1. James Brown

It was a measly cache, and she knew it had probably been stupid to risk stealing it, but it was going on four days since she'd eaten anything aside from a handful of oak leaves. She was getting sick of cold beans but it was better than chewing on trees.

There was only one other can, a can of green beans, and even though she hated those green little bastards she still had to resist opening them. With the way things were going she might not eat until next spring.

Do you really want to see next spring? she wondered, and it was a question that needed answering but for now at least she had something in her stomach, and honestly she just couldn't bring herself to give much of a shit either way.

With her hunger temporarily sated, she stashed the green beans in her pack and headed north, back to the little house where she'd originally seen that group.

From what she could tell they were made up mostly of feral-looking men, and she'd seen enough of those to figure she couldn't just ask nicely for some beans. So she'd stolen the cans, and she didn't feel bad about that, and fuck them all to Jupiter if they thought she should.

As she approached the house, the tension in her chest eased a little. She couldn't see the group or their cars, and judging by their tire tracks they must have left in a hurry. With one hand on the fire poker strapped to her back, she crept closer.

There were several walkers but she dispatched them quickly. She wasn't surprised that the house was all but picked over, but she did manage to snag a shovel and two spools of jewelry wire. Content with her treasures, she returned to the clearing.

She set to work immediately, digging trenches in a wide arc around the tree where she'd eaten lunch. The beans had lent her a fresh wave of energy, but she was still not quite able to dig them as deep as she wanted to. When she had finished she tied the jewelry wire between the trees, covering the spaces where she'd given up trying to dig. Then she took out the solar battery.

She'd scored it from the house of a family who had clearly had enough money to enjoy life but not enough to survive it. She killed them before they ate her, in their pristine kitchen, with their pristine butcher's knife, and afterwards threw up in their pristine kitchen sink. They were the very first walkers in a long line of walkers that she'd killed.

There were loads of things she'd taken from that house, but she'd lost nearly all of it when the car was run off the road, the same week Gina-

Stop.

Hastily she closed her eyes against the memory, like that would somehow block it out, and leaned against her tree with the solar battery under one arm. From her pack she retrieved the mini speakers and the iPod that she couldn't bear to leave behind in the evacuation and plugged them into the battery.

Music started playing through the speakers, still loud from the last time. She relaxed with her hands behind her head and waited.

It didn't take long for the walkers to show up. She didn't move when they did. From the corner of her eye she saw one stumble into the trench and another rip its throat wide open on a wire. Her lips twitched into a grin.

When the bodies began piling high in the trenches she pulled out her fire poker and stabbed the closest ones through the head. There were more of them than she'd been expecting but that was a good thing. Let fate make the call if it really wanted to.

A hand clamped down on her shoe. Her heart hammered in her chest but still she didn't move. The walker snarled up at her, dragging itself closer, fingers locked around her foot with frightening strength.

She swallowed and stared into its fish-pale eyes, refusing to move, refusing to be afraid. Its teeth gnashed, some of them jiggling loosely in its rotted gums. Closer…closer…

Something ran through its head, spraying her with sludge that had once been blood. She gasped in shock and sat ramrod straight against the tree as the walker fell still.

It was an arrow, looking cheerful and out of place with its bright yellow plastic feathers. She blinked at it a second longer and then looked up, where a man with a machete was cutting his way through her growling guests.

She recognized him from the group she'd seen earlier, along with the mean-looking motherfucker who stepped forward to retrieve his arrow and load it back into his crossbow. He glared at her as he did and her fingers tightened over the fire poker. But she didn't recognize the Asian kid or the man with the thick white beard who reminded her of her grandfather. The sight of him sent a strange pang through her stomach.

The Asian kid grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

"What the hell are you doing?" he said.

She yanked her hand from his. "I had it covered."

"Didn't look like it," the bowman said, driving the yellow arrow through another walker's eye.

She bridled at his tone but before she could respond one of the walkers in the trench grabbed her ankle. She stumbled to her knees and the fire poker disappeared in the foliage.

"Fuck."

She kicked out strongly but couldn't seem to land a proper blow. The walker's teeth snapped just inches from her leg.

