This story starts after the end of the third season with a few changes.

Disclaimer: I only my OC.

The sound of gunfire made me jump up from my afternoon nap. The bright sunlight burned my eyes as I opened them. I grabbed the sunglasses next to me and put them on. Attaching the silencer to my gun, I slowly made my way to the edge of the roof of the pharmacy where I had been hiding. Walkers were everywhere and the gunfire was only making matters worse by attracting more from the nearby streets. There were four of them. A man and a woman who were back to back shooting the walkers that were creeping up on them. If there was ever anyone to put ninjas to shame, it would be the woman in dreadlocks with the scary-looking knife. The last one guy had a crossbow and was shooting these walkers in the head one by one. He was like a real life Green Arrow. No matter how good these guys were at killing walkers, there was no way they could manage all the new ones that coming in from the streets.

As I took in a deep breath, I pointed my gun at the one right behind the one with the crossbow. He was too busy knifing the walker in front of him to notice the one behind him. Without second thought, I shot the walker in the head. Once I got started, I didn't stop. Five. Six. Seven. I started shooting the walkers around the group of people down below. They were too focused to notice that some of the walkers were falling to the ground. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. The guy with the crossbow was no longer surrounded by walkers. He turned around in confusion before noticing some walkers near the two people with guns. Fifteen. Sixteen. Seventeen. The woman with the dreadlocks was still battling a few walkers. The others started to shoot arrows and bullets to help her out, although she did not look like she needed any help. There had to be at least forty walkers lying on the ground. The group was exchanging looks and whispering among themselves. Did they know I was there? I backed away from the edge of the roof to avoid being seen.

"Who's there?" The woman with the gun yelled out. Shit. They knew.

"Ya think they're on the roof?" The guy with the crossbow asked the group.

"Nowhere else they could be to get such clear shots." The man with the gun answered.

"We know you're on the roof. You can come out." The woman yelled out again. "We just wanna say thanks."

So just say it. Why do I have to show myself? Can't you just say thanks from there? "You're welcome." I yelled out in response. "But I'm not coming down."

"Why not?" The man with the gun asked.

"Cause I don't know you…" I yelled back.

"But that didn't stop you from helping us out." He replied.

"How do I know you won't just kill me and steal my supplies?" I asked.

"We're good people." He answered.

"Yeah, that's what they all say…" I responded.

"We're putting our weapons on the ground. We just wanna talk." The woman spoke up again.

I know I'm gonna regret this. I just know it. "Alright." Slowly, I grabbed my backpack and flung it over my shoulder. The cut on my shoulder-blade was stinging like crazy. After making my way to the side of the roof by empty alley, I jumped onto the dumpster and then made my way to the ground.

As I made my way to the group, I could notice the guy with the crossbow studying me, trying to figure out if I was trustworthy or not. "Who are you?" His voice held some hostility.

"I'm the girl who saved your ass." I answered with smirk on my face.

"I'm Tyreese." The man with the gun introduced himself. "This is my sister, Sasha." He pointed to the woman with the gun standing next to him. "That's Michonne." She was one that fought like a ninja. "And that's…That's Daryl." So that was his name. I just noticed his arms and damn. His sleeves had been ripped off, probably so he could show off his biceps. "What's your name?"

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" I turned to face Tyreese.

"Are you alone?" Michonne asked me.

"Why? Do you see anyone else?" I joked and pretended to look behind me.

"How did you get that?" Sasha asked me pointing to her shoulder-blade.

"I didn't get bit…" I said in defense. "I fell…on glass…"

"It's bleeding through the bandage…"

"I know."

"Did you stitch it up?"

"Kinda hard to reach, you know?"

"Where are you staying?" Tyreese asked me.

"On that roof for now." I answered. "It's the only place that's safe from those walkers."

"Come with us." Tyreese said surprising everyone. He was being sincere, I could see it in his eyes.

"We don't know that girl. Ya can't just" Daryl started to argue.

"Come with us. We have someone who can stitch you up." Sasha said cutting Daryl off.

"Whoa…Ain't anybody listening to me? We don't know this chick." Daryl seemed more upset now.

"It's ok…I'm fine." Even though I could sense that they were good people, the last thing I wanted to be was a hassle.

"See she don't wanna come anyway. Let's just get outta here." Daryl spoke again.

"Daryl stop it." Tyreese warned. "She saved our butts today. We should at least help her."

