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The next morning, Daryl comes back to the infirmary to find Beth getting someone to replace the window. "I can't believe someone would throw something into the damn window to try and hurt her. She's not even a Whisperer. Fucking hell."

"She doing okay?" he asks.

"Haven't checked on her since last night, but I'm assuming Lydia has been keeping her company." The two of them walk up the stairs and head into the room. Beth knocks first and Lydia yells 'come in!' They follow the sound and walk into the room.

On the bed, Lydia sat with Isabelle, who seemed to be drawing something sitting on the windowsill. It was…Judith.

She looks up in surprise and sighs. "Please don't tell my mom I'm here. I wanted to see her."

Daryl rolls his eyes and nods his head. "Don't worry. I won't tell her if you don't." Judith smiles and nods as Daryl sits down next to Isabelle. "How ya feeling, Isabelle?" he asks softly.

Isabelle smiled wryly at him, as she started writing on her notepad carefully. He could see that she was really concentrating. She smiled slightly and passed him the piece of paper.

"Better, thank you. I slept well. Judith and Lydia have been very kind to me," she wrote quickly. Daryl smiled as he sat down in a chair next to the bed that she sat on. Judith spoke up.

"How many brothers do you have, Isabelle?" Judith asked curiously. The young girl only had Carl and RJ, but her memories of Carl were foggy. She knew Beth and Maggie were sisters, and Daryl had an older brother called Merle that had died at the prison.

"Two brothers, Will and James. Will and I call James 'Jem' as a nickname. Will served in the Delta Force. He was a sniper. James was in the EOD Unit," she wrote carefully, a fond expression crossing her face as she spoke of her loved ones.

Daryl hoped for her sake that her brothers and friend were alive. He didn't wanna think about the alternative if they found their heads on pikes.

"We'll help you find them. Aaron photocopied the photo of your brothers and best friend. He's passing them out to Oceanside and Hilltop so they can recognize them if they see them," Judith said helpfully. Isabelle looked reassured at hearing that when they heard someone knocking on the door.

"Daryl, Beth, it's me," Carol called out quietly. Daryl walked over to the door and opened the door. He saw Carol waiting to be let inside the infirmary.

He wordlessly let her into the infirmary, watching her facial expression as she spotted Isabelle who was writing down what weapons that she was able to use. She could use a bow, but not at the moment seeing as her right shoulder was healing from being dislocated.

She was good with a knife though, and knew how to use a gun seeing as both of her brothers had been in the army. He didn't ask about her parents, but she tensed up any time the word mom was mentioned in a conversation.

"Carol, this is Isabelle, the person we were all talkin' 'bout in the schoolhouse yesterday," Daryl states quietly. "She, uh…has had some run-ins with the Whisperers, too."

Carol nods and walks over to Isabelle, who was silent. "She doesn't speak?" Carol asks Daryl. He shakes his head. "Not able to?"

"I mean, I ain't heard her talk, but it's got somethin' to do with all of 'em fuckers. They fucked her up and she ain't been speaking for a while because of it."

Carol turns back to her and nods. "Well, you're gonna be safe here at least for the time being."

Isabelle manages a quiet smile before turning to Beth. "I think we can take the IV out now, but that shoulder needs at least a couple of days to recover. How long was it like that, Isabelle?" Beth asked gently, as she helped Isabelle hold out her arm.

"Three weeks. Tall Whisperer and Alpha said I needed to be punished after I wouldn't tell them about my brothers and best friend. Alpha said I was weak for being attached…so she told Tall Whisperer to dislocate my right shoulder. He nearly broke it," she wrote down silently, her right arm wrapped in a comfortable sling.

Beth gave her a sad smile, letting her know that she understood and didn't think she was weak.

"We're gonna help ya look for yer brothers and friend. Just gotta be careful that we don't cross that border," Daryl said reassuringly. Isabelle smiled at him gratefully.

~%~

More walkers had started coming towards Hilltop in the next three days, so Daryl and Lydia had gone to help them. Michonne was coming, and so was Gage and Alden, despite some of them not being the hugest fan of Daryl at the moment.

Carol was coming to help, and so was Isabelle, who had healed up a little and traveled with Beth. Daryl had told Isabelle what Michonne said about pulling her weight, and had taken it to heart. Since she couldn't use her bow fully until her shoulder was better, she was carrying three knives in three holsters on her jeans, and a pistol.

Daryl noticed Carol glancing at Lydia and Isabelle thoughtfully as they saw seven walkers up ahead. "She seems nice," Carol states to him quietly. "I just hope she doesn't pull Whisperers to us again."

"I don't even think they know she's alive," Daryl mutters. "She escaped from them...for all they know, they think she's dead."

"Guess we'll just wait and see," Carol responds, looking ahead as they watched wearily, in case any of the walkers were Whisperers.

Daryl fired his crossbow at one of them in the leg, leading the walker - or the woman behind the mask - to shriek in pain, causing two of the walkers to starting closing in on her and devouring her.

The five others pulled out their knives. Lydia took out one with her staff, having added a nunchuck to the top of it. She swung it, and hit the Whisperer in the face, knocking him out. All of them were careful not to kill them, but knock them out, so they could question them on why they were on their side of the border.

"Do ya know any of them?" Daryl asked wearily. Lydia and Isabelle nodded grimly. They saw Carol walking up ahead and looking at a dead Walker.

"This is the Whisperer that tried to kill me with that herd of walkers at the school, Michonne. I'm not the crazy one, here!" Carol said angrily, causing everyone to cringe at the tension between her and Michonne.

Daryl wasn't stupid. He knew Carol was desperate to get revenge on Alpha for killing Henry, by any means. Even if that meant starting a war with her, by crossing the border.

