1 Ch. 1

'I fuckin' hate my life!' Thought a lone Marine, Cpl Lucas Payne, as he trekked his way through the woods.

"Shoulda been a fuckin' riflemen." He mumbled to himself. Letting out a curse as a branch smacked him in the face. "Or a fuckin' tube stroker, but no. I wanted to shoot the big gun. Fucking retard."

Letting out a groan, as he adjusted the 240 on his back. A sigh came out at the brief moment of relief. He stopped for a minute. Looking around at the hills and trees.

"Jesus Christ." Tightening his straps and wiping the sweat off his forehead, as he tried to get a second wind going and finish the long hike.

Now how he found himself in the middle of the woods, hiking with over a hundred pounds of gear on his person. Started about two months ago. When Lucas' unit was sent to Atlanta to help with the "rioting" it wouldn't be long until they were killing the dead left and right. Up until the encampment they were protecting was overrun.

That led the unit to evacuate the city. That led to their seven ton flipping over. Which then led to the CO having the bright idea to "keep on rucking on." And seeing as they didn't have transport, someone had to carry the extra gear.

"Don't worry Payne you're a stud. Don't worry Payne, it won't be much weight. Don't worry Payne CO only wants to make two 20k movements a day." Payne mocked. "Don't worry Sergeant it's just my fucking cock down you're fucking thoa-", before Payne could finish his rant, about what he really wanted to say, he was interrupted by rustling from his left.

"Fuck." Lucas whispers.

Raising his rifle and taking it off safe. Lucas prepared to shot the head off of whatever fuck face steps through the foliage.

Walking out, came a young blonde woman. "Stop right there!" Lucas spoke loud enough so she would hear.

The distracted woman let out a small yelp. Staring at Lucas in fear. More accurately the rifle that was leveled at her.

"Are you bit?" Lucas asked.

"What?" She asked, finally taking her eyes off the weapon.

"Are. You. Bit." The young Marine asked slower.

Taking his left hand off the 240, grabbing the hand guard of his M4. Preparing himself mentally in case he had to shoot the young women. He'd done it before, but it never got easier. Shooting the people you were sworn to protect.

"No! N-no! I'm not I swear." The woman rapidly said. Finally understanding the situation.

Lucas stared at the woman for a moment. Thinking through his options and trying to decide what to do.

"Ma'am, raise your hands and stay right there."

Keeping his gun pointed at the woman. He retched back with his left hand. His sore and tight muscles protesting at the action.

He let out a grunt, while placing the nearly thirty pound machine gun on the ground. Unclipping his straps and dropping his pack, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Ma'am I'm just going to look you over quickly." He told the tense woman, walking up slowly. Like he was trying to reign in a spooked horse.

"O-okay." The small sniffle she let out smashed into his fatigued mind.

He was a six-four, two hundred and thirty pound fucking Marine. And yet when it came to some, kids, the elderly, animals, basically a lot of stuff. He was a fucking teddy bear.

"Ma'am everything's going to be fine. Okay? Just relax." The young woman meekly nodded, trying to keep the on coming tears from flowing. "Hey what's your name?" He asked, trying to soften his tone. Walking around her to come up behind her.

"Amy." She said quietly, tense when Lucas began to check for any wounds.

"Hey Amy, my name is Lucas." She didn't respond after that. So Lucas just quickly tried to look for any wounds. "All good now." He finished, taking a step back and letting his rifle hang. "How'd you get out here Amy? You lost?"

"N-no sir." She responded, not making eye contact.

"I'm not a sir, you can just call me Lucas." He said smiling.

This was the first person he'd spoken to in a while. And the first woman he'd spoken to in months. He was feeling pretty relaxed right now, it also helped that he'd finally been able to drop his pack.

Amy glanced up, before quickly looking back to her feet. "Are you here with the military?" She asked, and the hope in her voice made it hurt for what he was about to say.

"No." Lucas said plainly. Trying to contain the discomfort from saying the words.

"Are you out here alone?" She followed up her question with.

"Yeah." Lucas responded quietly, his small smile disappearing from his face.

"Wh-what happened to everyone else?" Amy asked, looking a bit more relaxed.

