AUTHORS NOTE: I am deeply excited to be back and to write again but understand the reluctunce of the community to trust me. More details can be found on my profile but I hope they can accept my deepest apologies and that I can turn my writing and reputation around but becoming productive.

Summary: Eve Chelle Greene is Daryl Dixon's best friend, drinking friend, protector and lover. Daryl Dixon has been best friends with Eva since they were teenagers, lovers, drinking friends and her protector. When the world goes to hell it's a home for the brave and you have to face something that you thought belonged in a horror film. Daryl/OC, Merle/Beth, Rick/OC. Co-Written with NadWri

Warning: Major Lori bashing.

Warning: This story mentions rape, physical abuse, self - harming and drug abuse and upsetting scenes.

Home Of The Brave

Chapter 1

Eve Greene was working at the local bar in her hometown of Cherokee Falls; the town had been hit hard by the recession with the result of her losing her three year job at the once very popular dance studio called 'Cherry Dance.'

Only it seemed the recession had hit it as well, Daryl had held her while she had sobbed, she hated not having a steady job, and he knew the feeling as his job at the local garage was feeling tight from lack of customers.

Instead of hearing about the latest budget cuts, they were all hearing about a mysterious virus that had so far claimed eleven people.

"Fucking perfect." She said annoyed as she tied up her light blonde curls into a ponytail and served her best friend Daryl Dixon another beer.

"What's got ya pissed off?" He asked looking at her with his piercing blue eyes.

Just life in general," she said sighing, as she started to wipe down the surface of the bar. "Look at me, stuck here on a Saturday night, with a bunch of drunk touch feely old men, I should be out... or something."

"Well I'm here aren't I?" He asked and she smiled at him gently, they had been best friends since they were teenagers with Daryl being two years older than her and she had been seventeen at the time.

"Yeah you are, I'm sorry for being bitchy." She said as they saw Merle, Rowan and her asshole husband Trevor storm in with their daughter Rose.

"We gotta go!"

"What do you mean we have to go?" Eve asked as she finished cleaning the bar and put some glasses into the dishwasher. "I'm working. Daryl, you go on ahead if you need to. I don't finish my shift for another two hours."

"Evie ain't ya been watchin' the damn news?" Merle asked her and she frowned as she heard screaming and they all looked to see one of the customers had a large scratch on his shoulder with the man behind him looking very dead.

"EVERYONE OUTSIDE!" Daryl yelled as he grabbed her hand as she grabbed her leather jacket and bag as they ran out.

"What on earth was that?" Rowan asked as she held Rose's hand tightly and they stood outside with the others, around the back of the bar where it was quiet.

"Ain't got no idea," Merle muttered as he watched a man bite down on another man's shoulder. "Shit, but I know we gotta get outta here."

They all nodded and Eva got into Daryl's truck with Merle riding the bike while Rowan, Rose and Travis drove their black SUV to their houses which were on the same street.

Daryl pulled up and Eve ran inside the house that she had grown up in and looked around for her parents when she found her dad eating her mom's face.

"Daddy?" She asked horrified.

Travis stormed into the house behind her and fired a bullet through both her mother and fathers heads. "Don't you listen to the news? Says the only thing that'll kill 'em is a blow to the head," he muttered, as he started to look through Eva's cupboard for supplies.

"Those things are everywhere," Rowan said alarmed. "They're all over the streets, the whole town."

"Where the hell do we go?" Eva asked as she packed all of her things and grabbed all of the food that they could take as Daryl hurried in from the room where her dad kept the guns.

"We can go to my grandfather's hunting lodge, its up near the mountains and seclude." He explained as he helped Eva pack up and they all hurried out with Eva's dog, Midnight getting into the back, Daryl knew Eva would kill him if they left the dog so let him in.

"Ya alright?" He asked her softly.

Eve frowned as she looked blankly out the window, trying to forget the image of her dad eating her mother's face off. It was something that never could be unseen that was for sure. "I uh... I guess," she said, chewing on her lip as she saw Merle turn off down a dirt road in front of them towards the cabin, with Travis, Rowan and Rose following behind him.

They all reached the lodge and cautiously got out, Eva was grateful for the fact that Daryl had taught her how to hunt, defend herself and use a gun.