"Carol's right, Michonne. We can't just sit around waiting for the freaks to attack us by sending hoards of walkers," Alden argued firmly, causing Daryl to sigh.

"Have you forgotten about the kids in Alexandria, Oceanside, and the Hilltop? My mom isn't a good person. Do you want to see your home destroyed because you just want to pick a fight?" Lydia asked frustrated, standing up for Daryl and Michonne.

"No one asked you, freak! It's your fault that our friends and family are dead!" Gage shouted enraged, causing walkers to stumble in their direction.

Dog barked warningly and Isabelle put herself in front of the dog, not wanting him to be hurt or worse. She pulled out her Bowie knife, stabbing the walker nearest to her. It fell into the grass with a sickening thud.

"We gotta go, now," Carol insisted firmly, glaring at Gage for putting them in a dangerous piston. All of them barely escaped. Lydia grabbed the knives from the dead Whisperers and Isabelle grabbed the masks, before they reached the horses and rode away.

~%~

By the time the group had reached Hilltop, it was dark and lanterns had been lit up. Magna waved at them and smiled kindly at Lydia and Isabelle, who smiled back as they walked into the mansion. Daryl saw Eugene frown at seeing Lydia and Isabelle come with them.

"What are they doing here, Daryl?" he asked suspiciously, causing everyone, including a disapproving Rosita to glare at him. Daryl had noticed that things were strained between them, and Eugene had started spending more time on his own.

"The others are worn out from taking out the herd of walkers, so Lydia and Isabelle volunteered to help us. Do any of ya have a problem with that?" he asked calmly, but there was a hint of warning in his tone.

Isabelle had heard Will and James talk like that at the start of the outbreak when the New York Safe Zone had fallen. Will and James had gotten her, Tammy and Andy, Scarlet and themselves out of there.

26 July 2010

Isabelle had known something was wrong when a voice on the speakers told everyone to remain calm and stay indoors. She glanced at Tammy who looked just as worried, while Andy stared apathetically at the window. Gunshots echoed from outside in the streets.

The front door of the apartment was yanked open, causing her and Tammy to aim their guns at the door. It was only James, and Will was helping Scarlet get down.

"What the hell is going on out there? Why are the soldiers shooting people, Will?" she asked worriedly, trying to keep calm. Will was covering the windows and looked at her.

"Izzy and Tamm…your dad, Tammy, he went to the infirmary to see your mom but...she bit him and then he bit a soldier and then everything went to shit," he whispers, as Tammy wiped tears from her cheeks. "The army's been ordered to shoot everyone indiscriminately, to ensure no one becomes a walker. So we gotta get the hell out of here," he said urgently. He'd changed out of his military combats, and into a pair of jeans, a grey t-shirt and a checked shirt but he had his sniper rifle.

James had changed as well. Ghost was sitting by the door growling, and that was when they heard screams outside among the shooting.

Tammy wiped her eyes quickly and nodded at Isabelle as they started to leave the apartment that had been home for the last five years. Tammy had moved in with them after her dad had kicked her out for getting pregnant.

"Right, let's go," Will said quietly, and they all nodded.

They began to silently leave the apartment, their backpacks on their backs with a few articles of clothing. The hallway was littered with dead bodies, blood staining the floor, as they carefully walked down the stairs.

"I packed supplies in a jeep that I hid in the garage, just in case something like this happened," James whispered grimly. He might not trust the government but this just proved it.

"Good thinking Jem, you saved our asses," Will said proudly. They looked around and headed outside in a single file. That was until Tammy spotted a sniper up in one of the apartments.

"Will, there's a sniper in the apartment on the left," she whispered quietly. Will nodded and pulled out a rectangle piece of glass to get a look at the sniper's location.

The sniper shot it out of his hand. Will pulled out his sniper rifle and shot him in the head, causing him to fall out of the window. He gestured for them that it was safe, and they started continuing on when they heard an explosion in the distance.

"What the hell was that?" Isabelle asked apprehensively, seeing smoke billowing up ahead as helicopters flew over and then above the city.

"Jesus Christ, they're napalming the city. RUN, WE GOTTA MOVE!" Will yelled urgently. All of them started running as the borough of the The Bronx was suddenly exploded, a bomb being dropped right onto the ground. People screamed in horror.

"Oh my god!" Tammy said terrified. She was practically dragging Andy who for once looked scared. Ghost was ahead of them, as they made out of the Bronx and ran towards the area where James had hidden the car.

They ran into the vehicle and raced off, with Will taking the backways that most people didn't know about. As they drove away, Scarlet leaned back in her seat, clearly upset. She sighed heavily, as they were all quiet for a moment.

"Listen, there's something I need to tell you guys. I only just found out this morning, and it's bad," Scarlet said suddenly, causing them all to stare.

"What is it?" Tammy asked worriedly. They were all sweating and on edge from what had happened.

"We're all infected."

Isabelle's brow furrows as she turns to the girl. "What are you talking about?"

"That's why Tammy's dad and mom turned. That's why all of this is happening. I overheard someone talking about it in the hospital earlier today. No matter what, the infection has spread through the air. We've all inhaled it. No matter how we die, unless it's a shot or something through our head, we come back as those…monsters. That's why so many people here are undead."

Isabelle swallows and looks at the chaos that was ensuing outside, hearing the deafening silence that echoed in the car. There were screams and shouts as they drove away, but the noisiest thing was the silence between them.

Will sighs after a long pause. "Even so…we just need to keep our cool and go along with whatever is happening. And if that comes down to it…then one of us will kill the other. That's how this world is gonna be."

Isabelle sniffles but nods, glancing over at Tammy, who seemed heartbroken. She looks over at her friend and grabs her hand tightly.

Whatever was happening now, she had a feeling it was going to be permanent.

Little backstory for you guys - can't keep Isabelle's story secret forever!

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