***Chapter One***

Taylor glanced at the locked, glass doors of the large department store, then to the escape door that led to the garages. "Pearson!" She screamed, just loud enough to raise above the sound of the walkers as they beat on the glass. Light cracks ran across the doors everywhere, threatening to break through at any moment. "Sierra, Farrynne! All o' ya'll! Get your asses down 'ere!"

"Alright, alright! What's goin' on?" Sierra asked as she ran down the stairs, skipping a few steps at a time.

Taylor simply pointed to the glass doors as the rest of them made their way down the stairs.

"Oh shit!" Farrynne exclaimed, instantly grabbing her shotgun she had so skillfully hidden under a shelf. Taylor rolled her eyes as her bow was already slung on her shoulder, a quiver of arrows on the other shoulder. Sierra had a large grin on her face as she pulled two handguns from her waistband, looking to the doors and then to Taylor.

"I think there's a truck a block or two ov'r. Get on outta here and get them on it. Then come back 'ere and get me because you know you ain't leavin' me 'ere." She said. Taylor simply rolled her eyes once again.

"You're an idiot. But I ain't leavin' ya here for a second." She told Sierra and then turned to James, Brandon, and Bradley. "You on and get that truck. Bring it 'round to the garage and we'll open the doors for ya. Farrynne, Pearson, you two guard the upstairs entrance. Sierra and me got it handled down here. Go, and hurry. We're gonna try and attract more o' the walkers ta let y'all get outta here easier."

Sierra had managed to move from the floor to a perch on a shelf without being detected and looked at Taylor. Both girls shared in the same evil grin as the others nodded and took to their posts.

"Haha, this should be fun!" Sierra exclaimed.

"Yep, time of our lives," Taylor rolled her eyes and climbed onto the shelf beside the brunette. "We're gonna die, ain't we?" Sierra asked the blonde, the grin still on her face as she spoke.

"Eh, don't worry about it, we're grade A walker hunters for god's sake. We go to hell and regroup 's all."

"Well, here goes nothin'." Sierra shot once at the window near them. The bullet left a clean hole through the window. Walkers seemed to hear the noise and began stumbling over towards the window, causing Taylor to take a sharp breath.

"C'mon James, Brandon, where are ya two.." She hissed to herself and began firing arrows at the closest walkers. She had a full quiver of arrows and was barely making a dent in it as the walkers were extremely slow at this point and were struggling to break through the glass.

Shots were fired upstairs and the two girls stuck on the shelf were sure some walkers had broken through those windows.

The screeching of tires was heard next, and Taylor was quick to hop off the shelf, then pull Sierra down by her elbow.

"Pearson! Farrynne!" Sierra screamed up the stairs. "Get on down here, they're back with tha truck!"

Taylor slung her bow back over her shoulder and began pulling the chain to open the garage. Pearson and Farrynne's footsteps were heavy as they ran down the stairs. Farrynne aimed her shotgun at the garage door as it began to slowly open with the help of Pearson.

Sierra had both guns in hand and shot down every walker in sight as the boys backed the truck into the garage, opening the back door. With walkers nearing behind them, Taylor and Sierra ensured that everyone had gotten in the truck before climbing in themselves.

"Drive drive drive!" Farrynne screamed at Bradley, who was driving the giant truck/moving van.

"Alright I'm trying would ya quiet screaming at me?!" Bradley yelled back.

"Bradley," Taylor and Sierra shouted in unison, "just shut up and drive!"

Bradley sped the truck up to about 102 MPH and hit a few zombies, letting their bodies roll over the hood and windshield of the truck, trailing sickly blackish red blood everywhere.

A red mustang sped by, it's alarm blaring. And idea spiked in Sierra's mind as she spoke, "Bradley, follow that car, and hurry."

Bradley glanced back at her and rolled his eyes. "And why would I take orders from you?" He smirked.

Taylor, not wanting to deal with it, took one of Sierra's handguns and held it to Bradley's temple as he drove. "You're gonna do whate'er she says, you understand me?" She growled at him.

He, actually scared of the smaller female, sped up, driving after the mustang.

"And that's how ya get the job done!" Sierra exclaimed, grinning as she laid back on her elbows in the bed of the truck. "I bet you this guy's gonna lead us to some camp or sumthin'."

"A bottle of Platinum says he's gonna go to some random, unchartered place and your little idea here's gonna get us killed." Brandon butted in, smirking at her.

