A/N: This is my first time ever writing a fanfiction! Any suggestions on how to better improve my writing is much appreciated and I hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or it's characters, just my OC

Until I Collapse

Chapter 1 – Walk Forever By My Side

It had been a week since the news reported a few cases of cannibalistic behavior; neighbors eating neighbors and husband eating wife were some of the more gruesome ones she heard. And as the updates continued and worsened, Leah contacted her parents in Florida and told them to pack up the car with essentials and meet her in Atlanta. She had lived in Greensboro for the past 4 years and figured they should meet halfway and reunite in the refugee camp. Night had fallen and Leah had been driving for over 6 hours with nothing but her German Shepherd Prince and the Emergency Broadcast System to keep her company. And soon it was just Princes panting that filled the front seats of her SUV as the radio signals died. She was on a little two lane highway when traffic came to a complete stand-still. There were red lights as far as she could see and she decided it was hopeless to try and weave through it. Twenty minutes later she had decided to stretch her legs and figure out what the hell was going on.

She stuck her handgun in the back of her jeans as she hopped out of her SUV. She was walking for a couple of minutes before she came across a bear of a man with a police hat on; she figured since he was an authority figure that he may know what was happening.

"Hi, I'm Leah Shields," she shook his hand.

"Shane Walsh, and this is Lori Grimes and her son Carl," he motioned to a pretty brunette woman and a little boy who she guessed was around 11 years old.

"Ouch! That's quite a grip you have there, Carl. I think you nearly broke my hand," they all laughed she pretended to massage her right hand. Leah was happy she could bring a smile to someone's face during a time like this.

She looked back to Shane. "Well it's certainly nice to meet all of you. Do you have any idea what the hold-up is?"

"No, I don't think anybody has the first clue. The radio broadcasts stopped quite a while ago," he said solemnly.

Disappointed in his lack of information, "Yeah, well I'm going to head up the road a ways and see if anyone has any news. I'll report back here if I get any information."

"Much appreciated. Thank you." Shane said with a parting glance.

Leah began to walk back towards where her car was parked when she saw B-52s flying overhead. Curiosity got the best of her she went further into the tree line to get a better view of the city. When she saw the planes flying over Atlanta and dropping A-bombs in the streets she stood frozen in shock, as did everyone else that came to investigate. She could feel Prince's nose against her palm, sensing her dread and trying to comfort her. She scratched the top of his head in praise as she saw his big eyes staring at her in concern; he was the sweetest dog she could ever ask for. But her eyes drifted back to the scene in front of her. High-rises were engulfed in flames and she could smell the smoke in the air. What if her parents had already made it to Atlanta? There was no way they would survive that. If they did, how would they ever find each other? Leah could feel the tears about to spill over when she was pulled out of her trance by a very grim looking Shane. By the tone in his voice and the look on his face, she could tell that he had lost someone in Atlanta as well.

"A group of us are going to make camp nearby in a quarry. As soon as this thing blows over, the government will be able to find us easily there."

Still filled with concern, Leah's spirits were lifted slightly at the idea of having people watch her back and her watching theirs as this world sorted itself out.

"Great," she said "let me get my supplies."

When she emerged from the wooded area, she was within a couple of car lengths of her Land Rover when she passed an old blue pick-up with two men sitting it. The driver of the car called out to her asking if there was any plan. At first she was hesitant in relaying that information, the passenger didn't look to be in his right state of mind, but she figured there was power in numbers.

As she walked to the driver's side of the vehicle her heart skipped a beat when her mint green eyes met a pair of stormy blue ones.

"A- a group of people are going to set up camp in that nearby rock quarry. My name's Leah by the way, and yours?" she asked as she was staring into the man's mesmerizing eyes; she felt like a school girl talking to her crush.

"Daryl Dixon, an' this is my older brother Merle," he said with a Southern drawl.

"Hey there sugar tits," the man named Merle growled "I don't think that I've ever seen a sweeter piece of ass in my life," a devilish gleam in his gray eyes. Leah grimaced at his "pick-up line" if you could even call it that. She noticed that his eyes were glazed over and he had Bugles in his hands. Leah had a sudden flashback of all her friends from college as they fought off the midnight munchies. She fought off sadness at the thought that that world didn't exist anymore.

"Come on man, just leave the poor girl alone." Daryl rolled his eyes at his brother, annoyance written all over his face. Leah could already tell that Daryl was the better man of the two, she had always been very observant of people.

"Tell you what Deliverance, if you ever make a comment on my ass again, or any other part of my body for that matter, Prince here will bite yours." Prince put his front paws on the window sill effectively showing off his stature and teeth as he barked at the two men. Leah didn't fail to notice the timid expression that now occupied Merle's face, and apparently neither did Daryl as he chuckled silently to himself. She could only imagine what Prince looked like to Merle if he was as high as he looked.

"Good boy Prince! Well, you guys can follow me to the quarry, it's only a couple of miles up the road."

…

She was pulling her car into to quarry when she saw an RV and other various cars pull in as well. By the looks of it there seemed to be over 20 people in camp and the more the merrier in her book.

