Again, I'm going to apologize for my absence on the archive. I'm hoping to be able to work on some oneshots, at least. My current Multi-Chapter fics are a little out in the open at the moment—other than The Walking Dead Couple Shuffle. Let me get back on my writing feet, and we'll see how this goes.

This scenario takes place early on in "Infected", where Karen and Daryl are already in an established relationship.

I own nothing.

'Til Death Do Us Part

Daryl Dixon never liked to admit that he had a soft side. Being soft never gotcha anythin' in life other than a kick in the ass. Ever since he met Karen, though, his softer side had shown through many a time with her. The two of them had bonded over going out on runs together, and saving each other's asses on many occasions. One day, while the hunter was on guard tower duty, Karen came to visit him. They talked for what felt like an eternity, and Daryl found himself opening up to her like it was nothing. That was when the redneck and former Woodburian realized just how much they had in common. Karen had made the first move; from then on, everything else just fell into place.

Fast forward about seven months later, he sat with his girlfriend, who had sadly caught the deadly flu-like virus that had claimed many of the prison members' lives. Daryl had to wear something to cover his mouth and nose at all times while he was around her, but wouldn't dare leave her. Not while she was this sick. The hunter looked down at Karen, sleeping soundly against his chest. A soft smile crept up under his features as he reached down to brush her dark curls off her face. It amazed Daryl just how much he loved this woman.

He promised Karen that he would watch over her while she slept. She had stressed to him many a time that she didn't feel safe alone in the room with Carol anymore. Daryl couldn't fathom why she would feel this way, but he wasn't about to leave her alone in her time of need.

The Isolation Cellblock was quiet, for the most part. Occasionally, the silence would break with a sudden coughing fit from David in the cell across the hall. It gave Daryl a lot of time to think, something he really didn't like to do. He thought about his brother and how much hell he would be giving him right now for his relationship with Karen. As the hunter watched his girlfriend breathe evenly, he told himself that it would have been worth it. Merle's ass just would've had to deal with it.

Daryl came back down to reality when Karen's eyes fluttered open. He stared down at those brown eyes of hers, rubbing her shoulder gently as she came to. "'Ey, Princess," he murmured quietly. "How're ye feeling?"

"Like crap," Karen admitted, wheezing against his chest. She tried to sit up, but Daryl ushered her to stay right where she was, tightening his grip around her waist. The brunette groaned slightly at his protest, but she burrowed her head into the crook of his arm and stayed right where he wanted her to.

"Yer gonna be fine," the redneck assured her, kissing the top of her head. "Hershel says he knows this veterinary college that'll have the meds we need ta getcha feelin' better." Karen picked her head up to look at Daryl, giving him a weak smile.

"Really?" she began, turning away as a sudden coughing spell hit her. She heard Daryl grumble slightly as he rubbed her back.

"'M goin'. Gonna make sure ya get these meds—"

"No," Karen strained through her coughs, looking back at her boyfriend. "Daryl, you're the only one I trust looking after me."

He gave her a gentle glance, a smile creeping up on his worn features. He knew that she didn't want him to be leaving her, but the redneck didn't really trust anyone else going out to get meds for his woman. He could leave her under the care of someone that Karen trusted; maybe that way she would feel better about him leaving. "'ey, I gotta go. 'S much I don' wanna admit it, yer dyin'."

She kept her gaze on his, brown eyes wavering slightly. After a beat, she let out a weary sigh. "Fine. But I don't want Carol looking after me. I don't trust her, Daryl."

Daryl just nodded, bringing her closer against his chest. "She ain't gonna hurt ya, y'know. Gonna have Hershel keep an eye on ya, though. He'll keep ya safe while I'm away."

Karen nuzzled her boyfriend's chest, wrapping her arms around him tightly. "Just be careful. Please," she pleaded with him, her voice nasally and thick from distress.

The hunter pulled his mask down long enough to kiss the top of her head. He couldn't let anything happen to her. As much as he wanted to stay with her to make sure she was safe, there was a nagging voice in the back of his head. If he stayed there, she might not make it. Being there for her was important, yeah, but he had to do something that he knew would keep her around to fight another day. Now that he had her, he couldn't stand the thought of losing her.

Picking her head back up, the former Woodburian looked up to Daryl again, a weak smile gracing her features. He loved her, and she knew that. Karen couldn't have been more terrified at the thought of being here by herself. She raised her thinned-out arm up to her mouth, coughing violently into the crook of it. As she pulled away, both of them winced at the blood collected on her forearm.

Daryl let go of his girlfriend, setting her back down against her pillow. He had to go, and he had to go now. "I'll be back fer ya, Princess. Jus' sit tight." Before the hunter got up, he gently brushed the damp curls off of Karen's face. It took him a bit of grumbling under his breath to get it right, as it always did, but he told her that he loved her. Before Karen, the redneck never had a reason to say it. He was a nobody, a drifter. Now that he had this broken beauty before him, he would give anything just to have one more day with her.

o—o—o

Karen woke up a few hours later, incredibly thirsty. Gunk stuck to her throat, her brain pounding against her skull. Needless to say, she felt pretty damn miserable. The brunette tried her best to sit upright, thought it took everything out of her to do so. She reached over for the bottle of water by her bedside. To her dismay, however, Karen knocked it over in the process. Great. With a heavy sigh, she scooted over to the edge of the bed to see where it had rolled off to. The damn bottle had gone halfway across the room; just her luck, right? With shaky limbs, Karen got out of bed and tried her best to pad over to it. She hadn't been up in days. Ever since she got worse, the former Woodburian had been put on permanent bed rest.

