my face with my hands. It had been three days since I had been with the group. Still, I felt that I was all on my own. Now, I had a traumatized kid to take care of too.

Dad told me that he named me Esperanza because he always wanted me to remain hopeful during my darkest times. How could I be hopeful in a world like this? Dealing with bullies and being a teenager is the least of my problems now. Maybe Dad was wrong. Could I trust these people? I needed to go on a walk to clear my head.

I placed the phone under my pillow before exiting my tent. I zipped up the entrance before putting on my brown hiking boots. Right, I hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch today. I quickly grabbed a packet of beef jerky. Dale warned me not to stray too far from camp. I wasn't, but I was going to get in tune with nature. I stepped through the rows of evergreen trees. Branches snapping underneath my feet like popcorn. I bit into the jerky with relief. It was marinated and tasted like hickory smoke. The savory taste fed my hunger quickly.

"Anza!" the shrill voice of Sophia called out.

I turned to my left. I saw the red-headed Sophia standing against a tree trunk a few yards away. I walked through a small dried bush to get to her. "Yeah?" I asked.

She pointed in front of her. As I stepped closer to her, I noticed her quivering with fear. Sophia held tightly to her doll even though she was twelve years old. When I stepped into the small opening, I heard the growling of an animal. I looked to see a huge wolf standing in an offensive pose towards Sophia. It looked like it was about to leap out at her. I thought it was a husky, though maybe a little bigger and definitely a lot more aggressive. It bared all of its razor sharp incisors at Sophia. I slowly stepped beside Sophia, who quickly cowered behind me. She was on the verge of tears. "What do we do?" she stammered.

I noticed a black collar around the animal. This wasn't a wolf, at least not a pure blooded wolf. It was too big to be a husky. I didn't think wolves lived in this part anyway. It had a collar around this neck so it had to be domesticated. Or at least somewhat domesticated. I certainly didn't want to kill it. I knelt down to a crouch. I snapped my fingers at the wolf-dog before whistling once. "Come on, boy, you don't have to be afraid." I cooed. "It's okay, boy."

The wolf continued to snarl at me. I pulled out a giant piece of beef jerky and held it out. I continued to speak softly to the wolf. "Come on, boy." I called out to it. After a few moments, the wolf retracted his sharp teeth. He lost the aggressive pose, then standing calmly on all fours. The wolf treaded carefully towards me. After a moment, he snatched the piece of jerky and scarfed it down. I gave him more pieces as I pet the animal. Slowly, Sophia moved and sat beside me. "It's okay now, he ain't gonna hurt us." I stated. "He's probably really hungry though."

The wolf then tried sinking its snout into the small bag of beef jerky. That made Sophia laugh a little. She grabbed a piece of jerky, feeding it to the wolf before petting it. Now Sophia was less afraid of this creature. "Where's your master, boy?" I asked, grasping the muzzle of the wolf. It's tongue swiped over its mouth. His amber eyes looked to mine. No anger or aggression. I looked to try finding a dog tag but found none. Though I noticed a bent split ring attached to it. The wolf must have lost them through breaking them from a leash or something. I stood up with Sophia, handing her the bag of jerky. The wolf just about went to Sophia's waist. "Can we keep him?" Sophia asked.

"We'll have to ask the others." I answered, grabbing the wolf-dog by his collar. We were able to lead the wolf-dog into camp using the beef jerky. Though now it seemed to be more friendly towards me after giving it food. When we came back to camp, the women gathered around the fire noticed us enter with the wolf. Carl and the Morales children instantly ran towards us excitedly, Sky with less enthusiasm. Lori and Carol walked towards us with great concern. T-Dog chuckled once with delight at the sight of a dog. The children petted the huge animal, with Carl feeding the wolf-dog the rest of his fish. The wolf-dog greedily ate the fish meat. Sky gently petted his grey muzzle. "Where did you find this animal?" Lori inquired.

"Sophia found him in the woods," I answered. "We fed him beef jerky, now he seems to be a little more friendlier."

