I figured I'd try writing a fic about my all time favorite show, so I'm not sure how well this will go ^.^

I don't own TWD except the OC.

Hope you like it!

It was astounding how different the world was now.

Actually, that was the biggest understatement of the century, Ashley mused as she shifted her position squatting against the dirty plane of glass between her and the outside world. It was dusty and grimy, covered with a layer of dirt that only could accumulate after two years of not being washed. Who cared about clean windows anymore?

She watched the scene with curious golden eyes. Rarely had she run into living, breathing people in the past month, and there she was, hiding out in a house while observing a handful of people entering the abandoned one across the street.

"This is gonna be interesting," Ashley muttered to herself, her voice a faint sound in the darkened room. Not two hours earlier had she seen another group of three take temporary residence inside. Two had left, and she would have assumed they only stayed for the night, if the last one, a thin, injured looking man hadn't stayed behind.

'Probably out looking for supplies,' Ashley realized. She was relieved the boisterous team of men hadn't raided the house she was in, but if that man didn't get out soon, or if the other two arrived back too early…things were going to get exciting very quickly.

She dropped back on her haunches. The little room smelled of mold, but she was too lazy to look for the food that was probably left behind a while back. Yeah, like a bad smell would bother her now. The world went to shit, a little mold was the least of her problems.

With a sigh, her gloved hand found its way into her backpack, filled with bottles of water and a few snacks she scavenged. Her knives were resting at the bottom, each of them sheathed in a leather case.

It came naturally to her as she pulled each one out and sharpened them, listening to the sound of the blades, her breathing, and the faint sound of the shouting men across the street.

'Poor guy,' she thought sympathetically, thinking of the scruffy man trapped in the house. Normally, she never thought twice about the fate of another, not in this world, but she saw something she hadn't seen in a very long time.

The group of three, before the two went off down the street, seemed…bonded. Like they've faced horrors together and trusted each other with their life. Trust was rare nowadays. You trust someone, you die, at least that's what Ashley was accustomed to.

But that group contained the type of people you'd want on your side, and Ashley found herself dreading the moment she'd hear the gunshot, signaling the end of the man's life.

She began humming to herself, a sad, slow tune her mother used to sing to her when Ashley was little...and when she was still alive. Her family was gone, and slowly, the hurt was fading. The lullaby was the only way she could remember her past.

The small bedroom was dusty, scattered with various objects from the shelves. Another group had obviously raided it, though they probably wouldn't find anything since the room used to belong to a toddler.

Ashley felt her chest clench at the sight of the empty crib, one that used to be slept on by a little baby boy. What a sad, horrible world this was if new life was taken away in the blink of an eye. She could almost-

BANG BANG

She jumped, sitting up to peer out of the window as her heart sunk. What surprised her, was that the man she assumed was dead, was sprinting down the street with his two comrades, frantically telling them to go the other way before getting discovered.

'Stealth mode activated,' she internally chuckled. In a sudden decision, Ashley found herself hastily packing her things, stuffing her knives back in her bag while simultaneously placing another in the waistband of her dirty jeans. Sheathed, of course. She wasn't stupid.

Tossing away her previous plans to reside there for the night, she rushed out the back door, jumping through backyards to catch up to the retreating group. She ignored the mental alarms going off in her head. Strangers were bad. Being alone is better. Despite the echoing words, Ashley continued to keep an eye out for the three.

'Let's hope this doesn't get me killed,' she thought to herself.

"What happened?" Carl demanded his father once they paused to rest a few streets away. He took off his hat, running a hand across his sweaty face as they doubled over.

"Another group," Rick panted, holding his side. "I was asleep in the bedroom and they got in."

"So much for resting," Michonne mumbled, doing her best to help Rick find a place to sit. Carl sighed, his head dropping back to stare up at the sky. It swirled blue, hints of an upcoming sunset peeking over the horizon. It seemed like such a beautiful day, promises of a new one soon to come, but he knew better. You never knew if you were guaranteed a new day.

And now seriously wasn't the time to be admiring the sky.