"Well we're bound to die eventually." She shrugged.

"Who the hell are you and why are you in my camp?" A man with a sheriff's badge and hat growled, holding the barrel of his gun to Taylor's forehead.

"Go ahead, shoot me. Kill one o' tha last humans standing. Smooth move, Officer…? Does that badge say "Friendly"? 'Cos you don't seem all that friendly ta me, Mister." She raised an eyebrow at him. Sierra climbed out of the truck and snorted a laugh at her best friend's comment.

Taylor's lips curved upwards in a sort of half smile, glancing at the brunette once again.

"Well are any of 'em bit or scratched, Rick?" An older man said, making his way towards them all.

"Ahh, so your name's Rick? Well, Mr. Rick sir, mind holding that gun at anyone here but me? How 'bout that driver o' mine? I'm sure he'd make some great walker bait." Taylor's expression changed to a smirk and just made Sierra laugh some more.

James and Brandon climbed out of the passenger side of the truck and saw Rick holding the gun up to Taylor's head. " 'Ey, listen here. We don't want no trouble, we just wanted to check out and see if there were any other survivors around here," James called to him.

"Well none a ya are bit, right?" Rick asked him. James nodded, "We're all clean sir. Barely escaped a department store out in time, yet somehow managed to."

"Only 'cos I'm badass ya know." Sierra piped in, calming down a bit as she looked from person to person.

" 'Ey was I not sitting on that shelf with ya?" Taylor glanced at her friend.

"True, true, but I'm still more badass than you."

"Yeah, okay, whatever helps you sleep at night."

"Ain't no one getting sleep at all around here, blondie."

Taylor smiled slightly but rolled her eyes and looked back to Rick, who slightly sighed and turned back to the older man. "Follow Dale here," he told the new group, just as Bradley was getting out of the truck.

Farrynne clung to both Taylor and Sierra as they walked, Pearson, James, Brandon, and Bradley trailing slightly behind them as the older man led them to a campsite that was littered small tents, an RV on one side of the campsite and a well on the other.

"Mighty fine camp ya got goin' here," James said, "hate it if we're intrudin' ya know."

"Ah no, don't you kids worry about it. There's plenty a room for all a ya." Dale smiled at the group, who smiled in return and thanked him, then dispersed to go their own ways.

Taylor caught Sierra by her elbow to stop her from walking off any farther. "I say we go hunt and catch something for these guys. Say thanks to them, ya know?"

Sierra gave a curt nod and the two girls walked into the forest to try and find any sort of edible game.

It wasn't long before a deer was in sight. Sierra reached for her handgun and was quick to shoot it just behind it's shoulder blades. It collapsed to the ground and began struggling to move, not fully dead yet. Taylor approached it and pulled an arrow out of her quiver, using her bow and shooting it right between the eyes. She waited for the life to fade from the animal and pulled her arrow out of its head.

"Let's haul this damn thing back to the fire."

"Wow girls, y'all catch that? Oh, I'm Shane by the way." He smiled at the two girls slightly, then looked at the large, dead buck they had carried back to camp. "Y'all sure you didn't just find one of Daryl's kills and haul it back to claim as your own?" He chuckled. "I don't think two little girls like you could honestly do that."

"Are ya doubting my abilities?" Sierra questioned, raising an eyebrow at Shane.

"What abilities? You two are just little city girls that belong in the kitchen." He smirked.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't beat you to a pulp, right here, right now?" She growled.

Taylor cut in, "Sierra don't. Please. We were welcomed here and it wouldn't be polite ta beat up one o' their people. 'Specially on tha first night."

"Fine. But only 'cos it's tha first night." She muttered and turned away to go and begin skinning the deer. That was a process that Taylor couldn't stand watching or doing, and so she turned the other way, just after snatching a gun off a tree stump where Sierra had laid it.

She walked into the woods, making sure to keep her footsteps quiet. Her bow was drawn back and an arrow was knocked into place on it. The handgun was in the waistband of her jeans as she searched around for any stray walker that might be near.

Leaves rustled and Taylor turned around to see a person step out of the bushes. Before she realized that it wasn't a walker, she let the arrow fly. Luckily her aim was off by about an inch and skimmed past the man's ear.

"What the hell man!" He exclaimed, bending down to pick the arrow up out of the ground. He threw it at her, without intention on really hurting the girl. She caught the arrow mid-air and stuck it back in her quiver.

