A/N: Thank you for the follows and the favorites. Thank you to Shockra, osarisanhur, Bluebirdg12, and ninachr for the reviews! They've helped keep me going.

I don't know if you've noticed but I've added a Rick/OC pairing to the story. It's something I've planned from the beginning and I debated a long time whether to tack that onto this story or not.

I hope this doesn't deter anyone from continuing to read and if you're reading this because it's a Rick/OC, I want to warn you that this isn't the main focus of this story. It will happen eventually and it does become a big part of the story but it isn't the end all, be all of this fanfic. This story is about Annie and Rick just happens to be a part of it.

With that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I appreciate you for reading.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead.

Chapter Two

It had been over two weeks since Annette died and the world as they knew it died along with her. Over two weeks too long for Annie to act like nothing was wrong. She fought tooth and nail with Hershel to convince him it was a good idea to stock up on supplies.

He still considered it stealing and Annie almost threw a full glass of water at the kitchen wall when he said they didn't have to become criminals to survive. It was finally the sign at the pharmacy that welcomed people to take what they needed that convinced Hershel to let them go but Annie would've gone regardless and damn the consequences.

Annie was standing behind the pharmacy counter, her duffel bag nearly full to bursting yet she continued to stuff pill bottles into it.

"Dad told us to only take what we need," Shawn said from the other side of the counter, his own bag moderately filled with necessities.

"Who says I'm not doin' that?" Annie asked.

"We don't need all the antibiotics and painkillers," Shawn said, uncertainty lacing his voice.

"Yes we do. It's called being prepared. Weren't you a boy scout?"

"For like a day." Maggie snorted, picking through the shelves of the nearest aisle.

"Two months," Shawn corrected.

"Ah yes. And then you got kicked out. What for again?" Annie asked, her tone innocent but her smile far from it.

"You know what for," Shawn said, his neck flushing a deep red.

"Oh yeah. That prank you pulled with a snake," Annie said while reading a label on a pill bottle, trying to decide if it should go in the bag.

"Can we please stop talkin' about it?" Shawn asked.

Annie put the pill bottle back on the shelf. "Fine, fine. Make yourself useful and fill up that bag of yours until you can barely close it."

Shawn and Maggie moved on to other parts of the store and the three siblings looted in silence.

She heard the soft growling first but before she could register what was making the sound, hands were grabbing at her from in between the shelves. Annie yelped in surprise and dropped the pill bottle that had had her so engrossed she hadn't noticed a dead one sneaking up on her. She jumped back, out of reach, and bumped into the shelves behind her, making them sway.

The dead one wasn't dissuaded and lunged forward, ramming its body into the row of shelves. The entire shelving unit tipped towards her, pill bottles sliding forward. Annie pushed back and the shelves began falling in the opposite direction but the dead one latched onto her right arm. Only twice before in her life had Annie experienced something in slow motion.

She was grateful for it because it gave her time to think while she was pulled down as the shelves fell on top of the dead one. Annie braced herself. Having no way to break her fall, her body slammed onto the shelves, each one digging into her. It took her breath away and she could already feel the bruises forming.

While the fall had jolted her, it hadn't fazed the dead one. Her arm was still in its cold, surprisingly strong grasp.

Annie was aware that Shawn and Maggie were yelling but she couldn't make out what they were saying. The noise seemed to rile up the dead one even more and Annie was inclined to tell them to shut up but that would take a few precious seconds of concentration she couldn't give up.

She tried to yank her arm away but the dead one was well determined to eat her. The whole situation became even more frightening when she remembered that scratches were as lethal as bites and she thanked the Lord that the dead one's other arm was pinned down by the shelves.

Deciding to be more careful, Annie stopped yanking her arm and assessed the situation. The dead one, formerly a man who she faintly recognized, had what she considered the average size hands of a man which meant they were big enough to completely wrap around the part of her arm a little ways down from her wrist. The dead one had the advantage of gravity as it pulled downward.

