They set camp a few miles outside Atlanta. The first night was horrible. With Emma taking the whole back seat and Thomas on the passenger seat, Victoria was left cramped on the driver's. Sleep didn't come, but she was grateful for it. What kind on nut job slept through the apocalypse? That meant her mind was occupied with lots of silly things; it was a copying mechanism – one that activated on its own when Victoria was having trouble understanding things happening before her own eyes. So what was the first thought that came as she was staring outside in the darkness?

The conclusion that Japan did zombies wrong. But then again, they twisted all monsters to better suit the manga gender. Victoria recalled stumbling on a particular Japanese comic book in which the main character was falling in love with one of the resurrected dead. The girl in question was quite beautiful and was fully aware of herself. That was not the case with what was happening around them. The 'walkers', as more and more people were calling the awakened dead, had very little in common with the lovable corpse Victoria had fun reading about.

But her train of thoughts didn't stop there, no. Somehow the real-life-zombies were very different from the ones in fiction. Unlike the imaginary counterpart, the real deal was slow, lacked any kind of mental process and, the most disappointing fact, didn't crave the brains of the living. Well, they would eat it, but they didn't have a special desire for the brain only, nor did they mumble the word as they approached you. Disappointing! You'd think the apocalypse would be done right.

But from all the names Victoria heard the group call the dead - roamers, lurkers, biters – walkers seemed to suit them best. She was going to keep using it, 'cause zombies didn't do them justice.

As the first rays of sunlight hit her face, a wave of shame filled her. There she was, in a minivan with the newly orphaned children of her best friend, and she was thinking about how the walkers were not like the ones in the video games she used to play. It was not that she didn't care; she just couldn't deal with it in that moment. She'd have time later, when the world would be back to normal and she wouldn't have to avoid being killed be the dead.

There were not many things that riled her up; she was a rather dispassionate person. And this was definitely not the best time to lose her cool and start despairing. The government and the military would resolve everything and the survivors would remember the past few days as another dark time in history. Victoria had to keep the two children alive long enough for that to happen, then she would mourn. But still, she felt awful. Like she was supposed to be still crying, though she'd done just that since Ben dragged them out of the apartment. Not only for the deaths she witnessed, but also for the fates of the people she couldn't reach.

She dialed the number to her parents' house one more time. The 'disconnected' announcement played again. Something was happening back home, too. How fast was the thing spreading? And how far? For some reason she imagined it happening only in America, if not only there in Georgia. Apparently she was wrong.

Was her cat doing fine? She almost chuckled. The giant feline could probably take down a walker of two, especially since she hated strangers. The thought was purely to calm herself, not wanting to think about the alternative…

People were gathering outside. She let out a breath and joined them, combing her bangs with her fingers, more out of habit than anything else.

"Listen up, everybody! The army might return, so the best option is to stay close. We should check the radio for any new information about the evac or other instructions." Shane dragged his hands over his hair and continued. "But we'll need supplies."

"So, we have to go in the city?" A black woman started as soon as Shane finished his words.

"Yes, just to scout out the area and gather some things. We have water from the river. But food, weapons, medicine, those we'll need." Victoria found herself speaking without really thinking about it.

"We shouldn't all go. Maybe just a small group in and out?" All eyes turned on her like she was crazy.

"Wouldn't it be safer if more people went? Safety in numbers and all?" A blond woman countered her, hands folded, looking already annoyed, though Victoria didn't know if her anger was towards her idea or the whole world going to shit.

"And drag the children with us? Or leave them defenseless over here?"

"No, she right. Fewer people are better. Actually, I can go. Alone." The Asian guy looked abut Victoria's age. He had guts, though he didn't really look it. Shane dismissed him without a second thought.

"No way am I letting you go alone! You have no idea what you're facing over there."

"I know the streets. I'll be back in no time."

"With what? How much can you carry? Two cans of food and a pack of mints?"

