Chapter 1

The boy woke with a start, his back was sore, and his throat was dry. The boy immediately realised he was lying on the floor, the old wood creaked under him as he stood. The shack he stood in was incredibly old, cobwebs hung from the ceiling and the wooden floor was covered in mold.

Where were his parents? they were just… What were they doing? The boy scoured his brain for the events leading to this point, but he couldn't remember. He couldn't remember anything. Not his friends, Not his parents, his favorite tv show, he couldn't even remember his name.

He checked his jean pockets, there was a swiss army knife in his front pocket, it had a few utensils that he wasn't too sure of, some tiny scissors, a nail file, and two different blades. His back pocket held a laminated card… a student ID… his student ID.

Philip Grant- Age:10. Grade:7th.Moulton Middle Alabama2003

It was a good picture, though, in it, the boy's face was in a scowl. The boy's face was thin for his age, his hair was an ashy blonde color, fluffy and swayed over his right eye, it was clean, but unkempt, and was cut off right above his shoulders with much of his hair tucked behind his ears. The bo- Philip's eyes were an analytical, focused blue, they were sunken, with dark spots under them. His skin was pale, but looking at his arm he could see that had changed, he was tan, but with a hint of grey.

Philip knew that the boy in the picture was him, but it felt weird to look at himself, it was as if he were a stranger, but he couldn't dwell on it, there was an ever lingering sense of urgency in the air, and he felt that he needed to move.

The sky was several shades of purple, blue, and orange as the sun set. Philip had been walking for hours, his feet hurt and his legs were aching, but he steeled himself to follow the ever winding road until he reached a town.

At last his salvation was in sight, the city in the distance was large 'probably Huntsville, or something' he thought, his amnesia was weird, he had forgotten everything he had done or experienced, but he retained general information, such as places or how to play chess.

When he arrived at the city he realised that his assumption was inaccurate.

A gold and black sign reading Welcome to Youngstown greeted him. 'But, Youngstown is in Ohio, how did I get here?'

Philip wanted to yell out, to find help, but his instincts screamed at him to be silent. There were several abandoned cars and the streets were void of people. The air reeked, and when he turned to find the source of the smell he was confronted by a rotting man lumbering towards him

"Lurker" he whispered to himself, though he doesn't remember where he learned the term.

Philip's knife was in his palm without a thought, he subconsciously moved towards the monster. Philip reached the lurker's shoulders in height, it must have been a little over 6 feet tall.

The way Philip moved was instinctual, when he snapped out of his haze, his knife was implanted in the lurker's temple. The only way he could describe it was muscle memory… he had been doing this for awhile.

Despite his body's refusal he kept moving forward in the chilly air.

Philip found himself setting up a campfire, it was cold when the sun was high, but as stars lit the sky each small breeze felt like blades running through his body. He stared at the starry sky as he drifted to sleep, whispering a song, strangely remembered, to himself. "When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are, anything your heart desires will come to you."

His voice was hoarse and higher pitched than he imagined it to be. He doesn't know how he remembers the song, but there's joy in the faint memory.

Philip was sore once again when he woke. He struggled to get up, to his body's disagreement, he needed to find water, clean water, he was parched, and after a growl from his stomach he realised he was hungry as well.

The chilling wind cut through the leather of his aviator jacket as he walked to nowhere. His jeans were rubbing his legs raw from hours of friction. Philip needed rest, but he couldn't, not yet.

It was midday when Philip came to a bridge, on the other side he could just make out a small cabin, good, he could rest there. Scoping it out, Philip could see two lurkers, his knife was once again in his hand.

Philip moved forward, this time conscious of his actions. The first lurker stirred at his scent, lumbering toward him. He readied himself, planted his feet firmly in the soft dirt, he striked true, he could see his blade enter the lurker's head. As he attempted to turn on the other lurker, he found that his blade was stuck. The lurker barreled forward, charging at him, Philip released the knife just in time to stop the monster from chomping into his shoulder.