Annie was by no means weak. She may be small but she was strong and although the position her body was in did not work in her favor, she had every confidence that she would win this fight. All she had to do was keep her arm away from its teeth while she grabbed her hunting knife out of its sheath she had attached to her belt.

She had made sure all three of them were equipped with a knife, not trusting baseball bats to be sufficient protection. Hershel had looked disapprovingly at the knives but didn't say anything about it, which Annie was grateful for. It would've meant another loud disagreement and she was sick of fighting with her dad.

Annie had to use her left hand, which was a small disadvantage since she was right handed, but she got the job done without a problem. She came to the quick conclusion that she wouldn't be able to effectively stab the dead one in the head from the position she was in.

Instead, she pressed the knife on the underside of the dead one's wrist and sliced through the muscle, down to the bone. Its grip weakened considerably and Annie pulled her arm out of reach.

Warm, living hands grabbed her, hauling her up and away. Annie was able to stand on her own two feet by herself, happy to find that she wasn't shaking. Not a single tremor manifested, not even in the hand that still held the knife, now with a little blood on it and a tiny bit of skin.

Maggie wrapped her into a tight hug. Her younger sister was crying and she looked over at Shawn to find him pale and shaken. The dead one continued to growl and snap its teeth, even more incensed now that three of them were in its sight.

Annie wriggled out of the hug. "We need to check for more," she said and Maggie's eyes widened. Annie figured it hadn't occurred to her sister that there might be another one hanging around.

Unceremoniously Annie went back to the dead one, crouched down and shoved her knife into its eye socket. Instantly, the dead one went limp. She stood up and looked at her siblings. They both looked shocked but neither of them said anything.

Shawn picked his baseball bat up off the pharmacy counter and went to the open door to the room the dead one must have been hiding in. Annie thought the noise would have drawn the dead out if there were more but she didn't want to take the chance of not clearing the place like they should have done to begin with. How could she have been so stupid?

She walked towards Shawn, pulling a small flashlight out of her pocket. Annie stood next to him and shined the light into the room. The tension in her brother's shoulders left but Annie shook her head. "We're not done."

They checked the rest of the small building and found no one, living or dead.

Both Maggie and Shawn looked like they wanted to go home but Annie insisted they finish. Going through the pills was more difficult now and less efficient but Annie managed to do it. After they were done with the pharmacy she convinced her two very reluctant siblings that they needed to hit the hunting store too.

This time Annie made sure there was nothing lurking in the store.

Conversation between them was next to nonexistent and mostly consisted of Annie telling them what to take. She found an avalanche of boots in the back and some stale donuts. She searched behind the counter, opening every drawer and cabinet door.

"Hey, look at this." Annie stood up and showed off a compound bow. It looked like it had the works and even though Annie knew very little about compound bows, she could appreciate the obvious quality. It must've been expensive.

"Too bad none of us can shoot," Shawn said.

"Yeah, too bad," Annie said.

"But what about camp? Weren't you good at it?" Maggie asked.

The sisters had gone to summer camp one year and, although horseback riding had taken most of her attention, archery had been one of the activities that had fascinated her. The teachers had said she was a natural but the camp used traditional bows. "I never shot one of these."

"You think you could try?" Shawn asked.

"Yeah but I'm not gonna. I can't shoot to save my life with this thing," Annie said and Shawn shrugged. She decided to take it with her anyways and neither Maggie or Shawn questioned it.

Annie had driven into town, but now sore and bruised she handed the keys to Maggie. The ride back home was somber, each of them deep in thought. It could've been worse, much worse and the experience reinforced Annie's resolve to make her dad see the truth of the world's new nature. She wasn't exactly sure how she was going to do it but she knew it was going to happen. The sooner, the better.

They arrived at the farm and Maggie put the car into park close to the house.

"I'm glad you're not bit," Shawn said and it occurred to Annie how utterly terrifying it must have been for her brother to see another family member attacked and him being unable to help.

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Annie told him.