"Give the guy a break, will you? I don't see anyone else volunteering to go with him anyway." The tension rose as Victoria said those last words, no one really wanting to explore the bombed city. A man caring a crossbow seemed like he wanted to but in, but the guy who was asking about her age on the highway stopped him with a hand on his shoulder and a hake of the head. Everyone else was looking at Shane for an answer.

Victoria was not angry, but the whole situation was becoming irritating. Shane was already assuming the role of the group's leader and she didn't know how she felt about that. It kind of made sense, since the badge at his belt said he was a cop of some sort, but shouldn't they get a vote? Shane shook his head again and explained it to the Asian one more time, index finger stretched, as if the guy had a problem understanding the words. Douche!

"It's too risky going alone." For the second time that day Victoria's mouth spoke before consulting with the brain.

"Fine! I'll go with him." She pursued her lips, the words sinking in. "Only one small favor… Someone look after the kids until I get back?" Right, the children… she had a responsibility. Why was it so hard to remember about them?

"I'll take care of them. Our daughters will get along just fine, I'm sure." An older woman spoke, her small smile reassuring Victoria a little.

"She's not … Uh, thank you." She smiled back deciding it was not the moment to explain how she came to be the guardian of two children.

"Cool. I'm Glenn, by the way."

"Victoria."

"Meet me here in 10 minutes. I'll go grab my bag. You should get one too."

"Okay, I think I have one in the trunk."

She strolled over to the minivan. Emma was awake, probably startled by all the noise outside. She must have heard the whole conversation because she was staring daggers at Victoria. Opening the trunk, she unloaded her backpack, dumping everything randomly, then sat on the backseat with the girl. The young blonde spoke before she got the chance.

"You're leaving us."

"Just for a short while. I'll be back before you know it."

"You can't be sure of that. You've seen-"

"Now, now. You agreed to go along with me. So, I'm going to go play scavenger in the ruins of Atlanta. You'll take your brother and go with the nice lady. You want me to bring you anything?"

"No. Some chocolate would be great. Lots of it actually." Victoria rubbed her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Oh, take Thomas' bag out of the trunk too. I think he needs… to be changed or something?" Emma just nodded, already out of the car and rummaging through the car. Victoria didn't get to make five steps away from the vehicle when a voice stopped here.

"Hi there, sweetheart. You think you can hook ol' Merle with a lil' something?"

"Huh? Merle?" The word made her tongue twist a little, but it had a nice ring to it. 'Merle'. As a polyglot, she had an odd fascination with some words. The way they sounded or they were spelled sometimes appealed to her.

"Merle Dixon, at your service, sugar. And that there's my lil' brother, Daryl." He pointed back at the man standing a little ways back, by a truck. He was checking on some arrows, unaware of her and his brother's stares. 'Daryl'. That had a nice ring to it too. "Think ya can watch out for some candy?"

"Candy?"

"You know, some happy dust." Victoria kept looking at him like he was insane. Happy dust? What? "Sweet stuff? Kryptonite?" She coked her head to the side and pushed her glasses up.

"Like… Superman's only weakness?" Merle chucked and continued with seemingly random names. He was apparently enjoying the sight of Victoria struggling to make sense of what he was asking her to look for. Comic Con supplies? He didn't look the type to cosplay.

"Some snow. White powder." Oh, he meant drugs! Victoria was never a fan of them. Like any rebellious teenager, she took a drag once or twice out of a friend's joint in college. But, as most of her Friday nights – and every other night, really – were spent with her geek squad in online games, drugs were never a thing for them. Imagine doing dungeon while tripping.

"I'll see what I can do. But really, I can't distinguish corn flour from that stuff, so I'm not promising anything."

"Atta girl. Whatever ya find is welcomed." She nodded and left him grinning like a madman. She was not going to scour the city for drugs, but there was no point in making enemies. Plus, the Dixons seemed like they knew how to survive in hard times, best be friends with the strong and muscle-y when the apocalypse strikes. She also dreamt of riding that bike on the back of their truck.

She met with Glenn and Shane gave them the keys of a car as well as a gun that was handed to Glenn. She was a little offended by the misogynous act, but she didn't particularly care to carry the thing as she never even held one before. She didn't want to be that stupid character that accidentally killed herself, tough Glenn didn't looked like he was more experienced in the department.

