][=][   Ryan Goldman's POV   ][=][

Mom and Dad rushed around, grabbing different items, everything from survival equipment and supplies to photo albums and books.

"Ryan," Dad said as he tossed an empty duffel bag on the floor in front of me, "I need you to go to the shed and put every tool we own in there. Nothing electric, though."

I nodded and grabbed the duffle as he entered the kitchen with another bag. I ran out to the shed and threw the door open. Once inside, I began taking all the tools I could pick up, either out of drawers or off hooks hanging from the wall, and putting them in the bag at my feet. Once I had collected everything I could from the shed, I dragged the now hefty bag from the shed into our house. Dad squeezed my shoulder, then picked the bag up and took it, along with several others, out the front door to the car.

"Ry, can you go check on your brother and sister? Make sure they're packing everything I told them to?" Mom asked as she carried a box from the living room towards the front door.

I nodded and ran up the stairs and knocked on the first door on the right, Jasper's room, and turned the knob to enter. My brother stood beside his bed, stuffing some clothes into his suitcase.

"Jas, are you ok? Need help packing anything?"

"Can you help me close this thing? I can't get it to shut."

I nodded and then picked him up and set him on top of the suitcase to hold it as close as possible so I could zip it up. He laughed and rolled his eyes as I zipped the bag shut. Once it was closed, Jas jumped off the bag and grabbed his backpack, which I knew was likely full of his comic books, and slung it over his shoulder. I picked the suitcase up off his bed and carried it down the stairs as he followed behind me.

"Oh wait!" He shouted suddenly before turning around and running back up the stairs and into his room.

I stopped and watched his door until he returned, hugging his black puppy stuffed animal in his arms. I smiled at him as he came down the stairs again and ruffled his hair before passing him the handle to his bag.

"Go out to the car. I gotta check on Ruby."

He nodded and rolled his suitcase out the door as I turned around and headed back up the stairs to my sister's room, the only bedroom on the left side of the hallway. When I entered the room, I noticed her window was open and she wasn't inside. I climbed out the window and found her sitting on the edge of the roof overhanging our side deck.

"Ruby, you shouldn't be out here... are you all done packing?"

"Yeah, I'm done. Just wanted to look at everything here one more time before we left," she said as she turned towards me and frowned, "why are Mommy and Daddy so worried and making us leave our house? I-I mean, we just moved in a few months ago."

"Because something is going on, Ru, something bad... they're taking us somewhere that we'll be safe."

"But... what's happening?"

"I don't know... all I know is that mom and dad wouldn't make us leave if they didn't think we had to."

I could see the tears sliding down her cheeks from her sapphire blue eyes. I reached my hand out to her, which she took, and then pulled her into a tight hug.

"I-I'm scared... Ry," she cried as she pressed her face into my stomach.

"I know, but we're gonna be ok. Everything is gonna be ok once we get to the city," I satiated as I picked her up and carried her back towards the open window. "I promise, ok?"

"O-Ok... I believe you."

I set her down at the window, and she climbed in. Once she was inside, I followed her and closed the window behind me. I grabbed her backpack, slinging it over my shoulder as I took her suitcase handle in my right hand and her hand in my left. We walked out of her bedroom and down the stairs. Mom was waiting by the door with a smile on her face, a smile I could tell was hiding the fear and worry she was really feeling.

"Let's go, kiddos," she said as she took Ruby's suitcase from me and led the way out to the car where Dad was already in the driver's seat and Jas was in the back reading one of his comics.

I climbed into the car, scooted into the middle seat of the back row, and reached my arms out for Ruby to take my hands. When she did, I helped her get into the car and buckle her seatbelt. Mom put Ruby's bag into the trunk and then climbed into the passenger seat, giving Dad a nod as she placed her hand on top of his on the gear shift. I turned my head and watched our house slowly get smaller as Dad drove off towards Atlanta with the radio on the highway alert station.

"All citizens must evacuate to the city of Atlanta immediately. There is a military safe zone set up for all refugees. Law enforcement officers from your area will be available to provide roadside assistance if needed. Get on the nearest highway, and don't exit until you have arrived in Atlanta. Side and back roads are not being monitored and are not considered safe at this time."

The message repeated several times before Dad turned the radio off with a grimace on his face.

"Traffic is going to be a nightmare," he muttered under his breath as he headed towards the entrance to the highway, following a long line of vehicles leaving our community in King County.