"What are you goin' to tell Dad?" Maggie asked, turning off the car.

"I don't know." Annie thought about the different ways she could tell Hershel what had happened but none of the scenarios ended well. "I just don't know."

They got out of the car and milled around by it. None of them had the will to unload and unpack their new supplies. Right there and then, the task seemed too big and overwhelming.

Patricia came out of the house and down the porch stairs. She took one look at the trio and worry took over her face. "What happened?"

Maggie and Shawn looked to Annie. "You really don't wanna know."

Patricia put her hands on her hips. "Marianne, you tell me right this instant what happened."

Annie closed her eyes and sighed, willing herself to stay calm. Being cranky would do her no good. She opened her eyes when she was sure she had herself under control. "I got attacked at the pharmacy by a dead one."

Patricia inhaled sharply. Annie could see the older woman looking her over. "You're not hurt?"

"Bruised up real good. That's all."

"You should tell your father," Patricia said.

"He'll just get mad that I killed it." Annie scowled at the thought.

"It was self-defense," Patricia said. "He'll understand."

"I'm not so sure about that anymore. I gotta get cleaned up before anyone else sees me. If you'll excuse me," Annie said, ending the conversation.

She went to her room, grabbed clean clothes, and took a quick, cold shower. A hot one would've been better but she wanted to conserve what gas they had for the generator. It wouldn't last forever. Although, there were the other farms that probably had gas to scavenge. She added that to the growing list of things she had to do. Just thinking about the list exhausted her.

She felt the burden of caring for her family weigh heavy on her. A burden she should be sharing with Hershel. He did keep the farm running but he was in the mindset that a cure was coming and the world would right itself. Otis and Patricia, although she had her doubts, went along with it meaning Beth and Jimmy followed. At least Maggie and Shawn were well on their way of giving up every bit of their denial still left over from the beginning. They were seeing the light. They were squinting but at least they were seeing it.

The next day was as ordinary as it could get with how things were now. Annie was up at the time she usually was and after breakfast she headed out to the perimeter of the farm to check the fences. She spotted Otis making his way to the creek and frowned. The dead had a habit of getting stuck in the water. It didn't happen too often but having one, let alone several, of the dead loose near the farm worried Annie. And then there was the growing number that shambled around inside the barn.

Annie rode Monty along the fence line scanning for any weakness no matter how small. The breech she found could be spotted from a mile away, or at least it seemed like it to her.

She cursed under her breath. The culprit was an old stretch of fence long past due to be replaced. Before the dead roamed the Earth, it had been low on their list of improvements since this particular fence didn't directly corral their cattle.

It was a repair job that needed to be done as soon as possible. They had the wood to do it so that wouldn't be a problem and she'd conscript Shawn and Jimmy to help. Under normal circumstances it was a one-person job but they needed the extra eyes, ears, and weapons in case a dead one attacked, especially since the fence was so close to the woods.

Annie inspected the rest of the fences, finding two more spots she wanted to reinforce, and much to Monty's delight she galloped most of the way back to the stables.

Jimmy was excited about the new chore, something to break the monotony of his regular ones, but Shawn took a more serious approach to the matter and was all business. They gathered the supplies in the back of the old pickup. Annie drove, Shawn was in the passenger seat and Jimmy sat in the truck bed.

It was a short, bumpy ride to the hole in the fence and when they arrived they wasted no time in starting the repairs.

They worked in silence and were well on their way to being finished when a dead one stepped out from the trees about twenty yards to the right of them. It was a woman Annie didn't recognize.

"I'll get it," she said as she climbed over the fence.

"You're gonna kill it?" Jimmy asked.

"Got a problem with that?" Annie asked, keeping her eyes on the woman. Her voice left no room for argument and Jimmy didn't answer her. Shawn remained silent on the matter and continued to hammer in a nail.

Annie found that she was good at killing dead ones. The self-defense classes she had taken over the years had a hand in that so she dispatched the woman in no time at all and as the body hit the ground Jimmy began yelling.