Machete Man brought his weapon down on its head, cleaving it in half. The bowman unplugged her speakers and the forest fell silent.

For a moment, she stared up at them, particularly Machete Man. There was something in his eyes, something remote, that made her think twice about which one was the real mean motherfucker of the group.

Finally Machete Man spoke. "What were you doing?" His voice was soft, but there was nothing friendly about it.

"Nothing that concerns anyone but me and them," she replied, indicating the unmoving dead. She was surprised her voice sounded so even, considering her heart felt like it was trying to beat its way out of her chest.

"Hey."

She looked up as the bowman spoke, but quickly realized he wasn't addressing her. His eyes were on Machete Man, dark with meaning, and he was holding something up.

The bean can. She swallowed hard.

Machete Man turned to her. His head tilted just a bit. "Did you steal from us?"

Quickly she weighed her options. If she told them the truth, they would likely kill her. If she didn't, they might kill her anyway. She tried to figure out why she was suddenly so afraid when she'd been prepared to let that walker eat her.

Because they might not kill her immediately. The thought made her stomach roll sickly.

She glared up at him, hoping as she opened her mouth to speak that she wouldn't throw up instead.

"Yes."

What the fuck are you doing?

His head tilted further, a predator observing its prey. His hand tightened around the handle of the machete, knuckles white under the blood splatters.

"Rick," a new voice spoke up. She looked up to see the man with the white beard, brows pulled together in concern. "Look at her. She's starving."

"Yeah, so are we," the bowman snapped.

When Rick didn't respond, White Beard stepped forward and took him aside. She waited in tense silence while they whispered together, trying her best to ignore the bowman's glare.

It seemed to take forever, but it must have only been a few moments. When the two of them finally turned around, she shrunk back from Rick's dark expression and tried to plan out a way to rid him of his machete.

He pointed at her. "You're coming with us," he said.

Her muscles tensed. The bowman looked up sharply. "What?"

Rick glanced at him. "She's coming with us."

The suspicion sharpened on the bowman's face but he didn't argue. Instead he pulled her up roughly by her arm and kept a tight grip on her while they started back in the direction of the house. They paused only long enough so that the Asian kid could find her fire poker and Rick could gather the rest of her belongings in her pack.

She kept her mouth shut while they walked, though she longed to scream. Or at the very least tell them to go to hell. Her mind raced, scheming out ways to return the fire poker to her hands and break free of theirs. But every plan ended with serious injuries and she didn't like her odds. Perhaps if she could get her hand on something at the house…

But they passed by it completely. She only saw a faint glimpse of its pale blue siding before they disappeared deeper into the trees.

She gritted her teeth.

Fuckfuckfuck.

She didn't care if they killed her, but she'd seen how the new world changed people, brought out their inner shadows. Wherever they were taking her it couldn't end well. Her only hope was that White Beard would plead a case on her behalf. He looked gentle enough. Surely he wouldn't want her harmed?

These thoughts vanished when they emerged on the edge of a small road and came in sight of the group, gathered around their cars.

They weren't just made up of feral men after all. There was the brawny black guy she'd seen before, and the kid with the sheriff hat, but there was also a young woman with short brown hair, a pretty blonde girl with the same eyes, a woman with short, mousy gray hair. And in the middle of them all, a brown haired, heavily pregnant woman.

She stopped dead. Her stomach twisted with guilt.

"C'mon," Bowman grunted, tugging on her arm till she stumbled forward.

"I…I didn't know," she stammered, looking from White Beard to Asian Kid and finally to Rick. "I wouldn't have taken anything if I'd known…"

Bowman snorted.

She glared at him. "I wouldn't."

The crossbow twitched toward her and she clamped her mouth shut. The rest of the group watched all of this with dull interest.

Rick stared at her until she started fidgeting. She thought about reiterating how sorry she was but the words stuck in her throat.

"Rick," Asian Kid said. "She didn't know."

"It doesn't change the fact that she stole from us," Rick replied.

"Rick, we talked about this," White Beard said.

"Yes, we did."