Lucas looked away from Amy, clearing his throat before turning back towards her. "Why are you out here by yourself?" The question luckily distracted her from the earlier one.

"I.. uh…" she mumbled softly, face going red.

"Amy, I can't hear you." Lucas said with a smile on his face. The way she acted was adorable.

"I needed to pee." Amy said, shuffling side to side, red from ear to neck.

Lucas started to laugh. The last of the tension leaving his body. It's been a long couple of days out here. All alone with no one to watch his back. This was nice. And the angry pout on her face made it even better.

"Well did you?" He asked.

"Did I what?" Lucas smirked at the question. "Oh… yeah." She finished quitely.

"Then why are you still out here by yourself? You got people?"

"I got lost. I tried to go out further, so no one would bother me. But I could remember which hill was which or which tree was new."

"Where was your group camped out at?"

"Near a quarry."

"Near a quarry." Lucas mumbled to himself, reaching into his cargo pocket and pulling out a map.

"You have a map!" Amy asked, eyes widening in hope.

"Yeah…" Lucas offhandedly said, focusing on the map, trying to pinpoint where he was. "Right here. Looks like we're about half a click from the quarry."

"Half a what?" Amy asked from over Lucas' shoulder, looking at the map.

"Uhh… about a quarter mile. Flat ground it'd only be like twelve minutes, but with these hills and trees it'll slow us down. It'll take around twenty minutes to get there, thirty max."

Putting the map away and walking back to his pack. Not noticing the annoyed look on Amy's face. Lucas threw his pack back on and heaved his machine gun back onto his pack.

"Come on, let's get moving before we lose daylight."

ToR

It took around thirty, almost forty minutes, for Lucas and Amy to get close to their designation. He'd run three miles faster than this. Lucas had to slow his pace a lot for Amy. Just as he'd expected. And they'd taken a few breaks here and there for her to catch her breath.

"We should be coming up on the quarry soon." Lucas said over his shoulder to Amy.

"Thank… god." Amy huffed out, sounding exhausted.

Lucas shook his head, chuckling to himself.

"Amy! Amy!" Lucas stopped. Hearing the distant shouting.

"You know them?" Lucas asked, turning around.

"Yeah." Amy said, face bright if up with happiness, her early fatigue gone. "That sounds like my sister." She ran past Lucas, excitement leaking out of her. "Andrea!"

Smiling Lucas sped up, following the excited blonde. Walking through some shrubs, Lucas finds Amy hugging her sister, Andrea. There was also a Hispanic and black man with them.

"Who the hells that?" The black man asked.

"That's Lucas." Amy said, still hugging her sister. "He helped me… I uh, got lost." The blonde said quitely, going a little red.

"Why the hell were you out this far anyway?" Andrea asked, completely ignoring the young marine.

The question caused the young girl to go rigid and Lucas could see her ears and neck go red. Whispering something to her sister, Lucas smirked seeing the dumbfound and slightly amused look on the older woman's face. Already knowing why Amy was out there.

"Is your camp close?" Lucas asked as the sisters' reunion calmed down.

"What's it to ya?" The black man spoke. Uneasily gripping the crowbar in his hands.

"Who's the soldier? And why the hell is he here?" The Hispanic man asked, a bat in his hand, with the same glare on his face as the other man. 'Marine', Lucas could help but think, if the situation wasn't so tense he would've laughed at the near reflexive thought.

Lucas could see the hate in their eyes and he knew where it was coming from. Being this close to Atlanta, the last they saw of the American Military was most likely the bombing of Atlanta. He understood their anger, confusion, and most of all fear, but even if he hated himself for admitting it, he also understood the need for the military bombing of Atlanta.

If he wanted to get through to these civilians he wouldn't be able to pretend that Atlanta never happened. He was going to have to rip the band aid of and get the tense out of the air.

"…"

"He helped me." Amy Interrupted what Lucas was about to say. "If it wasn't for him I'd still be out there." She said a little quieter, trying to hide deeper in her sister's arms, the thought terrifying her.

"I'm guessing by the looks you're giving me you saw what happened at Atlanta?" Lucas said after giving a thankful nod towards the shaken Amy and a shocked look from her sister that he just came out and said what everyone was thinking.

