This was the kind of thing you only saw in movies. The dead people rising and eating other people. Those were the kind of movies I loved watching when I was in high school. But now, it was real life.

I was in my boyfriend's Chevrolet Silverado on the freeway towards Atlanta. The traffic was backed up so we could turn the car off and rest. We came from Canton, Georgia. When the virus broke out, I packed all the canned and packaged foods and Tyler and I's clothes. Not all of them, though. Only enough that could fit into two bags.

My dad and I went hunting a lot when I was young, so I had a few guns and knives. So I packed those and all the ammo I had. I also didn't forget blankets and pillows.

Soon Tyler and I were running out of our apartment and towards his truck when I heard a kid crying.

"Tyler, wait!" I yelled.

"What!"

"There's a kid in here." I said.

"Who cares?" Tyler asked.

"Put the bags in the car, I'll be right there." I told him.

"No, get in the car." Tyler said.

"I'm not leaving a kid behind, Tyler!" I argued.

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

Tyler is an asshole, I know. An abusive asshole who only cares about himself.

"If you aren't there in ten minutes I'm leaving without you." He snarled before running down the stairs.

I ran back to the door and knocked, "Hello?"

"Mommy." I heard behind the door.

"Honey, can you open the door?" I asked.

"Mommy left me."

"Open the door and I can get you out of here." I said.

I saw the door handle jiggle before it opened. I saw a little boy no older than five. He had long black hair and green eyes. He was clutching onto a stuffed animal moose.

"Where's mommy?" He asked.

"I don't know, hon. But come with me and I'll keep you safe." I replied.

"Promise?" He asked, holding up his pinky finger.

"Promise." I locked my pinky with his, "What's your name?"

"Jamie." He answered.

"Well, I'm Violet. Let's grab your clothes, okay?"

He nodded and we rushed to his room. Under his bed was a back pack and I grabbed it. I went into his drawers, packing his clothes. He ran over and shoved some pull ups into the bag, too.

"Alright, let's go." I told him.

I grabbed his bag and held his hand as we ran. I got to the parking lot and Tyler honked his truck. I opened up the passenger door and moved my seat forward so I could put Jamie in the back. Once he was buckled up I sat in my seat.

"What the hell was that, Violet!" Tyler yelled as he sped towards the freeway.

"I was not gonna leave a kid all alone." I replied before looking at Jamie.

"How old are ya, Jamie?" I asked.

"Four." He answered.

"Four, what happened to your mom?"

"She left." Jamie answered.

"Well, don't worry, hon. I'll take care of ya." I replied, turning around and smiling at him.

You could tell that he was tired, his eye were droopy.

"Go to sleep, hon."

He nodded before closing his eyes.

"You are such a dumbass bitch." Tyler said.

"He's four, Tyler. His mother left him and there are dead people runnin' around." I argued. "So, deal with it."

We were silent until we hit the a road, there were cars backed up for miles. The road was in the middle of the woods, which freaked me out. Soon it got dark and we barely moved an inch. We were next to a SUV and an old yellow Cherokee, both containing families.

Jamie was still sleeping and I was leaning against the truck, watching the two kids sitting in the back of the Cherokee playing checkers.

"Are we gonna go soon?" The girl asked.

"I don't know, baby. I sure hope so." The mother answered.

"I'm hungry." The boy said.

"I know, Carl. We all are." His mom replied.

"Why don't I get him something to eat?" The girl's mom said. "Ed's into all this survival stuff. We've got enough MRE's to feed a small army."

"I'd sure appreciate it." Carl's mom replied.

"No trouble."

I saw the woman's husband stopped her and slammed the door shut.

"What in the hell did you tell her that for?" He asked. "We don't even know these damn people."

I know an abusive person when I see 'em.

"The boy is hungry. We can spare one box." She replied.

"It's called operational security. How long do you think this stuff is gonna last if you keep runnin' your damn mouth off to everybody we meet?"

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." She responded before walking around the car.

"I got a box of granola bars if the kids want some." I said to the two mothers.

