Falling into the Undead

Chapter One

Welcome to the Undead

For the first few chapters, we won't be seeing anyone from the TV show. I wanted to set up a background and introduce you to the OCs in this story before I delved right into canon.

Hopefully, you all like Remington and Maisie and that this part isn't too boring. I really enjoyed setting up the scenery and showing the bizarre situation that they were thrust into. It's probably why I took so long to introduce the rest of the characters.

The first few chapters are going to be quite long but after that, they kind of even out to be on average length. I wouldn't expect chapters like this often. It's how I'm hopefully going to be able to keep updating consistently.

If you all like having a playlist to listen to while reading let me know! I have one set up on Spotify that I've put together specifically while I write this story.

Please, Review and let me know what you guys think about this so far, and I'll see you again in two weeks!

Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father
Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers
Leave all your love and your longing behind
You can't carry it with you if you want to survive

Dog Days are Over-Florence + the Machine

Fear had gripped her heart. She was in Georgia, outside of Atlanta, in a small-town hotel where her small family had stopped for the night. The day would have been normal if it had been where she had fallen asleep. They had stopped to stay at a hotel for sure, but it hadn't been in Georgia. On the outside, she was all smiles as she packed their bags from the previous night of pulling item after item out in search of their nightly stuff. In retrospect, she knew they should have gone into the bag last, and now regretted not cleaning the mess up before bed, but they had been tired from traveling, and who knew a situation like this would have happened.

Remington kept her daughter busy by watching a movie on her tablet that had been downloaded from before, eating a muffin she had snatched from their bag of snacks, and cuddling up with the two dogs. She was too freaked to take her down for a proper breakfast. Her phone lay next to her, but none of her calls were going through. Beeping signaled a busy line, but repetitive glances out the window told her it was more than she realized. The streets were crowded with cars run off the road, bags and their things strung across the parking lot, and the total absence of life, everything had her on full alert. Her hands shook as she zipped her bag closed and settled against the bed, her green eyes darting over to her daughter.

Nothing made sense. They had fallen asleep somewhere in Oklahoma, on their way home from a trip, but if the map in her room was any indication they were now in the state of Georgia. She defiantly didn't recognize the room from the night before or even the scene from outside. It shouldn't even exist. Last night the roads had been clear, a few people on the road pushing their travels out, while a few others had followed her lead to turn in for the night. She had spoken to her father on the phone only an hour before they had turned into the hotel.

Allowing her head to fall into her hands, Remi knew she needed to plan. They couldn't stay holed up in the room forever, but the idea of not knowing what was happening, of putting her daughter in danger with everything unknown. It caused her stomach to sink. She couldn't do it. Instead, she grabbed a muffin for herself, and chewed it slowly, as she once again stood at the window. The eyes of their two pets followed her every movement.

She had closed the curtains, feeling safer with them obscuring them from view, but now, using her pinky, she had them drawn ever so slightly back, so she could look out. Spotting her car, she could see that it was parked right underneath their room. Convenient for a quick getaway, but she refused to leave until she knew their circumstances better. Biting her lip, she allowed the curtain to fall back into place as she moved to grab her phone once more.

"Sorry, but the number you have dialed can't be reached right now. Please try again later."

Worry for her father, for her family, pushed at her thoughts. They caused another wave of anxiety to rip through her body that she barely could hold back. Standing up she moved toward her daughter, grabbed the tablet, and switched it off. The four-year-old glanced up with a wavering lip, not happy at having her entertainment taken away.

Crouching down in front of her Remington took her daughter's face in her hands, carefully sweeping her thumb across her cheeks as she leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "Baby, we need to conserve the battery. Mommy doesn't know when we will get electricity again." Maybe once she figured out what was going on she would figure it out. Remi figured she might need it to properly distract her daughter later, her gut was telling her of the possibility, and right now she wasn't going to ignore it.

"Mommy I'm bored," Maisie whined, as she stared up at her with those bright blue eyes.

