Chapter 1: Prey
I was being chased by some walkers through an old warehouse, in the middle of the night. My gun was empty and my hatchet wouldn't be enough. I rushed out the back door and slammed it behind me. I kept running and ran straight into a woman.
"I'm alive, don't shoot!" she yelled.
I trained my gun on her. It was empty but she didn't know that.
"I'm Andrea," she said.
"I'm Thomas," I said.
"I need help," she said.
"Why?" I asked.
"There's a man with an eyepatch. He's trying to catch me before I get to my friends," she said.
"There's about 8 walkers down that alley, I suggest we not be here when they come." I walked past her.
"Then let's not go that way," she said walking down another alley.
"Are you alone?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm alone," I said.
"You're so young, how did you survive?" Andrea kept pushing.
"Look, I don't know you. You don't know me. I'll help you get wherever you're going but we don't have to talk about it."
"Why are you helping me?" she said.
"Someone once told me that life in this world is precious," I told her.
"Let's go, my friends are hold up in a prison about a mile from here," Andrea said.
"Then let's move fast," I told her. I changed the clip of my gun and holstered it.
We turned into another alley and came face to face with two walkers. I swung and dug my hatchet into the scalp of one. I pulled it out and went after the other one. I jumped up and slammed my foot down on another's head.
"How'd you learn to do that?" Andrea kept hounding me.
"My mom taught me, she was big into martial arts. You know, before," I told her.
"What happened to her?" she asked.
"I had to kill her, before she turned. Same with my dad, same with my sister," I confessed.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"It was a long time ago," I told her.
We travelled the rest of the way to the prison. She told me about the woman who helped her, Michonne, a black samurai with dreadlocks. She told me about Rick, he used to be a sheriff. She kept going on about the group that she was trying to get back too. We got to a few bushes outside of the prison. A man with an eyepatch came up behind her and knocked her over. I clicked the hammer of my gun and aimed for his head.
"Don't," I said.
"I don't want to hurt you, but you're going to put down the gun and come with me," he ordered.
"All I have to do is yell and Rick and his people will be on you like ants at a picnic."
"I know you're smarter than that," he said.
"RICK!" I shouted, "Turn around and walk into the clearing."
I helped Andrea back to her feet.
We walked into the clearing. Andrea held the gun pointed at the man as I killed the walkers coming towards us.
We walked into the gated field killing walkers as Rick and who Andrea described as Glenn and Daryl helped me to the gate with our new hostage.
Once we got to the courtyard, a boy about my age wearing a sheriff's deputy hat ran out.
"Carl, get back," Rick yelled at his son, "Maggie, help the boy inside."
I handed my gun to Daryl and walked into Cell Block C.
"Hi, I'm Maggie," she introduced herself.
"I'm Thomas," I told her.
"I'm gonna need to take your axe and check you for weapons," Maggie said.
"No need." I handed her my hatchet and pulled a pocket knife out of my back pocket.
"May I still check you?" Maggie asked.
"Go ahead, you can never be too careful," I said.
"You're all clear," Maggie smiled.
A few minutes later Rick followed by Glenn and Andrea walked into the block.
Rick came immediately to me, his hand resting on the handle of his Colt Python.
"He was very cooperative," Maggie vouged, "He handed his weapons over willingly."
"How many walkers have you killed?" Rick asked.
"Somewhere between 50 and 100."
"How many people?" Rick continued.
"Four," I said.
"Why?"
"I had to kill my mom, my dad, and my sister before they turned," I paused, "Then I killed the man who was responsible."
Rick paused for a minute, "I'm Rick, welcome to the Prison," He offered me a hand.
I couldn't help but smirk. I gratefully shook his hand, "Thank you."
"The woman holding the baby is Carol, the blonde one is Beth and the man with the crutches is Hershel," Rick introduced me.
"What's with the man with the eyepatch," I asked.
"He's the leader of a group called Woodbury," Andrea told me, "He calls himself the Governor."
I flinched at the thought of that place.
"Do you know about Woodbury?" Rick asked.
"I've never been there but I ran into a couple of people a while back saying it was a place I should avoid," I replied.
"Daryl and Merle are keeping him in a cell in D block," Michonne walked down the steps into the block.
"We need to take the Governor to the trade tomorrow," Rick said.
"What trade?" Carol asked.
"When I met with the Governor he said that if we gave him Michonne he'd call a truce," Rick paused looking at the floor.
"You weren't going to go through with it were you?" Michonne asked.
"No, of course not," Rick defended himself."But now that we have the Governor we can trade him for a truce, at the meeting tomorrow."
"What can I do to help?" I asked.
"We barely know you," Rick tensed.
"Rick? He helped Andrea get here, and he helped capture the Governor," Hershel spoke.
"Hershel's right," Andrea said, "I wouldn't be here without him."
"Alright then. We'll have Merle, Daryl, Glenn, Andrea, Michonne, you and I go to the meeting tomorrow and have Hershel, Maggie, Beth, Carol and Carl stay here," Rick said.
"But dad?" Carl questioned.
Rick walked into the cell block with Carl.
"I need you to be safe," Rick said, "Besides who else is gonna keep this place safe?"
Carl smiled.
Everyone went on with preparing for this meeting tomorrow.
Carl came up to me, "Hi."
"Hi," I said.
"I'm Carl," he smiled at me.
"I'm Thomas," I replied.
"I'm happy to have a kid my age these days," Carl said. He sat down at one of the tables and motioned for me to sit next to him.
"Yeah, the last person my age I knew was my sister," I sat down next to him.
"What happened to her," Carl asked.
"She got killed," I said, "There was a man named Joel Andrews. He stumbled into our camp. We thought he could be trusted."
"What happened?" Carl kept pushing.
"In the middle of the night Joel attacked my family, slit their wrists. I had to kill my entire family and then I had to kill him," I told him.
"I'm sorry." He put a consoling hand on my shoulder.
"Alright," Rick called from the block, "Daryl and Merle can't watch the Governor all night. So, we'll have shifts and we'll change every 2 hours."
"I'll help," I said.
"Alright," Rick said, "I'll watch him with you."
"Can I have my gun back?" I asked.
"I don't think we can trust you just yet," Rick said.
Andrea walked to Rick and put her hand on his shoulder.
"I trust him, he helped me," she reassured him.
"Alright," Rick walked over to a table and handed me my pistol.
"Thank you."