A/N: So it's come to my attention that there haven't been a lot of flashbacks concerning Audrey… or none at all. Let's say that; going to change in the near future ;)

Oh and I guess I'll start doing this:

Kiu1q2w: The plan for your OC is that when he comes up he'll have a total change over the plot and will actually be VERY important to the story. So he's debut will be later on in the series.

SpammerheadShark51: Yeah that was my original idea when I wrote the first draft of this story the whole grand walking adventure that Tolkien introduced. Of course I took that first draft, added some mystery, and then split it into three making the first three chapters of this little story. Basically I added a bit of a "Lost" feeling to it.

MrAvernus57: Wow I totally forgot about the whole Bucketier! Thanks for reminding me! :) Oh and your OC will appear in season two and my in fact may actually show up in the very first chapter of season two. ^-^

So anyways off to the show and get ready for something that I've wanted to do for a LONG time now. Enjoy!

_(=I=)_

He had been napping in the underbrush when he heard it. Waking from his stiff and uncomfortable sleep the man looked out from the hollow in the large oak tree he had been resting in. Sucking in breath the man clutched the sword that had been jabbing into his ribs and watched for any sign of movement in the stillness in front of him. He could remember hearing footsteps right as he woke up but now the night was silent with everything remaining clam and still.

Until he heard the screaming.

Pressing himself as far back into the hollow that he could the man held the sword out, taking it from the small loop on the old satchel he had. Peering out into the night he could see that the field of tall grass he was near was now in a strange spasm of movement as the tall blades started to twitch. He could see that something rather large was coming through the tall grass and was moving rather fast. Curiously he watched as three dark shapes emerged from the tall grass and sped off towards what he presumed was the coast; after a few seconds a fourth figure lurched out who seemed to be the source of the screaming.

Stumbling, the figure clutched at an arrow in its side right before another flint headed weapon shot through the grass and went straight through the figure's head. As the dark shape finally collapsed to the ground the man watched as seven figures walked from the tall grass, looming and silent. Every single one of them was large and wearing what seemed to be some large and archaic armor with heavy swords clasped in their hands. As the seven figures filed from the tall grass the man pushed himself even further back into the hollow as far as he could.

At least it isn't me… Kurt thought to himself.

_(=I=)_

Kurt had drifted ahead of Michael and Ben who still seemed to be talking about something. Slightly turning away from the two Kurt pulled out the small black box he had reclaimed and slowly opened it up. As he walked forward he looked down at it to see that there were two things inside each of which brought back old memories. The one that stood out the most was an old ivory necklace with a small glass orb as a pendent, the small globe of glass was cracked.

The other thing was a small note tucked into the felt that was meant to brandish the necklace, the messy scrawl on it was still as clear as the day it had been written. He looked at the first few words "Kurt, I will-" he stopped right there and slammed the lid on the small black box again and dropped it back into his satchel. Taking in a deep breath and exhaling Kurt looked up to see a curve in the road and a familiar sight staring back at him.

"What is that?" Ben asked as all three of them stared at the site ahead of them that stood as an ancient monument at the turn of the road. "So… is this what made those tire marks back there?" Ben questioned as he turned to Kurt and with a small nod the three of them stared at the horrible accident in front of them.

The thing the three of them were staring at was an old bulky van that was flipped over and smashed into a tree, leaving a black burn mark on the bark. Scripted on the side of the van in now faded black letters were NMTC and a window which had several cracks running along its surface. However the most grotesque thing about the van was the ancient curdled black blood surrounding the broken passenger's weapon and a horrid thing hanging from the tree.

What was hanging from the tree was surprisingly well preserved and still seemed to be as disgusting as it may have been years ago. What was hanging from the tree was what appeared to be a human cadaver with its thighs reduced to a pulpy mess and its legs almost completely missing. The left arm was also gone with the bone sticking from the lump that was a shoulder being snapped off. All over the body were multiple scratches going up and down with three especially deep ones gouging out the face which matched the clean hole burrowed through the side of the thing's head. And the whole thing was hanging by its neck from the tree, tied to the branch by what appeared to be a surprisingly strong and preserved intestine.

"What the fuck would do that?" Michael said as he felt his last meal start to rise up again. Holding back the urge to vomit he turned weakly to Kurt, "I take it this wasn't down by one of those things that roam the forest?"

