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The sound of a singular gunshot made the teenager jolt. Holding her breath Nadia Grimes forced her sobbing to stay internal, yet a small whimper still found its way through the cracks in her lips.

The newborn still covered in vernix was gently crying out for comfort as Nadia struggled to do so. Holding the infant close, she did her best to fix the makeshift blanket for the baby, created using her younger brother's coat. The blood of their mother coated the two like wet paint, dripping off in large quantities onto the concrete floor of the prison.

Her emotions were completely mushed into obscurity as she watched her younger brother step out of the boiler room. Lori's blood was present on his hands and shirt from what he had helped his older sister do. Though Nadia could see a small splatter across his cheek he undoubtedly obtained from shooting her body moments ago.

She tried to call out for him but Carl Grimes had already walked straight past her. Keeping his head down his signature sheriff's hat covered his face as he wove his hand around his gun like a vine.

Seeing no other option Nadia followed the boy outside of the prison and into the courtyard. If she had the energy left the girl would've cried out in relief at the sight of a good portion of her group surviving the walker attack, but Nadia didn't even have the energy to frown.

"We're going back!" Rick commanded his group as the blood of the dead now stained his clothes. "Daryl and Glenn, you come with me..." his words suddenly fizzled away as the baby started to cry in her arms once more.

The small group all turned their attention towards the entrance of the prison as Carl pushed the gate open for the three. Their steps were small. Almost nonexistent at first. Neither of them wanted to face the others after what they had just endured yet there they were.

Some understood what had transpired immediately due to their attire and lack of another body, but their father shook his head in denial. Nadia could still feel the movement of Lori's blood going down her arms as she held the baby tight, trying to fight back the tears.

Rick dropped his large axe as he assessed the situation. Looking at his daughter, then to the baby, then to the blood coating the pair, then back to Nadia. Her brown couldn't look his blue as she struggled to stay composed, she wasn't one to cry in front of others.

Still a few stay noises came out as Rick started to slightly pace, "Where... where is she? Where is she?" The complete desperation in his throat was what finally made the stray rope holding herself together snap apart.

A gasp for breath came out first before the broken girl coughed out, "...dad," though her screaming inside the boiler room had done enough damage to make her words hoarse and almost unheard.

Rick shook his head and walked right past her. Nadia tried to stop him, doing her best to speak, "Dad... n-no. No!" Her fingers just ghosting over his arm, with drops of his wife's blood finding its way onto her father's skin.

He didn't even make it a few steps past before starting to lose it. Throwing his hands to his face Rick let out a few cries before turning his attention to Nadia's brother. Unlike the two of them, Carl remained stoic. His hand was still firmly gripping the gun he just used as he looked forward.

Their father had lost it when he put two and two together, "Oh... no," he leaned towards his son with his hands on his knees to view the boy more clearly. "No... no!"

And as Rick Grimes collapsed to the ground, begging for his wife, Nadia realised for the first time in her life no matter what she could do wouldn't help the situation.

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Pushing the thoughts of her past to the side, Nadia continued her journey on the tracks. Allowing her ropers to crunch against the fallen leaves still left on the ground. Winters in Georgia were never that severe and it had been a few years since it even snowed, which she was very thankful for. Nadia wasn't sure what exactly she would've done if snow was coming down this early in the year.

Still the cold early spring wind smashing in her face was enough of a reminder of the luck she never had. Though she wouldn't complain much, considering the baby swaddled to her chest was surprisingly a nice heat source. Manoeuvring her axe to one hand the girl moved her jacket slightly to check on the sleeping Judith, making sure she didn't suffocate before zipping the jacket up further.

With nothing but her own thoughts to keep her company Nadia started to daydream. When she was younger a good story inside her head was enough to keep her entertained for hours. Sitting in class, in her room, long car rides, it didn't matter. It was a small escape she was able to enjoy back then, so one now wouldn't hurt.

When she was younger Nadia daydreamed about unbelievable adventures. Like going to space, being a princess, the president, stuff that would never happen. That's why she started to daydream about her life. Well... what was supposed to be. What it was really supposed to be.

