《A prophecy calls forth the end of the world, designed by the gods to alleviate the burdened planet of what is killing it.

Realizing their stunt might mean the complete eradication of the human race - the only ones keeping their memory alive and therefore keeping them from oblivion - some gods plot to send envoys in their name to fight the plague they set off.

Enter Diana Lobo, one of said clueless envoys, armed with a bow bestowed upon her by her divine counterpart. Her family was enjoying a rather pleasant summer vacation abroad - an ocean separating them from their home - when everything went to shit.

Now she has to figure out how to keep herself and her family alive. For that purpose, they join forces with some locals, meeting Daryl Dixon, whose expertise in archery might just be the answer to her needs.》


ay, i'm claudia, whadup guys, welcome to my first fic! hope you enjoy it! if you have any questions or feedback, don't hesitate to tell me, i appreciate every word! 😊

first of all, i don't own anything the walking dead related, just my ocs and any changes to the show's plot. second, i've added some fantasy/mythical elements to this story that i find really fun and i hope you guys like them. third, this is not only a daryl x oc fic but also a story about a family in an apocalyptic scenario, their highs and lows, and so a lot of it is centered around them.

lastly: i am a caucasian woman writing about an afro-latinx family. the reason is simple: i want there to be more fics with people of color as main character. therefore, i deeply appreciate any advice or critique, or even a call out, regarding any aspect of this story that might do people of color injustice or is simply ignorant, since i would rather be educated than kept blind. thank you so much in advance!


.oOo.

Everything inside Diana screamed at her to run. She had to; she wouldn't survive otherwise.

The others were at her heels; relentless, fueled by the constant hunger that characterized them.

Diana could hear them; their throaty screeches rang through the air, and their feet thumped against the ground like war drums.

While they were slow, she and her family were quick. Their trumping advantage, however, came in the form of endless stamina.

But Diana was falling behind.

Her parents, brother, and sister were barely silhouettes in the distance, disappearing between the trees with each stride they took.

No matter how much her legs tried to propel her forward, the distance wouldn't diminish. She was running in place as if waist deep in quicksand.

Diana opened her mouth to call out, and water poured in; its origin unknown. Torrents rushed into her mouth and nose, down her throat, and sloshed heavily in her lungs.

The water level rose, sprouting from the ground underneath her feet, drowning the forest and her along with it. The grey sky was tinted purple, stars of multiple colors blinked into existence and began to fall by the thousands.

The pressure in her chest became unbearable, like it was about to burst open like overripe fruit. Panic held her heart in a beastly grip, and she was certain that death wouldn't have to wait long to take her.

Diana tried to swim to the top of the drowned forest, clawing at her throat for air, but her kicking legs lost their strength. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as her unshed tears froze on her lashes.

Deprived of oxygen and feeling herself slowly dying, Diana's desperation grew. Her fingernails tore through skin and flesh, raking against the rings of her trachea, hoping for relief.

Then, something arose from beneath the fog in her brain: she should be feeling pain; however, there was none.

From one second to the next, her mind was wiped clean.

What was happening? How come there was so much water? Where was she?

Before she could form another baffled thought, a sudden tidal current swept her along, hurling her toward the trees, and everything became black on impact.

.oOo.

Diana woke up choking for breath.

Her trembling hands yanked at the collar of her shirt, and her legs fought to rid her of the confines of her sleeping bag while she coughed and gasped.

Tears stung in her widened eyes as she sat up and searched frantically for her messenger bag. Once she had it – never far from her side – her fingers were clumsy with the zipper while she tried to stifle the cough, knowing she'd wake her siblings. She felt her throat tighten.

Panic painted the corners of her vision black. Her wheezy inhales were barely controlled before more hacking coughs forced the air out of her lungs. Her entire body trembled.

"Shit!"

The bag was ripped from her weak grasp, and the next thing she felt was her inhaler being placed between her lips. Diana latched on to that person's wrist with shaky hands, tears rolling down her cheeks and clinging heavily to her lashes, blinding her.

"C'mon, you dumbass, breathe it in," the voice instructed when the familiar puff of the inhaler sounded.

Diana did so, as deep as the irritating tickle in her throat allowed her before it forced her into another coughing fit. Then a second puff; more coughing and wheezed breaths and hands rubbing her sweaty back. Then, once she could breathe unimpaired again, a water bottle was pressed to her lips by another pair of hands.