"Can we keep him?" Sophia asked, her eyes pleading. Carol frowned. Both women turned to each other. Now, even I wasn't sure we could keep this animal. It looked like this guy needed to be fed a lot. He was also very aggressive towards us until we fed him. Lori scratched the back of her head worriedly. "I don't know..." she began.

Carl grabbed his mother's hand. "Aw, come on, Mom!" he pleaded with her.

The RV swung open with Daryl stomping down the short steps. He was munching on a giant chicken leg. "What's the fuss about?" he asked in his Southern accent. That was when he saw the wolfdog. "What did the cats bring in?"

Daryl specifically looked at me when he said. I shot a glower at him while he just chuckled. Daryl knelt down and whistled for the dog to come near. The wolf-dog instantly raced for Daryl, or rather, the giant chicken leg in his hand. I expected Daryl to fight with the wolf over the chicken leg. But, I was surprised when Daryl gave it to him. While the wolf-dog scarfed down the chicken, including the bone, Daryl continued petting and talking to it. I had never seen him this nice before. He had always been a jerk to me and the others. I thought he was going to be the first to object to this, knowing how much Daryl was a giant buzz kill. I was glad he was open to the idea.

Daryl continued to examine the animal and mutter to himself. Jacqui alerted Rick and Shane about the discovery of the dog. Glenn arrived with Amy and Andrea when they heard. Amy smiled once, joining the children in petting the dog. She blended right in with them. Rick knelt next to Daryl and stroked the animal too. He was panting heavily, that was when Sky placed a bowl of water in front of it. The wolfdog slurped down the water as fast as it could. Looks like it hadn't had water in a long time. "Sure would make a fine hunting dog." Daryl commented, scratching it's ears.

"This fella looks like he's going to need a lot of supplement though," Rick added. "We can't give him any of our supplies."

Daryl shrugged. "That's fine, there's plenty of squirrels we can hunt."

Shane was the only one to object. "Rick, come on, we can't keep this animal," he answered. "How do we know this thing is tame or doesn't have rabies? We should just put it out of its misery."

Instantly, all of the children began protesting and shouting their displeasure. Amy and Glenn joined in with them. Rick turned to Lori, who held her hands up in a surrendering pose. "It's your call." she stated. Clearly, Lori didn't want to be the bad guy in this.

"Rick," Shane said.

Rick didn't say anything. We all waited for his final answer. He sighed once. "If you want this dog, you're going to have to take care of him. The responsibility is not on me. If he becomes aggressive or gets infected, we have to put him down. So be prepared." Rick ordered.

"I'll take care of the little beast," I said, stepping in. Now, the wolf-dog was officially mine. Sophia wrapped her arms around its fuzzy neck. She looked up at me and the others. "Hey, we should give him a name. Anza, what about you name him? You're the one that tamed him."

Now all eyes were on me. I awkwardly smiled with embarrassment.

"How about Anza?" grinned Daryl.

I glared at him as he chuckled. They started throwing out name suggestions. Cooper, Gray, Wolfie, Beast...

"How about...Walker?" I suggested.

"Walker?" Glenn asked with his eyebrows arched. "You might as well name him 'Biter' or 'Geek'."

I was instantly on the defense. "I don't know. I just...thought of naming him in tribute to all of those who've died from the disease."

That made everyone silent. Daryl patted the wolf on the back. "Walker it is," he said, grabbing Walker by the collar. He led the husky dog towards his tent. "Come on, let's get you some food. Walker, Texas Dog!" Daryl laughed at the end.

The excitement of our new companion didn't fade at all over the next few days. Carl, Sophia, and the Morales children absolutely adored Walker. All eyes were on the wolfdog the next couple of days. They weren't sure how this animal was going to behave around humans. Daryl said he knew for sure that the animal was half-wolf, which made it more unpredictable and aggressive. That didn't exactly curb the fears of Lori and especially Carol. She flat out didn't like the idea of owning a dog, let alone a wolf-dog hybrid. But, there wasn't much she did for stopping Sophia from playing with Walker. He was the closest to Sophia out of the children. I could tell that he was now extremely devote to us, especially me and Sophia, since we were the ones that fed him first. The upside of owning a dog was that they were your best friend. They would give your life for yours. Though I wasn't sure if I was going to see that in Walker, as far as I was concerned, he only stayed here for the food.

