Chapter 1-The Fall
Madison's P.O.V
Madison Clark sat on the hood of her car on the highway outside of Atlanta. "I have no signal," Her daughter Alicia says as she walks up to her.
"That is really what you're worried about right now?" Her step-son Chris asks.
"We have people in Los Angelos who are probably worried," Alicia says as she throws her phone on the back seat besides her brother Nick Clark. "You having fun yet?" She asks her brother.
"I'm having a great time," Nick replies as Madison's husband Travis walks up to them.
"Maybe someone else has a better idea about what's going on. You wanna walk for a little bit?" Travis asks Madison who nods.
"Yeah, you guys stay by the car, we'll be back in a couple of minutes," Madison tells the other three who nod as the two walk away from the car. "We aren't getting home until this is over."
"It will all pass in a couple of days," Travis tells his wife who nods they see a man sitting with his car door opened listening to the radio. "Hey," Travis says making the man look at him. "Hear anything?"
"Nope, nothing," He says.
"That's not too surprising," A woman with black hair says.
"No I mean I don't hear anything, not even the damn emergency broadcasts," The man says. "Nothing about the refugee center in Atlanta, nothing."
"Mom, I'm hungry," Madison and Travis look at the little boy who spoke.
"I know, baby," The black haired woman says.
"I'm sure we have something in the car," A woman who short hair says as she walks towards her car and a larger man follows.
"I'm Travis," Travis says as he holds his hand out to the man who takes it after he shuts his car door.
"Shane, that's Lori, the boy there is Carl," Shane says.
"Madison," Madison says as the woman with short hair comes back.
"I must have forget the food," She says.
"We have some, we can spare," Travis says.
"Thank you," Shane says as they hear helicopters overhead.
"They're heading for the city," Madison says.
"You two stay with Carol," Shane says as he walks towards the railings with Lori, Madison, and Travis behind him. They walk into the woods and watch as the helicopters head towards the city. Explosions start to go off on the streets of the city.
"They're napalming the streets," Travis says.
"Shane," Lori says as tears form in her eyes.
"Come here," Shane says as he pulls her into a hug. "It's okay," Shane says as Lori starts to cry.
"Mom," Alicia says as she runs down to them.
"It's okay, baby," Madison says as she grabs her daughter's hand. After a moment Shane let's Lori go.
"Go get Carl, and the others ready, we're getting away from the city," Shane tells Lori who nods as she walks away from them wiping tears from her eyes and Travis looks at him. "We're going to get out of here, you guys are welcomed to follow."
"We will," Madison says as they follow Shane back towards the highway.
Alicia's P.O.V
Alicia sat in the back of the car as they drove off the highway and onto a dirt path. They had started to follow a couple other cars that were being led by a R.V after they had gotten off the highway. "We're not going home, are we?" Alicia asks her Mom who nods.
"If they did that to Atlanta, they did to to Los Angeles, we don't have a home to go back to," Madison tells her daughter.
"What about Mom?" Chris asks his father.
"We have to hope that she got out of the city. She knew where we were going. We can't go there, Chris, we don't know what we are dealing with," Travis tells his son who stays silent as he looks out the window.
"So we are just going to follow these people we don't know?" Nick asks.
"For now, if they prove to be dangerous we'll leave but they have kids," Madison says as the R.V turns down a dirt path that leads to the end of a cliff, under the cliff was the quarry.
Madison stops the car behind Shane's and climbs out as Shane get's out of his. Madison goes to the back and opens the trunk, pulling out a couple bags of chips and walks up to Shane. "For the kids."
"Thank you," Shane says as he hands them to Lori. "I'm going to go talk to the guy who drove the R.V if you and your husband wanna come."
"Travis, come on," Madison says and Travis nods as he comes up to her.
Shane's P.O.V
Shane, Travis and Madison walk to the top of the hill as an older man comes out of the R.V. "I'm glad Andrea was able to get your attention," He says. "I'm Dale," Dale says as he holds his hand out to Shane who shakes it.
"Shane, this is Travis and Madison," Shane says. "You know anything?"
"I just know they bombed the city and I didn't want to be around when the army came to the highway," Dale tells Shane as two blond women out out of the R.V. "That's Andrea and Amy."
"You got any tents in there?" Shane asks Dale who nods.
"Yeah, I got a couple, but not enough for everybody."
"We have some," Madison says and Shane nods.
"So do we," Shane says. "Until this blows over, we should all probably stay here."
"I agree," Dale says. "My wife and I went camping up here a couple of times, never saw anybody."
"Alright, let's get some tents up so people can sleep tonight and we'll go from there," Shane says and they nod as the disperse.
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl Dixon grabs his tent out of his truck as his brother Merle walks beside him. "Why'd you follow these people baby brother?" Merle asks.
"I don't know. I just saw 'em and figured it couldn't hurt," Daryl says after a moment.
"Look at that, Daryl," Merle says as he looks at a black man who gets out of a van with a young Korean man. "We don't wanna be around those kinds of people."