Her movements were languid from physical and emotional exhaustion as she sipped from the bottle, and her eyes rolled to give her brother and sister a look of gratitude. This hadn't been the first time they'd been forcefully woken up to her having an asthma attack, and until they went home, it certainly wouldn't be the last. Diana blamed the dusty sleeping bags and tent that triggered her allergies.

Her knuckles hurt from the tight grip she had on both siblings, having grabbed at their shirts in her distress. She let go slowly, flexing her fingers, and wiped her wet cheeks with the back of knuckles.

She took a shuddered deep breath and grinned slowly, ready to put the incident behind her seeing as it wasn't anything new, even if it terrified her every time. "Well, now that that's over," she began with a hoarse voice, followed by a punch on the arm from Alice and a roll of the eyes from Felix. She chuckled, followed by a weak cough. "Thanks, guys, for real." She could imagine how scary it must be for them as well, seeing their older sister that way.

Alice threw the inhaler onto Diana's lap with an expletive and a hazel-green glare, adjusted the silk scarf around her pineapple updo, and buried herself back inside her sleeping bag. Diana almost laughed out loud at her typical behavior.

"You better now?" Felix asked, ever the sweetest. Diana nodded, a faint smile filling her lips. "Good." He kissed her temple. "Next time, you better be dying before you wake me up."

Diana's mouth fell open in stupefaction, watching him settle back in his own sleeping bag, the locs bound on top of his head splaying like a version of a halo.

"Think about how your actions affect those around you for once, Diana, please." His straight face gave it away.

Diana fought the smirk on her lips as she bowed her head with an arched brow. "Ah, yes, I'll make sure to remove myself from your holy presence before even thinking about dying."

"Acceptable."

"Shut the fuck up," Alice shouted from over her shoulder; "or I swear to God I'mma fight your mom."

"Our mom's your mom, ya dingus," Felix retorted.

They heard Alice curse them out under her breath and shared a grin before Felix, too, turned his back to them, leaving Diana to herself.

She looked down at the water bottle in her hands, the label having been scratched off a long time ago, and took another sip before putting it and her inhaler away inside her messenger bag. Then, she lied down with a drawn-out sigh.

Before being so rudely awoken, Diana remembered having dreamt of something strange, but details were fading fast, and she didn't want to linger on it. What she did want, was to sleep; dawn had yet to break outside the tent, marking this the first time she'd been up before the sun since the start of their trip.

That used to be a regular occurrence during school semesters in wintertime, where not only did the sun rise late in the morning but she had to be up and about before 6 AM; torture, essentially. And once summer break was over, that would be what awaited her once more. If only their vacation could last forever, maybe not stuck in a tent out in the middle of the woods, exactly, but somewhere sunny near the ocean.

Diana missed the ocean. Emigrating to a country known for its snowy peaks and top skiing locations hadn't exactly been the highlight of her life, but what was a financially struggling family to do.

She didn't know how long she had stared up at the canopy of the tent while lost in random thought, unable to fall back to sleep due to the continuous anxious pounding of her heart, but next thing she knew, the first light of the day was shining over the horizon, bleeding through the tent's canvas walls.

With heavy eyelids and a light smile, Diana turned her head to Felix and whispered, "Happy birthday."

.oOo.

Careful not to disturb her brother and sister a second time, Diana traded her sweaty sleeping clothes for a tank top and jean shorts, which perfectly showcased the stubs of her leg hair slowly growing back after she had shaved them at the beginning of the week, luckily almost unnoticed against her brown skin.

She undid the loosened braids she'd slept in so her curls wouldn't tangle any further and put her hair in a tight ponytail. She'd have to ask Alice to braid it for her later in the morning, once the girl's mood brightened after some food.

Laying out her drenched sleeping clothes to dry on top of her sleeping bag, two thoughts popped into Diana's mind; just how much she had bathed in her own sweat that night, and that they were running out of clean clothes. Both made her nose wrinkle in disgust.

Her parents had refused to do laundry when they were so close to going back home.

Just one more day. One more day of no running water and scalding showers, no cellphones and Netflix, no real cooked meals and stuff that didn't come from a can.

Diana didn't know that two weeks could feel like an eternity.

She unzipped the tent and stepped out, rejoicing in the fresh air and leaving the flap open so her brother and sister could enjoy it even in their unconsciousness. She stretched her body, arms lifted toward the green canopies and light dawn sky above as she felt her joints pop and her muscles ache most pleasantly.