It had been surprising that she kept the color as Remington would have thought they should have darkened by now, into the brown of her daddies' eyes. If she had learned anything in science class, it was the fact that brown eyes won the genetic lottery more often than not, but her own father's side of the family seemed to have strong genetics. After all more family members than was normal had Remington's grandfather's blue eyes or his red hair. She had always found it surprising, but at that moment, she was happy to have the reminder of her family. They steadied her as she brought her daughter firmly into her arms.

Brushing her fingers through Maisie's long brown hair Remington took another deep calming breath.

"I'm sorry, kiddo," she said, as Maisie crawled properly into her lap. Arms intertwined protectively around her.

"I wanna see Momo, and Papa," the little girl said. "You said we would see them today." Remington rests her head on top of her daughter's, wondering if the girl can hear the beating of her heart like it was wanting to escape from her chest.

"I know," she whispered. "Something happened. We're running a bit behind schedule. We won't be seeing them today." It wasn't a lie, but with the feeling in her gut, Remington wasn't sure when they would be seeing them.

They sat like that for what Remi was sure had to be an hour. Her daughter had never been this quiet before but was sure she was sensing her mother's anxiety. Two bodies had pressed themselves against her in that amount of time, cramming her daughter, and herself between them. With a sigh, she placed her daughter on the bed, a couple of dolls in front of her, before moving back to the window. It was too quiet. She hadn't seen anything moving outside, animals or people.

The horrible gut-wrenching idea that she would need to go outside to find out what was going on entered her thoughts. The only thing keeping her from actually doing it was the fact that the parking lot reminded her of a horror book, an apocalyptic scene straight out of a movie.

They couldn't stay in the room forever, but the idea of taking her daughter out into the unknown was a bit much for her to come to terms with. Leaving the four-year-old by herself in the room also didn't sit well with her, but she felt it was her best shot at finding out answers. Leaving her with both, or one, of the dogs would keep some of her worries at bay. It was the only way for her to be remotely comfortable with the idea. With those thoughts swirling inside her mind Remington stepped toward her little family and decided to move forward with the only plan that allowed her to find the answers she sought after. Like how they had gotten here, or what was going on.

Turning to the dog sitting closest to the preschooler Remington eyed Nala. She was a cross between an American bully, and an American bulldog, weighing 90 lbs., and with her being around a year old, Remington knew she had time to keep growing. Her coat was grey, with patches of brindle and white. She, Remi knew, would be the best option to leave behind with the girl. They had a bond, one she had never seen before in a pet, and a small girl, and she knew Nala wouldn't let anything get to her. Taking a deep breath, she walked across the room and knelt in front of her daughter.

"Maisie," she said, her voice cracking a bit. Clearing it she tried again. "Mommy needs to go check on something, but she wants you to stay here. Do you understand?"

"I don't wanna stay here by myself, mommy," she said, jutting that lip out in a pout.

"You won't be," Remington said, smoothing the hair away from her daughter's face. "Nala is going to stay with you so you're not alone. You two can play with your dolls until I get back. Won't that be fun?" Maisie turned to the dog at her side, eyeing her, as she thought over what her momma said. Huffing just a bit the little girl gave a small nod.

"I want my tablet though."

This Remington knew would probably be for the best. It gave her less of a chance for the girl to try to do anything while she was gone.

"I guess that'll be fine," she said. "But you need to stay on this bed until I get back. You don't answer that door for anyone other than me. And you don't leave this room. Do you hear me? You stay put and be good."

She wasn't afraid of her daughter trying to wander off. No, she was good about following the rules when she knew her mother was serious, and Remington hadn't ever been more serious. The tone in her voice only cemented that as her daughter watched her.

"You stay with Nala and never leave her side. I'll be back soon."

"Are you going to take Pixel?"

Remington glanced over at the second dog, the oldest one at four years old. He was black and white, a border collie, pointer, mixed breed. His patches of black were sporadic on his body, the biggest mass being the one that covered his shoulders and halfway down his body. It's what caused her to call him Pixel when he was a puppy, the smaller black dots that broke away from that mass looked like small pixilation's against his fur. Fitting she had thought. He was her dog, always sticking to her side, and she knew it would be best to have him with her just in case something did go wrong.

