Authors Note: Here we go- in the midst of all of this insanity in the world, writing is the one thing that calms me down. Now that I actually have free time, I am rewatching the series and I have reignited my passion for this story. I am currently in the process of editing pre-existing chapters. Trust me, my writing skills have increased. Soon though, I will post new updates to this baby. Thank you to everyone who has stuck around during this hiatus. You guys are rockstars.

"Oh, I feel like, I wouldn't like me, if I met me. I feel like, you wouldn't like me, if you met me."- You Wouldn't Like Me, Tegan and Sara

"Shit." I hissed, swiftly dodging the rotting hand of a nearby walker. I turned quickly and swung my axe behind me, allowing the blade to cut a deadly arc through the air and into the walker, decapitating it with one swift stroke. The mangled head popped off and hit the already bloody ground with a sickening squish. I suppressed a groan when it rolled against my foot. Casting a quick glance downwards, I sucked in a breath as a pair of clouded, unseeing eyes stared up into mine. Inside, I felt a small pang of sadness for just a short second. That head had once belonged to a man, someone's son, someone's friend. And now he was nothing more than a hunk of decaying flesh, a hunk that never had a chance of coming back again, thanks to my axe.

My short moment of remorse quickly ended, however, when I heard the unmistakable sound of more walkers heading towards me. I groaned and adjusted my grip on the wooden handle of my axe, getting ready to take off again. God, I was getting absolutely sick of these things.

I ran down the deserted street, looking behind me every few feet to make sure I wasn't being followed. The sky was slowly growing dark as the sun began to set on the flat horizon. I passed building after building, trying to pick a place where I could hide out for a night. This small town had obviously fallen early, with cars stopped in the middle of the street and various personal artifacts littering the roads and sidewalks.

This place was a graveyard.

Anyone who had been here would be long gone by now. It wasn't the ideal place to hide out, but it would do for the night. A building across the street caught my eye. It was a convenience store. It was definitely in better shape than the other buildings, having all of its windows and front door intact. And, with any luck, maybe some of the shelves would still be stocked. This seemed to be my best option.

The store was already pretty well cleared out, but a few items still littered the shelves. Dust and trash littered the floor, but the place as a whole was clean enough, especially when compared to the other places I had slept in. I turned and locked the door behind me. Although it was pretty useless, it still gave me a small bit of comfort. The walkers could easily crash through the glass windows, but hopefully locking the door would give me at least a little bit of extra time to compose myself before a fight broke out.

I walked to the back of the dingy room, slinging my duffle bag off of my shoulder and dropping it unceremoniously on the ground. I placed my bloody axe on top of it and slumped down beside my bag, allowing my back to rest against the back wall of the store. I was hidden from the windows by several rows of shelves, so I felt decently safe, well, as safe as one can feel in this world. Still, I placed a tense hand on the cracked, wooden handle of my axe, just in case any unwelcome guests decided to stop by. A long sigh escaped my lips as I closed my eyes, running over the events of the past few months like a bad movie in my mind.

For the first two weeks of the outbreak, life hadn't been too bad. I had started out with a group, and a pretty strong one at that. It was a group of my school friends who had stayed together when shit hit the fan. We had all been about to finish our second year of medical school at Duke when the news reports had started coming out. When everything went downhill, we naturally stuck together, combining our resources and intellects to survive. It had been one of my friends that had suggested we leave North Carolina and head for Atlanta. According to the local news, there was a refugee camp there, or at least… there was supposed to be. We had already driven halfway there when we heard about the bombings. Without a set plan, we turned and high tailed it out of there. We had no idea where we were going, but we knew we needed to get away from the city. After that, well, that's when shit really got bad.

It all started when we ran out of gas. Deciding that we didn't want to be sitting ducks, we packed all we had into our bags and fled into the woods. The only problem with the woods was that very few of us really knew how to survive in the wild, very few had weapons, and even out of those that did, only about three of us actually knew how to use them. We were barely surviving, relying on our pre packed meals and any small game I could manage to hunt. Then, after our food ran out, things went from bad to worse. Members of our group started getting spooked, started freaking out about everything that was going on. They got scared, and when they got scared, they got loud, and they got reckless. Recklessness was like a walker's dinner bell.

