I have been wanting to write this story for so long and I know many of you have been wanting to read it. This is an AU to my already AU story so if you don't like the idea of this happening to House Call, you don't have to read it since it has no effect on the already existing HC stories.

A few things: I thought of the apocalypse back when Daryl and Beth still lived in the woods and Hunter was just a toddler. Abby will not exist in this particular story. This begins at 3x01. As always, this first chapter is short and serves as just an introduction of sorts to the rest of the story.

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Chapter One. Circles.

The three cars stopped when they were far enough from the house they had just run from and everyone piled out, moving like a well-oiled machine, their weapons at the ready. Everyone did a quick scan of the area as Maggie grabbed the road map and spread it out on the hood of the first car.

"We got no place left to go," T-Dog said.

"When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be completely cut off. We'll never make it south," Maggie said, smoothing her hands over the brown and green spread out before them, her eyes studying what she had long ago memorized.

"What would you say?" Daryl asked, leaning into the car. "That was 'bout 150 head?"

"That was last week," Glenn shook his head. "Could be twice as many by now."

As the others continued to talk back and forth about what they should do and where they should go next – though it seemed as if they had already gone everywhere – and Rick seemed to come to some sort a decision, a decision that none of them seemed real eager about, Daryl's eyes floated towards the last car in their caravan. They immediately fell upon his wife. Beth was standing at the open passenger door, handing a heavily-pregnant Lori Grimes a bottle of water, speaking to her and knowing Beth, it was probably something comforting and just what Lori needed to hear in that moment.

Three-year-old Hunter held onto her other hand, standing beside her, sucking on his thumb. He had learned – and learned quickly – that he was never to wander off. He was always to have one or both parents in his eyesight. They taught him as quickly as they could when they had been at the farm. Carl was always wandering off and it seemed like Lori spent most of her days looking for him. Daryl and Beth made sure that their boys were not the same. They only wandered off if they wanted to get their bottoms spanked. He and Beth had never been comfortable spanking the boys – especially him – but with the world the way it was now, Daryl supposed that adjustments had to be made.

It wasn't any of his business but it seemed as if Carl had needed to be a little disciplined like that but he knew that Rick and his wife had bigger problems between them right now than that; problems everyone in their group knew about but pretended they didn't.

Daryl's brow furrowed as his eyes scanned over everyone. Where the hell was Luke?

He pushed himself back from the car and almost tripped over something behind him. He turned and saw that it was Luke. Luke gave him a small smile and Daryl reached out, putting a hand on his head, pulling him to stand at the car between him and T-Dog.

"Stay close," he told the seven-year-old and Luke nodded, not saying anything.

Ever since they had lost the farm to a herd a few months earlier and they had been spending the winter months moving from one place to another – never staying in one for too long – it seemed as if with each passing day, both boys had gotten quieter. At first, they had asked Beth and Daryl practically every day where they were going and if they were there yet but each time, Beth and Daryl answered with an "I don't know" and the boys eventually just stopped asking.

They spent the winter going in circles – finding a house or random shop or building that they were able to fortify for a couple of days before they had to run out in a hurry. They were all exhausted and cold and Daryl tried to hunt as much as he could so no one in their group – especially his wife and two sons – didn't go hungry to add to the mountain of problems they already had. With each month that passed, Lori got bigger and they knew she was close to giving birth. Rick was barely talking to her anymore and the women tried their best to make her as comfortable as possible but they needed a safe place for the birth to happen but not just for that. They all needed somewhere.

He wanted to see Beth smile again and hear his boys feel safe enough to laugh.

With whatever decision Rick had come to, made and final, everyone stepped away from the hood, Maggie rolling the map up to return it safely to the car.

"You mind if we go to the creek first? We need to fill up on water and we can boil it later," T-Dog said, grabbing his bag that he had dropped to his feet.

"Knock yourselves out," Rick said with a nod before turning to Hershel for a quiet word.

Daryl walked back towards his bike with Luke right on his heels.

"You going hunting?" Luke asked as Daryl nodded, pulling his crossbow into his arms.

"You hungry?" Daryl asked though he knew the answer. The answer was always the same. It seemed like no matter how much he hunted, their bellies were always empty.

Luke nodded, his hand going to his stomach. "Not much meat on an owl."

Daryl felt his lips twitch in a little smile. "Nah. I'll try and find us somethin' better," he said and Luke nodded away, tilting his head up towards him, his eyes squinting in the sun.

They were all dirty – filthy – and they had all gotten used to the smell but he wondered just how badly they all stunk, too. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The less they smelled like living and breathing humans, the better they were off.

Daryl moved his eyes and found Beth again. She was talking with Annette but then, feeling his eyes, she turned her head and saw him. Within seconds, she excused herself to her mother and came his way, Hunter's little hand still tucked into hers. Daryl frowned a lot whenever he looked at her. He couldn't help it. Beth had always been a little thing but now, she was all skin and bones and he hated it; hated himself for not being able to ever find them more food.

"Everyone's heading to the creek. I'm going to take the boys," Beth said and Daryl nodded.

Rick had come up then, too, looking to Daryl, wanting to speak with him. That had been happening all winter. It was as if with Shane dead and gone, Rick was looking to him more as his right-hand man; was doing that even before Shane was dead – looking to Daryl for advice or his opinion or even guidance.

Daryl depended on this man to keep them all safe and Rick depended on Daryl for the same.