"Rick won't like it." Daryl argued.

"I can talk to Rick. I trust her. Besides, she's got an amazing shot. She could be really valuable to the group." Tyreese defended me.

This was starting to make me feel really awkward. They were talking like I wasn't even there.

"I'm fine on my own. I've been on my own for two months now and I'm still alive. So thank you for wanting me to join your group. But I'm gonna say no." I interrupted their little argument.

"Is it 'cause of Daryl?" Sasha spoke up. "He's just being an ass 'cause he doesn't know how to act around a pretty girl..."

Wow could this get any more awkward? I didn't even have to look at Daryl to know he was glaring at me.

"You've been on your own for two months?" Michonne broke the awkward silence. I nodded in reply. "That's impressive… But you should come with us. This group…it's a good one." She continued. "Better than the Governor's anyway." She said under her breath.

What? "You know about the Governor?" I was quite shocked.

"How do you know him?" Daryl asked angrily. Did he assume that I was with the Governor? That's the last thing I'd ever do.

"Saw him and his guys murder a whole camp. Children and all."

"You got away?" Tyreese asked curiously.

"I'd been with the group for barely than a week. There were thirteen of us. I was out getting water for everyone. By the time I came back, they had already killed ten. One of them grabbed me from behind and told me to keep quiet. He must have been new to the group or something because he looked horrified too. He told me to stay as far away from the Governor and Woodbury as possible and gave me a chance to run. I ran as fast and far as my legs could handle." I explained to them. I felt sick in my stomach just thinking about what happened that day. It was months ago, but it still haunts my dreams.

"The Governor's dead." Daryl said making eye contact with me. He didn't look as annoyed as before.

"Rethink our offer. Please. " Tyreese spoke softly. "Don't give us that crap about you surviving better on your own. We can help each other."

I knew he was right. Tyreese and Sasha seemed friendly, and I hated having no one to talk to. It was really lonely. "Ok. Fine...I'll come." I said nervously. "I parked my car down the street. I've got a lot of canned food with me…"

"I'll drive with you." Sasha offered.

"Thank you." I told them. "It is awfully nice what you guys are doing for me."

"Yeah…whatever," Daryl muttered before walking in the other direction.

"No...Thank you. I'm not sure we would have all made it out if you hadn't helped us. " Sasha responded while Tyreese smiled at me.

"I'm Ellie, by the way." I told them.

A prison. They lived in a prison. Sasha had told me on the way there. That wasn't the only thing she told me. Sasha, Tyreese, and two of their friends were the only ones to make it out alive when their camp was overrun. They had found the prison and were helped by the group that lived there. Rick, who is the leader of the group, had struggled with the death of his wife and took his anger out on them. When the four of them got out of the prison, they ran into the Governor's group. When the Governor ordered war, the two had gotten the hell out of there. Apparently, the prison group was able to beat the Woodbury group, but the Governor shot the rest of the Woodbury survivors. His former right hand man got bit, but before he died, he shot the Governor. Sasha and Tyreese ran into the prison group again after the battle and were welcomed by Rick this time. They have stayed with the prison group for a little over a month.

When we arrived at the prison, I could sense the uneasiness among the rest of the group when I was introduced to the others. It was easy to understand though since I was the only stranger. The sun was setting and I could hear Sasha's stomach growling.

"Are you hungry?" I whispered in her ear.

"That obvious?" She chuckled before she turned to rest of the group. "Anything to eat Carol?"

"We still got some Squirrel meat from before." Carol answered.

Oh god. Squirrel meat?

"Are you okay?" Rick asked me. Now everyone was staring at me.

"Uhh yeah…" I answered with a nervous laugh. Squirrel meat did not really appeal to me, especially when I had better options. "I have canned fruit, macaroni and cheese" I was cut off by Rick's son, Carl.

"You do?" Carl's eyes were wide.

"Yeah, I found over ten boxes in someone's home a while ago. Never really had the chance to try it." After a quick jog to the trunk of my car, I tossed Carl two boxes of macaroni and cheese and few cans of fruit.

"You sure have a lot there, don't you?" Carol was smiling.

"Yeah, I have some clothes too. I raided a cute little boutique a few weeks ago. The tops would probably fit all us women. Not really sure about the shorts or jeans though. They would probably only fit Maggie and me."

"I'll go make the mac and cheese." Carol said taking her leave.

