CHAPTER ONE

A light wind streaked through the trees, sending a few weak, crinkled leaves floating to the forest floor, joining the bed of likewise fallen leaves to create a nice thin layer across the ground. Sam Morgan kept his eyes peeled and ears open wide, waiting to hear something amidst the rustling of the trees and bushes.

Something dangerous.

But nothing came, just as nothing had come all day. Not that Sam was complaining—the lack of walkers, as he had come to know the undead as, was a reassuring sign, something that was not all too common in recent days.

As one of the fastest and most athletic members of the group he had (somewhat reluctantly) taken up with, Sam was often assigned to take up scouting for the group in the early hours of the morning to make sure there were no noticeable packs of walkers encroaching on the territory that the group had decided to call home.

Not that it was much of a home—just a small forest not too far from Atlanta. It was a bit of a rural area, roughly an hour or two from the nearest beach in the state of Georgia. But it was where this group of survivors had taken up refuge for the time being.

Sam felt himself scowl at the thought again. Group of survivors. Since the start of the "apocalypse," as he had now resigned to calling it—or, quite honestly, even before then—Sam had never been very open-minded to working in a large group. Sure, small groups were okay, but something on the scale of this was not quite what Sam would think of as agreeable to his standards.

The circumstances of the apocalypse didn't really strengthen his feelings either; if anything, they had only hampered them. Working with complete strangers and trusting in them as your only help, your only backup? That wasn't quite what Sam thought of as a spectacularly infallible plan.

But when everything else had fallen apart and people were dying, coming back to life, and eating people, well, you couldn't much argue for more help than what you were given.

What sounded unmistakably like a foot crunching leaves behind Sam caused him to narrow his eyes. Quickly, without wasting a second, he dropped both hands to his waist, his right hand dropping to his waistband and gripping the handle of the 1911 pistol tugged there for safekeeping and his left hand went for his pocketknife. He spun around, ejecting the blade of the knife as he brought it up, aiming the point at the figure behind him . . .

. . . and freezing.

Sam inhaled sharply as he slowly brought his knife back down and loosened his grip on his handgun. "Doug, you idiot. Do you know how easily I could have killed you?"

The young, slim man before Sam had thrown his hands up instinctively over his head as he had let out a whimper in fear. He slowly lowered them now and nodded hurriedly. "Y-yeah, Sam, I-I see that now," he said between breaths. He swallowed hard before saying, "I . . . um . . . I decided to come and scout around too."

"Yeah, and almost got yourself killed." Sam sighed, returning his knife to his pocket. After a few seconds of awkward silence passed, Sam bit his lip. "So, did you, uh, find anything?"

Doug let out an awkward chuckle. "Heh-heh . . . no. Actually, I kinda just . . . listened for you and followed your path."

Damn, was I really that loud? "Uh huh. I see." Sam turned around, surveying the forest once more. "It doesn't look like there's anything out today anyways—thankfully. I guess we should head back to camp."

Doug nodded, visibly relieved that their search hadn't turned up anything. "All right. Let's go." The two turned and strode back through the forest . . . completely oblivious to the stirring in the leaves nearly ten meters away . . .

Sage Belmont was getting tired of massaging his temples—like, extremely tired, and it was becoming a bit of a habit. Especially with the Bloom twins.

The "eldest" of the twins—only by a minute, but when you're twins it is as good as a decade—Alex was trying hard to deliberate his point to his sister Allie, his left hand held out flat, palm up, as he repeatedly did a chopping motion with his right hand. "That is vital, Allie," Alex had just finished saying, flicking his eyes up to be level with his sister's. "You cannot just make decisions like this on your own."

Allie huffed as she slung a backpack over her back, hanging the strap over her left shoulder. She rolled her eyes in irritation at her brother's stern words, planting her right hand firmly on her hip. She turned her head hurriedly, her auburn ponytail bouncing off her shoulder as she said just as sternly, "I don't recall asking, Alex—I'm telling you; I'm going on a supply run."

