Disclaimer: I do not own the walking dead or any of it's characters. I do, however, own my character.

The Revelation of the Other Woman

Chapter One: In the blink of an eye.

It happened in the blink of an eye. One moment I was having a panic attack and the next I was making out a man that I had only known for a few days. And that's how I ended up in a fist fight with a woman while the whole camp watched. Oh…wait, I've skipped a lot of stuff. So let me take you back to the moment I knew life as I knew it was truly one-hundred percent o.v.e.r.

People were crying and screaming in the hallways outside while I sat between my mother and sister who both lay in bed. My sister had been bitten on her shoulder by a man in the street. My mother was bitten by that same man in the process of pulling him off my sister. After developing a high fever they called me and told me they were going to the hospital.

Since being admitted, nothing had been done to successfully lower their fever and they had only gotten worse. Every move they made caused them to scream out in pain. I sat in a chair between their beds holding both of their hot hands as I tried to work the knots out of my stomach. Things were not looking good. Hundreds of people had been pouring into the hospital all with the same symptoms as my mom and my sister. Rumor was that people that were bitten by crazy people died from whatever disease they were given and came back as one of them. I was worried that they were going to die. My mother was going to die and my sister was one step behind.

"Joe…" My mom whispered, making me take my eyes off of the floor to look at her. "I'm dying…I can feel it."

With tears in my eyes I turned to my mother and grabbed her hot hand in both of mine. "Don't talk like that. You're goin' to be fine." I choked out holding back the tears that threatened to fall.

"No…Joe, listen to me." She breathed quietly. "I love you." her proclamation made the tears start slipping down my cheeks as I told her I loved her too. "You need to stay safe and don't get bitten. Whatever happens…stay safe…don't look back…" her eyes started to slip shut and panic thumped in my chest like a herd of elephants, "always…keep-" her eyes slid completely shut and a tidal wave of sobs shook my body as I fell forward onto her unmoving stomach.

Her heart monitor flat lined, the sound ringing my ears. When the ringing doubled I turned to see that my sister's hand now hung limply off of the bed and her head hung to the side. "No, no, no." I cried as I fell to the floor between the beds, resting my forehead on the cold tile floor. One arm was wrapped around my aching stomach while the other held my chest.

My attention was pulled elsewhere however when what sounded like machine guns started going off in the halls. What was gunfire doing in a hospital? The sound started getting closer along with the sound of men. Men with authoritative voices who, from the sounds of it, were kicking in doors and demanding people stand against the wall. I was still doubled over on the floor as I listened to them talking. "I don't care if these people are sick or not. We all have orders, follow them!" a man yelled and I jumped as guns started going off.

I screamed as a bullet zipped by my head. If they caught me, they'd kill me. I was a fast enough thinker to know that. So I scrambled to my feet and looked around me for somewhere to hide. I looked under the bed, but it was full of wires, gears and bars. The only other option was the little closet attached to a chest of drawers with a mirror over it. So I scrambled over to it and squeezed myself into the tiny two foot wide space.

I had just managed to shut the door when I heard the door to the room get kicked open. Two single shots rang out before I heard the bathroom door be kicked in. "Clear!" I heard a man yell before the door was slammed shut and they moved on. Even thought the door was closed I still didn't come out of hiding. I couldn't because I couldn't move. My body shook, practically vibrating in fear.

My family had just taken their last breaths and people were being gunned down in the hallways. What was I supposed to be doing? I didn't know the answer, so I stayed there until the panic attack I was having eased up and the halls outside were quiet.

It was only then that I pushed the narrow closet door open and stepped out into the room. My mother and sister were still in their beds as they had been before, but now there was a bullet hole in the middle of their foreheads. As I looked at them, more tears spilled over, washing away the dried streaks of previous ones. They were gone. Just minutes ago I had been holding their warm hands and now they lay dead…cold as ice.

An uncontrollable wave of nausea overcame me and I ran to the bathroom to puke up the grapefruit I had eaten for breakfast. When I was done I rinsed my mouth out and went back into the room with my dead mother and sister. I walked over to my sister and picked up her cold clamy hand in mine as tears slid down my cheeks. "Sammy…" I cried my nickname for her as I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed it. "I…I don't know what to do." I said as I looked from her to my mother.

Her last words to me bounced around in my head, answering the question I just asked my sister. "Don't look back, always keep looking forward." It's what she told me when I was little and I would make a regrettable mistake. "Forgive yourself, don't forget, but don't look back. Just always keep looking forward." It got shortened as I grew older.

"But how do I keep looking forward when there is no forward?" I asked myself with tears in my eyes. In an attempt to figure it out I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself, but it only helped a little. The first thing I had to do was get out of this building. I didn't want to, I didn't want to leave my family behind without a proper burial, but I had to. I told myself at the time that I could come back when things settled down and see to it that they were buried in the family cemetery, but I know now that that will never happen.