For starters she imagined a proper graduation, unlike what she had. One that her father would have attended instead of his partner Shane. Just the thought of his name made Nadia gag, so in this new reality he was the one to be in a coma.

Next she would have skipped the virus. That the CDC had quickly learned of the cause and created a vaccine to prevent the second life everyone was forced to have. So that the twenty-sixth of August was just another day on the calendar and not the last.

Smiling, Nadia started to picture where that new reality led her. Seeing her father loading up the last of her belongings in the truck as Lori cried about how her baby was growing up. Though for some reason she could see Carl with a tape measure mapping out her bedroom to transform into a gaming room.

Harvard Pre-Law. The course Nadia had been accepted into just weeks before the apocalypse. It was a late acceptance as she was waitlisted, but it was still something. Lori had never been prouder. Her and her mom were so excited that for a moment they forgot that Rick was still comatose.

For a split second Nadia's walking halted as she realised that she never told her father about that. She knew that getting accepted into a school like that meant nothing now, but it still meant something to her. So in this new reality she daydreamed Rick was over the moon. Buying sweaters, mugs, bumper stickers, basically anything with the words, "Proud Harvard Dad," on it.

She may have been romanticising university but it wasn't like it could be real. So she continued to dream. Thinking about what she would do when she got to school. Getting her dorm, meeting her roommate, joining the cheer team as well as a few more extracurriculars and of course going to class. Hell, Nadia could see herself sneaking home to surprise her family on thanksgiving like some people on YouTube used to do.

Just the thought of their small family made the girl suddenly feel warm. The four of them sitting in the dining room with the red cloth Lori only placed down on special occasions.

Her mouth started to water at the memory of her father's thanksgiving turkey. So Nadia pretended the stale granola bar she ate was the juicy meat cooked to perfection after a three day brine.

Maybe the lack of social interactions were finally getting to the girl but she swore she could hear Carl's laughter as he tried to grab Rick's turkey leg right in front of him. The dwindling sunlight soon reflected off Nadia's braces as she remembered her last thanksgiving.

The family of four sitting together and enjoying each other's company. It was weird to think that a family of four could become a family of one in only a few seconds.

Suddenly her smile was gone as darker thoughts started to play in her mind. The slicing, the shooting, the biting... the things that actually happened replayed in her mind as if a reminder of her failures.

Unlike Lori, Nadia wasn't exactly too sure what happened to Rick and Carl, but she had an idea. Their main enemy at the prison was this man they called the Governor. A Jimmy Jones, power hungry type of guy. He wasn't properly on her community's radar after his initial defeat, where he ran away after killing most of his own men, and no one really thought he'd come back. She actually thought he was dead.

She thought wrong.

Instead he came back with a new group tricked out with much artillery and vehicles, even having a tank on their side. He demanded they were to leave yet Rick tried to fight for peace, ending in the deaths of many. Nadia knew it was unlikely Rick made it out as the Governor was solely targeting him. His body most likely was sprawled out on the grass with enough bullets to fill a few magazines.

Carl's fate on the other hand made the girl's stomach turn. With so many walkers flooding into their base she could only imagine what they might've done to the fourteen year-old. Her daydreams shifted to nightmares as the sounds of Carl screaming for her entered her mind.

Gritting her teeth, the girl suddenly started to swat her forehead, forcing the negative thoughts away, "Shut up... shut up," Nadia repeatedly told herself.

Before Nadia could even process it, the lies of happy daydreams she filled her head with started to shift to the sickening truth of reality. Nadia Grimes wasn't in Harvard right now. Nadia Grimes was walking the tracks of an abandoned railway. Alone.

There was no moving into a dorm, no making friends or attachments, no parents to be proud of her accomplishments, no thanksgiving dinners, no family left. Nothing.

Nadia Grimes had nothing.

But the worst part? If that dream had been a reality, she would've almost been ready to take the LSATs right now.