Alex's face began to turn red as he was visibly becoming upset with Allie. "Listen to me, Allie: we cannot just have people making their own decisions. It's going to lead to dissension within the group. We need organization. We need to keep things straight. We need a leader to—"

Allie spun and took a step towards Alex, getting in his face. "And who made you the leader, Alex? I sure as hell know I didn't, and I don't think anyone else held a vote besides you."

Alex ran a hand through his shaggy, dark brown hair, brushing it out of his eyes. Sage flicked his eyes from Alex back to Allie, and he saw them both huffing, clearly agitated with one another. As Alex turned back and opened his mouth to speak back, Sage took his moment to step in.

"Hey, hey, Alex!" Sage cut in before Alex could even say a word. Alex's eyes dropped—quite literally—to Sage, who stood a whole eight inches shorter than the darker-haired man's six-foot-two-inch frame. "I'll go with Allie." He could see Alex's eyes harden a bit in irritation that his wishes would not be fulfilled, but Sage spoke quickly before he could counter. "Don't worry. I'll make sure she stays out of trouble."

Alex's eyes turned from Sage to Allie, and then back to Sage. After moments of thought, Alex slowly gave a nod of approval. "Okay. Okay. Just be careful." He focused his eyes on Allie once again. "Please, Allie."

She snorted and shook her head, turning around and striding towards a rather beat-up purple Honda Civic. "C'mon, o' Mystical Sage—let's take old Grimace here on the supply run."

Sage rolled his eyes. "Its name is Raisin . . . not Grimace." He turned and gave Alex a pat on his right arm, covered in a tattoo sleeve. "I promise, man—I'll make sure she stays safe."

Alex gave him a slim smile and mouthed "thank you." Sage took the smile and returned it with a nod as he turned. He shot his left hand out towards Allie, pointing his index finger at her and saying, "I'll be right back. Just give me a sec to go tell Annie I'm leaving." Allie nodded as she sank into the passenger seat of the car.

Sage strolled throughout the little camp that the group had made. Ever since he had joined the twins, they had been known to bicker with one another about the smallest of things—let alone the biggest. He had heard of sibling rivalry before, but this was on another level. He did understand where each was coming from, but, more often than not, he fell on Alex's side. Down deep, he knew that the twins cared for each other—but with Allie especially, it was quite hard to tell that for a fact.

Thoughts of the small group's origins were running through Sage's mind as he made his way through the camp. He had been one of the earliest members of the group, and as such had become close friends with the twins. But he had not joined alone—no, with him was who had become his pride and joy. Annalise Delaney.

The fact that a girl so small could steal someone's heart so easily was a testament to two things: one, she was an absolute sweetheart, and two, so was Sage. The daughter of Sage's best friends Evan and Rory, Annalise was a bundle of typical four-year-old smiles, moodiness, and laughter—quite an unbelievable package for one to find in the apocalypse, to which Sage was truly grateful.

The night he had found Annalise would be one to forever haunt his dreams. He had found Evan, hunched over Rory and . . . eating her. His friend was no longer himself, that much Sage knew. When he reached out to touch Evan, he spun around, his face one of torn and rotted skin as he lashed out, scratching Evan's face—the scars were still across his temple to this day. Sage had dispatched him—painfully—with the metal baseball bat he had adopted as his trademark weapon since the onset of the apocalypse. He had feared Annalise was in the same state as her parents, but, mercifully, she was not.

Ever since that day, Sage had made a promise—to himself, Annalise, her parents, God, and the world as a whole—that he would not let any harm come to her. It was a bit of a tough start when they entered the group; Sage was distrustful of the twins and would not let Annalise out of his sight. Over time he had grown to trust them and other early members of the group, but he still was not fully secure in leaving her alone.

It was a very difficult thing for him to be doing this now, leaving on the supply run. In hindsight he kind of wished he had let the twins argue it out, but that was another of his weaknesses: he was too much of a nice guy and a mediator. He'd put himself in an uncomfortable position to save someone else the trouble, something he had told himself mentally was not a requirement in a world like this.