"Hey," Daryl said to him. "While the others wash their panties, let's go hunt. That owl didn't exactly hit the spot," he said and he saw Beth roll her eyes, making his lips twitch a little.

Rick nodded and then went to go speak with Carl and Daryl looked back to Beth.

"Knife," he said and she nodded, his eyes going to the sheath hooked to her jean loop and hanging against her thigh. He then looked to Luke. "Knife," he said again and Luke obediently lifted his tee-shirt, showing that he had a sheath, too, of a knife hooked to his jeans. Daryl nodded and moved his eyes back to Beth. "A'right. I won't be gone long."

"Let me have your water bottle," Beth said and he reached into the bag off the side of his bike and handed the empty plastic container to her. "Be careful," she then said and he didn't say anything or make a promise to her. He felt like he really didn't have to say anything when she said that to him. Of course he'd be careful. He had a family to get back to.

Luckily, their whole group had survived the winter. Rick, Lori and Carl. Hershel and Annette. Maggie and Glenn. Carol. T-Dog. They had gotten separated from Andrea as the farm fell and they didn't know whether she had made it out or not. And others before that, they had lost but they tried not to think about them too often. If they thought of all of the people they had lost, it would make it damn near impossible getting through their days.

Shawn had never gotten out of Atlanta. At least, that's what they thought. All they knew was that he hadn't gotten to the farm and they didn't know what had happened to him. Same with Merle. Merle had been in lockup in Atlanta's jail and Daryl had wanted to go and get him before Beth was able to stop him, pleading with him to not leave her and the boys and Daryl knew that he couldn't. Merle was his brother but Daryl told himself every day that Merle had gotten out of that jail somehow. Nothing could kill a Dixon except a Dixon and his brother was the toughest son of a bitch he had ever met.

Beth leaned into him and Daryl leaned down, their lips meeting in a quick kiss. He then looked to Hunter and Luke, bending down and giving them kisses on their heads.

"Be good for your mama," he said and both boys nodded their heads silently.

Daryl tried not to sigh. Before all of this happened and they had been living a simple, quiet life up in their house in the woods, Hunter had been a hellion. He had been in his terrible-twos and Beth and Daryl were already worried that he might never leave them. He was a Dixon through and through. But then, the world collapsed and for a while, on the farm, he had still been their little trouble-making toddler. But not anymore.

Now, Hunter just got quieter every day and Daryl would give anything for his son to be giving him early grey hairs again.

Daryl watched as most of the group headed off into the trees to the nearby creek, Annette and Carol staying behind with Lori, who still sat in the car, looking exhausted and pale. Rick came back to Daryl and with the crossbow in his arms, Daryl led the way across the road into the opposite woods, easily finding a set of train tracks that had been claimed once more by nature like everything else in the world.

He had been trying to teach Rick how to hunt. He figured it was the best thing to do. Before, when Luke had just been four, Daryl had started teaching him and his lessons still continued and Daryl figured that the more capable hunters the group had, the better. It was taking some time with Rick though. For a man who had been a Sheriff before all of this, a profession that generally liked their people being observant, Rick couldn't track for shit. He didn't know how to read the signs clear as day around him and Daryl didn't know how to teach him so the man got the hang of it.

Beth told him more than once that it took a really smart person to be a tracker. Daryl didn't necessarily agree with her even as she told him just how hard a skill of tracking really was and Daryl had been known to be the best tracker in their county. Daryl would never consider Rick stupid though so his inability to track and read signs made little sense to him.

Daryl led the way, following the tracks further into the woods, and Rick quietly followed. At least the man knew how to quiet his steps which was more than Glenn or T-Dog could do.

Maybe Rick wasn't catching onto it as quickly as Daryl thought he should have because the man had so much more on his mind. Rick was their leader and he had twelve people looking to him for answers. Daryl took care of himself and his family but Daryl also looked to Rick like the others did to make sure that Rick made decisions for all of their best interests. Rick had made it clear to all of them that he was the one running this show and if they wanted to stay with him, they would have to fall in line. And they all did. But now, Rick had to deliver on his words. He would keep them safe and he would find them a safe place.

And not only all of that but Rick also had a heavily pregnant wife who was ready to give birth any day at that would be terrifying for any man who had a wife who had to go through that. Daryl didn't know what he would do if Beth was the one pregnant. Yes, Hershel was a doctor and was a man more than capable of delivery but there was only so much he would be able to do without certain tools or medicines. What if Lori started bleeding out or the baby was stillborn or died and turned while still inside of Lori?

Daryl didn't blame Rick for being distracted and probably scared out of his mind. Daryl didn't even want to think about what he would do if anything ever happened to Beth.

The trees thinned out a bit ahead and Rick stepped past him, his eyes trained on something. And Daryl saw it a moment later. Down the slope, in the basin of the surrounding hills, there laid a large structure with a tall double-fence surrounding the whole thing. He saw walkers stumbling in the grass, all locked in and he saw tall towers at different intervals.

A prison.

He looked at it for a moment and then looked to Rick. He saw a gleam in the man's eyes and he knew what Rick was thinking about doing. Daryl instantly agreed as he always did when it came to ideas and decisions of Rick's. This place was absolutely perfect. Hopefully, the fences were secure and there weren't too many walls down. Hopefully, it would be that safe place that Rick had been searching for all of them for these past few months. And hopefully, they would be able to take on all of the turned prisoners that were still trapped inside.

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Thank you very much for reading and if you read, please comment!