Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, own The walking dead. Only my OC's. - I forgot to do it the other times!

I have noticed these chapters have been a little on the short side, but I'm working on it. And I would just like to say, thank you for all the subscriptions and comments - they make my day!

There's a bit of swearing, and a bit of fighting in this - I know some like to be warned. :)

So without further ado, enjoy!

- Loré.

We had been walking through the mid-morning heat for around two hours, most of the time in silence. The sun was blistering down on us, making me take off my jumper, leaving me in a dark blue vest that I felt totally uncomfortable in as it was sticking to the small of my back and my hips. Alex was in an old grey vest, and gently tossed his removed shirt at Helena who giggled and I smiled.

The smile on my face faltered when a handful of the dead things came shuffling over the hill, their scent of death carried in the breeze, making me want to gag. Helena's giggles were replaced with a small gasp, and I could feel my stomach knotting as we stopped dead. Alex grabbed my arm and carted me over quickly through the trees, Helena grabbing the back of my shirt. We had only ran a few feet in when Helena tripped over and was still in direct sight, when she let out a small cry.

Cursing silently but feeling my heart nearly stop, I laid my bag of the floor next to a tree, and crept out towards her. I glanced at Alex quickly who nodded, but his face was full of fear, sweat tricking off his features. I scooped her up in my arms before ducking behind a tree, the dead things just about reaching the gap in the dense trees we ran through.

I held her right in my chest, waiting for the gut-wrenching moans to fade out as they past us along the road.

They didn't. In fact, they seemed to be getting louder - the dead things had started to walk into the forest. Surely we didn't smell that good! I held Helena tighter, wondering what I could use as a weapon. I'm such an idiot for dropping my bag! Silently as I could but with some difficulty, I put Helena on the branch next to my shoulder, my elbow clicking from lifting her. I winced at the sound, but silently signalled to Helena to start climbing.

Looking about the floor, I eventually saw a branch that was big enough to land a heavy blow a foot or two away, so I reached out and grabbed it, and waited in a crouch position for the zombies to round the tree.

But I didn't get the chance to attack - or be attacked, as in the distance, there was a loud, high-pitched squeal of an animal. Obviously hearing it too, the dead things started walking towards it, deeper into the woods. My racing heart slowed slightly and I forced myself to not let out a sigh of relief just yet - but that was way too close, and that was escape was just too lucky!

I counted seven of them. Seven trailed away towards the sound on my right. I waited for a few minutes completely still and silent until I looked around and back to the road, when another walker walked past. It's groans made my stomach drop and it's shuffling feet sent shivers up my spine. I took a deep breath, and told myself to stay as still and as silent as possible. Looking back after the sound had eventually subsided, I checked to see if we were alone before getting Helena to climb back out of the tree.

I walked back to Alex and picked up my bag.

"Through the woods it is then." He said shakily, and I nodded gravely.

Setting Helena down on the floor, we started walked through the woods, this time my machete drawn at all times, resting comfortably in my left hand.

I guessed it was about late afternoon, judging from where the sun was in the sky, which meant we had been walking for around six hours. Alex had resorted to carrying a tired Helena, so I was carrying his bag. She had been a little trooper, trudging along without complaining, until it got too much for her, and I wasn't going to disagree with that.

We eventually stumbled across a stream, and after checking the area, we went down to it, filling bottles that I had found at Alex's apartment.

Alex leant down to cup some of the water from the small trickle of the stream and rubbed it over his face, and then sat back to run a wet finger down my nose.

"Since when have you had your nose pierced?" he asked, head cocked to the side as I rubbed the water off my face.

"What, I've been with you for three days and you haven't noticed?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. He hung his head, but then looked up smiling.

"Well, it suits you" he said through a smile, "and since I'm being nice, do you fancy getting some food out of my bag? I'm starving!"

After we ate something from a tin - I didn't really pay much attention to what it was - we saddled ourselves up again, and continued heading through the woods.

The trees were dense, so little light penetrated it, but a funny green glow hung over everything. Decaying brown leaves littered the forest floor, many crunching underfoot. I couldn't help but wince every time there was a loud crack of a twig, but we never stopped, we just kept pushing forward, although I always kept my eyes and ears peeled.

