Story Title: Safe Zones

Chapter Title: Introduction

World: The Walking Dead (completely AU)

Pairing: Daryl/OC, cannon

Rating: M (language, violence, nudity, sexual references, sexual content, drug use)

AN: This is my first try at actually uploading something I have written. Please let me know what you think. I would greatly appreciate no bashing. :3

Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead or any of its characters. I am merely using them with a bit of artistic freedom. I would be extremely happy if I owned Daryl but unfortunately, I do not. Sad face.

The world ended a couple of years ago. Majority of the humans had been wiped out. The dead rose back up and ate the living. Survivors were few and far between. Many had lost what bit of humanity they had left. People killed each other over supplies. Food and water.

Guns.

The ones that did survive banded together. Some for the right reasons. Others did just so they could have the upper hand against other groups. But one day, a small group of men, now known as the Raiders, talked every person they came across into banding together so they could try to take the world back. For the living. These men offered plenty of food and water and safety to any that would help. They armed the people they found. After they gathered enough people, they took a large mall back from the dead. There wasn't much left in there by that point but it was a safe zone. From there, their group only grew.

Before long, they had enough people. They had enough fire power and enough muscle. They set out in groups and cleared large areas of any and all walkers. After that, it was only a matter of setting up perimeters.

Fences were set up. Not just one around the safe zone but multiple layers just in case any walkers broke through a layer. Barbed wire was laid out in bundles around the last fences. Nothing could get into the safe zone. The living actually stood a chance now.

A few months after the first safe zone, Area Z, was created, survivors started appearing from all over. Doctors were set up just inside the second gate to make sure people were healthy before entering Area Z. They didn't want any sickness getting in, be it walkers or the common cold. They couldn't risk it.

Before long, Area Z was overflowing with the living. The Raiders decided it was time to take more land back. Within months they had two more safe zones set up, District B and Zone 1. But not everyone was contempt with that. Two men, one called the Commodore and his right hand man the Governor, commissioned the Raiders to take back a nearby prison. The Raiders complied, thinking about how safe it would be there. After the prison was taken, the Commodore gathered together some workers and had them remodel the prison into a beautiful town of sorts. There were apartments and common areas and a large kitchen with an eating area. The Governor hired staff. The people who were deemed worthy moved in. They called it Satellite.

Only people who were considered better than the rest were allowed into Satellite and they became known as the Mighty. The Commodore and Governor sit on top of it all, calling all the shots. Nothing is what it used to be and people prove that by giving everything a different name. Zone 1 holds everyone right below the Mighty. They have the good jobs this society has created. The Raiders live there along with the chefs and farmers and gun owners and drug lords, known as Intel. District B holds all the Satellite workers and pimps, now known as papas. Drug runners, or rats, live in District B as well, mostly so Intel can get to them without going to far out of Satellite. These are the only ones that have any hope of making it into a better safe zone. Area Z is for the people who can't find work and the craftsmen and the prostitutes, baby dolls, and the strippers, Bettys and Bobbies, and the drugies. Drugs are still a huge thing in this world. Get too strung out and Intel will refer to you as an EZ. As in easy money. They will always send rats your way because they know they can get something out of you.

Area Z holds all the entertainment. They have fights that pit man against walker. Each round, more walkers get added into the ring with you. Kill as many as you can or get bit. Everyone wants out of Area Z but no one holds any hope of making it.

You can go anywhere down the latter of safe zones but you never go up past your own house. They keep track of what safe zone you belong to by tattoos. If you belong in Area Z, you get a circle on the place of your choosing. If you live in District B, they put a mark through the center of your circle. Zone 1 and they add a dot to the lower right side of the circle. If you are one of the lucky ones who live in Satellite, you get a four pointed star in the center of your circle that looks like a small child colored it in with a crayon.

Not even joking. I guess they think it looks cool. I'm not sure really.

After the first person was bitten during a fight, all the doctors banded together and worked their asses off until they found a cure. Or what they like to call a cure at least. It doesn't kill the infection, it just holds it off. Miss a dose, lose your life. They called their cure WalkOn. They thought they were so clever. No one down in Area Z finds the humor in the name. Maybe because WalkOn is like gold. Difficult to find and just as costly.

Intel sell WalkOn as well as the typical things. You wouldn't believe how differently people look at drugs now the world has gone to shit. The ones that use to turn their noses up at even the most casual of smokers are now hooked on meth. But I'm getting distracted. Intel are very proud of WalkOn and it shows. You practically have to sell them your soul if you don't have the means to pay. Many of the rats in District B need WalkOn. Selling drugs was the only way they could get it. But if you are one of the Mighty they basically serve it to you on a silver platter.

Area Z has the most diverse group of people you'll ever meet. Some make a living working in the mall. Making jewelry and clothes for the Mighty to buy. Some live purely off the fights, be it through fighting or betting. Some earn their pay by making runs. These few are known as Marauders. Marauders travel all across cities finding whatever they can. Some people also went out across the country hunting. We call them Elves. They are both essential parts of survival yet they never make it out of Area Z. The Mighty never even think twice about them and consider them expendable.

The baby dolls and Bettys live in Area Z as well. Baby dolls are usually only called on by the Mighty and the B's, that is people who live in District B. Cost is determined by whether a doll is hooked on drugs. Both men and women work as baby dolls. Same goes for Bettys. Everyone refers to strippers as a whole as Bettys but will say Bobbys if they are talking about male strippers. Bettys are called on throughout all the safe zones. Everyone needs a little entertainment to lift their spirits. Prices for Bettys are determined by addiction to drugs and whether or not they've been bit.

Each safe zone has its own police officers. They go by different titles and have different duties depending on which safe zone they work and live in. Satellite officers are known as Captains. Their job entitles keeping lower level people out. That's pretty much it. Every now and then, one may have to deal with a slight civil dispute but that's the worst they get. Zone 1 officers are Sergeants. Sergeants keep people in the correct safe zone and deal with the Raiders and Intel. They have it really easy because both groups take care of their own really. Disputes over land are about as bad as it gets in Zone 1. Officers from District B are titled Privates. They have it the hardest. Rats cause a lot of issues for Privates and with the Satellite workers living there, it is harder for them to keep others out. Area Z has Beaters. They aren't really officers, no one considered them to be. Area Z has no real laws. The only one Exes have is "Don't leave the fence." Leave the fence, whether to go out into the city or into District B, and the Beaters will hunt you down and beat you within an inch of your life. That's where their title came from. Area Z doesn't have a prison or holding cell. You just get the shit beat out of you and they hope you learn your lesson.

Different safe zones get different titles. As I have already stated, people is District B are known as B's and people in Satellite are known as Mighties. Everyone in Zone 1 is referred to as Zonies and all the people down in Area Z are the Exes which basically everyone down there is Expendable. If shit ever hits the fan and walkers break through the fences, Exes serve as a warning call for everyone else.

This is what society is now. Four safe zones with many jobs yet few hopes. The line ends here. Make it to Area Z and you can proudly say you survived the Apocalypse. They even have shirts, Martin the Man gives them away just inside the gate. There may not be much hope left in this world but everyone can find their place in it. Whether that place is sitting pretty up with the Mighties in Satellite or an Intel with a decent house in a nice cul-de-sac or being a Marauder with a decent appartment or even being an EZ living in a shack with a few other people, there is a place for you here. You just have to find it.