I can't be bothered to think of anything that's happened to me up until this moment, I find myself running for my life from a horde of the dead with a stranger I'd encountered only moments before. His name is yet to be discovered and formalities will have to wait until we're within safe walls he's promised me, when he offered I had no reason to decline if I wanted to keep breathing. Our feet tread heavily as we sprint for the gates to this community while he screams and pleads for the gates to be opened.
"OPEN THE GATES!!" He screams tiredly.
Finally someone with a brain cell opens them allowing us to barely escape the growling walkers behind us and slip through the small gap. We slow to a stop panting heavily doubling over to catch the largest amount of oxygen we can suck in, eventually my tired body can't take it anymore and I drop to my hands and knees heaving only to have nothing come up.
"Are you alright ma'am?" The man asks me and I just nod slowly.
"Rick.. who's this?" Another male voice calls out from behind me.
"I didn't really have time to question her, too busy trying not to get eaten." Rick I'm assuming, deadpans.
"What's your name?" A female asks me softly coming to crouch in front of me.
"Natasha." I wheeze out.
"Well Natasha I'm Maggie. How about you let me take you to the infirmary?" She asks me and I nod.
Her hand reaches out to grab my weak arms, she helps me to stand and we slowly make our way to a building as fast as we can with my staggered pace. She escorts me to a bed within a room as a blonde woman rushes to my side.
"What's going on with her?" She asks concerned.
"I was hoping you could take a look and tell me, Rick found her." Maggie answers.
The blonde woman I found out was named Denise, shines a light in my eyes before checking my body out for any signs of problems. She takes my vitals writing them down on a notepad before turning to Maggie relieved.
"She seems to be fine, slightly malnourished and dehydrated, but otherwise okay. I'll get her on an iv if you could get her a ration before she rests?" She says.
"On it." Maggie says shooting me a kind smile before leaving.
"It'll just be a slight pinch." She says warning me before the needle pierces my skin, I don't flinch as hospital visits were quite frequent for me in the old world.
I lay back in the bed adjusting myself so I was comfortable, thankful I didn't become a very painful main course to the walkers. I'm sure everyone will have questions as to who I am, where I came from and I'd be happy to answer them if I wasn't so exhausted. Maggie comes back with a bowl of soup and I devour it quickly, not wasting the opportunity I had to eat not knowing when I'd be able to again. Assuming they'll be on the fence if I can stay or not, I hope I can but I'll understand it if they want me to leave.
"Rick will want to interview you once you're feeling a little better. We're good people I promise, Rick's one of the best." Maggie says putting a hand on my shoulder comfortingly before leaving once again.
Denise follows her out and I let sleep consume me, exhaustion swallowing me whole. As much as I needed the rest my subconscious won't let me have this sliver of peace, I relive their deaths over and over again condemned to feel the guilt for the rest of my life. My mom died when I was young so I don't remember much about her, it's been my dad and my brother my whole life....they were everything. Their screams haunt me every time I let myself relax, the snarls echoing the school halls as they urge me to run. One voice stands out from the rest, sending shivers down my spine.
"NAT RUN!" The last piece of my heart cries out for me to abandon them.
I stood there frozen as my brother consumed my lover, I'd just gotten engaged a few days before the world ended. I watched the light die slowly from his eyes as my fathers looming figure drags his body my way, growling and drooling at the sight of my flesh. I whimper quietly as I raise my bat to end his suffering. He made me promise not to let him turn, I failed. I was too focused on my fiancé crying out in agony to realize my dad picking himself up off the floor. One swing and he dropped in front of me, blood spewing from his skull onto the ground and soaking the soles of my sneakers.
"NATASHA!!" The scream echoes once more.
I shoot up out of my sleep gasping for air as I take in my surroundings. I realize I'm no longer in the infirmary but in an empty home with strangers surrounding me instead. A young boy with a wound on his eye lay next to me on a separate table as he's operated on. Rick is weeping over his body while Denise struggles to focus on the task at hand. I look around for my bag with my bat and my blade spotting it in the corner of the room and slowly slide myself off the table.
"Woah, I don't think it's a good idea to be up yet." Denise breathes out.
