Author's Note: Hey guys, because of all the positive reviews on Chapter 1, I decided to post another Chapter earlier than I had initially planned. Also, be on the lookout for Chapter 3, it's my favorite chapter so far(I'm currently working on Chapter 5).

UPDATE: I've revamped the opening chapters of the series, most of them kind of sucked, in my opinion. Try and give them some grace, they were the beginning of my writing, so they weren't exactly masterpeices.


Alice panted heavily, after finally arriving at a parking lot with Dick up in the mountains. There was a trail branching off from the parking lot, leading up into the mountain. No tents or anything in sight.

"This is your camp?" Questioned Alice, looking around.

"No, there's a set of cabins up the trail," Replied Dick, sitting down on the slanted curb, "Let's rest here for a minute or two before we go to the others." Alice sat down beside him.

"So, are you the leader of your group?" Said Alice, trying to avoid awkward silence.

"Not really," Dick brushed his moist hair backwards. "I'm usually the one who goes on supply runs. We're kind of a team of sorts, there's not really any leader."

"So you guys use walkie-talkies to communicate with each other while on supply runs? ...Smart."

Awkward silence. Really awkward silence.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to the group you were with before?" Asked Dick, suddenly. "I mean, if you had a group."

Alice was caught off-guard.

"They're obviously not around anymore, so does it really matter?" Said Alice, more rudely than she intended.

"Guess not." Dick shrugged. "Let's keep moving."

Dick and Alice both stood up, and continued down into the trail, towards the cabins. The ground was dusty a riddled with sticks, but it seemed to be safe, at least. Sunlight shot through the trees, casting beams of yellow-ish light onto the ground she treaded on. The trail was heavily shaded, sheltered by thick tree branches and mountainous hills.

Eventually they reached a small brown cabin, with a barred door made of rusty metal bars. Dick knocked on the door, making a soft rattling noise. The door opened up, and revealed a smooth skinned young teenage boy, close to Alice's age.

"I'm guessing this is Alice?" Said the teenager. Alice recognized his voice as the voice on the walkie-talkie, Riley.

"Yeah." Said Dick. "Alice, this is Riley, the guy you heard on the walkie-talkie earlier."

"I know," Said Alice, shaking Riley's hand, "Nice to meet you."

Riley was a average sized teenager, with soft jet black hair brushed to the side, hanging down over his face. His face was smooth, much like his voice. His bright blue eyes made his cheerful persona complete.

He quickly jerked his head, moving his thick hair out of his face. He was pretty attractive, but that didn't affect her. She'd learned to observe people's actions, not their appearance. Needless to say, she wasn't a social person, not anymore.

"Come on in, there's a lot of people you should meet." Said Riley, as he opened the door fully, revealing four others inside. Alice awkwardly followed Dick inside. It'd been a long time since she'd seen this many people. Not since the refugee camp.

Each of them stood, staring at her intently.

"Hey, I'm Zella." Said one girl, who looked about Riley's age, as she extended her hand.

"Nice to meet you," Alice shook her hand. "I'm guessing you already know that I'm Alice."

Zella was slightly shorter than Riley, and had long black hair, styled into a ponytail, which hung down nearly to her waist. She had dark brown eyes, and a small, pretty face. She retracted her small hand, as a nearby man extended his.

"I'm Chandler." Said the man.

"Nice to meet you."

"You too."

Chandler was a rather short man, who appeared to be in his late forties. His light brown hair was graying, and his brown eyes matched his jacket. Chandler stepped back, and a skinny woman reached out her hand. Alice shook it.

"I'm Kelly." She said.

"Nice to meet you as well." Said Alice awkwardly. It had been a while since she had interacted with another person, much less this many. She would've never been this awkward and mannerly before the outbreak. Back then she was social, and unafraid to speak her mind. But that Alice died a long time ago. Or so she thought.

Kelly was a tall woman, probably somewhere in her thirties. Despite her friendly greeting, something about her told Alice that she wasn't a friendly person. Kelly had messy red ginger hair, spiraling in all directions, and dark brown eyes frozen in an eerie glare. Her hawk-like stare made Alice look away. Kelly walked away into another room. The only person Alice hadn't yet met was a man sitting carelessly on a couch.

