I do not own the Walking Dead in any way, this is just a fan's fan fiction and nothing more. I do realize that the dialogue will not be a 100% match, but adding a new character tends to change the story line. This will NOT be a romance between my OC and any other canon character. Please review with thoughts and constructive criticism. I apologize if there are any spacing or formatting issues, I am not familiar with the changes that occur when one uploads a story on

Ben, or Reaper, as he liked to call himself, sighed for the umpteenth time that day. He was trapped inside a freaking tank in the middle of Atlanta, with a giant herd of walkers just outside. Normally, this would not be a problem, however, he had dropped his scythe on his way inside of the tank. He had also used up all of his knives killing any walker that got too close. He did have a former soldiers pistol, which was fully loaded. But, he did not know where to head if he escaped from the tank. It would surely turn out to be a suicide run if he did attempt an escape. And, he was not going to opt out by shooting himself, that was too cowardly. He would rather be torn apart by a carnivorous walker than stoop as low as committing suicide.

Suddenly, the bottom latch of the tank swung open, and a brown-haired man wearing a sheriffs getup, minus the hat, hastily climbed in and shut the latch. Fearing the worst, Ben raised the gun to the sheriffs head, and prepared himself to fire. To any other person, killing a human being might sound atrocious, but Ben was used to killing people, he even liked it, which is one of the reasons why he was locked up in an insane asylum for six years.

Rick realized that there was another human inside of the tank, a human who was aiming a gun at his head, and raised his hands above his head to show that he meant no harm. Rick said, trying to calm the kid down, "Easy there, kid. I mean you no harm."

Rick scanned the kid with the pistol, which Rick guessed was a Beretta, maybe taken from the dead walker behind the kid. The kid appeared to be no more than sixteen years of age, and had multiple scars on his left forearm. The scars appeared to be self inflicted. The kid was wearing a black cloak, with a hood attached, but not pulled up. The absence of the hood on the kids head allowed Rick to notice that he had brown hair that reached his fore head, and random patches of a dark red color on his head, maybe from blood. After a moment, the kid finally lowered the gun from Ricks head. Rick sighed, relieved that he was not about to die, and leaned back.

After a brief silence, Rick thought that it would not be a bad idea to try and strike up a conversation with the kid, attempt to gain some trust in order to prevent the kid from threatening Rick with his gun. Also, Rick knew that if they were going to escape the tank with their lives, they would have the greatest chance to do so if they worked together.

"My name is Rick,"Rick introduced himself, reaching a hand out to offer the kid a handshake, "Whats your name, kid?"

Rick was about to retract his hand, the kid had merely stared at it for a minute, not attempting to shake it, when the kid reached forward, and shook Ricks hand.

"My name is Reaper, sheriff," Ben introduced himself, using the nickname that he uses for himself in place of his real name.

Rick was puzzled for a moment, wondering why the kid would use a word to introduce himself, instead of using his actual name. "That is a word, not a name," Rick pointed out.

The kid, Rick simply refused to call him Reaper, shrugged and replied, "My name is actually Ben Smith, I just call myself to Reaper to entertain myself."

"Why?" Rick questioned, curious as to how Ben was entertained by calling himself Reaper. The name Ben Smith sounded familiar to Rick, but he could not place exactly where he had heard that name at the moment.

"Because I wear a black cloak, and I use a scythe as a weapon," Ben answered.

"Aah," Rick said, thinking that it made sense. Rick suddenly leaned forward when he remembered where he had heard that name before. "Wait, are you the same Ben Smith as that murderer?"

Ben nodded, "Yeah, that's me. And, I wouldn't call myself a murderer. My kills were justified."

"How were they justified?" Rick demanded, his hand straying to the five shot revolver in his holster.

"My parent were extremely bad parents," Ben said, closing his eyes, "They abused me. Locked me inside of my room for days without feeding me and without giving me water. One day, I just snapped, and got revenge. So, you don't have to worry about me killing you, I only kill those who deserve it."

Rick was appalled by the knowledge that Ben's parents would do such a thing to their child. Rick himself was a father, and he could not even come up with a scenario where he would abuse his son in any way. Nor, could he picture his son killing him and his wife, if they were still alive, that is. He moved his hand away from his holster, believing what Ben said. "Weren't you locked up in an asylum six years ago?"

"Yeah," Ben replied, "I escaped when the asylum was overrun." Ben opened his eyes, and grinned at Rick, "Why, are you going to arrest me for escaping?"

Smiling, Rick shook his head. "Under the circumstances, I think it was justified." He said. He then remembered something else, he saw a scythe laying beside the tank, maybe it was the one that Ben said he had. "Is that your scythe?" He asked Ben.

Ben nodded, and grumbled, "Yeah, lost it on my wa-."

Ben was cut off by the radio in the tank screeching. A voice came over the radio, "Hello, are you alive in there dumb ass?"