Okay, this just hit me one day and I had to write it. Basically it's two of my ideas combined; that way I don't have to write two different stories.

Here we go!

"SOPHIA!" Daryl shouted, looking around for any tracks. Sophia had definitely slept in the house he had just exited, and all he needed was to find where she went from there. He was about to head back the way he came, maybe swing around to the right of where he had been and see if he could find anything there, when he thought he heard something coming from the back of the house.

He turned, lifting his crossbow and slowly creeping around the edge of the house. When he reached the back, he was surprised to find nothing there. Shrugging, he was about to leave when he saw it – a small footprint, leading into the forest from the back door of the house. Sophia. He had found the trail!

Now normally he wouldn't be doing this kind of thing – tracking down some girl he barely knew. But Daryl wasn't cold-hearted. He had had a cruel childhood, and he wasn't going to let another child be terrified if there was something he could do to help it.

He went to a light jog, as the footprints were surprisingly clear. He realized she must have been running and picked up the pace a little bit.

An hour passed, and he had slowed to a quick walk, leaves and dirt beginning to muck up the trail. He did, however, find a few more trails that began to cross over Sophia's, and suddenly he was jogging again. If he didn't get there in time….

"Help! Someone help me….please…." A young voice reached his ears, and then he was sprinting, as the sound of walkers growling hungrily became more apparent.

He burst into a small clearing and saw Sophia with her back to a tree. Four walkers were closing in on her as she sobbed, holding a sharp piece of wood that looked like a broken branch.

Daryl shot the one in front, slowing the other three as he aimed for the other walker. Two down, and both of the remaining geeks turned on him, snarling. One got an arrow to the face, and the other was greeted with a flying tackle because Daryl had run out of arrows in the small carrier he had on the crossbow.

Daryl punched the walker hard in the face, his fist sinking into the rotting flesh. The struggles of the body below him got weaker and eventually stopped as its brain stopped functioning. Daryl looked up, panting, at Sophia, who was staring at him with wide eyes. Then suddenly they got bigger.

"BEHIND YOU!" She screamed and Daryl whipped around just in time to see a walker dig its teeth into his shoulder. He let out a roar of pain, ripping out the arrow of a nearby fallen walker and stabbing his assailant through the head, getting scratched up a bit in the process. It fell down, dead, as Daryl began ripping of some of his clothing to bind the wound, cursing.

"Ya alright?" He asked Sophia, remembering the little girl. She nodded fearfully, whimpering slightly.

"Y-you're bit….are you going to end up like Jim?" She whispered. Daryl quickly realized that if he going to get her to come with him, she needed to calm down, and that meant he couldn't seem like a threat.

"Nah, sweetheart. I'm gonna take you to your momma, and she'll fix us both up. How's that sound?" He asked kindly, ignoring the burning pain in his shoulder. According to Jenner, he had eight hours tops until he died from fever, and he could die in less than three minutes and the farm was about three hours away. He just hoped he would have enough time to get Sophia back to Carol and the others.

"My mom?" Sophia inquired.

"Yeah, your momma and the others are waitin' for ya back at the farm. We're at a farm now – horses and sheep and even cows. You should hear 'em mooing, gosh they're loud," Daryl pulled a comical face and Sophia giggled slightly.

"Alright, up on my back, I'll take ya there," He offered, noting her increased thinness and dark circles around the eyes. If the walkers hadn't finished her off, exhaustion and hunger would have pretty soon.

Sophia slowly walked to him and clambered onto his back. After adjusting her a bit and hanging his crossbow with the recovered arrows at his belt, he began to walk as fast as he could back to the farm, even as he began to sweat from fever.

-three and a half hours later-

Night had fallen as he neared the field leading to the farm, and he forced himself to keep walking. Sophia had fallen asleep about half an hour into their walk, and he could hear and feel her deep breathing against his back. His shoulder felt like it was on fire, and the cloth he had used to bind the wound was soaked in blood. The fever had been annoying him for the last three hours, but it had been starting to get worse.

He picked up the pace, skirting around the field so that whoever was on watch wouldn't see him. Call him selfish, but he didn't want to see their faces when he found he was bitten. He just wanted to drop Sophia off and leave to die somewhere in the woods. The "right" thing to do might be to commit suicide, but he always thought that was a cowardly way out, and besides, he wasn't worth the ammo or the effort.