"That'd be great, thank you." Carl's mom replied.

I nodded and went to the bed of the truck. I opened one of the bags and dug around for the granola bars.

"Here you go." I said handing the kids two.

"Thank you." They both said.

"What's your name?" I asked the girl.

"Sophia." She answered.

"I'm Carl." Carl said.

"It's nice to meet you two." I smiled before walking over to the truck.

"Hey, sweetie, are you hungry?" I asked Jamie after I woke him up.

He nodded. I unbuckled him and picked him up. I set him down on the bumper and gave him the bar.

"I'm Carol." Sophia's mom said.

"I'm Violet." I replied.

"What's your boy's name?" Carol asked.

"He's not mine, I found him. But his name is Jamie." I answered.

"Where'd you find him?" She asked.

"Apartment. His mom left and I took him with me. Tyler wasn't too happy about it, though." I replied.

"You saved that boy. He's just gotta deal with it." Carol said.

"I told him that." I mumbled.

"Violet, I need to go potty." Jamie said after eating his food.

"Alright, hon. I'll take ya. It was nice meeting you, Carol." I said picking Jamie up.

"You, too." She smiled before walking back to her car.

Jamie just finished pulling up his pants when we heard explosions and screams.

"What was that?" Jamie asked.

"I don't know, sweetie. Come on, let's get back."

When we got back to the road I saw helicopters flying toward Atlanta.

"What's happening?" Jaime asked again.

"Everything will be okay, hon. Don't worry." I told him.

Lori, Carl's mother, told Carol's family and I about how Shane met up with a few people and they were gonna drive over to a quarry not too far from here. Atlanta's a bust, the helicopters we saw earlier bombed the city.

It was around thirty people that met up at the quarry. Only four kids, though. They were all older than Jamie, but hey, they're kids. Shane decided to be the leader, so he had all of us put our food in one pile. The only one who didn't want to do that was Ed. We still had quite a bit of food with out his.

That night people set up tents and slept in them. I didn't pack any, so Tyler, Jamie, and I slept in the truck. Tyler took the back seats while Jamie and I slept in the bed of the trucks. I didn't grab any of Jamie's blankets, so I had him use mine.

The next morning Shane had us sort out all the food and stuff. We had a few separate fires, thirty people can't fit around one fire. While eating we all introduced ourselves.

Dale seemed like a nice guy. He owned the RV that was parked behind Tyler's truck. Glenn was nice, too. So was Amy. I liked them the most. I hated Ed, he mostly packed booze and cigarettes. Carol and Sophia were shy, but so was I when I started to get beat by Tyler. I didn't know much about Jim, so he's okay. Merle and Daryl Dixon. Merle was rude, racist, an asshole, and a druggie. You could tell by looking him in the eye. He had that glazed over look. He also had a big temper. Daryl was a bit different. He wasn't a druggie, and he could be rude I bet if he wanted to be. He told us that he and his brother could hunt so we could have fresh meat. T-Dog and Jacqui were married and I could tell they were good people. Andrea was Amy's sister. I've only known her for a few hours and I could tell she was bitchy. I also told the group that I could hunt. I saw Daryl looking at me and I gave him a small smile.

After breakfast and getting to know the group, Shane gave us jobs. Since it was the first day, we had no laundry. Carol, Jacqui, Andrea, Amy, and I were on laundry duty, but not until next week. Morales and Tyler had to find rocks to put around the fire so walkers can't spot us. Dale and Glenn were on guard duty, and the others were either setting up their tents or doing something else.

"Hey, Jamie, whatcha doin'? I asked him.

He was sitting in the bed of the truck with paper and crayons.

"Drawing." He answered.

"Where'd you get the paper and crayons?" I questioned.

"I put them in my backpack when you weren't looking. Does it bother you?"

"No, not at all. Why don't you go play with the other kids?" I asked.

"Okay." Jamie replied, getting up and jumping out of the truck.

I watched Jamie run towards Carl and Sophia when he ran into Tyler. Tyler dropped the rocks on his foot and yelled. I cringed but when he grabbed Jamie and started pulling him away I ran towards him.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked Tyler when we were away from the others.

