Stroke of Luck

TWD: Following the events until the end of "Coda". Beth!Lives. Bethyl.

O/C: Kendra "Ken" Cassidy (Felicia Porter)

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Chapter One: Murderer

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The gun was nestled against her shoulder as she looked through the scope. The shot was clear. All it would take is two bullets, one to break the glass, one to kill the bitch.

A drop of sweat trickled down her brow. Her finger tightened over the trigger.

Two bullets.

She felt the gun kick against her shoulder and heard the smashing of glass.

Another kick and she saw the bright spray of blood against a white wall.

Breath rushed back into her lungs.

Screams were followed by shouts but she was already sliding down the half wall she was been perched on. Her eyes lifted towards the sky.

It was over.

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His eyes tracked every movement as Beth slowly approached Dawn, her body tense as a live wire. They didn't miss how Dawn's hand had slipped to her gun, a movement that might have been unconscious, but no one could be certain. His hand mirrored hers.

"I get it now," Beth said, her voice low and full of something akin to disgust.

Rick's eyes narrowed. Beth had pulled something from her cast, which glinted in the light. He saw her hand tighten around it and his body instinctively began moving forward, ready to grab her.

The explosion of glass interrupted him, causing all of them to flinch or cry out. Another shot rang out, followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor.

Rick looked up from under his arm, which had lifted to cover his eyes, and saw Dawn on the ground with a bullet in her head. Blood was splattered across the wall and was pooling around her quickly.

Before he could move, Daryl was lunging forward and he grabbed Beth's uninjured arm. He pulled her away quickly and Rick saw her drop what she had been holding in her hand. It was a pair of scissors.

The others were scrambling towards Dawn, while some were looking for whoever fired those two shots. Daryl turned with Beth in tow and met Rick's gaze. "Come on," he said, quickly leading Beth away from the shattered window.

Rick followed him, taking the lead with him as the others helped Carol. They broke into a jog, wanting to put as much ground as possible between them and the others. They made it to the entrance and Rick saw the rest of the group approaching.

Maggie cried out Beth's name while they rushed forward. Glenn looked at Rick, who jerked his chin as a signal to move. "What happened?" Glenn asked, falling into step with Rick. "Who fired on who?"

"I don't know," Rick said, his eyes forward. "We made the swap but she wanted Noah. Just before shit hit the fan, someone fired out of nowhere and took out Dawn." He looked up towards the buildings across from the hospital. "Keep your eyes sharp, they might not be our friend either."

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The bitter taste in her mouth attested to Ken's belief that revenge was never sweet. She wiped the sweat from her eyes and yanked a hand through her greasy hair. She really needed to cut it again, since it kept flopping in her eyes.

The hissing and moaning told her that walkers were coming, having heard the gunshots. She glanced down the fire escape she had used to get to the top of the building and saw them on the ground, walking slowly over to the hospital. Kendra frowned. They looked fresher than the others, as though they were recently turned.

Shaking her head, she focused on trying to find another way to get down. She had barred the staircase that had led to the roof, since she didn't want any dead interrupting her mission. She walked over to the door cautiously and heard something heavy bumping against it. A glance through the grimy window told her two walkers were attempting to get through, even though a heavy set of chains made it impossible to do so.

Kendra pulled out her hunting knife from the holster strapped to her thigh and pulled the chains apart, letting the door swing open. The walkers used that momentum to charge at her. She stabbed the first in the forehead before using its corpse to knock the other off balance, before embedding her knife in its temple. The bodies fell to the ground and she wiped her knife clean on her shirt.

Quickly, she turned to descend the stairs. She could hear the low moans from other walkers, so she kept her footsteps light and body alert and ready.

Once she exited the staircase, she made it out of the building before she ran into a small pack of walkers. Gritting her teeth, she began to systematically kill them one by one, making sure to dodge their snapping jaws.

There was a low whistling noise and Ken watched as the walkers turned their attention to something on her right. Then there was a flash of black and green, and a walker fell over with an arrow embedded in its eye.

She pivoted and saw a group of people approaching. She recognized some of them from inside the hospital and stiffened briefly before she finished off the last three walkers that were still trying to grab her.

With the walkers dead, Ken turned to face the group again, her eyes meeting the man standing in front of the rest. He looked like he was in his mid-thirties and he had a scruffy beard and serious blue eyes.

Her eyes skimmed over the others, eyeing their array of weapons. She noticed the woman with the katana and the guy with the crossbow, as well as the blonde girl who was being held by two others.

The beard guy approached Ken slowly, his hand still holding his gun. Her hand tightened on her knife briefly, before she forced herself to relax and slide it back in her holster. She let her hand fall at her sides, palms open, as a symbol of peace.

The man eyed her for a moment longer before he put his gun away. He stopped about three feet away from her, his eyes assessing every inch of her before latching onto the precision rifle that was strapped across her back. "You were the one who shot Dawn," he stated, rather than asked.

Ken lifted her chin slightly. "Yes."

