A/N: Hello all! So, here's a nice little 8,000 word chapter for you guys. Love ya! Thanks for being patient with me. So this sucks, but my hard drive on my laptop crashed and despite all my efforts I literally lost everything. All my work, all future chapters, not to mention years worth of photos, resumes and other things. Needless to say, my heart was broken, much like Melissa's. But, I put myself back together (just like she will) and wrote this today. Luckily, I still remember everything I wanted to do and even how I wanted some things worded, so I'm slowly getting this story back together. I hope you enjoy it! :) Don't forget to leave me love when you're done, if rewriting all these chapters deserves your love, which I hope it does. :)

Chapter 52

When your heart is broken there is really only one thing worse than the moment that it actually happens. And that is when you wake up in the morning only to remember it all over again. You drowsily open your eyes for the first time and it takes a few seconds for the rest of you to catch up. You blink, vaguely aware that something doesn't feel right. Then the first wave hits and the pain that it triggers inside of you is heavy and suddenly all too familiar. You try to push it away, telling yourself that everything is going to be fine. Maybe it was just a dream that caused you to feel this way. That's when the second wave hits. It would knock you over if you weren't already lying down. With this comes, not just more pain, but memories and you suddenly realize why it is that you are hurting in the first place. You remember everything. This wave hurts worse than the first because this is the one where you realize that it wasn't a dream… this is real.

As Melissa opened her eyes she felt the all too familiar waves crash over her in succession and in all their glory, just as they had each and every morning since the last time she saw him. She lowered her head underneath her blanket, quietly allowing the tears to flow from her eyes, knowing she didn't have the strength to stop them anymore. She'd spent so many mornings trying to suppress her tears, but failing. By now she knew that the best thing she could do for herself was to let them come and keep it hidden from the others. She had gotten good at it, really. Pretending she wasn't upset or sad or lonely or anything else she had been wasn't as difficult as it once was, but the tears still came just the same. She knew all she could do is allow them to flow through her, hopeful that maybe someday soon she would have used them all up. Then she couldn't cry anymore. She quietly sighed, wiping her eyes, eager for the day to come when she could just get up, go on about her day, and hopefully not get eaten.

When she was ready she allowed her dry, but swollen and probably bloodshot eyes to peek out from beneath her blanket. She had slept on the couch of the abandoned house that they'd found two days prior. There were bedrooms, but she and the others didn't want to take the chance of being separated or cut off from each other if someone or something got inside. Or maybe they just didn't want to be without each other, although nobody actually brought that up as a reason to all sleep in the living room.

Two things came to Melissa as she sat up and looked around the living room. One, that it was very early in the morning and, two, that the others were all still asleep. Tyrese was in the recliner next to Melissa's couch, leaning back with his feet up, his eyes closed and his mouth open. The blanket over his legs hung halfway off the chair, exposing one of his boots. Tyrese never allowed himself to get comfortable enough to so much as take his shoes off when he slept. In the center of the room, Glenn and Maggie were tucked into a sleeping bag on the hardwood floor. Their heads were all that stuck out the top, but it looked as though Glenn was spooning her. Melissa figured she could have felt hurt or jealous or at least the urge to roll her eyes at the sight of them if they had been any less considerate about their nightly sleeping arrangement, much less their relationship in general. Although there was never any doubt that they were together Melissa hadn't seen any PDA or anything of that nature from them since Hershel's farm and she wondered if they were purposefully trying to be tactful around her and Tyrese or if it was just because the focus on everyone's minds had been finding food and shelter. Either way, who was Melissa to hold what little time they had to hold each other against them?

Melissa pushed her covers down to her feet and stood. It was cold. Her eyes wondered back to Tyrese. She decided to cover him up the rest of the way and did so carefully, quietly and without waking him up. She walked gently on the cool wood flooring to the window, looking outside to ensure there was no sign of trouble. She wondered why Glenn hadn't woken her for her turn on watch. It had been nothing but quiet since they found the place and she figured his watch had been so uneventful he must have decided to just let her rest. Otherwise she would have been up before daylight. He must have figured she needed the sleep and the sight of the stillness around them as she looked out the window confirmed what she thought she already knew.

The house they had found had been hidden by woods on all sides and completely invisible from the road, minus the break in the trees at the start of the driveway. They'd stumbled upon it a few days before, searched it carefully and decided to rest there. Unfortunately, although there had been no trouble, there had also been no food.