"It's clear." Merle called out and they all nodded as they headed inside with Eva letting out Midnight who stayed by her side as she sheathed in her machete.

"Let's put on the news and see what's going on." She said turning the TV on.

She turned on the TV and nothing but static came on, with a message that read 'Please stay tuned, normal viewing will resume shortly,' "Fat lotta good that is," Travis mumbled, making himself at home as he got a beer out of the fridge much to Merle's annoyance.

Rowan sat with a sleeping Rose in her lap. "News said something before about some virus. The people were dead, but coming back? They didn't know what it was, and the only thing that would stop them would be a shot to the head. Bites or scratches pass on this infection."

"I'm sure it'll pass," Travis said flatly as he sat down and put his feet up on the table.

"I'm gonna go out for a hunt, get us all something to eat for tonight and we'll figure out what to do in the morning." Daryl said as he went to where Eva was stacking up the shelves.

"Be safe and look out for those walkers." Eva said kissing him and he kissed her right back before touching her cheek and heading out.

"I'm going to try and phone, Hershel." She told Merle and Rowan.

They both nodded and sat down in the sitting room. "You don't mind us staying here, do you?" Rowan asked Merle quietly as she stroked Rose's hair.

Merle shook his head. "Nah, the three of ya can take my room, I'll sleep on the sofa," he told them.

"That's very kind of you, thank you." She said moved as they saw Daryl come in, he was covered in dirt and blood.

"Those things are fuckin' everywhere; they just try and eat ya." He said wiping the blood off his face as a worried Eva came back.

"I managed to phone him but it was only for a minute, Aunt Annette is sick and so is Shawn." She said worriedly as Midnight whined.

She sat down and stroked her dog softly, trying to calm him down. "Do you think it's with the infection?" Rowan asked quietly.

"What else?" Travis mumbled. "Ain't just a fuckin' coincidence."

"Well we can't do anything until the morning." Eva said as the TV switched on.

"This hour the news is grim, we have confirmed reports that Washington and Los Angeles have fallen to the dead. Repeat, Washington, New Orleans and Los Angeles have fallen. If you see the dead run, do NOT try to help them. The only thing that will stop them is a shot to the head. Hospitals are filling up with people that the virus is taking; so far there is no cure for the virus. If you are bitten you will die. Refugee centres are being set up in all major cities, backed up by the National Guard. We have reports from all over the world that the dead are raising. Stay inside and wait for further instructions."

Eve had her hand over her mouth, Merle looked sick, Rose was sobbing into Rowan's shirt clinging to her, and Rowan ran her hand up and down daughter's back trying to calm her. The bathroom door opened and all three of them jumped. Daryl looked at them, "What's going on?"

Eve went to Daryl wrapping her arms around his waist and crying into his shirt, "They're everywhere."

"Well, ain't nothin' we can do about it," Daryl said tiredly. "Forest is swarmin' with those things and it's too dark to try and make our way through 'em to somewhere safe."

Merle nodded. "Ain't nothin' to be worried about in here, enough weapons to take out an army," he said as he looked around.

Travis glared at Rose. "Stop your cryin', all that noise is gonna attract something."

"Shut the hell up, she's scared." Rowan said stroking Rose's soft dark brown gently and Travis glared but shut up as everyone headed up to bed.

Eva got changed for bed and pulled on a pair of black shorts and a tank top as Daryl came in shirtless.

"C'mere." He said softly and pulled her into him.

She hugged him gently and smiled faintly as she went over to the window and sat down on the window seat, looking out over the moonlit forest, with Midnight going to sit at her feet. "What if we're the only ones left? What the hell are we supposed to do lock up here for the rest of our lives?" she asked quietly as she scratched behind Midnight's ears. "We should go look for one of those refugee places in the morning."

"Yeah, this place ain't safe enough." He said pulling her into him as they sat on the bed and Midnight got on top of the quilt.

"I hope Uncle Hershel, Aunt Annette, Maggie, Shawn and Beth are ok, I managed to talk to Beth for a minute but the line cut off." She said curling into him.

"Remember that promise I made when we were at the cabins?" He asked softly as he stroked her light blonde wavy hair.