She whipped around and spotted Jimmy by the tree line, struggling with a dead one. What the hell was he doing there? Shawn ran to his aid with nothing but a hammer in his hand.

"Your knife!" she yelled at both of them as she began to run to help them.

Jimmy was on the ground with the dead one on top of him when Shawn bashed its skull in. It dropped on top of Jimmy, motionless.

Relief washed over them and Annie slowed down to a jog. This turned out to be a big mistake. Another dead one launched itself from the bushes behind Shawn and he screamed as it bit his neck.

Annie ran as fast as she could. Jimmy was of no help, still trying to push the finally dead dead one off of him. When she reached Shawn, it was far too late. Annie concentrated all her rage as she shoved her knife into the dead one's head. She kicked it so it fell to the ground away from them. Its mouth was bloody and a chunk of Shawn's flesh was hanging out of it.

The next couple of minutes were a blur. Annie managed to get a panic-stricken Jimmy to help her carry Shawn to the truck bed. She situated herself beside him as Jimmy rushed to the driver's seat. They were off in a flash but Annie knew it was hopeless.

The pressure she put on his wound wasn't enough. The blood kept flowing and her hands were slick with it. It was no use but she couldn't stop helping him until the very end. She watched the light in Shawn's eyes snuff out.

Annie took her hands away and didn't know where to put them without getting anything bloody so she held them out in front of her. It occurred to her that she could wipe her hands on Shawn's shirt but that felt too disrespectful.

He would come back but he would never be Shawn again. Annie reached for her knife that was always strapped to her belt, planning to release Shawn from an awful fate, but stopped herself. She knew Beth would never forgive her if she gave Shawn his second death so however much she hated it, she would let Otis take him to the barn without a fight.

As if they had somehow sensed something terrible had happened, Maggie, Beth, and Patricia were gathered on the porch watching the truck tear towards the house. Annie's body jerked when Jimmy slammed on the brake and she almost fell on top of Shawn's body.

She wondered what it looked like to them. Could they see the blood? Her face must have betrayed something because Beth's own face crumpled. Patricia put a hand to her chest but quickly composed herself and strode towards the truck. Maggie, a few tears already on her face, made sure Beth was okay to stand by herself before following Patricia.

Patricia and Maggie looked in the truck bed at Shawn's lifeless body.

"He's gone," Annie said unnecessarily.

Maggie choked back a sob but she wasn't successful at stopping the next one. Annie hated to see her sisters cry and wished that she could comfort them but she was in no shape to comfort anyone, not even herself.

"Let's get you cleaned up," Patricia said, gently coaxing Annie out of the truck bed.

Once her feet were on the ground, Patricia steered her inside the house. All the while Annie held her bloody hands in front of her.

The sky was beautiful, with fluffy white clouds that looked like the cotton candy she and Shawn would share at the fair. One time he ate so much he threw up and it came out sky blue. Annie had laughed so hard she had nearly fallen to the ground and enjoyed telling him 'I told you so' as she drove him home, not even mad they left early and missed riding the Ferris wheel.

"Where's Dad?" Annie asked as they passed a crying Beth on the porch who Maggie enveloped in a hug.

"Out with Otis checkin' on the cattle," Patricia said.

They entered the house and Patricia led her to the kitchen. Annie was parked in front of the sink and Patricia turned the water on.

"What do you want?" Patricia asked as Annie began to scrub her hands and forearms with dish soap.

"Do we have any strawberries?"

"I believe we do." Patricia opened the refrigerator. "Do you want whip cream? We have some left too."

Annie didn't even have to think about. "Yes please." At least her manners were intact. She didn't know what else was at the moment.

She kept scrubbing even after the blood had washed away and Patricia had to pull her away from the sink. Annie took the dish towel the older woman offered and dried herself, a little embarrassed that Patricia had needed to intervene.

"Go on up to your room and get changed into something comfortable." Patricia gestured in the general direction of the stairs. "I'll bring a tray up."

