This is the Emergency Alert System … We urge residents to seek shelter and stay away from those who have been infected. Symptoms of infection include … fever, headache, stomachache, dizziness, hemorrhaging...

A young man had stopped her on the way to Atlanta. He was walking along the shoulder of the road and when he saw Tessa weaving her car in and out of the abandoned ones on the highway, he started to flag her down. She didn't want to stop, but when he flung himself in front of her car she didn't have much of a choice.

He tried to ward her off from going into the city, claiming that he had just escaped from one of the refuge camps that they had set up. "Please, you have to listen to me!" he had begged. Tessa wanted to ignore his pleas. She wanted to drive right on by him and continue towards Atlanta. She wanted to, but the fear that was present in his eyes was so real and even though she wanted to, she couldn't disregard it.

"Don't make me regret this."

He beamed and then looked unsure when she offered to give him a ride to wherever it is that he was going. "I could be a murderer for all you know." he remarked, but got into her passenger's seat regardless.

Tessa looked over at the boy's face and saw nothing that could ever be misconstrued as malicious. "Well, are you?" asked Tessa lightheartedly as she shifted her car into drive.

"No." he finally stated and Tessa laughed at him. "I'm Glenn, Glenn Rhee." He held out his hand and she took in her own, giving him a solid handshake.

"Tessa Harm." she introduced herself and then nodded back towards her sleeping child, "That's my son, Dakota." The child hadn't stirred since he fell asleep some odd hours ago. "Where ya headin'?"

Glenn pulled out a map from his backpack, unfolding and then refolding the large piece of paper in every which way before he stopped and showed her a spot on the map that he had circled. "There's a quarry that's not too far from here." he explained. "We'd have to hop off of this road and get onto the interstate to get to it, but it shouldn't take more than an hour as long as we don't run into any roadblocks."

"You think it's safe up there?" she questioned.

"It's far enough away from the city and pretty isolated, plenty of water." said Glenn, his eyes wide and full of hope.

She put her car in drive, "All right, then."

The drive was pleasant. Light conversation drifted back and forth between Tessa and Glenn as they got to know one another. Tessa learned that Glenn had been a pizza delivery boy before this entire mess occurred. It was also the reason that he had safely made it out of the city; spending day in and day out navigating through the city meant he knew all of the routes in the city which meant he knew the exact way to make it out.

He told her of what the refuge camp was like, how it seemed like they found a safe haven only to have that crushed when the military started to "decontaminate" the area. Tessa didn't ask, but she had a very clear idea of what that meant. Glenn, along with a few others from the camp, managed to make it out of the city thanks to Glenn's navigational skills although he was separated from them once they got out of the city.

"What's your story?" he asked.

Tessa's brows furrowed and she wondered what exactly her story was. The entire ordeal at her apartment ran through her head and she thought of Dakota sitting in the backseat still sleeping and of the six hour drive she had just made and the only thing that popped out of her mouth was, "I'm a baker."

"Yeah?" Glenn questioned.

Tessa nodded, "I own a bakery… owned…" she trailed off. That sentence caused her heart to clench as the realization that perhaps she did not have a home to go back to seeped in.

Glenn, as if sensing her deflated mood, commented, "Man, I could really go for some good cannolis, right now."

"You and me both."

It wasn't until a half an hour later that they made it to the interstate and as Glenn kept his eyes peeled out for anything that might be a threat to their wellbeing, Tessa tried to snake through the traffic snarl.

"Hey, hey!" Glenn shouted suddenly nearly making Tessa swerve into a nearby car. "Slow down!"

"What is it?" she asked as she glanced into the rearview mirror where she saw her son beginning to stir in his carseat and when her eyes returned forward she spotted people standing amongst the abandoned cars, "Who's that?"

Glenn's face lit up when he spotted familiar faces; faces he did not expect to see ever again. "Those are the people from the refugee camp." he explained.

She questioned him, "Friendly?"

He nodded before saying, "They're good people."

