—  ZOE NEVER THOUGHT THAT SHE WOULD see her old home again, especially since they had fled in such a hurry, the girl hadn't even managed to say goodbye properly. She remembered the time before the outbreak, where the only troubles she had were her school grades, and wether or not the outfit she had on was matching the shoes she was wearing, to look good for the boys she had crushes on - but none of that mattered now, all they had to worry about, now, was staying alive, and not getting bit by walkers. It let like a life time, that the girl and the rest of her group had been doing this, when in reality, it had only been around a year, that year feeling like a whole ten years to them all. The world they now lived in was tough, fighting through everyday like it might be their last, wondering when they would get ripped apart by walkers and finally meet their end; it wasn't a life you should have to live, but now it had become their reality.
This is why it felt so strange to be going back to where they lived before the world ended, where their life was normal and they didn't have to look over their shoulder twenty-four seven. Zoe had instantly volunteered to go with her dad, Carl and Michonne to their old home town to collect the guns from the police station where Rick used to work - she just had to revisit the place before it went all wrong.

Nate wasn't happy the girl had volunteered to leave the prison again, how could he? When last time the girl did, she and Glenn had been kidnapped, and the girl had experienced one of the worst moments on her life; it made Nate want to keep his eye on her for the rest or their days, call him obsessive, but he just couldn't stand the thought of his girl being hurt, it broke his heart in two. It was the same for Zoe, too, the girl hated when Nate was upset, even if he rarely ever got hurt, emotionally, though, sometimes he would go through a rough patch, and the sight of it made Zoe's stomach clench. The two were so in love that they just couldn't stand the idea of the other being in some sort of pain, they were like soulmates. It was rare to find nowadays, someone who cared so much for you and would literally take a bullet for you; yet Zoe and Nate had found that in each other, the two being the most luckiest pair in existence at the moment.
So that's why Nate was back home at the prison, worrying every second that went by, whilst Zoe sat in the back of the car with her brother, as Michonne drove and her dad sat in the passenger side, making sure that she didn't do anything stupid, as he still didn't trust her one hundred percent. Zoe hadn't spoken to the woman much personally, but she seemed nice, having helped break her and Glenn out of Woodbury.

They were driving silently down the road, when they saw a road block up ahead, a bunch of cars blocking the road and keeping them from driving any further, so, they made the decision to go around, driving on the mud besides the road, yet maybe that wasn't the best decision they could have made. The car was stuck, whilst Zoe was staring at the walker whom was stuck underneath a toppled car, looking at the thing in boredom, having seen so many walkers that at this point, nothing surprised her. But, suddenly a hand full of them had surrounded the car, yet it didn't faze any of them, as they simply rolled their eyes at them all, "Cover your ears." Rick turned around and ordered his children, the two of them immediately doing as he said and plugging their ears as he pulled out his gun, rolling his window down slightly.

And just like that, the walkers were all gone, and they were standing outside of the car on the road, searching through it to see if they could find anything to get their own car out of the mud. Rick found a dress, an ugly one at that, that Zoe had frowned at, before her dad called his kids over, who followed him to the front of the car. "Put something under the car, like this, with a little gravel and sticks. It gives you traction." He explained, knowing that they would need to know something like this in case he wasn't around to help them anymore. Zoe watched him work, as Carl simply rolled his eyes at the man.

"Wouldn't have to do it if she didn't get us stuck." Carl pointed out, attitude laced all in his tone that made Zoe roll her eyes just like he had a few seconds beforehand.

"It was an honest mistake." Rick told Carl, knowing that anyone could have gotten stuck in the mud like Michonne had.

"What do you want us to do, Carl, push all of these cars off of the road? There's only four of us." Zoe defended Michonne, giving her little brother an annoyed look as he shouldn't be judging the woman since he couldn't even drive himself.

"I was just saying." Carl sulked, crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance, "Why did she have to come? She took you to Woodbury and you said she just split on you.. And Oscar died and you just.." He began to sulk, Zoe looking away at the mention of that town, an action that her dad didn't miss one bit, and he hated the fact his daughter had such a traumatising time in that horrid place.

