Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead, just Isabelle. :)

SO it's been a LONG time, hasn't it? I decided to revive this story because I re-read it and fell in love over again. But, I did start this 10 years ago, so it will be rewritten in some aspects. I really hope you all love it :) Check out the AN at the end please :D


Fuck.

This was honestly the last thing I needed, a goddamn gun pointed to the back of my head. Seriously? I'm just trying to get by, trying to survive this hell. But no, I can never catch a break.

I'm sure you're wondering how I ended up here, which is funny because I'm not even from Atlanta. I was born and raised in California, and I just graduated from basic training. I was given a short break before starting my advanced training, and decided to spend said break with a good friend of mine here.

As for why she's not here with me right now? I don't want to talk about it, I can't. Not yet.

"Who are you?" A raspy, southern voice questioned me, I only assumed it was a police officer. I tried to play as nice as possible, considering that I was in an "abandoned" police station and he hadn't shot me yet. I swear to god I thought this place was empty.

"I'm sorry officer," I managed to sputter out, "I'm on my own, I promise." I felt the barrel of his gun move away from my head and continued, "I was looking for weapons, then was going to be on my way."

A large sigh of relief escaped my lips as I felt the cool air strike the back of my head, no gun anymore. However, I still didn't have the nerve to turn around and face him, nor speak anymore unless spoken to, so I kept my mouth shut.

I shifted uncomfortably, I'd been on my knees and my legs for too long and they'd started to tingle with numbness.

After a seemingly long pause, he spoke to me again, "You never answered my question."

I put my arms down and let them fall to my sides, but I didn't turn around to face him. "I'm just someone who's trying to survive, like everyone else." The cold, rough surface of the floor was starting to make my knees ache but I didn't say anything. "Officer, I'm really not a threat."

Another pregnant pause, which frustrated the hell out of me. Was he going to shoot me or not? Who the hell does he think he is playing with me like this?

With the ache in my knees, my frustration grew more as he remained quiet, "I'd really like to be on my way, please."

I heard him step back, or maybe forward. It was hard to tell, seeing as I wasn't facing him.

At last! He finally spoke! "I'm not going to hurt you, just get up and answer my questions."

I did as I was told and turned around to face him, when he held out his hand.

"You don't have to call me 'officer' anymore, just call me Rick. What's your name?"

Damn. For a guy who was about to paint the wall with my brains, Rick wasn't that bad looking.

I know we were just talking, but seeing another living being was throwing me off. I cleared my throat to regain my composure, "Isabelle. My name's Isabelle."

"What brings you out here, Isabelle?" Lot of questions from this guy - Rick.

"I had some time off after my basic training, so stopped by for a quick vacation before being shipped off to God knows where." I couldn't help but laugh at my reply, it's crazy the things that were so important before all of this. Now I would give anything to get shipped out of this state, anywhere to be with my family and away from those things.

He smiled, "And you come to Georgia for a vacation?"

I couldn't help but smile back. "Not really my choice, heh," My smile quickly faded when I remembered why I was here, "I was here to visit a friend." I broke eye contact, hoping that the fact I was alone would answer any more questions.

He stood up and pulled out a set of keys, which I assumed would be for the armory. "So you were trying to pick this lock?"

I rubbed the back of my head like a child getting caught stealing candy, "Yeah, turns out you need a weapon to survive those things out there."

"Well, Isabelle, it's all been cleared out already."

Well shit.

With a smug grin on his face that I could just eat up, he presented me with a black duffle bag.

For Christ's sake, how could I have been so oblivious? He's a cop, of course he'd have all the weapons in the armory. I mentally face palmed myself for my ignorance, and continued to eye the duffle bag.

"Where are you headed to?" He asked me.

"I was originally going to go to California to get to my family. But, they evacuated. They're safe now, so now I don't know," I shrugged, "Maybe try to find an evacuation out here, but I don't know." I straightened myself out more and turned to Rick, "What about you? Any family?" I realized as I blurted out the last part that I may have overstepped my bounds. Who knows what he's been through up until meeting me?

"I'm looking for my family too." He opened his mouth to continue but hesitated at first, it seemed as if he was trying to figure out the best way to answer. "I know that they're out there, still alive." I could relate to the same feeling. It was probably one of the only things keeping me sane in this world.

"Why don't we travel together? You seem like you can handle yourself." I added jokingly at the end, hoping to lighten the mood given the circumstances in which we just met.

His jaw tightened and he eyed me down. Guess he's not a man of jokes.

He gave a small smile, "Sure, I mean you managed to sneak in here without me knowing or leading any walkers here." Ah, nevermind.

It didn't immediately register that he agreed. After being on my own the past couple of weeks, I was ecstatic but didn't want to show it.

But it was definitely going to take some getting used to.


A couple hours had passed since our interesting first encounter, and we hadn't said much to each other. I decided to take a small nap so that I'd feel well rested before venturing out again.

We were set to leave in a little bit, since neither of us wanted to stay there any longer. I promised him that I'd tell him more about myself once I'd taken a hot shower and gathered all of my supplies.

He led me to the showers and as soon as he left I stripped down and never had I felt so...dirty. I was more than eager to wash my body of the dirt and caked blood. Ahhh, how good it felt to have the hot water hug my body.

I then remembered something.

I packed a razor.

I quickly jumped out of the shower and snatched my bag to dig through it and retrieve my razor, I don't think I've ever been that excited. There's just something about shaving that makes me happy, makes me feel more feminine. I stored a mental note to be on the lookout for any other clean razors in the police station.

After my little me time, I hurried out of the shower to get dressed in a new clean set of clothes that I was smart enough to pack, but then I realized that they'll probably get as dirty as the last ones, but at least there wasn't any caked blood, right?

I walked over to the mirrors in the women's restroom, and observed the face that stared back at me. I looked a little gaunt, but I still looked the same. I really needed sleep though, and to cut my hair before it could turn into a mullet. Which I mean, it is the end of times and I'd always wanted one. I laughed off the idea before leaving the bathroom, don't want to give off the impression that I'm batshit crazy to my newest friend.

Huh, I wonder if Rick thought I was some boy at first. Bet he was real surprised when I turned around.

Okay, now I'm just being cocky.


So...here's our first chapter. I have some minor grammatical changes, but I'm sure you all noticed the big plot change so far. I wanted to stick closer to the show and make Lori Rick's wife, re-reading kinda made me cringe how they were siblings haha (I was in HS when I wrote it to be fair). I hope that no one thinks that the story won't be the same anymore, I just wanted to throw in that so that we have some more interesting...feelings later on. And on top of that, I wanted to make it burn a little more slowly, especially with the change made. ;) Hope you all like this :)