"What was that?" she asked, lying back on the bed and watching the stars out the window.

"That I'd always protect ya, care for ya and look out for ya." He said kissing her gently and she kissed him back as they laced hands.

"I promised that too." She said softly.

She gave him a small smile before something caught her attention out the window. There was a light, far away that looked like another star, but if you looked closer you could see the flashing red light. "Look... that's a plane," she said quickly, glad there were other people out there somewhere. "That means there must be other people alive somewhere too."

"That's good." Daryl said relived as they heard a loud explosion on the highway that made the lodge shake as they both quickly got dressed and hurried downstairs where the others were as they all hurried outside to see Atlanta ablaze.

"What the hell?" She asked shocked.

"They're bombing the city, mommy I'm scared." Rose sobbed.

"I'm here, sweetheart, I'm here," Rowan said as she picked her up and held her tightly, as they walked further down the highway, noticing other people in the distance. "They don't seem to be infected," Rowan said happily as she pointed straight ahead of her. "Let's go and see if they know what's going on," she said, and Travis shook his head as he followed after her.

"C'mon lili brother." Merle said and they all packed their things including Rowan's and her family's as they all drove up to the highway.

"Oh my god they're napalming the city." Eva said shocked as they watched Atlanta being bombed and saw other people there.

Including Aunt Carol and Sophia.

She slowly walked over to them and gave them a small smile. "Hey Carol, Sophia, Ed. What's going on here?" she asked, looking at the city and the people around them.

"The army are napalming Atlanta, I think they were overrun." Carol explained as they heard screaming and saw up ahead that walkers had appeared.

"Follow us to the quarry." Daryl told Carol and she nodded as Daryl and Eva hurried into the truck and they all followed Merle.

They pulled up at a quarry outside Atlanta some time later and found a flat area of land where they parked up all their cars. After looking around, it seemed they had been followed by others too. Rowan looked around and could see a large man with thick curly black hair, he seemed to be wearing a sheriff's outfit, and was holding a gun tightly. Beside him was a woman with long dark hair, and a scared looking little boy, she guessed that was his family. She saw a small Asian guy, along with a larger black man and woman, parking up next to a man in a mechanics van. There were a Hispanic family, a man and a woman with two children, and finally, an RV pulled into the quarry, with an older man and two blonde girls stepping out.

"I'm Shane Walsh, a sheriff's deputy; this is my friend Lori Grimes and her son Carl." Shane said introducing themselves.

"I'm Andrea Grey and this is my younger sister, Amy." Andrea introduced herself and they all smiled at her warmly.

"I'm Eve Greene and this is my Aunt Carol and her daughter, Sophia." Eva introduced her family and Daryl took her hand gently.

"Daryl Dixon and this is my brother, Merle." He said nodding at everyone.

"I'm Dale Hovarth." The older man said warmly.

Travis eyed them all carefully. "Name's Travis Michaels, this is my wife Rowan and our daughter Rose," he said, and the others seemed to notice how Rowan moved away slightly, holding onto Rose's hand.

"I'm Morales," the Hispanic man said as he stepped forward. "This is my wife, Miranda, and our kids, Eliza and Louis."

"And I'm Glenn Rhee," the Asian boy said. "These are some people I found on my way out of Atlanta. This is Jim, Jacqui and Theodore."

"Call me T-Dog though," the black man corrected.

"It's nice to meet all of you." Eve said warmly and they all nodded at her as they all discussed who should go on watch and who knew how to shoot.

"Does everyone know how to shoot?" Shane asked all of them and they all nodded in yes that they did know how to shoot.

"Me, Daryl, Eve know how to shoot." Merle said quietly and Shane nodded as he looked at Travis, Rowan and Rose.

"What about you two?"

Rowan looked up nervously, hoping they wouldn't kick her out because she didn't know how to use a gun. "I've never done much shooting before," she said quietly, as she held Rose's hand tighter. "But I'm willing to learn to help protect the camp and all," she added quickly.

"I can shoot, don't worry about her," Travis said flatly.

Shane frowned at him but gave Rowan a soft smile and she hesitantly returned it as they all unpacked their tents and started to get ready for bed.

