orchidoorbit
When the world ended, Odette never really expected anyone to come looking for her.
Eleven years old, alone, and running out of reasons to believe that anyone was coming back, Odette has learned a few things about surviving the end of the world.
Keep moving. Don't trust too quickly. Never take more than you need.
And, most importantly, never get attached to anything you can't afford to lose.
For a while, those rules are enough.
Then Glenn Rhee finds her.
Brought to a small survivor camp outside Atlanta, Odette finds herself surrounded by strangers who offer her food, shelter, and a place beside their fire. There's Glenn, who treats her with a kindness she doesn't know what to do with, and Daryl Dixon, a sharp-tongued hunter who seems determined to keep her out of trouble despite insisting she isn't his responsibility.
And then there's Carl Grimes.
A year older, stubborn, curious, and just as tired of being treated like a child, Carl is the first person her age who makes her feel like she doesn't have to explain herself. Their friendship begins with awkward conversations, stupid arguments, and the sort of small moments that shouldn't mean anything.
Until they do.
But the world beyond their camp is cruel, and the people Odette begins to love have lives, losses, and fears of their own. As the dead keep walking and the living become harder to understand, Odette must learn that surviving alone and learning to live are two very different things.
Because sometimes the hardest part isn't surviving the end of the world.
It's finding something worth staying for.
English isn't my first language I apologize for any mistakes in grammar.