Keira is a survivor. She doesn't fall for tricks, she turns her back to the past and walks on. She carries secrets as her burdens. Guilt and sadness curdle inside her, but she's learned how to mask it. Cares and carelessness cause her to make mistakes, the mistakes that cost her dearly. But she's learned how to ignore it. She is alone and scared. She has nobody to cling to, and maybe she doesn't want anybody like that. Keira is a survivor, but maybe she isn't. Maybe what she's hiding will make her unhinge. She's clever, but she's naive. She's careful, but not quite enough. Keira is a ticking time bomb. Someday she's going to implode. If only there was somebody to fix her. • Ø • Ø • Page count: ~344 Word count: ~35,255 Grammar Nazis will be satisfied. Highest rankings: #1 on "carl grimes" tag!!! #59 on the fanfiction tag!!! Started: 11-21-15 5k reads: 3-17-16 10k reads: 4-12-16 500 votes: 4-28-16 500 comments: 5-11-16 Finished: 6-4-16 25k reads: 6-7-16 1k votes: 6-11-16 1k comments: 7-14-16 50k reads: 7-24-16 75k reads: 8-25-16 100k reads: 10-7-16 5k comments: 11-9-16 150k reads: 11-22-16 5k votes: 11-26-16 175k reads: 12-11-16 200k reads: 12-30-16 Alternate ending: 12-31-16 250k reads: 3-24-17 300k reads: circa 6-28-17 10k votes: circa 11-5-17 350k reads: circa 11-25-17 400k reads: circa 5-6-18 Warnings: •Dark •Gory •Cussing •Spoilers (Seasons 5-6)

I hear footsteps behind me, when I turn to see whos they are I see a boy scramble to hide behind a tree before I can see him. "Why are you following me, stalker?" I tease. Carl comes out from behind the tree, "Don't call me that." I roll my eyes at the boy as I smile. - Isabelle Collins is a girl who doesn't trust easily. She, her sister, and her two best friends had lived in a church for a month, and when her sister goes missing in the woods and the church is discovered by a group of people, Isabelle is forced to trust them so they'll help her find her sister. • • • • • • • • • • • • This is a Carl Grimes fanfic but it is not solely based around the relationship between the main character and Carl. This book contains mature themes such as abuse, blood, gore, sexual assualt, underage drug use, underage drinking, mentions of suicide. I'll always put a trigger warning at the beginning of the chapters containing potentially triggering topics.

Set within the timeline of The Walking Dead, this story follows Maisie Harper's journey from a scared child to a hardened survivor, exploring grief, resilience, her past - and how much people can change when the world does.