Looking around at the trees surrounding their small camp, her eyes caught the plaque announcing the camp's name right by the single parking spot where their Hummer SUV had been parked since their arrival.

The camp, if it could even be called so since it only fit one family, was called Tiny Wonders; appropriate, she guessed, and also nowhere on a map, according to the one they had purchased at the same place they had rented the Hummer.

So how had they found the place? Diana suspected her parents had gotten them lost and had been too proud to admit it, what with their self-proclaimed perfect sense of direction, which she, unfortunately, didn't share. The fact that they still ended up at a camping spot and not a random dead end had been pure luck.

Who was she to question, though, when she would've done the exact same thing just to save face.

A refreshing breeze rustled the foliage above and caused the fine loose curls on Diana's nape to tickle her skin. Birds and summer insects had already started their daily buzz from all directions; the sound reminded her to douse herself in anti-repellant before she did anything else. The air smelled earthy, of greenery, and the ashes from last night's fire, the embers of which had glowed deep into the night.

She might miss general modern commodities, but this closeness to nature was something she'd never experienced before, and it was... new, but not all that bad. Somewhat tiring, to be perfectly honest.

Taking a deep breath of fresh air, which her lungs thanked her immensely for, Diana got to her morning routine.

Small as the camp may be, it actually had a little outhouse on the outskirts of the clearing; the smell wasn't pleasant, and there were always flies buzzing around, but it was better than squatting behind a tree.

Since their water was strictly for drinking and cooking, she cleaned her hands, face and armpits with some baby wipes from a secret stash she kept in her messenger bag. So she was a bit selfish, sue her.

Once she finished up, Diana decided she was too lazy to get breakfast started, even though that was always the first thing she did back home; she would only be ready to start the day after her bowl of cereal and soy milk. But here and now, breakfast was a more elaborate affair, one she was more than glad to leave for her parents to take care of. She'd never been much of a cook anyway.

For lack of better entertainment, she fetched The Passage from her and the kids' shared tent, where it had lied at the head of her sleeping bag, still bookmarked from the night before. That book had been Diana's first purchase on American soil; bought directly at the airport's book corner, where she'd been entrapped by the iridescent beauty of the hardcover's sleeve.

Whatever Diana had imagined her first time in the USA to be like differed entirely from the reality of their situation. She'd imagined sightseeing and eating delicious food, always on the road down the famous lengthy highways she'd always seen in the movies; a glorified road trip.

But the purpose of this summer vacation had been to come to visit and spend time with Aunt Elena and her family, who lived in Georgia's state capital. She was Diana's godmother as well as her mom's younger sister. She had immigrated there about five years prior, about the same time Diana and the kids had reunited with their parents.

Elena would Skype them at least once every month – when at all – until she had had enough of that disconnection and bought the five of them plane tickets. It had almost cost her the eyes off her face. But marrying rich had its perks.

She had talked about all of them going camping together for the first week, since Elena often did with her husband and two daughters, and then she would show them around the capital and take them to the hottest spots.

Except they hadn't been informed about the other person "coincidentally" visiting at the same time.

Diana was startled out of her thoughts and her staring at the lines of text on the book when she heard very loud yawning. She turned in her seat to see her dad stepping out of his and mom's tent. The golden morning light reflected on his dark skin, giving him a glowing sheen.

Samuel walked up to her and offered her a wordless nod, which she returned. Then he feinted a punch at her side with a feigned grunt.

Diana pretended to take the punch in slow motion and lifted her own fists, jabbing the air around him. She grinned up at him as he absentmindedly hugged her to his side and scratched her under the chin like a dog.

She pushed him away with a laugh. "Good morning," she added, her voice still gravelly from earlier. She tried to disguise it by clearing her throat while putting away her book. She felt a tiny bit victorious that she'd been up sooner than her early bird of a dad, even if it hadn't been purposeful.

"Good mornings are in the morning," Sam responded in his northern accented Portuguese. That was his usual response, every morning without fail, no matter how early it was.

Diana chuckled and shook her head, feeling the end of her ponytail swipe her shoulders. "Wanna wait for breakfast with me?" she joked and did nothing to hide her grin.

Sam crossed his arms and raised an amused eyebrow. The contrast of his hazel-green eyes against his dark skin made him all the more intimidating. "Wait for breakfast? Look at this one. You think this is a goddamn hotel? You're gonna get off your ass and help make fucking breakfast."

