Elena Monroe is only 19, but she's been the head of her family for far longer than she should have been. After her father's death from leukemia; A year before the Fall; she took charge of her shy 10-year-old sister, Ivy, and their nervous mother, Vivienne. Now, in a world overrun by the dead, the burden of survival weighs heavier than ever.
When the Monroes cross paths with Shane, Lori, and Carl on the highway into Atlanta, they join forces, eventually finding refuge at the quarry with other survivors. While Ivy and Vivienne settle into the group, forming bonds with Carol and the children, Elena struggles to fit in. Her instincts scream that Shane is dangerous, and her distrust only grows.
The Dixon brothers' tent pitched next to theirs doesn't help matters. Daryl Dixon, rough and blunt, dismisses Elena as nothing more than a privileged girl with a bow-a skill she honed by hunting with her father before the fall. The tension between them flares as they clash over survival strategies, but both will soon find they have more in common than they realize.
When Rick Grimes arrives to claim his family, the delicate balance within the group begins to crumble. As chaos threatens to unravel them all, Elena must navigate the treacherous dynamics of the group while keeping her sister safe and her mother from retreating too far into herself.
In a world where trust is fragile and danger lurks in every shadow, can Elena hold her family together-or will the cracks in their new community prove too much to bear?