Daryl had to wonder how different survival would be for him if he wasn't an Omega. The cannibal corpses, lack of shelter, and limited food was bad enough, but now he had to worry about others. Alphas without mates, hell, Alphas with mates, everyone was dangerous. He couldn't travel with anyone, he couldn't be out searching for food during his heats, and almost everywhere he scavenged had been effectively drained of suppressants. His own brother, finally succumbing to the lack of tail anywhere around him, had turned on him too. Merle wasn't a problem anymore, but that's what it had taken.

Even the cannibal corpses could sense when an Omega was in heat, and it was horrifying, to think of a world where he could be raped then eaten alive. Maybe even worse...

Because of his gender, Daryl always had one eye on his surroundings, but... this was the first squirrel he'd been able to catch in a few days. He was starving, and all of his concentration was focused on picking it clean. He should have been paying attention. He should have kept an eye up, because the Alpha staring at him now, wide-eyed, looked ready to tackle him to the ground, and with a large pack behind him, Daryl knew he didn't have a chance to fight.

"Shit. Is that-?"

"That's an Omega!"

The Alpha, still silent and staring, stood in front of him, jaw tight and seemingly grinding. He never blinked, even as the others behind him exchanged wary looks. One of the females stepped forward, slipping a hand over his forearm, "Rick? Rick are you alright? We have medicine in Beth's bag."

The Alpha-Rick- shook his head, craning his neck to scent her shoulder, probably keeping himself in check, body still solidly facing Daryl, "I'm fine." He grunted.

His voice was gravely and deep, commanding, like an Alpha's voice should be. It sent a tingle through Daryl's spine that he immediately resented, sweeping his hand behind the log he was sitting on, ready to grab up his crossbow if he needed to. The girl that Rick was scenting seemed to notice, lifting a hand in surrender, "You don't have to do that. We're not here to hurt you."

Daryl let his eyes narrow, making a point that he didn't trust her. He didn't know these people. He wasn't abut to let his guard down.

She took the hint, her comforting smile fading a little bit as she continued, "Rick smelled you while we were walking. He said your heat is coming up soon. If you don't have suppressants, we have some." She turned her head to the side, addressing someone behind her, "Beth, can you get it for him?"

A smaller, blonde girl came trodding up, swinging her pack off one shoulder and in front of her belly so she could bustle through it as she walked. As she pull the zipper open, she took a step in front of where the Alpha had been, now closer to Daryl than any of the others. She was closer than he wanted her to be. Instantly, Daryl reacted, clenching the handle of his crossbow tightly, in warning. He was about to demand that she take a step back when he finally caught a whiff of her scent. Daryl went still, but the girl either didn't notice or didn't care, smiling brightly, "I'm Beth. I'm also an Omega."

"You're not claimed?" He exclaimed stupidly, looking back up at the Alpha, who had jerked his head their way once Daryl had spoken.

It was uncommon that an Omega in a pack with an alpha was unclaimed. Especially in these times, when Omegas were scarce and even more valuable than they were before. It had left Daryl in a stupor, wondering how this girl was smiling to happily at him.

"No." she grinned, "They take care of me. We look for suppressants whenever we scavenge and I still have three boxes." She crouched, pulled one out of her bag, and handed it to him, "Well, two if you'd like one."

If there was one thing Daryl had learned, it was that nothing was free in this world. He frowned, keeping himself from reaching out for the box, no matter how much he needed it. He squared his shoulders and tipped his chin up, noticing the way the Alpha tracked the movement. Daryl scoffed, "What do you want for it?"

"Nothing." She replied, "We just didn't want you out here alone in heat."

"I've had two heats since this shit's gone down. I'm still here. How do you even know I'm alone?"

The brunette raised an eyebrow, "You're still not claimed. Rick delightfully pointed that out too." she harped, giving her Alpha a weary eye, "Now, do you want them or not?"

"I don't need your help."

The Alpha, Rick, started to glare, using a stern voice as he spoke, "Take them. There's no catch, but if another Alpha came through here-"

"I'd put an arrow in his head." Daryl bit, keeping his chin high.