With no happy thoughts remaining Nadia continued her journey, boots stepping on every other crossties. For a while she thought the sound of her shoes against the breaking wood would be the only thing she'd ever hear, or that was until the sounds of snarls made her eyes widen.

Gripping her axe Nadia shifted her attention around the trees surrounding her. Behind her seemed clear, as did the left to right, only making her huff in annoyance. It was ahead of her. Of course she had already taken out a few over the day and she knew she could handle herself, but you could never be too careful.

It only took one second, that's what Rick had said to her anyways.

Fixing her jacket a little more to keep the incoming blood she was prepared to spill something made her completely freeze, "Come on you pussys! What, you scared or something?"

Even if Nadia had heard voices from time to time, she could still tell the difference between real and imaginary, "You just gonna stand there, bitch? Come on!" And as the sound of laughter continued she could tell this male voice was far from imaginary.

Her palm started to rub the handle of her weapon as she contemplated her next move. People were a rare thing to come across already, but good people were a completely different breed.

Nadia truly believed good died out after no one could enforce the law, so finding what she liked to refer to as "Okay People" were few and far in between.

Yes, others probably were heading to Terminus as well, yet she didn't know everyone's intentions on getting there. Just because a person can seem harmless doesn't mean they are.

A man by the name of Shane proved that.

A sudden sound of slicing made her take a step back, "Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" The person started to cheer.

Pulling out her gun Nadia stepped off the tracks and went behind the trees, keeping her from view. No matter what she'd have to go straight and follow the tracks to get to her destination. So she took the safety off her forearm and just prayed she would have to use it.

Luckily the tracks were slightly elevated from the side where the noise was coming from. On the edge of an abandoned town, with thick woods to her left and a pavement road to her right. A little ways down the tracks she gave a quick glimpse at the scene, to make sure that it wasn't a large group. Just to be safe in case one started to follow her, but instead the sight before her made Nadia slightly wish that were the case.

Instead, on the road ahead was a singular pale boy, fighting a small cluster of walkers alone. His bouncing made his tattered jacket swish as he moved around the undead. A set of dual Oxtail Sabers in his hands, cutting his opponents like warm butter instead of rotted meat.

Watching the walker blood spatter onto his snorkelling goggles was enough to understand this person wasn't one to be trifled with. So she stayed out of sight as he butchered his opponents.

"Come on! Is that all you got?!" He laughed as the final walker hit the pavement.

Even if Nadia was on edge, the way that stranger was handling the situation made her stomach turn. It was almost unearthly to watch the man. For over the last two years her group had an understanding of how to deal with walkers. They aren't bothering you, you don't instigate them. An out of sight out of mind mentality. Yet this man in mud stained jeans seemed to be the opposite, openly drawing attention towards them.

Turning her nose up Nadia watched the idiot start to wave his arms in the air, "Dinner bells ringing, motha fuckas!"

The teenage girl was so enamoured and confused by the sight before her that she had let her guard down for too long, "What the..." her sudden wording was cut off as a snarl hit her ear. "Fuck!" Nadia screamed bloody murder before shooting the monster in the face.

The sudden action made the girl jump back and misstep, causing her to trip over the tracks and fall backwards. Without even thinking Nadia dropped both her weapons to protect Judith as they fell down the hill and onto the pavement a good steep foot below.

Even if the backpack broke her fall Nadia still gasped for breath in pain. Any possible chance of still not being spotted went out the window when Judith started to scream, causing all walkers to change their course of direction.

Nadia snapped her head up in fright as a sense of frightening deja vu hit her. Though this time when the walker was an inch from her she wasn't the one to strike it down. With a wide eye expression the girl looked up at her saviour, seeing the same man from before. Though after giving her a quick glance he went back to fending off the other walkers.

Nadia took the opportunity to open her zipper up and check on the crying one. Inside her jacket Judith was still neatly wrapped to her chest. Her small fingers gripped her protector's firefighter t-shirt, as tears streamed down her face. Other than the fact that she was startled from the experience the baby was lucky enough to not have sustained any noticeable injuries. Which was enough for the teenager.