"I'm Toby. Nice to meet you, bye." Said the man rudely, without even looking at Alice.

Toby was a tall tattooed man, who was slightly overweight, with buzzcut black hair, and uninterested brown eyes.

"Toby, I think she's already guessed that you're the asshole of the group," Retorted Dick, "No need to give her any more hints."

Alice couldn't help but smile at Dick's choice of words.

[Dick's group was dysfunctional, but that seemed to work for them. Oddly enough, it made me trust them more.]

"Don't be a dick, Dick." Said Toby, without making eye contact. Dick rolled his eyes.

"Well anyways, you're probably pretty hungry, we'll be making dinner soon. It'll be getting dark soon, too." Said Riley. "There's about four other cabins up the trail, Me and Zella share a cabin, and the others have their own. You can choose a roommate once you're ready."

"Um, thanks." Said Alice, overwhelmed by all the sudden change within the past couple days.

"No problem."

[Aside from Toby(and maybe Kelly), I was pretty sure I could trust these people.]


THREE HOURS LATER.

Alice and Dick walked up the trail to their cabin after eating dinner(ramen noodles, oddly satisfying). She had tried the best she could to find a non-awkward way to ask Dick to be her roommate, to no avail.

"So, why don't more than one of you go on supply runs?" Asked Alice, trying to start conversation. She couldn't stand one more moment of awkward silence. "Is it always just you?"

"Most of the time," Replied Dick. "To be honest, the others tend to only slow me down."

"What'd you do before the outbreak?"

"I enlisted in the military, could've made it through boot camp...but I dropped out."

"Why?"

"Guess the military just wasn't for me, but the gun experience I got in boot camp sure helps nowadays. None of the others have the slightest clue how to use a gun. I've tried to teach them, but we can't be wasting ammo, isn't easy to get practice without actually firing the gun."

Alice looked to her right, and noticed a medium-sized stream running along the side of the trail. Alice and Dick reached a splintered green cabin, with a small shed just outside. They entered, Dick leading her inside. It was a cozy place, with one bed to the side of the main room, and a work shelve on the wall in front of her. There was also a small bathroom, but nothing otherwise.

Dick helped Alice set up a sleeping bag on the floor, as the moon rose higher and higher into the starry night sky. Some small fishing gear and knives lay on a work table in the room, along with one outlet right next to it.

"You guys have power here?" Asked Alice, looking curiously at the outlet.

"Yeah, the cabins have their own generators." Said Dick. "We also have showers, but we haven't been able to figure out why they don't work. The power's pretty limited, and it doesnt work in some of the cabins, but it's good enough."

"Damn, I haven't had power since the outbreak. You guys are lucky."

"Yeah...Well, good night." Said Dick.

"'Night." Said Alice, as she rolled over in her sleeping bag and fell silent. She could tell that Dick liked to do things alone, and that her presence annoyed him, but he was the only one at the cabins that she was remotely familiar with.

[At first I wasn't quite sure what to make of the people at the cabins, but I sure wasn't willing to leave a place with fucking power without good reason. Sure, I was antisocial, but I don't think anyone, including me, cared.]


Alice and Dick awoke roughly at the same time, and helped each other tidy things up inside the cabin before leaving for the morning meeting.

The morning meeting was somewhat of a tradition among the cabin survivors, a time in the morning where everyone would head over to the cabin closest to the trailhead to eat breakfast together.

Alice was still amazed at everything they had at the cabins. They had power(albeit a small amount), a good source of water, and a relatively stable supply of food. Every two or three days Dick, or occasionally someone else, would go on a day-long trip to the city at the base of the mountain to scavenge for supplies.

However, Alice still felt uneasy. As she got to know the people at the cabin, she began to realize just how aggressive some of them were. Toby was constantly getting in fights, mostly with Dick, and rarely talked with Alice. Kelly isolated herself, and rarely talked to anyone.

[There was something wrong with Kelly, and I knew it. We were somewhat similar, but I didn't trust her.]

On top of that, although Zella and Riley were outgoing people, they tended to interact with each other more often than others, leaving Dick and Alice in an awkward forced friendship.

Dick and Alice arrived at the morning meeting to find everyone except Toby sitting around a fireplace with a small, flickering flame inside.