And then, it happened. The massacre. It had been a dark night when the walkers had come, and we had made the grave mistake of letting our guards down. We never stood a chance. As soon as the walkers had appeared, I had known, deep down in my gut, that this would be the end of our group. We fought with everything we had. I don't even really remember the battle itself. To me, it was just a wild blur of blood, gore, fear, and anger. I remember the sounds of people screaming, of metal connecting with flesh, of limbs being ripped apart, but in the end, I was the only one left standing. I was left standing in the middle of a blood-soaked field, a cracked and bloodied axe hanging limply in my grasp, my friends moaning and dying around me.

But I knew. I knew they weren't really dying. Not forever anyway.

So I did what had to be done. I ended it. I ended it for all of them. I waited for each one to pass out, to succumb to their wounds, before I swung my axe, splitting each of their skulls with one swift blow each. I avoided looking directly into their eyes. I knew that if I did, I might not have been able to finish the job. I had considered shooting them, but I knew deep down that that was a waste of precious bullets. So I killed them. All of them. Quickly and quietly. No muss, no fuss. I killed my friends because I loved them, and I knew that that was what they would have wanted. None of them would have wanted to suffer for the rest of time as a nameless monster.

After that, I had just picked up my axe and bow and started walking. And walking. And I never looked back.

That's how I wound up in this beat up little town malnourished, dehydrated, and utterly alone. I shifted on the floor, tucking my feet underneath me. I was careful to keep a hand on my axe as my eyes fluttered closed. The sun had finally set, and the entire room was encased in darkness. I was so deep in my memories that I barely noticed when I slipped into an uncomfortable sleep. A familiar scene formed in my sleeping mind, a scene that I had dreamt of over and over again.

"Come on Nikki!" My brother screamed at me, his bright red bike helmet flashing in the sunlight. He was about twenty feet ahead of me. He had always been a better bike rider than I was, and the fact that he was older than me didn't help. "You're falling behind short stuff!"

"Stop making fun of me!" I yelled back in my high pitched voice. My chest was heaving as I tried to pedal even faster. I could never keep up with him, and I never let myself forget that.

"Whatever Cricket!" He laughed. Cricket was his nickname for me. He told me that it was because I was small and chirpy, and annoying. With that, he turned and began riding even faster up the hill, disappearing straight into the setting sun. I rolled my eyes and pedaled as hard as I could, trying to catch up, trying to ignore his words. But, when I got to the top of the hill, I stopped.

The scene before me was ominous and made my blood run cold. Our normally luscious and lively forest was dark and desolate. Several trees were on fire, sending thick curls of black smoke up into the cloudy sky. I could see people staggering out of the blazing trees, limping away from the flames and towards me. Without even being near them, I could tell that there was something wrong with these people. Their faces were deformed and mutated, a grim mockery of the people they used to be. They were terrifying, slowly making their way towards me in a pulsing hoard.

And, at the top of the hill, stood the most terrifying sight of all. My brother, still in his helmet, staring at me with cold, black eyes. Only, it wasn't him. It wasn't my brother. Before me stood the creature that used to be my brother. My breath hitched and I choked back a sob, nearly falling over in shock. And then he started walking, right towards me. I tried to move out of the way, but my legs felt like lead. I couldn't move. He was coming up on me, snarling and groaning, his mouth open wide. There was nothing I could do to stop him. This was it. This was how I was going to die.

I woke up with a start, my entire body jolting upwards. My axe hit the ground with a soft thud as it fell out of my hand. The horrifying and decaying face of my brother was still burned into my mind, but it was no longer right there in front of me. I had been dreaming. Of course I had been dreaming. It was the same dream that I had had every single night since my friends died. It was terrifying and stiffening. What makes it so horrifying is the fact that it could be true. My brother could be a walker right now. And I would have no idea. I might never know.

I looked around the store, taking stock of my situation. Everything looked the same as it had before I fell asleep, except for the fact that now there was a light stream of sunlight coming in through the windows. The light was fairly soft, so I knew it was still fairly early in the morning. Since I knew that I may not get to rest in safety for the next few nights, I decided to try to squeeze out another hour or two of sleep.

I was about to close my eyes again when I heard a sound that made me freeze in my spot. A scream. It was a woman's scream, coming from the building next door, a pharmacy if my memory is correct. My blood turned to ice as a million thoughts raced through my mind. There was a woman next door. I was no longer alone. Another yell followed, this time belonging to a male. Okay, there were two people next door. My heart was pounding in my chest as I clenched my hand around the handle of my axe. I haven't seen people in weeks. I didn't know what to do. They kept screaming and yelling, which I knew was attracting walkers here. I cursed internally at their recklessness. The walkers were going to find them, and maybe find me really soon. There was no way I could stay here now. I had to do something.