"Any of you been back to the city since?" Lucas asked seeing the looks they gave each other. Letting Lucas know they knew exactly what he was referring to, the hordes..

"We been to the edge a few times, looking for supplies." The black man said, the aggression leaving him as he nervously shuffled from foot to foot. It seems just thinking of all those walkers was making him nervous.

"So you've seen the hordes then?" Even the mention of the hordes caused everyone to tense up even more. Like just mentioning them would summon them out of the woods.

Glancing over to Amy and her sister she looks horrified, glancing around to make sure they weren't just lurking around waiting for someone to mention them. Her sister was looking at him like he was an idiot. The two men weren't any better, trying to subtly look around to not show how jumpy and scared they were.

"Y-yeah, we've seen them." The Hispanic answered, moving closer to the girls, as did the black man. Both becoming uncomfortable with their backs to the woods.

"Did you see them before the bombings?" Lucas asked in a quiet tone, remembering just how massive the hordes used to be.

The Hispanic snapped his head to the marine, understanding where he was leading the conversation to. Just imagining the size of an untouched and growing horde of the undead made him want to run back to camp.

Leaving the question unanswered the young marine continued, his voice barely above a whisper but was perfectly heard in the unnaturally quiet woods.

"Before the bombings the hordes spanned a dozen blocks. Shoulder to shoulder they filled the streets and sidewalks, overflowing the nearby buildings." Lucas paused, the images of the hordes flashing in his mind. The fear he felt coming with them. He could feel all their eyes on him, but couldn't meet them, he just kept his on the horizon. "Atlanta had nearly half a million people living in it, not even including the massive swarms of people that came in looking for military safe zones and aid stations. When the breakout was in full swing…" Lucas tried to swallow but his mouth was dry, twisting his neck to crack it and get some relief of tension. "Not even a fraction of those people were living. Near the end the only living people still there were military personnel."

Pausing he let what he said sit in the silence, looking over all the expressions on their faces. Amy had started to cry as Andrea tried to comfort her, while at the same time taking in what the marine had just told her.

The black man looked like he was about to collapse. Rubbing his hand over his shaved head, trying to get the sweat off his face. The Hispanic was now leaning on the bat, staring at the ground, face devoid of emotions.

"We did what we needed to. What we thought was right." Lucas finished his little impromptu speech. Giving them a moment, before his body started to protest, it being sore from the days of walking and the months of fighting with little rest. "Is your camp close?" Lucas asked again, this time getting a useful answer.

"Yeah, just a twenty minute walk." The Hispanic said, motion behind him.

Quickly walking up to the man. "Lucas Payne." He said holding his hand out.

"Morales. That's T-Dog over there." He said motioning towards the black man. "And that's Andrea." He said pointing over at Amy and her sister.

Glancing up at the darkening sky. "Well we're not going to have light for much longer. Let's get moving."

"Yeah." Morales gave a nod and started walking in the direction they came from.

Lucas walked over to Amy, holding his hand out for her, helping her stand. "You gonna be able to make it?" Lucas asked jokingly.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Amy said with a small smile and blush, glancing down at the ground.

"Okay, well I'll cover the rear so why don't you get up there." Lucas motioned to the walking Morales and T-Dog.

Giving a small nod she began to walk with her sister.

"I take my eyes off you for one second and you find yourself a hunky soldier." Andrea teased her sister.

"Sh-shut up Andrea!" Amy tried to whisper.

"I'm just saying, if it were me…" Andrea glanced back at Lucas, giving her sister a nudge, giggling at her blushing sister. Amy covers her face groaning at her sister's teasing. "Can't do much better than that, mmm." Andrea hummed in appreciation. "Even before the dead started walking."

"Kill me now." Amy groaned to herself.

"I mean if you don't want him, I wouldn't mind a ride."

"You can't!" Amy accidentally yelled, shrinking back into herself when Morales and T-Dog glanced back. Andrea just looked at her with a shit eating grin.

"And why's that?" Andrea smirked.

"W-well… be-because you're too old." Amy said, struggling with an excuse.

