A/N: Hey there again, guys. Thanks for taking the time to review the prologue and I'm glad you enjoyed it, I did make a few mistakes which I hope you didn't notice too much! But here's hoping you like the first chapter just as much. I like to add a few songs of a playlist that I listen to when writing each chapter which you really don't need to pay any attention to but I just put them up in case there are folks who are interested - which I'm sure your not. But anyway, I'm rambling so I'll shut up and let you read ahead. Thank you again for reading and I hope to keep the pace of uploading a chapter weekly or sooner. We'll see how it goes.

Playlist:

The Bamboos - On The Sly

The Republic Tigers - The Infidel

Metric - Cold, Guns & Girls

Chapter One: Zombie Apocalypse

It had taken roughly two hours, give or take thirty minutes for Pam to arrive in Dallas. The traffic had been lighter than expected and surprisingly everything had gone without a hitch, if you were to exclude the rookie cop who had made the mistake of stopping her outside Longview for speeding. She had started to dislike the Porsche a little less the more she spent in the smooth black leather seat with her hands on the steering wheel, and getting comfortable in a sports car wouldn't be quite right without testing its limits.

Before she knew it she was barrelling down the highway at a hundred and ten miles an hour, that was until the human in uniform got his tighty whities in a bunch and sounded the sirens, nothing a little glamouring couldn't resolve. Apparently the Texan law enforcements hadn't received the memo on the clever little eye contacts the Louisianan scientists had created, but then again Pam would think that the surrounding states wouldn't want to touch Louisiana with a barge pole after the outbreak of Hep V.

All the better for her.

'Turn left into Abrams Road to reach your destination.'

Blinking down at the sat nav, Pam rolled her eyes inwardly and leaned in to try and turn the machine off before she lost her patience and broke the damn thing. Eric had somehow managed to program the automated voice into sounding similar to Sookie, and right now the thought of faery vagina made her want to murder an entire village. Not a very good idea with the amount of coverage vampires were getting on the news, she decided, and so flicked the power button off with a sharpened fingernail.

Sighing quietly, she turned down a secluded gravel road that was lined with rows of tall trees and removed her sunglasses to get a much more defined look of her surroundings. Entering the territory of a nest always bore its risks, especially if vampires were exchanging blood and had their alpha's permission to do whatever they pleased. A recipe for disaster, as they say; but Pam had to hope that Isobel wouldn't promote this kind of behaviour seeing as she was Sheriff and had far more responsibility than the average vampire.

If Eric could trust her, then so can I.

Slowing the car down as she approached the top of the road, her attention was drawn towards a beautiful French eclectic mansion that had been cleverly built in the seclusion of the surrounding forests. Pam had no doubt that the vampires who resided here fed well with the amount of deer hunters, joggers and dog walkers that took this trail. Very little effort would be needed to hunt and it really was the perfect setting to bury the bodies once finished with them.

Putting the Porsche into park, she removed the keys and spun them on her index finger while taking her time to think how she would go about introducing herself to Isobel – if she got that far, of course. Pam was smart enough to know that there were guards protecting this property and they probably had already spotted her driving down the road a mile back. Fun. They would want to search her, that was the standard protocol of a nest and although she could go without having the greasy hands of some lowlife touching her designer clothes, it was a hell of a lot better than being silvered or even worse, staked.

Leaning across to unzip her caramel coloured suitcase, she continued to stare out the window as her slender fingers raked through the many items she had packed back at the club. Makeup, a few of her more comfortable outfits, shoes, a hairbrush, perfume and her leather purse which she pulled free and set in her lap before removing her seatbelt.

She had a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach, an almost twisting sensation that made the hairs on her bare arms stand on end as she hesitantly stepped out into the warm night air.

Taking a moment to stare around the trees with narrowed blue eyes, she held her head high and pressed her ruby red lips into a stiff and unimpressed pout. If Isobel's guards expected her to march on up to that mansion just for them to tackle her to the ground, they needed to rethink their piss poor strategy.

"Okay, boys" she said breezily, straightening her posture and taking a small step forward. "Are you gonna make a lady stand out here and wait around all night?" Allowing a pinch of playfulness to reach her purring tone, she arched a brow and smirked as the sound of footsteps finally reached her ears.

"State your name and business" A firm, Southern masculine tone echoed through the night and in an instant two burly vampires had sped from the cover of the trees boxed her in against the Porsche, snatching her purse without any reservation.

Clinching her jaw, she eyed both guards and refrained from blurting out a sarcastic comment as they searched through her belongings in silence. Their unimpressed scowls at finding no trace of a concealed weapon brought a small smirk to her lips as she wondered what they had truly been expecting from her.