Before the woods had become thick with night, we stopped, thinking about getting some rest.

"Are you sure we can? We can't just risk it on the floor." I said, looking around.

"Well then, we'll sleep in the trees." Alex said, looking at the possible candidates that surrounded us. I looked around too.

"When I first came out here - to America," Alex said, his head still roaming, "I was told that if in doubt of what's behind you, sleep in a tree, unless there were bears around - in which case you were screwed." I laughed a little, before swinging the bags off my shoulders and hanging them on a branch near my head.

"Yeah, that concrete jungle you lived in looked so dangerous." I mused, but it earned a wink off of Alex.

I made sure I was close to Helena that night. We were around ten feet off the floor, which worried me as even though there were plenty of branches for us to lounge on and we couldn't be reached by anything, there was a possibility of falling out of the tree during the night. Alex was in another tree close by, and I could faintly hear his deep breathing, signalling that he falls asleep far too easily.

I felt Helena's small hand reach out for mine, and I held it softly, saying gentle words to get her to sleep. She shivered slightly, so I slipped off the jacket I had just put on and wrapped her in it, but one of her hands still went out to grasp mine. She held the bear even tighter, before her face relaxed, and her breathing became deeper, showing that she too was asleep.

I moved her hand that was in mine to the top of the bear and then I wrapped them both in the jacket tightly, before I laid back and looked through the canopy.

I sighed, willing myself to sleep. It was unsuccessful, as my eyes wouldn't shut for very long. I just lay across the branches I had draped myself over and bit my lip, thinking about everything.

I had just managed to become content with my life. It was pretty lonely at times, despite my family and a few friends. I enjoyed my jobs and I had just finally moved in to my own flat. It was all going pretty great. When Alex invited me over, I was so excited. I hadn't seen him in years, so I was raring for a really good catch up.

But being pathetic with jetlag and a deep sleep that could trump sleeping beauty, the world went to shit.

How did it end up like this? Wouldn't the government try to do something? Maybe they already knew. But what about the people? The ones who did survive, would they be alone? In the safe-houses somewhere? I guess, at least I have Alex, and Helena had us. I don't want to imagine what would happen if she were alone. If I were alone, yeah, it'd scare the hell out of me, but I know I can hold my own, if only just about.

Suppressing shivers, my thoughts turned to my family. Mum and dad would have probably seen the news. Well, would they? When I last checked, there aren't any news crews recording the situation we were in right now. My phone had long since died, and even when is was alive, there was no signal, so there was no way I could contact them. I bet Erin would be going mad. But they'll be safe. They're hardcore. They're protective and care about each other. Yeah, they'll be okay. I smiled to myself at that thought, closing my eyes on the image of then together in my head.

Walk, eat, sleep, repeat. That was all we did for days. The forest seemed everlasting, endless and draining. We had to stay fully alert, but there was no need - we came across no more of those things.

On what felt like our tenth day in the woods, the trees seemed thinner. Despite that, there appeared to be no end, no exit from the woods. But we didn't have a destination, or know where where we were for that matter, so what were we to expect?

The sun had only been in the sky for a few hours, and we had already begun to be on the move. The ground had begun to slop, heading into a slight valley. when we had reached the middle of the valley, we stopped. Well, Alex stopped.

"What Alex?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips.

"I can't Sam. We've been here for days. I've lost so much weight already. You've dropped weight like it out of style. Helena is barely going to grow if we keep pushing her forward. Can we at least stop for a rest? An hour or something?" he moaned, sitting on a fallen tree, his head propped in his hands.

"Really? Right now? It feels really exposed here Alex. I'd rather we stopped earlier tonight and cover as much ground as we can during the day." I said, pulling my hairband off my wrist and tying my hair up in a bun on my head.

"Well, ten minutes then. I just need to take a load off my back. Being the strong and hunky male doesn't mean I'm cut out for this." he said, smiling weakly, attempting to lighten the mood.

"Well give me some of what you're carrying, Hercules. We can share a bit more of the load." I said, sliding my duffel bag off my shoulder and down into my hand.

"Okay, thanks man. Do you want to forage for a bit? I'm pretty sure there's next to nothing of food left, and my shoulders ache." He whined, dramatically rubbing his left shoulder.