][=][   Time Skip   ][=][

"We're gonna run out of gas before we make it into the damn city at this rate," Dad stated in frustration as he rubbed his forehead and stared at the jam-packed road in front of us.

The Atlanta city line was clear at the end of the packed highway. The cars in front of and behind us looked like one giant package of sardines. We were so close to the vehicle in front of us that I could make out the details of the small, round, freckled face of a blue-eyed boy who I guessed was around my age, glancing back at us and waving, so I waved back at him as I smiled.

"How's the tank look, honey?" Mom asked as she put her hand on my dad's leg and squeezed.

"We're down to a quarter."

"I'm sure there will be more off-"Mom started to say before a loud whistling sound interrupted her.

We all looked up and saw a group of military planes fly over the highway toward Atlanta. As they approached the city, we saw them launch missiles, which were soon followed by the city line lighting up in explosions.

"What the fuck?!" Dad shouted as we all stared at the horror of collapsing buildings and explosions in the one place we were all supposed to be safe.

"They're... they're destroying the entire city. Bombing the hell out of it," Mom stated as she stared with wide eyes at the carnage unfolding.

Ruby and Jasper were both crying and grabbing the sides of their heads, trying to block out the explosions that still echoed loudly despite our distance from the city. Dad stopped the car and got out, standing next to the vehicle with his hands on his head and eyes wide in shock. People all around us started to do the same, getting out of their cars and staring in shock at the flaming city.

"Hey!" A man shouted from in front of us. "Hey, everyone! We can't stay here! I'm a police officer. I can set up a safe camp for us out here, away from the city! If you can hear me, get back in your vehicles and follow my lead!"

With that, a man in an officer's uniform climbed back into the driver's seat of the car in front of us and turned, driving off the road into the field to our right. The blue-eyed boy stared back at us and gestured for us to follow.

"Dad! Get back in the car. Let's follow them!" I said as I leaned into the front and looked at my father.

That snapped him from his shock, and he nodded, climbed back into the driver seat, and followed behind the slowly moving car. As people snapped out of their shock, several cars split out of the traffic and followed behind us. That's when I heard the sound of gunshots and screaming echoing from the highway we had just left behind. Cars started driving and hitting each other. People started panicking and running around. More gunshots were fired, and more people screamed. Dad went faster, as did all the cars that had managed to split off and follow the police officer's vehicle. When I looked behind us, the highway looked like a giant disaster zone. Smoke and fire were billowing from cars that had hit crashed. People were running around like ants on a crushed anthill. More gunshots. I turned towards the front and tried blocking the chaos behind us out of my mind.

][=][   Time Skip   ][=][

I had totally lost track of where we were. The officer had led the small train of vehicles onto a set of twisting and turning backroads that confused me so much I had no idea where even to begin describing how we'd gotten here. Our car was almost out of gas, but Dad just kept following the officer. At one point, a car honked behind us, and the train stopped moving. The officer exited the lead car and gestured for the woman in the passenger seat to stay as he walked back towards the car that had honked. The officer and the car's driver, who had called for a stop, spoke for a moment before the man strolled back up to the front vehicle and dug around in the back where all of his car's supplies were. He soon produced a large gas canister and walked back.

"Hey," Dad said as he rolled his window down before the officer could pass us, "Hey officer, we could... we could use some gas too if wherever we're headed is much farther."

"Course, there's another canister in the back of my car," the officer replied as he looked at his vehicle, "Lori, grab the other canister and help these folks fill up some!"

He then looked back at us, "Shane Walsh," he stated as he stuck his hand out to my father, "officer for King County Sheriff's Department."

"Josh Goldman," Dad replied, "this is my wife, Karia. And my kids, Ryan, Jasper, and Ruby. Thanks for your help."

"Nice to meet y'all," Officer Walsh replied, "my... friend, Lori, will bring our other canister over and get y'all some gas. We don't got too much further to go."

With that, he headed back towards the vehicle that had caused us to stop and spoke more with the driver. A woman with long brown hair approached us with another canister. Dad popped the gas cap open and got out to fill the tank, chatting with the woman quietly as he poured some of the gas from the canister into our car.

"Ok, people, let's move!" Officer Walsh shouted as he walked to his vehicle again, taking the second canister from Dad as he walked by, "It's not much further now. We aren't stopping again unless someone breaks down!"

