Anya's POV

Anya opened her eyes, but her vision was hazy, seeing only a golden-yellow blur. She blinked a few times to clear her eyesight, and then she heard a faint voice. Suddenly, all of her senses became fully operational, and she could see a black-haired boy shaking her with absolute concern in his eyes. Anya couldn't quite remember who he was, but she felt warm and safe when he gripped her shoulders.

"Forger, are you okay? Come on, respond to me!" the boy yelled, panic evident in his voice.

"What... who are you?" Anya said, confused.

The boy's eyes widened in shock and confusion. Even more confused now that she thought about it, Anya couldn't remember anything. The only thing she could recall was her name, and she could read minds. "Is this girl crazy? She must be playing a joke on me. Damn it, why do I feel this way even when I'm angry at her?" the boy thought, shaking his head back and forth. "Come on, you stupid, this joke ain't funny," the boy said aloud.

Anya still couldn't remember if she knew this boy or not. He looked familiar, but she couldn't quite grasp how. She really couldn't remember anything. "Oh s***, this isn't good. Everything that we've been through to get to this point, she's forgotten everything," Damien thought to himself.

Anya needed clarification. She didn't know this boy. Maybe that's why she felt so comfortable around him. Anya then noticed, breaking out of her thoughts, that they were in some sort of alley in front of some trash bags. She had been lying in the middle between two big ones. She got up, brushing herself off from all the trash that had gotten on her. She then saw she was in a fancy uniform that had blood and trash gunk on it, which shocked her. Was she bleeding? She immediately checked, but luckily she wasn't, so it must be someone else's. "Blood?" she whispered to herself, unnerved. That's also when Anya noticed it was like a city; she must have been able to hear millions of thoughts, but now it was completely silent. That terrified her; she heard nothing, only this boy's mind. She looked at the boy; she wanted to know who he was and where they were.

"Who are you, and where are we?" Anya asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Who I am?" He gave her an expression. "I'm Damien Desmond. We're classmates at Eden College," he said as if it were the most obvious thing, but there was sad undertoned Anya.

"And where are we?"

"I have no f****** clue," Damien said honestly. He started looking around, noticing their surroundings. "We must be in some sort of alleyway in a huge city," he said, shocked for a reason that Anya could not understand without reading his mind. "These buildings, they're the hugest things I've ever seen," Damien thought, shocked. He took a big gulp, then looked at Anya, holding out his hand. "Well, I guess we might as well stay together," he said, his face turning red with embarrassment. "Why is it so hard for me to be around her?" Damien thought, Anya, grabbing his hand as the most natural response the situation called for.

She grabbed his hand, and they started running out of the alleyway.

Damian's POV

Damien felt flustered as Anya ran towards the end of the alley. He could feel how warm her hands were, which gave him some comfort. He could barely remember how they got here; it was like some snapshots, but he didn't know for sure. They needed to get out of here, and fast. Damien had a bad feeling about this.

They reached the end of the alley, and Damien saw a road with many military vehicles strewn around. This confused and alarmed him. "This looks like a war zone, but where are all the soldiers?" Everything was vacant and quiet. Damien looked both left and right along the road. On the right, he saw a police officer, which gave him hope.

"I think we caught a break," Damien said, desire in his voice. Anya smiled, sharing his optimism. As the man got closer, Damien saw he was on a horse and appeared to be carrying a bag on his back. Damien couldn't quite see what was inside. He gestured to Anya, and they moved toward the middle of the road. Damien reluctantly released Anya's hand and started trying to get the man's attention.

Rick's POV

Rick was determined to find his family. He couldn't help but keep thinking about them as he walked through the war-torn ruins of what was Atlanta. As he turned the corner, he saw two kids waving their arms around, trying to get his attention. This made Rick concerned, so he urged his horse faster, not too fast, but enough to get there quickly. His police officer side, as well as his parental side, kicked in. He stopped in front of the two children.

He could now see that one was a boy and the other was a girl. It looked like they were wearing fancy clothes, or fancier than he expected people to wear these days. "Of course, she has just been awake for just one day, but still, this is unusual," Rick thought to himself.

"Are you two okay?" Rick said, getting off his horse, trying to be as non-threatening as possible. The two kids were surprisingly happy to see him.