"Hey." Greeted Riley.

"Hey." Responded Alice and Dick in synchronized harmony.

"We don't have much ramen noodles left to eat, and not much other than that, either," Noted Dick. "I'm going to need to go on another supply run soon."

"You should bring someone with you this time," Suggested Zella. "It'll be easier that way."

"Yeah, I think not." Scoffed Dick. "Others only slow me down anyways, you know that."

"Why don't I come with you?" Asked Alice, tired of the endless mountainous landscape, "I need to get out of this place anyways."

"No way."

"Why not?"

"You heard what I said, I'm better off on my own."

"Dick, I survived on my own for months," She protested, "I know how to scavenge, I know how to survive, maybe even better than you do."

"Doubtful." Retorted Dick.

"Look Dick, just take her with you so we can end this stupid argument and start eating." Said Toby.

"Fine." Said Dick, with an irritable sigh.

After a quick breakfast, Alice and Dick decided to leave for the supply run the following morning, leaving Alice bored. Dick ventured off on his own, leaving Alice alone next to the brown cabin near the trailhead. She sat down on a severed log, resting her chin on her hand. The mountain landscape quickly occupied her mind, and she began to get lost in thought.

Her thinking was quickly distrurbed by the arrival of Chandler.

"Hey," He greeted, "Me and Riley were thinking about going swimming upstream, if the water's deep enough...You wanna come along?"

"No thanks," She replied, "Deep water's not really my thing."

"Okay, tell me if you change your mind."

She nodded, as he began to walk away. He paused, turning back around.

"You don't trust us all that much," He asked, "Do you?"

She wasn't quite sure how to respond.

"Depends," She replied awkwardly, "Trust takes time, I guess. I think you're nice people."

"You seem like one, too. See you later, Alice."

"Yeah."

Chandler walked away, leaving Alice alone.

[Truth is, I really didn't know who I trusted at that point. It had been a while since I'd trusted anyone, much less a group of complete strangers.]


"We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow, you should get some sleep." Said Dick, hours later, as he curled up in his bed.

The day had gone by quickly, but Alice still felt unsettled, for one reason or the other. She missed her old group, and that surprised her. She missed Iris. Although Iris was cold and distant, she took care of her, and that worth something.

"I'll be back in about a half an hour." Replied Alice.

"Where are you going?"

"Out." That was all Alice said, as she closed the cabin door behind her.

Alice walked a little ways down the trail, hoping to clear her head. She stopped, and walked down to the stream, looking at her ghostly reflection in the shallow running water. She hadn't had much time to think since she arrived at the cabin, and the thoughts were overwhelming. Was this place the right place for her? Was anyone here a threat? Where was Iris?

For reasons unknown even to her, Alice began to cry, for the first time since she left Iris behind. She began to think of her previous group, and these thoughts only made things worse. It was rather cold outside, but it didn't bother her much. She just wanted to be alone. It felt great to finally be able to release her emotions, after everything that had happened in the past few months. After her previous group. After Iris. After Lou. After the warehouse. After she had been alone for so long.

The sound of branches crunching under someone's feet behind Alice startled her, making her turn around abruptly.

"Sorry-...I didn't mean to scare you." Said Riley, who was standing about fifteen feet away on the trail. He put his hands in his pockets, and began walking towards Alice. His bright blue eyes shone in the dim moonlight.

"Why are you here?" Asked Alice, wiping her eyes abruptly.

"I was taking a small night hike, it's kind of something I do every once in a while," Explained Riley awkwardly. "I heard you and went to see what was going on."

"Well I'm fine," Replied Alice coldly, "Thanks for checking."

"Um, you're welcome." Riley began to walk away, "Bye."

Riley paused.

"You're not really okay, are you?" He asked.

"Congratulations Sherlock, you figured it out," Replied Alice sarcastically in defense, "A true master of the detective arts."

Riley grinned, and stepped towards Alice.

"...Alice...why were you crying?" He asked abruptly.

"Frankly, it's none of your business." Alice didn't want to be bothered, but she still felt a little guilty for her rude response.

"I know you probably went through a lot while you were out on your own..." Began Riley. "If you need someone to talk to-"

"I don't." Said Alice, cutting him off. "I said I'm fine."

