++++++ I do not own the Walking Dead or any affiliated characters apart from my OC's ++++++

Three

"Corporal Lucas," came the annoying drawl of the flight attending, breaking through my alcohol induced state of depravity, "can you please move your feet off the seat?"

I looked up over my pair of silver aviator glasses through a pair of bloodshot emerald eyes at the young flight attendant and smirked. Standing behind him was a woman around the same age as myself holding a baby dressed in a white jumpsuit with a white rose headband around her tiny head that made my smirk vanish. "Are you fucking kidding me?" I grumbled, staring at the woman. "A freaking baby? Seriously, Gerry, are you trying to kill me?"

Gerry the Flight Attendant cleared his throat. "I'm sorry Corporal Lucas but this was the only other seat available and no one is willing to change with Miss Hewitt."

"Wonder why?" I grumbled, staring at the baby. "Sweetie-word of advice, a pooping vomit machine is a hell of a way to drive away the fellas." I pulled my feet off the seat and thumped my head down on the covered window beside me as my new friend sat down with Gerry's help after she stowed the baby bag. I smirked when she wrinkled her nose at me, smelling the alcohol I was pretty sure I had been sprayed with when the hostess sprayed us all with the beer tap.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain James Wilson speaking," came a voice over the PA system, "we'll be taking off shortly, if you could please turn your attention to the lovely cabin crew and they will bring you up to speed on the proper procedures that need to be followed in a time of emergency."

I cocked my head up a little and watched the cabin crew complete their rehearsed demonstration. I'd had fun last night, spending my final night in Australia with some of the local soldier boys, they sure knew how to send a girl off that's for sure. And for the record, I now love the words pub crawl.

"Keep that thing quiet?" I growled at her when the baby when it started to fuss.

She stared at me with disgust. "She's a baby! You're disgusting!"

"Says you, Betty," I laughed. With that short hair she kinda reminded me of Betty Boop.

"My name is Ebony!" she hissed. "Not Betty!"

"Whatever," I shrugged, slinking back in my seat. "Just keep that baby thing at a minimum and I won't vomit over you-deal?"

When I opened my eyes, everything was blurry, nothing had shape or substance. I felt like I had something covering my eyes, like some sort of clear mask. I groaned in pain and struggled to sit up, propping myself up on my elbows was hard enough, sitting up was gonna be hell.

"Take it easy," came a heavy southern drawl. Someone pushed down on my shoulder, "You lost a lot of blood. We had to stitch you up to stop the bleeding. Do you know where you are?"

"Ebony…?" I whispered, calling out to my friend in a hoarse whisper. "Ebony?!"

"There's no one here by the name," he told me. "Can you tell me your name? You've been out for two days, you know?"

Two days?!

I rubbed my eyes and tried to sit up again, this time I could make him out. He was wearing a white shirt with a pair of jeans and size thirteen boots, his jaw was stubborn and his brow told me that he had a lot on his mind, he also sported a slight scruffy beard. "Where's Ebony?" I coughed.

He handed me a bottle of water. "Should I call you Corporal Lucas?" he asked me. "Or is it PJ? I got your name off your dog tags-where you a soldier?"

"Where's Ebony?" I asked again, this time at a yell.

"Where did you get this doll?" he demanded to know, shoving Sophia's doll in my face. "Tell me, where did you get this doll?"

"Where's Ebony?" I yelled, launching myself out of bed, knocking the southerner off his chair and to the ground with an almighty thump. I screamed in pain when I felt the stitches rip open and rolled off him, onto the floor. "Ebony!" I yelled out, footsteps echoing up the stairs.

"Where did you get the doll?" he yelled at me, shoving it in my face. "Where's Sophia?!"

Everything blacked out again.

A few days after meeting that annoyingly happy mother and her freaking little pink creature that people called a baby I was at Walmart shopping for groceries to refill my sad little cupboards only to bump into them.

The girl Ebony and her 'sweet' little sleeping baby were in the isle where the bread was with two elderly people, one of which was pushing a trolley. Since I needed bread it was kinda hard to ignore them. "Good afternoon, Ebony," I frowned, pushing passed her to get to the multigrain bread.

She jumped when she saw me. "Oh-hello Corporal Lucas."

"Call me PJ," I replied. "Listen-I wanted to apologise for my behaviour on the plane the other day."

No I didn't. I was drunk and the Aussie boys gave me a fantastic going away party and I enjoyed it way too much-so much so I almost missed my flight.

"Are you going to introduce us to your friend?" the elderly woman asked.

"Corporal PJ Lucas," I introduced myself as. "Ebony and I met on the plane over."

"Nice to meet you Corporal Lucas," the elderly man smiled. "Jeff Heart and this here is my wife Millie. Ebony doesn't have very many friends-maybe you could come over for dinner?"

I frowned. "Um-dinner?"

Seriously I had a bottle of vodka in the freezer with my name on it-literally it had my name on it written by a sharpie.

I sighed. "Fine-dinner."

"Six thirty?" Millie asked me. She didn't wait for my answer as she scribbled her address down. "Bring just yourself."

"Yes ma'am," I fake smiled, imitating their Brooklyn accent.

She handed me the address to some part of Brooklyn I would need a taxi to get me there, like most New Yorkers I've never stepped foot in Brooklyn my whole life.

Ebony gripped the stroller and turned away from me leaving me alone with my bread.

The next time I woke up I found him still sitting there in the same chair beside the bed. Sophia's doll was in his lap and he was reading a book. I could sit up this time, he waited until I sat against the headboard of the bed before he threw the doll down on the bed. I picked the doll up, of course they'd gone through my pack.

"Where's Sophia?" he asked me.

"You're tune sucks," I told him. "Where's Sophia? Where's Sophia? Where's Sophia? Do I get a how you feeling or an apology for shooting me? Or maybe even a name? Or do I just call you size thirteen?"

He sighed. "It's Rick, Rick Grimes. What's your name?"

"Why ask it?" I answered. "You already saw my dog tags."

"I wanna hear it from you," Rick told me, grey eyes searching me for any clue to where the girl was.

"Corporal PJ Lucas," I answered. "That's my name. And yeah, I know where the girl is."

He jumped out of his seat and grabbed the doll off me. "Where is she?" he yelled. "Where's Sophia?"

"I'm not gonna tell you," I replied. I looked down at the wound on my stomach, I knew that there was no way in hell I was gonna be able to protect Ebony and Jade wounded like this.

"Where's Sophia?" Rick yelled, inches away from my face.

I shook my head, "I told you I wasn't gonna tell you…" I stared him down, "I'll show you."