"Then we can set up our tent away from 'em. But this place is remote, we'll be safe from the dead," Daryl tells Merle.
"Fine, we'll stay for a little while," Merle says. "Maybe we can get some action while we are here," Merle says as he looks at the Harrison sisters.
"Come on," Daryl says as he grabs his crossbow and walks down the hills and after a moment Merle follows.
T-dog's P.O.V
Theodore Douglas and Glenn Rhee looked around the camp. "It looks like they are setting up camp here," Glenn says.
"It's as good a place as any," T-dog says as Dale walks up to them.
"I'm Dale," Dale says.
"T-dog and Glenn," T-dog says.
"I was seeing if anybody needs a tent," Dale says.
"We could use one," Dale nods as he motions for the two men to follow him. "You two from Atlanta?"
"Yeah, I picked Glenn up as I was leaving the city," T-dog tells Dale who nods as they get to R.V. Dale comes out a moment later with a tent.
"Here you go, Gentlemen," Dale says.
"Thanks," T-dog says as he takes it.
"You guys have any weapons?" Dale asks. "I saw some of those things coming out of the city."
"No guns, but I got a crowbar and a tire iron in my van," T-dog tells Dale who nods.
"Keep them close," Dale tells the two men who nod as they walk away.
Madison's P.O.V
Madison grabs the four tents out of the car. "Each of you have your own tent," Madison says as they hand them out. "But keep them close."
"Why did you get these?" Alicia asks her Mom.
"Travis wanted to go camping while we were here, he got his wish," Madison tells her daughter who sighs as she walks away.
"She's going to need help," Travis tells Madison.
"She can ask for it," Madison says. "I'll help, Nick. You help Chris."
Travis nods as he follows his son and Madison leads her son away. They stop and Madison pulls the tent out of the bag. "You're gonna have to pull yourself together," Madison tells her son.
"Mom—"
"Don't Mom, me. Nick there are no pills here, no drugs, you are going to go through withdraws," Madison says.
"I have some in the car," Nick tells his mother.
"I threw them out before we left the city," Madison tells him.
"What the hell is the matter with you? I need those."
"No, you don't, Nick. You want them, but there is no more time for this bullshit. You need to get clean, no more pills and no more drugs. If I have to I will tie you to the bed in that R.V. This is done. Do I make myself clear?" Madison asks him.
"Sure, Mom. Can we get this tent up, I would like to go to sleep tonight," Madison nods as she helps him.
Shane's P.O.V
Shane stood by his car watching Lori as she and Carl put a tent up. "Is he your partner's son?" Travis asks as he walks up to Shane who nods. "You have any kids?"
"No, are all three of them yours?" Shane asks Travis who shakes his head.
"No, Chris is," Travis says as he points at his son who was putting his bags in the tent. "Nick and Alicia, they're Madison's. My step kids," Travis tells him as he points to each of them. Madison and Nick were finishing up the tent and Dale was helping Alicia with hers. "How many guns do you have?"
"Two," Shane answers. "My sidearm and my shotgun. Lori has one of Rick's and that is all we got. Dale has a rifle in his R.V," Shane looks down the hill at Merle and Daryl. "They have a handgun and a crossbow. But they don't seem to want to be around any of us."
"You ever deal with any of them?" Travis asks Shane.
"I saw a few in hospital the army gunning them down, only a shot to the head kills them," Shane tells him. "I know of a few towns that could have supplies we could use, but I don't know how many of these people are going to volunteer to leave this place,"
"We'll have to find out," Travis says.
"We made some food," Carol says as she walks up to them. "You should come and eat."
"Thanks, Carol," Shane says and Carol nods as they walk towards a fire that Amy and Andrea had started. The group slowly started to gather around the campfire, everybody besides the Dixon brothers. "We don't know what it happening, but from what I saw in King County. It is some kind of virus."
"That brings the dead back to life," T-dog says making everybody look at him. "I had a friend in Atlanta. His girlfriend got bit by one of these things and she died and came back."
"Are you serious?" Lori asks.
"He's right," They look at Daryl as he walks up to them. "Mind if I grab two bowls?" Daryl asks Carol who shakes her head. "We dealt with a couple of 'em in our town. They bite you, you die, you turn into one 'em. They bit my Uncle Jessie, tour my Dad apart. It seems like the only thing they wanna do is eat, anything walking, anything breathing. Taking out the brain is the only way to kill 'em," Daryl says before he walks away.
The group was silent for a few minutes until Glenn speaks. "So what do we do?"
"We need supplies, we don't know how long this is going to last, we need weapons as well," Shane says. "I'll go on a run to a nearby town, but I can't do it alone."
"I'll come," Travis says.
"We'll come too," T-dog says as he looks at Glenn who nods.
"I'll come," Nick says.
"No, he'll stay here," Madison says as she looks at Travis who nods.
"We don't have a lot of weapons, anyways. The four of us will go," Shane says. "The rest of you will stay."
"We'll leave in the morning," Travis says and the other two men nod as the group eats in silence not knowing that this was the first day of the rest of their lives.