"Fine. But you need to stop whining. I'm pretty sure Helena is more adult than you. Isn't that true Helena?" I smirked, turning round to look at her, but there was no sign of her.

"Helena?" I called as the smirk dropped off my face, scanning the area around us, hoping for a glint of her golden hair. Nothing.

Looking back at Alex, his gaze was fixed on a spot on his right. Heading towards it, he rummaged in his bag and brought out his gun. I followed his lead, hoisting my bag up again and drawing my machete.

He stalked off uphill through the trees until he stopped and reached down. I couldn't see what he was looking at until I walked round to his side. Laying there was a hand. It's fingers had skin missing from some of the knuckles, and where there was skin, it was tinted blue. I could feel my stomach lurch, while Alex glanced back at me, his features going white.

"We've got to find her now." I said, pulling myself together but my voice was shaky.

Sidestepping the hand, we jogged through the woods for a few minutes. How far could she have gone?

It must have been around five minutes since we left the valley and were circling the nearby area when I heard a faint murmuring. Holding my hand out to Alex signalling him to listen, I tried to work out where it was coming from. However it was Alex who had worked it out and began running towards it, gun poised and ready.

I ran after him, dodging the branches he sent pinging in my direction. we entered a more cleared area, and I saw Helena sitting in the middle of this clearing crossed-legged, talking to the bear on her lap. I stopped walking and stared at her and let out the breath I didn't realise I was holding. I could feel my heartbeat slow, my panic over and leant against the nearest tree. It was then I heard a snap of wood, but it sounded like it came from two different places. Alert, I gripped my machete tightly and walked into the clearing. Alex slowed too, dropping his bag, but he was still walking quickly. Helena saw him and stood up, Alex holding his hands out to her, breathing a loud sigh of relief.

It was then that Alex stopped dead. He staggered slightly and then dropped to the ground, rolling around with his face constructed in pain, groaning and cursing loudly.

Horrified, I ran out to him, dropping by his side. I looked down to see that there was something sticking out just below his collarbone, frighteningly close to his heart. Shushing him and rolling him over to his back gently, I saw that it was an arrow. Helena came rushing over too, leaning over him and stroking his face.

"Alex, Alex, please don't shout, please, I know this is hard, but you don't need any more trouble just now. Here," I said, throwing off my bag and taking my check shirt off "bite down on this. Shit." I muttered, the last bit to myself. What the hell was I going to do? I've got no medical training or supplies that could help in this situation. Blood was flowing from the would quickly, his eyes shifting between focused and unfocused.

As Alex let out a groan stifled through my shirt, I saw a slight movement in my peripheral vision. Before I could react to it, Helena shrieked. I looked at her face and to where she was looking behind me. I span to see two zombies, mere feet away. I could feel my stomach twisting in knots out of total fear, but I could hear the blood rushing through my veins out of pure anger. We hadn't seen a thing - living or dead - for over a week, and now when I need to concentrate entirely on Alex, we get attacked. Great!

"Do not leave his side, Helena." I ordered quickly, but I tried to plead with my eyes. I didn't care if she didn't understand, as long as she followed the demand. Her eyes filled with tears, but she nodded.

Gripping my machete tightly and not bothering to asses the zombie, I span round and started running at the one closest, and I lunged, driving my machete through it's chest. I could feel its fingers grip around my arms, it's mouth spanning at me. How was it possible? I'd stuck it through the heart. Pulling away, I high kicked it, hitting it square in the jaw, knocking it backwards. I looked behind briefly to see the other closing in on Helena, Alex trying to sit up to protect them both, but his face was too drained and his grip on the ground kept slipping. It was large and considerably bloated. It wouldn't put up much of a physical fight, so it could be easier to take down.

"Hey!" I shouted at it, and it turned to face me. I clapped my hands and waved, trying to draw it towards me.

It worked, before I realised I was unarmed. I span back to the thing I just kicked to see it struggling to its feet to stand. I sprinted towards it, yanking the machete from its chest. With a laboured grunt, I swung the machete at it, and in one foul swoop, cut its head off, sending it rolling in the undergrowth. Blood from the impact sprayed me, splattering on my face and some on my bare skin and stupidly thin vest.