"Yeah, Mommy is going to take Pixel."

"Good, so you won't be lonely." Remington smiled as she leaned forward to kiss her daughter's forehead.

"You be safe, I'll be back soon. When mommy knocks, I need you to come to open it because it won't open from my side without electricity. Can you do that?"

As she slipped out of the room everything inside of her told her to go back to her kid. To not leave her alone even for a second. Gripping the door handle tightly she went to close it, sending a silent prayer that she would be fine and that nothing could get into the room, and even if someone did Nala would be there. She was terrifying looking, all muscle, and most second-guessed before deciding to take the dog on.

It calmed her nerves somewhat as she turned her attention back to the hallway. It was mostly dark, with what little bit of light streaming through a window at the end, close to the staircase. Everything about it gave her goosebumps. Dust was thick in the air a telling sign that no one had been around to take care of it for a while. In her mind that was never a good sign.

Taking another steadying breath, funny how she seemed to be taking her therapist's advice a lot today, she whistled lowly for Pixel to follow her. They moved down the hallway one step at a time. Every horror movie she had ever watched, and she had watched a lot being a horror buff and all told her not to make noise. That it was just calling for something bad to happen. Remington may not know what was going on, but all the signs led to nothing good. So, she kept quiet, making sure the dog next to her did the same. The only noise was the muffled sound of her footsteps on the carpet and the light jingling of a dog tag against the metal of the collar. She had to fight her emotions of wanting to knock on one of the doors, hoping another human being would answer, but her instincts screamed at her not to do that. Coming to the window, the glass took up one panel of wall, from the floor to the ceiling, about as wide as her arms were open. She glanced outside of it, and though it gave her a different view from her room, it wasn't a better one.

This one allowed her to look better down the road, and it looked much the same, if not worse. She could see one car in the distance, the driver's side door wide open, and what looked to be a person lying in the passenger's seat. She closed her eyes, both wishing she could see better, and not.

Snapping her finger she moved toward the staircase, now wishing she had a weapon of some sort, but having never carried anything with her before she had nothing. Not even a bat. It was laying on her conscious now that maybe she should have. Being a woman alone with her young daughter, on a road trip, even with the dogs as protection, surely, she should have planned on something else. That's what she got she supposed. Moving down it was worse than the hallway. The darkness was more compact, the only light shining every so often from the doors that led to each floor. Remi found herself thankful that there were only four floors in total. Keeping an eye out ahead of her, she constantly checked down below by glancing over the rails to see if she could see anything. Her attention stayed close to Pixel as well, searching for any signs that he picked up on anything as they moved. He would be the first to know she knew. His hearing was better, and his senses would smell anyone hiding. Pixel stayed calm at her side; his ears perked as he listened to the building around them.

This kept her at ease, telling her that she could be calm, and not jump at every noise or shadow. This was not a situation she ever found herself in before, and a small feeling of pride at the way she was handling it entered her mind's eye. All she had to do was finish this, get back to her daughter, and depending on what she found, she would plan accordingly.

When they finally hit the lobby, she pushed the door open, glancing around before stepping out into the open space. It opened right up to where the front desk was, a layout that she didn't remember being the same as last night. Though she supposed they were two different hotels, in different towns. It didn't matter how strange, or impossible that was, all that mattered was that she had found herself in this situation.

The lobby looked much worse than everything else. From where she was at the staircase entrance Remington could see overturned tables, chairs, signs of panic, and struggles. She was intent on looking at the lobby desk first, hoping to find any sign of what happened there, a newspaper, or anything. Then she would go outside. It didn't make her feel safe, but she would have to do it. It only took her ten steps before Pixel began to growl low in the back of his throat. It didn't carry. Only loud enough to alert her but no one else in their vicinity. She raised her hand, the growling cut out, her signal that she understood. Her eyes swept the area, but all she could see was the same mess, the after-effects of some kind of horror.

How could they have slept through something like this?

