"We advise that everyone stay indoors until we are able to identify the cause of this new virus. The CDC has told us to avoid anyone who has the following symptoms: a fever, chills, hallucinations, vomiting..."

She was just turning twenty-one when the outbreak started. She had seen the news reports and simply snorted; a few isolated incidents across the country didn't really concern her any, especially after the past few years when the bird and swine flu proved to be nothing more than a bad case of the common cold.

It was almost Spring break and she was going to be celebrating her 21st birthday with a couple of friends back home. Not like being twenty-one would change much, she'd spent most of her freshman and sophomore years at college getting completely obliterated every single night and then crawling her way to her early morning classes. Being legal just meant she'd be able to go bar hopping without the fear of getting kicked out. She was just happy to be going home.

Back then, the thought of fighting off rabid human beings trying to take a bite out of her flesh never even crossed her mind at that point. But, here she was now, bashing in the brains of some little old lady who probably liked baking cookies and knitting sweaters for her grandchildren before the infection took over.

The dented and bloodstained metal bat she wielded that she had dubbed, 'Ol' Reliable', had to be covered in the blood of hundreds of others who had ended up like the old lady. She swung the bat one more time, smashing in the old woman's skull, assuring that she wouldn't be getting up again. It had taken her a couple of days to realize that you had to destroy the brain to make sure they would be down for the count.

Glancing down at her bat, her lip upturned with disgust at the blood dripping off of it, "Gross." She grumbled, wiping the blood off on her jeans before scouring the area around her, looking for her little blonde companion.

A low whistle caught her attention and immediately had her on guard as she whipped around, the gun that was tucked in her waistband was now in her hand, pointing at source of the whistle.

"Whoa now, girlie. I ain't gonna hurt cha." The man said as he held his hands up in the air. She eyed him with caution. If she hadn't been the one pointing the gun at him, his six-foot-something stature would be intimidating for someone of her five-foot-six height. When she made no notion of replying to him, he spoke again, arrogance and stupidity lacing his voice, "Ya mute or some'in darlin'?" He asked, his lips curling up in amusement.

He looked as though he was going to say something else, but the creaking of a car door just a few feet behind her caught his attention. In an instant, he had a gun out, pointing it at the car, ready to shoot should anything that moved even a millimeter.

The woman's eyes widened, "Hey! Hey!" She cried out, stepping forward a bit, "Settle down! It's fine!"

He looked confused for a moment before lowering his gun once he saw a head pop up from behind the open window of the car, blue eyes glancing curiously over at him, "Jus' a lil girl..."

"Stay there." She ordered the girl who nodded, ducking down a bit further behind the car, "Who're you?" She asked, looking pointedly at the older man, her gun still fixed on him.

She could tell from the snarl of his lip and the beady look in his eyes that she didn't like him. He was a foul, vile excuse for a human being if she ever did see one. It almost made her bitter seeing that this type of person was still alive and kicking when other good and holy people were dead or worse.

"Harley, look out!"

The cold feeling of a barrel of a gun being stuck to her head froze her in her place, "I'd put that down if I were you."

Harley closed her eyes, exhaling through her nose before dropping her gun to the ground, "Just let us go, we ain't harmin' no one."

She felt the pressure of the gun against her head disappear, "That why ya had your gun pointed at my brother?"

She turned to look into the blue eyes of her assailant, "He startled me. Can't be too careful now-a-days, don't know what kind of people you're gonna run into."

He nodded, ignoring his brother's snort of disdain, "Your name?"

She hesitated before speaking, not entirely sure whether or not she wanted to get mixed up with the two men, but regardless, she introduced herself, "Harley." She looked past the man in front of her to the girl who was poking her head out from behind the car, "That's Anna."

"Daryl Dixon," He introduced himself, "That over there is my brother Merle."

"Just you two?" Merle asked, "Hard ta believe two lil girls like yourselves survived this long."

Harley gave him a dirty look before retorting, "Hard to believe a dumb ass inbred like yourself survived this long."

Merle felt his eye twitch with annoyance, "Now listen here ya lil bitch-"

"C'mon, we got shit to do." Daryl interrupted his brother. He turned to Harley who was keeping an eye on the older Dixon, "If ya follow this road all the way up, you'll come across a camp with about fifteen people near the quarry." He told her, pointing up the road they were currently on, "They'll probably be more than happy ta take you two in." He said before adding under his breath, "Been doin' a lot of tha' lately."

"We're fine." Came Harley's response.

Daryl paused for a moment, looking at the tiny woman up and down, noting the tired look in her eyes and the way her body seemed to slump with exhaustion, "Suit yaself." He shrugged, turning to his brother, "Lessgo Merle, got more huntin' ta do."