"So what do we do now?" Carl wondered. "We need a place to stay."

"I don't want to be in this neighborhood with that group in there," Rick shook his head. "There were at least six of 'em. Reckless and violent, too."

Michonne peered down the road with sharp, dark eyes. Carl thought back to their conversation earlier, and his chest tightened. Michonne was a mother. She had a family before the world ended. For some reason, Carl always assumed she was warrior-type since the beginning. With her katana and fearless personality, Michonne was a force to be reckoned with. But he discovered a side of her he'd never seen. She was so normal before all of this.

Well, no one is normal now. God knows how much he had changed since he was twelve and innocent.

"I saw a map of the town in one of the houses," Michonne supplied. "There's another neighborhood just past that forest."

"Maybe one of us shoul-"

"We are not splitting up again," Carl spat, cutting off his dad. He almost lost him once, he wasn't about to lose him again.

They eyed each other for a moment, Carl staring sternly up into the blue eyes that he knew matched his own. The brim of his hat cast a shadow over his eyes.

"Alright," Rick nodded, looking calm, yet determined. "Let's move."

The trees loomed overhead, casting dark shadows everywhere. It was a surprisingly dense forest, filled with thick-trunked oaks and maples. Twigs snapped rhythmically beneath their shoes, a sound Carl focused on.

The three kept a watchful eye as they swiftly moved, and Carl felt the back of his neck tense like he felt eyes on him.

"Let's take a break," Rick suggested. He was wheezing, his lungs releasing a strange sound. He was still deeply injured after all. Travelling was definitely not the best choice for him, but what other option did they have?

They stopped in a clearing, bits of sunlight filtering through the leaves above them, swaying in the breeze. It would be dark soon, and they needed to get out of the forest quickly.

Carl collapsed onto the grass, taking the water bottle Michonne offered him with a smile. He took a sip, not knowing how long it would be until they got more supplies.

'Just a little rest,' Carl sighed in his mind, cushioning the back of his head with his backpack. A little rest wouldn't hurt, and this bag is so comfortable…

Rick was laying down, eyes shut in a rare moment of serenity. Michonne was off to the side, surveying their surroundings.

Carl's mind drifted, like it oftentimes did. His little sisters face entered his vision, making his eyes burn and fists clench. He should have been watching her. Judith was the only thing that seemed good in this world now. Even if she was growing up in hell, Carl saw her as a sign that everything would be better soon. They'd find peace. They could stop running. He'd get to watch his beautiful baby sister grow up.

He squeezed his eyes shut, imagining what their life could be if Walkers never existed. He'd get home from school, greeting his mom and dad in the kitchen, as little Judith hobbled into the room with bright blue eyes. Everything would be perfect. Michonne and all the others would be there too, of course, since he could no longer imagine his life without them. They would-

A strangled cry jolted him from his daydreaming. His eyes shot open in alarm.

"Walkers!" Rick shouted, struggling to get up. His mind went into autopilot. Carl hopped to his feet, seeing Michonne tackled by two Walkers, wriggling on the forest floor. Her sword was flung several feet away. Though he was aware how capable Michonne was, he didn't think her chances were very good while being pinned and weaponless.

His hand found the gun strapped to his side, preparing to pull it out and shoot the undead attackers with two well-placed shots in the brain, when bony, rotting fingers wrapped around his torso from behind.

"Carl!" Rick shouted in distress. He was fighting off his own Walkers with a large rock. More and more of them seemed to hobble into the clearing, the rays of the dying sun illuminating their decaying flesh.

It was at that moment that panic began to set into Carl's chest. He pulled away from the one grabbing him before its teeth came close, swinging the butt of the pistol into the Walker's temple and hearing the sickening crack of its skull caving in. It collapsed at his feet, but three more seemed to replace it.

Carl backed up, eyes glancing across the clearing to see how well the others were faring. His heart sunk.

Rick had used all his strength by bashing the Walker's heads in, but he was too far away from Michonne who was still without her katana. She was fending off the Walkers with sheer strength, along with a little luck, but one of them, with gray matted hair and a missing arm, came inches from her shoulder.

