Hey you guys, Amber here with my chapter for our story. Here's a bit about my characters.

Name: Amber Grimes
Age: Early 30s
Appearance: Long black hair with blue and pink highlights, brown eyes, usually wears tank tops, jeans, and biker boots. Wears her engagement ring on a chain. When on runs, usually wears her hair in a ponytail.
Former Occupation: Bartender
Weapon of Choice: Hunting Knives, Pistol
Bio: Sister of Rick Grimes. Has a 10 year old daughter named, Erin Elizabeth Carlton. Doesn't get along with Lori and is close with Carl. Was engaged until the apocalypse.

Name: Erin Elizabeth Carlton
Age: 10
Appearance: Short dark brown hair, hazel eyes, usually wears jeans and t-shirts with sneakers.
Bio: Daughter of Amber Grimes and niece of Rick Grimes. She is very close to her cousin, Carl. She's quiet most of the time but is social.

Anyway, I don't own anything from The Walking Dead except for my two OCs. Everything else belongs to their rightful owners.

Also, there is some language in this chapter.

I don't know how it started or how it spread. All I knew was that this place had become a living hell. I was currently traveling with my sister-in-law, my nephew, my dead brother's best friend, and my daughter.

I sat in the back seat of the car we drove in inbetween Carl, my nephew, and Erin, my daughter, messing with my engagement ring.

My mind went back to a few weeks ago, went it happened. To when I had to kill my fiance.

"Babe, I'm getting ready to head out for work. Are you and Erin good for the night?" I asked walking into the living room. I didn't hear him say anything but I didn't think anything of it. I suddenly heard a crash. I froze and headed towards the noise.

"Mama?" I heard a voice. I looked down the hall and saw Erin sticking her head out of her room. At least she was safe.

"Stay there." I ordered her. She nodded scared. "Sweetie, I'm sure everything is fine. I'm sure daddy just broke something." I tried to reassure her, even though I was doubtful. I knew Brian and he would have let a few words slip or a yell but I didn't hear a thing, which worried me.

I went to the kitchen and I froze when I saw Brian on the floor. "Brian!" I yelled, running towards him and kneeling next to him. I checked his pulse and almost had a heart-attack. I didn't feel a pulse.

"Brian, Brian. Wake up baby." I said while beginning to do CPR on him. "Erin, I need you to take the phone and call the paramedics, now." I instructed Erin. Erin nodded, on the brink of tears, and went to retrieve the phone. "Baby, please come back. I can't lose you."

"Mom, I can't get through. It keeps giving me a busy signal." She said panicking. I tried to calm myself down.

"Okay, I'll give you Shane's number and you call him." I said. I didn't like Shane at all. At one point, he was a friend until he and Lori started something while Rick was in a coma. But unfortunately, this was an emergency and I kept his number for an emergency. I told Erin the number and she dialed it, while I continued to do CPR.

"Shane, daddy's collapsed and mom can't wake him up." Erin cried over the phone. She cried while I heard Shane's voice over the phone. "Okay..." she said and then handed the phone to me.

"Shane, we need paramedics here." I explained.

"Amber, you need to get away from him right now." I looked at him confused.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked getting angry and walking away from Brian. Was he seriously gonna let Brian die? I suddenly heard Erin scream. I turned as I watched Brian try to attack Erin. "Brian, what are you doing?!" I yelled, dropping my phone and rushing to them. I rushed to Erin and pushed her behind me. That was when I noticed his face. His eyes were dull, his skin paled and looked to be rotting and he walked awkwardly. "Brian...?" He groaned and just kept coming toward us. I quickly walked to the kitchen drawer and grabbed my pistol and aimed it at Brian. "Brian, stop." I pleaded with tears escaping. Erin was hiding behind me and crying. "Erin, run to the living room."

"Mom..."

"Now Erin." I urged her. She looked at me, then to her dad before nodding and running to the living room. I looked at Brian. "Brian, please don't move any closer." I said, trying to get through to him. He ignored me and kept coming. I then shot at his leg but he didn't go down. I shot him in the arm, yelling, "Brian! Stop!" He didn't stop. He then grabbed me and went to bite me and I fought him off. He literally pushed me to the wall as I fought him. I was then able to get my leg up and kicked him off me and he fell to the floor and I shot him in the heart. To my utter surprise, he kept trying to get up.

Suddenly, the door burst open and I heard a gunshot. I watched as blood came from Brian's head as he fell to the floor, not moving. I looked up and saw Shane standing there, holding his gun and Erin behind him. I stood in shock for a minute before I got pissed. "What the fuck, Shane?!" I yelled as I walked up to him. "You killed him!" I said as I began punching him in the chest. He then grabbed my wrists to stop me from hitting him.