"No," Kurt said, "I'm not sure what creature did this but it seemed to have eaten part of whoever this used to be. The first time I came here there were still some scraps left of what seemed to be this man's legs. So I take it you two wish to move on?" Kurt asked and started down the turn in the road.

"Yeah… yeah…," Ben said who was unable to puke considering yesterday he had thrown up whatever he had left in his stomach.

"According to what's left of his jumpsuit," Kurt added as he started down the road, "his name was Johnny," he said simply and started his stroll towards Grimdale.

_(=I=)_

"Well I guess we don't have to worry about this one turning," one of the dark shapes said as it walked towards the figure it had just killed. Kurt watched in his earthy alcove as the figure bent down rather awkwardly in its armor and plucked the arrow from what seemed to be the head of the dark shape. Hearing a wet smack he watched as the armor coated outline cleaned the flint head and place it back into a small leather quiver and then turned to the other shapes.

"It's too bad the dogs can't be out here," murmured one of the figures from the throng, "I'm sure they would enjoy having human meat for once," the voice said almost forlornly as the speaker kicked the corpses with a dull thud. "The meat isn't bad if it hasn't turned yet," he said and then looked up at the man who appeared to be the leader. "So what should we do now Frank?" the figure asked.

From the throng stepped the man named Frank, the apparent leader and the same man who had shot down the fallen black figure. What Kurt could make from the figure in the darkness was a rather tall man who seemed to be a large black cut out with the moon light behind him. Even though Kurt couldn't see too well from his vantage point he could tell that this man was strong and seemed to have an aura of power around him.

"Well first," Frank announced as he looked at the previous speaker, "there's no way we could ever bring those mutts out here; the last time we tried that they took one sniff of the air and died. Secondly, what we do this fellow right here is brand him just like with anyone who trespasses on Ashlen's land. So who here has the brand?" Frank turned to the throng and watched as one of them came forward and brought an oblong box up.

"I have it," a rather shaky voice asked, "here," he said dully as he handed the small box to Frank who snatched it in one hand without acknowledging the runt that gave it to him.

Frank opened the oblong box and took out what appeared to be a strange dagger with a peculiar blade that had a rather long handle. The leader seemed to use it almost as a pen and started to graze the arm of the fallen man and very quickly etched something into him. Whistling the man finished and very quickly whipped the blood from the tip of the knife before sticking it back in the box without even grimacing at what he was doing.

As he handed the box to one of the countless warriors in the throng he looked up to the direction where the rest of the group had run of. "Well it's probably about time to try and find the rest of those scum, they would probably have to stop to at least try and regroup. We can get them then," Frank ordered.

"But, sir, shouldn't we start heading back to Somnia?" a voice questioned from the throng, "I believe the mistress ordered us as back as soon as possible."

"What and let that bitch who slashed me get away?" Frank spat, "we're at least dragging her back to Somnia. Come on, we can't let them get too far ahead," the leader spat and started in the direction which everyone had run off to. After a few seconds of murmuring among the dark throng the heavy suits of armor started to sulk after their leader, disappearing into the forest with a slight rattle of iron armor. After a few seconds everything returned to its still calmness except now a dead body laid forlorn on the grass, silently bleeding out a puddle of red wetness.

Making sure that the throng of people was officially gone Kurt waited in his hollow for a few minutes, listening carefully to the night only to hear the whispers of the wind. With the area apparently devoid of people Kurt carefully crawled from the hollow and carefully stepped out into the night. He had been living off the land for a while, eating mostly plants or any insect he could really find; it was definitely a tough life with the thick stubble on his face showing it even more.

Since he woke up Kurt had shed his suit and was now wearing only the dirty dress shirt and the torn black pants he had woken up in. His hair had become rather tangled and dirty and had quickly grown far past he found comfortable with; he also had one rather dark five o'clock shadow on his face. However he had gain a bit of muscle from living off the land, running when it called for it and pulling himself up into trees if a few walking cadavers decided to chase him. His new found strength seemed to be a rather good juxtaposition with the fact that he was basically starving.

As he clambered out with his sword hanging from one side and the satchel finally not pressed against his chest Kurt surveyed the land around him. Of course his eyes were eventually dragged to the dead body face down in the grass and now in the center of an accumulating puddle of blood. Looking down on the fresh body he could see that there were a few slashes were in the back of the corpse's neck which cried out a lazy stream of blood.