Remington knew the answer. It all looked too old to have happened last night, which meant they had either been asleep for a while, or the strangeness of the events only got more impossible.

Another low growl broke her from her thoughts as her honey-colored eyes bounced around the room looking for what had him on edge. It caused the muscles in her own body to tense, ready to fight, even if she didn't have any true experience in it. That didn't matter though. She had her daughter upstairs waiting for her, and she'd be damned if she allowed something to happen to her and left that little girl all alone.

Her heartbeat was loudly in her chest as she found nothing obvious around them. No one had jumped from a corner of the room and screamed boo.

Remington almost wished someone would. For there to be confetti popped into the air, a multitude of people coming out of hiding, and telling her that it was just some TV show prank. She could be mad, get over it, and join in on the fun because after all Remington would much rather find this all out to be a huge, horrible joke, rather than her new reality.

No one did.

Instead, she made it to the front desk, a foul stench assaulting her nose, as she stopped short of going around. The smell made her pause, but there on the side of the desk was a red wet substance forming a handprint that smeared itself toward the back of the desk before disappearing on the other side. Her pulse raced faster than before, her legs locked in place, everything inside of her screaming at her to turn around and rejoin her daughter. She hadn't signaled for Pixel to stay quiet, allowed him to keep growling a low warning, hoping that in some childish way, it would drive away whatever scene awaited her on the other side of the desk. It grounded her to the moment, and she took that strength to wrench herself forward and around. The scene that met her was far more horrifying than she had originally thought. Lying face down was the body of a woman, her clothes matching that of someone who worked for the hotel. Blood soaked the cloth that hung off her body, and what was left of it. Her skin was gray, decaying, telling Remington that she was the source of the stench. Blonde hair was matted with blood, and chunks that she didn't wish to identify. Swallowing thickly Remington breathed through her mouth, trying to filter most of the smell from going through her nose, but it was like she could taste it. The death in the air. It was foul and rotten, causing her to gag, as her stomach finally won the battle, and she spun on her heel. Tripping over the dog as she grabbed at the part of the front desk that wasn't covered in blood she began to gag, and choke on the vomit. Tears streamed down her eyes as she whimpered a pitiful noise.

Only when her stomach settled, the muffin from earlier had left her stomach did she come back to her senses. Her hand moved to cover her mouth as her eyes raced to glance around the building.

Something, someone, had done this, and she was afraid of being too loud and alerting them. It was bigger than just one person she knew. Outside, a clear view due to the front wall being made entirely out of windows showed the mess that could only be made by a nationwide panic. People didn't leave their cars abandoned for just anything. It didn't look like a warzone just because someone decided to go on a rampage. No, this was bigger. She needed to figure it out. Being in the dark could only get her killed.

Maisie needed her.

Shoving herself back up Remington ignored the dead body of the woman, signaled for Pixel to grow quiet, and began to search the desk for anything useful. She rummaged around growing more frustrated as she came up empty-handed. Only finding a master key to the rooms that she didn't think would be very helpful unless she found a way to turn the power back on. She also questioned whether it would be morally right to go through other people's stuff. There was no telling what was actually going on and if everywhere looked like this, or if it was just this hotel. Would she get in trouble for stealing? Would she even need to?

Feeling that time was ticking away, and she would need to meet back up with Maisie soon, Remington stuffed the key card into her pocket before moving away, toward the front door that would lead her outside. The closer she got the more her instincts told her to turn back, but she had to know. She needed to understand, and she had to check the tires of her car. The tank was full when she last checked it, and assumed it would still be that way, and all that kept her from taking the car and going would be if something happened to her tires.

"Stay close," she whispered to the dog before motioning for him to heel. Pixel immediately obeyed the command gluing himself to her side. Every step she took, he mimicked perfectly, they moved as one being. Never before had she been happier to take both her dogs to those training classes.