I span back to the other to find it right on top of me, it's mouth close to my face. I crouched and tackled it to the floor, me landing on top. Pushing myself up, I stood above it, my foot pushing on its chest. It gargled and moaned at me, bringing its hands up to grab me - well, I noticed it only had one hand. I brought the blade down to its throat and sliced, the sound it made coming to an abrupt end. I scanned the area and found no more threats right now.

Panting heavily, I finally looked over at Alex and Helena to see them still sitting, however Alex looked like he was going to black out.

Taking my foot off of that thing, I took one last look around for any more threats before running to Alex's side. I threw myself down next to him and he smiled weakly.

"Not too bad Sambo. There wasn't a hell of a lot of Kung Fu fighting going on though. I'd have liked to have seen it one day..." he trailed, bringing his hand up to my face, smiling.

"No way Alex, don't give me that farewell crap. You're going to pull through this." I said, stroking his cheek, searching his warm green eyes for something.

What could I do? If I take the arrow out, it could cause him to bleed out quicker, but sitting around doing nothing was killing me - well, him. My eyes began to sting and the world became watery.

Helena had started crying, hugging her bear tightly. Her delicate little breathing became laboured, and she reached out to hug Alex.

The movement in my peripheral vision got bolder, and I let out an exasperated sigh, wiping my blurry and watery eyes. Standing up to face it, I twirled the machete in my hands, waiting in a defence position. The shape began to emerge from the trees, and I could hear Helena's sobs subside - she had noticed the figure too. I started moving forward, walking slowly to meet it, assessing its shape and strength. It was strong built, tall. The legs were probably the weakest point, as they were long and would help he get to it's head.

I broke into a run, and stopping in front of it, I kicked its feet out from underneath it, knocking it over before it had even noticed what was happening. I straddled it, pinning it's arms to its side, raising my machete over my head, ready to bring it down. It didn't react at all - until it spoke.

"I ain't a geek." It spat in a strong southern accent, shifting under me. My breathing faltered.

"W-what?" I stammered, lowering the machete, but only slightly. The man had dirty blonde hair falling over piercing blue blue eyes, the grime on his tanned - not blue and had his skin still hanging on - body and clothes transferring to mine. I leant in closer to examine his features closely, but the man grimaced and tried to struggle away.

"I said I ain't a geek, a walker, whatever. Ya crazy bitch." the man grunted. I stopped searching his face and stared straight into his eyes, my anger flaring up. Well, none of them have spoken yet, and especially not insulted me, so maybe he did have a heartbeat.

I looked over him again, and saw a crossbow slung over his shoulders, and which was now being crushed into the ground. I could feel my face turn red, the blood rushing loudly through my ears at the sight of his arrows. I got off him and pulled him up by his sleeveless check shirt with surprising strength, but I didn't let him go. His bright blue eyes looked over me questioningly and his mouth pulled into a snarl, when my hand shot up and punched him on the jaw. He staggered slightly, putting his hand up to his jaw and swallowed loudly.

"You bastard! You shot him with one of your fucking arrows! He's alive you idiot!" I screamed, letting go of his shirt but reaching out to hit him again.

He grabbed my hand to prevent another blow, so I brought my knee up to his gut. He let go of my hand and jumped back, my blow just missing him. That just frustrated me more. Despite everything, I tried not to be violent to people, but this guy was in for a serious pounding.

"Stop ya bitch. Ya got enough problems without any more geeks on ya crazy ass. Want me to help ya boyfrien' or not?" He said, gesturing over to Alex. I had a feeling he could just happily walked away, but I couldn't afford for him to do that.

I ground my teeth tightly but nodded, giving him the dirtiest look I could muster. That was one the hardest things I've had to do - keep my mouth shut. If it weren't for Alex's current condition, I'd have already floored this guy, no doubt about it. I thought it would be pointless telling him Alex wasn't my boyfriend as it had annoyed me that he just assumed. Why would he care? I just nearly broke his jaw.

Walking into me and knocking me out of the way, he bent down to pick up Alex. He put the man in a supportive position on his shoulder, and then bent down to pick up his bag. He then stared waking off without a backwards glance. Curling my hand into a fist and gripping it tightly, I walked after them, picking up my bag and started following them. Helena's hand gripped tightly in mine, we sped to catch up, the mysterious redneck leading us in through the woods.