The taller and scruffier guard sighed and handed her purse to the second guard who took a step back to quietly observe her with dark eyes.

"Turn around and place your hands on the car till I search you" The tall guard instructed, signalling with his finger for her to face the Porsche. "And as I said before, you must state your name and your business."

Rolling her eyes, Pam turned on her heel and slid her palms against the car door without protest.

"The name is Pam" she said, furrowing her brow as his gloved hands roughly patted her leggings down as if she were a hardened criminal. "And my business is strictly with your Sheriff so I'd appreciate it if you were to hurry up with this unnecessary search."

Looking up at her from his crouched position by her heels, the guard cleared his throat and stood to his full height with a nod.

"Standard procedure." He stated formally, looking her over briefly before turning to walk in the direction of the mansion. "This way."

Pam glared into the back of the guard's head and slid her fingers along the wrinkles he had set in her leggings before following closely behind him. She peered around the secluded road with weary blue eyes, paying particular attention to the thick layer of fog that had begun to creep through the trees with each passing moment.

It was perfect camouflage to orchestrate an ambush, and the more she thought about it the more she was unable to relax the tension that rolled down her spine. Maybe she was overreacting, but spending time in the jail slash laboratory that Governor Burrell had created for his psychotic science experiments had opened her eyes to the very real threats that were rising from the shadows and so perhaps it was wise to have precautions.

Folding her arms, Pam sighed and tried to remind herself that this was Isobel Beaumont's territory and that she was probably safer here than back in Louisiana. But being by herself among strangers was not her idea of comfort, all she wanted was for the past few years to reverse themselves so she could go back to normalcy with Eric.

Why did he leave me here in this mess? How could he have possibly thought it was the right decision, where is his head at?

"Mind your step"

Blinking as the guard's gruff voice broke through her train of thought; she halted and watched him step over a puddle filled with mud and other unpleasant smelling substances that she'd much rather not get on her black Gucci heels. Pressing her lips into a hard line, she furrowed her brow and quietly followed his lead, her movements graceful and precise as she hopped over the puddle without any effort.

"You might wanna fill that with cement" Pam said, staring into the back of the guard's head as he led her up cemented steps towards the mansion.

"Not my job" he replied bluntly, clasping his hands behind his back and looking over his shoulder. "Where did you come from tonight?"

Arching a brow at the question, she tilted her head to look past his broad shoulders and to the front doors of the mansion that shone beautifully in the moonlight.

"Is this yet another question for your standard procedure?" she asked sassily, returning her unimpressed glare to his face as they reached the granite porch.

A slight smirk revealed itself through his stern features and he nodded once while marching towards the double doors in a similar fashion to that of a soldier and it was then that Pam wondered if this guard was in fact part of the military.

"Yes, standard procedure" he finally agreed as he pulled free a key card from the front pocket of his black jeans.

Resting her hands on the curve of her hips, Pam slowly made her way to stand by his side and took a moment to appreciate the tinted glass that made up the doors. They were obviously bulletproof and she guessed that they also kept sun rays out, very high tech and very expensive for a nest that Pam would think didn't need such abrasive security measures.

She sensed that something was going on here, something big and she didn't like not knowing was that something was. Gulping back the tension that tightened in her throat, she shuffled her weight and looked to the guard.

"Louisiana"

"What?"

"Louisiana" she repeated bluntly, watching with mild interest as the guard slid the card into a slot between the two doors which lit up an electric blue and beeped twice to confirm his identity.

"Well, that is unfortunate" he sighed and took a step back, allowing the doors to slide open before turning to eye Pam with curiosity.

"Unfortunate?" she questioned, frowning at his choice of words.

"Another part of our protocol here is for all vampires who have been within Louisiana in the past month to take a blood test, with Hep V running rampant there at the moment you can never be too careful." He explained, arching a curious brow at her.

Rolling her eyes, she folded her arms and shrugged

"I think you'd know if I were infected or whatever, hideous blue veins protruding from my lovely smooth skin and bursting into a puddle of goo is a very obvious indicator" she muttered sarcastically.

"I guess you ain't caught up on things then, but don't worry your pretty little head on it. I'm sure Ingrid will inform you about everything." The guard shrugged, smirking down at her before turning to march back down the steps. "Have an eventful evening."

Pam frowned after him, her pale blue eyes filled with uncertainty as he vanished back into the forests without another word. What exactly was she not caught up on? For a full month she had been inside that shithole that the media had dubbed 'vamp camp' and she thought she had seen everything there was to see, a firsthand experience into the world of vampire torture, as it was.

What the hell did he know?

Shaking her head, she turned to step inside the mansion but was stopped in her tracks by a petite brunette girl with thick glasses that were far too big for her face.