Outside was humid, hot, and stuffy. The smell was worse out here. Remington found that close-up several cars looked to have dead bodies inside of them, or strung half out, some with their intestines hanging out, while others looked mostly intact. She hadn't been able to see this from up above, not as clearly, hadn't even put together that the lumps could be people and not baggage. There was no way she could take Maisie down here and not keep her from seeing. This wasn't something she wanted her daughter to experience in her life, not this young, not ever. Grunting she pushed it from her mind, deciding to deal with it later when it became a problem.

Feeling much too exposed out in the open Remington didn't even think about it before she began to crouch, taking cover behind each car, before darting out to the next. Pixel stayed right next to her. Never warning her about anything being close other than the dead bodies. She felt thankful for that. Not sure if she could take an encounter with another person, even if it did lead her to answers.

Bent over she ran from vehicle to vehicle before getting to her own. It was locked as she had left it. The car looked untouched beside the thin layer of dust that coated it. The tires were still in a brand-new shape, nothing having nicked them, or caused them to go flat. It was in perfect shape as she could ask to get them the hell out of here. But just jumping in and driving off without an idea of where they were and if there was trouble just around the corner kept her from running off and doing just that. Instead, she forced her pulse to calm as she pushed away from the car and moved farther out. Determined to get to the end of the hotel and glance around the corner, to look into the town. The hotel seemed to be right on the edge, and the tall building had kept her from getting a good look so far.

The only noise around her was the crunch of her shoes on the gravel. The sounds of insects buzzing. So, when it went quiet, with no noise from the bugs, it felt deafening. It was a telling sign, letting her know they had sensed something, that they were no longer alone, and were hiding. A part of her thought it had just been herself who triggered them, but another part of her, the instinctual part, told her that wasn't it. She had been careful and quiet, and they would have reacted long before. No. She was no longer alone.

Pixel's growls broke the silence felt like a shot had rung out. It caused her to jump and raise her hand, causing the both of them to come to a stop.

Remington didn't know what to expect. Nothing could have prepared her for the guttural sounds of moaning, a primal deep noise that awakened a sense of danger inside of herself that she had never felt before. The hair on her arms stood to attention. A voice in the back of her mind whispered to run. Her feet stayed glued to the asphalt. With the moans came a distinct sound of scrapping, like something was being dragged across the ground. A flash of teeth and blood crossed her mind's eye, but she pushed it away, thinking herself silly for even imagining such a thing. There would be an obvious explanation for the noise. An animal would round that corner. It was the only thing that made sense. Nothing from her nightmares could ever exist.

Pixel had placed himself between the strange sound and herself. He no longer growled but she could see the fur of his hackles raised, a clear sign that he was on guard, and shouldn't be messed with. She took a step back. No longer wishing to know what it was that got closer with every second she stood there. The thought of her dog getting hurt didn't sit well, and the knowledge that without her, her daughter would be in more danger than she was now. Instead, she pushed away her insane need for knowledge and began to back away toward the cover of the nearest car. Remington did this carefully so as to not let whoever, or whatever, was coming have the knowledge that they were there as well. Pushing Pixel around the car she opened the door, wincing when it creaked before pushing the dog inside. Crawling inside herself she closed the door before laying over the dog, pushing him down into the floorboard and keeping him from popping back up and giving away their location.

The growling grew louder. Whatever it was had to be right outside the car. It seemed to pause, the constant stream of noises telling her it hadn't moved away, and fear kept her locked into place. Good for her, keeping the need to peak at bay. The overwhelming urge to check and see what it was, was screaming inside her mind, but her body wouldn't follow the command. She was petrified. Locked into place by her own bodies need to stay safe. She shook, her arms wrapping tightly around Pixel, as she wished it would begin to move away. Instead, she felt as the car rocked ever so slightly, the feeling that something had brushed against it almost caused her to yelp, and for Pixel to begin his growling once again. She shushed him, tears building in her eyes as the car rocked again. He began to wiggle but she tightened her grip around him. The heat of being stuck in the car was suffocating, sweat dripped down her forehead, but her body didn't dare move. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as a shadow moved away signaling to her that whatever it was had turned its back on her. It was far too tall to be an animal she decided. If it had been she shouldn't have been able to catch a glimpse of it out of the back window.