"Yes, can you tell us where we are?" Damien asked, nervous but talking properly, which surprised Rick. "You don't get every day that you see Old English being spoken," Rick put that aside for a moment.

"Well, currently we're in Atlanta," Rick gestured to the big buildings and gave them a kind smile. The boy looked concerned as well as confused. "What country are we in?" the boy asked.

Rick was confused about the question, but he decided to answer it. "What's the harm that I can do, right? We're in the United States, specifically, we're in the state of Georgia," Rick explained. The boy then turned deathly pale, as if he had just seen a ghost or something, as well as the girl on his hand was just more curious than anything else. Rick got a strange feeling that she could read him perfectly like she knew what he was going to say. Rick quickly shook those thoughts away. Now he must figure out how to get these kids safely. He's not sure how he's going to fit these two on his horse with his bag still on. He could carry the bag on his back, giving them a little bit of room. It would be a tight squeeze, though, Rick would gladly take the uncomfortableness just to keep these kids safe, he thought to himself, determined.

"Where are your parents?" Rick asked, looking around to try to figure out if they were by themselves. Both of them just looked sad, and both of them at the same time just said, "No," Rick, understanding, decided not to pry anymore. He then grabbed the bag of guns, put it on his back, and patted the back of the horse gently. "Get on," he just simply said. The two children wasted no time in doing so. Now with two kids and himself, he did forget to tell them his name as well as their names. As they rode, he asked, "So what are your guys' names? I don't want to just call you guys children," Rick chuckled to himself.

"My name is Damian Desmond," the boy said timidly.

"My name is Anya," the girl said even more timidly than the boy like she questioned if that was her name.

"Nice to meet you two. My name is Rick Grimes. I'm a deputy sheriff for the Atlanta police," Rick introduced himself.

Anya's POV

As they rode through the city of Atlanta, Anya couldn't help but hear a rumbling sound, which wasn't just in her head, thankfully. That's when Rick looked up, prompting Damien and Anya to look too. They saw a flying metal machine—a helicopter. "Rick," whispered to himself, "That must mean there are people. Maybe my family could be there," he thought to himself.

Anya didn't know what to say, but before she could even ask, "What is a helicopter?" Rick didn't wait for the horse to go faster, and when they turned the corner, Anya felt weird. She heard many thoughts, but these thoughts were different. It wasn't just a normal crowd of thoughts; it was yelling, screaming, and crying for help. She could feel tendrils of their thoughts gripping her entire head, in a death grip. She tried her best to keep herself conscious, but she failed. Her mind couldn't take it, and everything went dark. "I need help."

Damian's POV

Damian knew something was wrong with Anya; she was wobbly. This was just in his peripheral vision, but he couldn't think more because when they turned the corner, they saw a huge horde of people. Could these be people, or were they something else? Damian then saw Anya fall off the horse, and he quickly got off the horse, but as he did, the things ran towards them. He grabbed Anya and ran in a random direction. Mr. Rick did the same. Damian just kept thinking, "Run, get out of here," and other things like that. He didn't care if his legs hurt or how tired he was; he just needed to get Anya out of there.

Damian then found himself and Anya in front of a tank. Damian didn't know what else to do; they were surrounded on both sides, and it looked like Mr. Rick was dead. There was a huge pile of those things just eating the horse and probably him as well. Damian couldn't figure out how to get into the tank, and he couldn't go anywhere. He needed to figure out a way to get inside this tank; he just needed to, for his and Anya's sake. He quickly jumped on top of the tank and lay down for a moment. When he got to the latch on the top, he tried to open it, but it was locked and probably had to be opened from the inside. Damian was furious at this. "No, f*** no, open, please!" he yelled in frustration, bashing the top. His yelling was just attracting them, making their situation even worse. Damian, knowing that his fate was sealed as well as Anya's, decided they should just go out together. He thought, "At least they'll go out together," until the top of the latch of the tank opened, revealing...