"Teaching this brat some discipline, that's what I'm doin'." He answered.

I looked down at Jamie who looked like he was about to cry.

"Jamie, hon, why don't you go back to camp, okay?" I asked.

Jamie nodded before running past me.

"What the hell, Violet!" Tyler yelled.

"That child is not yours, you don't touch him." I said.

"He's not yours, either. You just had to go and save a kid. If he wants to sleep in my car, he has to learn respect."

"Then we won't sleep in your car, asshole. We're done. You can beat on me all you want, just don't hurt him." I replied.

He slapped me and I fell to the ground.

"Bitch." He snapped at me before leaving.

I sat there for a moment, rubbing my cheek before standing up and walking back to camp. Once I stepped out of the trees I got the wind knocked out of me.

"I'm sorry." Jamie cried.

"It's alright. It was an accident." I replied, picking him up.

A few people were looking at me but I ignored them.

"Hey, Violet, want to go swimming with me?" Amy asked, "You can bring Jamie, too."

"Sure, want to go swimming?" I asked, looking down at Jamie.

He nodded.

"Let us get dressed first." I said to Amy.

"Totally." She replied.

I luckily packed my swimsuit. After changing in the RV I had Jamie just take off his socks and shoes. Jamie didn't know how to swim, so he stayed up on the beach, his feet in the water, while Amy and I swam farther out. We laughed and splashed each other for a bit before Jamie told me he was hungry.

"Oh, I'm starving, too. Let's get lunch." Amy said.

After drying off we got something to eat. The three of us were sitting on top of the RV with Dale, talking.

That night I was sitting on the RV, Jamie sleeping beside me. I told Tyler I wasn't going to sleep in his truck and I meant it. I was done with that jerk.

"What are you doing up here?" I heard Dale say when he climbed the ladder.

"I'm not sleeping with Tyler. I don't trust him." I answered.

"Well, I got an extra tent if you want it." Dale offered.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'll get it for ya." Dale replied.

"No, I'll, uh, get it in the morning. I don't want to wake him." I said, looking down at Jamie.

"You sure?" Dale asked.

I nodded and Dale started to go back down the ladder.

"Dale,"

"Yeah?" He said, looking back at me.

"Thank you."

He nodded before going down the rest of the ladder.

It was a week later, I put up the tent Dale gave me and moved Jamie and I's stuff inside. Right now I was teaching Jamie his ABC's.

"Hey, Violet!"

I looked behind me and saw Daryl walk toward me with his crossbow.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"You said you can hunt?" He asked, stopping right in front of me.

"Yep." I answered.

"Wanna prove it?" Daryl asked.

"Sure, yeah." I turned to the RV with Dale on top, "Dale!"

"Violet!"

"Can you watch Jamie for awhile? I'm gonna go huntin' with Daryl!" I asked.

"No problem." Dale answered.

"Thank you!" I said before looking down at Jamie, "Do whatever he says, okay?"

"Okay." Jamie answered before running toward the RV.

"My guns are in my tent." I told Daryl before we walked over to my tent.

After getting my shotgun and silencer, so no walkers hear, we went off into the woods. It wasn't long until I shot a squirrel.

"When did you start huntin'?" He asked after my fourth squirrel.

"Seven years old, I think." I answered.

I watched as he shot a rabbit.

He looked over at me, "Ever use a crossbow?"

I smiled, "Yeah, my dad taught me when I was about twelve."

"Where's your dad now?"

"He died a few years ago." I replied.

"What about your mom?" Daryl questioned.

"Died when I was a kid." I answered.

"So did mine. House fire." Daryl replied.

"Cancer."

After that we were silent again. Why was he so curious? After shooting a few more animals we headed back to camp.

"Go see your kid, I'll skin your squirrels." Daryl said when we got to his tent.

"Not my kid," I replied, giving him my animals, "but thanks."

The name of the story isn't so good. I couldn't really figure one out.