This story is dedicated to my brother, Kyle. 

Kyle, you are one of the most amazing brothers on this planet and every planet after ours. Maybe one day I'll actually let you read one of my stories.

Please keep in mind that this whole story is unedited(:

~Rebel's POV~

The moans could be heard from miles away. It must've been a herd instead of the normal stragglers that left the city.

They had to be migrating or something, this many herds in such a short amount of time was no normal event.

I swung down from my tree, careful to stay hidden from the swarm of walkers that could discover me. My matted blond hair fell into my face and instead of pushing it back, I let it sway in the humid breeze.

I needed to find people. Not walkers, real people that weren't bitten or scratched. I needed a group considering it was my safest option at the moment.

I skipped over crunchy leaves and dry twigs, gingerly making my way to a more dense forest area on the outskirts of the city. 

A branch snapped behind me and instinctively I scaled the trees, looking for a climbing material. I found a dense, thick oak and clambered my way up the fat branches.

I held my breath as they passed, not daring to make a sound. Most of their skin was decaying or rotting while others didn't have any. Some of their teeth were exposed and it made me sick to my stomach to think about how these things used to have families and friends.

That all changed after the outbreak. Families and lovers were separated, if they were seen again, chances are they were turned.

I had lost both my brothers and my sister. We were quadruplets, but there was something unique in our features. 

We were all blonde, we all had blue eyes and we all had a need-to-win attitude. My sister and brothers had lost their virginity, but I hadn't.

 I thought I should wait until I was completely sure about what I was doing, plus the assholes in my town never raised up to my expectations.

I didn't ever want to be some guys one night stand, I wanted to mean something. Now that the outbreak had taken over I was guessing that I was going to die a virgin.

I mentally shrugged, fine with me. I crawled up to a fork in the branches to spend the night to make sure there were no more walkers I couldn't handle. 

I pulled out my ratty sweatshirt and pulled it over my head to stay warm. A sleeping bag would've done much better, but the Surplus store wasn't exactly the safest place to be.

I lifted the hood over my head and closed my eyes, keeping my ears open for any strange sounds. I never fell asleep and in the world we lived in now, being exhausted was something that was about as safe as walking through a mine-field.

 Good going, Reb, I thought to myself. I removed my sweatshirt and stuffed it into my handmade bag.

I was extremely proud of it considering I had done it in under an hour. It took me three rabbit skins to cover the whole pack. I had smoked the skins prior, ridding it of all the scents so the walkers wouldn't be attracted to it. 

I slung the pack over my back and hopped down from the tree being cautious not to attract anything. I made my way back to the main road that lead away from the city and towards a shabby looking ravine.

The only reason I was heading in this particular direction was because I saw smoke rising from the trees not too long ago.

I was hoping that whoever that was is still there. I walked as fast as I could while occasionally breaking into a fast jog. I had no more water and I desperately needed sustenance.

 If I didn't attract any walkers with my velvet tread, then my stomach surely would. 

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I had been walking for a good 4 hours and I knew I should take a break, but I pushed on.

I was utterly paranoid, checking over my shoulder every minute or so expecting a walker to be next to me. But there never was.

A loud ringing caught in my ears and I cursed the noise, it would surely attract walkers and even walker in the middle of nowhere could be risky.

I moved off towards the shoulder of the road so I wouldn't be hit by the speeding car. 

I had to admit, it was a pretty sleek car, but it was annoying as hell. The cherry colored car rushed past me, not even slowing down to look me over. Whoever was driving probably thought I was a walker and would deal with me later. 

Not ten minutes later a dilapidated old van chugged behind me. To my surprise it stopped and two people shuffled out, aiming a gun and a crossbow at my head.

If this went the way I hoped it would, I would have a group and I might be safe for a few days before moving on.

"You a walker?" The one in the sheriff's getup asked.

"Nope." I said popping the 'p'. 

The sheriff lowered his gun, but the other one still held his crossbow aimed at me. The sheriff one strode over to me confidently and I took this time to look the other one up and down.

He was wearing light-wash jeans and a muddy brown vest. There was blood coating his arms and parts of his face and neck. He had mussed dark blond hair and striking blue eyes only a few shades darker than my own.

As I was looking him over, he was doing the same for me, only he was taking longer than a once over. He was shamelessly roaming his eyes over my body, thinking that I had no clue about it.