Victoria took the driver's seat and pulled the car out of camp. It was silent for two minutes until the boy started chatting. She didn't mind. She listened to him talk and shared some of her stories, too. She found out he was originally from Michigan, born of Korean immigrants, he had sisters and, like herself, he also had no idea what happened to his family. They swapped some game tales, as they both used to play some of the same MMO's but on different servers. If the dead hadn't seized the day, the two of them still had chances of meeting one another online. It was a funny thought to entertain. When he said he was a delivery boy she couldn't suppress a laugh.

"That's why you volunteered? Cause you know all the backstreets and shortcuts?"

"Yeah. I thought I'd be the best option. In and out, like you said."

"You got courage, Glenn."

"The same can be said about you."

"Nah, I'm just impulsive; I spoke without thinking. I'm terrified of what we might find out there." It was true, though she was also a bit excited. An adventure! He scoffed and pulled on his cap.

"You think I'm not? I'm shaking like a leaf." She smiled and pulled the car to a stop. The road up ahead was not completely blocked but cars were flanking the way. She could squeeze trough, but there was no way of knowing what was up ahead.

"Go on foot from here?"

"Yeah, better this way." She couldn't help but smile. She liked it that Glenn was on the same page as her. It gave a sense of comfort, like he'd have her back and she'll have his if the group ever came to a stalemate. "Make sure you stay away from the cars, though. I saw this walker grab a woman's leg from underneath one."

"Oh, thanks for the heads up." She scurried a little further away from the vehicles and followed his lead. A few minutes later they were in the borders of the city. They stood low, and crept trough the smaller streets and alleys. Glenn pointed toward a market and the pair made their way inside. All looked good so far. The outskirts of the city were untouched by whatever the bomb from the previous night was. The explosion sounded awful, but there, the city just looked abandoned. No living and thankfully no dead.

Inside, they started pulling in food first. Everything canned first, then some meat: ham, bacon. Some toast made its way in her bag, too. Not forgetting about the candy, the chocolate kind, she grabbed a few sweats as well. They could come back for more later.

"I'm going to look for some baby supplies."

"Be careful."

"Doesn't seem there's anyone here, though." As if on cue, a hand sprouted trough the remaining chocolate on the self and grabbed her hair. Panic was an understatement; she was just happy she didn't completely freeze. Instead, she grabbed the base of her ponytail and pulled back, all the while screaming like the big baby she was."

"Glenn! Oh my god, Glenn!" He was fast. The words barely escaped her and he was hitting the gruesome hand with a big can of pineapple. Her ebony hair slipped through the creature's fingers and Victoria noticed it was missing his pinky. She shivered and made a mental note to wash her hair as soon as they reached camp. The walker plunged his other hand tough the shelf in a poor attempt to reach them. Retarded creature…

"You alright?" Glenn turned her to face him, checking her hands and shoulders for any scratches and bites."

"Yeah, thanks. It only managed to rip some of my hair off." She massaged her scalp. For something so stupid, it sure had a death grip…

"What do we do with handsome over here?" It was nice that Glenn still had a sense of humor. The walker was… grotesque to say the least. Years of watching horror movies made Victoria a little less affected, but not invulnerable. Her stomach made a back flip as she examined the flailed parts of the creature's face, one eye dangling on the side of its face and a clear view of its snapping jaw trough the hole in its cheek.

"Should we… kill it?"

"Gun?"

" We'll give up our location…" The thing kept barking its teeth at them, occasionally throwing more sweets off the shelf. Looking around, Victoria found nothing long enough to poke it with.

"Should we just lock it inside?"

"I don't know… we might want to come back and it won't be standing in such a convenient position… Or someone else might not be as lucky as me and get bit by it."

"I think I saw some kitchen supplies on in the other aisle. Maybe they have some knives."

"Umm, I'll try and keep it here, you go find something to kill it with."

"You want me to kill it?"

