Disclaimer: I do not own any of the AMC The Walking Dead Characters.

This fanfiction is from inspiration only and is far off from the current storyline. As this is my very first Caryl (DarylxCarol) fanfiction, sorry in advance for OOC (Our of Character) like behaviours and low knowledge on how it should be done. My first ones are never very good so please, try and understand. I hope you enjoy! Okay, here we go...

This won't be a very big chapter. It's just a beginner to hopefully get you interested.

A Rose in the Apocalypse

CHAPTER ONE - The Search

That night, at the prison... I never wanted to see it again, ever. I was furious, so much death. I lost friends that day, and even before that day I had lost a valuable friend, cast out... Exiled. Carol. Rick told me why he did it, and I was angry, but given the situation and what the poor man had been through... Killing his best friend... Losing his wife... His newborn daughter, I guess I had to deal with his choice, he is our leader afterall. Saying that, what ever happened to that baby? Did walkers get it? Did someone plot a plan of smearing blood on the carrier to make it look like the walkers got her, but what really happened did someone take her? This thought always boggled my mind, always got me thinking.

After the uproar had ended, everyone split, we eventually found eachother in a smalltown some many days ride away from the prison, which we secured and made a small fortress. We were... Safe. For now... It had been somewhat a year since then, I want to go find Carol... But Rick needed me more than ever during the year we built and shaped this safe place, but that period was finally over, and I told Rick and the others, that I was leaving for a while, and I told them exactly why too. Rick told me "Don't be foolish Daryl, she's probably alread dead" but I only stared at him blankly in my own usual way as I do with most people now. I said to him, I'll go and look, I will find her alive or dead, only then will I return... But that was another year gone since I had said that, and I was still searching.

I had grown a strong bond with Carol in the time we had spent together, sure we had our rough days and shouting matches but... She had this certain type of kindness about her and care in her heart that always pulled us through, pulled me through... She was the only one I felt confident about showing my scars to, telling her my past... Afterall, she wasnt much different to me, living in past abuse, losing loved ones... Scars... I guessed, I had a softness growing for her, but it never really formed fully due to her being kicked out of the group right at the start of these growing emotions, and I never fully understood what they meant. I'm terrible with woman and feelings it seems... Not much experience.

But here I am now, just patroling around small towns, cities even... Looking for any sign of her, a sign of any familiar face even... Something that could point me in the right direction, and I found none, untill, that was... That I had found a ripped piece of her clothing on a barbed wire and blood. I remember this material, having felt it many times when she would hug me close, or needed some form of comfort, an emotional woman that one, but I don't blame her... I had spent much time feeling that cloth of her favorite sweater, and there was no mistake this ripped piece belonged to her... It had to be.. The cloth had been scagged, like she were running, but the blood was old and dry, staining the metal of the wire. It must be days old by now but it was the closest clue I have ever had on finding her, the only clue really... But, was I close? Was she alive? The sight o the ripped cloth and old blood made panic rise in my heart and fear come to my thoughts... Was I too late...? Was she still alive? I needed to know, after coming so close I couldn't give up now.

Carol... Where are you? Who are you with, are you alone? Are you hurt, or safe? I couldn't call her name, it'd cause walkers to come to me, and I was low on ammunition and arrows, I needed to preserve what I had left in case of a real emergency. I get on my bike again and turn it on, and off down the streets of a ghost town I go, the low roar of the bike attracting any walker nearby, but I paid them zero mind, they wouldn't get me on this bike, it could move a lot faster than they ever would. There was something odd here, there were fences here and there covered in barbed wires, booby traps, the works you name it. There were people here... I needed to know who, how many, and if Carol was one of those... The stirring of the living eyeing me through scopes got my attention so I stopped my bike and held my hands up in surrendur, showing I was not there to fight as they advanced on me, faces covered, rifles at my head... Oh Daryl what are you going to do now?

I had a rifle right at my forehead, a man staring at me in a cold way, I had my weapons removed and he loaded his gun, pressing the barrel right to my forehead... I showed no fear, but in all truth, if I die here today... I just hope, that if Carol IS still alive, that she remains safe...

END OF CHAPTER ONE (writer review below)

Okay! So, this is my plan, the first part should, HOPEFULLY, be interesting. Chapter Two in the making so, please sit tight and hold on with me while I think of the plans and ideas for this story, I hope for a nice number of Chapers, hopefully 4+, but it may be a small chaptered one too. With what I have planned, I don't want it to end as a short story.

With that said, yes, I do need to improve on grammar. I might make this story a full POV of Daryl's eyes. It won't be perfect but, I'll do my best to make it good...

Chapter 2 coming soon, hoping for a longer chapter next one.