Rick jumps up to look at me as the words fall from her lips and stares at me with teary eyes and distraught written all over his face.
"What's going on?" I ask, my voice coming off hoarse and dry.
"The horde broke through the walls, my son got shot." He mumbles sadly.
I don't waste any time in grabbing my bat from my bag and peeking through the blinds seeing all the dead shuffling through what looked like a nice suburban neighborhood.
"Man up and meet me outside when you find your balls again." I spit not angrily but determined.
I rip the door open and close it behind me drawing the attention of the corpses wasting no time in swinging. I'm weak but it won't stop me from avenging the young boy who fell victim to this cruel world, anger floods me fueling the fire within me to avenge my own brother. The rage gives me the adrenaline kick I needed to bash skull after skull, killing anything close enough to me. Bodies drop around me as blood continuously splatters onto my face, the satisfaction of the kill aiding me further. I'm holding off a walker with my bat in its teeth as another grabs me from behind only to drop shortly after with a sickening squelch accompanying it. I shove the walker in front of me and swing upwards taking its jaw clean off, I let out a grunt as I swing again ending it. I spin around to see Rick nodding at me reassuringly as he dives back into killing more of the dead.
Other survivors swarmed around us joining the fight for the community. After a while it was finally dawn and the horde was no more, everyone's chests jump upwards violently to catch their breath after the battle. Rick approaches me slowly, stopping in front of my small frame and towering over me.
"Why did you do that?" He asks me alarmed.
"I have my own reasons. Look, I'll answer your questions just- I want to join your community I'm tired of moving around." I say wiping blood off my forehead.
He nods turning to speak with a dark skinned woman before walking past me to the house we came from. The woman approaches me with a wary look before speaking.
"I'm Michonne, Rick needed a moment with his son but I can take you somewhere you can shower and change into...cleaner clothes." She says eyeing my blood stained appearance.
I nod with a tight lipped smile and she leads me to a house, I follow her inside and up the stairs to a bathroom. I can't remember the last time I'd seen a place with running water let alone 'hot' water. She hands me some clothes and I take them gratefully, she leaves me to shut the door and clean myself up. I scrub my skin raw before relishing in the water dripping down my body. I take some soap and go over the important areas making sure rotting corpse isn't my new signature fragrance before shutting the water off and drying my body. I slip the new clothes on consisting of black jeans and a gray tank top. The jeans are low rise which doesn't bother me that much and the tight tank top barely meets the jeans leaving a sliver of my skin exposed to the air. When I exit the bathroom she's waiting for me with socks and boots, taking them I throw them on quickly before she leads me to a living room where Rick meets us.
I head over to the couch taking a seat in front of him and waiting for the never ending list of questions he could have for me.
"Firstly, what's your name?" He asks me. His gaze holds mine, as if he's looking through my soul.
"Natasha Monroe. Most people call me Nat or Tasha." I say nervously.
"Anyone on the outside I should know about? We don't like surprise visitors." He asks squinting his eyes at me.
"No. My family didn't make it, I've been alone since day four." I say sadly.
"I'm sorry.. I'm supposed to ask how many walkers you've killed but after what happened last night I don't think that's necessary." He says with a forced laugh.
"You guys... keep count?" I ask giving them a strange look.
"It's.... Well.... That's fair. What's with the bat?" He asks curiously.
"My dad was a survivalist. Kind of anticipated this whole thing just.... Didn't make it that far. Sometimes being prepared isn't enough I guess." I say tearing my eyes away from his and focusing on the floor.
"I can't speak for everyone here but my group has become family to me, I hope we can extend the same relationships with you. That's if you want it.." he says trailing off.
"I'd be stupid not to. I can pull my weight, whatever you need from me." I say confidently.
"Then it's settled, welcome to Alexandria Tasha." He says with a smile and a nod.
I return his smile and allow them to lead me to a small home where I'd be allowed to stay. The both of them leave to attend to the obvious more important matters as I settle into my new home. It's not much, only a few stray pieces of furniture including a couch in the living room and a dresser, bed, in the bedroom. I couldn't be more grateful for this small slice of comfort, I'd been fighting for too long to turn down a chance at a life I didn't have to run from. I slide my shoes off and slip under the covers of the bed and let sleep take me once more, exhausted from fighting all night. My only fear is the nightmares waiting to claim me once I slip into my slumber.