"Umm, yes?" They stared in disbelief at one another for a couple of seconds. "I'd do it, but I don't think I have the strength to plunge anything trough its skull…" He sighed in defeat and went to go around the corner.

"Just don't get me killed." Easier said than done. As soon as Glenn walked away the walker went to follow suit. In a moment of sheer panic, she slapped the thing's wrist to get its attention.

"Hey! Eyes on me." It seemed to react to either the slap or her voice. So she kept talking to it in a raised voice, but not quite shouting. No sense in alarming the 'neighbors'. "You want a little piece of me, don't you? Come on! What's the problem? You're too stupid to realize you can go around the shelf? Yes you are." She felt like she was talking to a dog.

She saw Glenn strolling over to the walker's aisle and she nodded at him to go on. She kept talking to it, even walking a little closer to tempt it. A sound came from the other side, like glass shattering, and the walker snapped its head around. Oops. It must have spotted Glenn. Victoria grabbed the retreating hands of the walker, resisting the crawling feeling on her skin, and pulled feeling on her skin, and pulled it towards herself.

"Now, Glenn! Stab it fast!" One squishy sound later, the hands stopped moving. She released it and wiped her hands on her black jeans. No wounds! Perfect.

"Woo! I got one!" She chuckled. It was settled, she liked Glenn. So far he was the nicest person in their little group, granted she hadn't interacted with many people there.

" Glenn 1 – Walker 0. Good job!"

"Thanks to you. Thanks for keeping that thing still."

"Don't mention it. I still need you to get me out of the city." He scoffed saying she could've found her way back and they went back to ransacking the small market. Victoria went to check the registry, evidently not for the money. Checking the cigar slots she found it was emptied.

"Really? End of the world and some people still only think about their tobacco…"

"You're checking it, too."

"Yeah, but not for myself… I thought it'd be nice for the smokers of the group." Mainly Merle, because she felt bad not bringing him something, since she basically lied about looking for drugs. She did find a box of condoms fallen under the cashier's chair. She threw it at Glenn.

"Catch!" The boy did as told, turning the box in his hand to have a look at it. Victoria's smile went from ear to ear as his face reddened.

"Wh-What's this for?" She raised an eyebrow, restraining herself to laugh at his reaction too much.
"Surely you've used-"

"That's not what I meant and you know it! There are more important things than this." He lifted the box as to make a point. Victoria just coked her head and folded her arms in front of her.

"It's the last box. Thought we should stock some, you know. If you don't want it I'll take it."

"That's… not necessary. I can hold on to it just fine." He tried to hold a straight face as he pocketed the box, but his cheeks were burning red. She giggled a little as she passed him to grab some gums. She had her own vices and chewing super minty gum was one of them. Rummaging through the different gum types, she spotted a cigar pack under the gum rack.

"Finders keepers." She placed it in the pocket of her hoodie, so it wouldn't mix with the other things. She was not a smoker, so she had no idea what kind of cigars they were. But anything's better than nothing, right? She was about to suggest they went to check other stores when she remembered she was going to look for some baby products when the walker jumped her trough the shelves. She was really a bad guardian, forgetting about them like that; she'll have to work on that…

She picked some dippers though she thought she saw some in the trunk. Babies used a lot of those things, no? She was at a loss at the other products and reading what they were and what they did seemed to be taking forever. So she picked a pack of almost everything she saw: milk powder, wet tissues, some lotion thingy that was probably the last of her priorities. She returned to Glenn who was stuffing knives in his backpack.

"You ready to head out?"

"After you." She bowed her head and extended her hand toward the door with a playful reverence. Glenn chucked and went first, shaking his head. They hit one more, smaller, store and a pharmacy that was half empty. They filed two shopping bags with more food. As they were making their way towards Victoria spotted something.

"Hey, look. Is that a outdoors shop?"

"Oh, yeah. We could get tents and other things."

They went to the car to leave their supplies and doubled back to the store. The door was ajar, windows broken. Chances were it was stripped clean. Victoria had a sudden sense of dread. Things went south what? One day ago? The news on TV claimed the situation was worse in the big cities, but how bad could have it been since they were still told the masses to head there to be evacuated?