The man's eyes narrowed slightly. "Why?"

Her hands unconsciously fisted at her sides. "Because that bitch killed my sister."

The man stared at her before shifting his weight. "My name's Rick. What's yours?"

"Kendra. Or Ken."

"How many walkers have you killed?"

"Too many to keep track."

"How many people have you killed, besides Dawn?"

"None."

She could tell he was trying to assess if she was telling the truth. His entire posture spelled out his suspicion towards her and his gaze was weary. Instinct told her to maintain eye contact, which she did unflinchingly.

"Where you headed?" Rick asked.

Ken shrugged. "I don't know at this point. I tried to make it to Terminus, but by the time I got there it was blown sky high. Don't suppose that was you guys?"

Rick nodded slowly. "They were killing people. Eating them."

Ken's eyebrows flew up but she didn't say anything. After living in this infected world for these past few years, little to nothing surprised her anymore, but this did. She felt uneasy thinking of people turning on people in that way.

"Listen," Rick continued, turning slightly so he could glance back at the group. "You can come with us, if you want." He glanced back again and this time a few people stepped forward.

Two of them were the woman with the sword and the guy with the crossbow, along with an older woman with short, gray hair and another guy who looked Korean. She noticed how he and Rick exchanged a look before he turned to look at her.

"I'm Glenn," he said, offering his hand. "And this is Michonne, Daryl, and Carol."

Ken nodded at the other three before shaking hands with Glenn. "Ken," she replied.

The woman named Carol stepped forward. She offered Ken a small smile. "How long have you been on your own?"

Ken's jaw clenched for a moment. "Ever since I managed to get out of that hospital."

Carol didn't press her any further. She reached out and squeezed Ken's shoulder in a small sign of comfort. Carol then turned and Glenn helped her back over to the rest of the group.

Ken meant Michonne's gaze, then Daryl's, noting they were both eyeing her coolly. Ken understood that she probably wouldn't be accepted fully into the group for some time, not until she showed she was a useful member like the rest of them.

Daryl looked at Rick and gave him a small nod. Rick then gestured for Ken to follow as they walked over to the others. Ken introduced herself to them before Rick told them to begin moving, since there was probably walkers on the way, drawn to the noise of the gunshots.

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Beth couldn't help but stare at the woman who killed Dawn. She wasn't a fool, she knew things at the hospital were about to go bad until they were interrupted by the gunshots. She wondered if she should say something.

She watched as Ken walked near the rear of the group, offering to help Carol walk since she was still weak from being hit by that car. Carol smiled at the younger woman, who gave her a hesitant smile in return.

But her eyes soon strayed over to Daryl, who had been quick on his feet to pull her out of the fray. He was walking alongside Michonne and Tyreese, occasionally murmuring something to them.

Beth thought for a moment before deciding to slow down so she could walk besides the newest member of their group. She smiled at Ken, who nodded at her. "So where were you from before, Ken?" Beth asked.

"Before?" Ken repeated.

"You know, before all of this."

Ken blew out a breath, blowing the hair from her eyes. "Well, I was born in Michigan," she began. "But I grew up in California. I moved out to the East Coast when I started college, then moved up to New York for graduate school. Once that was over… I don't know I just decided to stay. Had a few jobs here and there, but nothing solid. Then everything happened…"

"What did you do?"

Ken shifted so Carol could lean on her more. "Hid, mostly. Once I figured out what was really happening, I collected what I could take with me and took off. Being close to the city was too dangerous, so I began making my way through less populated areas. I wanted to make my way down to Louisiana, since I knew my sister was there. But since we both saw signs for Terminus, we found each other there. Of course we couldn't stay, so we kept moving. Eventually we came across a pack of walkers and Cassie, my sister, was injured. I tried to fight them off but the next thing I knew this car comes roaring out of nowhere and Cassie and I wake up in that hospital."

Beth reached out and squeezed Ken's hand.

Ken cleared her throat. "Cassie didn't wake up. She hit her head on something and was in a coma and Dawn gave her a week before she pulled the plug. She didn't even tell me until I walked into Cassie's room and found her dead. So when it was nighttime, I managed to escape through the elevator shaft, after I got my stuff and stole a few weapons. Ever since then I had been waiting for the right moment to get that bitch for what she did. So when the opportunity presented itself…" Ken trailed off again, shrugging one shoulder.

Carol finally spoke up. "You did what you thought was right."

Ken laughed bitterly. "And yet I still feel like shit."

Beth and Carol exchanged a knowing look. They both understood that the kind of lives they lived today left them with little or no choice when it came to doing something that would keep them awake late at night.

"You're at alone anymore," Beth said, trying to lighten the mood. "You got us now."

Kendra looked over at Beth before briefly smiling. "Yeah," she agreed, looking at the rest of the group, "I do."

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Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead.

Author's Note: Hello! This is my little AU "what if" story when it comes to the Walking Dead. Hope y'all enjoy it! Please review!