She was crying in your arms. You wanted to comfort her, mumble with sweet words, that everything would be solved, that your Mom would be healed. The news broadcasts spoke of a new disease, a virus that has never before existed. The symptoms were not yet clear, for the moment the affections showed muscle pain and very high fever, which also caused hallucinations. Your dad went to the kitchen and filled a towel with ice.

"She sleeps, but her head is very hot, the ice should help her."

He spoke without looking at you, hoping that you would not notice the terror in his face, and went back into the bedroom. You knew your Mom would not make it, she would not last much longer. The pain killers were useless. Any kind of medicine was inefficient. Scientists and doctors worked together and tried to find an antibiotic, but it was obvious that the first infected would die. Your little sister wiped away her tears.

"Are you lying Y/N?", she asked you and you lost yourself in her anxious eyes.

"No... I'm just scared..."

"I don't want Mom to die!", she replied and you held her to you.

The TV interrupted a program to broadcast news related to the epidemic. But what you saw just made you even more nervous. The infected were affected by sudden outbursts of rage and became aggressive towards anyone close to them. Patients didn't recognize their loved ones. They were just hungry. You turned off the TV immediately. Luckily, your little sister had not seen anything and lay with her face on your chest. But your heartbeat quickened... Your mother would have become a monster. It could attack us, kill us... You had to do something to stop it. You would not let her hurt anyone. But you still hoped for the possibility of a cure.

"Hey... Sweetie, listen to me, go to your room, I'll talk to Dad for a minute and then I'll be back, okay?"

"I want to go to Mommy..."

"She sleeps sweetie, you'll talk to her when she wakes up, now go to your room and pick a movie, okay, we'll look it together."

She nodded sadly, picked up her stuffed animal and went to her bedroom. You had to tell your dad what could have happened. It was dangerous to be near her now. So you went to the guest room. Your mother lay stretched out under the blankets. The long curls framed her face. A wet towel on the forehead. Your Dad was sitting in a wooden chair near his beloved wife's body, changing the towel each time, replacing it with a cooler one.

"Y/N, I don't know what to do. I feel damn useless."

You did not want to tell him about the epidemic's degeneration, but he risked his life to be so close to her.

"Dad, the situation has worsened... The news..."
You could not find the words, you could not find the right way to tell him. Talking about it would only make everything more real.

"The sick go crazy, they become dangerous, they attack those who are near them, they no longer recognize their family..."

"It's not possible... What the hell is happening here?"

"I don't know, I don't understand it myself...", you sighed.

"What can we do then? If we can not get any closer, how can I give her the medicine... I lock her up in a room and go? We stay home and do nothing, hoping that any idiot find a cure?"

He did not cry, but his eyes were clear.

"I don't even know if some idiot, as you say, will find a cure or not, the fact is that we have to stay away from her..."

"No, Y/N, I'm not moving away from here, in the past I've often left her alone because of my work."

"At least allow me to tie her up, for her and our safety."

"You pretend it's a dangerous madness, but I don't think so, you know how the mass media are, they exaggerate everything, they just want to scare us!"

You got impatient: "Damn Dad, you're so blind you do not understand it's not just a disease! It's not a flu or any other of that shit! It's something we've never seen before!"

He remained silent and struggled with himself. He knew you were right, but he did not want to accept it and gently stroked the cheeks of his beloved wife. Suddenly she woke up wide-eyed and shaken by convulsions. Your Dad leaned over her and mumbled something and you stopped in shock at the door. It was terrible to see her like that. Whatever happened, it was like a nightmare. The bed creaked. Your mother jumped off the mattress and grabbed your father and dug her nails into his flesh. He screamed, trying to push her away, but was bitten by her in his neck...


Shocked, you raised your heavy eyelids. Everything was confusing and seemed so blurry. You moved, but you did not understand how. Pain, only pain... Your eyes closed. You could not keep them open, it was too tiring. You felt broken, but still tried to recognize something. You saw a gray wall, alternating with long ceiling lights. Arrows on the walls... Someone took you to the cells in the main room. A strong smell of iron. Blood, you lost a lot of blood... You remembered what happened. Carl. The Walker. The arrow. Your senses were poorly defined. You heard hasty steps. Further steps. But every sound was muffled. Something grabbed your arm, you saw fingers that were stained with dirt and blood. You were with someone and tried to look up again to understand who it was. It was Rick.

