On Her Own

Following the maniac driver up the mountain had been slightly more difficult than, she, Ivy Giovani, had expected. She had realized that more was at stake than her brother's life. For what if these people didn't have him and killed her simply because she was an outsider. That was one of the biggest reasons that Ivy did not group up with people. She thought that it was much easier for one to survive if that particular person were alone. It had worked for her since the outbreak had begun, and if things went her way, it would continue to work for her. All she planned to do with this group was ask on the whereabouts of her brother and if they didn't know, she would be on her merry way.
As the cherry red car parked close to the top of the mountain in a clearing that had been set up as a camp, Ivy nervously parked close by and waited impatiently for the rest of the group to turn off the alarm and assess her. She opened the door of the car she had hotwired and placed her feet outside the car. She kept her bow and quiver wrapped tightly around her body, just in case she needed to use it. Although, with the likes of this bunch, she wasn't quite sure if she would need to use them.
Standing around the car was a blonde girl not much younger than herself; a brunette woman with a child no older than eight years of age; an older man who could have been Ivy's grandfather; an Asian/American who had driven the car; and a man who looked like the authoritive one around the camp. They all turned to glance at Ivy as she got out of her car and came around to the front of the car.

"Who are you?" the authoritive one asked, his eyebrow raised in an accusatory manner, although she had done nothing to him. Ivy noticed he glanced at the brunette more than once as he questioned her. She believed something was going on between the two.

Ivy lifted her bow over her and held it in one hand. Just in case. She thought. She had met with several different groups before and none of them had been pleasant.

"Ivy Giovani. I'm looking for my brother," Was her response to the man's question. "who are you?" She redirected the question back to him.

He nodded at her, but turned his attention from her as an older model vehicle drove up behind her and several different people got out. Ivy noticed the blonde girl burst into tears as she hugged another blonde who looked like an older version of the young girl. She watched with envy as the idiotic man from earlier that day ran up to the brunette woman and the young child and wept as he hugged them. She was envious because she couldn't share the love that they so clearly had.

"You didn't answer my question." She pointed out to no one in particular. Just the same, she hoped she was ignored. She would much rather like to escape from the charades of love and head out into the forest, where she felt at peace from the world that now consumed them.

As Ivy began to make her way over to the forest the Asian-American kid looked at her and explained who everyone was.

"I'm Glenn. The couple over there is Rick, Lori, and their son, Carl. The older guy is Dale. The two blondes are sisters named Andrea and Amy. The guy you were talking to is Shane. And that last couple with the little girl is Carol, Ed, and Sophia. I'm sure Daryl is here somewhere, but I wouldn't worry too much about him right now." He pointed out nearly every person in the camp to Ivy and she followed everything that he was saying. After he had stopped talking, he walked away and began talking to the others in their party.

She continued on her way to the edge of the forest. She had already assumed that her brother was not there and she did not need to be there if he was not there. Stepping lightly into the green foliage of the trees, she allowed her senses to take control. She pulled the bow close to her side, but kept it palmed. You could never be too sure of your surroundings. Especially around people you had no idea about.

“Hey, Ivy.” Glenn called out to her.

Ivy tensed up and slowly turned around. She had not known that he would call on her and pull her back into the strange group of people who obviously seemed to know one another. She would just be another stranger; one that they would not like to get to know. Ivy glanced at the Asian-American and slowly stalked back out of the forest.

“What?” She muttered lightly, not quite sure how to go about answering him.

“Where are you going? The group wants to meet you.” He asked her just as quietly, tugging nervously on the cap he wore on his head.

Ivy rubbed her finger on the edge of the bow, her nerves getting to her. Since the beginning of the outbreak, she had pretty much been on her own. She was always on alert due to the increasing risk of danger and had not become close to anyone for fear of something happening.

“Why would they want to meet me?” She asked curiously, bringing her bow up and over her to rest on her back. Glenn outwardly flinched at the movement and she made note of it. He seemed more of the wimpy type to her, but she could be wrong. In the harsh world they were forced to live in, one such as himself could turn out to be of more use than was thought of.

“They’re, um, curious about you.” He told her, tilting his head slightly and squinting his eyes at her.

Ivy pursed her lips and nodded her head at him, signaling he could lead her to them. He turned abruptly on his heel and led her to the slightly large group. Since the outbreak, she had tried her best to stay away from such large groups due to the immense amount of walkers. She wanted to attract as little amount of noise as possible. Hence the use of the bow and arrows. Ivy only ever used a gun if the situation called for it. In most cases, she could get away with using her bow, but occasionally when there was a large group and she had a limited amount of arrows, she would use her cache of guns and ammo.

Ivy trailed behind Glenn, not wanting to stir too much attention her way; even though it was her who had followed him up the mountain to this strange group of people. Spying the group just in front of them, Ivy tightened her grip on her bow and sucked it a small lungful of air. There’s no use in getting worked up about meeting these people. Chill out. She thought to herself.

“Guys, this is Ivy.” Glenn introduced her, stepping to the side so they could get a full view of her.

Ivy placed a weak smile on her lips and muttered hi under her breath. The group looked at her wearily, but she got a few smiles from several people.

“Have you been bit?” The guy that Glenn pointed out as Shane asked, his mouth twitching up. He glanced at the Lori woman who shot him a glare, before looking back at Ivy.
“No. You can check if you like.” Ivy retaliated a little sharply. She had not planned on meeting any new people.

Shane nodded his head. “I’m Shane Walsh. Nice to meet you.” He stepped closer to her and she shook his hand. She did the same to the others, them telling her their names and her nodded and smiling in all the right places. Ivy was not happy to be surrounded by so many people all at once.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but why are you here?” the youngest blonde, Amy, asked nonchalantly as they led her to their encampment and allowed her to set up her things.

“I’m looking for my brother. He got separated from me when a herd invaded our camp about a week ago. I haven’t seen him since.” Ivy told her. She supposed she trusted this girl, if only just a little bit more than the others. Ivy held her in more regard than the others due to the girl’s age. She was just a few years younger than herself.

Andrea smiled at Ivy as she passed Amy and her. Ivy had no idea just exactly what she had gotten herself into.

Around the campfire that night, Ivy felt a little more at ease. She had discovered that she liked Ed less than anyone else in the camp. After Shane had confronted Ed about keeping the embers of the fire down so the walkers wouldn’t be attracted, Ed had told him to mind his business. That hadn’t really bothered Ivy so much. It was when he had begun ordering Carol, his wife, around like a slave, that she took offense. But being the “new” addition, she decided to keep her mouth shut. It would keep her out of trouble for the time being.

Straddling a log around the small campfire, Ivy listened to the group about what had gone down earlier that day in the city. Apparently, Rick had handcuffed some guy named Merle to the roof of a building and T-Dog had fixed the door so that the walkers couldn’t get to him. She listened to them discuss a man named Daryl, who was Merle’s brother, and what he would do after finding out about Merle.

Later, after everyone had settled into their respective sleeping places, Ivy sat up. She had her bow and arrows at the ready. The old man, Dale, had set up post on the top of his RV, but she still didn’t feel secure. Since the outbreak, Ivy had developed a case of insomnia that made every waking minute more unsafe than the next.