Well I did have a TWD story but I didn't like the way it was going, so I am redoing it. Scrapping the whole beginning and getting a fresh set going here.
Enjoy.
Addy Eli
Prologue: The Defender of the People
Shane and Rick were motionless as the shot echoes through the woods and Carl fell back to the ground with blood spreading across his chest. The sound coming from Rick was unknown; it was primitive and loud as he stumbled quickly to his fallen son. Pulling Carl to his chest he cried out begging for answers from a higher power. Through the trees a young man of about twenty three came, screaming and crying as he found the three by his buck.
"Oh my God," He gasped. "Quick, I know someone who can help. Follow me."
"Why—" Shane yelled seeing Rick scoop the unconscious boy into his arms and following the vanishing man. Grumbling he gave chase, hoping that the others would make it out of the woods before night fall. They were heading west.
Daryl stopped holding his fist up for the ones behind him to see. In the silence he heard the tell tale echo of a shotgun in the direction that Rick and the other two had gone. "Somethin' is going on back there." They turn heading quickly toward the sound hoping they find a reason soon. Daryl and the women slip over a small hill to find the deer laying on the ground.
"We should take it; I don't see any other wounds than the shot." Lori pointed out looking around the small swath of forest. "Daryl why would they leave it if they shot it?" She watched him kneel to examine a patch of earth, noting how he slowly stood and looked at her with nervous eyes. "What?"
"They were standing here, and the shot came from that direction," He points west. "And one of 'em was hit. It looks like Carl."
Nicole had been cleaning in the kitchen all morning, and until a few seconds ago she had felt that the day was going well, and that nothing bad was going to happen. But then she heard the whistle bringing her day crashing down she ran through the house and onto the front porch to find her brother hauling ass toward her, with two men close behind. Megan came to her side with Parker by her side clutching her hand tightly.
" Oh my God."
"Please, my son…" Rick gasped climbing the steps and stopping before the women. Megan lead him into the house and up to a small dark bedroom. "I don't know what to do…"
"Sit him here, on the bed," Megan pulled the boy's shirt from the wound, where she could inspect the damage. "I need a wash basin with warm water and some towels. Tell Nikki to bring my bag up to me please."
"But…"
"I am trying to save this boy, get moving or it will be pointless." Megan snapped sending Rick into auto pilot and down the steps.
Shane stood on the front porch with the two siblings, cursing under his breath he waited for something to do, turning around to look through the field he finds the group charging toward him, Lori screaming for her son and Carol sobbing. Running to meet them before the house he catches Lori mid stride, pulling her to the ground as he whispered comfort into her ear.
"Where is Carl?" She cried. "Where is my baby?"
"The old lady here has him upstairs; she is trying to save him… he looks real weak right now." Shane glanced at Carol who was approaching the house slowly. Rick came out running to his wife and taking her in his arms. An older gentleman walked around the house from the barn, his buzzed hair peppered with gray and his eyes tired and dark.
"Have you seen my daughter?" Carol whimpered kneeling on the steps holding the strap of her bag tightly. "She is only twelve, her name is Sophia…"
"If anyone has seen your little girl it would be Alessa." He muttered. "She went after a man who took Chloe."
"Alessa?" Shane and the others stood in the door yard, watching the man closely. He lifted a wrinkled hand and pointed East, where a woman had broken the tree line and approached the house with a horse. Two girls sat on the back and a man stumbled along behind tied to the stallion.
"Yes, Alessa; the defender of the people." Nicole said joining her father on the porch.
Chapter One: All for One
Alessa helped the girls from the horse, letting them run for the house and for the people that waited for them. Behind her she heard Blake stumble once more as she swung into the saddle. Picking up the speed to a trot she felt pleasure as Blake jogged behind her stallion.
"Stupid bitch." He snapped tripping and letting the horse drag him.
"I could have killed you, or broken a leg and made you walk all the way back." She smiled venomously. They stopped before the group, each watching her sadly.
"I'll take this pig to the stables and lock in a nice cozy stall." Marty lifted the man to his feet, taking the rope from Alessa and walked him to the barn.
"Megan will need your help upstairs Alessa, their boy was shot but brightness here." Nicole jerked her thumb between Rick and Lori to Aaron who sat crying on the steps.
"I'm goin back for Dale and T-Dog." Daryl clipped looking at the group for approval. "We'll be stuck on the highway until daylight but at least I can lead them back tomorrow."
"Alessa will go with you." Marty advised. "She is a phantom in the woods and has a sixth sense for the walkers."
"I do best alone." Daryl growled.
"Well, I am going with you or ahead of you… you pick." She slid off her stallion and gave the reigns to Nicole. "Put him away and keep an eye on Blake while I am gone."
They walked silently through the forest as the light faded to nearly nothing. Daryl kept close to the quick woman in front of him, knowing that he would not make it through in the dark like she would. She stopped him close behind her, knowing that she was listening to something. Straining his ears the sound of shuffling touched his chest with a cold prickle.
Alessa grabbed Daryl and pressed him into a tree, her body touching him completely. A short distance away walkers moved through the underbrush, unknowing of the two behind the tree. She felt his breath on her shoulder and a growing pressure against her abdomen. Glaring at him she pushed away from his body, seeing the blush on his face as she signaled the all clear and kept moving.
They reached the RV within the hour, gaining entry from Dale inside. "Where are the others?" T-Dog came from the back room. "Who is this?" He watched Alessa carefully.