The other four behind him changed their stance, looking ready to fight, to protect and back up their Alpha. Good for them. The four- no... no, wait, that... that was five. Daryl blinked. In the arms of a young boy was a small infant, blissfully ignorant to the change in posture, swinging her chubby little arms beside her head happily, "You have a baby..." Rick's chest protruded as he stood a little straighter, squaring his shoulders either in pride or in defense, Daryl wasn't sure. Either way, he noticed it and made the connection on his own, "Yours?"

"Yes."

He nodded quietly, giving the infant another look. He hadn't seen a baby in years... "She's cute."

Daryl tried his best not to smirk when Rick looked startled, stumbling over his "Thank you" before coughing and steeling his stance once more, regaining the stance of an Alpha in charge, "Are you taking them, or not?"

Beth continued to patiently hold out the box to him, still smiling. God if that wasn't endearing. He sighed, gave the group one last wary glance, then took them from her hand, "Thank you." he muttered.

"You're welcome."

"You have a shelter around here?" The brunette questioned.

Daryl scoffed, "Do I look like I have a shelter?"

Silently, Rick gave the young boy in a sheriff's hat and the infant a quick look, then turned his eyes back to Daryl. He seemed to be considering his choices. When his shoulders asagged and he began rubbing the back of his neck, he got around to talking again, "You can travel with us until you find a place to keep yourself safe." he offered, "Or an Alpha, whichever you decide to stick with."

"Ain't no Alpha gonna have me." Daryl snapped bitterly, "These days they're all fuckwads. Well, most of em were fuckwads to begin with actually."

He watched a little guiltily as Rick raised an eyebrow at him, looking like he'd just been challenged, and playing to Daryl's Omega instincts and silently suggesting an apology was needed. Daryl didn't take it back though. He didn't know who this guy was, he could still be a fuckwad too. After getting no reprieve, the Alpha sighed, then slung his backpack from off his shoulders, pulling out a water bottle and tossing it to him. "Take those suppressants. I'd rather not fight any wandering, horny Alphas today."

"I didn't ask for your protection." Daryl grunted, popping a pill and taking a sip anyway. Not because Rick told him to.

"You need it. Doesn't matter if you asked for it or not. I'm not letting another Omega-" he cut himself off.

The man obviously tried to make it look like a casual break, but Daryl still caught it. Something had happened to this guy before, probably left him with a scathing mark and an inner need to make up for it. Maybe he wasn't after sex, maybe he was just being genuinely kind. He had an entire pack behind him after all, he could have already raped Daryl if he'd wanted to. Hell, he could have killed Daryl with a flick of his wrist if he'd wanted to. Instead, he'd given him suppressants and water, and an offer for protection and shelter. It almost seemed to good to be true. However, if this guy was trying to atone for a mistake with a previous Omega, it would make sense. It could be a real offer. Daryl would've been stupid not to take it, misdirected or not, "My ass is not up for grabs." he finally settled on, standing slowly and slinging his crossbow over his shoulder.

"Didn't think it was."

"You're an Alpha." Daryl sneered, "Your basic needs take over in the end. Doesn't matter who you are."

"Don't be a dick." a pale, Asian kid behind Rick chirped in, "We're trying to help you."

"Glenn." Rick barked, turning his head towards the man, effectively silencing him before returning to address the rest of the group, "Come on, we've stayed here too long already. Let's keep moving before any walkers show up."

It had amazed Daryl how organized this group was. At first, he'd thought they were stupid for strolling up the porch of an obviously abandoned house and knocking on the door, but when a cannibal corpse came up, the woman with the sword stabbed it's head through the door's screen. They'd called it out, and taken care of it without peeking around every corner of the house. It was... pretty clever. They didn't call them cannibal corpses though, they called them walkers.

They cleared the rooms anyway, just to be safe, in groups of two, keeping one beta (the younger boy) behind to watch him and Beth. He felt a little offended, like an Omega being put in the corner, but decided to let them do their thing. They clearly had a system, and he didn't have much right to interfere with it as a guest in their group for the night.