Melissa felt a familiar pain in her stomach. She was hungry. Three weeks prior, as they all packed their bags at Hershel's farm mere hours before they faced the biggest herd any of them had ever seen, someone had thrown a bag half full of food into their truck. It wasn't a lot by any means, but they rationed carefully and it had been enough to get them through two solid weeks before they ran out of food completely. Since then they'd gotten lucky a few times with some decent finds as they made their way from place to place, but whoever had left that particular house hadn't left anything behind for them and as a result, they hadn't eaten in two days.

As Melissa continued to scan the yard and nearby trees she felt the pain in her stomach again and she knew that when the others woke up they would feel the same. She looked down at Glenn and was instantly reminded of how hard he'd worked at trying to find the others, the way he'd wracked his brain trying to think of places they might be holding up or scavenging, or possibly, searching for them. She thought of the hours he'd spent staring at the Georgia roadmap he'd found in the glove box of the truck. She'd suspected from his behavior that he felt responsible for losing them, even though Melissa knew it hadn't been his fault.

When the walkers had finally caught up to them that night, Glenn was left with no choice but to cut the wheel hard and to the left, running over a fence and nearly throwing Melissa from the bed of the truck. She had hit her head, knocking herself unconscious until the next morning. She had no memory of what happened next, but the others had told her everything.

Tyrese had jumped through the cab window and into the truck bed with Melissa the moment she'd knocked herself out. He lay next to her and held onto her to keep herself from further injuries or falling out of the truck all together when they went over an uneven piece of ground, causing the truck bed to bounce and jerk them around. Glenn had driven through the empty fields until they found a road. They stopped the truck and carried Melissa inside. They quickly realized where they were and immediately headed for the same place they'd met the others the last time they'd had to make a run for it. It was the highway, and also where they'd lost Sophia, that had inadvertently become their meeting spot and, although they had waited for a while, the others never came. Then they headed to another familiar spot nearby, the road where Rick had told them the truth about Shane. Still nothing. They checked the town, which according to Maggie was so dead it gave a new meaning to the term Ghost Town. They spotted the herd a couple of times and were forced to turn around and try different roads and different ways. Needless to say, they'd never found the others and they couldn't go back with the herd on their tail.

Tyrese had been the last one to see the Hyundai and according to him the car had been far enough ahead of the herd to get out just in time. His theory was that they had simply been forced to go in separate directions and that they were still out there somewhere, which made sense to Melissa. Whenever she allowed herself to think about him, which wasn't often, she knew she had no idea where he was or if she would ever see him again. But there was one thing she knew for sure… he didn't feel dead. He had to be out there and, as she felt her body ache with cold and hunger, she hoped that he was doing better than she was.

As another hunger pain ripped through her she found herself glancing at her bow and quiver of arrows. Someone had taken it upon themselves to bring them inside two days prior and lay them against the wall next to the front door. Melissa hadn't used or so much as touched her bow since he had taught her how to use it. Just looking at it was like taking a bullet. She wasn't even sure how her bow had ended up in the back of the truck. Shouldn't it have been in the Hyundai with the rest of her things? But, somehow, there it was burning holes in her eyes and, other than the clothes on her back, her jacket that hung on the armrest of the coach and her boots on the floor, it was the only thing she had that belonged to her. She loved and hated it at the same time.

Quietly sighing, she looked back out the window. Still nothing. Then she looked back at her bow. Then at Glenn and Maggie. Then Tyrese. Back at her bow.

Hungry.

Window.

Bow.

Shit.

If she hadn't been trying not to wake the others she would have stomped her foot on the floor like a small child. She had gotten so good at pretending the bow wasn't there, at ignoring it for being the selfish bastard that it was and constantly reminding her of him when it should have been in the other car and she wouldn't have to stare at it and see his face staring back at her. But, hunger is hunger and it overpowered her own stubbornness. She knew that she owed them, Glenn for working so hard to try to find the others, Tyrese for saving her from falling out of the truck and Maggie for always being a good friend. If they could wake up to a warm meal instead of the sharp pains of hunger Melissa had been feeling then she knew she couldn't deny them that.

She slipped on her jacket, grabbed her boots in one hand, her bow and quiver of arrows in the other and stepped outside, quietly shutting the door behind herself. She sat on the edge of the open front porch and looked around again. No noise, no walkers, no nothing. She quietly laced up her boots and stood, wrapping her quiver around her chest. With a deep breath, she grabbed her bow and set off into the woods.