No, it had looked far more like a human.

Fighting every urge, she had inside her body Remington hissed at Pixel to stay down, and quiet, before slowly climbing up into the seat. She stayed crouched as best she could as she peeked out the window.

Her breath caught in her throat at the sight that she saw. It was the back of a man. His clothes were ripped, and rumpled, looking to have seen better days, covered in blood, mud, and dirt. She watched, transfixed as he seemed to sniff the air, another loud groan meeting her ears as he limped forward. She could see him dragging one leg, the ankle bent at an odd angle, a bone protruding from where half of his pant leg was gone. His skin was the same color as the lady inside. Gray, an ashen color that should never have been on a living human being.

Living seemed to be a relative term she realized when he stopped, pausing before turning his head like he had heard a noise. The side profile was more horrifying than getting a glance at his back. Half his face, the part that she could see was hanging by a patch of skin. It showed his teeth, rotting inside his mouth. How blood looked black where it dried on his neck.

A sob of fear wrenched itself from her lips. Her hand slapped itself over her mouth as the monster turned toward where she was hiding. She dropped to the seat, rolled into the floorboard, and once again wrapped herself around the dog. His fur was comforting against her skin as she shushed him quietly. Her whole body was shaking with the nightmare that she had witnessed. Her ears strained to hear if it had come back, whether or not she had alerted it to their presence.

Remington's mind raced with the thoughts that this was real. There was no doubt in her mind what she should call it. After all, she had played countless video games, watched movies, and shows, and read books, and comics. All of them had some sort of connection, the names sometimes differed but the concept was the same.

Zombie, Saifu, Undead, Ghouls, and her favorite, Walkers.

It couldn't be possible, but unless she was hallucinating it was very real.

Her body ached, Remington wasn't sure how long she had stayed, body locked in place, as she waited for something to attack. With nothing having jumped out at them, trying to attack, Remington dared to pull herself back up, to look to see if the coast was clear.

With the knowledge of what was out there, what was going on, Remington only wanted to get back to her daughter, to the safety of that room. To hide and come to a moment of understanding where she could keep her family within her eyesight. Her fingers shook as they hooked around the door latch. It took two attempts to get it open. The first time her hands had refused to even move. Fear had locked them into place. Pixel had moved up against her, his cold nose pushed into her arm, as he let out a whimper. He was panting. Signaling how hot it was inside the car. Finally forcing herself to regain control she swung it open, half falling out of the car as Pixel leaped over her. Her feet were harder to get control of. They didn't want to hold her up and kept causing her to fall to the ground before she righted herself. Pixel nipped at her heels, his way of telling her to move, he could sense the danger, the fear she was feeling and had grown uneasy where they were at.

She couldn't blame him. Felt the desperate need to get back inside herself.

Her feet once moving began to pick up speed. She couldn't get them to slow down as she took off at a sprint across the parking lot. Her eyes bounced around, taking in the open space, looking for any signs of that Walker, or any like it. It had been idiotic of her to come out here unprepared, looking for anything to tell her what was going on, without anything else to protect her but a dog.

It was this fear that kept her mind from working right. That had her missing the danger as she ran past a car. Before she had moved quiet, not alerting anything to her presence, but now all right mind of keeping herself a secret had flown from her thoughts. Precautions gone led a body she had thought to be dead, actually not. It picked itself up from the ground as she ran by. Its hands reaching out to grip her she flinched and tripped as it grabbed at her leg. Her body sprawled to the ground. Pain erupted in her arms as the gravel dug into her skin.

Pixel had begun to bark. Nipping around the Walker but staying from his reach as he gained its attention away from his owner. Remington wasted no time in spinning around, shuffling herself away from the monster that was distracted by her dog. She struggled to kneel, her eyes bouncing around the area. She needed a weapon. She couldn't lead it back to the hotel. What if it got in?

No, it was safer for its life to end right here. Every bone in her body told her to just run. To deal with it later, and any repercussions that may come with it, but the smarter part of her brain told her to stand her ground.