The brunette grabbed her water, standing back upright. Brown eyes began to widen as she looked to the door. At the threshold to her cell stood Carol with a sympathetic smile in place. The grey-haired woman leaned against the bars, worry lines etching onto her forehead as she took in the sick survivor before her. She knew that Karen didn't have much longer to live. Even though a group was going out to collect medicine for the ill, Carol wasn't too sure that she trusted this.

Karen cleared her throat, keeping a watchful eye on the older woman. "What is it?" she rasped. The brunette wasn't sure if it was the illness doing this or not, but her heart began to speed up to a dangerous beat. "Did the others leave already?"

Carol just nodded, coming a little bit closer to her fellow survivor. "Yeah. I just thought I'd come to see how you were feeling." She spared Karen another smile. She really didn't want to have to take a human life. Walkers were one thing, but people? Still, though. She did what she had to do in order to keep her family safe. Karen and David were like ticking time bombs. The illness itself had no timespan. It could either take your life very quickly, or it could take weeks. What if they died before Daryl and the others got back with the medicine? Neither of them was looking too well. The older survivor had just paid a visit to David as well. He couldn't keep anything down—liquid or solid. He couldn't even hold a conversation with Carol without going into a coughing fit, leaving projectile bloody sputum in its wake. It was now time to see how Karen was fairing.

"Well," Karen began, taking in a sharp, wheezy breath. "Not feeling any better, if that's what you're asking." She didn't know if she should go into detail about how worse she was feeling. How she was afraid of her heart giving out at any moment. The brunette felt around for the end table by her bed, using that as a leaning post to get back into bed, her eyes never leaving Carol's.

"You're going to die, Karen. You and David both are," Carol sat down on the edge of her fellow survivor's bed, smiling sadly. "And, to be honest, I don't know if either of you are going to make it before the others get back with medicine." She noticed how tense Karen had become as soon as those words left her lips. "I could end this, you know." She paused, looking down at her hands. "All it would take is your say so, and you'd finally be at peace."

The brunette listened carefully, a heavy frown etching onto her face. "In other words, you'd kill me," she spoke softly, her voice trembling with every word.

"Yes," Carol admitted. She looked back up to Karen, who had tears welling up in her eyes. The former Woodburian put an arm behind her pillow, probably looking for a knife or some other weapon she had stored under there for safe keeping. Carol just shook her head in response. "There's no need for that, Karen. I'm asking you; do you want me to end this?"

"I want this to end, but I don't want to die!" Karen cried, unwarranted tears spilling down her cheeks.

The grey-haired woman sighed in defeat as she rose to her feet. She could see the other survivor's sheer terror, not just in her eyes but in her body language as well. Carol felt horrible for causing her so much discomfort, but these things had to be done. She was a threat; Karen had to know it. "That's your call. But I'll be keeping an eye on you until everyone gets back to the prison."

Karen tried to swallow back the lump in her throat, but to no avail. "Do what you must, but I'll make it until Daryl returns. I'm strong enough to make it."

The woman could barely stand, was losing weight at an astronomical level, and barely had any color left in her face. But it was her say so, after all. If things got worse before the others returned, she would take matters into her own hands. But not before. It was now just a waiting game.

o- o- o

When Daryl got back to the prison, he didn't wait around to help the others. Not this time. He went to Bob first and foremost, making damn sure that his girlfriend was the first to be treated. Dixon led the medic into the Isolation Cellblock, only to stop dead in his tracks as he reached the hallway to the two separate cellblocks.

The redneck knelt down to the dark stain on the floor, noting how it trailed from one cell to another, and then further down the hall, all the way to the exit leading to the prison yard.

"The hell?" Daryl gruffed, running a fingertip against the stained floor. It was fresh blood. In an instant, the redneck flew to his girlfriend's cell. What he discovered, though, absolutely horrified him. Karen's room was trashed. The bed sheets she once lay on were all tangled up. It seemed that the blood trail started there. Whatever happened, a fight ensued here. Signs of struggle were everywhere, not just the bed. Karen's nightstand was completely upside down now, its contents now scattered all over the floor.

Bob came up behind Daryl, his mouth open agape. "What happened in here?"

"Yer askin' me?!" the redneck snapped, he brushed passed the medic, heading out into the hallway again. "Karen! Where are ya?!" He shouted all the while taking his crossbow from around his shoulder. He inched closer to the exit, his heart thundering in his chest. What lies behind that exit? Did he even want to find out?

Daryl kicked the door open, his crossbow pointed in front of him. He was ready to use this thing on anyone that stood in his way. If something had happened to Karen while he was gone...

But what he saw next sent him into overdrive. He saw two charred bodies just lying there on the concrete. It was the bodies of Karen and David, burnt to a crisp. Who would do this? More importantly, why? There was time. They had gotten the medicine and now…

Hot tears began to blur the hunter's vision as he approached Karen's body. The only clear indication that it was her anymore was the silver bracelet she always wore. Daryl felt his knees give way as he dropped to the ground, covering his face with his calloused hands.

He thought there would have been more time. Months before when he lost his brother, it all but killed him. And now this. Daryl didn't even know what to do. When Bob tried to come over to put a hand on his shoulder, the redneck picked himself up and shoved his fellow survivor out of the way.

"Daryl!" Bob shouted after the hunter's retreating form.

"Jus' leave me alone!" Daryl hollered back, his voice cracking with emotion. He stormed back into the cellblock, knocking anything and everything down in his way. Whoever did this was dead.

Welp. How was it? I'm gonna go suck up to my very distraught muse now. Reviews are loved!