Calm as still water

Just the beginning

*I don't own anything except the story line*

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"Daddy!" The little girl yelled running over to her father. "Daddy! Robb said there was a spider on me, can you make sure it's off? I jumped up and down to shake them off and everything but I'm scared!"

The girl looked to be about 6. With big grey eyes and untamed brown hair.

Her father laughed and picked her up. "Arya, my dear, you don't have a spider on you. Robb was fooling with you. Spiders are more scared of you then you are of them, don't be afraid. You're a brave little one." Arya looked confused as she bit her lip. "How can I be brave if I'm afraid?" Her father kissed her forehead and pushed her unruly hair out of her eyes. "That's the only time you can be brave."

Arya

When she opened her eyes, the sun was rising. Arya lay flat on her back on top some roof to a grocery store. The morning chill made the hairs on her arms stand up. It was calm, to say the least. Arya felt exhausted as she stood up and stretched, the dreams she had usually did that to her. Arya looked in the rucksack she had: 1 granola bar, 2 water bottles and a can of peaches. She couldn't remember a time where she had been full. She never even felt hungry anymore really, just numb.

Arya was wearing work boots and baggy jeans, and the long sleeve shirt she wore was two times too big. She had a dagger tucked inside one of her jean pockets and her gun in the back of her pants, ready in case she absolutely needed it. Slung over her shoulder was the petite sword one of her brothers had bought her when she was about 16, a few months before all this happened...

About a year and a half had passed since the outbreak, and Arya had lost everyone she loved. No one was to be trusted, she learned that the hard way. She had been running for a year since she lost her family. A couple of those months weren't spent alone, she met someone who helped her when she was weak, dying. He could have killed her but he saved her. Befriended her. Loved her.

Arya threw her rucksack over her free shoulder and went to move down the fire escape. She would have to leave this town today and head for the next one, there was nothing here. Even biters were scarce. The closest town was about 5 miles heading east. Arya didn't have a destination anymore, all she did was run.

Arya stared at a sign that said "hitchhikers may be prison inmates" The sign had bullet holes through it, Arya kept walking forward, waiting to find the town she had been searching for.

About three hours and two swollen feet later, Arya found herself in front of a barricaded entrance to a town, when she looked up she saw a sign that said "Welcome to Woodbury!" It was one of those banners you normally see strung up at gradation parties. It seemed inviting enough, but Arya wasn't going to let her guard down too easily. She didn't expect the town to be barricaded off.. Maybe she could climb over the wall, get supplies and then sneak off. Surely there couldn't be many people inside..

A noise from behind her brought her back to reality, a biter was sauntering towards her. Arya pulled out her needle (she called her sword 'needle' because her father had told her every great sword needed a name.) and she started towards it. Just because she was small didn't mean she could be underestimated, she kicked the walker in the knee and watched him fall right before her feet. Arya then drove her sword into the dead persons skull, some blood spraying on her face. Watching the biter stop moving was almost as good as the fact that she was the reason it stopped moving. She enjoyed killing these things, the less of them the better. These things killed people she knew, people she loved, innocent people! It was kill or be killed now, and if you think otherwise, then you're an idiot.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Arya turned around quickly, her sword high and ready when she saw a man with one hand pointing a gun at her.

She heard the footsteps behind her, but the slow pace had made her believe it was a biter coming for her.. She thought she had enough time, how could she have been so stupid as to let her guard down for even a second?!

"Come on boy, drop your weapons." The man with one hand said to Arya as he motioned for her to do as he asked.

Arya clenched her jaw and didn't release her grip on her sword, "I'm not a boy."

Even before the outbreak, Arya had been mistaken for a boy on multiple occasions. But now, Arya had taken to chopping off her hair with her knife whenever it got too long. The biters can't grab your hair if you barely have any..

"Whatever." The man grunted. "You should do as your told, girl. You're the one with a sword, I've got a gun." He waved it over his head as if she was blind to the fact he was in the position to shoot her down. That's when Arya noticed that the metal contraption attached to his arm (the one without a hand) he had a knife attached to it. Arya felt uncomfortable with this but she didn't falter. "I'm not giving you my weapons. I've killed men your size before and I'm not scared to do it again."

The man looked at her like she grew another head and then he smirked. "You've got guts, kid. Tell you what, you give me that sword and hide any other weapons you might have.. I'll take you in and you can get cleaned up, fed, supplies for the road if you need 'em."

Arya stared at him. No one can be trusted. Would he really give her supplies? Cleaned up? Did that mean there was working water? And food?

"How do I know I can trust your word?" She asked, never letting up on her grip on her sword.

"I ain't looking for your trust, darling. But if you wanna live a little bit longer you're gonna have to do as I say." The man put his gun in his pocket and held out his hand to take her sword.

"And if I don't do as you say?" Arya challenged.

Arya knew she was pushing her limits with the man, but she didn't care. She would take the mans offer just to get in, get supplies and sneak out. If a man without a hand was the best person they had to guard the entrance to the town then Arya wasn't worried in the slightest.

The man glared at her and scratched the back of his head. "If you don't do as I say then you're gonna have a damn hard time trying to get into this town. I'm asking for your sword and telling you to keep your other weapons hidden, now I know you have other weapons, ain't no way in hell a small girl like you been surviving all this time with that dinky sword of yours.."

It was Arya's turn to glare at the man. "When can I get my sword back if I give it to you?"

The man smiled, he knew he was winning the argument. "When you've proved yourself.. You best make sure nobody sees any of your other weapons, you got me?"

Arya bit her lip, she did it mostly when she was nervous.

"There's men, women, and children here. We like the people who are trained properly to be the ones carrying weapons on them." He said to her, obviously trying to explain to the girl that he needed to take her weapon.

The thought of other children excited Arya. She hadn't seen another kid since...

She wasn't going to think about that.. Not right now.

Arya lowered her sword and put it back in it's sheath, then handed it to the one handed man.

The man took her sword and threw it over his shoulder. "The names Merle." The man motioned for her to follow him as he opened the gate. "And this is Woodbury."