Her thoughts raced to come up with a plan. Pixel's barking kept its attention on him, away from her, and the dog was limber and fast. Easily dodging as its hands reached out, but she knew all it took was for one lucky shot. She could lose her dog, and the ache in her chest at that thought kept her from letting that happen.

All she found was a rock, not big enough to bash its head in, and she began to grow worried, the idea of running become a better idea. Fear that Pixel would draw more in had her whistling sharply. His barks stopped abruptly but he continued to growl. The noise was enough to keep the Walker's attention for now. She flung herself toward the car, something metal shining at her, and when she grabbed for it, a bat was what she had grabbed. Made of metal, glinting in the light, and all she had, but it was enough. Spinning around she whistled sharply again. Pixel backed away ceasing all noise. Another whistle and he trotted to her side, the Walker's attention now on her.

Her hands were still shaking. Remington fought to keep her grip on the weapon. Prayed that it would be strong enough to take the impact and that it would do its job.

Running on adrenaline she didn't think. Only took a step forward, the moaning from the Walker rushing in her ears, as she swung the bat around. With a squelch, she felt as it moved through the soft layer of flesh, and into the bone that should have been harder, but its undead state had helped it give way. She propelled herself forward, keeping with the momentum as the Walker and herself fell forward. She grunted at the impact but kept struggling against the monster. Gritting her teeth, she pulled back and swung once more, moving the metal deeper in until a pop sound, and it ceased to move.

Panting she leaned back. Gripping the bat tightly she refused to let her only weapon go. Scrambling backward her eyes bounced around the area, fearful that more had come. When she was met with silence and an abandoned parking lot Remington was back on her feet. Whistling sharply, she signaled for Pixel to follow her. Not running but moving quickly she moved back toward the entrance of the hotel. Once there she slammed the door shut as quickly as possible. The impact was muffled as the door refused to be forced closed immediately. One of those that was meant to close quietly.

Glancing around she looked for any way to keep the door from opening from the outside and twisted the lock. The only form of protection but she would take it. It would keep one of those things from just pushing the door open. For now.

Now with an understanding of what was going on Remington was far more careful than before. There was no telling what was in the hotel with them. Just because she hadn't run into anything on the way down didn't mean there was nothing out there. They could be lying in wait like that one, or just locked up somewhere. For all, she knew there was nothing in the hotel with them, but it was unsafe to think that way.

No, instead she walked over to one of the chairs that were shoved over and raised her foot, only to smash it down over the wood. It took two tries before the leg gave way with a crack. Picking up the now broken leg piece she shoved it through the two door handles, adding extra precaution of being opened. Paranoid, possibly overkill, but Remington didn't care. It wouldn't do much, but at least it was another protection between her, and anything trying to get in. Getting bit or scratched was now on the top of her 'What not to do' list. Weapon in hand the duo quickly made their way up the stairs. Far too much noise could be heard from the pounding of her feet, but it couldn't be helped. All she could hope was that the stairway was still clear.

The trip back to the room was as uneventful as it was leaving. The only difference was her knowledge of what was going on. The idea that a zombie apocalypse could have snuck up on her seemed ridiculous. There would have been signs, and it wouldn't have gotten this bad overnight.

It was far simpler to think about it in a way that Remington and her family had gotten dropped into the middle of an apocalypse. There was no logic to it, but then again, being where she was now, with the undead creeping around, held no logic either.

Raising her fist, she glanced around the hallway. Down each end. Searching for the boogeyman that would jump out at her the moment her guard was down. The seconds ticked by, nothing happening, nothing except for her own wild imagination. Feeling foolish, allowing everything that just happened to get inside her head, she tapped her hand against the wood of the door, knocking to be let in. A moment went by, silence met her on the other side, and Remington found herself growing worried when not even a small voice rose from the other side of the door. She heard no growling from Nala.

Glancing at the door number she wondered if she had gotten it wrong.

410.

It was right.

She knocked louder. The sound her fist made against the wood, and how it echoed down the hallway caused her to wince as she began to grow paranoid.

Why wasn't she answering?