"Watch out!" The man yelled, his voice frantic. That yell was followed by a few loud crashes and some grunts. I had been living in this world long enough to recognize the sounds. They were fighting, and by the sound of it, they were outnumbered. Another loud crash came, followed by another scream. It was right then that I knew I had to act. These people were in danger, but they were also putting me in danger. So many plans flashed through my mind. I could run, grab my duffel bag and get the heck outta dodge. With all the racket they were making, I could probably slip away safely and unnoticed. Deep down though, I knew what I had to do. This world may be survival of the fittest, but I know that I would never be able to live with myself if I abandoned these people to a painful fate. Sighing, I mentally prepared myself for a fight. After all, I didn't have anything to lose. Might as well do some good before I go.

I launched myself up from my sitting position, grabbing my bow from my duffel and strapping my axe to my shoulder. It had become a sort of habit for me now, arming myself up quickly. I ran out the door of the store and turned left towards the pharmacy next to me. I could hear grunts and growls coming from the inside, mixed with the unmistakable sounds of metal hitting flesh. Oh yes, there was definitely a fight going on in there.

Forcefully, I kicked the door open, holding my loaded crossbow in front of me. There was a walker right there in the entryway, and without hesitation, I shot it in the skull. I ran into the store and started shooting at all of the walkers in my sight, smirking in slight satisfaction every time one of them hit the ground. I heard grunting next to me and knew that one of the other people was taking on a walker. As one closed in on me, I reached for the axe at my back, leaving my bow dangling from the chest strap. I put my axe through one walker's skull, then pulled it out with a swift yank and struck another, blood splattering on my dark jeans. I didn't care about the blood staining my pants. They would just dry over the other blood stains, the blood of my fallen friends. I lost myself in the fight, zoning out from the world around me and focusing only on my foes. I kept shrugging my shoulders and continued swinging, striking one walker after another until the deluge stopped. When my swings met dead air, I knew that all of the walkers had been downed. I could hear heavy breathing around me, and I was instantly reminded of the people I had rushed in to aid. I would need to speak to them, but I knew that I had another job to do first. I went up to each walker and struck them in the head aggressively, just in case. If there is one thing that I have learned in the past few weeks, it is that the dead are never really dead until you get the brain.

Slowly, once I was sure that the dead would stay dead, I slung my bow back over my shoulder, my axe still in my other hand. I could feel blood on my hands and arms, and I knew that it was all over my legs. I wiped my free hand on my pants, slowing my breathing down back to its normal rate.

"Thank you." A woman's voice said behind me, startling me out of my stupor. The voice was kind, with a thick, Southern drawl. I turned around and saw her clearly for the first time. She had short brown hair and warm brown eyes. She wore a green t-shirt and a pair of loose jeans. She was a beautiful woman, probably about my woman looked me up and down slowly. Even though she tried to do it discreetly, I knew that she was giving me a once over. Honestly, I didn't envy her. I probably looked like absolute hell. I hadn't showered or bathed in weeks and I hadn't changed since the attack. Needless to say, I was a little gross.

"We would be dead if you hadn't saved our skins." The man came and stood next to her. He had black hair and fairly tan skin. He looked Asian, maybe Chinese or Korea and he wore a worn baseball cap and a tattered t-shirt. His face was exhausted, like he had been through a lot, and his eyes were wide, like he had seen something he shouldn't have. Hell, I understood that feeling. We all had.

"It was nothing." I said briskly, my whole body tense with anxiety. Although these people seemed perfectly pleasant, I had no idea if I could trust them. After all, nothing in this world was certain anymore.

"No it wasn't." The girl disagreed, stepping forward. If she noticed the way I tensed up when she came closer, she made no mention of it. "You could have easily just let us die. But you didn't. You helped us, even though you have no idea who we are . People like that are hard to find." She gave me a warm smile, tucking a lock of brown hair behind her ear.

"Oh, well, you make me sound like a hero" I gave her a weak smile, completely taken aback by her straightforward kindness. "but I can guarantee you, I'm no hero."

"Well, we all have our moments." Maggie said. The man chuckled loudly, and she elbowed him in the gut, rolling her eyes at him. He simply shrugged in response, a smirk still playing on his lips. Sighing, she turned back to me. "I'm Maggie." She smiled. "And this is Glenn."