She walked into the woods cautiously, the way you do when you're stepping into an unfamiliar house for the first time. As she walked she reached her hand out and skimmed the bark on some of the trees gently, as if to introduce herself. Strangely, she soon began to feel better underneath the trees and before long she was wondering why it had taken her so long to do this. In no time at all, she was making her way around with ease, just as she had dozens of times before. Only this time she was on her own. She was comfortable, but cautious. With the sky being overcast she had initially feared that she may lose her sense of direction easily, but surprisingly, the woods soon began to feel familiar and she made her way through them with ease, never having to stop and think about which way was which.

She found water, a small creek, and scanned the dirt and the mud for tracks. Finding what seemed to be some semi-fresh deer prints, she settled on that area for as good a place as any. If there was anything still alive in these woods it would eventually need water and when it came to get a drink she wanted to spot it. She looked around, then above herself at one of the nearby trees. The branches overhead registered perfect for climbing and she decided she would have the best view of her surroundings from up there. She approached the trunk of the tree and touched the bark gently.

"Hey," she heard herself say. She immediately rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Great, I'm talking to trees now," she murmured to herself as she studied the branches once again. She decided on a route and began her climb.

She climbed the tree with equal amounts of ease and care and before long was high enough to her liking. She sat on a thick, sturdy branch with her back against the tree and her legs out in front of her and rested her bow on her lap. She looked around for what seemed like hours, waiting for a deer, a squirrel, a bird, anything to make itself known, but she saw nothing. After waiting a while longer she started to consider getting down and trying somewhere else when she heard a twig snap to her right. A deer. It was heavy enough to snap a twig. It had to be a deer. The sound echoed through the woods and she looked over her shoulder and around the trunk to see that it wasn't a deer that had snapped the twig at all, but a walker and a handful of its friends heading in her direction. She snapped her head back around and pulled her legs in to her chest, using the tree to hide herself as best as she could. She carefully looked again, barely moving. There didn't seem to be any indication that they'd seen her and she knew she hadn't made a sound. She held tight and still, her eyes the only part of her that moved as she watched them get closer. The wind blew cold air around her and she closed her eyes and bit her lip as the walkers seemed to come to life. They'd caught her scent. She knew it. She opened her eyes again and watched them look for her. They moved faster. They grunted. They literally walked right passed her tree and underneath the branch she was sitting on.

Please don't look up, she thought.

And they didn't. They kept walking, even though she felt certain they were still looking for her. She watched until they were out of sight and exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Her lungs thanked her.

The walkers weren't headed in the direction of the house, but it had been too close a call for her comfort, so she climbed down the tree, making her way back. She had been hopeful to spot some sort of food source on her way back, but had seen nothing. She would have to go on a run. She would have to find food somewhere, anywhere. Soon she could see the house through the break in the trees ahead and was nearly out of the woods when she spotted the gray rabbit in the yard, nibbling on some of the grass. She immediately knelt quietly next to a tree and studied the animal. It looked alright, wasn't acting like it was infected with any diseases or would be unhealthy for them in any way, so she quietly pulled an arrow from her quiver and placed it onto her bow. She squinted her eyes shut and bit her bottom lip when she clicked the arrow into place. Her eyes shot open and she waited to see if the rabbit heard it. The animal lifted its head and looked around, but not in her direction and soon resumed chewing on the grass. She heard herself exhale, grateful that she hadn't scared it off. Knowing she would probably only have one chance, Melissa aimed carefully, took a sure, but silent breath and pulled her release.

"Holy Shit," she said aloud, hearing the astonishment in her own voice.

She'd hit it! She'd actually hit it! And on the first try.

. . .

Glenn and Maggie woke at the same time that morning. As usual he felt her as she stirred and he opened his eyes. His arms were wrapped tightly around her. He was so warm and comfortable he didn't want to move. He heard her take a deep breath and kissed the back of her head.

Maggie turned her head and smiled drowsily. "Morning," she sighed.

"Morning," Glenn whispered, smiling back lovingly.

Maggie turned on her other side to face him and leaned up on her elbow, tucking a long strand of his hair behind his ear. Her eyes wondered behind him to Tyrese, passed out in his recliner, then to the couch to see that it was empty. It wasn't unusual for Melissa to wake up first. She often wondered outside and sat alone, keeping an eye on things until everyone else was up, so Maggie wasn't alarmed when she saw Melissa's blanket bunched at the end of the empty sofa. She sighed and looked back at Glenn, still half awake, and kissed him gently. At least she had him. There was something about having Glenn in her life that had given her hope. Even at the most desperate of times she still found comfort just looking at him, as if just knowing she wasn't alone drove her, made her want to survive, to never give up hope, even when things looked really bad. She would never admit it to anyone, but she secretly worried about Melissa and Tyrese. They all had each other, of course, but sometimes Maggie wondered how long a person would want to survive, how much they could take, how long until they began to consider giving up. Even she thought about those things from time to time, but one look from Glenn would set her right again. One look and she knew there was still hope. She couldn't help but wonder what happens to someone when they don't have that? How long do you continue fighting when you lose everything only to lose more? Melissa literally only had the clothes on her back. Everyone else had their bags, their things, except for her. Maggie had offered, more than once, to split her own things with Melissa, but Melissa always refused. She wouldn't take anything from Maggie and it had worried her.