She had made it clear. Maisie had understood what she said. It was clear on her face. Answer the door when she knocked. Only two things would have kept her from answering.

She was gone.

Fear.

Knocking a little louder than before Remington began to softly call out her name.

"Maisie May, come on little girl," she called out. "Open the door for mommy. Maisie!"

Her voice had begun to grow louder when finally, there was a click. The doorknob turned and Remington began to push it open, allowing Pixel to slip through before herself. Nala was growling. Having pushed herself between Maisie and the door as soon as Remington had started to open it.

"Nala, down," Remington said as she shoved the door closed and leaned against it. Her eyes fell down to where Maisie stood, staring up at her with wide blue eyes, soaked in fear. "Did something happen?" Her body shook with the knowledge that she had left Maisie alone up here with only Nala, while Walkers existed. The room would have been secure enough to keep them out, and there had been no way she could have brought her with. But guilt still ate her up inside.

"Mommy, why do you have blood?"

Remington frowned. Blood? She didn't have blood.

"What?"

"On your face. You have blood."

Eyes wide she made her way to the bathroom. The light from the small window barely lit up the area but showed that there were indeed speckles of blood on her face from where she had caved in the Walker's skull. Grabbing a small white towel, she turned on the water faucet, the only thing still working in the hotel, and held it under the water. Turning it off as soon as it grew wet enough to clean her face of the blood. Taking in a deep breath she walked out of the bathroom where her daughter was sitting on one of the beds. Grabbing her tablet, she looked to see that the battery was at seventy percent. Shutting it off she placed it inside her daughter's duffel bag.

Settling in next to her, Remington pulled Maisie into her arms. She took comfort that her child was living and breathing, that she could feel each breath and the warmth from her skin. She was safe and fine. Nothing had happened to her. Conveniently she pushed away how easily she could have died and left her all alone here.

"Did something happen while I was gone, Miss May?" she asked, trying again. The little girl shook her head.

"You were gone a long time," she said. "I heard Pixel bark." Remington winced at the idea that he had been loud enough to alert the girl.

"Nothing happened baby," she said, not willing to tell the girl that something bad had happened. "Mommy just had to take care of something, Pixel helped. To keep us safe."

"Nala didn't like the sounds next door." Frowning she turned the girl to face her. Reaching out she softly brushed the hair out of her face and leaned forward to kiss her cheek.

"Tell me what sound?"

"It was scary. Nala growled. She barked. It got louder."

"Did you tell her to be quiet?"

"She did."

As she sat there cuddling her daughter, watching as the sun began to dip lower into the sky Remington realized that everything had changed. There would be no getting in the car and simply driving away. She needed a plan. A true plan. Not one where they just wandered around. This territory was completely unfamiliar, it would be dangerous, stupid even. No, she needed to find a map. Get the layout of the land. Find supplies. Their snacks wouldn't last long before running out. She had only bought enough for the road trip. If she only ate once a day, it would last them two days easily.

Maisie could eat as often as she needed to. The girl didn't eat much anyway until she hit a growth spurt. Then it was like she couldn't keep enough food around. She needed to prepare for times like that. Remington also knew it was important for herself to keep up her strength. Would need to find food for herself to keep going. She was all Maisie had. Then there were the dogs. They would need food too, but that was far easier for her to accomplish at the moment. There was two, fifty-pound bags of dog food in the car. Tonight, she'd feed them what was left in the bag she had brought up into the room, and tomorrow she would get more.

Tonight, however, it was time for Remington to come up with a plan.

I really love these characters I made.

I won't lie but Pixel is based on my dog in real life. That's his actual name, but the abilities he has are not something he is able to do in real life.

Maisie is also based a little on my daughter, and my younger siblings at that age. I've thrown all four of their personalities into a pot and out came Maisie!

Daryl is my favorite character from the show. Shocker I know, but I ended up really carrying for Merle's by the end of his arc in season three. He's an ass, but apparently, I've got a type when it comes to characters that I like. Other than Daryl he's a big reason why this story even got started. I love me some redemption arcs and there are going to be plenty in this series.