"Hi." Glenn gave me a small smile, but his eyes were calculating. I could tell that he was just as wary of me as I was of him, but Maggie seemed unfazed.

"I'm Nicole." I said, rocking on the balls of my feet. My free hand had worked its way into a fist against my thigh, and I was subconsciously knocking it against my leg in sets of three. This was a nervous tick I had picked up when I was a little girl, and it always resurfaced when I was uncomfortable.

"Where's the rest of your group Nicole?" Maggie asked. "Are you on a supply run or something?" Her words seemed innocent enough, but I caught her double meaning. Should we be worried for our safety?

"No. It's just me." I replied. There was nothing to be gained by lying. If these people were going to kill me, they would have done so already. There was no sense in acting like I was a bigger threat than I actually am.

"Really?" Glenn cocked his eyebrows, seemingly a little impressed.

"Yeah. My group uh... met a rather unfortunate end a few weeks ago. I was the only survivor. Now, I'm just trying to take it one day at a time." It was the truth. I lived day to day, no more, no less. That's what it took to survive. "I was just crashing for the night in the convenience store next door. I heard you guys in here and figured that I would come and help out." This seemed to surprise them. It was hard to live in this world, but to live in it alone? That was nearly impossible.

Maggie gave me a look that I could not read before turning towards Glenn. She didn't speak, but her eyes seemed to be speaking volumes to her partner, who looked back at her with raised eyebrows. Their conversation was silent, but I knew it had something to do with me. After a few moments, Glenn finally shrugged his shoulders and said "Fine. You have to convince the cops though." and Maggie smiled. She turned to me and gave me a kind look, her gaze softening from what it had been before.

"We have a farm." She told me. "Just a few miles up the road. We have a group of about 15 of us holed up there for the time being. You can come with us if you'd like."

I was taken aback by the sudden offer, and I stood there silently for a few moments. This woman had just offered me a place in their group, and I didn't know what to say. "Oh… I um.. It's okay. You guys don't have to.." I trailed off, at a loss for words. I tried to be as polite as I could, but on the inside I was a mess. The truth was, I didn't know if I could trust them. What if they were horrible people trying to lure me into a trap to kill me or torture me?

But then again, what if they weren't? What if they were actually just good people?

Glenn seemed to sense my apprehension, because he took a small step forward. He stopped his advance however when I stumbled back slightly. I could feel my wrist twitching violently, my fist thumping against my thigh aggressively. "Hey, it's cool. I get it. You don't know us. I don't blame you for being nervous. So, how about a deal? If you don't like it, or if it seems too sketchy, we will drive back and drop you off right where we found you, okay?" He offered. Although I didn't know him, I could sense the truth in his words.

I don't know if it was his sincerity or Maggie's kind smile, but something about them made me believe them. I was still wary, but I am not an idiot. I understood what my options were- take a chance in this shitty town, all alone, or go to their farm and work with a group to survive. One of those options was probably much better than the other. I would just have to take the leap. "Okay.." I breathed. "Thanks." I added quickly. "I guess I'm coming with you."

"Alright, let's get our stuff and head out." Glenn nodded, walking over and grabbing a knapsack off the bloody ground. Ah, so they had been here for supplies. Huh, smart people. Maggie followed suit, grabbing her own bag. I turned and began to pull my arrows out of walkers' skulls and put them back in my quiver, as I knew that I couldn't afford to lose any. I excused myself and ran over to the store, picking up my heavy duffle bag. Although it slowed me down, I held onto this bag as if it was my life preserver. This bag was the reason I had made it this far. It may have been a hindrance when trying to move quickly, there was no way I was leaving this bag behind.

I ran back outside and followed them to where their car was parked, by bag slung over my shoulder.

"Damn, that's a lot more stuff than I was expecting." Glenn said with a smirk. "You can put it in the trunk." I headed over to the open trunk and placed my axe, my bow, and my bag of guns in the car. The bag had come slightly unzipped with all of the jostling, and you could see a few of the items inside.

"Is that...an AK-47?" Glenn pointed towards my bag, his eyes wide with wonder and a little bit of awe.