Merle threw Harley a wink that made her stomach churn, "Hope y'all don't get bit, be a shame putting a bullet through ya pretty lil heads."

Harley scowled, motioning for Anna to come to her and when she was within arm's reach, she grabbed her by the back of her worn out tank top, yanking it a bit too hard, "Let's go."

While the two men walked away, heading back into the wooded area, Harley and Anna trudged in the opposite direction of the supposed camp that Daryl had told them about.

Perhaps a few weeks ago, Harley would've taken the man up on his offer to join the camp. The prospect of being around other people, particularly those who are her age and not an eight year old girl would've sent her running there at the mention of it, but now that she's seen how cruel people can be in the face of the apocalypse, her trust in other human beings has dwindled and she wasn't willing to risk her or Anna's life when up until now, they've been perfectly capable of surviving on their own.

"Hope we don't run into those guys again." Anna grumbled once the two brothers were no longer in sight.

"Agreed."

The sun was beginning to descend from the sky as Harley and Anna rummaged through some abandoned vehicles on the highway, trying to scrounge up whatever supplies they could even though a lot of these cars had already been looted, but there were always things that people overlooked.

"Found some nail clippers!" Anna called out from the truck directly behind Harley, "Keep 'em or chuck 'em?"

Harley didn't bother looking back, continuing to stuff clothes that would fit either her or Anna into her bag, "If they're clean keep 'em, ain't gonna be cuttin' my nails with some grimy ass clippers."

Anna giggled at the older woman as she dropped the nail clippers into her tiny knapsack which was already filled with miscellaneous objects and anything her eight year old mind found amusing.

"Lookit this." Harley called out, pulling an acoustic guitar out from the back of the van she was looking through, tilting it to further inspect the instrument, "Seems to be in pretty good condition too." She noted.

Anna peered curiously at it, "You can play?"

Harley gave her a bit of a mischievous grin, "A bit." She leaned the guitar against the back of the van before continuing to search through the suitcases in there, "When we set up camp tonight I'll play you a little tune." She threw the younger girl a wink.

Anna gave Harley a wide grin but it faded when she looked past Harley, eyes going wide. Harley swiveled around, a frown marring her face as she stared at the second pair of rednecks to grace her presence in a matter of an hour.

"What have we here..." One said as he and his buddy stopped about twenty feet away from the two girls, the rifle he held over his shoulder signifying that he thought he was the one in the position of power in this situation.

Harley glanced between him and the other man who had a handgun tucked into the front of his pants, "It'd prolly be best ta give us all yer weapons and supplies." He said to her, a disgustingly vile grin etched into his face.

This wasn't the first time she'd come across these type of people; less human than even the walkers that were roaming about. They didn't care if they took one human life or twenty as long as it meant they survived.

"Behind me." Harley ordered Anna, who complied taking notice of the way Harley's body had become rigid, "Sorry," She directed at the two men, her voice steady, "We can't do that."

"That's a shame." The man with the rifle said as he raised his gun off his shoulder, pointing it at the two girls, "Was hopin' we could have a bit of fun wit ya after we robbed ya blind." The crude implication caused Harley's lip to upturn slightly.

Before he could even think of pulling the trigger, Harley had her own gun out, which had been tucked into the back of her pants, a bullet was imbedded right between his eyes in a matter of milliseconds. Unfortunately for her, his partner was not as slow, however, his aim left much to be desired.

Harley had never been shot before, but she assumed the searing pain in her leg had meant that she had been, "Sonovabitch." She all but screamed, trying to ignore the pain as she shakily aimed and shot. The man fell to the ground with a 'thud', blood pooling around his head from the bullet wound.

Daryl was just about to shoot at the deer he'd been tracking for a little over an hour when three gunshots rang through the air, effectively scaring the deer off and probably any other animals within a two mile radius.

"The fuck was tha'?" Merle asked, coming up from behind Daryl, carrying a load of dead squirrel.

"Ain't got a clue," Daryl said, poising his crossbow over his shoulder before glancing back at his brother, "But sounds like someone jus' rang tha dinner bell."

Merle grumbled a bit, "Best we get the fuck outta here."

Daryl nodded his head, cursing whatever bastard decided to scare off his game, that damned deer would have fed the camp for a week, but then he found his mind wandering to those two girls they'd come across just a little while ago and a small part of him hoped those gunshots had nothing to do with them.

Anna cried out her name as Harley collapsed to the ground, clutching her bleeding leg. She really hoped he hadn't hit an artery, or else it wouldn't be too long before she would bleed out.

Harley gritted her teeth as pain surged through her leg when she tried to stand up, "I'm alright." Her efforts were in vain as she landed back on her behind, "I'm fine, I'm fine." She repeated, trying to calm the hysterical girl.

"We need help!" Anna told her, her voice trembling.