She decided right then and there that she would have to be the one to motivate Melissa, to keep her going. She would be the one to keep her head straight. Maybe Glenn could do the same for Tyrese.

"I'm gonna go find Melissa," Maggie declared.

Glenn glanced behind himself to see the empty couch and allowed Maggie to get out of the sleeping bag without trying to stop her. As he watched Maggie put her shoes on and shrug into her coat he decided to go with her. Letting her out of his sight was difficult before, lately it had been almost unbearable.

Once Maggie saw him attempting to get out of the sleeping bag she knew he was planning on coming, so she stopped him.

"No," she said softly, a gentle smile spread across her face to minimize the sting of her words. "Let me go."

Glenn wasn't sure why she wanted to go alone, but it was obvious that it meant something to her, so he decided he would keep his eye on her from the window instead. He nodded his understanding to her and watched as she disappeared out the front door.

Maggie saw the smoke as soon as she stepped outside, but it wasn't until her eyes trailed to the fire and what was cooking over it that she felt her mouth open. She smelt it immediately and she couldn't help wondering if heaven smelled like meat roasting over an open fire. It wasn't until then that she remembered how hungry she was.

Melissa was sitting next to the fire, rotating the meat on some kind of spit that she'd made and Maggie couldn't help but be surprised that Melissa had done all of it on her own.

"Uh, hey. Morning," uttered Maggie as she walked up to the fire.

Melissa looked up briefly, noticing Maggie for the first time and nodded before gazing back at the animal flesh she was roasting.

"That smells amazing. What is it?"

"A rabbit," said Melissa.

Maggie glanced at the compound bow and quiver of arrows lying on the ground at Melissa's side. Even though she knew everything she was seeing was real, she still felt a sense of shock at the display. Melissa had hunted, built a fire and was cooking meat for them and Maggie honestly didn't know she had it in her. It was the last thing she could have expected to find and Maggie found herself looking around briefly to make sure Melissa was really alone.

"I didn't know you could do that," Maggie admitted.

Melissa shrugged. "I learned," she said without looking up.

Of course. How could she have forgotten? Everyone knew Melissa had spent time hunting with Daryl, but it had been a while and even back when it was a regular thing for the two of them to disappear into the woods, seeing what she was capable of without him made her feel a sense of pride and Maggie couldn't help but smile at her. She was happy for her and for the first time she realized that she wasn't just glad to have Melissa, they were lucky to have her. She briefly aloud herself to think of what it might have been like having her father there instead. What if Melissa hadn't given him her spot in the Hyundai and taken the truck? What would they have done with no food?

Maggie still believed in God. She still had faith; still felt meaning behind things, although admittedly she didn't always understand. She had learned at a young age that sometimes you just have to trust in God's plan and seeing his plan reveal itself to her that morning made her feel more hopeful than she had in weeks. She knew in her heart that it was more than a coincidence that each group ended up with a hunter. It was meant to be. It had to be … so they could survive. So they could all survive. She knew in her heart that somewhere Daryl was doing the same thing for Rick and Carl and Michonne and her father. They were out there. They were alive. And she hoped they would find each other again soon.

"Wow, Melissa," Tyrese hummed as he licked his fingers after his second serving of rabbit meat. It had been a great meal. "That was a real treat."

Melissa glanced at him over the fire and grinned gently.

"It really was," Glenn agreed. "Thank you."

Maggie smiled and nodded her thanks rather than speaking, but Melissa knew she was just as grateful. Her eyes were full of gratitude and pride. Melissa held out her hands closer to the fire. It had gotten colder and she wished she had more clothes or a real winter coat, a scarf, anything.

"We should probably move on now that we've had to light a fire," said Melissa. "And cooked meat on it and everything." She didn't know why, but she felt a pang of sadness in her chest at the idea of leaving that place, even though it had become one of their rules. If you have to light a fire you use it for what you need it for, then you move on. Never stay any place longer than a few days and, especially, never stay anywhere that you might have drawn attention to yourself.

"Agreed," uttered Tyrese.