"Sky, do you have any clothes you need washed?" I asked, gathering my one box of clothes. She didn't say anything, only stared at me. I didn't press her further. I didn't bring too many clothes with me for my trip. I only had one box of clothing. The rest of my jeep was stuffed with supplies although I had little food. That changed now. I gathered up all me and Sky's clothes in a milk crate, which were all dirty, and walked down to the river. As I walked through camp, I saw Andrea arguing with a thick man wearing a Hawaiian shirt. That man must have been Ed. I had been here for almost two weeks yet had seen little of Ed. Most of the time, he was a stumbling drunk. But, I had heard stories from Andrea and Jacqui that he frequently hit and smacked Carol and Sophia.

"If you don't like the way your laundry is done, do it yourself," Andrea hissed in Ed's face. "And don't you ever hit Carol or Sophia again."

Ed glared at her. "That is none of your concern. All that concerns you geese is doing the laundry and pleasing us in the bedroom."

That was when I stepped in. "What are you? The fucking laundry police?" I snorted. "If you want to be pleased, kindly go sit on a stick. Cuz we ain't doin' nothin' for you."

Ed turned his gaze towards me. A sick smile formed on his fat face as he stumbled towards me. I stepped back with repulsion. "Hey there, sugar, don't think we've been properly introduced," Ed grinned.

"Don't talk to her!" Andrea hissed.

Ed raised his hand at her as if to slap her, before turning his attention back on me. He picked up one of the glasses off the picnic table and filled it with the wine he was drinking. "You sure are beautiful. More beautiful than this lot at least," Ed sighed. "How about we have a drink?"

All of the women opened their mouths with exasperation at what Ed was doing and saying. Carol looked like she wanted to hide in a hole and never come out. Ed extended the cup of wine towards me. I gave Ed a cold look, before grabbing the glass of wine and throwing it in his face. He cried out with shock. "If you ever hurt Carol and Sophia again, I will kill you!" I yelled, then slamming the glass cup against the side of his head. The glass exploded upon hitting Ed's head. He collapsed to the ground, now cut and bleeding. His eyes were wide with shock. Though I could still see that he was very drunk. "You? Kill me? Think again, bitch!" he hollered, getting up and stomping over to his tent.

We all thought that was that. We were wrong. I noticed Amy cover her mouth and shriek once. "Anza, behind you!" Andrea screamed. The moment I turned around, I heard the loud bang of the shotgun. The shot missed me by a mile. Ed reloaded his shotgun. "I'm gonna have to teach you cunts a lesson!" he snarled.

I booked it. I could hear the loud booms of the shotgun being fired at me as Ed chased me throughout the camp. Luckily, he was so drunk that his aiming was poor. As I ran past the picnic table, my feet became entangled in a jump rope laying on the ground. I instantly crash landed against the gravel. Tiny rocks embedded my bare legs. Scrapes covered my body. It stung like a bee sting.

Chi-chick!

Ed aimed his shotgun steadily at me. Only inches away from my face. I trembled, holding my hands up. "I won't miss this time, bitch." he growled, looking into the barrel. There was a sleek thud. Ed cried out once, dropping the shotgun. An arrow was lodged through his fat arm. I turned behind me to see Daryl holding his crossbow.

He saved me...

There was a low rumble, less than a snarl, and Walker bolted from Daryl's tent and towards me. At first, I thought he was going to attack me. But, with a leap from his powerful hind legs, Walker flew over me. The wolf landed on Ed with his jaws snapped around his neck. Ed was slammed into the ground as the wolf tore into his neck. His scream last less than a second. Blood sprayed across the gravel. After one second, the wolf turned to me. His jaws were red and wet with blood. Walker padded towards me, his golden eyes staring into mine. Daryl grabbed me by my arm and roughly yanked me to my feet. He stepped in front of Ed, before staring down at him like he was the most pathetic thing in the world. Lori and Miranda covered the faces of their children. Sky had no parent to shield her from this horror. There was no expression her face. Sky put away the handgun I gave her. I could see tears forming in Carol's eyes. But, I saw none in Sophia's eyes. Her face was just as ambivalent as Sky's.