I cleared my throat and his eyes snapped to my own, I cocked an eyebrow but his face was still unreadable. The sheriff held out his hand for me to take and I grasped it firmly in mine.

"Sheriff Rick Grimes, you are?" Rick said poshly.

"Rebel." I stated not letting any personal details slip.

"That's a mighty unusual name, is it short for something?" He asked genuine curiosity sparkled in Rick's eyes.

I shook my head, deciding to let a little personality show in my next words.

"No. I never had a 'real' name. The foster kids give one to you and mine stuck. I grew up with it and even the foster parents called me that. It's all I ever knew." 

He nodded suavely. "Well seeing as your not a walker or you aren't bitten, I would like to invite you back to the camp and we will decide your fate from there. Sound good?" 

The other one looked like he might burst a vein, "What? No way in hell that prissy little girl is coming back with us! I bet she couldn't even kill a squirrel without crying!"

But he was wrong. I had cried only a select number of times. I was always careful to hide my emotions and the outbreak wasn't going to change that.

I was strong and I was the best hunter in my household. This redneck couldn't hold a candle to me. I was about to pick a fight with him when the Sheriff piped up.

"Daryl! That's enough! We don't know of her skills and she should have a chance to prove herself, just like I did." His voice was thick with command and I knew Redneck, 'Daryl', wouldn't challenge him.

He kicked at the dirt and finally lowered his crossbow. Redneck started to mutter a few colorful words under his breath while trudging back to the van. 

"Thank you." I turned to Rick, "I really need this chance. You don't know it, but you saved my life."

He nodded, "I seem to have that effect on people." I laughed and shuffled back to the van with him. 

I boarded into the back with Redneck and some Asian guy who said his name was Glenn. between gaping at my face or my full chest, his eyes never left me.

Sometime along the ride Redneck got sick of seeing Glenn staring at me so he reached over behind his head and slapped him.

Glenn rubbed his cheek tenderly and scooted away from Redneck. Rick had said his name early, but I can't seem to recall it. Damien or Darwin or something along those lines.

The rest of the ride was spent trying to ignore the stares of both Glenn and Redneck. Glenn's stare was more ogling while Redneck's was more possessive and protective.

Protective of what I'm not sure, maybe he just felt bad that I was being pitied. Eventually I started returning Redneck's stare and the hard part was not giving up. I had never lost a stare down, but now I was at risk of it. 

His eyes were so piercing it almost hurt.

Almost.

The van pulled up the twists and curves of a dusty lane and we stopped at a cozy looking camp. There was an RV a blue truck with a very nice motorcycle sitting in the bed while blue tarp tents were scattered back into the trees.

Right in the center of the set-up was a small campfire, if we weren't running for our lives, this might've been a family camping trip.

I almost smiled at the irony of it all, we would never live normal lives again, that's for sure.

Rick wrapped an arm around my shoulders and led me out of the van towards the group of men, women, and children.

It was a mixed race group and I held nothing against that, I accepted it even. I wasn't that racist blond rich girl that was after daddy's money. I never knew my dad, or my mom for that matter.

"This is Rebel. If she proves herself, I would like her to join the group." Rick called out to everyone. All the women looked at me strangely and all the guys were scanning me hungrily. 

A blond haired woman stepped up pushing a younger blond behind her. "Now why the hell should we. We can't just pick strays off the street! We took you in because your Lori's husband and Carl's father. This girl doesn't have any ties here, I bet you she can't even load a gun!"

Her outburst was loud, high-pitched, and like one of those flies that flew around your face in the summer heat. 

"You don't know a damn thing about me. If no one else minds I would love a chance to prove myself. I'm not who you think I may be." I said tartly. 

Slowly the group started nodding and murmuring in approval. Everyone looked at Rick eagerly, silently willing him to do something.

He reached into his holster, pulled out a handgun and signaled for an older white-haired man to hand me a bow and sheath of arrows.

I took the weapons ready to aim, but Rick grabbed my hands. "Don't make me look like a fool." he smiled and walked over to who I assumed Lori and Carl were. 

I laid the gun down and grasped the smooth bow in my hands, drawing an arrow into the string. I pulled it back swiftly and took a deep breath before releasing. 

This was it, if this didn't prove myself then I was out. This was my only chance. My only shot. If I failed, I was on my own once again.

I can't mess this up. 

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