They bombed said city, so probably pretty damn bad…

Glenn pushed the door open with one leg at it hit the wall with a thud. They waited for a few seconds, silent to hear if any noise came from inside. Nothing. The place was clearly ransacked, almost nothing still on the shelves, though quite a few items on the floor. Whoever was there before them was looking for specific things. Still they salvaged five tents of different shapes and sizes, a box of hunting knives and two fishing rods. Maybe there were fish in the river they were camped near, who knew? Victoria's face lit up when she notice Glenn picking up a bow.

"Oh great, do you see any arrows?" She closed the distance between them in two long strides and took the bow from him. She instantly felt a thousand times better; she could kill them walking corpses from afar now. If she managed to hit them in the head…

"Do you know how to use that thing?"

"Took archery classes back in Japan. I'm not the best at it, but I think this can come in handy."

"Yeah, it's silent for starters." He picked up a quiver that had a few arrows left and Victoria had to suppress a squeal of delight. They found a few more packs with arrows and around ten sleeping bags in the very back of the shop. With their hands full, they made a jog for the car. They'd been gone for a while and people might get worried. The drive back was fun; they cracked jokes of how they were the best scavengers out there, even if both knew they didn't really do much. Luck was on their side as they only had to deal with one walker.

When Victoria parked the car next to the RV people were already starting to circle them, curious of what they found in the city and what they brought back. Glenn started boasting about their heroism as they took down the shelf-walker, while unpacking the food from the back seat. She went to the trunk and took out the things from the outdoors shop, laying them down next to the food.

"We didn't go far, just reached the outline of the city." She butted in over Glenn's speech earning a half-meant glare.

"Did you see anyone?"

"No, just the one walker. Place was deserted."

"We'll head further into the city later." Glenn added, his hands still taking out stuff from his bag.

"Later?" She almost cried. She knew they'd have to back for more food soon, but she hoped they'd be evacuated to some safe hold soon.

"Yeah, I thought we could head on the roof of a building or something. Get a better view."

"Oh, that's actually pretty smart. Why didn't we do that today?"

"Well, the priority was to bring some supplies back here… If anything happened to us while-"

"Pfft, nothing would've happened to us. We're the best, remember?" She punched him in the shoulder in a friendly manner. She always wanted a brother and whenever she imagined having one, he was a little bit like Glenn. He smiled and grinned, pushing his cap back.

The supplies were distributed and most of them were stashed in the RV for the time being, as per Shane's instructions. Victoria wanted to give the kids the sweets but Lori stopped her, saying they should eat first. She had to resist rolling her eyes; one day of eating unhealthy killed no one. Did it? She snatched a chocolate for Emma anyway adding a pack of gum for herself; the girl needed a little pick-me-up after the day she had, though, perhaps chocolate wasn't exactly what she needed. Victoria couldn't give her Mia and Ben back, though she'd give anything to do it.

After that, some of the women took the job of preparing a meal. It struck Victoria that they had nothing to cook in, but apparently the RV was well supplied in crockery. Shane offered her and Glenn tents – the smallest ones - and she almost declined, not willing to sleep protected only by a piece of cloth, but saw that in their absence, a watch had been established. A black man was sitting on the top of the RV, scanning the area left and right. She took the tent along with a sleeping bag, thinking she'd give it a try. With her bag now empty, she went back to the trunk and filled it with the arrows, finally swinging the bow over her shoulder and making her way to the minivan. She found Emma rummaging in the glove compartment.

"Not gonna welcome me, Ems? I came back in one piece."

"No."

"What are you looking for?"

"None of your business, you're not my mother." Victoria sighed. For how long did she have to look after the brat? She mentally scolded herself. Emma had just lost both her parents and by the look on her face she'd been crying while she was gone. But Victoria had never been good with words. She cared, she really did. If she took a second to analyze the events of the past day, she'd be a sobbing mess, but years of brushing off emotional mumbo-jumbo made her insensitive at times. If she could push her feelings away why couldn't everyone? It was so much easier than actually dealing with them, and at some point, they even went away.