"It wasn't that simple." Rick interrupted his son, knowing that they wouldn't have been able to get Glenn and Zoe back if it wasn't for Michonne. "I asked her to come today. I didn't want to leave her at the prison if I wasn't there - not with Merle. In fact, we've got common interests. For right now, we have the same problems. So maybe we can work on them together." He explained, as Carl was simply annoyed that the woman had come - he liked Oscar, and was upset that the man had died because Michonne had ditched them all in the town.

"Just for right now?" Carl asked.

"Yeah. Just for right now." Rick answered, as Zoe rolled her eyes at the two of them, annoyed at the fact they wouldn't even give the woman a chance.

"You could give her a chance, dad. You've barely spoken to her." Zoe spoke up, knowing that the woman was probably having a hard time adjusting due to the fact that Andrea had left her for Woodbury and she was now surrounded by people she didn't know, whom didn't trust her. "I mean, she left us at Woodbury to task out a common interest. To kill the Governor. I'd say that's enough reason to trust her." She carried on, Rick looking at her in confusion, as she had never been so for the idea of killing. He remembered back at the farm, when she was opposed on the idea of killing Randy, he wondered what had changed.

Before anyone could say anything else, the man from earlier who was walking along the road, had caught up, and began shouting at them to wait for him and to please let him talk, but Rick wasn't having any of it, they had too many problems back at home and they couldn't risk letting anyone else in the prison. Zoe felt awful about leaving this man on the side of the road, but she couldn't help but agree with her fathers decision to leave him and not bring him back with them; they had too much on their plate, and taking this man in would be too much, they couldn't risk it.
So just like that, they drove off, leaving the man who was shouting at them for help, begging them not to leave him. Zoe could tell that Carl felt awful about leaving the man, too, but there was nothing they could do, they couldn't trust him..

It didn't take that long to drive back home, which felt strange as Zoe felt like back at the prison was a completely different part of the country, isolated from the rest of the world, she didn't know how she felt about being back here, especially back at her dads old work place, where she used to come weekly to visit him and Shane at work after school, chatting to the rest of the police department. However, when they got there, the whole place was picked clean, and Zoe sighed in annoyance, "You got any other police stations in town?" Michonne asked, picking up a bullet from the floor, examining it. Someone had picked this place clean.

"I was the police here." Rick told Michonne, sighing when he realised he didn't know what to do now that the police station had been wiped clean. "Me and a few other guys. It ain't a big town." He added, feeling slightly guilty about the thought of Shane. Zoe didn't even know what they were supposed to do now, since this is the only place there would be guns; it wasn't a big town, maybe an occasional rifle would be in a shop or the gas station, but other than that, there wouldn't be guns anywhere, it was a small town, with good people, everyone knew each other. "There's other places to check. We may not have as many guns as were in here.." Rick carried on, scratching his head anxiously.

"We need as many guns as were in here." Michonne spoke up again, looking around the empty room in disappointment. "Ammo, too." She added, making Zoe's stomach drop at the thought of killing the people from Woodbury, but it's not like they had a choice, they were coming for them.

"Yeah, we do. But right now I only got a line on a couple. There's a few places on our Main Street - bars, liquor store. Owners had a gun or two behind the counter." Rick explained, as Zoe had an idea click in her mind, remembering her old friend and his parents store.

"Jake's parents had a rifle behind the counter. I remember from when I used to go there." Zoe spoke up, remembering her old friend and how they used to hang out a lot. They weren't supposed to have that gun, hence why Zoe had never told her dad about it before with him being a cop, but now was a good time to mention it, "They definitely have ammo in their safe." She added, also remembering where they kept it, luckily.

"That's a good idea, Zo." Rick told his daughter, looking at her proudly as she knew what his idea was and what they should be doing here. That was, until he saw that Michonne didn't seem happy about this idea, and just wanted to get the guns from the police station and leave, "Do you have a problem with that approach?" He asked the woman, who looked back at him with an annoyed facial expression, having heard everything he was telling his kids when they were trapped in the mud.

"No, Rick. I don't have a problem." Michonne sighed, knowing that she couldn't say anything due to the fact that he didn't trust her enough as it was. She held up a bullet for Rick to take, as Zoe and Carl watched, feeling the tension in the air alone - it wasn't exactly comfortable for either of them.
Zoe pulled Carl alongside her as she followed Michonne out of the building, their dad following closely behind after he got one last look at the place he used to work, he still couldn't believe how much the world had changed, and it was saddening to see the sight.