Rick POV

Rick made sure he was ahead of Anya and Damien, giving them cover by shooting at some of those things that got too close. He was so focused on that, that he was only looking at where he was going, and before he knew it, he was flung off his horse. He saw it being eaten alive. He was going to get up and fight himself, but luckily, he was able to see the rotting corpse trying to grab him. He kicked it in the chest, making it fall over. He didn't notice the tank Anya and Damien were a few paces away from, not knowing what to do. He decided to get under the tank so he could open the hatch, which would get their attention, and he could get them easily in there. It was better to be safe in there than out there. It was a better plan than anything, Rick thought, planning his next move. He quickly got under the tank. He knew from his grandfather, who fought in the Second and First World Wars, that tanks had an under so just in case if a tank was going to explode, people inside of it could easily get out, but they would be scraped up, but they would be alive.

Rick saw the hatch, and it was open. He quickly got himself up into the tank and closed the hatch so those other things couldn't get in. "Okay, what do I do now?" he said to himself. He didn't remember he had to open the upper hatch. He just hoped Damien and Anya were all right out there, and they weren't. He shook that thought out of his mind. He then heard something behind him. He quickly turned around and saw a huge military undead guy. The undead guy tried to bite Rick, but Rick was able to grab his shoulders and push him using his foot. He tried to pull out his gun, but the walker quickly got up, making him fall over and dropping his gun. The undead corpse's breath was the most disgusting thing he had ever smelled in his life. He saw his gun as he was holding back the corpse. He tried to grab it; it was just beyond his reach. He just needed to stretch a little further, and Rick didn't know how he could stretch like this, but he was able to grab his gun. Without any warning, he quickly pulled the gun straight to the corpse's temple and shot his brains out. It was good he killed it, but his ears started ringing, and he couldn't hear anything. He started feeling disoriented, gripping the wall to get his bearings. It made his mind at ease. It took him a few seconds, but he was able to get enough of his senses to remember what he was doing there. He quickly saw the upper hatch, climbed the ladder, and unlocked the hatch door. He saw Damien and Anya both just waiting; it looked like they had given up all hope. "Come on, get in!" Rick yelled. He was going to protect these kids, even if it cost him his life.

(Flashback)

Anya's POV

Anya couldn't help but keep thinking about how she could develop the Friendship scheme she always wanted to help her papa. After a few weeks ago when she nearly saved her papa from getting killed, she couldn't help but think if that could happen at any moment. She quickly shook those thoughts; she needed to focus on the scheme, not whatever that was. She noticed Becky beside her, who was talking about or telling her about Berlin in Love, a sort of emotional drama show. Anya wasn't that interested in that sort of stuff; she was more interested in spy wars and other action shows. She always wondered what it would be like to be a spy and to go on missions and save people. Her thoughts then drifted to why they were on the bus in the first place. They were going towards a facility of Science and Technology, which was cool as well as nerve-racking at the same time. This was for their science class, so they'd probably have to do a bunch of notes, which Anya groaned at.

Becky paused for a moment, waiting for Anya to say something. The only reason that Anya knew that was because she read her mind. She knew she had to say something or it would become an awkward silence, and Anya didn't like awkward silences. "How was your weekend?" Anya said, trying to make conversation as well as switching the subject. Becky just smiled. "Oh, my weekend was the greatest. Martha took me to the mall, and we went shopping, and it was amazing," Becky said, gesturing to her new clothes. They were way more flashy than usual. Anya noticed.

That was when the bus stopped, and they were at their destination. Everybody on the bus started getting up, and the teacher started grouping people into groups. As fate would have it, Becky, Damien, Ewing, and Emil were all placed in the same group. So, it was kind of awkward. Well, not for Becky. Now, for the entire trip, Anya didn't even know how to hear, both Damian and Becky started bickering with one another without stupid s***. Anya thought to herself, sighing.

When Becky and Anya got off the bus, everybody was already in their groups. Becky didn't like these arrangements either but knowing that they had to look for Damien as well as his two cronies, which wasn't hard. Damian was so noticeable to Anya at this point because he was the main point of the mission. "Hey, Forger, what are you doing here?" Damian said, not wanting Anya to be here. But that's not what his mind said, which confused Anya immensely. "I'm glad that Anya is here, even if it's hard to look at her. You just won't feel the same," Damian thought.

"You better not mess up Lord Damian's experience during this field trip, Forger," Emil warned.

"Oh, shut it, Emil," Becky stood up for Anya. That was one of the things that Anya liked about her friend; she would always defend her, even if she was planning on defending herself.