"Got you some chocolate…" That made the blonde girl lift her head to give Victoria a quick scan. Her blue eyes landed on her bow.

"Can you even use that thing?"

"If you really care to know, I took classes. Three years actually." And she was damn proud, even if she skipped the last few months. Or was it half a year already? Damn! She hoped it was like riding a bike.

"Hm."

"Where's your brother?" She placed the bow and arrows down and started unpacking the tent.

"Carol was telling a story for all the kids. He should still be with her."

"Carol?" Damn, the tent was big!

"Yeah, you know, the 'nice lady' you left me with. Her name's Carol."

"Oh, nice to know." She could drown in all the tent fabric. And where the hell did those sticks go and why didn't they stay straight? Should she build the frame first from the metal rods? Or… what? She was briefly reminded why she hated the outdoors.

"Need a hand, sugar?" The southern drawl was strong with this one. She turned to see Merle's amused mug inspecting her failure.

"Yes, please." While she enjoyed building things on her own, like IKEA drawers, she recognized when she needed help. There was no need to act all proud and almighty; the tent clearly beat her. He took a step closer, but before he could start Victoria pulled the cigar pack out of her hoodie and tossed it to him. "I know it's not what you asked for, but it's all found. I'll keep looking in the future." He grinned at her and for a second she felt like she was on the outside of a joke, like she didn't have some crucial knowledge about something. She pushed it away as he thanked her.

"Thanks." He fished a lighter from a pocket and, after lighting one, he started sorting her tent, ordering her to hold a part up or fetch him one of the sticks. "Ya never went campin'?"

"Nope. I'm not a big fan of nature."

"Big city gal like ya, didn't really expect otherwise." She didn't correct him; she grew up in quite the small, non-descript town. But it reminded her of her family, so, like with all the things that made her sad, she avoided the subject. A few minutes later, the tent was standing tall and proud. Well, not so tall, but still pretty damn proud.

"Thank you, Merle. You're a life saver." Laugh rolled out of him in waves.

"Don't think I've ever been called that."

"Yo, Merle! Get your ass here." His brother shouted from their truck and she noticed they already had two similar small tents set up. She wondered if they already had them packed in the car or if they foresaw they'd need them.

"Gotta go, sweet thang." She thought of asking him to stop calling her names, but decided not to at the last second, giving just a nod instead. It didn't particularly bother her, but she didn't exactly like it either. But it could wait a little longer, until she assessed everyone better and decide who she wanted to make friends with and who to be nice to just for convenience. A friend is a gift you make give yourself, or something like that.

Entering the tent, she rolled open the sleeping bag and sat on the top of it. It wasn't so bad, but she doubted sleep would find her in there. She wasn't prissy… Oh, hell, who was she lying to? It was her first time in a tent and she squirmed at the very thought of insects crawling all over her skin. She'd rather face some dead guys trying to eat her face of, rather than fight a spider. She'd rather starve than eat weird shit like worms, though she was probably saying that because she never actually went more than a day without proper food. She was, by all means, a spoiled little bitch. She had the designer clothes to prove it! But she could be worse, right? She could be one of those dumb bimbos who were complaining about broken nails. Victoria herself liked her nails long and neatly painted, but it wasn't a tragedy when one snapped.

Emma called for her, bringing Victoria out of her thoughts, and they joined the group around the small fire. When had the sun set? She was in the tent for like two minutes. Carol brought Thomas and the rest of the children and the boy made his way to Victoria, almost stumbling on his own feet a few times. She smiled as she picked him up, but couldn't stop the questions from popping in her head.

How long until the authorities put an end to this mess? How long until she was back to her life in Japan?

A/N: So, hope there aren't any spelling mistakes. I tend to read the words right even if they're not spelled so.

Thoughts? Let me know what you think so far.

Oh, as a random fact, originally, when I wanted to start the story with season 3, the dad lived longer, but still died before he could meet the group.