Thankfully this night didn't come with terrors, I was able to slip into dark bliss untouched by the ghosts of my past. Two weeks passed since I'd arrived and I'd been assigned wall duty, watching day in and day out for any signs of trouble. Rick and Daryl are leaving on a supply run today, Daryl doesn't like me much and I assume he's like that with everyone since he's not very talkative.
"See anything interesting?" Glenn asks climbing up the ladder behind me.
"If you count two squirrels going at it interesting.... Then yea. Otherwise no." I joke and he laughs softly.
"Listen, not to pry but we barely know anything about you. What did you do before all of this?" He asks leaning on the wall next to me.
"I was homeschooled my whole life, my dad thought public school was poisoning our youth." I say with an eye roll.
"That's horrible. No job?" He asks curiously.
"Nope, my dad thought we should spend all of our time preparing for the end. I had to put him down when he resurrected, it's like I told Rick... prepared isn't prepared enough." I say staring out to the empty street.
"I'm sorry, I mean all I did was deliver pizzas before this." He says and I laugh loudly causing strange looks to shoot my way.
"That's got to be the funniest thing to imagine, I was getting my ass kicked by grown men and learning to clean water while you were out delivering food." I say wiping the tears from my eyes.
"That... yea that is sort of funny." He says joining me in laughter.
"Your wife is very kind, helped me when she didn't need to. You got yourself one of the best kinds of people this shitty world has to offer." I say giving him a kind smile.
"She was raised on a farm, she also lost her father to the virus... her whole family actually." Glenn says looking down.
"Seems like we'd be great friends then... I'm gonna go grab something to eat, mind taking my place for an hour?" I ask him.
"Not at all, bring me back a water." He says and I nod firmly before climbing down the ladder.
I make my way back to my home, walking inside and straight to the kitchen to look through what I was given for the week to see what I can make. I whip up some pasta with pesto since herbs are the main constant here at Alexandria. When I'm done cooking I eat quickly and clean up my mess before grabbing two water bottles and heading back to my post. I climb the long ladder and hand Glenn a bottle as he tells me a thank you before leaving.
Hours and hours pass by with me pacing and looking out to the empty street as day slowly shifts to night. Sasha comes to relieve me of my post, she stops to ask me how old I am and is shocked when I tell her I'm only 20. I just shrug and make my way down the ladder once more and roam around the community taking in the safety net that fell onto my lap recently. I head home and grab my weapons, practicing for a few hours so I don't lose my ability to fight, I won't be blind sighted when this place gets attacked again. I slip into sleep shorts and a tank top getting ready for bed when a knock on my door sounds. I grab my blade and make my way to the front door opening it carefully to see it's just Daryl.
"Oh it's you." I say lowering my guard.
"Rick wants ya to come see what we found, thinks we should fill ya in and see if yer good at interrogating." He says gruffly and I nod following him out while pulling my sneakers on.
"Ya ain't gonna change?" He asks eyeing me strangely.
"Why would I? I'm comfortable in my skin Dixon." I say looking at my pajamas trying to find the problem.
"Ya ass is hangin out, high beams are on, don't need the asshole gettin ideas." He says angrily.
"Aww you care. I'm not worried." I say sarcastically.
"Weird bitch." He mutters with a slight smile.
I'll win him over one day, he'll see. We approach the empty house from the night I arrived and Rick lets us in bringing us to a room where an unconscious man resides on a single mattress. I hand Daryl my blade before making my way to examine the man, my expression turns from expressionless to shock within the span of five seconds.
"Where did you find him?" I ask hastily.
"Do you know him?" Rick asks me surprised.
"This is my uncle Paul." I say as tears threaten to spill down my face.
"W- are you sure?" Rick asks me and I nod looking back down at my sleeping uncle.
I get up abruptly and storm out of the house holding back the sob bubbling in my throat, I race to the pavilion and lean over the railing to catch my breath. A presence walks up to my side making me jump, but it's just Daryl. He stares at me with a look I can't make out through my unwept tears.
"Are ya okay?" He asks me quietly.