"Who the hell are you?" Pam asked, surprised that she hadn't heard the brown eyed vampire sneak up behind her. Her senses needed improving.

Smiling up at the tall blonde with pearly white teeth, the little vampire looked to be around seventeen years old, she sported a full fringe and freckles that made her appear far too innocent to have any form of authority. That and her five foot frame were utterly unintimidating; she would fit in nicely with Jessica and Willa's theoretical Bible club.

"Hello there, I'm Ingrid and I'll be taking your blood tonight." Introducing herself with a gentle English accent, the girl slid her glasses back up her small nose and nodded. "I hope David went easy on you, he doesn't take to strangers that well."

Pam narrowed her eyes, she didn't look old enough to feed on her own never mind sticking a needle into anybody. But she had learned that looks could be deceiving and so told herself not to argue and cause unnecessary drama. She pictured Eric patting her shoulder for being the bigger person and mentally rolled her eyes at him.

"David was delightful, I especially liked the part where he frisked me for weapons" She purred, keeping her eyes locked with the slender girl who submissively blinked down at her feet. "Now, can we hurry this along, cupcake? I really need to speak with your Sheriff."

Opening her mouth to speak, the girl stuttered quietly before clamping her lips shut – thinking better of speaking her mind to the blonde vampire who had already asserted her dominance without saying anything.

"This way, it should only take a moment" she murmured, smiling up at Pam before turning and quickly walking into the mansion. She hummed a tune to herself and pulled her key card from the pocket of her grey Peter Pan collar sweater, sliding it into the slot by a beautiful painting of a mermaid that had been bolted into the right hand wall of the foyer.

Pam followed the petite girl and took a moment to look over the beautifully decorated room that was vast in size and rich in colour. The walls were painted a deep red, almost identical to blood which most likely had been the idea at the time. And many expensive historical paintings were on display; it seemed that the vampires in this nest had a keen eye for the arts which meant they weren't the barbarians that she had feared they might have been earlier. Dropping her gaze to her feet, Pam appreciated the expensive white marble floor, a stylish and professional contrast to the red. Perhaps she and Isobel weren't that different when it came down to a love of design.

"I know, it really is lovely" Ingrid's voice echoed through the foyer along with her light footsteps as she came to stand by Pam, smiling up at her. "Stan wanted to paint it brown, but it's pretty clear that Isobel's choice was better." Chuckling to herself, she lead the way past two red couches that were situated opposite each other in the centre of the room and towards a desk in the far corner where a receptionist sat.

Pam rolled her eyes at Ingrid's attempt at small talk and ignored her; she didn't care enough nor wanted to converse with anyone at this present moment in time other than Isobel. Apparently the vampires in this nest had a hard time processing that information. Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, the statuesque blonde stopped short of the receptionist's desk and instead noticed three security cameras dotted around the ceiling. They really were thorough with their technology.

"Hey, Cecil" Ingrid greeted the young African American woman by leaning over the desk and standing on her tiptoes "Can you go ahead and inform Isobel that I have another guest waiting to see her? I'll need to take her bloods first but just say that her name's Pam."

Turning around in an instant, Pam sped to the desk and smirked as pieces of paper flew in the air and twirled to the floor at her sudden movements. Ingrid arched a brow and suppressed her laugher, turning to shrug at Cecil who looked thoroughly unimpressed.

"You perked up pretty quickly" Ingrid smiled.

"Whatever, kiddo" Pam waved the girl off and instead looked to Cecil who clutched a phone in her hand. "I need you to tell Isobel that I'm Eric Northman's progeny, I don't wanna be stuck waitin' around this place all night so if you'd pass on that information I'd be grateful."

Cecil looked down at the pieces of paper that were now scattered across the floor before returning her irritated glare to Pam.

"Pick those up and I'll think about it"

"Excuse me?" Pam frowned at the receptionist who narrowed her eyes in response.

"You heard."

Ingrid huffed and sped to pick up the individual documents, sorting them into a neat pile and stacking them on the desk once again.

"Just tell her, Cecil" she sighed heavily "Please?"

Pam looked down at her fingernails, smirking at how the little girl felt the need to impress her. It would have been a cute gesture, if she wasn't so annoyingly optimistic.

"Fine" Cecil ground out as she continued to glare up at Pam while dialling a number into the phone.

"Thanks!" Ingrid smiled and skipped towards the iced glass door on the opposite side of the room.

Pam smirked at the young receptionist and turned to strut after the bouncy brunette, holding her head high with each step she took. The only person that ordered her around was Eric and it would stay that way much to the displeasure of Cecil.

"She's really nice when you get to know her" Ingrid explained, turning to look at Pam as she led her down a small corridor towards an elevator.