"We can sleep in the truck tonight," Glenn suggested.

"Might even be warmer," Maggie added. "All of us in there together."

"I was thinking maybe I might head down the road and search through some houses in that neighborhood we passed the other day. There could be food, supplies and I could… use some clothes," Melissa admitted, wondering to herself why she hadn't bothered to get any supplies for herself until now.

"I'll come with ya," Tyrese offered. It was the least he could do considering she was the reason he felt warmer and full.

"We'll all go," Glenn decided. He didn't want anyone splitting up.

Melissa did the final walk through of the house as the others loaded the last of what little they had into the truck. She checked the kitchen one more time for good measure, hoping maybe she'd find at least one can of food before she went, but there was nothing. There was one thing, however, that caught her eye as she made her way out of the kitchen. On the wall next to a counter was a message board. It was a rooster and the stomach of rooster was chalk board. There was nothing written on it, but there were two pieces of blue chalk lying small shelf over the rooster's feet. She grabbed them and shoved them into her pocket.

As she closed the front door, Melissa looked to the others to see they were busying themselves with getting ready and hadn't noticed her. She turned to face the door and pulled a piece of blue chalk out of her pocket. Reaching in front of her, chalk in hand, she wrote on the white door.

Maggie looked back for Melissa as she prepared to climb into the truck. She noticed what looked like Melissa writing something on the door of the house. She tucked her hair behind her ears and looked down as Melissa turned around and walked toward the truck. She wasn't sure how she would feel about her watching.

"Ready to go?" She asked as Melissa met her on the passenger side of the truck.

"Yeah," Melissa nodded, opening the back door and climbing inside.

As Maggie climbed inside she glanced at the front door and squinted her eyes to see what Melissa had written. It wasn't huge, in fact she could barely make it out from where she was standing, but if someone got close enough they would notice the blue chalk on the door.

It was the number 21. Nothing more, nothing less.

Maggie knew instantly what that meant. She'd been counting the days herself and twenty one of them had passed since she last saw her father. It was a code that only the others would be able to decipher and a lead for them to follow. It was a clue to their whereabouts or, at least, a path for them to track.

It was clever and something she wished they would have thought of sooner, but it was more than that. It was hopeful. Melissa wanted to be found. And Maggie smiled to herself because she knew who Melissa was really leaving that clue for. She knew who Melissa wanted to find her.

. . .

Maggie hadn't meant to walk in on them, or walk out on them; however you would say it in that type of situation. She had merely had a hard time sleeping. Glenn was snoring and Maggie tried as best as she could to get comfortable and ignore him. But as hard as she tried, sleep never came to her. It was just one of those nights, she supposed. She wasn't sure what time it was, but she was fairly certain that Melissa should still be on watch and she had decided to keep her company.

She walked through the house barefoot, practically tiptoeing to keep from waking anyone up. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she reached for the screen door without looking up and was just about to push it open when she looked out. She froze at what she saw. Not because it was bad. It was great, in fact. It was just, literally, the last thing she thought she would see.

Daryl was sitting on the porch steps next to Melissa. His hands were on her face and he was kissing her. Like, really kissing her. Her first instinct was to check for Melissa's reaction. She wasn't sure why. Chicks before dicks, she supposed. But Melissa was kissing him back; her hands were in his hair holding him just as tightly. It was passionate and tender and it clearly meant something.

It should have been a private moment, Maggie knew that, but like watching a train wreck, she couldn't tear her eyes away. They looked so damned good together. Maggie had always suspected that there had been feelings between them. Real feelings, beyond friendship, beyond stares and meaningful glances, beyond Daryl's not so secret urge to look out for her, to protect her. There was a real connection there. And from the looks of that kiss it was more than just attraction. It may even have been love.

As the kiss picked up steam, Maggie watched Daryl lower Melissa to the steps and crawl between her legs. It was romantic and hot and Maggie knew she had seen enough. She covered her mouth to prevent herself from squealing with excitement and she turned her back to the door. When the urge to squeal had passed her she dropped her hand and smiled out of genuine happiness. Maggie thought of everything Melissa and Daryl had been through. There had been so much. Death, separation, fear, countless obstacles, and those were just the things that she knew of. Maggie, of all people, understood that there was always more to the story. And she wondered how much they'd actually been through, how much they'd really overcome to get to where they were now.

As Maggie made her way back up the stairs to the love of her life she couldn't help but wonder if she had just witnessed their first kiss or if it had been going on all this time. She knew it wasn't any of her business, of course, but if it wasn't new then how had they managed to keep it out of the open all this time? When Maggie and Glenn fell in love Maggie wanted to shout it from the rooftops and, even though she didn't, they weren't able to hide their feelings, their relationship from the others for long. How had Daryl and Melissa managed to do so and why would they want to?