Annie nodded but then an alarm went off inside her head. "We gotta secure Shawn. He'll be up any minute now."

"Go to your room," Particia said sternly. "I'll take care of it."

"But—"

"Let me do this for you, honey. Don't worry about a thing right now."

It didn't feel right but Annie listened to Patricia and reluctantly dragged herself towards her room. Halfway up the stairs she sat down on a step and stretched her legs out in front of her. She was still sore from yesterday and she focused on the dull aches, thinking she was lucky not to have bruised a rib.

Annie counted to ten and then stood up, making the rest of her way to her room where she changed into shorts and a t-shirt before slumping onto her bed. She had forgot to make it this morning but someone had come in and did it for her. It had probably been Beth. Poor Beth, who had woken up this morning thinking that it'd be an ordinary day where nothing remarkable or bad would happen. Everything would be as it should be and they'd all sit down for dinner, maybe not all of them happy but at least all of them healthy and most importantly, alive.

There were no tears to be had from Annie. She briefly wondered what this said about her character but dismissed her musings. Anger overwhelmed her grief and the urge to cry. She felt all dried up and wanted to scream instead but there was no one to yell at or blame. She could only curse whoever was responsible for the dead ones and hope that they had got what was coming to them. She didn't even feel bad about wishing someone ill will. Annie's faith was always a little shaky and she hadn't been a very good Christian lately.

Her bleak thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her door. Annie got up and opened it, figuring it was Patricia, who would have her hands full, and she was right. Annie felt guilty and a little pathetic that she'd let Patricia bring her up a tray when she wasn't even sick.

"Is he?" Annie began to ask.

"Your father and Otis are back. They're takin' him to the barn," she said as she set the tray in the middle of Annie's bed.

Annie's jaw tightened and she had a flash of regret that she hadn't ended Shawn's life for good but then she pictured Beth's crying face and remembered why she hadn't in the first place. She didn't have anything to say and sat back down on her bed cross-legged, pulling the tray closer to her.

Annie wasn't particularly hungry. She wasn't sure why she had asked for strawberries. It was the first thing that had popped into her head when Patricia asked her what she wanted. There had to be some significance, right? Or maybe it meant nothing at all. She had been through a trauma and people didn't always make sense after one.

"I know you don't like it but I think it's the best thing to do for now," Patricia said, breaking the silence and Annie's train of thought. It wasn't the best thing to do. Annie held back from lashing out. The best thing was to put Shawn and Annette to rest and tell Beth that Hershel was wrong about the cure.

"Your father wants to talk to you," Patricia said when it was clear Annie wasn't going to respond to her.

"He doesn't want to talk, he wants to lecture." Annie poked at a strawberry, feeling it would be rude to eat one right that moment.

"He loves you."

"I know." Annie looked up at Patricia. "But sometimes that isn't enough."

Patricia left without another word but she had given Annie a long, sad look. Annie knew she was being selfish. She shouldn't be in her room but that's where she was going to stay.

Annie didn't feel like being the big sister. In fact, she needed one herself. Better yet, a parent. But Hershel, despite his good intentions and love, wouldn't be what Annie needed in this situation.

She dipped a strawberry in whipped cream and took a bite without savoring it. There was little comfort in it but she didn't stop. Annie put her entire focus into eating the whole bowl of strawberries but when she was done her dark thoughts came back with a vengeance. Annie wished it had been Jimmy that was bit and when this crossed her mind she was horrified with herself.

She shoved the tray away from her and noticed her hands. Her fingers were stained red and her stomach turned. Strawberries hadn't been such a good idea after all.

A/N: I hope this chapter wasn't disappointing. Annie and Daryl meet next chapter. I promise! I already have roughly half of chapter three planned out but no timeline of when it'll be finished.

If you want to review but you feel like your English isn't good enough, feel free to review in whatever language you're comfortable with. I can always Google translate it.

And please review if you can. It means the world when I get one and they help probably more than you realize.