So I went to the door and pushed it open just a crack. What I saw on the other side will forever be engraved into my head. Bodies littered to grey tile floor that was coated in a layer of different red tones of blood. Telling myself that I had no other choice, I stepped out into the hallway. The first body I came upon was a dead swat team member. His helmet was missing and there was a hole in his forehead. His gun was in his cold hand so I took it and the green bag that was over his shoulder before I slipped back into the hospital room.

"Okay…I just robbed a dead man…but it's okay… I had to do it." I told myself before I held up the gun in my hands "I can figure this thing out…" I whispered as I looked the weapon over. "How different can it be from my little pistol?" I asked no one in particular. I checked the clip or was it called a magazine? I couldn't remember, but whatever it was called was half full so I looked in the bag to see if there were any more bullets in there. There were a few left so I used them to fill the clip up the rest of the way then put it back in the gun. As I continued to look the gun over I found the safety then got to know the rest of it. I hoped I wouldn't have to use it, but if I ran into anything or anyone that tried to stand in my way of getting out then I would.

Now that I had protection I stepped back outside the room. But as I looked down at the swat team member, giving him a silent thanks for the gun, my eyes took in his armor. My mother's words "Don't get bit." bounced around in my head. His armor could help prevent that. So with a queasy stomach and a heavy heart I grabbed his hands and pulled him into the room, shutting the door when I was done.

"I'm sorry." I told him as I took off every piece of his gear and placed it on myself. When I was done, I checked myself in the full length mirror in the bathroom. The black armor looked weird over my hot pink tank top and black yoga pants, but it would keep me safe from the ever chomping teeth of the crazies. I looked around me, trying to think if there was anything else I needed to grab before I ventured out into the dangerous halls. First my eyes landed on the bag I had taken from the swat team member and I threw it over my shoulder then took my wallet, keys and cell phone into the bag. Then my eyes landed on my mother and the locket that had always hung around her neck. With a shaking hand and a heavy heart I took it off of her and placed it around my neck.

With one final look back at my family I pushed the door open and ventured slowly out into the hallway. I had to force myself not to look at the bodies of the people that were resting against the wall with multiple holes in their heads as I walked down the hall. I glanced at the nurses' station and the big red letters that spelled out South Wing Intensive Care Ward, as I walked by it and down the hall to the elevators. I had just pushed the down button when the whole building shook. Ceiling tiles fell from above me and I ducked down, covering my head with my armored arms. The lights started flickering as the building stopped shaking and the smell of smoke filled my nose.

"Did they just bomb the freakin' hospital?" I asked myself as I stood up straight and opted for the stairs now that the electricity was now unreliable. I was almost to the last floor when another explosion went off and the building shook. The bottom of the stairwell collapsed, blocking the way out. "Shit." I cursed as I scrambled backwards up the stairs to avoid getting hit by rubble. With no other option I went through the door that led to the second floor.

This floor looked a lot less bloody than the third floor that I was on did and I walked down it hoping to find another way out or maybe even someone to help me. But as I walked down the hall I realized this hospital truly was a ghost town now. The place was dead silent, except for a heart monitor that was beeping a few doors down from where I stood at the nurse's station. I ignored the sound and started looking for a map or anything that would help my find my way out of here. I hated hospitals. They were always so damn confusing.

But as I looked for a map, the beeping started to get on my nerves. So with all intentions of just shutting the machine off I headed to the room. There was a bed, slid in front of the door and I kicked it aside then pushed the door open. Without looking around the room much I walked over to the machine. I was about to pull the plug when I saw that there was a man lying in the bed.

I stopped as it now registered that the beeping of the machine meant that it was attached to a live person. The man in the bed looked pale and sweaty, but his breathing was steady. As I looked between him and the open door to the room I contemplated just leaving him there and finding a way out of the hospital while I still could. I had decided that he wasn't my problem and that I should get out while I could and headed over to the door, but a raspy breath from him made me look back.

He was alive, alone and if he hadn't been woken up by the blasting and gunfire that had been going on around him then my guess was that he was either in a coma or deaf. "Son-of-a-bitch." I sighed as I plucked his chart out of the holder on the door then pushed it shut. I walked over to the table in the corner of the room and sat the folder on it then took the bag off of me and sat it down with the gun.

He had a bandage wrapped around his side so to make sure it wasn't a bite I placed my hand on his forehead. He was warm, but not burning up. He didn't have whatever it was that made people turn crazy. That was comforting enough, so I sat down in the chair that was next to the table and began reading his file. I didn't know anything about medical terms, but from what I could make out he was a cop named Rick Grimes who had been shot on the job. If I read the chart right he had been given a medicine that put him in an induced coma.