"Well ya can't just scare a person like that!" She argued, her hands balled into fists after she slung her bow back over her shoulder.

"Excuse me but maybe, just maybe blondie, ya should look and make sure you're not 'bout ta hurt a person! And what the hell are ya doin' out here anyway?! And who are ya?"

"Damn all these questions, do ya ever shut up? I'm staying at a camp around here and tha name's Taylor. Who're you?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Daryl Dixon, not that it's of any matter to ya." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh damn it. You're the Daryl Dixon from that camp up there?" She asked and pointed in the direction that the camp was in.

"Yeah, what's it to ya?"

"Because, dumbass, that's the camp I'm staying at for a while."

"Oh great, does that mean I'm gonna have to see your ugly face every day?"

"Well does it mean I'm gonna have to smell ya from a mile away every day? I mean seriously man, I shower wouldn't kill ya."

"Sorry, not all of us have our minds on lookin' pretty and smelling like a damn peach, sweetheart, some of us are focused on not dyin' here," he sneered coldly at her.

"Oh it's gonna be great sleepin' at the same camp as you." She muttered in return and the two began walking back to camp, arguing back and forth. When they were about a quarter of a mile near the camp, low groaning and grunting was heard.

Taylor spun around, an arrow already knocked into place on the bow, which was drawn back far.

"Shit," Daryl muttered to himself as he saw a mass of about six walkers staggering towards them. Taylor rolled her eyes and fired an arrow, hitting her target, the eye of a walker. She was about to shoot at another one when Daryl fired his arrow straight into its eye, just before she could.

"How 'bout you shoot at the ones that aren't already taken care of," she hissed at him. He rolled his eyes and shot at two more, leaving the last two for her to shoot, which she did.

"You're really annoying, ya know." Taylor said and proceeded to walk back to camp, still arguing with him the whole way there.

"I'm tempted to play baseball wit a damn walker's head," Taylor muttered, making Sierra laugh loudly. Jim looked at the two of them, everyone was gathered around a fire, eating the deer that the two girls had brought back.

"What's up wit ya friend?" He asked Taylor, talking about Sierra.

"What do ya mean?" She raised an eyebrow.

"He means she's loud and laughs at everythin' even if it's not funny." Daryl muttered.

"At least she shows emotion, unlike some of us," Taylor narrowed her eyes at him. He fell silent and just went back to eating.

"She does laugh at just about everything though," Rick shrugged.

"She also has a name and she can also hear you ya know?" Sierra butted in, just before Taylor clapmed a hand over her mouth. "Just shh and let me tell 'em what happened," Taylor said smirking slightly.

"Sierra pissed me off and I hit her in the head with my rifle. There. Simple as that. Don't piss me off." She grinned slightly.

Sierra pried her hand off of her mouth and said, "That is so not what happened. We were tryin' to shoot a deer and she moved her arm a weird way and hit me with the butt of her shotgun. I was out cold for a week."

"Yeah and there's still somethin' wrong with your head." Taylor rolled her eyes.

After that, people began to clear out, going into their tents. James, Brandon, Bradley, and Pearson were sharing one tent, while Farrynne, Sierra, and Taylor were sharing another. Sierra and Farrynne were passed out almost instantly, whereas Taylor couldn't seem to fall asleep and was wandering around the camp aimlessly.

"Hey blondie," she heard a voice call and turned around to see Daryl standing on top of the RV. He motioned her over. She raised an eyebrow yet walked over and called to him, "What do you want? Want to continue getting on my nerves?"

"Eh shut up. You talk a lot." He muttered and leaned down, picking her up under her arms and pulling her on top or the RV beside him.

"Alright so maybe I went a little overboard. I guess. Maybe," he muttered.

Taylor smirked and raised an eyebrow at him, sitting against the railing at the top of the RV. "Is this your way of apoligizin'?"

"Maybe.." He blushed slightly.

"Alright then fine, maybe you didn't deserve to almost get shot with an arrow as much as I said you did."

"Apology accepted blondie," he grinned slightly and sat beside her, his legs hanging over the railing.

"Ya on watch duty?" She asked, looking at him.

"Yup." He shrugged.

"Eh I can't sleep anyway. Might as well stay up 'ere a while longer," she said and moved so she was laying on her back and looking up at the dark sky.

"Well ain't that a great idea." He glanced over at her and smiled, even though he knew she couldn't see him. Maybe he'd found a friend around the camp, although he couldn't understand why she wanted anything to do with him.