"Too old?" Andrea asked, raised eyebrows and a look of fake insult on her face, before a smirk quickly returned. "Challenge accepted baby sis."

Back with Lucas, who was completely ignorant of the conversation happening ahead of him, was feeling pretty good. This group could be a bunch of incompetent idiots and it would still be better than wandering around by himself.

ToR

It wasn't long before they made it to the camp, but Amy still looked rough, from being lost in the woods all day and walking in the sun.

The sun had set a while ago, Luckily Morales seemed to know his way back. When they did get back they were created by three men.

And an older one in a bucket hat and Hawaii shirt. A white guy around his thirties, stockier build, definitely held himself like a soldier. A vet, or maybe a cop? The last guy was around his age, maybe a few years older, and Asian.

The older guy and Asian guy looked worried as we walked up. The white guy just looked a little annoyed and tired.

"Morales, did you find her?" The older man asked, a rifle slung over his back.

"Yeah Dale. We found her." Morales said with a smile at the worried older man.

"Bought time… who the hell's that?" The white man said, raising the shotgun in his hand.

"Shane, calm down, loco gringo." Morales said, mumbling the last part to himself. "He found Amy in the woods."

"Payne, Lucas." The Marine said, holding his hand out.

"Shane, Walsh." The now named, Shane, said. Lowing his shotgun and shaking Lucas's hand.

"You serve." Lucas asked.

"No, sheriff." Shane said, shaking his head.

"Ah, I should've guessed." Lucas said with a small smile. "You in charge here, Walsh?"

"Y.." before Walsh could answer he was interrupted by the older man with the rifle, Dale.

"No, no one's in charge here. We're just working together to survive." Walsh very much didn't agree with that.

"It's been a long day." The Asian man said. "Why don't we get some sleep and pick this back up tomorrow morning?"

"Glenn's right." Dale said. "You've all been out there all day. You should get something to eat and rest."

"Sounds good to me." Lucas said, as everyone began to go to their tents.

Dropping his pack with a sigh. He placed the 240 next to it and his rifle on top of it. Letting out a groan as he stretched.

"You okay?" Amy asked him.

Smiling back at the adorable girl, Lucas took a seat on his pack. "Yeah, just sore. Shit gets heavy." He said motioning towards his gear.

"Language." Amy said with a stern look.

Lucas let out a loud laugh. Standing up to look down at Amy's blushing face.

"Yes, ma'am." He said with a smirk, leaning over her slightly.

Amy was staring straight ahead. Right into his chest. Raising her hand to his chest before pulling it to her face. Biting her finger slightly.

"Do..do you have somewhere to sleep?" She asked looking up through her eyelashes.

'Jesus this girl has to know what she's doing.' Lucas thought to himself. Still slightly leaning over her, staring down into her big innocent blue eyes. 'This girls gonna be the death of me.'

"I've got a tent." Lucas said, pointing to the camp bag strapped to the side of his pack. "Do you have somewhere to sleep?" He asked suggestively.

"I..I…" Amy stutter understanding what he was asking.

"Amy!" Andrea called for her sister, standing in the doorway of the RV. Which Dale allowed the two girls to sleep in. "Give your boyfriend a kiss and let's go. I'm tired." She said, sounding anything but tired. A smirk on her face as she looked at the young Marine like a piece of meat.

"I-I have to go." Amy blushed, staring up at Lucas again. Leaning forward as she stared right at his lips.

"If you don't hurry up I'll go over there and plant one on him for you." Andrea yelled out to her embarrassed sister.

"Andrea!" Amy yelled, with a cute stomp of her foot as she began walking over to her sister, a shy glance back at the new member of their group. "I'll see you in the morning." She quietly said before turning around and taking off towards her sister. "Andrea I'm going to kill you!"

Was the last Lucas heard of the two sisters as the door closed. Chuckling to himself as he got his sleeping system out from his main pack and started putting together his tent.

'Looks like my luck is finally turning around.' Lucas thought to himself as he put his rifle and 240 in the tent. Unclipping his assault pack from the top of his main pack and dragging it in behind him.

"Shit. Fettuccine." He said looking down at his last MRE. "Me and my big mouth." He laughed at himself as he laid down eating the worst MRE ever invented.