Somehow the fact that he was a cop made me feel better about the fact that I was helping a random stranger when I could be getting out of this danger trap of a place. Knowing that he was in a coma and couldn't eat and drink for himself, I looked at the bag of fluids that hung on the iv pole. It was almost out. If I didn't find him more, he might become severely dehydrated.

So with a sigh and a new mission in mind I put the bag back over my shoulder and grab the gun. When I left the room I made sure the door was completely shut and pushed the bed back in front of it, just in case. "Okay, there has to be a supply closet or something around here somewhere." I sighed to myself as I looked around then headed to my right, towards the nurse's station. There were a few small refrigerators and cabinets so I rummaged around in them. I managed to find three bags of saline solution so I forgot about finding the supply closet for now. If I could figure out how to control how fast the fluids dripped or waited a while before giving him a new bag three could last a while.

I was about to head back to the room when my stomach gurgled. I hadn't eaten since that morning and the sun was starting to go down. The lunch room was on the first floor, and I didn't have the time to figure out how to get there. So I searched the abandoned floor until I found some vending machines. The lights inside of both of them were out so I grabbed a nearby chair and slammed it into the glass fronts. I hated having to do this, stealing food, but I had no other choice and it didn't look like anyone would care that I was being a vandal. If the cop wanted to arrest me when he woke up…if he woke up, then I would let him.

So with that done I grabbed what I could and stuffed it in the bag until it was full. I wanted to go ahead and eat, but I didn't want to leave the man, Rick, unattended for too long. So I headed back to the room. When I got close I was comforted by the sound of the still beeping heart monitor. Now that I had what I needed, I made myself comfortable in the overstuffed chair that I knew could fold out into a bed if need be.

-Two days later-

I was sitting at the small round table in the corner working a puzzle book when I heard Rick take a few jagged breaths. When I looked up I saw that his eyes were open just a little so I walked cautiously over to him. "Rick?" I asked, but he didn't really look at me. "Rick, I know you don't know who I am, but I'm here to help you." I tried, but his eyes slid shut and he fell back to sleep.

As the days past I had to venture further and further away from the room to find food for myself and fluids for Rick. So far I hadn't had to use the gun, but the longer I spent in the hospital the more crazies found their way to the recovery wing. I was good at avoiding them and sneaking around them. All I had to do is be quiet, which was easy for my dancers feet to do.

The more I had to sneak around to get supplies, the more I learned about the crazies. Not only did sound attract them, but smell did too. I noticed that the longer I went without showering the less they seemed to smell me and come after me. So one day while I was waiting for Rick to wake up a thought struck me. If they didn't feel the need to eat something that smelled bad, then maybe I could create a crazies repellant. But what smell would repel them the best? The more I thought about it the more I realized that they didn't pay attention to each other, just the living. It was this train of thought that led me to a plan that I hated to do, but I knew could save me in the long run.

There was a nurse at the nurse's station. She was dead and they hadn't touched her, so as sick as I thought my idea was I put on a pair of gloves from the box that hung on the wall and grabbed the metical scissors off of the metal tray that was sitting on Ricks end table and cracked the door open. The coast was clear so I tiptoed out, slid the bed back in front of the door and headed to the dead nurse. My first step was to take her lab coat off and set it aside. Then, with a sigh, a deep breath and a set of shaky hands I raise the pair of scissors above my head and plunged them into her stomach. I did this over and over until her stomach was a bloody bowl of mush and guts. I crawled away from what I had just done and puked the bag of chips I had eaten for lunch up into the corner. I took a moment to catch my breath and wipe my tears before I laid the coat out on the floor with the right side facing up.

My stomach churned again as I dipped my gloved hands into the pit that the woman's stomach had become and cupped the blood in my hands. Some of it dripped onto the floor as I transferred it onto the white coat. I did this over and over until the jacket was coated enough with blood that I was sure it smelled as bad as the crazies that walked the halls.

Now that I was done I picked the coat up and headed back to the room. After making sure the door was latched I headed to the bathroom and hung the blood coated jacket up over the curtain rod to dry.

This jacket aided in me locking up a majority of the crazies into the employees only cafeteria after I raided it. Just in case more living people made their way here, I used a can of spray paint that I had found lying on the floor to paint a warning on the chained doors.

—three weeks after finding Rick.—

I was sitting at the table, working a cross word puzzle when I heard Rick's breathing pattern change and when I looked up at him, I saw that the was awake and staring up at the ceiling. "That vase, that's somethin' special. Fess up. You steel if from your grandma Jean's house?" he asked still looking up at the ceiling and I stood up to greet him. I had thought of a thousand different ways to introduce myself and tell him what had happened to the hospital, but in the moment all of those practiced words left my head. "I hope you left her that spoon collection." He laughed before he started coughing. I took a step closer to him and he looked over at me and asked "Shane?"