"Not really. How am I supposed to tell him?" I say finally allowing my emotions to shine through.
"Tell 'em what?" He asks.
"I killed his brother, my dad. I watched my brother.... He's gone too." I say sobbing horribly now.
His hand places itself on my shoulder as I hang over the railing letting myself relive that night. He loops an arm around my midsection and starts walking me to my house, I admire how gentle he's being with me even though I could've swore he tried arguing with Rick over me staying here. Once we're inside he leads me up to my bedroom where I shove my shoes off lazily and turn to face him. Our faces are closer than I anticipated and an idea floats to the front of my brain. I place my hands on his chest and he grabs them immediately, his rough tight grip startling me slightly causing a gasp to slip out. I look into his eyes then allow my gaze to fall to his lips, his eyes never leave me as I lean in slowly.
"Tasha ya don't know what yer doin." He says quietly.
"I just want to feel something else, please." I beg.
He turns to leave so I grab his arm resulting in him pinning me to the wall by my throat harshly. A moan of pain slips out but fear couldn't be found on my features, I slowly look up to meet his gaze and before I know it his lips are on mine. His other hand finding my waist as our lips frantically roam each others, his grip on my throat falters and I wrap my arms around his neck. He moves his hands down my body to my ass squeezing it tightly before dipping down and lifting me off my feet. He shoved me against the wall hard making me moan out granting him access to force his tongue in my mouth. He pulls us away from the wall and throws me down on my bed where I start removing my clothes as he does his. In the dark room only lit by the cool toned moonlight he stares at my naked body hungrily.
He climbs on top of me groaning as he puts my breasts in his mouth, his hands squeeze my thighs making my core tingle intensely. I let soft moans fall from my lips as he kisses and sucks down my body slowing down when he reaches my inner thighs, I whimper frustratedly needing his mouth somewhere better. His grip on my thighs tightens as he listens to my needs, dipping his head in between my legs to suck on my pulsating bud. I moan loudly at the contact allowing any troubles dissipate from my mind as pleasure builds inside me. He lets out another groan vibrating my core sending goosebumps along my skin, I feel my orgasm building up quickly as his pace picks up. His harsh grip on my thighs keep me in place as my hips squirm from underneath him, in an instant I come undone in his mouth with eyes rolling back in bliss. He slows his pace and pulls away from me quickly replacing the sensation with his hard member penetrating me forcefully. Wasting no time in returning his hand to my throat as he pounds into my small frame mercilessly, prolonging the orgasm with every thrust. He lets small grunts slip out occasionally fueling the desire I have, my walls clenching around him tightly giving us both the exact sensation we crave.
I know I'm tight, I'd only ever been with my fiancé I can tell he's trying to hold back his release as his pace slows, savoring how he feels inside my body. I flip us so I'm on top and begin riding at a pace that feels better for me, moaning loudly as I slam my body onto his. His hands cling to my ass tightly as his eyes widen at my sudden pace change.
"Tasha.." he groans out.
I remove his hands and place them on my chest as I throw my head back in pleasure reaching new depths as I arch harder. I move his hands around my chest relishing in the sensation of his touch as I cum over and over again on his huge length. His breathy groans make me throb every time the sound fills the room, dripping all over him as my body clenches and twitches around him in ecstasy.
"Tasha.. please." He grumbles so close to his undoing.
I slow my pace and slip off him, returning the pleasure with my hand, pumping quickly as he throbs in my palm. He groans out loudly as his member tenses in my hand, his juices jumping out onto his abdomen rapidly. Once I'm sure he's finished I climb over him and attach my lips to his tasting the remnants of myself from earlier. I pull away and lead him to my bathroom where we clean each other. My hands gently roam over the countless scars on his body I hadn't noticed in the heat of the moment. He looks ashamed as I trace my fingers over them but it's replaced with a soft gaze when I place my lips onto them. I kiss over many of them before he stops me, excusing himself from my embrace and leaving the bathroom to get dressed. I sigh and finish cleaning myself up before drying off and throwing on my pajamas. He's nowhere to be found so I assume he went home, not sure if this was just a one time thing or the start of something I climb into my bed, letting sleep overtake me.