Ed's eyes were wide with agony. He popped a blood vessel in his eye. I could hear a gurgling noise coming from his throat. He was choking on his own blood, which was now profusely pouring out of the holes in his neck. Ed reached out for Carol and Sophia, but they stepped away. We all watched as Ed's face softened. His arm dropped lifelessly to the ground. Blood pooled onto the gravel. Walker rubbed his muzzle against my legs. He whimpered once.

"That dog is a menace! It needs to be put down!"

"Walker saved my life."

Daryl interrupted. "No, I did, cupcake."

"Walker was the one who killed Ed."

"Yeah, just like a good hunting dog is supposed to."

Although Daryl disagreed with me there, I'm glad that he was at least on my side of keeping Walker alive. Daryl didn't want to lose this precious hunting dog. I didn't want to lose this animal that saved my life. Earlier, I doubted Walker's loyalty. Now, I no longer questioned it. Shane scratched the back of his curly black hair. Old man Dale stood there with his hunting rifle strapped to his back. A look of uncertainty still on his face. "I know he saved your life, Anza, but I don't know...that dog is dangerous."

The blond haired Andrea stood by me. "Walker knew exactly what he was doing when he killed Ed. He saw a threat and eliminated it."

Rick intervened in the heated argument. "We will talk about this later," he ordered. "Right now, we need to move Ed's body and clean up the blood."

The children were sitting on a fallen tree near the edge of the forest. Amy sat next to them, watching over the children and comforting them. The Morales children hugged Sophia, though she looked more than happy to lose her demon of a father. The children were watching the scene intently. Walker was tied up to the back of Daryl's pick up truck. He sat there calmly and elegantly while we debated his life. If only he knew what we were saying. T-Dog and Daryl dragged Ed's body behind the RV. Dale handed Carol a shovel. It was time to bury Ed.

But before anyone could do anything, Carol swung the shovel down the head of Ed. We all stepped back in shock as Carol began yelling out in fury and swinging the shovel repeatedly down Ed's head. The sickening sound of a crushed skull and flesh filled the air. Blood poured from what was once the face of Ed. "I hate you! I hate you! I'm glad you're dead!" Carol screamed at her dead husband, before spitting on his corpse. "You deserve what you got for all those years of torturing me and Sophia! Pain! I'm glad that was the last thing you felt when you died, you fucking piece of shit fat fucking bastard!"

I had never seen Carol this enraged before. But, I could see it coming. After a few minutes of continuing to bash in the dead Ed's head, Carol collapsed to the ground. She tossed the bent and bloody shovel. I could see pieces of his brain on it. Carol began frantically crying. I knelt in front of Carol. "It's okay now, you're free. You and Sophia are free. You'll never have to deal with Ed again." I told her, grasping her slightly wrinkled, frail hands. "Ed can never hurt you guys again. You'll never have to think about him ever again."

Carol sniffled once, wiping her nose with her hand. "Yeah...I just...can't believe it...I'm free..."

Sophia stepped in. "I'd rather face a thousand walkers than to face Dad again."

She kicked the fat mangled body of her father. Sophia helped her mother to her feet. Carol looked sadly upon her daughter. "I should've done it years ago, Soph. I failed you. We're free to live...in a walker apocalypse...what kind of mother am I?"

"Who cares if it's a walker apocalypse? That's better than living with that fat fuck." I snorted.

"Agreed," Sophia said, pulling her mother into a hug. I walked behind the RV to wear Walker was tied up. I scratched Walker behind his pointed ears. Daryl walked past me with the bloodied shovel. He was mumbling about how he was gonna have to clean up that mess that was Ed.

"Daryl," I called out.

He looked back at me.

"Thanks."

His steel blue eyes gazed at me hard. "Don't mention it, cupcake."

I smiled once to myself. Walker let out a long moan, looking up at me. I petted him softly. Maybe Daryl wasn't as bad as I thought.