Different strokes, I guess, she figured to herself.

Of course, Daryl wasn't Glenn and Melissa wasn't Maggie. They were different people.

But love is love, regardless and as Maggie crawled into bed and wrapped her arms around Glenn, she made a wish for Daryl and Melissa, that they would be as happy in their relationship as she was. She smiled to herself. If it was love, she knew that if anyone deserved to find it, it was those two. And as she closed her eyes and sleep finally washed over her, she hoped they could hang onto it like she had with Glenn.

. . .

Melissa looked through the window next to the door, peaking inside the house. There was nothing but furniture. It was still and quiet, although the condition of the interior of the house told a story of the chaos of someone who'd left in a hurry. Or perhaps someone who had already rummaged through the house.

She looked next door in time to see Glenn and Maggie disappear inside. Tyrese was standing beside Melissa. She looked at him and nodded. They were going in. Melissa tried the door knob. It was locked. She banged on the door hard and waited. Nothing. Silence. Still. She banged a second time and once again caught Tyrese's eye. Nothing. Silence. Still. She nodded at him and moved out of the way, holding her gun down but ready, as the strong man kicked the door in with one try. They split up immediately, Melissa searching the living room and Tyrese searching the dining. They met a few moments later in the kitchen at the back of the house. Cabinets and drawers were empty and open. There were a few steak knives and such, but they didn't need them and it didn't look like there was much food.

Melissa snapped her fingers once and pointed at the ceiling, letting Tyrese know she'd be upstairs. They had already agreed to do this quickly and quietly and it was pointless for her to help him search an almost already empty kitchen. Tyrese nodded and Melissa left the kitchen, raising her gun once again as she made her way up the stairs. She searched each room and behind each closed door, making sure there were no walkers. She found none. She also found very few things they could use. Whoever left had taken about everything that there was. She made her way downstairs and found Tyrese still in the kitchen. He was holding a cotton grocery bag and had filled it with a few cans of food, which he held up to show her.

Melissa smiled gently. At least it wasn't a total loss.

"It's gonna be dark before long," Melissa said as they left the house. "There's still a lot of street left to search. Why don't we split up? We could cover more ground that way."

"I don't know," Tyrese uttered, shaking his head, and it was obvious he wasn't totally comfortable with the idea.

Melissa frowned as she realized that his hesitancy wasn't because he didn't feel comfortable searching by himself. It was because he didn't feel comfortable with her being alone. She forced a smile. "Ty, I'll be fine," she said in a patient, but convincing tone.

He didn't like it, but he didn't argue. It wasn't that she was wrong and it wasn't that she wasn't capable. She'd proven herself time and again. He felt he had no choice but to give her what she wanted.

"Don't stay in there longer than you have to," Tyrese said as he walked her to the next house. "We'll meet outside after every house. That way we'll know sooner rather than later if one of us runs into trouble. Speaking of which, if you do get into trouble, don't shoot your gun or try to fight unless you have no other option. You run. Got it?"

"Got it, boss," Melissa uttered without stopping. As she turned the corner to walk up the sidewalk toward the house Tyrese reached his hand out and grabbed her shoulder, stopping her.

"Hey," he said gently. "You be careful in there. Remember what I said."

Melissa nodded. As she turned to approach the house she was aware that he was watching her from the street. She looked back as she reached the door and he nodded at her once more. She turned away and looked into the window just as she had at the last house. It was quiet and still. She knocked. Nothing. After a moment she placed her hand on the doorknob and it turned. The door opened. She looked at Tyrese again to see that he was gone and she raised her gun as she stepped into the house. Her search on the first floor was quick and easy and not entirely a waste. There was food in the kitchen, which she happily threw into a grocery bag that she found inside the pantry. She hung the bag on the railing at the end of the stairs and looked outside the front door, which she'd left open. Tyrese wasn't there. She made her way up the stairs carefully, quietly, her awareness heightened, firing on all cylinders. There were three closed doors upstairs, so she searched the rooms that were open first. The bathroom was empty. The only other open door was the master bedroom. She stepped inside, hopeful that a woman approximately her size might have lived there. She spotted a photo on the nightstand of a blonde woman and a man with dark hair. It was a black and white photo of the two of them sitting in a limo on their wedding day. Her dress was a puff of white around her and her face told the story of a woman happy and in love as she leaned into her new husband. Melissa breathed down her nose. She felt sympathy for them, knowing the odds they'd survived were slim to none. She touched the top of the frame, gently laying it down onto the table as if she was laying the happy couple to rest. She hope they'd found peace.