"Amber, listen to me!" Shane yelled. I stopped struggling and just cried. "He wasn't alive. I don't know what's going on but people are dying and coming back to life and attacking people. Brian was one of them unfortunately. I had to end it or you and Erin would have been dead. I promised to look after you when Rick died and I'm not breaking that promise." Shane explained. I glared at him.

"Like you promised Lori and Carl and now you're fucking my sister-in-law. Oh yeah, that's real looking after." I spat at him.

"Amber-," Shane began.

"Fuck off, Shane. I don't need you looking after me or Erin." I said angrily.

"Amber, would you just come with us to somewhere safe. There's nothing left of this town. We need to head to Atlanta." Shane explained. I hesitated and looked at him.

"I have my own car." I said.

"You can take your car, just follow us to Atlanta. At least let me do that." Shane said. I was quiet for a moment.

"Mom..." Erin muttered, still in tears after seeing her dad gunned down. I kneeled and hugged her to me.

"Do you wanna travel with Aunt Lori and Carl?" I asked, looking at her. Her decision would be mine. She thought for a moment and nodded. "All right, Shane. Just let me get some stuff real fast." I said. I packed a couple of clothes for me and Erin to wear and essentials. I then grabbed my pistol from the floor, that I hadn't even realized I dropped, and placed it in my bag. I then went into our basement where Brian kept his hunting knives. I opened his chest and found his hunting gear. I didn't know much about hunting like he did but I knew a little to survive and how to use hunting equipment. "Let's go."

Unfortunately, half way there, my car died and had to end up riding with Shane and Lori. I wonder if Carl knew anything about Shane and Lori, but I didn't ask incase he didn't. It royally pissed me off that Lori and Shane would do this, and Rick wasn't even pronounced dead yet when this thing started between them. I missed Rick so much but I'm glad he didn't end up in this messed up world now.

We were almost to Atlanta and shocked to see that even Atlanta wasn't safe. I watched these monsters walk the streets everywhere. Just what the hell is going on in this world now?

"We need to turn around and find somewhere isolated, where there are no creatures." I said.

"Oh please, just where do you want us to go? There is nowhere isolated." Lori said and I glared at her.

"Try the hills. We could easily hide in the woods and it would be hard for them to look for us." I explained. Shane thought about it for a moment and then nodded.

"Fine. We'll look for a path to go up." Shane agreed. I gave Lori a smug look and she glared at me. Shane then turned around and drove back the other way. I looked toward the woods and found a pathway and there were no creatures walking around.

"Shane, what about through there?" I asked. Shane looked down the road too and then turned down it, Shane then suddenly pulled off to the side.

"We walk the rest of the way. There could be people there and I don't want our stuff stolen." Shane said as he got out of the car. I thought he was out of his mind but at the same time, I saw his point.

"You can't be serious." Lori said.

"What's wrong, Lori; afraid your delicate little legs will break?" I said in a snarky tone after Carl and Erin got out of the car.

"And you can shut your mouth." Lori shot back. When it came to insults, I was the master between us two.

"Try and make me. Probably wouldn't even leave a bruise." I said as I got out. I went to the trunk and grabbed my pack. I was not leaving my hunting knives behind.

"I wish Shane would have left you behind." Lori shouted at me.

"Oh believe me, sis." I said the 'sis' part with sarcasm. I never thought of her as a sister. "I didn't want Shane's help to begin with. He forced us to come along. Next time, try and learn the situation although I'm sure that must be hard considering all you do is suck Shane's dick like a good little bitch." I said the last part softly so Carl and Erin couldn't hear.

"You bitch." Lori said and then I felt a sting on my face. I quickly shot back with a punch. Lori and I eventually started trading blows and rolling on the ground, well I was doing most of the shots, Shane trying to break us apart. Shane eventually got us apart but only because I had enough of her being my punching bag. I looked down on my arm and saw scratches but nothing too bad. Looking over Lori, I felt proud and guilty, but only because of the kids. I saw I gave Lori a black eye and a busted lip and a couple of bruises forming on her arms.

"Amber, what the hell were you thinking?!" Shane yelled at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Next time, try and teach Lori not to start a fight she clearly can't win." I said while walking away. "Let's go, Erin." She nodded and grabbed my hand as we walked. I soon noticed that Carl was walking with us. It didn't bother me at all. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders. "Sorry you both had to see that."

"Honestly, I knew it would happen sooner or later. I can tell you two don't like each other." Carl said. Carl was always smart for his age, mostly because of Rick. Like father, like son.

"Yeah, but you two still shouldn't have had to witness that." I explained.

"Mommy, do you think we'll make it?" Erin said and I could see the sadness in her eyes. I stopped and kneeled in front of her.