"We found more survivors, and Sophia. It's too late be be going back right now, we have to wait till morning." Daryl locked the camper door and slid into the bench seat across from Dale. "I'll take first shift." He propped his crossbow on his knee and watched as Alessa sat in the step against the door, her eyes focused on him as the two men went back to sleep.
"You have never been that close to a woman before have you?" Alessa grinned coming to sit across from him when the men had fallen asleep. "You looked like a teenager who got caught looking through a peep hole."
"I have been with plenty of women, just not in a while." He snapped back turning his face away.
"Yeah I bet, I felt how much it bothered you poking me in the stomach." Alessa froze, her eyes darting left and right and she reached across the table and pulled Daryl onto the floor.
"Listen I don't like ya like that get—" She clamped a hand to his mouth and they listened as walkers shuffled toward the RV. She felt him squirm under her weight, making her straddle him in the process. As the dead moved past the camper she pulled her hand away, looking into his blue eyes stuck there with his hands on her hips.
"Doesn't look like either of you are keeping watch." Alessa rolled off of Daryl and looked to see the injured man watching them from the door to the bathroom. "Did I interrupt?"
"We was hidin from the walkers that passed by." Daryl explained returning to his seat. "Nothin more."
"Sure…" He went back to the bed to sleep for a few more hours. Alessa closed her eyes and snuggled into her corner. Daryl watched her for a few moments, knowing that the growing pain in his lower region would only get worse the more he was around her.
He jumped when she touched him, when had he fallen asleep? She gave a smirk glancing down into his lap before turning and going to wake the others. The sun had yet to crest the east and she had them packing for the hike back to the farm house. Once in the woods the sun began to heat the ground bringing another day up to near one hundred degrees. Silently she crept through the woods with the three men close behind her.
A little over half way there she stopped them letting them rest as she slipped away to collect some wild berries. Returning with a rucksack full of these colorful treats she gave each a handful and turned to head for the farm house once more. They broke into the clearing and moved toward the house slowly, seeing the two girls playing in the yard and the adults moving around the lawn and resting on the porch.
"Hey! They're back!" Chloe called. A small boy came from the house, running through the tall grass toward their leader. Slamming into her with enough force to stop her hid stride she felt his tears on her jeans. Daryl watched carefully so she would not notice his interest.
"I knew you would come back for me, you never leave me behind." He sobbed letting her lift him into her thin arms. Rubbing his shaggy hair from his face she kissed his nose before letting him hug her. "I knew you would."
"It's okay Parker, I am right here." She carried him back toward the house behind the others. Megan came out with her bloody shirt. "The boy, how is he?"
"He isn't going to make it." Parker whispered.
"I need you to make a distraction so I can get in there." Parker nodded as they reached the others, letting him down he went to the other children engaging in play while Alessa went into the house.
Rick held Lori's hand next to their fading son, noting how long it was taking for him to pass on. She was distraught and finally she couldn't stand to sit any longer, standing Lori made her way down the staircase past a shaded figure and onto the front porch. Rick followed when screaming tore through the quiet day.
Parker let go of the Chloe's hair and stepped away crying himself to make time for Alessa to do her deed. Daryl watched everyone rush to the scene, except for Alessa who had not come running from the house. Entering the house he doubled the stairs and found Alessa sitting on the bed beside Carl.
"What do you think you are goin?" He snapped placing the hunting knife to the back of her neck. She pulled her hand away from his open wound and covered the injury once more with clean bandages. Covering her own wound on her palm she stood and turned to face the hunter.
"I heal people, I have been able to do that since this whole mess started." She walked out of the room and down the stairs with him close on her tail. At the door she began to lose control, her knees turned weak and she began to fall. Daryl scooped her up in his strong arms and turned up the steps. Laying her on the bed across the hall from Carl he waited for her to focus.
"When's the last time you ate?" He asked turning her head to look her in the eye.
"I don't remember…" She whimpered. "I normally give what is for me to the kids so they aren't starving."
"I'm goin to get you somethin' to keep you till supper." He turned and went into the kitchen. Returning he finds her sleeping, shaking her gently he watches her come from the recesses of slumber. "Eat this, and you'll be fine till later."
"What did you do for a living before?" He sat next to her and kept an eye on Carl through the open doors.
"I was a handyman, Merle and me worked odd jobs to pay bills."
"I was a dancer and singer at a burlesque lounge." She giggled for the first time in months.
"I bet that kid is proud to say his mother is a stripper." He watched her turn serious.
"Parker isn't my son, he is my god son. My sister Jocelyn was killed by walkers, she locked him in the attic and told him not to come out until I came for him. It took me three days, and he has been sticking to me ever since."
"So he is your nephew."
"Not by blood, she is my sorority sister, we were best friends. She got knocked up by a jerk that I beat the shit out of in an alley when he was getting a blow job from a stripper. We left the sorority together and got a house." Alessa sighed looking at Daryl. "I thought that I wouldn't need any of the things my father taught me before I went to college… and I thought I was going to find a great guy that would take care of me like every girl wants in life. But that isn't my story."
"You still have time for that to happen." Daryl stood and walked to the door, giving a glance back at the thin woman on the bed. "I'm stronger than you."
"So you think." She smiled at him before he closed the door and left her to sleep.
She woke with food on the bed beside her, and Parker curled against her side. Sitting up she found her body resistant to the motion, yet she knew that she had to, there was hunting to do and gathering. Rubbing Parker's hair lightly she lifted a piece of homemade bread to her mouth.
When the others had woken they found Parker watching the rain sprinkles the windows and Alessa had gone. Daryl too had gone off on the dreary day to get something out in the wilderness. Mulling around the house everyone worked on planning the next step in surviving the walkers.