"Um…no…" my answer came out sounding more like a question.

"Where's shane?" he asked, looking at me with a confused look on his face as he held his side. The bandages were clean and his side was healing well despite the fact that I hadn't given him any antibiotics. The supply of those were locked up tight in the storage closet and even if I did take the time to find the keys, I wouldn't know what to give him.

"Uh…I don't know. I…I don't know who that is, but my name is-" I started but he interrupted me.

"Are you a nurse?" he asked with a raspy voice.

I shook my head. "No. My name is Joanna Jacobs and I've been looking after you for the past three weeks."

"W…what?" he asked as he blinked at me then tried to sit up.

"Whoa, wait, let me help you." I said as I grabbed his shoulder and helped him sit up. "What do you remember from before you went to sleep?" I asked as I backed off and handed him a bottle of water. "Sorry if you're dehydrated. I pretty much wiped this floor of fluid bags for you and I ran out a week ago." I explained. He just blinked at me then chugged the bottle of water. "So what do you remember?" I asked again.

"Uh, I was shot and I was brought here. It got fuzzy after that, but I remember them doing surgery to remove the bullet." He explained before he finished what little was left in the water bottle. So I held my hand out for it then went to the bathroom and refilled it.

When I walked out he was about to try to stand up so I rushed over to him. "Hey, take it easy." I said as I wrapped my arm around his waist and helped him stand. "You don't remember anything about the…the people eating other people?" I asked and he shook his head. "Then I think there's something you need to see." I said as I started walking in the direction of the window.

"What, the…?" he asked as we peered out the window. The room had a good view of the fallen building s around us. Smoke still rose from some of the larger ones that had been bombed and crazies wandered the streets in what I was calling packs. "What happened?" he asked as he let go of me to lean forward onto the window seal.

"Honestly? I have no freaking clue. All I know is one day everything was fine, then over night more and more people were biting and eating other people and the people that got bitten turned into what I've been calling crazies." I explained badly as crossed my arms over my chest.

"Crazies?" he asked, still looking like he was in shock from seeing the world around him.

"Yeah. After people get bit, they die, but they don't stay dead. They come back and they don't come back human. They come back as something dark and hungry for human flesh." I explained and he stumbled back over to the bed and sat down.

"Has…has my wife come by to see me?" he asked, looking like he was about to cry.

"No, not since I've been here. This place is dead. There's no nurses, no staff, nothing." I said and he looked at me with a tilted head blinking rappidly. "So you have family?" I asked.

He nodded shakily. "My wife, Lorie and my son, Carl. Can I call them, do you have a phone?" he asked.

I shook my head no. "The phone lines are down and cell phones no longer work." I explained and if he wasn't so dehydrated he probably would have been crying. "But I've found you some clothes and if you want, you can get dressed, get some food in you and I'll help you look for them." I suggested, hoping that since I had helped him and kept him alive that he would let me stick with him. He wasn't in good health, but he was a cop, which meant that he was most likely a strong man and could in turn keep me alive out there.

He didn't say anything, but when I handed him some clothes he took them and went to the bathroom to get changed. When he came out, dressed in blue pajama pants and his hospital gown was tied at the neck to make a loose shirt, I handed him a bag of chips and soda. He took them without a word and started eating. "Why are you helping me?" he asked with a flat look at me.

"I couldn't just leave you to die." I said with a shrug then went into the bathroom grabbed the bloody jacket that was now dry and crispy and put it on over my riot gear before I threw the bag with all the food and ammo in it over my shoulder then grabbed the gun.

"What are you doin'?" he asked as he took in my new attire. "Is that blood?" he asked with a look at my jacket.

"I'm getting ready to go out there. It's not pretty and you never know when you'll run into a crazy." I said ignoring his question about the coat. When he finished his chips and soda I nodded to the door. "Are you ready?" I asked and he just nodded. "Okay, then let's go find your wife and kid."

He followed me numbly out of the door holding his side as we went. I had found a way out of the hospital weeks ago, but couldn't bring myself to leave Rick. So that's where I led him, to the stare well that led down and out of the hospital. When we got to the bottom and opened the door bright evening sunlight hit our eyes and we had to take a second to let them adjust. I walked down the metal stairs and onto the concrete before I turned and held my hand out to Rick, helping him down the steps. I started walking, but when I turned back to check on Rick he was staring at the dead bodies that were wrapped in white sheets with fly's buzzing around them.