Scripted into the corpse were seven small words that Kurt read with a sickening twist in his stomach.

TRESPASSER

-CAPTAIN LYSON

OF THE RED ARROW

_(=I=)_

"So…" Michael asked after a brief silence as he, Ben, and Kurt walked down the gravel road. "Just a question guys how much food does everyone have?"

"Why?" Ben questioned right back.

"Well have you eaten anything since you woke up Ben?" Michael asked , of course he already knew the answer considering neither of them had had anything to eat. "I mean I guess I've never really realized that I haven't really gotten anything to eat for pretty much three days now."

"Well that's how I started out," Kurt murmured, "when I first woke up in this world I went on for nearly a week without realizing I needed food. I think it was only when I almost passed out did I realize I needed something to eat and even after that I would go days without eating. I guess the excitement can really distract you."

"Oh well I figured that you've been living in this bus stop since you got here, safe from whatever those things are out there," Ben said flatly. "I mean it seemed to be a pretty good idea," he added hastily hoping to not offend Kurt who even though was shorter ten him still seemed to be a giant.

"No, especially for the first few days I ran about quite a bit, trying to find anyone," Kurt explained, not turning around to face them; successfully hiding the small black box he had tucked away in the heavy coat he had.

"Well did you find anyone?" Michael enquired.

Taking a few seconds to answer Kurt quickly stuffed the black box containing the old ivory necklace into a pocket inside his coat and replied rather coldly. "I didn't find anyone. Only death and some really fucked up things," he said and he started to walk forward, slowly moving by himself closer to the city still a mere thought. Going down the same road he had gone down long before with a person who was now faded from his mind.

_(=I=)_

Kurt found himself starring at the body with a growing sense of confusion. He had been walking to and fro throughout whatever strange place he was in for weeks and he had never seen anything like this before. While meeting other people had not been his priority he had never seen a group of wandering vagabonds more then perhaps four or five strong; the group that had just passed by seemed to have at least twenty men.

Whatever this "Red Arrow" group was it seemed that they had some say over what happened in this land, or perhaps at least a small portion of it. Of course it seemed good to have some kind of order in this world but Kurt found his gaze being pulled down to the dead man every time the thought floated across his mind. His eyes especially focused on the red word of TRESPASSER wickedly carved into the corpse and bite his lip; he stood looking down at the cadaver until he thought of something.

Was he trespassing?

Somewhat startled by this new idea of glanced off to the direction the members of the Red Arrow; almost worried one of the iron clad militia men would march right out. However when he glanced out into the darkness Kurt could only see darkness and hear the occasionally mutter of wind that passed through the foliage around him. Now glancing at the forest around him he could feel a slight anxiety growing in his stomach and very slowly he started to step away from the clearing.

However just before he left to go back into the forest he stopped when the wind brought a new stranger sound to his ear. As he stepped over a clump of underbrush he could hear what seemed to be a strange crackling that the wind scattered about the small clearing. Turning around Kurt looked around to see that lingering at the edge of the clearing there was a strange light emerging from the underbrush. Even though the wind was scattering the sound about Kurt could also hear that the strange electrical crackling sound seemed to be coming from the luminous glow.

Carefully and rather quietly Kurt walked towards it, slowly taking his sword out and placing it in front of him he continued towards the blue glow. Whatever was manifesting it was something rather small as the blue glow came from under a cropping of underbrush, casting its light on the gnarled trunk of a tree. Lowering himself he looked down at the blue glow and could hear that strange static sound was indeed coming from it; he reached down for it.

Yanking back the underbrush Kurt peered down to see that lying in the grass was a peculiar spherical radio that was emitting the strange blue glow. The radio, as Kurt presumed it was, was also emitting the white noise coming from it from some indiscernible source. Reaching down for it Kurt stopped when he heard light footsteps behind him, the ever so slight clop of feet in the silent night. However before he could even turn around to see if what he had heard was even real the broad side of a sword was already smashed into the back side of his head.

For Kurt the world went dark and began to sway as he tumbled forward and landed on the ground, slipping into a rising sea of darkness. Right out of the murkiness though and right before Kurt dropped into a gulf of unknowing he found his eyes pulled upwards to see the dark form of his attacker. Standing rather starkly from the darkness of the night and the rippling shroud of unconsciousness were a pair of clean green eyes, looking down in what seemed to be pity.