The drive continued for another twenty minutes before the officer stopped in a clearing and got out of his vehicle, spoke to the passengers, and then gestured for everyone else to unload. Mom and Dad got out of the front and opened the back doors for me and my siblings to get out. Other people were unloading out of the other vehicles as well. We all gathered around Officer Walsh and waited for him to speak.

"For those of y'all who don't know, my name is Shane Walsh. I am a sheriff's deputy for the King County Sheriff's Department. This campsite will be our home base until we know what's going on out there with the government and the virus and everything," Shane started as he looked around at the gathered people. "I see we've got about twenty of us here right now. That's a good start. Gives us plenty of hands to manage all the day-to-day tasks. Since the bombing, there may very well be people who need help. If we run into them or they run into us, bring them here. This will be a refugee camp for people affected by the bombing of Atlanta that we all just witnessed. I know you're probably still in shock, but I assure you that we will be safe here. We will all share whatever supplies and resources we brought, and we'll get everyone some jobs to help out around camp. I'll talk with everyone, see what each of y'all's strengths are to ensure you're helping out most effectively. For now, everyone takes stock of everything you have in your vehicles. Now, I mean everything, down to biting down what your gas gauge says you've got in the tank. We'll sort through everything tomorrow and get things rolling from there. Does everyone understand?"

There was a chorus of acknowledgment from the people surrounding the man. Slowly, the group dispersed. Mom went to the car to take stock of everything we had, and Ruby and Jas followed her. Dad went up to Shane. I was about to follow when someone tapped my shoulder. I turned around and saw the boy who had been in the car with Shane and Lori.

"Hey," he said with a slight smile on his face. "I think... do you go to King County Middle School?"

As soon as he said it, I recognized him. He wasn't in any of my classes, but I had seen him around school several times before.

"Oh my god!" I exclaimed as I smiled widely at him. "Yes, I do... or... did I guess? Who knows if we'll end up back there."

"I don't think we'd ever spoken at school before, but I remember seeing you leave the band room every day on my way out to get picked up," he said as he gestured towards a small fallen log nearby. "What's your name?"

"Ryan, most of my friends and family call me Ry, though," I replied with a shrug. "Yours?"

"Carl."

"Well, I'm glad I finally know your name, Carl," I said as I bumped his shoulder with mine.

"Me too," he said as he chuckled.

][=][   Author's Note   ][=][

Hello! Welcome to the new and improved version of More Than Blood! I'm glad you decided to join me once again on this amazing journey.

Thank you all so much for your patience and for sticking with me through all my failed promises about this story. It means the world to me that many of you are still here and excited for this rewrite.

I hope you're all as excited as I am for this, because I have so many plans for this story, and I'm so beyond excited that there's not a word to describe what exactly I am.

We haven't officially gotten into the shows episodes just yet, I just wanted this to be a quick prologue kind of chapter to show how the Goldman family ended up meeting the group from the show. Starting next chapter we are going to be getting to the episodes of the show and just keep on rolling through it all.

One last bit of info for y'all, we met half of the starting OCs in this chapter, those being the five members of the Goldman family. In the next few chapters we will meet another family that I've created to also be main characters in this version of MTB. That will be the Bryant family, another small family that is going to play different roles in my plans for this new version of the story. I won't say too much about them here because I want you to get to know them just like all the other characters, but I will say that I'm personally quite interested in the plans I've got for them so far and I am glad that I've given myself these fresh characters to work with, along with the ones I already know and love. (Don't worry, there will still be plenty of Carl and Ryan cuteness, that is definitely not going away).

As I always used to do I am going to ask some questions about this chapter because I love getting engaged with y'all and getting your thoughts about the story so far and see if you can guess my plans and such, so here we go.

1. For those of you who read the old MTB, is it weird seeing these characters in the setting of the first season of the show?

2. What do y'all think about the fact that we will be getting a lot more of the whole Goldman family this time around, as opposed to basically just Ryan and Jasper in the old version?

3. Are you liking this version of MTB better than the old one? (In any kind of way, whether it's the writing style or characters or anything really)

4. Is this how you would have expected the Goldman family to meet the group?

5. What do you think about Carl and Ryan actually going to the same school pre-apocalypse?

6. What are some things you're most excited for in this version of MTB?

7. Which Goldman do you think will die first?

8. Are you excited to meet the other family of OCs I have planned for this story?

][=][   THANKS FOR READING   ][=][