Tessa pulled her car closer to the group of people who looked on with both interest and caution, but their heedfulness melted away when they saw Glenn get out of the car. Tessa, too, got out of the car but didn't approach the group until she took a half-asleep Dakota out of his carseat. Trailing behind Glenn carefully, she watched as a stocky, dark-haired man approached him.

"Glenn," There was relief on his face, "… we didn't think we'd see ya again."

He looked over to Tessa who was clutching her son to her and Glenn took the opportunity to introduce her to the group, "This is Tessa Harm," he said, "… and her son, Dakota."

"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am." The stocky man stated as he took the hand she offered him, "Shane Walsh."

Tessa examined the man from head to toe. Clean-cut, firm, slightly arrogant… the man's entire disposition reminded her of her ex-husband and while she wasn't too fond of her ex-husband it did mean one thing, "Cop?" she questioned.

Shane's eyebrow rose in surprise, "How'd ya figure?"

She gave him a playful wink, "I know a cop when I see one."

Shane smiled at the little woman and ushered her towards the group, introducing her to a slender woman and her freckled son, "This is Lori and Carl."

"It's nice to meet you." Lori said, "He yours?" She gestured to Dakota who was now staring tiredly at all of the strange, new people around him.

Tessa gave a nod, "Yup, this is Dakota." A warm smile appeared on Lori's face when she saw Dakota snuggle further into Tessa upon his realization that the attention was now on him.

Introductions went around the small group which consisted of an older man, Dale, who was accompanied by two younger blondes — sisters, Andrea and Amy. A nervous looking woman, Carol, let Shane introduce her and her husband and daughter, Ed and Sophia. There was another woman, Miranda, with her two children, Louis and Eliza, and an older black woman who introduced herself as Jacqui.

"Where're the others?" Glenn questioned when he saw that a few members of the group were messing.

"Jim, T-Dog, and Morales went up ahead to scout the area before we move on." Shane told him. "They should be back soon enough." There was a pause. "Where were you guys headin', anyway?"

Glenn answered, "There's a quarry a few miles down the road..." he indicated, "...You guys are welcome to join us."

A thoughtful look donned Shane's face as he thought about the offer, "We'll see once we scout out the area whether or not it's safe enough for the group."

There was a sound coming from the distance that drew Tessa's attention above them. Shane seemed to have heard it too because his eyes were on sky and when he saw the faint outline of helicopters in the distance he ordered everyone to hide.

Tessa, though confused, allowed Glenn to pull her to a nearby car where they hid from the view of the helicopters as they passed over.

"What's going on?" she inquired.

Glenn looked unsure, "I don't know."

Dakota was trying to peek out from Tessa's shoulder, his eyes catching Glenn's. Glenn smiled at the child who buried his face back into his mother's shoulder shyly.

"You think we're clear?" Tessa questioned when she could no longer hear the helicopters.

Glenn looked around outside and spotted Shane along with Lori and Carl climbing out of a car, "I think so."

Carefully, the pair got out of the car gazing towards the skyline of the city where the helicopters were heading. It was nearing sundown and the silhouette of the helicopters against the outline of the city skyline looked picturesque.

"What is going on?" Jacqui asked aloud.

Then the sky lit up with fire and smoke as a loud bang resounded through the air. Everyone jolted in shock, the children crying out and clenching onto their mothers. Dakota seemed especially scared with his eyes full of tears and Tessa whispered into his ears soothing words trying to comfort his tiny whimpers.

Everyone seemed too shocked to even move as they just watched the fires from the city. A strange ethereal glow emitting as the sun disappeared behind the buildings' skyline.

It took Tessa while to register that had it not been for Glenn, her and Dakota would be amidst those flames, likely lost to the world, "Thank you." she whispered to the young man next to her who didn't say anything in return, he just placed his hand on her shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly.

Hey guys! Night here with the second chapter! Thanks for all of the positive feedback on the Prologue, we super appreciate it :)

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