"I managed to call Hershel before the lines went down, Shawn was really ill." Carol told Eve quietly as they prepared dinner.

Eve nodded. "Yeah, I know, I spoke to Beth for about two seconds," she said quietly as she opened a tin of rice to boil on the fire they had set up. "Beth sounded alright though, said it was just Shawn and Annette who had been showing symptoms."

"Need any help ladies?" Rowan asked quietly as she watched Rose go and talk to the other children and sat down in front of the fire.

"You could help us chop up some of those carrots." Carol told her and she nodded as they all saw Lori walking towards them.

"Where are you three from?" She asked quietly as she looked at all of them wearily and they all sighed.

"Cherokee Falls, it's a town in southern Georgia." Eve told her and she nodded in understanding.

"What about you?" Eve asked.

"Kings County," Lori answered as she sat down with them. "My husband was the Sheriff there, he got shot a month ago, before all this happened. Was in hospital in a coma. I didn't have time to go and see him after things started happening, so Shane went to try and pick him up... he was dead when Shane got there," she said quietly.

Eve gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry."

Lori nodded. "It's alright, Carl was pretty torn up about it though, and he loved his father very much."

"We've all lost people, my parents were walkers and Travis killed them, asshole." Eve said angry at him as they finished cooking dinner and shared it out between everyone as they all happily enjoyed the food.

"So why did the army bomb Atlanta?" Sophia asked Carl quietly.

"Maybe they got overrun with walkers." He offered and they all sighed heavily as they faced the possibility that their friends and families were gone.

"I think we're about all that's left of Atlanta," Travis said as he picked at the food on his plate. "Least we won't have so many assholes to deal with from now on, that's for sure."

"Watch your mouth in front of the children," Shane said firmly to him,

"Whatever man." Travis said annoyed and Eve sighed as everyone finished eating and they all headed into their tents.

Eve got changed into a pair of black shorts and a black tank top as Daryl came in and sat down beside her.

"I can't believe this is happening." She said leaning against his chest.

"Yeah, well, ain't everyday the dead come back to life, is it?" Daryl picked up his crossbow and made sure he had enough arrows nearby incase they ran into any trouble during the night, he would have it close if he needed it. "Let's just hope this group ain't a bunch of assholes," he muttered, as they both got into their sleeping bags.

"Goodnight Daryl." She said softly as she felt him move up to her and pulled her into him, they were best friends but also friends with benefits and she always felt more for him than just friendship.

She didn't want to ruin it though and simply curled into him and Midnight.

"Night, Eve," he replied as he turned out the lamp and fell asleep, hoping the camp would still be safe to wake up to in the morning.

Eve woke up first this morning and got dressed quickly and pulled on her battered black biker boots as she headed out of the tent and saw that Daryl had most likely gone on a hunt.

She smiled softly at that and walked out of the tent with Midnight following her as she helped Amy, Carol and Lori cook breakfast as she saw Merle on watch.

"I missed my bed last night," Carol said with a small chuckle as she rubbed the bottom of her back, stiff after spending a night asleep on the ground, as she made some eggs for the people in camp to eat. "I don't think I'm going to get used to this for a while."

Amy chuckled at that. "At least we got something comfier, the RV beds aren't too bad," she said with a half smile as she looked over at where the RV was parked. She was lucky she and her sister had found Dale in the first place, otherwise they would have probably been dead by now. Well, dead and alive again anyway. "Thankfully he found us on the side of the road."

"What were you doing?" Lori asked, setting out some plates.

"We broke down, and Andrea and I didn't know anything about cars. We were trying to get to Atlanta, good job we broke down, I guess," Amy explained. "Dale found us and tried to fix the car, he said it was non repairable. So he was going to give us a lift to Atlanta to contact a garage, but on the way, all... this... Happened," she said, gesturing around her.

"I was working at the bar when this happened and Daryl got me out of there, we hid out in his uncle's hunting lodge when we saw the army bombing the city." Eve said as she placed beans and chicken on the plates.

"Are you and Daryl a couple?" Lori asked looking at her intently.

"Sort of, we're best friends with a benefit type, we care about each other." She said knowing how Daryl felt about feelings.

She loved him though, very much.