"Michonne!" Carl screamed, shooting one right between the eyes before it got too close. The deafening sound of the gun only seemed to attract more.

Where did they even come from!? Shitshitshit.

A faint whirring sound was somehow heard over the groans and grunts of the Walkers, and then the sound of a knife being plunged into the skull of the one above Michonne.

Carl's eyes widened. 'How did-?'

Another knife went right through the other one, and Carl saw it that time. It flew through the trees with alarming accuracy.

"Michonne!" Carl shouted again. She pushed the limp bodies off of her, catching her breath for only a second before diving for her katana and slicing the head of a Walker clean off. Its skull bounced to the forest floor with a thud, jaw still snapping. Carl hurried to reload his gun as more came at him, adrenaline pumping through his veins.

Another knife spiraled in, slicing straight into the brain of the Walker in front of him. His head swiveled to the right, seeing a girl come rushing into the clearing. Carl watched her from the corner of his eye as he shot and bashed Walkers in the head.

The girl weaved, dodged, and killed the Walkers left and right, whipping various knives from her bag with a flick of her wrist. She slid between the legs of a hobbling Walker, obtaining a blade from the skull of a fallen one, before hopping up and slashing it through its temple.

A groan was heard behind him alerting Carl of the presence of another Walker. He spun around, raising his gun to shoot the rest of the undead right between the eyes. They fell to the ground.

After what seemed like forever, the attacks ceased. The herd was down.

Ashley caught her breath, gripping the handle of her last knife and tugging it from a zombie skull. It slid out after two harsh tugs, and she cleaned it off on her pants. She was almost too nervous to face the group in front of her, as stupid as it sounded.

She was about to stand up when she saw a gun was aimed at her face, held by the young boy with piercing blue eyes.

"Who are you?" he growled.

She didn't answer. Tension hung in the air, along with the rotting scent of the dead bodies surrounding the clearing.

Why was he pissed? Ashley was incredulous. She just saved their sorry asses. They would've been dead if she hadn't stepped in. Granted, she wasn't planning on revealing herself until later, but if she didn't do something, the group of three would not have come out of this forest alive.

"Carl," the injured man got to his feet, dropping his rock in the process.

'Didn't he have a real weapon?' Ashley ruminated. The boy- Carl?- continued to point the gun in her face. He glared at her, and the silly cowboy hat somehow seemed to work for him, making him look a little menacing.

"Where did you come from?"

"She saved us," a new voice spoke. Ashley peered at the dark-skinned woman as she walked closer. "I don't think the girl deserves a weapon in her face."

Carl hesitated, giving her one more warning look, before placing his gun back in its holster. He huffed and stepped back. Geez, he should probably relax a bit…

"What's your name?" the man asked, sounding kinder than the kid. His blue eyes shined through his dirty face. Huh, he was probably the kid's father; they had the same eyes.

She paused, placing her knives back in her bag before standing up. She regarded the group as a whole, maintaining her pride. The best-case scenario: they let her follow them. Worst…well, she guessed being killed in the middle of the woods was a pretty sucky way to die in this world.

"My name's Ashley. And I followed you since you left that house when the group raided it," her voice came out clear, despite her heart thudding hard in her chest. Hey, honesty would probably be the best choice at the moment, and it wasn't as if she could come up with a sorry excuse on the spot.

"Are you in a group?" the man asked, well, more like demanded.

"No."

"How long were you alone for?"

"Three weeks," she answered. She caught sight of the boy widening his eyes behind his dad.

"Dad, we can't-"

"Well, Ashley," he continued, cutting Carl off, "My name is Rick Grimes, and I only have three questions to ask you."

Hope you liked it! If you didn't already know, this story is based off of the end of the episode 'Claimed', hence the title. This was just a test chapter, I guess, so if you really want me to continue, let me know! If this doesn't get too many reviews, well it was fun to write the first chapter anyways!:)

Review please? vv