"Obviously." Said Riley, with respectful sarcasm, "Look, I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong. I won't tell anyone, I promise. But it's obvious you need someone to talk to."

"Fine, sit down." Said Alice, impatiently.

[I admit it felt nice to have someone who genuinely cared about me. Riley was the first person since before the outbreak who cared whether or not I was okay. To be honest, I was annoyed, but I found his persistence to be somewhat comforting.]

"So, what's wrong?" Asked Riley.

"Where do I start?"

"Start at the part that's bothering you the most."

"I'll give you short version; At the start of the outbreak, I was at a foster home. My foster parents died. After that I wandered through the streets, running from anything that moved. A group of survivors found me and took me in. They brought me to a nearby refugee camp, and for a while we survived together...but things fell apart. Eventually our camp was overrun, and only a few of us made it out alive. A few days later me and my group were looking for a place to set up camp for the night...I suggested we camp in a nearby warehouse. During the night a horde of mutants passed through..." Began Alice, as Riley listened intently.

"So you call them 'mutants'?" Asked Riley, interrupting her. Alice nodded.

Before Alice could continue her story, Riley spoke up again.

"I was adopted into Zella's family after my dad went to prison, a year or two before the outbreak. We hid out in a grocery store with a few others after everything happened, that's where me and Zella met the others...After Zella's parents died, us four decided to leave for the mountains. Now here we are, months later." He said in a soft voice.

"So you and Zella aren't-" Began Alice, but she couldn't think of a way to end the sentence well.

"Dating? No." He said, completing her sentence. Alice blushed. "She's my adopted sister."

[Something about Riley always made me feel safe, albeit uncomfortable. He was perfectly fine with being open to people, and that wasn't something I was used to. That night was the first time I ever talked to anyone about my problems. Before I just kept my emotions bottled up inside, and occasionally unleashed my rage on the nearest mutant. The cabins changed that. They changed me. Or at least, they changed something.]

"...Anyways, the warehouse we camped in was overrun, because the lock wasn't strong enough to keep the mutants out. Two people died that night...and they blamed it on me. We all knew it wasn''t my fault, but I guess they just needed someone to blame. I was pretty much a liability to them." Alice's voice was shaky, especially for someone who wasn't used to being emotional, "After that, my group began to distance itself from me. As more and more of us died, it eventually was just me and one other woman left alive. Her name was Iris. Her husband died in the warehouse, and she hated me for it. As if it was my fault for suggesting we camp in the warehouse. Eventually I couldn't take it any more, so I packed my things and ran. I ran as far away from her as I could, and decided I would be better off alone. Then I eventually met Dick. Now here we are."

For a few moments Riley and Alice both remained silent, looking up at the moonlit sky. Being in the mountains like this, stars were easy to spot, especially without light pollution.

"The stars are beautiful." Noted Riley, looking upwards.

Alice nodded sleepily, and yawned. Oddly enough, she hadn't felt tired until that moment.

"Do you mind if I walk you back to your cabin?" Asked Riley politely.

"Not at all."


Riley and Alice arrived at her cabin, having lost track of time while talking on the way. Alice could hear Dick's snoring from outside the door.

"'Night." Said Riley, his hair effortlessly blowing across his face from the nighttime breeze.

"'Night." Echoed Alice.

Riley began to walk away.

"Wait." Said Alice, stopping him in his tracks. "Before you go-"

Alice gave Riley a tight hug, taking him by surprise.

"Thank you...so much." Said Alice, with a sniffle.

"Anytime." Said Riley, as Alice finally let go of him. Alice wiped her eyes, and the two said goodbye.

Alice walked into her cabin, feeling better than she had since before the outbreak. She smiled, something she hadn't done in a long, long time. She crawled into her sleeping bag silently, and spent over an hour trying to go to sleep. Eventually, she drifted away peacefully.

[And so, I slept peacefully that night, and that's when I finally realized: these people weren't just people I survived with, like my last group. They were becoming my friends, and that made me uncomfortable.]


Author's Note: Thanks for reading, I'd love a review! Sorry if there was too much emotion, this is actually two chapters in one, so I had to condense a little.

Next Chapter - Alice and Dick go on a simple supply run, which doesn't go as planned.