The cussing was so familiar to his way of speech that it went almost unnoticed. He was from the North; it'd be weird if he didn't swear.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, Papi. You're the best and we're the worst children in the whole world," Diana teased, reciting one of her habitual japes from when he complained about their insufficient help with chores.

A warning look from him had her up on her feet with a mock salute and doing as instructed. She knew she could play around with her dad, but she also knew there were limits, and her dad was a stickler for respect.

So, bantering back and forth, he guided her to light the fire in the pit. Then he prepared scrambled powdered eggs with sausages and bacon; a nod to the American breakfast. It was like Diana could feel her arteries clogging from the smell alone.

"Wow." The groggy voice drawled from behind them, interrupting Sam as he repeated and explained a joke he had told Diana all but two minutes ago; a habit she found very endearing.

She turned to see her mom, Irene, making her way to them, lazy smile on her lips and eyes still bleary with sleep, one hand still scratching at the top of her bob of dark hair. A yawn forced its way out of her, infecting both Sam and Diana, which caused Irene to breathe out a small chuckle.

While Sam was an early riser, Irene always preferred to sleep in late.

She pecked Diana's upturned cheek and then her husband's lips. Before she could separate from him, Sam pulled her down, making her fall forward onto his lap with a squeal and an indignant call of his name.

Diana averted her eyes and stood to sit on the log vis-à-vis to grant them some privacy, feeling like an intruder on their displays of affection. Just to tease them, she whined, "For real, right in front of my salad?" For once, she was glad they weren't internet-savvy.

Irene simply dismissed her with a wave of her hand as she stood from her husband's lap to sit next to him. "You say that now, but you'll see when you find the love of your life."

"Oh, believe me, I'll never be like you two," Diana mumbled and scratched at a mosquito bite on her calf. She couldn't imagine herself being all gooey heart-eyes over someone like her parents; it made her physically nauseous just to imagine.

"Just eat your damn food," Sam said and scooped eggs and sausage – sans bacon – onto Diana's bamboo plate.

Despite Diana's previous thought about the unhealthy quality of the food, it still smelled delicious, and she was starving. She took the plate gladly and lifted a forkful of eggs into her salivating mouth.

She really missed her breakfast cereal, though: Cini Minis, Golden Grahams, Estrelitas… She couldn't wait to return to society.

Irene touched on the subject of their return to Aunt Elena's place the next day, to give back the camping gear and tell them farewell. She was hesitant to see the other person – Diana's dear abuela – after all that had been said, and was saying how she'd rather drive straight to the airport first thing in the morning.

Sam countered that she would be able to put it all behind her back once they were back across the ocean, and could only do that after fetching their luggage from Elena's place. And that despite Elena's scheming, her intentions had been good, and she had paid a lot of money for them to be there, the least they could do was thank her for the vacation.

Diana listened silently to their conversation and pondered whether to tell them about the asthma attack that morning, but decided against it after remembering their reaction the first time it had happened two weeks ago. She didn't want to needlessly worry them when there was already so much on their mind.

Instead, she simply observed her parents. She always thought of her mom and dad as a perfect balance of each other, not only their complementing personalities but their appearance as well.

Irene was short and petite, with dark brown eyes and a dark wavy bob. A woman her age, well into her forties, would be expected to have some wrinkles. But by the miracles of her genetics, Irene's only manifested around her eyes when she smiled, a fact she was well proud of.

Sam wasn't very tall but he made up for it with his broad shoulders and muscular arms. His curls were cropped close to the scalp and his salt and pepper beard was always trimmed short. The hazel-green eyes that Alice had inherited were stuck continuously in an intimidating glare that was basically his trademark; it only accentuated the crease between his brows and the crow's feet around his eyes.

A sudden thought popped into Diana's mind, forcing her to swallow her half-chewed food and washing it down with water from their flask. She hummed at her parents to get their attention while snapping her fingers, flask still attached to her lips.

She sighed after the drink and asked, "Do we have a present for Felix?"

"This entire fucking trip is his present. He gets to celebrate his birthday abroad, what more could he fucking want?" Sam asked sarcastically while gesturing around them.

Diana knew they had gone shopping for food and other necessities for their camping trip, but she and the kids had stayed behind at her godmother's place, amidst the tense atmosphere.

Sam returned from the Hummer couple of minutes later, carrying a sling bag with a baseball logo stamped on it in dark green.

Diana took the proffered bag, seeing a metallic baseball bat protruding from the opening on top. She opened the zipper and examined the rest of its contents: three balls and a leather glove.