She made her way into the closet, which was lined with useless things like expensive shoes and coach purses. In fact, most of the closet seemed to belong to the woman and most of it was lined with useless shit. Only one section belonged to the husband. Poor guy. Melissa passed the extensive collection of expensive purses, not caring enough to give them a second glance. She pulled out a stool she found along the side of the wall and stood to see what was on the top shelf above the clothes. She found a backpack and a black duffle bag, which she pulled down. She rummaged through the clothes. Finding a few long sleeved shirts she liked that looked to be her size. She threw them on top of the duffle bag. Then she found a sweater. She threw it onto the shirts. She searched the bottom shelving, under the shirts that hung beside her head, looking for jeans or scarves or gloves or something. What she found instead was a small, black safe. The safe had a keypad with buttons of each number and the number sign. There was a black dial next to the key pad. She figured it must open from the front. She pressed one of the buttons. It beeped and a small red light lit up. It was battery powered and, somehow still worked. She was suddenly overwhelmed with a need to see what was inside, but what was the code? Her mind traveled back to the photo she'd seen. She walked out of the closet and picked it up, noticing that there was writing etched into the bottom of the silver frame.

Jessica and Alex

October 18, 2008

She walked back to the safe, frame in hand and typed in 2008. It beeped and the red light flashed. She tried the dial but it didn't open. She typed in 1018 and tried again. Nope.

Damn, she thought.

She made herself really think about it before she tried again for fear that if she got it wrong one more time it might not open at all or reset itself or something. She thought about trying Alex, but that seemed too easy. What else could it be? She realized suddenly that if they were married in 2008 they might have had children. It could be a birthday or the year they became parents. It's what she would have done. She sighed, leaving the room and carefully opening a closed door across the hall. It was an office. She checked another door and found herself staring into a gorgeous baby nursery. It belonged to a little girl, she could see, from all the pink stuff everywhere. She looked around the room, not allowing her eyes to focus on anything other than something that might help her open the safe and eventually found a framed photo on the wall. It was one of those certificates from the hospital with the baby's photo and footprints and information.

Melissa suddenly felt a twinge of guilt, as if she was invading their privacy, but she talked herself out of it. They're gone, she told herself. They don't have privacy anymore. Taking a breath and biting her lip, she made herself continue. She didn't bother looking at the picture or the name. Instead her eyes went straight to the date of birth.

April 20, 2010

Okay, she thought to herself. She left the room, closing the door behind herself.

She stood in front of the safe, her fingers hovering over the keypad. Just as she was about to push 4 she would move her finger to the 2, then back again, unsure of which it could be. She grew frustrated with herself, bit her lip hard and without thinking made herself choose one.

2010, she typed.

A short beep, a green light and a successful twist of a dial later and the safe was open. She reached inside and pulled out a gray Glock 19. Her breath caught in her chest. She checked to see if it was loaded. It wasn't. She reached her hand back into the safe and pulled out two boxes of 9mm bullets. She smiled and blew a buff of air down her nose.

But as she thought about it she knew something didn't feel right. Who leaves and doesn't take their gun? Maybe they were out of town when the shit hit the fan, probably on some expensive vacation from the looks of it. It was possible, sure, but the more she thought about why the gun would still be there the more unease she felt in her chest. She bent down to put the gun and bullets she found into the backpack that she'd pulled off the shelf. She opened it and found yet another surprise. The backpack was stuffed full of money.

What the…?

"Who the fuck are these people?" Melissa heard herself whisper.

Who takes off during a zombie apocalypse, leaving their gun and a bag full of cash? Melissa stopped breathing as the reality of the situation hit her.

Nobody. Nobody would do that.

They're still here.

Melissa stood, panicking internally when she heard the floor creak behind her and looked around to see a very dead looking Jessica and Alex had walked into the bedroom. Melissa did the first thing she could think of. She remembered Tyrese telling her to run, so she ran. Sprinted, more like, out of the closet. They sensed her immediately and turned to grab for her. 'Alex' got her jacket, which she shrugged off easily as he growled and tried to bite her. She ran across the hall into another room and slammed the door shut just in time. There was no lock on the knob. She was in the baby's room. Of course there wouldn't be a lock. She was trapped.

Damnit.