The RV was in sight, and he noticed Dale on top of it, scanning the night with his ever present rifle resting by his lawn chair. Daryl quietly opened the RV door, noting Carol sleeping in the back and Andrea resting on the floor. He lowered Sophia gently to the ground, covering her with a sheet and propping her head with a spare pillow.

He left his crossbow and arrows, hoping the group may have a good use for them. The burning was intense, and he could barely keep his hand steady enough to write a note to the group. A few drops of sweat and blood dropped on the page, but he didn't care as he set the piece of paper on his crossbow, glanced around one last time, and snuck away into the night, his muscles and shoulder screaming at him and his entire body burning.

-Morning-

"Oh my god it's Sophia!" Andrea's yell woke up Carol, and she bolted from her bed.

"Wha – Oh my god, my baby girl!" Sophia was sitting up, covered in a sheet and being fussed over by Andrea. Carol raced to her little girl, tears pouring down her face as she hugged her tightly, promising to herself never let her go again.

"Oh sweetie, oh my baby. You aren't hurt are you? Bit or scratched?" She asked anxiously. When Sophia shook her head Carol felt more tears well in her eyes as relief crashed over her in an enormous wave. She didn't even notice Andrea going to get Rick and the others, or them coming in to watch the small reunion.

"How did you get here?" Rick asked in confusion.

"Daryl found me. I fell asleep when he was carrying me, and I woke up here." Sophia replied, leaning against her mother happily.

"I didn't see him when I was on watch, did you Glenn?" Dale asked.

"No, I didn't see anything."

"I just woke up and found Sophia on the ground in the RV. He must have brought her in here and tucked her in. Even gave her a pillow," Andrea mused.

"Then where is he now? And why didn't he wake us up? Why all the secrecy?" Shane asked.

"…I think I know why," Dale replied quietly, holding a piece of paper in his hand.

"What does it say?" Glenn asked. Dale held up the note so that everyone could read –

Found Sophia – guess you already figured that out. I saved her from a few walkers, but I got bit and scratched in the process. Sucks for me, right? Carried her here from about 8 miles out 'cause it looked like she would pass out any minute – you should give her water and food first thing. I can feel the fever burning me from the inside out – don't get bit, it fucking sucks – never knew my shoulder could hurt that bad, glad I never got a dog. Guess it's not long now 'till I turn. Don't waste your ammo on me, I'm not worth it. I'll try and get as far away from the farm as possible, but if I somehow make my way back, don't hesitate to shoot me or put an axe through my head. Good luck with the whole living thing, stay alive – especially you Sophia, 'cause I'm not going to be there to save you again. See you in hell,

Daryl Dixon

"Oh my god…." Carol sniffed, still holding her daughter. Daryl was…was dead? For her daughter? Her daddy never came close to giving her a hug before, and this man they barely knew had sacrificed himself to get Sophia back to the farm safely.

"I guess….we'll have the memorial service this afternoon," Rick finally said.

"What? That's it? We're just going to leave him out there?" Lori asked, shocked.

"We can't risk going out after him. He said it himself – he's a walker and he ain't worth out trouble," Shane said.

"What do you mean he's not worth it?! That man has fed us when we were starving, has saved our lives when walkers attacked and just sacrificed himself for my girl and you say he's not worth it?! What kind of sick man are you?" Carol snapped, horrified at his words.

"Carol has a point, but so does Shane. Daryl Dixon was a good man, but we can't risk hurting more people to go after him," Rick reasoned. Carol glared, but didn't argue anymore as she cuddled with her daughter.

-Meanwhile, in the woods….-

Why hadn't he died? Daryl had collapsed about two miles away, the black spots in his vision finally making him trip over a tree root, and he was in too much pain to get up. Oh, the burning. The fever was burning him from the inside out, fire licking his heart, his lungs, his head, everything. It never ebbed, it only got worse, and the terrible pain that doubled in his shoulder from the rest of his body tore a scream from his throat. Surely over eight hours had passed. He had been slipping in and out of consciousness, so his inner clock was a bit off, but he should definitely be dead by now. Surely the pain should be over? But it wasn't. It just kept on burning.

It wouldn't end, and as he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness one thought was present in his mind – why hadn't he died yet?

Yay first chapter done! Did you guys like it? Please review with your thoughts!