The girls sat at their small camp fire eating the last of the protein bars that they had. They kept the fire low and tried to remain as vigilant as possible. They sang softly to pass the time, songs that they loved before the end of the world. They became so wrapped up in their activities that they.

"Well, well, what do we have here."

The girls gasped and whipped around to where the strange voice had come from. Out of the trees stepped two men.

"A couple of little songbirds?" The slightly older of the two was the one who spoke.

He was an older looking man with a shaved head of brown hair that was slightly starting to gray at the ends, and scruffy gray stubble. He wore a black wife beater under a beat up leather biker vest with a pair of dirty bloodstained jeans. In a holster at his side was a pair of hunting knives.

His companion, who had yet to speak, looked slightly younger and had a crossbow in his hands. His hair was cropped short and was brown as well, though without any gray's, and he had a near matching but slightly thicker stubble. He wore a faded jean looking button up vest with the sleeves ripped off and a pair of dirty jeans.

"Are ya gonna speak, girlies?"

The girls noticed then that he spoke with a thick southern accent. The girls snapped out or their momentary trance then. They reached for their weapons, an axe for one and a machete for the other, and swiftly stood up. The men exchanged a glance and then raised their arms up in a gesture of surrender.

"Woah, woah. We don't want any trouble, now." The older one spoke again.

The girls kept their weapons raised. The men in front of them looked pretty dangerous. They couldn't afford to let their guard down.

"Who are you and what do you want?" The eldest of the girls asked, stepping in front of her companion as if to protect her from the men.

The older man opened his mouth to speak, but the younger one spoke first. He knew his older companion would only agitate the women further and decided to take action.

"We're just some survivors, like yourselves, looking to trade supplies." He said, placing his crossbow away on his back to show he meant no harm.

He held up a bundle of dead rabbits on a rope.

"We have meat, if you have medical supplies."

The girls lowered their weapons slightly. The younger one moved and whispered in her companion's ear. The older looked at the men sternly for a moment before glancing back at the younger and sighing. She nodded slightly. The younger girl smiled and walked toward the men, extending her hand.

"I'm Eliza Sandoval, and this is my older sister Angelica." She said, gesturing to the girl behind her.

"Names Merle Dixon." The older man said. "Guy behind me's my brother, Daryl."

He took the hand she offered. Both Merle and Eliza marveled at the feel of each other's hand. Soft and gentle felt wonderful against calloused and rough.

Eliza released Merle's hand and motioned for her sister to come forward. Angelica reluctantly did so, shaking Merle's hand and then moving to shake Daryl's once Eliza finished doing so.

Once done, the pairs stepped away from each other. Angelica walked back to the fire and grabbed some cans she had by the chairs.

"Well, I'll get started on dinner then." She said, glancing back at the others.

"Awesome." Eliza stated, walking over to the chairs and taking a seat in one."I'm starved."

"I can butcher the rabbits so we can cook them faster." Daryl offered, stepping forward.

He wanted to be of some help to their new allies.

Angelica smiled slightly and nodded in agreement. She was happy to have help with dinner. Eliza was hopeless when it came to cooking.

"I have some extra knives in our tent that we can use to cook with. Better than reusing our hunting knives, in my opinion." Angelica suggested.

"Alright." Daryl agreed.

Merle seeing an opportunity, took that moment to walk over and take the empty seat next to Eliza.

"How old are you girls anyway?" Merle asked, eyeing Eliza appreciatively.

"My sister is 23. I'm 22. What about you?" Eliza replied, blushing as she noticed Merle's wandering eyes.

"Near old as dirt compared to you, sugar." He motioned to himself. "I'm just about 52. Daryl's near 43."

"That's hardly what i'd call old, Merle." She said with a giggle. "You act like you're 100."

Merle let out a chuckle.

"Besides, i like older men anyway."

He choked on his laughter. He hadn't expected that to come out of her mouth, but damn if he was gonna miss a chance to flirt with a fine piece of ass like her.

She was the most gorgeous thing he had come across, before and after the end of the world. She was shorter than him by just enough, a few inches to make him feel like he could dominate her. Which, of course, was his favorite thing to do to pretty girls like her. Her hair was made of long black wavy locks that fell just past her shoulders. He couldn't help but want to run his fingers through and pull it. Her eyes were a brilliant warm brown that glowed in the light of the fire. Her body is what he couldn't keep his eyes off of, though. She had radiant tanned skin and was dressed in tight, black and red striped yoga pants and a red tank top. The pants hugged her ass in all the right ways, and her black bra was visible on the long sides of the shirt. Her cleavage alone was enough to make his mouth water.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Merle smirked.

"Like what ya see of old Merle then, sugar?" He asked.

"I might." Eliza murmured, leaning toward him.

Merle was about to speak again, but the others returned.

Daryl walked over to his brother and began showing him the meat they'd managed to get off the rabbits. The men began to stick the meat on skewers and place them over the fire, distracting them from the women. Angelica took notice of her sister's flushed face and Merle's shit eating grin as she places the cooked food and pans on the ground.. She knew something was up, and she had an idea of just what it was.

"Eliza, can you help me get the bowls and plates?" She asked, making sure to keep suspicion out of her tone.

"Sure." Eliza agreed, standing up and following her sister to the tents.

"Were you flirting with that old redneck?" Angelica asked, bluntly.

Eliza stood still in shock for a moment. Of course Angelica would notice right away, she thought.