"She's awake, she's still alive!"

A woman's voice countered: "At the moment, she has lost too much blood!"

Rick increased the speed. He wanted to save you. Idiot. It would be better for him to let you die. You smiled, made a grimace and fainted again. The cold contact of a smooth surface woke you up and you had been lying on a table. A figure came to you, but you could not recognize his face. You only saw a dark shadow that introduced something into your arm. He sat down and began to touch where you were bleeding. You wanted to say that the person should stop, that it hurts terribly. But you didn't have the strength. Maybe he tried to get the arrow out. Once removed, the pain became more oppressive and intense. Your stiffened your jaw and clamped your teeth together.

"Is it very serious Hershel?", Rick asked excitedly.

The figure turned and replied: "She has a lot of internal bleeding, but I'll do everything I can."

Hershel tried to treat you. Either he was a doctor or a simple man who had some experience in this world. You did not know... The two men were worried about your life. Two people of those you should have killed in the future...

"Why the hell did you shoot?", Rick yelled at someone.

A voice answered, but from where you are, you could not see who it belonged to.

"Told ya' why! What should I think? I  come back, I see ya' desperate 'nd Carl on the ground 'nd that crazy bitch 's covered in blood 'nd limpin' toward ya'! Damn! What would ya' 've done when-... ", the person explained, but Rick interrupted him angrily.

"What I would have done? I would not have fired, but you have!"

"Listen, I know I 's wrong, but I acted instinctively, there 's that hole 'n the fence! Thought she came in 'nd killed yer son!"

You felt Hershel's fingers move in your flesh to stop the bleeding. A terrible feeling. He squeezed and wiped the wound with a cloth. Then he asked someone to give him something.

"Didn't you even come up with the idea to ask first and then do something if necessary?"

The other remained silent, after all it was useless to continue the conversation.

"She saved Carl, if she hadn't been... Do you understand Daryl?"

This name told you something, but you could not remember. Your mind was too busy receiving the pain. It burned. You felt Hershel sew your skin together. When you looked up, you saw an infusion bag. The man stood up smiling and said that you'll make it. Yoy do not know why, but you've lost your senses again. When you woke up, you noticed that you had regained your eyesight and sensibility. So you tried to sit up, but a sudden sting didn't allow you and you cried out in pain.

"She's awake again!", Carol announced.

The whole group surrounded you the next moment. They were all relieved. You tried again to sit up and this time someone put out an arm to help you. As you sat, you could find out who it was. The first thing you noticed was the ragged clothes. A sleeveless leather jacket emphasized his muscles. A light unkempt beard. His hair partially covered his crystalline blue eyes. A deep, determined look. Then you saw that he was carrying something on his shoulder. A crossbow.

"So you are the bastard."

A grimace appeared on his face. The others laughed. And Rick looked more worried.

"Y/N, I'm sorry for what happened, I can only say thank you for what you did, I was too far away, I couldn't have done it... Well, you got it... We decided that you would stay with us officially.", Rick said suddenly. You were thrilled and Carol put a hand on your shoulder. "I'm sorry that I doubted."

"It's normal not to trust right away, I probably would have too.", you said, trying to calm her down.

"It was a misunderstanding, and yet we have not introduced ourselves, I'm Glenn, that's Maggie and that-...", Glenn started, informing you about the different names and finally introducing you to the whole group. The blond girl entered the room holding a baby in her arms. You were shocked. The others noticed and explained the whole story to you. Rick, on the other hand, frowned and went out. Beth put Judith in her bed and tried to get her to sleep. Hershel put the medical tools in place. Glenn and Maggie went to the prison yard to keep watch. While Rick and Carol got ready to fix the fence. It occurred to you that in none of the girls did you hear the voice you had heard on the way to the sheriff. A woman was still on appeal and it must have been Michonne. Daryl, the only one around, jumped to the table and sat next to you.

"Almost killed ya'."

You looked at him annoyed: "True, but unfortunately you can not aim."

He shook his head, grinning slightly: "Was aimin' for the head, but ya' got up."

"What can I say, thank you for targeting my head when I got up?", you said sarcastically and smiled hastily.

"Maybe. Gotta go to get some supplies out of the car now.", he said, mumbling.

