Worth Living For

Melanie sat at Hershel’s dining room table while Maggie and Lori brushed her hair and put it up into a bun. Her dark auburn hair not cooperating one bit since it had been exposed to the elements for almost 2 months. She was just lucky it was still able to be brushed through with very little difficulty.

“I just want to thank you all for everything you have done for me,” she said, “ I haven’t had this much human interaction since I left Sarasota and that was months ago.”

“Those nice military guys that you were riding with didn’t talk to you?” said Lori, who was now officially pregnant and everyone knew all though they wouldn’t dare have brought it up to her.

“Heck no!! Those guys, all they ever talked about were guns and all the women they had tapped while on their deployments. I tended to just tune them out completely after a little while. “ said Melanie, her eyes glazing over as she reminisced.

“None of them ever turned your head? Caught your eye? Pickings are slim these days. A girl has to take what she can get,” Maggie said with a slight giggle and a hint of mischief in her eye.

Maggie had not told anyone about her and Glenn’s little trist at the pharmacy in town the day prior, although it was oh so obvious to everyone that SOMETHING had happened.

“Well darlin’”, Carol said, “Everyone in our group is real friendly, real nice, and if you need anything don’t hesitate to ask. You will meet the rest of our group at dinner tonight. You already met the Greene’s and T-Dog and Dale, and of course Shane and Rick, but we have a few more that you will be interested in meeting.”

“Im just thankful that you found me and were willing to bring me in. Not everyone is as welcoming and accepting as you all are. I have seen people do much worse. If the Walkers don’t get you, some people will.” Melanie replied. These people had only been in and around the Atlanta area, she thought. They have no idea what is really out there and what can really happen if you are not careful.

The afternoon dragged on and Melanie was able to get a good long nap in before it was dinnertime. She had walked about 20 miles a day for a few weeks and the lack of sleep had finally caught up with her. No going back, she thought to herself. No one can make it on their own these days. She had to keep believing that even with the world gone to hell that there was still good in some people. The military guys weren’t such bad company. It was better with them then being alone. Once she had lost them, she had surrendered herself to the idea that she might never find people again. Let alone find people who seemed to want her to join them and be a contributing member of their group. Rick and a few of the group she had met seemed enthusiastic to have her join them, but would the rest be so accepting?