It took all of his strength to hold the lurker back, he was losing what little energy he had left, he had to do something. The lurker's mouth was getting closer and closer, Philip used the last of his strength to kick the beast in the knee, grabbing a large rock, he slammed into the lurker's head repeatedly, he recovered his knife, what was left could hardly be called a head, but Philip still lived, so he didn't mind much, he hardly noticed the blood covering his arm.

"Hey Kid! You alright?!" A voice shouted from behind him.

The man had a small frame and light yellow skin, he was wearing a black hoodie that matched his hair and the scruff on his chin.

"I'm fine" the boy said in a light rasp before collapsing.

--POV CHANGE, 30 minutes later--

The man sat on the couch listless for a moment, staring at the roaring fireplace

"Hey, Ken?"

Kenny gazed over at Sarita, sitting next to him, before smiling "yes, hon?" He questioned with a grin, his mood changing completely. Sarita was frowning, her eyebrows raised in concern "are you alright?" She asked caringly.

"O'course, just thinkin' is all" Sarita reminded him a lot of Katjaa, gentle, loving, but he pushed those thoughts from his head, you can't forget the past if you dwell on it. "We should pro'bly clean up for dinner, bet it'll be beans and peaches again, but hopefully Matthew caught a rabbit or somethin', a stew would be nice."

As if summoned there was a rapping on the lodge's door 'good, he's back'

Kenny moved to open the door, but it burst open before he could reach for the handle. Matthew was panting, a kid nearly the same size as him was being carried over his shoulder. "What the hell happened out there?!" Kenny demanded. Matthew rushed past him and laid the kid on a table. "I was doing a double take across the bridge, I came across the kid fighting off a couple of walkers, he just collapsed"

Matthew rummaged through the kids pockets, taking out a knife and some sort of card, he glanced at the card for a second before handing it to Kenny, it was a student ID.

Age: 10, Duck's age

"Is he gonna be alright?" Kenny asked somewhat frantically. Matthew nodded

"He'll be fine, I think he's mostly just exhausted, he may be dehydrated, I'll get him something to drink when he wakes up… a twelve year old out there alone." Matthew frowned and shook his head "Do you know where Walter is? I should probably tell him about this"

"He's in the kitchen, I think"

Just as Matthew started toward the kitchen, the boy jolted awake. He looked frantically from side to side taking in his surroundings, his hand went in his pocket, grabbing for the knife that wasn't there.

"Whoa, easy there, everything's all right, you're safe" Kenny reassured the kid.

Matthew handed the boy a bottle of water, which he finished in seconds.

Matthew stepped back, he looked as if he were trying to find words. "... So, um, where's your parents?" The boy looked as calm as could be. "I… I don't remember"

--POV CHANGE--

Robert sat quietly on watch, there were a few lur- walkers on the walls, but nothing that worried him. He stared off at the forest about a hundred yards away, his brother could be anywhere, he could be dead, but Robert couldn't think that way, his brother was out there, and he would find him.

"Rob, Carver wants a word!" Vince shouted from below the watchtower.

Robert sighed and started down. "Alright, tell him he can have foil, I don't use that one too often" Vince chuckled

"I would, but he sounded pretty serious. He's concerned that you're distracted, says you aren't doing your part."

Robert's brows furrowed. "... Aright, watch the wall, there are a few out there, but not enough to do any damage. Guess I'll go see Carver" the last part was more of a reassurance to himself

Carver scared the shit out of Robert, man's harsh, but he's a leader, a natural born leader. He used to be an agreeable person too, but this world changed that, you can hardly blame the man.

Walking up the stairs to Carver's office, Robert's palms started to sweat 'this is gonna be fun' he knocked.

He stood silently for a second, there was no reply, Robert resigned himself to wait a little while longer…

"Grant, come in"

*End Chapter*