"Their dead, Rick. They aren't the ones we need to worry about." I said and he looked up at me as if I were being cold. Looking back now it probably looked that way, but I'd had time to get used to the sight of dead bodies, he hadn't. "Come on, we're losing daylight." I said as I jerked my head for him to follow. He followed me until we got to my car and put my key in the door unlocking and opening it for him before I walked around to the drivers side.

"This is your car?" he asked, standing on the other side of my black '67 Chevy Impala.

"Yeah, you got a problem with old cars?" I asked with a small smile and he shook his head no. the shocked look was still on his face, but I assumed that it would be there for a while. I know I probably looked like that for days. On top of what the world had become, waking up to a woman in workout clothes and riot gear probably didn't help. Especially when I put on a bloody lab coat. "Okay then get in and tell me where I'm going." I said with a small smile and a nod down at the car.

He nodded numbly and ducked shakily down into the car. As I cranked it and pulled out of the parking lot he told me where to go. We drove in silence until we turned onto the street he told me to go to. He pointed out his house and I pulled to a stop in front of it. I didn't even have time to kill the car before he was stumbling out of it and running up to his house. I knew, when I saw the door wide open that his family was probably gone. So with a heavy heart I killed the car and took my time walking up to the house. I could hear him calling out for his son and wife and when I heard him crying I stopped. He needed a moment alone, I under stood that, so I stood in the entryway, leaning against the wall. While I let him cry it out, tears of my own slid down my cheeks and fell onto my shirt, hurting for him.

It was only when I heard him whisper, "Is this real?" that I walked around the corner to see him doubled over on his hands and knees touching the floor as if it were a mirage. "Am I here?" he sat up with his hand resting on his head and when he started hitting himself in the head I couldn't help but rush over and try to stop him. "Wake up, wake up." he chanted while I held his wrists to keep him from hitting himself.

"I'm sorry." I whispered as tears still fell down my cheeks.

He just took his hands from mine and walked out onto the porch. I let him go knowing he still needed time alone to grasp what was going on around him. I started looking around the house, hoping to find a clue as to if his family had been killed or if they had tried to evacuate. But I didn't get a chance to get a good look because my attention was pulled outside where I heard a kid yell "Daddy! Daddy!" I ran outside, wondering if Rick had found Carol. Instead when I got onto the porch I saw a little ebony skinned boy holding a shovel while Rick lay on the ground with blood coming out of his mouth.

"No!" I yelled as I ran over and kneeled down next to Rick. "Rick, are you okay?" he didn't answer me and when a gunshot went off behind me I turned to see what looked to be the kids father running over to us.

He pushed the boy back. "Did he say somethin'? I thought I heard him say somethin'?" the man asked the boy.

"He called me Carl" the boy answered.

"Son, you know they don't talk." He scolded before he looked down at Rick then up at me where I had my hand on Rick's chest. "Hey mister, what's that bandage for?" he asked.

Rick tried to pick his hand up and asked "Wha- what?"

"What kind of wound?" Rick just looked at him where the man was holding a gun on him. "You answer me Damn you. What's your wound?" he asked and when Rick just looked at him he pulled back the hammer on the gun. "You answer me or I will kill you."

Rick passed out and he turned the gun on me. "Please, he was shot. He wasn't bitten I swear it." I said with one hand on Rick's slow moving stomach and another held up in the air. "Please don't shoot us?" I asked, but the man just kept the gun on me.

"Son, go get the rope out of the house." He instructed and the little boy ran off. "Get up." he demanded and I hesitantly took my hand off of Rick and stood up. When the little boy got back he handed his father a loop of rope. "Put your hands together and don't try anything stupid." Seeing as how I forgot my gun in the car, I had no other option, but to put my hands together and let him tie them together. "Son," he said getting the boys attention and he stepped up to look at his father, "You keep an eye on him. I'll be right back. Yell if you need me." he said before he walked around me and put the gun to my back, ushering me into the house next door.

He took me to a bedroom where he tied me to a headboard then left. A few minutes later he came back with Rick draped across his arms. He laid him on the bed before he used what was left of the rope to tie Rick's hands to the headboard.

It was night fall by the time Rick woke up. The little boy, who's name I had learned was Dwayne was watching us with a baseball bat in his hands while the man, Morgan, washed up from changing Rick's bandage even though I told him I had just changed it the day before. "I changed that bandage." Morgan announced to Rick when he saw that he was awake. "What was it, the wound?" he asked Rick.

I rolled my eyes. "I already told you he was shot." I said and Rick looked over at me where I sat between him and Dwayne.

"She tellin' the truth?" Morgan asked and Rick looked back at him.

Rick nodded. "Yeah, she's tellin' the truth."

"What else, anything?" Morgan asked.

"Gunshot ain't enough?" Rick asked.