"Oh yeah, baby." Diana nodded in approval.

Felix would go crazy over it. It wasn't Pokémon related - his eternal passion - but he would love it nonetheless. Baseball wasn't very popular in Switzerland, so they had yet to find any proper gear, and Felix had wanted to try it out for ages; he always bragged about how he knew he'd be good at it.

Bickering and rustling from her and the kids' tent caught her attention, and in a feat of rushed panic, Diana zipped up the bag and threw it at her dad, who stashed it away behind his seat.

Alice stepped out of the tent and greeted them with a mock curtsy. The silk scarf was gone, leaving her with a big puff tied on top of her head. "Greetings mother, father, and less importantly, dream-interrupting-sister. I present to you, the birthday boy."

For some reason, she began singing We Are the Champions; her voice angelic as always, as she made dramatic arm motions towards the tent.

Felix ducked out with a flourish, waving and blowing kisses and pretending to pose as if he were on the red carpet surrounded by paparazzi. Then he dropped to his knees with eyes closed shut while victoriously pumping a fist in the air in exaggerated slow motion, resembling the replay of a soccer player after scoring a goal.

Was there a purpose to any of this? Diana didn't know, but seeing him so happy and silly made her smile.

Alice sang a few more lines and then stopped. However, Felix continued celebrating, clearly enjoying his moment. The older girl shook her head at him and called him idiota, all while suppressing a smile.

When he straightened himself up, Irene and Sam went to him and enveloped him in a group hug. Felix was almost tall enough that his chin hit their dad's forehead; odd for the youngest to be the tallest.

Seeing her sister to the side, Diana pestered her by opening her arms in invitation. Alice sneered and shoved her aside while sitting as far away from her as the seat allowed.

Diana laughed and pretended to pat her cheek, which almost got her hand gnawed off with a warning of not the face!

Alice despised being touched, and affection – verbal or physical – unless she initiated it, made her very uncomfortable. Not to mention that she had suffered from cystic acne so was very sensitive towards people touching her face.

"Still hate you for this morning, so don't try me, bitch."

Diana shoved her playfully. "Shut up."

After being released, Felix sat down on the free space between his sisters, and both teens accepted breakfast from their dad.

With a mouthful of bacon and eggs, Felix asked if he had any presents, spitting some food in the process, which earned him a scolding from Sam to swallow his fucking food.

"What makes you think you're getting anything this year?" Irene teased.

He chewed quickly and gulped everything down with difficulty. "B'cause you're good parents who love their son and want him to be happy? Maybe?"

"Nice." Alice offered her fist for Felix to bump.

"Keep playing that card and I'll start using it against you," retorted Irene, "Won't you vacuum your room and do the dishes because you're not a terrible son and love your mom very much and want to see her happy? Like that?"

"Ho-ho, nice." Alice bumped her fist against Irene's already outstretched one.

"Pick up your jaw and finish eating, hijito, then we'll talk presents."

When the birthday boy had all but inhaled the last remnant of food on his plate, they began clapping and sand the Portuguese birthday song while Sam revealed the baseball bag from behind his seat; all that was missing was cake and his fifteen candles.

Felix loved the set if his excited swearing was any indication. And since it was his birthday, the only punishment he got for his foul mouth was a verbal warning by Sam, who was a real hypocrite on that subject.

While Felix was showing off his present to a jealous-but-trying-not-to-show-it Alice, a blast sounded in the distance.

The sound echoed throughout the forest, reverberating, causing nearby resting birds to take flight with hellish screeches.

The five of them fell silent, each looking in a different direction, trying to pinpoint the origin of the noise.

More loud bursts followed shortly after, this time coming distinctly from the direction of the city.

Diana looked to her parents with wide eyes and saw the confused look they shared with one another. It worried her.

Alice cut through the silence with a drawn-out sound of realization and turned to the rest of them with a disbelieving shake of her head. "Americans," she reminded, then to Felix she said, "Chill, bruder, it's the 4th of July. Today, the whole country is gonna celebrate with you."


EDITED: 11. JULY 2019

some facts you might find interesting:

- sam is cape verdean. irene is columbian and brazilian. they are second generation immigrants in portugal.

- when diana was a teen, and alice and felix were kids, sam and irene immigrated to switzerland, leaving them with their maternal grandparents for two years. it wasn't particularly the best time of their life.

- the siblings speak mostly portuguese and some spanish at home, but with each other, they mishmash both native languages with english and swiss german. language queens and king lmao