_(=I=)_

"Well if anything," Kurt said turning back to face Michael and Ben, "I think you two do need some food," quickly he pulled out two loaves of bread and what appeared to be a small bag of apples. Tossing them back to Ben and Michael he started to look around, "this would probably be a good place to stop and eat," he said.

"Thanks Kurt," Michael said as he looked over the loaf of bread he had in his hands, "I have a bit of food too so I guess we could all kind of stop to eat."

"Sounds like a good enough idea," Ben said as he started to eat one of the apples from the bag Kurt had tossed back; it was a small about the size of a crabapple but was surprisingly sweet. He didn't realize until then how hungry he was; everything seemed to have just been passing in a strange daze up until now.

Now things were becoming a bit clearer.

_(=I=)_

He opened his eyes.

He could feel rope tied around his wrists which were pulled behind what seemed to be a tree. Looking down at himself he could see that his sword and the satchel he had found were gone and then he started to look up around himself. From his vantage point he could see that the sky above him was a light gray showing that dawn was slowly leaking into the world; with this light he could see what was around him.

It seemed that he was tied up to a tree that surrounded yet another small clearing. About a few feet away from his left foot was his satchel with its contents spilled out and scattered around; he could see that the few scraps of food he had were gone. His sword was gone as well along with the few arrows e had collected since he had woken up. Whoever did this was probably still around…

Suddenly he felt something hit the side of his head and twisted to his left to see an apple core on the ground beside him, looking up he could see a figure far off to his right. The form was still in the darkness of the forest with the only thing visible being a bright pair of green eyes that seemed to be observing him. Not sure on whether or not he should try and talk to the shape he watched as it seemed to pull out a bow and arrow, the flint head passing into a pale sunbeam and glittering.

"Wait," he tried ad watched as the observing green eyes narrowed, "I'm sorry for whatever… I did. I didn't mean to trespass or anything."

Slowly the dark shape stepped into the small scrap of sunlight that came down in the clearing to show what it was. Standing at perhaps five feet was a woman with shoulder length red hair that was somewhat messy but still relatively straight; she also seemed very pale and thin. Surrounding her bright green eyes was a dark pair of glasses that were slightly smudged; the whole image proclaimed a somewhat nervous looking woman that seemed to be the living embodiment of twitchy.

"Who the hell are you?" she questioned pointing the flint headed arrow at him, ready to fire at any time, "are you with them?" she questioned.

"What do you mean?" Kurt questioned, "with the Red Arrow thing?" he asked. Receiving now reply he simply started to shake his head, "no I just kind of wandered on to whatever happened."

Biting her lip the woman lowered the bow and placed the arrow in the backpack she had strapped on. Slowly approaching Kurt she brought out a small pocket knife and sat down beside Kurt. "It doesn't seem like your with them but if you try and do anything, just remember that I have this," she then put the blade of the knife right up to Kurt's eyes. "So don't try and fuck with me, alright?"

With a quick swipe of her knife the woman cut through the rope that bounded Kurt to tree and stepped back, the knife still clasped in one hand. Stepping away as Kurt got up she continued watched him behind the smudged glasses without saying a word; she remained silent until Kurt started to pick up the contents of the satchel he had. "You won't be able to get your sword," she said as he scooped up a few old newspapers he had started to collect, "I kind of broke it," she said flatly.

"Well that's…fine," Kurt murmured as he slung his satchel over his shoulder, "so… who are you?"

The woman thought about it for a second. There was really no harm in telling someone her name and even then she could already feel a strange sense of trust with the man. In fact she thought he was somewhat familiar and started to feel some kind of ancient memory stirring but her mind still remained empty of what kind of past she had with this man. Biting her lip she came right back to him with her own question, "well who are you first off," she questioned.

"My name is Kurt," the man said to her and offered a slightly nervous hand to her, "and you are?"

Exhaling she closed the pocket knife and placed it in her pocket and shook Kurt's hand. "My name is Audrey," she offered and gave him a bit of a smile.

_(=I=)_

They had been eating lunch for about half an hour before Michael felt it. Standing up from the slight meal he, Ben, and Kurt had been eating he stretched and informed his company. "I have to go to the bathroom," he said rather blandly, "be back in a few minutes," he said as he scooped up his sword.