It was good that Becky had Anya's back. "Before you two erupt into something, you're giving me a headache with your senseless arguments," Damien said, frustrated, not liking this arrangement any more than everyone else. "It's bad enough that I have to endure Forger's antics," looking at Anya with disdain, but his mind said a whole different story. His two bodyguards immediately shut their mouths out of respect.

Becky knew how to get on Damien's nerves. Anya noticed, over her time in Eden.

Before any more conversation could have even broken out, a man in a white coat with frizzy hair—pretty chubby, not overweight but heavy, Anya put it—approached. There was something about how he held himself, his demeanor, that was familiar to Anya. She checked what was in his mind, and she heard it was her father, Lloyd, or Papa. But why was he here in the scientific museum? Was there a mission that he was doing? Anya thought, smiling to herself. Maybe she could be a hero today. She wouldn't lie; after having to try to disarm a bomb, she realized how real it was. But weirdly, she liked that. It gave her some sort of rush that she wanted to feel again.

"Okay, so I can at least get Anya and make sure she gets out of here safely," Twilight thought, thinking as logically as ever. "Are you guys ready for the tour?" Twilight said, making sure his emotions were as cheerful as possible. It was all for the sake of the mission. If Anya or any of these kids got hurt, this could jeopardize the mission and put Operation Strix in jeopardy. "Unless we keep going operational by any means necessary," Twilight thought. "If that means destroying all of this technologically advanced research, making sure it doesn't start a war, then so be it," Twilight added, immediately gesturing for the kids with a smile on his face towards the front doors of the facility, ready to give them the tour. Anya couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect of being in another super cool spy mission. Her eyes lit up like stars.

(End of flashback)

Damien's POV

Damien was shocked when he saw Rick coming out of the hatch of the tank. It was like a stroke of fate. He didn't think he and Anya would die here, but he guessed fate had other plans for them. Damien quickly made sure that Anya got into the tank safely. She was still unconscious, though, which made it difficult for both him and her to get down the ladder. Rick had to help a little bit in getting them down. They quickly closed the hatch; at least they were trapped inside for now. Damien softly placed Anya down. He didn't collapse; it was just so sudden.

Then, Damien felt tremendous pain throughout his body, and he felt like he was going to die. He had never felt this exhausted in his entire life. Was this really what it felt like to have adrenaline? It must have been so sudden that Rick was concerned for his well-being. "Kid, are you okay?" Rick asked, concerned. Damien tried to say something, but it only came out as a gasp. He couldn't help but think that he did that. He picked up Anya and just ran. He did that. He never thought he would ever do something like that. It felt good. It made him look like a hero. But the funny thing is, nobody could have ever seen him being a hero. Not his two best friends, Ewing and Emil. Not that dumb black belt. Not even Anya. He couldn't bring himself to tell her what he did for her. It was just too embarrassing. Damien thought, closing his eyes and letting the exhaustion take him for now.

Rick POV

Rick made sure both Damian and Anya were sleeping as comfortably as possible in the abandoned tank, despite sleeping in it with a corpse and being surrounded by other forces. He thought he was doing a pretty good job. He grabbed the soldier's pistol and checked to see if it had any ammo in it. It had a full clip, which was good just in case they needed to get out of there. An extra gun would be needed because he had lost the bag of guns he originally had. Just having another gun would be good for him at this point. Maybe he could get that bag and guns back, maybe not. He just thought all that mattered was keeping those two kids safe. Rick rationalized in his mind. He put the top of the gun near his head, sort of like saying a prayer, because for all he knew, they were dying there. He wasn't a Christian man, but if there was a god, he didn't want to save him, at least save those two children. They didn't deserve any of this. Rick resorted to himself.

He heard a crackling noise coming from a radio. "Hey, dumbass, are those kids alright?" the voice said, annoyed as well as concerned. "And also, is it cozy there?" the voice added, trying to crack a joke. Maybe his prayers were answered, or at least those two prayers were answered. Rick looked over towards Anya and Damien, who were in deep sleep at this point. Rick knew he had to think of something, anything, to get them out of the situation. He's Rick Grimes; something like this wouldn't take him down, not that easily. Rick forced himself up emotionally. He went and grabbed the radio receiver and responded.

author notes

I hope you enjoyed this start of the story, and I'm hoping to make more of it. I would like to hear your opinions. That's all I want to say for now. I'll see you guys in the next chapter.