"She seems it" Pam muttered, watching the petite vampire pull her key card from her pocket again.

"You really need that thing for everything in this place?"

"Yeah, well mostly everything – apart from the toilets, for obvious reasons."

The elevator door slid open and Pam furrowed her brow, stepping inside and turning to admire her reflection in the mirrored glass that made up the walls. She looked great considering how bad she felt.

"What do you mean for obvious reasons, we don't use toilets." She muttered, not enjoying the smell of bacterial spray that burned the inside of her nose.

"No, but our day walkers do" Ingrid laughed, as if she expected that Pam should know that. "They guard our nest when we die for the day; Isobel has the best incentive when it comes to protecting us. She makes a brilliant Sheriff, even more so than Godri-" Pausing mid sentence, Ingrid cleared her throat and turned to peer at Pam with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I don't mean to offend you in any way."

Pam snorted and sighed

"Offend me? I didn't know Godric, so no offence taken. But please refrain from bad mouthing my maker." She said, running her gaze over the girl and silently critiquing her awful outfit.

How in the world could she have seriously thought to put white frilly socks over black tights and then step into brown ankle boots? Now that was offensive.

The girl bit the inside of her cheek and nodded, watching as the numbers one and two flashed on the black screen above the door.

'Level three' an automated voice spoke and the elevator doors slid open to reveal another, much wider corridor with several rooms on each side.

"Okay, here we are" Ingrid murmured, leading Pam down the black laminated flooring to the very last door.

"While you're taking my blood, you can tell me what's going on around here because apparently I'm not entirely informed, according to David." Pam huffed, allowing the guard's name to roll off her tongue as if she'd bitten into a sour lemon.

"Oh" Ingrid said with a less than enthusiastic tone that made Pam arch a brow.

"Oh?"

Clearing her throat, the little fashion disaster reached the door of her office and slid the key card into the slot before quickly allowing Pam entry. Following after her, she closed the door behind them and sighed.

"I thought you would've seen on the news..."

Pam frowned and found that she didn't like the sober tone to Ingrid's voice even though she had been wishing for it the moment they met.

"I don't have time to watch television, are you going to continue being vague or actually inform me of whatever the hell has happened?" Pam huffed, eyeing the spacious office that included two bookshelves with the works of Charles Darwin, Agatha Christie and Stephen King. A mahogany desk that matched her outfit, messy and colourful with its contents spread all over the place. A half opened laptop, scattered paper, empty bottles of tru blood and a hideous white rat that clung onto its cage and bit into the metal bars.

Moving to sit in her chair, Ingrid pulled a stool from under the desk and placed it next to hers.

"Hepatitis V has been polluted into Louisiana's tru blood stock" She began, patting the stool for Pam to join her as she pulled open a drawer under her desk and raked for the testing machine.

Pam glared at the rat and pushed its cage away from her, animals were almost as disgusting as humans and why the hell a vampire had an actual pet was beyond her. Ingrid was certainly a strange one, almost as strange as Jessica which was saying something.

"I already know this; they were planning it in the camp when we escaped. Eric and I and the rest of the vampires who were held there, we destroyed all the boxes when we got out." She explained, eyeing the small hand held device that Ingrid set on the desk with curiosity.

"Well, you didn't get them all. In fact, there were probably thousands more crates of blood being transported around the state while you were destroying what you thought was the entire stock." The vampire sighed, gently sliding her fingers around Pam's hand and bringing her index finger to the little needle that protruded from the machine.

"So what, vampires are gonna drop like fleas and die all over the place?" Pam frowned, feeling the needle penetrate her skin and draw blood.

"Not quite, the Hepatitis V has mutated" Ingrid murmured, lifting Pam's hand away and bringing the machine close to her face to read the results

"Mutated?" Pam asked, a mixture of surprise and confusion finding her voice at the revelation. "In what way?"

Ingrid smiled down at the machine and looked back to Pam

"You're clear" she lifted the machine to show Pam who pushed it away, uninterested. "And we're not entirely sure yet, all we know at this point is that the vampires who ingest this Hepatitis V become rabid and cannibalistic."

Pam narrowed her eyes at this information and glared into one of the bookshelves as she thought to herself. Well, Eric really was smart for leaving when he did. And also a bastard for deserting her here without any backup, if there was an award for shittiest maker then he'd definitely be nominated for the title this year. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she tried to contain her emotions as best as she could.

"So what the hell is this, a zombie apocalypse?" Pam asked, turning to look at Ingrid who spun on her chair.

"I really wish I knew, I bet Stephen King could write so much amazing stuff on this" she grinned, the enthusiasm returning to her voice as she stood and moved to the door.

Pam rolled her eyes; she really couldn't wait to get out of this place.