And just like that, they were on their way to the Main Street, stopping on the way as they had seen a pile of burnt bodies, the four of them unable to tell if they were humans or walkers - even weirder, was that there was arrows on the floor guiding them to the town, not like the Grimes' needed it, they knew this place off by heart, having lived here their whole lives. Zoe felt even more uneasy being here, when they turned the corner and saw that the whole street was filled to the brim of wooden traps, some with birds or other animals in, like they were made to attract walkers or some sort. The girl stuck close to her brother as she pulled out her pistol, keeping her hands tight on the gun in case anything were to happen, as she had a feeling that they weren't the only ones here, and her dad had the same idea, also pulling out his gun and looking around at their surroundings in suspicion.
The words 'TURN AROUND AND LIVE', written on the floor in paint, caused a shiver to go down Zoe's spine; who was living here? This town used to look so nice, it was a nice community that kept it well and clean, and it now looked like everything had gone to shit, just like the rest of the world. Seeing it happen to where she was born, hurt.

"It looks like someone's already made this theirs." Michonne was the first to speak up as they walked slowly down the street with their eyes peeled, the other three seemed to be looking slightly distraught over their home town being overrun.

"Doesn't mean they found what we're looking for." Rick said, ducking under the rope trap as the others followed behind him, "A couple of the places are just up ahead, Jake's store is just around the block. Let's get in, and get the hell out of here." He added, knowing that they should be quick with this as this person who lived here seemed very dangerous.

As Zoe ducked under the next trap, she couldn't help but voice her thoughts out loud, "This place doesn't seem safe, dad." She spoke up, Carl ducking under the trap behind her as she waited for him to be at her side again, before walking onwards. Zoe had this unwritten rule that whenever she was out of the prison and Carl happened to be there, she wouldn't let him out of her sight - she couldn't even think about him getting hurt. Before anyone could answer her, a walker came limping towards them, and as they were watching them get caught in the trap in front of it, a gunshot rung out, a man yelling 'hands' as he wanted the four of them to surrender.

Zoe, Carl and Rick didn't think twice before raising their hands up for the unknown man to see, knowing that they didn't have much of a chance since he had a sniper and they only had pistols. "Now you drop what you've got, and you go!" He yelled out, not wanting to kill them, but needing their things. "Your gun! Your shoes! And that sword!" He ordered, as Zoe didn't know what her dads next plan of action would be.

"Run to the car now." Rick spoke lovely to his kids, as the man on the roof begun counting down from ten for them all to drop everything they had.

"What?" Zoe whispered back.

"Dad?" Carl also asked, not knowing why they were leaving without getting what they came for.

"We need that rifle." Michonne also spoke up, not understating Rick's plan of action. The man carried on counting down as the four of them looked at each other in worry, not knowing what to do, "I think I can get up there." She spoke up again, knowing that she had a chance at disarming that man and getting his rifle.

"Zoe, take Carl and go." Rick ordered, pushing his kids backwards as he began shooting up at the man on the roof, Zoe instantly grabbing her brother and pushing him down, the two rushing away to find cover as their dad began shooting up at the man on the roof. The shooting stopped, then started back up again as Zoe crept around the cars, making her way around as Carl stayed put, the boy taking cover behind a truck in the distance - the girl didn't want to sit back and watch her dad get shot, she was going to do something, so she did. The girl raised her gun as soon as she saw the man with the rifle, and she shot, knowing that if she didn't, the man would've shot her dad, who had no armour on him whatsoever, not like this dude did.. "I told you to run with Carl." Her dad told her, as the man with the rifle landed on the floor with a large thump, either passed out or dead, none of them knew, yet.

"I couldn't just sit back and watch you get shot, dad." Zoe reasoned, as Carl joined them, looking at the man on the floor.

"I didn't want you to have to do that." Rick said to her, feeling awful that she had to shoot someone, the only thing he wanted was to keep his two kids out of this, but it was hard when they both went against everything that he said.

"Well I had to. He would have shot you." Zoe spoke up again, annoyed that her dad didn't have trust in her when it came to things like this; why would he just expect her to sit back when the man could've shot him at any second? "He's clearly wearing armour, I didn't kill him." She added, motioning to the passed out man on the floor.