The house clear, they blocked the door next, closed the curtains, and began scavenging for food and candles. Beth, whom he stuck close to, raided the cabinets for medicine and medical supplies, no doubt always on the look out for extra suppressants or hormone supplements.

By the end of their scavenging, they'd found some canned food, two water bottles, a pack of tic-tacs, a solitary twinkie, and a couple pain killers. A pretty good haul in Daryl's opinion, more than he'd have found anyway. When Rick returned holding a gun, Daryl had felt nervous for a second, but the Alpha had ejected the magazine and checked to see if it was loaded, so Daryl assumed it was one he'd just found. "You guys know what you're doing."

"A lot of practice." The Asian, Glenn, smirked, plucking a can from the collection and tossing it towards Daryl, "We're a good team."

"You're a good pack." Daryl corrected, pulling the lid back.

He didn't bother with getting any silverware, it was the zombie apocalypse for God's sake, normal survivors wouldn't bother. Instead, he dipped his fingers into the baked beans, pulling them up in little clusters messily into his mouth and shoveling it in without much fuss. He didn't feel self conscious about it until he noticed the others, eating with spoons and forks, some grinning at him, like they thought he was funny. He scoffed. Didn't have to change the way he ate for some fancy folk.

"You're gonna cut your hand on the tin doing it that way." Rick huffed, handing him a spoon.

After a short debate, and an impatient look from Rick, he took it cautiously, trying to ignore the pleased look he received for it. They were like that sometimes, Alphas. Take a gift they offered, or let them care for you, and their instincts would get all bubbly, like they did a good job. They preen. It was one thing Daryl had missed seeing in Alphas before everything had gone to shit. He used to always think it was kinda cute when they got all excited about taking care of him, even if sometimes it was annoying. Since things had started, and the Alphas had become needy, greedy little ass wipes, he hadn't had the privilege to see it again.

"Thank you." he said, secretly hoping his thanks would make Rick do it again.

He tried not to feel disappointed when instead he grunted, grabbing up his own can and plopping down beside the younger boy and the baby.

During the night he'd found out that those were actually his pups, Carl and baby Judith. The brunette who'd kept him calm when they'd first met, went by Maggie, and was married to Glenn, the Asian boy, who'd been annoyed and corrected him with a curt, "I'm Korean." There was Michonne, the fierce lady with the sword, and Carol, the quiet, older woman whom he hadn't noticed enough to see a true characteristic. Beth was Maggie's sister, and the only Omega of the group. Everyone else apart from Rick, and of course, little un-presented Judith, were betas.

It seemed like a very well functioning pack all around. Beth had kept him company most of the time, probably sensing he was more comfortable around her, being a fellow Omega, than the others. They'd talked some, shared stories of creepy Alphas down the road, and how they'd dealt with heats in the past. She'd been shocked to hear he'd gone this long without any help or suppressants, and she'd looked absolutely horrified when he shared his story of when he'd fucked himself on a bottle, trying to relieve the sensation. He'd felt bad for chuckling at her, but she'd punched his arm and called him an idiot, so it seemed alright.

It was an easy atmosphere, one Daryl wasn't used to. He took a tic-tac when she'd offered, and happily popped it into his mouth, "So what's his story?" Daryl asked, nodding towards Rick, who was busy coddling his baby. ""Another Omega"?"

Beth sighed, looking down into her half-empty can, "There used to be more of us. His wife, another Alpha-"

"Another Alpha?" Daryl gawked, coming close to choking on his tic-tac.

She nodded, "Rick's old cop buddy. They were best friends, before all of this started anyway. His wife was an Omega, and... at the beginning of this, Rick was in a coma. He'd been in that hospital for... who knows how long." she set her can down, turning to him, "The other Alpha claimed his wife in his absence."

"What?"

"They thought he was dead. He tried to raise Carl like his own, and... when Rick came back..."

Daryl nodded. That sort of thing, taking someone's Omega and family, would end in a battle of claims, usually to the death. It would explain why Rick was leader of the pack if he was in a coma for the start of everything. Daryl wanted to hear the story, "He challenged him?"