Rick pointed his machete at her and it took all of her strength not to flinch. "You're going to pay us back," he said.

She glanced doubtfully at her pack. "I don't have much."

"That's why you're going to find it first."

She looked around at the machete and the crossbow, the knife strapped to the pretty blonde's belt, the gun tucked in the boy's jeans. She looked at the pregnant woman's weary face.

She nodded. "I won't take anything that I find," she said.

"No, you won't," Rick said. The pregnant woman glanced at him but he ignored her.

She was a little surprised that no one objected to this decision, or even asked who she was.

Like they give a shit about the name of the person who stole from a pregnant lady.

The mousy woman stood up and laid a hand on Pregnant Woman's shoulder. "What do you say we wash these clothes?"

"Sure."

The mousy woman and the pretty blonde helped Pregnant Woman to her feet. The brawny guy looked at Rick.

"I'll head down with them. We need more water anyway."

As the rest of the group, including Asian Kid and White Beard, headed into the woods, Bowman said, "While the rest of them wash their panties, let's hunt. That owl ain't sitting right."

"Right." Rick looked at her. "You come with us."

She nodded, wondering as Asian Kid disappeared when she would get her pack back.

Bowman kept one eye on her as they walked, which irritated her to no end. But who was she to piss off a redneck with a crossbow?

When they came to a narrow train track they followed it, and she was the first one to see the prison through the trees.

"Hey," she whispered and pointed.

All of them stopped, observing the intact walls, the lookout, the fences… and the walkers in blue jumpsuits roaming the wide yard.

"That's a shame," Bowman said.

But Rick was silent, and she was surprised to see the first real glint of life behind his eyes.

"Let's get back to the others," he finally said.

Bowman looked curiously from Rick to the walkers in the yard, but nodded all the same.

As they headed back, setting a quicker pace than before, Rick looked at her.

"What's your name?" he asked.

Hiding her surprise, she said, "Mason."

Bowman didn't offer up his name, and she didn't ask.

They found the group at a wide stream. The group looked up in surprise.

"What's up?" the brawny guy said.

"We might have found a place to stay," Rick said, "but we'll have to fight for it."

Mousy Woman frowned. "Fight?"

"Yard's full of walkers," Bowman said. "But if we clear it, it might make a good place."

"I don't know if we should be bargaining 'might' against a yard full of walkers," Asian kid said.

"Where is this place?" Mousy Woman asked.

"We'll show you," Rick said.

Pretty Blonde and the brunette Mason thought might be her sister hoisted Pregnant Woman to her feet. Mason hovered awkwardly, wondering if she should help.

She fell in next to Pretty Blonde as the group set off from the stream. The other women stuck close and Brawny Guy took the rear. She began to feel trapped.

"So what is this place exactly?" Pretty Blonde asked quietly. "It didn't sound like a normal house."

Mason blinked in surprise. "Oh, uh, it's not," she murmured. "It's a prison."

Pretty Blonde's eyes widened. They were so blue. "A prison?"

"Yeah." Mason laughed half-heartedly. "Guess it's a fitting place for me, huh?"

It was a bit tasteless, and she knew it when she said it, but Pretty Blonde just smiled slightly and shook her head.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Mason."

"My name's Beth."

Mason smiled and Beth's blue, blue eyes twinkled back at her, and even after everything that had happened it suddenly felt a little easier to breathe.

Author's Note: A few things I just thought I'd mention. The chapter title, "James Brown", is a reference to Cage the Elephant's song of the same name because this whole fanfic is going to revolve tightly around music- since music is so important to Mason, and also because the music in TWD is so powerful. I chose "James Brown" for the first chapter as it's the song she's listening to when the walkers come (and I also thought it was cool that the real James Brown's first conviction was for theft at the age of sixteen, which I thought was fitting.) Also the story title, "Heathens", is a reference to twenty one pilots' newest radio hit, and if you listen to the lyrics it fits beautifully with TWD. Anyway, enough boring stuff, I just obsess over music. Thank you for reading and I hope you will tune in for the next chapter, which will be more or less action and not so much exposition.