As she leaned against the door and waited for her mind to catch up with the rest of her body she noticed the window on the other side of the room. She knew she had her gun, but she couldn't use it unless she had no other choice. And like an idiot she'd left her knife in the truck. She hadn't had a chance to clean it yet after skinning the rabbit. She wouldn't be making that mistake again.

She took a breath and ran to the window. It would be a long way down, but if she landed in the grass she would probably be okay. The window hard to open, but she got it. She looked back. The door was still closed. She turned back to the window. She looked around to see if Glenn, Maggie or Tyrese were anywhere, but saw no sign of them.

The walkers on the other side of the door banged and growled loudly. She looked down. She could make it. She had to land in the grass. She was about to crawl out of the window and jump when she heard a voice in her head.

What the hell are you doing, the voice asked. There are two of them. TWO. You're fine.

She realized that whoever it was that was talking to her was right. There were two of them. She could take them. Or at least get away from them. It was risky, but so was jumping out of a Goddamn window. She had her gun. If she had to she could shoot them. She still had options.

She turned around grateful to see that 'Alex' and 'Jessica' weren't smart enough to figure out how to open the door. But they knew she was in there, alright. Their banging and groans from the other side told her that much.

Melissa blew a puff of air out of her nose and picked up the foot rest next to the glider in the corner of the room. She sat it against the wall, close to her, and stood behind the door. With one more deep breath she opened the door quickly, purposefully staying behind it, wedging herself between the door and the wall. The hungry walkers trampled over each other to get inside and went right into the middle of the room where she wanted them. She reached down and picked up the foot rest as 'Jessica' turned and noticed her. She used the foot rest to push them back. She thought she'd given herself enough room to turn and shut them inside, but that was before 'Alex' dove for her. The asshole dove for her. He was strong and took her down easily. It was obvious he must have eaten recently, although Melissa didn't know what. All Melissa knew she was in trouble. She had no other options.

Fuck it, she told herself as she shot them both quickly between the eyes.

They each landed on top of her. They were really freaking heavy, but she managed to crawl out from underneath them. Stinking and smeared with gunk, she nearly gagged at their smell all over her clothes. She looked down at their decaying bodies lying still and lifeless on the floor.

"Jessica, I'm gonna borrow your clothes," she breathlessly deadpanned.

Melissa found what she needed quickly. She changed, poured the money out of the backpack and filled it with clothes, a scarf and a stocking cap, as well as the glock and the bullets she'd found in the safe. She picked up her own dirty clothes and threw them into the duffle bag and grabbed her jacket off the bedroom floor. She pulled her jacket on quickly and threw the bags over her shoulders.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs she was about to run out the still open front door when she was suddenly met with three more walkers in the doorway. She screamed loudly and ducked as the first one reached for her. She pulled the backpack off her shoulder and used it to push the walker away. She landed on her hands and knees, dropping her bags and crawled quickly away before jumping up to her feet. She ran through the house to the door in the kitchen and out into the back yard. It was open, it wasn't fenced in. And there were more walkers coming from other yards. She turned to run around the house to get back to the front and find the others. Where were the walkers coming from and why? Her gun. She'd shot her gun!

Picking up speed, she rounded the corner of the house, turned onto the driveway, and was met with three people pointing guns at her. She stopped in her tracks. Before she had a chance to say or so much as think anything they began to open fire, killing the walkers behind her. Caught in between, Melissa screamed and fell to the ground, trying to cover herself with her arms. After a few seconds the gunfire ceased and Melissa dropped her arms and opened her eyes as the people in front of her came into focus. The first thing she noticed was that it was two men and a woman. Only it wasn't Maggie, Glenn and Tyrese.

"Are you okay," one of the men asked as he walked up to her. He was big and muscular, like Tyrese, only he was white. The other man and the woman stayed put as the muscular man approached her. "Were you bitten?"

Melissa was vaguely aware that her body was shaking. She could hear her breath catching in and out of her chest. A surprise walker attack, survivors she didn't know, and hearing bullets wiz past her head was apparently almost too much for her to take, but she somehow managed to shake her head no. She wasn't bitten.

The man reached her and extended his hand to help her to her feet.

"The name's Abraham," he said. "Come with us if you want to live."


Sorry, no Daryl in this one except in flashback, but ABRAHAM! Watch out! He's not on the show yet, but I hope those of you who are familiar with him are excited to see him here. I don't know what kind of role he'll play in my world, but I play on having him around for a little while. Hope you guys liked the chapter. Playlist is below. Don't forget to let me know what you think!

Chapter 52 Playlist:

Message To Bears - Wake Me

Neko Case - Calling Cards

Banks - Waiting Game

Foy Vance - When All This Is Over