Harley narrowed her eyes, "I told you, I'm fine! Don't need no help!"

The girl didn't listen as her mind raced, she wasn't a fool, she knew Harley would die if they didn't get help soon. With the sun going down and the pinkish hue in the sky slowly becoming a deeper red, she knew she had less than an hour before the sun went down and the walkers became more active.

So she ran.

"No Anna!" Harley screamed and when the girl made no attempt to even turn back she groaned, her palm pressed firmly against the bleeding wound in an attempt to stop it, "Stupid girl. She's gonna be the death of me."

An older man stood on top of an old, beat up RV with a pair of binoculars around his neck and a rifle in his hand. The day had been a bit dull, but that was never a bad thing now-a-days, they were lucky to not have had many instances since they moved their camp up into the quarry. However, it seemed as though his dull day was going to be going to hell when he spotted a small figure in the distance.

He seemed to not have been the only one to notice because the muscular man who was standing on the ground beside the RV shouted up to him, "Talk to me, Dale! What is that?!"

Dale didn't say anything as he grabbed hold of his binoculars, locking his sights on the little blonde figure as it ran up the hill, "Looks like a little girl to me." He observed.

"She a geek?" The other man asked, looking a bit alarmed, ready to grab his shotgun if need be. They hadn't run into many walkers up in the mountains, a few strays who probably had lived near by before the outbreak, but that didn't mean that the walkers from the city wouldn't start migrating out of it once the food supply ran low and when that happened, they were going to have to get the hell out of Dodge.

The little girl sprinting was the first indication that she wasn't one of the walking dead, "Doesn't look like she is. She isn't being chased by any either." Dale pulled away from his binoculars to look down at the man, "Better go meet her at the entrance of the camp, Shane, she looks a bit frightened."

Shane nodded, hauling ass to meet up with the young girl, "It's a new thing every day." He mumbled.

Anna huffed and puffed as she finally reached the campsite, she had almost thought that the two redneck brothers had lied to her and Harley about the location of their camp, but she felt relief when she saw the camper and cluster of tents around it. Her legs were beginning to numb and her lungs burned with every breath she took, but she didn't stop until she was at the entrance to the camp where she found a broad shouldered man waiting for her.

Shane didn't even have a chance to say a word before she started talking frantically, tripping over her words as her mouth tried to catch up with the influx of thoughts, "Please help! My friend, she got shot and she's bleeding really bad and I don't know what to do and she can't die, please!"

Harley was all that Anna really had left now. Her mother and father were long gone, walker chow most likely, but it wasn't the prospect of being alone in world ridden with walkers that scared her, it was losing Harley that did.

Shane placed his hands onto the girl's shoulders, trying to calm her, "Alright, alright." He spoke in a soft voice, a small smile on his face, one he usually reserved for kids especially, "Now, this friend of yours, she wasn't bit, was she?"

Anna's brows furrowed as she replied angrily, "Told you! She was shot! Harley ain't stupid enough ta get bit!"

Shane blinked, surprised with the irritation the girl displayed, "Where is she?"

Anna was still trying to catch her breath as she directed him to where Harley was, or at least where she hoped Harley still was, "It's gettin' dark and I dun want no walkers gettin' ta her before I can get back!"

Shane nodded, "Alright, you stay right here. I'm gonna go get some more help and then we'll get your friend." Anna nodded at Shane's orders ignoring the curious glances that some of the other inhabitants of the camp were giving her, including a little boy who was being held onto by who Anna could only assume was his mother.

Shane made his way to the tent of the resident Asian, knowing he'd be more than willing to go on a retrieval with him, "''ey Glenn, get out here, we got a situation."

It wasn't half a second before said Asian poked his head out of the tent, "What kind of situation?"

Shane jerked his head towards Anna, "Lil girl o'er there says her friend got shot, bleedin' pretty badly." He explained, "Gotta go get her 'fore she bleeds to death."

Glenn didn't need to hear anymore as he got out of his tent, following Shane back to where the little girl stood, looking up at the sky worriedly as it began to darken.

"Where ya'll goin'?" The slender woman, who was gripping the little boy asked.

"We'll be right back, Lori," Shane reassured her, "Lil girl needs our help with somethin', shouldn't take longer than a half an hour."

Lori's lips pursed a bit, "Be careful." She called out to them as they all hopped into the black SUV that was parked a couple of feet away. Her face was marred with worry as she watched them pull away.

"Where's your friend?" Shane asked as he helped the little girl out of the car, his dark eyes searching the area for any sign of a person who was not dead.

Anna looked around, panic in her eyes, "Harley?!" She cried out, frightened that the woman was not where she had left her.

"O'er here." Came the Southern drawl that Anna was all too familiar with by now and Anna could feel the weight being lifted off her shoulder as she saw a hand being waved from behind a small sedan.