"Of course we'll make it, honey." I said. "I know it hurts that daddy is gone but I'm not gonna let anything happen to you or Carl. I'll protect you both." I explained. She nodded and hugged me. I hugged her back tightly. I then brought Carl into the hug. We were gonna be okay. I saw the glare Lori gave me for hugging and comforting her son. We continued on and soon came to a clearing and I was shocked to see how many people were there.

We were soon confronted by a man named Dale. We explained our situation and were told as long as we contributed, we could stay. That would be no problem for me at all. I cringed at the word laundry but really didn't show it. It's not that I didn't know how to do it, because I did it at home, but I just hated doing laundry in general. I could probably find something else I could be useful for around here, like guard duty or somethin'. I'm good with a gun and I still have my hunting knives in my pack that I brought with me.

"Hey, you might not wanna stand around like a dunce." I heard someone say. I jumped and looked behind me, and good lord help me, he was hot. He was tan with short brown hair and eyes.

"Oh shit, sorry." I said moving out of his way when I saw he had squirrel. He must hunt for the group.

"Who are ya, anyway? Haven't seen you before." He asked.

"I'm Amber Grimes. Me and my family just arrived. Well, what's left of my family." I said. "You?"

"Daryl." Was all he said. I then saw Erin run up to me and hide behind my legs. I could tell she was nervous. "What's up kiddo?" Daryl asked looking at Erin. Erin just looked at the ground nervous.

"She's nervous around strangers. Her name's Erin." I introduced. Daryl nodded. I then saw another woman walking up to us.

"Here's your knife," she said, holding a knife out to Daryl. "I was thinking about another lesson tomorrow. I still have plenty to learn. What do you say?"

"I ain't waking ya. If you ain't up when I leave, I'll be leaving without you, we clear?" He grumbled.

"Yep," she said and then looked at me. "Who are you?" She asked overly sweet. Bitch.

I was about to reply when Daryl said, "Cass, leave her be. She showed up with a few others. Behave," He said. It was nice of him to stick up for me, but I could have held my own.

"What kind of name is, Cass?" I asked while smirking. Time to show I could hold my own.

"Cassidy," She snapped. Hmm, it worked. She then looked at my daughter and knelt down. "Hello sweetie, my name is Cassidy, but you can call me Cassie. What's your name?" She asked. Erin just hid further behind my legs. "That's okay sweetie. That's a pretty necklace. Where did you get it from?" She asked. Erin's hand wrapped around her necklace and I could see her mind going to Brian.

"Mom, mom." I heard a voice. I watched as a young boy around Erin's age run up to Cassidy and hugged her tightly. He must be her son. He was a handsome young boy. I could see Erin looking at him curiously. I watched Cassidy and the boy interact before he ran off.

"Ya do know that he wants to go to the ravine to swim, right?" Daryl chuckled.

"He needs to get clean some way," she laughed. "Who are you? And why are you here?" She ask looking at me. I could hear a low growl from Daryl but ignored it. Like I said, it was nice of him to stick for me but I could handle my own battles. So, I'm not even gonna bother introducing ourselves. She can find out on her own.

"Why don't you go see Carl." I said. She nodded and ran towards Carl. I was so glad that those two were so close. Carl always acted more like a brother to her than just a cousin, which I was thankful for. I straightened up and sighed before glaring at Cassidy. I didn't like the fact she pried into our business. "You can stay away from my daughter." I said.

"That will be kind of hard when I am the teacher around here, and I do like to keep the minds of the younger generation sharp. Even in this world a mind is a terrible thing to waste," she retorted, about to walk off. Great, seems like I'm stuck with her teaching Erin. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a date with someone's brother. Daryl make sure you save me a seat for dinner in a few hours," she winked, walking off.

"Like hell I will," he called out with a grumble. This must be normal for them. "Sorry about Cass."

"It's fine. I can handle my own against people." I shrugged it off. I was already in one fight, I wasn't in the mood for another.

"Where did the scratches come from? You weren't attacked by a walker were you?" Daryl asked, and I noticed he went into a defensive mode.

"Oh, no, I got into a fist fight with my sister-in-law. She scratched me is all." I said. I forgot about the scratches honestly. "And if you don't believe me, just look at the woman with the white shirt and jeans." I said a bit smug. Daryl looked her way and I could see a small smirk appear.

"I believe you'll fit in just fine." Daryl said. I smirked back. This guy was definitely something else. I then thought about Brian and I deflated a bit. God, I was just a bad fiancé. Brian just died and here I am, ogling this guy I just met 5 minutes ago.

"Well, I better check on Erin. I'll see you around." I said as I headed back towards Erin and Carl. I needed some time away.