He jumped down and left, still holding the crossbow on his shoulder. The attitude, the way of going, reminded of Merle's personality. Shit. He is it. Daryl Dixon... You wanted to follow him, ask him about his brother, know how they said goodbye. Maybe they had a fight. It would have been right to tell him the truth. But you remained helpless on this table. The pain had not quite disappeared, but thanks to some of the painkillers Hershel had given you, they had at least become more docile. Although you only knew these people for a day, you felt their strong connection. They were not just survivors, they were a family. You wondered why Rick had rejected the Governor's idea... Philip had not told you everything, there had to be something else... However, the fact remained that Michonne acted like a bitch. You had a sad expression on your face that Hershel noticed and stopped beside you.

"Is everything okay? Apart from the problems with dressing?"

When he was next to you, you had a strange feeling. He was too good-natured, one of those men who were destined to die. But he could calm you down.

"Yes, I was just thinking."

"May I ask what exactly?"

"Well... You're a nice group, more than just that... A family."

"You're right, we've become a family, you see, I've been with Maggie, Beth, my wife... In short, I lived on a farm with my then family, I was a man of faith and I was convinced that the infected could be treated, that they were still human. And then one day I saw a sheriff running into my house with an injured boy in his arms, it was almost impossible for him to be saved, but I did. And I greeted the man, his wife, and his group because they had no place to go, Carol's daughter was gone, Otis lost his life to get medical supplies, but his victim allowed Carl to be saved. Not long after, they discovered the Walkers in my barn... I just thought of my family and when they tried to explain to me that the Walkers should be killed, I wanted to throw them out of my house. Shane opened the barn doors later. He shot her. I felt lost, empty. I saw my wife collapse on the floor. I would have to face her death. But what overwhelmed everyone was the sight of Carol's daughter. She had always been in that damn barn... Otis had found her. I knew nothing about it. They accused me... I wanted them to leave, but I was their debtor because they opened my eyes. Then a herd came and we had to flee. We had losses but the time together united us. We trust each other blindly.", he told you.

You looked at him and said nothing. You realized: These people couldn't be the bad guys. You had to find out what really happened...

"And now we're here, we're trying to rebuild our lives."

"Do you think it will take a long time?"

"Probably, but if we couldn't make it here, it will not be a problem, we'll find another place.", he smiled, tapping his fingers on the table.

"The group to which I belonged lacked this component..."

"You are now part of this group."

You were surprised. You knew that was not what everyone thought, but only the fact that Hershel considered you a new member of the family convinced you. You thanked in disbelief and jumped up, yet you had to pay attention to your movements, or risked reopening the wound.

"Y/N, one more thing...", he said and his voice went quiet, hoping not to be heard by others: "You owe Rick an explanation because you were armed, he did not want to speak in front of the whole group, but it is better if it is clarified."

"I haven't thought about it yet... But I didn't want to hurt anyone..."

He interrupted you in a relaxed tone: "I know, don't worry, and I can understand if you don't want to talk about the incident."

Could he really be so good-natured or was he just acting like that? The Governor warned you that he said they were very good actors. They pretended to bring the people who met them to their side and let them fight for wrong things. But none of that you saw was true. So far... Maybe you should have waited. Still trembling a bit, you walked along the long corridor. There were still bloodstains on the floor. Outside, you were looking for Rick. The fence had already been repaired and Carol helped Daryl. You saw the sheriff busy ramming a crowbar into the skulls of the various Walkers pushing against the fence. So you went to meet him and waited for him to notice your presence. You did not want to interrupt his slaughter. After about twenty dead bodies on the ground, he finally noticed you.

"Y/N, how are you feeling?", he asked, wiping his sweaty hands on his shirt and trying to gather himself.

"Hershel did a great job. Do you need help?"

He threw the object on the ground. "I'm done for today, apart from the heroic action... The fact remains that you were in possession of a weapon. We had a deal."

"And I broke it, I know, but I did not intend to use it to hurt you or anyone else."

"I can not be completely sure... I don't know where and when you took it, but don't violate the most important rule: Do what I say. Okay? Here they all count on me, I do not want to be wrong, if I trust you, though I owe you something."

"Rick, I will not let you down."

"Good."

He walked past you and wiped his forehead with his wrist. The Walkers grumbled hungrily and trampled on the bodies of their companions. And you wondered if someday you be would like them...

"Y/N?", Rick said again, turning and slowing down his pace. "Tomorrow morning you will go on a run, we have used up the supplies of painkillers and other medicines, I want to see how you can deal with it. Michonne will be with you."