But some things just can't be shaken.

Sage nodded a hello and said a few good mornings to some of the survivors as he passed through, until he could hear the chatter of a particular little girl. "Come on, Ali, you've got to be my horsie!"

Sage felt a rush of embarrassment as he imagined the situation going on just around the bend as a soft, French-accented voice cut through in response. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but we have to take a break. I have been your horse for nearly an hour now, and I don't have the energy to keep it up for much longer at the moment."

Rounding the corner, Sage jutted his hands into the pockets of his blue flannel jacket as his eyes caught the scene he feared he would: Annalise, arms crossed and pouting, as thirty-year-old Alison Meunier was clambering to her feet. "Here, Ali, let me help you," Sage offered, extending a hand to the Frenchwoman.

"Oh, merci, Sage," she said with a sheepish grin. A hint of red touched Ali's cheeks as she brushed off her lap and down her rather plump legs—she had been a bit overweight prior to the apocalypse, but the events that had unfolded had led to a rather dramatic loss of weight for Ali, in most areas except below the waist. Some women, Ali knew, would've cherished the curviness that provided, but she was a bit torn about it.

"I hope Annie hasn't been too much?" he said in almost inquisitive fashion, glancing to Annalise and raising an eyebrow. The small, tawny-skinned girl beamed up at him almost as if she hadn't heard his question.

"Oh no, of course not," Ali quickly responded. "It's been a joy playing with her. I just need a bit of a break from playing as her horse."

"An understandable request," Sage said with a grin. He knelt down before Annalise. Playfully, he bopped her nose. "You need to give Ali here a bit of a rest with the horseplay, Annie. We've all gotta keep our energy up right now. Understand?" A bit disheartened, Annalise nodded and let out a sigh. "Just keep that in mind. Ali is gonna have to watch over you for a bit."

Ali took a quick double take. "I-I am?"

Sage glanced up. "If it's no trouble, it would be a big help. I have to go on a supply run with Allie, and you're really the person I trust the most with Annie."

Ali felt a ping of pride in her heart. "Oh—I—thank you, Sage," Ali replied, grinning. "I . . . I . . . ah-appreciate your trust in me."

"I know it's not misplaced," Sage replied with a grin. "Just make sure she's taken care of and doesn't wander off." He turned around and surveyed the trees that, beyond the clearing of the camp, swirled together into quite a mess of a forest. "It'd be hell trying to find anyone lost in here."

Ali nodded understandingly. "Yes. Yes it would."

"And you, little princess," Sage said, kneeling back down to Annalise, "need to mind Ali here. Do you think you can do that?"

Annalise offered Sage a grin. "Yes, Uncle Sage. I will."

"I knew you had it in ya," Sage said, bending forward and planting a soft, tender kiss on Annalise's forehead. "Slay some dragons for me while I'm gone, all right? A good princess always takes care of her kingdom." Annalise chuckled before nodding as Sage got to his feet. "See ya later, Ali. And thanks—really."

Ali nodded. "Thank you."

A/N: Chapter 1 is here everybody! To everyone who submitted characters to the story, I cannot thank you enough for doing so! Everyone had great character ideas and I am looking forward to seeing how they all interact within the story with one another. We only got introduced to a handful here, but rest assured the remaining characters will all be introduced in the next chapter. This was just the beginning as we get things started up.

Also, for readers who still would like to submit a character still, I will leave the SYOC open until all spots are filled! I want everyone to be able to have a chance to submit characters while I have slots available to be filled. If you submit a character in the future, I will have them join the group over the course of the story.

Thank you all again for joining me in this adventure. I cannot wait to see where things lead. And, it goes without saying: I do not own The Walking Dead in any capacity, just my own original characters. The rest of them aside from those two are, of course, all yours. Thank you so much for your submissions. Thanks for reading, and be sure to let me know your thoughts in the reviews! Until next time.