Shane was the first to speak once everyone came out of their vehicles. "Hey everybody, I know it has been a long day and we're all tired, but we need to push a little longer before we rest. I only think it's fair that we ration out what supplies we have to divide it evenly." That last statement got a few objections among the group, mostly from Merle and a big man named Ed.

Shane quickly regained control of the conversation by using a very stern yet level voice. Leah had a feeling he used that voice a lot while being a police officer.

"The key to surviving this, is surviving it together, as a group. If we're gonna beat this, we have to put our lives in each other's hands. Alright, now everyone bring what you have to the center here and we can ration out our dinner."

Everyone started heading off into the directions of their cars and began to unload all of their belongings. Leah had a couple of boxes full of dried meat and fruit, about six gallons of extra gas, various canned foods, and a case of water loaded up in her car, along with her bow and arrows and two handguns. She brought the food to the center of camp and got a few curious glances at how well stocked she was. In her mind she should be getting thanks from everyone at how well prepared she was, with all of her supplies she could survive on her own for a month. A man named Ed was less than pleased to give up his share to complete strangers, but it was pointed out by Shane and the rest of the group that it was necessary for enduring this hell.

…

There was a significant stock pile of food once everyone gave their share, it would probably last the entire group a couple of weeks. Daryl mentioned his hunting and tracking skills, the group gave him their thanks; they knew they wouldn't survive forever on beans and jerky.

Daryl sat next to Leah on a couple of tree stumps as they ate their canned vegetables, Prince laying at their feet. Aside from Shane, Leah realized she only knew Daryl and Merle, but formalities would have to wait until tomorrow when they weren't so vulnerable.

People were exchanging ideas about how to best set up camp in the morning when all of a sudden a twig snapped in the forest, immediately sending everyone into fight-or-flight mode as they grabbed their nearby weapons. A couple of moments passed before Daryl broke the silence by saying it was a Chupacabra. Everyone exchanged a few curious glances in his direction, begging him to enlighten them.

"I was out camping one weekend and I came across some dear tracks along a creek. I was following them for a couple of miles when I saw a bear-sized dog drinking from the stream about one hundred yards away. Then the deer I was tracking came out form the cover of the trees into the path of the Chupacbra, and before I knew it the dog was sucking all of the deer's blood out of its body. It was just outta range of my arrows and I wasn't about to sneak up on it so I backed off as quietly as I could before it decided it wanted a snack. It scared the living hell outta me."

The group burst out in laughter at the pure ridiculousness of his story, even Leah let out a chuckle which earned a glare from Daryl.

"I'm not saying I don't believe you Daryl, I'll just have to see it for myself," Leah smirked as she nudged his leg with hers.

"Fine! Laugh at me but you just wait until a Chupacabra comes and eats you in your sleep." With that being said, Daryl threw his plate into the fire and stalked off to go make his tent; a few members of the group still suppressing giggles.

The conversation dwindled down to silence as everyone finished their canned vegetables and jerky; everyone was emotionally and physically drained from the day's activities.

The rest of the night was spent with everyone setting up their tents; Leah was glad she had gotten one for her road trip to California a few years back. She let her mind wander as she went through the motions of setting up her two-person tent. Her mind, of course, wandered to her parents, she just prayed that they were somewhere safe or found a camp like hers. She pushed the ugly alternative out of her brain before she let it completely engulf her in fear.

After Leah set up her tent, she busied herself with organizing her personal belongings within, setting up Princes bed and bowls first. She patted herself on the back for remembering his dog food, she wasn't sure how well he would take to peas and corn. She pulled out her two handguns and ammo from her duffel bag and set them near her pillow as a precaution; both of her guns were fully loaded and she had about 100 rounds of ammo. She inspected her arrow and it looked to be in good condition, and so did her 20 or so arrows she had brought although they needed to be cleaned. The second-to-last item in her bag was a picture of her and her parents before her senior prom, her eyes started to swell up with tears as memories flooded her mind. She remembered how she had spent the entire day with her mom getting ready, applying various makeup and hair sprays until they were both satisfied with the outcome. Leah blinked back the tears as she placed the picture underneath her pillow. She knew her parents would want her to be tough, hell, she had to be tough in this world…there was no room for anything else.

She decided now was a good a time as any to use her final possession. She was so glad that she had thought to bring her iPod with her, she knew the battery wouldn't last forever but music had always been therapeutic to her. She turned the device on and scrolled through the playlist until her eyes settled on one particular song. "Walk Forever By My Side" had been her parents wedding song and she always felt that it symbolized their love perfectly, and she needed them with her in that moment. She needed their reassurance that everything was going to be okay.

Walk forever by my side

Never lose sight of the day

When we will run through all our weakness

On through the fields

Strewn with our broken dreams

Walk forever by my side

As the final notes of the song drifted off, she turned off her iPod wanting to conserve the battery for as long as possible. She put everything away and turned in for the night, according to her watch it was close to one o'clock in the morning and it had been a long day to say the least. When she lay her head on her pillow she suddenly realized how tired she really was and closed her eyes with the echoes of the song and Prince's light snores lulling her to sleep.