"Yeah. Rick won."

"And his wife?"

She looked rattled, but lifted her face up to his, "She died giving birth to Judith..."

Daryl sensed the hesitation in her voice, cautiously, trying to tone his voice to be more sensitive, he asked, "Do you know who's child she is?"

Beth stared at him, lips tight, almost looking a little offended, "She's Rick's daughter," she replied, eyes deep in concentration, "no matter what."

He could commend her for her steely attitude. She seemed like a strong independent Omega. In another life, or even before the apocalypse, he could have seen them being good friends. She reminded him a lot of himself when he was younger. He tried not to smirk when he shot her a compliment, "You guys are a tight group."

Her pinched face loosened, and became soft, "We're more than that. We're a family. We're a pack."

Daryl huffed, poking at his food, "Does 'pack' even mean much these days?"

Rick, who had snuck up on them, was now standing tall at the end of the couch Daryl and Beth were sitting on. He offered Beth a bottle of water, his eyes narrowed and targeted sharply on Daryl, "Pack still means what it always did. The only difference now are the people. We're a family, and that translates."

He hadn't meant offence, but it seemed to have been taken. Daryl thought it might be best to stay silent, so he inclined his head, respecting Rick and seamlessly making an apologetic gesture in one swoop. If the Alpha preened at it, but he pretended not to notice, probably more for Rick's sake than his own.

The rest of the night stayed peaceful and quiet, Maggie offering Daryl her cot and cuddling up with Glenn on his. It was weird, sleeping in a space that smelled of so many different people, and obscenely of the one Alpha. He'd caught whiffs of Alpha scents before, along the road, or marked on a tree, but it wasn't anything as concentrated at this. Daryl was involuntarily taking in lungfuls of him, his husky scent, the salty musk of sweat and dirt from hot days of travel. It was more intoxicating than he'd like to admit, and Daryl was having trouble sleeping.

He waited until he was sure most of them were asleep before lifting his head and taking a quick look around. He scratched aimlessly at his neck, lifting into a sitting position and deciding to fiddle with the tassels of his arrows. The connecting glue was strong and smooth and didn't require any work, but Daryl wanted to keep his hands busy.

Mind running rampant with thoughts, he touched his fingers carelessly over the fake feathers. How could a pack be like this? Still so strong and well held together, after everything? He picked hard at the juncture of feather and plastic, scratching his skin and accidentally chipping the nail. He flinched, sucking in a sharp breath through his teeth and mentally kicking himself for making a noise. No one seemed roused, thankfully. As he sucked his finger into his mouth, he thought about lying down again, cutting his losses before he could wake anybody up, but Daryl knew he wouldn't sleep. The smell was too overwhelming, no matter how tired he was.

"You're gonna rip off a chunk of your nail if you keep doing that."

Startled again, Daryl cursed under his breath, "Shit. You're awake?"

Rick lifted his head, resting an arm behind it casually with an amused smirk on his face. He didn't bother moving closer to Daryl either, just stayed put on his sleeping bag, confident as you like, "You really think I would fall asleep with a stranger sleeping next to my pack?"

"An Omega seems dangerous to you?" he mocked, heavily laced with sarcasm.

Rick huffed, "Omegas can be dangerous too. You're fierce when you need to be. I'm not going to underestimate you."

That had Daryl pausing. He was always underestimated by passing Alphas, even Betas. It was actually part of what kept him safe, their ignorance. When he pretended to be just another one of those weak, needy little Omegas that couldn't fend for themselves, they messed up, they made mistakes and took his skills and will to live for granted. He'd killed a lot of Alphas because they'd underestimated him. Rick apparently didn't see it that way. Rick didn't underestimate him at all. "You're not like other Alphas."

"Thanks." Rick chuckled.

"Don't get ahead of yourself." he grunted, "I'm still deciding whether or not it was a compliment."

Smirking, Rick removed his arm, lying back like he was ready to finally sleep, "It was."