"Yeah. I found it on a soldier at an army base outside of Atlanta. Figured he wouldn't mind if I took it." I told him, closing the trunk. Maggie just stared at me while Glenn kept looking at the now closed trunk, both of their minds on my highly coveted weapon. I think my heavy artillery might have shocked him.I smirked a little to myself. If that shocked them, I was a little wary of how they would react to everything else in the bag. They hadn't seen anything yet. After his initial fascination wore off, Glenn got in the driver's seat, Maggie rode shotgun, and I sat awkwardly in the back.

We rode in an uncomfortable silence. Of course we did. We didn't know each other. I wasn't a very talkative person anyway, not since I was a young girl. I preferred to watch things unfold. I realized early on that a lot more could be learned through silence than through words. As silence engulfed the car, slowly, the town disappeared and was replaced by an endless sea of fields, littered with small farmhouses and barns, properties left abandoned after the outbreak. In any other circumstance, this area would be beautiful, but now it seemed like a graveyard, a harsh reminder of a simpler time.

I looked out the window as we pulled into the farm's driveway. A long white picket fence wrapped around the property. Horses and cows grazed throughout the grassland. A beautiful farmhouse loomed on the horizon, its walls a brilliant white. It had had dark green shutters and a wraparound porch, creating the perfect country scene. That scene was changed, however, when I saw the tents, laundry lines, and chairs that were scattered around the front lawn. There were most definitely people here, more people than I had seen in a long time.

Glenn parked the car at the end of the driveway as a group of people came down to greet us. He and Maggie got out of the car simultaneously, instantly smiling towards the gathered people, offering them a slew of reassurances to ease their worried faces.

The brown haired woman turned back towards the car, walking over to my window, which I had rolled down sometime during the ride. "Come say hello!" Maggie said kindly, giving me a reassuring smile. "They're going to accept you. Trust me." I wanted to. Believe me, I wanted to, but I just couldn't. Not after what I had seen. She turned and walked towards the group, but I held back in my seat, my nerves freezing me in place. What if they didn't trust me? What if they thought I was a danger to them? What if they were nuts? Well, I had already kind of ruled out the latter. Maggie and Glenn seemed pretty normal.

But still, what if?

I could hear greetings being exchanged outside. There were hugs and smiles and laughter. It made my heart ache. I had had that, once. I had had people who loved me, and waited for me to come home, who smiled at me all day. And now, now I was all alone in this hell hole. All of that had been taken away from me. It was just me now.

Maybe that was why I was so afraid. I had already lost everything I had. If I let these people in to my life, if I let them help me, they would become a part of me. And if I were to lose them.. I don't think I could take that pain again.

And besides, even if these people weren't crazy, would they like me if they met me? I don't think I would.

I was torn out of my fears when I heard Maggie say "Yeah. We barely got out of there alive."

"How did you get out?" A new voice asked. The voice belonged to an older man with thinning white hair and kind eyes. .

"We had a little help." Maggie said vaguely. Obviously, she wanted me to make an entrance. She looked back towards the car, rolling her eyes dramatically when she saw that I was still seated in the back seat. "Come on out already."

I opened the car door slowly, my nerves still pretty frayed. It's now or never.

I turned to face the group, and walked toward them, trying to muster up as much confidence as I could so I would not look so weak. In all actuality, I probably ended up doing the opposite, but there was nothing I could do about it at this moment. I scanned the group quickly when I reached them. They were a very diverse group, ranging quite dramatically in both age and race. However, they all looked me over with the same, distrusting stare, backed by tired, haunted eyes.

Maggie walked up next to me "Everyone this is…"

"Nicole?" A new voice cut Maggie off mid sentence. My head snapped up so quickly that I thought I had gotten whiplash. My wide eyes scanned my surroundings for the man that the voice belonged to. "Nikki?" There it was again. That voice. That deep, southern voice. It was one I knew, one I knew all too well. "Is that really you?" After another moment of searching, my eyes finally found him, and I almost didn't believe what I was seeing.

There he was, standing at the foot of the stairs to the house. He had changed, of course he had. We all had. But, despite all of the differences, there was no mistaking the man that now stood meters away from me. We both stood there frozen for a few moments, before he finally broke free from his stupor and urged his legs towards me.

"Oh my god." Was all I could whisper as my nerves let go, and I lurched forward, running at full speed past the group, towards him. His arms enveloped me in a bone crushing hug, and practically melted in his arms. I didn't care that the rest of the group was looking at me like I was nuts. He was alive. My brother was alive. "Oh my god, I missed you so much Shane."

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