Morgan finished drying his hands as he walked over to Rick and pointed at him with the rag in his hand. "Look I ask, and you answer, both of you." he gave me a pointed look before he looked back down at Rick. "That's common courtesy right?" Rick and I just looked at him as he leaned down to hover over Rick. "Did you get bit?"

"Bit?" Rick ask, still not quiet understanding despite my trying to explain thing to him earier that day.

"Bit, chewed maybe scratched. Anything like that?" Morgan asked.

"No I got shot. Just shot as far as I know." Rick answered, leaning slightly away from Morgan.

Morgan reached out to place a hand on Rick's head and Rick pulled away. "Hey, just let me." Morgan whispered and Rick let him place his hand on his sweaty head. He looked at his son and said, "He feel's cool enough." then took his hand off of Ricks head. "Fever would have killed you by now." Morgan explained why he wanted to touch Rick's head.

"I don't think I have one." Rick said, still leaning away from Morgan who was sitting on the side of the bed.

"It'd be hard to miss." He said before he looked at me then at Dwayne then reached inside his back pocket and pulled out a pocket knife. He opened it and held it above Ricks face. "Take a moment, look how sharp it is." He eased it closer to Rick's face before he pulled it back and pointed it at me. "Either of you try anything. I will kill you with it and don't think I won't." he warned before he stood up and cut the roped off of Rick's hands and feet. With Rick freed he walked around the bed to me and gave me a pointed look before he cut the ropes that bound my hands and held me to the headboard. "Come on out when you're able and ready." He said as he walked to the door and tapped his son on the shoulder telling him to follow him.

Rick rubbed his wrists as he turned over on his side facing away from me. "Are you okay?" I heard the words come out of my mouth even though I already knew the answer. No, he wasn't okay. He had just found out that the world was basically coming to an end and his wife and son were missing.

He gave me a numb nod as he sat up on the side of the bed with a grunt. I moved from the chair that I had been sitting in for the past few hours and tried to help him but he shrugged away from me. He wrapped the blanket around himself as he stood up and walked out of the room. I followed him out catching the attention of Morgan and Dwayne who were just about to eat dinner. Rick looked at them before he made a detour into the dim living room. "This place…" Rick started then looked back at Morgan who could see him from the dining room, "Fred and Cindy Drake's."

"Never met them." Morgan said still standing in the archway that led to the dining room.

"I've been here. This is their place." Rick stated as he walked over to a window and started to pull back the blanket that was hanging over it.

"Don't do that." Morgan said stopping him. "They'll see the light. There's more of them out there than usual." He said before he turned back to the food on the table. "I never should've fired that gun today. The sound draws them. Now they're all over the street. Stupid…using a gun." He picked up a candle and blew it out. As Rick made his way into the dining room so did I. Dwayne looked at me nervously and I gave him a small smile, trying to relay that I wasn't a bad person or a threat. He just looked back at his dad who continued to talk. "But it all happened so fast, I didn't think.

"You shot that man today." Rick stated.

Morgan sat down then looked at Rick. "Man?" he asked.

"It weren't no man." Dwayne spoke up.

His father turned a scolding look on him as he said, "What the hell was that out of your mouth just now?" he asked.

Dwayne looked a little ashamed as he corrected himself and said, "It wasn't a man."

Rick walked closer to the table, "You shot him in the street out front…a man." Rick said sounding angry, an emotion I hadn't seen from him yet.

"Friend, you need glasses. It was a walker." Morgan said looking up at Rick before he turned his eyes on me.

"I've been calling them the crazies." I admitted and Rick gave me a questioning glare.

"Come on, sit down. Before you fall down." He told Rick before he turned to me and nodded to the chair I was standing behind. He placed a spoonful of beans on Rick's plate then mine as we sat down.

We were both about to take a bite when Dwayne spoke up, "Daddy, blessin'." Rick and I awkwardly sat down our spoons as Morgan held his hand out for Rick's and Dwayne held his out for mine. I gave the kid a questioning look and he just nodded for me to take his hand. I didn't come from a family that said a blessing over the food they ate, we just ate. But if this is how they did things and they were kind enough to share their food with me, then I would abide by their customs. So I took his small hand and Rick took Morgan's. Rick and I made eye contact before we reached out and locked our hands together, completing the circle. I closed my eyes and bowed my head.

"Lord, we thank Thee for this food, Thy blessings. And we ask you to watch over us in these crazy days. Amen." Morgan finished the prayer.

"Amen." I whispered, copying the father and son before I released Dwayne's hand. Rick gave my hand a slight squeeze before he let go and we all began to eat.

"Hey, mister, you even know what's goin' on?" Morgan asked Rick.

"I woke up today in the hospital. Joanna was there with me. She told me about the bombing of the hospital and that's all I know." Rick explained then kept on eating.