"What? Me? No. Never. What even is flirting?" Eliza said, awkwardly looking at her hands.

Angelica sighed. Looking at her hands and being an awkward dweeb was Eliza's tell when she lied.

"Control yourself, Liza, please. You're not some horny teenager. We don't know if they can be trusted." She said, placing a hand on her sister's arm.

"Cmon, Angel. These are the first men we've come across in a long time. Screw the fact that they're way older, they're hot." Eliza tried to reason.

Angelica shook her head.

"Elizabeth Rose Sandoval, I mean it."

Eliza sighed. Angelica only used her full name when she was REALLY serious.

"Okay, okay." She relented. "I'll behave."

Angelica looked her sister in the eyes and nodded when she saw no deception there.

The girls gathered the plates and walked back to the fire. They noted that Merle had found a log for him and his brother to sit on, while Daryl had finished cooking up the meat. They sat around the fire eating in silence for a while. Surprisingly, Daryl was the first person to speak up.

"What were y'all before the end of it all?" Daryl asked.

"I was a chef at a restaurant in our hometown. Eliza was a school nurse in training." Angelica replied.

Merle looked up, his interest piqued.

"A nurse, eh?" He asked.

Eliza, mouth full of food, nodded.

"Did ya own a cute little uniform n' everything?"

Eliza swallowed her food and then busted out into a laugh. Her laughter was infectious, and the others soon joined her.

"Believe it or not, Merle, but nurses don't dress in real life the way they do in porn." Eliza joked.

"Damn, that's a shame." He muttered..

They fell back into silence for a moment before Merle began to speak. He wasn't one for silence. Unless he was hunting or tracking, he didn't like being left alone with his thoughts. He began telling wild stories from his and Daryl's lives before the end. They had been construction workers who did odd handyman jobs around their small hometown.

"Once got high as a kite when I was younger and went streaking 'round the whole park. Gave the neighbors a real good show, i'll tell ya. Poor lil' Daryl here had to wrangle my crazy ass up and drag me back to the trailer."

The girls giggled as Merle began to imitate the reactions of some of his neighbors. Daryl cracked a smile. He was pleased that they were getting along so well. It was rare that him and Merle found anyone that would take a shine to 'em. Especially a pair of pretty young women. He began to get an idea then.

Daryl cleared his throat to get everyone's attention as Merle's story came to an end.

"I'd say tonight's gone pretty good. Y'all agree?" He asked.

The girls nodded slowly, confused as to why Daryl was asking such a question. Merle exchanged a look with his brother and nodded his head. He knew exactly what Daryl was planning and he approved, and not just because he wanted a chance to have a go at Eliza. The girls would be good to have around. They'd come in handy, and having a bigger group could be beneficial.

"I know y'all still don't trust us, but I wanna ask something." He continued. "I think we should team up. For a while, at least. Y'all have good skills and so do we."

The girls were honestly shocked. They hadn't expected this. Angelica looked at Eliza for her response. Eliza shrugged.

"It's up to you, Ang." She said.

Everyone's eyes turned to Angelica then. She was the one with the answer.

"Daryl I-" Angelica began.

"Ya don't have to. Won't force ya, but it could be good." He interrupted, growing a bit flustered.

He wasn't used to asking people for help. Hell, he was surprised Merle even remotely agreed. Dixons didn't do teamwork or asking for help from people who weren't kin. They were loners for the most part.

"Give me time to think. Let me sleep on it. You guys can spend the night in our camp, and I'll give you my answer in the morning. Okay?" She finished.

Daryl nodded.

Things grew slightly awkward after that. Everyone finished dinner and separated. Angelica headed back to her tent, while Eliza showed Merle and Daryl their extra equipment. She left them to set up their tent while she went to clean up the area around the fire. Soon, everything was put away and cleaned up and they all bid each other goodnight.

The others all slept peacefully, well as peacefully as one can sleep with the living dead roaming around, but Angelica was wide awake. She had a big decision to make. She was far less weary of the Dixon's than she originally was, but she didn't know if she should risk partnering with them. They seemed rather volatile.

She then thought back to the conversation she and Daryl had when they had been preparing dinner. He had paused his movements of skinning the rabbits and called out to her.

"We ain't dangerous, yknow." He said.

"What?" She asked, unsure if she had heard him correctly.

"We won't hurt y'all. We ain't that kinda people." He explained. "Merle's a bit rough 'round the edges, but we're good."

He sounded so nervous and genuine. Angelica felt a small smile make its way onto her lips. Daryl really didn't seem all that bad. He just seemed like a rather shy guy. Merle wasn't too bad either. A bit crazy sure, but funny.

Angelica sighed as she lay herself onto her back. She'd made her decision. She just hoped it was the right one.

The brothers awoke first the next morning, the girls shortly after. They got ready for the day, and then gathered by the empty fire pit. Angelica stood in front of everyone and announced her decision.

"I think it's in all of our best interest if we stick together."

Eliza let out a squeal of excitement. Daryl flinched and Merle covered his ears at the sound.

"Dammit, girl. Stop making that ruckus." Merle muttered.

Angelica rolled her eyes at their antics. Please God, let me have made the right decision, she thought.

From that day forward the Dixon's and Sandoval's became inseparable. They traveled together, camped together, and worked together in relative harmony. They knew it wouldn't last forever, though. They would need to find a safe place with more living people and better supplies and quick. Spring was coming to an end. They'd need to find fresh water for the summer heat.