Zipping her jacket back up Nadia slithered out of her backpack and ran to her weapons, grabbing both her gun and axe before attacking the remaining monsters.

And on her third kill, smashing the axe into the walker's head, she noticed another blade come out of nowhere and separated the body from the head with her axe still firmly lodged inside. Glancing up she saw the man a few feet from her with his weapons still drawn.

As the walkers all laid in pieces around them, the pair fell into a standstill. His bloody blades pointed right at the axe with a walker head still attached. Nadia's resting bitch face converted into a sneer, just daring the man to come at her as Judith's cry's turned to faint whimpers.

Though the man did not share her reaction as he suddenly dropped his blades, making a loud clatter hit the concrete below. With shaking hands the boy quickly moved his goggles to rest over his curly brown hair, allowing Nadia to see his shocked brown gaze.

The seemingly dangerous individual suddenly showed his true colours as he pulled down the scarf covering his face and muttered out a singular word, "...girl."

Her face turned as he suddenly took a step back and muttered out a few more lines with no proper punctuation, "Girl... living... not dead... human! Ha!" He clapped his hands together before bouncing slightly, "I knew it! I knew I wasn't the only one left! Take that bad thoughts! Ha!"

Nadia remained silent as the malnourished boy who would have only been about eighteen or nineteen year-old old as he started to laugh to himself, "I was starting to think I was the only one left. I thought I was the only one left! I mean... I knew people had to exist but after like a couple hundred sunsets you start to lose hope, you know?!"

After a year of seeing nothing but sneers and frightened gazes whenever Nadia passed someone inside the prison, it was no wonder why the stranger's smile creeped her out. Hell, even if she somehow was accustomed to the sight of raised lips, the sight before her was still a gigantic red flag. In a world like this one strangers don't smile at one another.

Though his smile started to shift as Judith let out another noise. Tilting his head, the boy's vision shifted to the noticeable bulge on her chest, "Is that..." his eyes suddenly widened as he put the pieces together, "You have a baby?! No way! My god with no medical care, damn girl!"

A hand flew to her chest to make another layer of protection over Judith as the other pointed her axe at the teen. With teeth exposed she tried to act as threatening as possible as he only stared at her in awe.

It was as if he noticed Nadia's anger as he glanced at the child, "I'm sorry... are they yours?"

"It's none of your concern," she shot back, making him freeze.

He slightly cringed, as if he realised he stepped out of line, and started to backtrack, "I'm sorry. I- um... oh!" his eyes widened as he hastily removed his leather glove and held out his hand, "Lincoln. I'm Lincoln. Lincoln Smith."

Nadia stared at his outreached hand, not even thinking about shaking it. Instead she continued to stare him down, with the sneer some of her fellow members of her old community said was branded onto her face.

The second standstill they created didn't last much longer as the sound of groaning returned. The pair snapped their heads towards one of the fallen walkers, watching it try to crawl over as it's lower half was gone.

"Excuse me," Lincoln dropped his hand and picked up his blades, making his way to the walker before putting it down. "Sorry about that," he chuckled.

Nadia didn't take her eyes off of the boy as she gave a quick flick to her weapon, causing the head to detach from her axe.

The boy didn't stop smiling as he watched the girl in awe, "Do you... do you have a camp by chance?"

"No," the words came fast, quick.

"Oh," the curly haired boy frowned before glancing to the side. "Oh, here let me get that for you."

Nadia's eyes quickly widened, "Don't touch that!" She demanded, but not fast enough as it was already in his hands.

The boy cringed and dropped it again making a slip of paper fly out. Knowing exactly what was on the page she tried to reach for it but it was too late as he had already read the community name she had written, "Terminus...? What's that?"

"Nothing," Nadia stole the paper from him. "It's nothing."

He tilted his head, "Is it a community?"

"It's none of your business," she spat, still trying and failing, to intimidate him. It may have been more effective if he had been around more people, but the lack of socialisation seemed to have made him immune to the local bitch of the prison community.

