#aimtrue

Blurb: You find yourself in an unfamiliar land, alone in the depths of an army of the undead. You fight and battle your way through survival, fear, love, death and hope. Can you trust strangers? Can strangers become friends? Can friends become loved ones or do people simply become enemies? Do you fight this storm alone or will you become apart of something? Something bigger than you and everything you dreamed of?

Chapter content: Tense moments. Mid Autumn/Fall. Farm era. Establishing readers start to the apocalypse. Meeting the brooding redneck.

Side note-I’ve been wanting to write a series of the show for a long time with y/n in the mix. I’m hoping it can be a slow burn with our eventual love interest Daryl. I might edit this chapter and repost it. Uhm there may be references to England just because I’m from here but if they come up, reader is welcome to personalise to wherever y’all are from ☺️

Chapter One

The hot sun waking you from a shallow slumber, you wipe the sleep from yours eyes before instinctively grasping at your thigh. The knife was still there. Of course it was. You had strapped it to your thigh securely and checked it every hour or so. A habit that became second nature in the past few months since everything seems to stop. A few months before, you had set out on your long awaited voyage, a once in a lifetime trip. You decided to take your van from England and set off on a cross country trip across the US. Passing through many states during the mid summer you had made it to Georgia in the August. You weren’t looking forward to the summer here so you decided to make a couple of sightseeing stops before driving up to Maine but just as you entered the state, it seemed like you had slipped into another dimension. You had heard the stories about Appalachia and not that you believed them but you couldn’t help but think maybe you had entered into some kind of glitch. The road ahead was backed up and there were swarms of helicopters over head. Bright flashes and people yelling, everything happened so quickly until it stopped. Or at least you could confuse it for stopping. You had found yourself alone, now walking as your van had ran out of juice and you had no other option. It was quiet but everything hadn’t stopped. Something had awoken. Creatures? Monsters? Or was it quite literally the dead walking? Whatever they were, you knew they were hungry and you knew they needed to be killed. You remember the first time you came face to face with one of those things. It was about a week after everything had fallen apart. You left your van to go scavenging for something to eat. You were somewhat of a survivalist. Camping and going off grid most weekend so you knew which plants and berries could be eaten. You had filled a napkin with berries when you heard a groan behind you. If you hadn’t known any better, it sounded like a death rattle. Scary and unmistaken then the smell hit you. Before you had a chance to stand up, something had a grip of your hair. You span around and push your arms out to no avail. Adrenaline taking over you took the knife you used for scavenging and plunged it into the things head. It comes to a stop and slumps over you. You gag at the smell and push the dead weight off of you. Bent over with your hands on your knees you take a couple of steady breaths holding back the vomit you were sure to spew but you had made you. You survived.

Sitting up, your mouth is dry and you reach into the only backpack you owned. The one and only. It may have looked humble but it was quite literally a lifesaver. Unscrewing the top to your bottle of water you take a couple of sips making sure to leave plenty for throughout the day. Sighing, you stand up and stretch. Looking around at your makeshift home, a steel sheet atop of wooden slates and a pen around it you supposed it might have been a pig sty. It was time to move on and find something safer, more sustainable. A place you could sleep for more than an hour at a time. A place you could grow vegetables. It felt like a far away dream but you had hope and that was enough for now. You bid farewell to your safe harbour thanking it before you left. It was silly but it made you smile. You hasn’t seen another person, alive person for a long while and now you were feeling empathetic towards inanimate objects. If you’d had stayed here any longer you’d have started hugging trees but you thought you weren’t quite that lonely just yet you giggle to yourself brushing off the silly thought.

Time had moved on and you hadn’t made much progress. Sure you had walked a lot. It felt like you had walked your way around the entirety of the world and wound right back to Georgia. Feeling the strain in your legs and reluctantly thinking you’d have to find a place to stay for the night you take a well deserved water break. Tasting the warm water it didn’t matter. It may as well have been served by a 5star Michelin chef all the same, you just wished you had ordered ice on the side. A twig snapped and snatches you from the funny thought. Shit. One of those things. You mostly tried to avoid them but it was a mere yard from you. You breathe steady and take the knife from your thigh. You side step its grasping arms and pull it by its hair ready to plunge the knife into its head when you hear a thwack. Something cracking through the air before it plunges into the things head. Landing in its desired place, cracking through its skull with the same ferocity. You eyes widen and you let go, arms still staying up and scanning the area trying to figure out what the fuck had just happened. This is it. You had finally lost it. The damn Georgia sun has claimed another victim you thought before a man steps out from behind some trees. Holding up what looked like a harpoon his finger was on the trigger and the aim was on you. There was silence for a beat, the man taking small sidesteps, slowly inching towards you. A harsh scowl on his face you quickly scramble your brain thinking of your next step. You didn’t trust this stranger but you didn’t want to be in this stand off for hours with your arms raised. Maybe de escalation will help you thought. It’s a start.

“Uhh thanks” you mutter glancing at the corpse before swiftly returning your eyes back at the archer your arms still up in place loosely holding onto your small knife. Nothing in comparison to the weapon that was directly opposite you.

He huffs, keeping a cold stare placed fiercely on you “drop it” he grasps hoarsely with a deep grumble. If you weren’t listening so intensely you’d be fine mistaking his voice for one of those walking dead things. Quickly registering his words you weigh your options. You could comply but who knows what could happen to you. You decide to stand your ground and if you died fighting then so be it you thought.

“No” you reply firmly arms still in the air non threatening as possible

He glares before demanding again “I said drop it” you hear the creak of his weapon before squeezing your eyes shut and surely thinking you were about to meet your maker.

“I can’t do that” you reply, heart hammering in your chest, too stubborn for your own good you thought briefly before getting rid of that thought.