"But you know about the dead people, right?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, I saw a lot of that-" Rick said, "out on the loading docks, piled in trucks."

"No, not the one's they put down. The one's they didn't…the walkers." Morgan said with a look at me before he kept talking to Rick. "Like the one I shot today. 'Cause he'd a ripped into you, tried to eat you, taken some flesh at least." Morgan said.

"This is what I was trying to tell you, Rick." I spoke up and he looked at me then back at Morgan.

"So this isn't the first you're hearing it?" Morgan asked.

Rick nodded. "She told me that the dead was coming back and eating people, but I didn't believe it." he said with a shake of his head before he looked at me. "No offense, Joanna."

"None, taken." I waved him off. "I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen it for myself."

"I know how it must sound." Morgan said with a look between us.

"They're out there now, in the street?" Rick asked.

"Yeah." Morgan answered. "They get more active after dark sometimes. Maybe it's the cool air or hell, maybe it's just me firing that gun today. But we'll be fine as long as we stay quiet. They'll probably wander off by morning. But listen, one thing I do know, don't you get bit. I saw your bandage and that's what we were afraid of." He said with a look at his son then looked back at Rick. "Bites kill you. The fever burns you out. But after a while, you come back." Morgan was doing a way better job of explaining it than me.

Rick just looked down at his food as he thought about everything that Morgan was telling him. "We've seen it happen." Dwayne spoke up and I looked from my food to him then to Morgan, who looked sad.

"I'm sorry you had to see that." I said to him then turned my eyes on Morgan.

"Have you seen it happen?" Dwayne asked me.

"Uh, almost…" I said and Morgan reached out and touched his son's shoulder.

"Come on." He said giving his son a smile that told him not to talk about it.

The conversation completely died down and we ate in silence. After dinner we all moved to the living room. Morgan and Dwayne made themselves comfortable on a mattress that they had moved into the living room while Rick made a palette out of couch cushions and blankets. I simply took off my riot gear and settled onto the couch that Rick leaned against.

"Carl, he your son?" Morgan asked making us both look up at him. "Well, you…you said his name today."

"He's a little younger than your boy." Rick answered.

"And he's with his mother?" Morgan asked.

Rick sighed then said, "I hope so." He looked up at me before he turned his gaze elsewhere.

"Dad." Dwayne said sleepily, getting his father's attention. "Did you ask him?"

Morgan laughed, "Your gunshot…" he said to Rick, "We've got a little bet going. My boy says y'all are bank robbers." He laughed and I smiled at the kid's imagination.

Rick laughed. "Yeah…that's us, Bonne and Clyde. Kapow." He said as he sat up and resituated. He gave me a smile as he settled back down, and then turned back to Morgan. "Sheriff's deputy."

"Uh-huh." Morgan nodded, and then looked back down at his sleeping son. We all jumped when a car alarm started going off outside. "Hey, it's okay. Daddy's here." Morgan comforted his son as he pulled him close. "It's nothing. One of them must've bumped a car."

"Are you sure?" Rick asked as he stood from the palette.

"It happened once before. It went off for a few minutes." Morgan explained. "Get the light Dwayne."

The kid did as told and turned off the oil lamp as Rick turned off the other one that was in the living room. This left only candle light in the living room. I moved to the door and looked out of the peep hole. "Car alarms went off all the time at the hospital." I explained as Morgan parted the blankets that were over the windows and looked out.

"It's the blue one, down the street. The same one as last time." He said. "I think we're okay."

"That noise…" Rick said, "Won't it bring more of them?"

"Nothing we can do about it now." Morgan answered. "Just have to wait 'em out till morning."

Dwayne had moved to look out the window with his father and Rick. When he gasped I stopped looking out of the peep hole to look at him. "She's here."

"Don't look. Get away from the windows." Morgan told his son who ran over to their bed and started crying. "Duane. Duane, quiet now." Morgan said as he walked over and lay down next to his son. "Come on. Quiet now."

Hearing the boy's cries made my eyes water and I looked back into the peep hole to see a woman crazy, or walker as Morgan called them, walk up the porch steps. Her hair was messy and she wore a night gown and house coat. I pulled away when I felt Rick touch my shoulder. I assumed he wanted to look out of the peephole so I moved aside and he placed his eye up to the hole. I just stood there watching him watch who I assumed was the boy's mother. I jumped back when the doorknob started turning.

Rick and I both backed away from the door. He went back to his palette and I sat back down on the couch, pulling my knees to my chest as I did. "She uh…" Morgan started and we both looked at him. "She died in that other room on that bed in there." he said, trying not to cry. "There was nothing I… I could do about it." he said while looking down at his son, rubbing his head comfortingly. "That fever, man, her skin gave off a head like a furnace." Not being able to hold onto my emotions as well as he was, tears slipped down my cheeks. I always cried when I saw someone else crying. "I should've… I should've put her down, man. I should've put her down." He stuttered out, "I know that but I... you know I just didn't have it in me." he wiped his face then went back to holding his son. "She's the mother of my child."