Rick was impressed that his daughter had noticed something like that, as he hadn't been paying that much attention, he had been more focused on not getting shot than anything else. He punched the man's chest to make sure, and raised a brow when he noticed that the man was indeed wearing armour. It was when he pulled the man's mask off, did he finally realise who it was.. Morgan.

——

Since Rick wanted to stay and make sure that the man with the rifle, now known as Morgan, Zoe finally had the time to go to Jake's parents store, after helping get Morgan back into his building, she headed off out, telling her dad that she was going to have a look around their old town, only to head towards the old bar; the one place she had been looking forwards to going too. She knew that Carl would want to go to the restaurant on the outskirts, it was their mom's favourite place to go, and there was a picture of them all up above the bar, but she also knew that he would want to go alone, she could see it in his face. Before he went on his way, she gave him a pep-talk, making him promise her that he was going to be careful, but little did he know, Zoe had told Michonne where he was going, and had asked the woman to follow him and make sure nothing happened to him, which she did.
Zoe walked down the empty street, Morgan having left this one out as it wasn't the main part of town, and she just thought back to the days where she would take late night walks here, after arguments with her mom when her dad had been in hospital for getting shot, just before the outbreak. It was strange, being Jack here with much longer hair, skinnier and feeling like a completely different person than she had been before.

None the less, she knew exactly where to go, pulling her machete out so she didn't have to use her gun and make noise - the girl had found the bar in less than a few minutes, having sped walked over to the small building, standing in front of the door as she sighed loudly, not knowing what she was going to see when she walked in there. The place looked exactly the same as when she had left the town; just looking like it hadn't been touched at all, and that made Zoe hopeful that what she was looking for would be right where Jake had left it. With a deep breath, the girl slowly opened the door, trying to be as quiet as she could as she didn't know what or who was in there - she couldn't see through the windows due to the dust and dirt blocking her view through them.
Luckily, but surely unluckily, there was only one walker inside, but what broke the girls heart, was the fact that it was Jake, and she could tell due to what he was wearing, and the little amount of facial features he had left due to how starved he must be after being trapped in here since he had turned. "Oh, Jake." Zoe sighed, slouching in defeat when she saw the boy, along with two skeletons on the floor which must be his parents.

The walker turned around at her voice, the girls heart breaking in two at the sight of her friend, whom she had thought made it out somehow, she hoped that he had made it out, and hadn't wanted to think about it at all. Especially with everything going on, she had other things on her mind and had completely forgotten about her life back here in town. Zoe knew that killing Jake would put an end to his misery, so that's what she did, with a sigh, she shoved the machete through his skull, the walker dying instantly, and Zoe had to tell herself that he wasn't her friend anymore, and that he was gone. "I'm sorry." She mumbled, lowering her friends body to the floor and staring down at him in sadness for around a minute, before realising that she didn't have long before her dad would notice she had come here on her own, after she told him she would wait for him.

She carried on through the bar and towards the back of the building to where there were stairs leading up to a small apartment above the bar, where Jake and his parents lived. She headed up there, keeping her eyes peeled and her machete out just in case there was another walker in here, but after checking each room, she knew that she was alone, and safe to relax. Shoving the weapon back into her jeans, she headed for Jake's room, which looked the exact same as when she had last seen it - dust covering the area, but other than that, completely untouched. Since it was untouched, she knew that her possession would be sitting on his desk like where she had last left it, and as she headed over there, she could see it, sending a smile to the girls face.
Her mother's locket. The necklace that Lori had given Zoe when she was younger, with a picture of them both inside of the locket, something she definitely needed now that she would never see her mother again. This made two photos of her mother now in their possession, as she was sure that Carl and Michonne had retrieved the other one at this point - she smiled as she opened the necklace, seeing the familiar photo inside of herself and her mom smiling at the camera. She missed her mom incredibly, and still couldn't believe she was gone..

Not only that, but the framed photo of Jake, Zoe and some other friends of theirs all smiling up at the camera whilst they were at school had made the girl want to cry. How simple life was back then, that all Zoe had to worry about was wether her pink hair was going to stick, and what she was going to wear to school that day.
How she wished life would go back to the way it used to be.