The three quickly rushed over to where the girl was, finding her propped up against the car, nearly looking like one of the walkers that they'd been fighting off for weeks.

She was pale, much too pale for her usual Georgia tanned skin and the makeshift tourniquet that was fashioned around her still bleeding leg didn't seem to be helping at all.

"'bout time ya got here." Harley croaked, the fear that had been creeping upon her with the absence of her young companion had subsided as she noticed the two men with Anna, "Was worried ya forgot about me." Anna offered her a weak smile knowing that Harley's playful banter was a sure sign that she was okay, at least for now.

The two men studied the woman carefully. She was indeed not what they were expecting when they came. If Shane was completely honest, he had half expected a little girl such as Anna herself to be wounded, not a twenty-something year old woman.

Harley noticed the two men standing there dumbly, "Ya two gonna help me or what?" Harley snapped, breaking them from their silence.

"Right, sorry." Glenn apologized, taking to one side of Harley while Shane took to the other. The two hauled her up off of the floor, carefully guiding her to the SUV all the while being mindful of her injured leg.

"Don't forget to grab our bags," Harley told Anna who nodded, immediately going to retrieve the bags, "And the guitar!"

Anna smiled just slightly as she picked up the guitar remembering Harley's promise to her about playing her a song a little later on. Although, she knew that now it would have to wait until Harley wasn't bleeding profusely and near death.

Harley sighed, stress alleviating itself from her as she leaned against the backseat of the SUV, her head falling back as she stared at the charcoal colored roof of the car. Right now, she sort of wished she'd listened to her father and joined the medical profession when he told her to.

"Fuck!" Harle's screaming was muffled by the belt she was biting down onto as the Asian boy dug through her wound for the bullet fragments with a pair of tweezers, which she hoped he had had the common sense to sterilize before he started sticking them into people's bodies, "Fuckin' hurts like a bitch!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Glenn repeated over and over as he tried to get all of the shards of the bullet out. There was just one left that he could see and he just couldn't seem to get a hold of it with the tiny pair of tweezers that were definitely not meant to be digging through the human body.

She made a whining noise, a signal for him to hurry up before she passed out due to the immense pain and when she thought she was just about to go over the edge, Glenn hit something hard with the tweezers.

"Got it!" In one swift motion, the last piece of the bullet was out and he nearly received a punch to the face in the process.

She barely had any time to recover from that gruesome process before Lori walked into the tent holding a knife with a scalding red blade, "I'm sorry about this."

Harley nodded, dismissing the apology and just bit back down onto the belt, bracing herself for the pain she was about to incur. Lori brought the flat edge of the knife onto the bullet wound after Glenn had poured a bit of alcohol over it which alone had caused Harley to cringe.

From outside of the tent, a long, unpleasant howl could be heard and many of those within ear range grimaced, only having to imagine how painful it must be.

Anna was sitting just outside the tent, her knees drawn up to her face as she listened to the agonizing screeches coming from her friend. She winced as she heard Harley swear loudly, indicating that they were done.

She tried to peek into the tent, but sighed heavily when she noticed Lori and Glenn blocking her view of Harley.

"Ya need to rest honey, y'ave been through a lot today." Lori spoke softly to the wounded woman, who laid down without much protest, but not before whispering something into the woman's ear receiving a smile and a nod in return, "G'night." Harley was knocked out before Lori and Glenn even had a chance to exit the tent.

"She gonna be alright?" Anna asked as they came out.

Lori smiled, patting the girl on the head, smoothing down any stray blonde hairs, "She's gonna be just fine. Just needs a bit of rest and she'll be up and around by tomorrow."

Anna looked up at the woman, scanning her face for any reason to believe she might be lying, but the kind look on the woman's face caused her to relax and it was in that moment that Anna decided, in a way only possible for children, that she liked Lori. The older woman reminded Anna of her own mother, even if it was only in the kindness of her smile.

She missed her mother. In all this time that her and Harley have been roaming the woods of Georgia, she really hasn't had a chance to just miss her mother. Most days she just hoped that this was just one big nightmare which she would wake up from and find herself cradled in her mother's arms with soothing words being whispered into her ear before she was tucked back into her bed, her mother promising to stay with her until she fell back to sleep.

Lori interrupted her pondering by placing a hand on her shoulder, "What d'ya say to some food, sweetie?"

Anna nodded, liking the sound of filling up her empty stomach, leaving the thoughts of her mother behind as she followed after Lori, joining the rest of the camp by the fire.

I hope you guys like the revised version of the first chapter! I know this first chapter doesn't really seem all that different from the original, but I'm going to be veering off from my original story a lot within the next few chapter so I hope you guys like it!

Please review and tell me if you like it!