Rick looked at the doorknob that was still being twisted by the walkers outside before he looked up at me. I wiped my face and took a deep breath that I let out in a huff before I gave him a sad smile, letting him know I was okay. Then I turned my gaze onto Morgan, "Would it be too much if I asked if I could sleep upstairs?" I asked and Morgan cocked his head to the side silently questioning me. "I won't do anything stupid, I promise, I just…" I looked between Rick and Morgan before my eyes settled onto the hardwood floor. "I just need a little time to myself."

"No, it's not too much to ask." He said giving me a nod. "There's a usable bedroom through the first door on your right at the top of the stairs." He said so I stood from the couch, grabbed a candle off of the table and headed for the stairs. "Take this, use it to cover the window before you bring that candle in there. If they see the light it will draw 'em in."

"Okay." I took the blanket from him and headed to the bedroom. Before I opened the door I set the candle down in the hallway. The moon gave me enough light to see my way to the uncovered window and tuck the blanket into the curtain rod. I was making my way back through the now dark room to get the candle when I was met halfway by a blanket covered Rick who was holding my candle and one of his own. "Oh, hey." I greeted as I awkwardly took the candle he was holding out to me from his hand.

"I uh, I haven't thanked you for helping me." he explained as I walked over to the nightstand closest to the window and sat the candle down.

"You don't have to thank me, Rick." I told him as I sat down on the soft bed.

"No, I think I do." He replied as he walked over to stand across from me on the other side of the bed. One hand gripped the blanket that was around him while the other held his candle. "How long did you say that you took care of me in that hospital?" he asked.

"Three weeks." I answered quietly and he looked down at me with eyes that blinked rapidly as if to not cry.

"That's three weeks that you could have been outside that hospital, looking for your family." He said making my eyes water. "but instead you stayed with me, kept me hydrated and cleaned my wound. You didn't have to do that, but I'm grateful that you did."

"Well, you're welcome, I guess." I said with a teary eyed smile as I sat down on the bed

"Why aren't you looking for your family? Why are you just hanging out with me?" he asked as he sat down next to me, a few inches of space between us.

I took a deep breath and sighed it out as I turned, facing him while we talked. "I'm not looking for my family, because I have no family. They died in that hospital." I answered as I crossed my legs and tucked my hands under my feet. "I only had my mother and my sister and they got bit." He looked at me with a tilted head as he listened. "I watched them die from the fever."

"Did they come back?" he asked sounding like he didn't want to know, but he had to ask.

"No. They didn't have a chance to." I answered and he gave me a look that asked if I put them down like Morgan said he couldn't do to his wife. "The swat team came into the hospital, started pulling people out into the halls and executing them."

"How did you survive that?" he asked softly.

"When I realized what was going on, I hid in the closet." I explained, not looking at him, but at my folded, fidgeting hands. "I heard them come into the room and shoot my family in the head." He gave me a questioning look. "Trauma to the brain takes them out for good. Or in Mom and Sammy's case it kept them from coming back." I explained.

When I looked up he just stared at me for a second or two then shook his head clear of thoughts. "I'm sorry for your loss." He said with a nod of his head.

"Yeah…me too." I said with a sad smile at him in the orange candle light. "But enough about me, what about you? What are your wife and son like?" I asked to change the subject.

"Well, Carl's into video games and comic books." He said with a smile and I could tell that he was a good father, just by the look on his face. "And Lori, well, Lori's a good mother." He said with a tight laugh.

That was it? That's all he had to say about the woman he married? I wanted to ask him, but I left it alone. "They sound nice." I said with a small smile that he returned before an awkward silence fell over us. "I uh, don't mean to rush you out, but we've had a long day." I said before I stretched and yawned.

"Yeah, I'll leave you to it." he said as he stood up from the bed holding his side as he did.

"Goodnight." I called when he pulled the door open.

He looked back and me and said, "Goodnight." before he walked out, closing the door behind him.

With him gone, I grabbed my candle and walked over to the mirror that was hung over the dresser. My straight black hair hung around my face while my short side bangs hung down in my eyes. I pushed them aside revealing my naturally thinner, slightly arched brows that hung over my wide green eyes. I ran my finger tips under my eyes, trying to wipe away the dark circles that had appeared there over the past weeks. I needed to sleep more than I did, but it was hard to sleep when nightmares woke you up every hour or so.

So without bothering to change or wash up, I laid down on the bed and tried to fall asleep. It took what felt like hours before sleep actually overcame me.