Steeping away from the road Michael stepped over an outcropping of underbrush and went into the forest a few yards before stopping. Before he could do anything however he heard a crunch of underbrush and spun around to see something rush by him, something going deeper into the forest. Raising his sword he looked around as the strange dark shape appeared again heading towards him, it stopped right in viewing distance.

Standing a few yards away and leaning against a tree was another man dressed in a leather chestplate, an iron helmet, and thick leather boots. Coming from his helmet were locks of dirty blond hair which may have been at shoulder length without the helmet. Across his face was a rather bullshit grin showing a line of bright white perfectly straight teeth; the man had an aura of mistrust around him. This cretin may have been stupid but he seemed to be a very lucky cretin; the feeling of that almost seemed to radiate from him.

In one hand he had a large iron ax with dried black blood on the blade, the other was currently waving at Michael matching the shit eating grin the man had on. Once fully getting Michael's attention the man stepped back into the forest, stepping back very slowly so Michael wouldn't lose sight of him. He kept looking at Michael until he saw Michael bare his sword and take a few steps closer which is when the man took a few steps back; they continued this ritual for a while until Michael rushed forward.

Feeling a sense of hatred for the man already Michael started to follow him and watched as the blond man let out a slight laugh before turning around and rushing off into the forest. With sword in hand Michael followed the man, tracking him by crushed underbrush or footprints in the earth, calling out to the man as he trailed behind. "Who are you?" Michael called after him but soon enough Michael found that the slight trail the man had left behind was gone.

"Okay," Michael murmured, "where are you? Where the fuck are you?"

He continued to move forward until he stepped towards the edge of a clearing, turning to see if the man was there Michael saw something rather strange. Looking into the clearing Michael could see the limp form of a man tied up to a tree, actually bound with cables a few feet above the ground. "What is…" he trailed off as he approached the man and could see that a small note was pinned to his shirt.

Looking around for the blond man Michael then turned to the captive in front of him and cut him down, swinging the blade of the sword into the rope. The man then toppled down and landed on the ground letting out a weak groan as he landed face first in the grass. Slightly unnerved Michael flipped the man over to see a rather bruised face that had a major gash slashing across the left temple. Leaning down Michael slowly took the note from the man's shirt and unfolded the paper to see something rather strange scrawled in messy handwriting.

Under a faded North Maine Trading Company symbol (which consisted of the four letters inside a circle divided into eight alternating pieces of black and white) was the words: FROM THE OFFICE OF DR. FRANQ, GRIMDALE. Under it in what Michael could assume was the blond man's handwriting was a sloppy message that seemed to be meant for him:

Dear Wayward Front Runner,

I have spotted you and your company a few days ago,

and I believe that you three will be very suitable to look after this man here.

His name is Sammy and don't bother asking him where he's from;

after being bashed on the head forty three times I don't think he can remember.

However you will have to look after him,

because I'm getting tired of doing that.

Anyways, I'm getting tired of writing so goodbye for now;

try and not get eaten alive by the living dead,

or killed by those nice folk over in Grimdale.

See you folks later,

-LW

_(=I=)_

The blond man (or LW as he proclaimed) rushed through the forest, iron ax gripped in his right hand. As he ran he could hear the man behind him call after him, "who are you?" the voice questioned. Laughing LW rushed up to a tree and smashed the ax head into the bark before scrambling up the tree and placing himself on one of the lower branches. Taking the ax the blond man jumped up out of sight into the higher branches of the tree and watched as the man stopped in his tracks.

"Okay," the tired front runner said, "where are you? Where the fuck are you?" At this the blond man let out a small snicker, luckily quiet enough that the man didn't hear. He continued to watch as the vagabond on the ground started to go through the forest and watched as he entered the small clearing he had been in only moments before.

"What is…" the man trailed off. LW watched as the man entered the field and, taking this as his cue, the blond man hopped down from the tree and back on the ground. Stretching and letting out a laugh the blond man ran off into the forest; there was still plenty of fun to be had.

_(=I=)_

A/N: Okay so sorry for not updating on Wednesday but it took a while to get this written and plus I was thinking of moving the update time to Saturday so… here you go! In this chapter Audrey finally makes an appearance and the man from "Waltz of Discord" finally makes an appearance again. The whole Audrey flashback will also be carried over in the next chapter too for all of you interested in it. We're getting even CLOSER to season two now so look forward to that!

See you guys in the next chapter!