Instead the boy took a step forward, placing his swords into the single sheath attached to his hip, "Can I go with you? I mean I know you don't know me but-" Nadia's gasp came quick as Lincoln tried to grab her wrist.

He may have only meant it as a plea but she wouldn't take any chances. Instead she dropped her axe and threw him to the ground, pointing her Colt Python at him a second later. The boy close in age actually screamed at the sight of her gun, scooching back on his ass to avoid it. 

"Don't. Ever. Touch. Me." The girl spat.

Lincoln Smith was far past the verge of tears as he tried to move away, "I-I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I won't do it again."

"You won't," she scoffed and took a step closer. "Here's what's going to happen, Lincoln. You are going to stay here and not leave this little town until sunrise. If I find out you followed me at all..." she took the safety off. "Two shots will come out of this gun. One to shoot you in the leg, and another to alert the walkers to come and finish you off. Got it?"

The boy could only nod as noticeable tears started to roll down his cheeks. Not that it truly bothered the girl, it wasn't the first or last time she had made a stranger sob. Returning her gun to its hollister Nadia quickly grabbed her bag and axe before stomping towards the tracks.

After a second of climbing the steep hill she went back to her journey to potential safety. Taking careful steps on the wooden planks, making sure to check her surroundings much more efficiently that time.

If only the sounds of the Smith boy's sniffling didn't fill the trees.

Her hands played with her axe as her eyes squeezed shut. Taking a deep breath in, Nadia began to debate with herself over what she was about to do before letting it out.

Once she eventually returned to the town she could see Lincoln right where she left him. Sniffling on the pavement surrounded by walker parts. The teen watched him for a moment to see if he'd notice her before kicking him, "Hey."

He gasped and turned over, scrambling to face her, "W-What are you doing here? I-I wasn't going to follow you, I swear! I..."

As he started to ramble a bunch of meaningless pleas Nadia cut him off with a simple question, "How many walkers have you killed?"

The teenager blinked, confused, "...What?"

Nadia huffed, "Walkers. The dead ones. The monsters that ate your parents. How many have you killed?"

His eyes slightly widened, "Um... well I don't really keep track of that, you know? It's a rather weird question to ask..." Lincoln awkwardly chuckled as he got to his feet, though once he noticed how she wasn't laughing he eventually gave a real answer. "Exactly one hundred and fifty-two."

The girl only stared at him before asking the second question, "How many people have you killed?"

The way he stiffened put Nadia on guard, "Uh, do you mean like actually killed them or like... it was your fault?" He trailed off.

"Yes."

He gave a small nod before eventually blurting out the small number, "Three."

Nadia's grip tightened on her axe as she stared into his eyes asking the final question, "Why?"

He shook his head, "I'd rather not say."

"I'd rather not be talking to you but we can't always get what we want. Why did you kill those three people, Lincoln Smith?"

His frown was enough for her to realise how deep the guilt ran through his bones. He lowered his head and after a long sigh he said in a meek tone, "I forgot to turn the generator on."

Nadia began to stare at the boy as if saying those words out loud had done a number on him. Except she was grateful he did. The three questions she had just asked were the fundamentals of judging the okay from the less okay in the world. Rick had told his daughter you could determine if a person is right or not by how they respond. That if any of their responses made her uncomfortable she knew not to trust them.

So she was rather annoyed that his answer brought no uncomfortability whatsoever.

With a huff and a snap of the fingers she gestured to him to follow her. The boy looked like it was Christmas morning by the way he grabbed his bag and ran up next to her, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He repeated over and over again as they made it to the tracks, "I promise you won't regret this!"

She rolled her eyes as they started their journey, before he put his hand out for her once more, "If you don't remember I'm Lincoln."

She nodded and knew that he would not shut up until he eventually learned her name. So walking slightly ahead she muttered her name out for him, "Nadia."

"Nadia..." he repeated with a grin. And as the boy started to try and chat with her she took the opportunity to check on the baby resting against her chest once more. Noticing the happy smile that she now showed, 'Great, not there's two of them,' she internally groaned.

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