The blonde girl, Beth, who was carrying Judith walked over to me. "What kind of shirts do you have? I can't stand the ones I have. They're too dirty." She was still a teenager and seemed innocent despite the new world we were in now.

After taking the navy blue bag out of my trunk, I put it on the ground. "Take a look. Take what you like." She handed Judith over to Carl before carrying the bag indoors. Maggie, Sasha, and I followed her.

Before stepping inside, I took a moment to take in my surroundings. For the first time in a really long time, I felt safe. I could feel eyes on me, I scanned the area until I met Daryl's stare. It wasn't cold as it was before. After a moment, he gave me a nod before walking off. He may have come off as a jerk before, but I could tell now that he wasn't. Maybe he just wanted people to think he was a jerk.

As soon as I walked inside, I felt somebody's arm pull me into a hug. It was Beth. "Thank you Ellie."

I hugged her back awkwardly. "Umm…you're welcome."

"This shirt is so pretty…I used to have one like this." She was holding a pink lace top.

"Take it, I really have no use for it…I only grabbed it because I thought it looked nice." I told her.

"Why do you have a dress?" Maggie asked picking up a green summer dress.

"I…I…umm…Don't laugh but I just wanted to wear something nice for my birthday…" I explained.

"Oh…well, it would look really nice on you. It matches your eyes." Maggie replied.

"When's your birthday?" Sasha asked me.

"End of next week." I answered.

Sasha showed me where the showers were. She waited outside the bathroom for me to finish. I overheard Rick tell her to not leave me alone. Rick didn't trust me yet and I understood that. I needed to earn his trust.

The cut on my shoulder-blade burned like eggs on a hot summer day. After my shower, I changed into a pair of loose shorts and a tank top. Sasha led me to Hershel, the vet, afterwards. He stitched up the cut for me, and though it hurt like shit, I was still grateful. The mac and cheese dinner was the best I have had in a really long time.

"So who's keeping watch tonight?" Rick asked the group.

"I can do it." The group seemed surprised at my response. "I'm not really tired or anything…"

"Do we have any other volunteers?" Rick said ignoring me.

"I'll do it." Daryl grumbled as he stood up and grabbed his crossbow.

"I can do it." I repeated myself.

This time Rick must have known that he could not ignore me. "Fine, you can go with Daryl."

"Okay. Lemme just go get my gun, Daryl." I swear I saw Daryl just make a face. Great. This would be an interesting night.

I followed Daryl outside as he led us to one of the towers. As we made our way up the stairs, I noticed how quiet his footsteps were. If I closed my eyes, I wouldn't even know he was there. No wonder he was so good at killing the walkers. He probably would sneak up on them and kill them without them even knowing he was there.

"Girl, ya slow as a turtle." Daryl muttered. I had been too distracted to realize that I had slowed down and was several steps behind him.

"Not a cloud in the sky." I said when I arrived to the top. I stood close to the edge of the railing and looked up at the night sky. "I could stare at these stars all night."

"Good for ya." Daryl scoffed and sat down. Ignoring his comment, I took a seat next to him. "Why don't ya sit over there, away from me. Okay girl?"

"I don't have cooties. I swear." I crossed my arms. "I'm not moving. You don't want me next to you. Okay...well you are welcome to move somewhere else."

Daryl didn't move. He didn't even reply. He just sat there with his binoculars scanning the area even though we both knew there weren't any walkers there. It was pretty obvious that Daryl was not one for conversations.

We sat in silence for what seemed like forever. I couldn't bear it anymore. "So what's your story?"

"Nothin' to tell, girl." He shook his head at me.

"Well, tell me something then. Anything." I threw my arms up.

"Why I gotta do that, huh?"

"I don't know…because this is the first time in two months that I have been around other people. And…and I miss people, okay? Another week on my own and I would have started talking to imaginary friends again…" I took in a deep breath to stop myself from ranting.

"Again?"

"What?" I asked for clarification.

"You talk to imaginary folk before, girl?"

"Well…" I started to explain but got cut off.

"Knew you were crazy from the start." He joked.

"You didn't have an imaginary friend as a kid?" I asked.

"No. I wasn't crazy in the head like you."

I laughed for the first time in a while. "Oh shut up."

"Now you want me to stop?" He smirked. "Thought you wanted to talk. I'm talking, aren't I?"

Leaning over him, I tried to lift his crossbow. "Damn." It was heavy.

"The fuck ya think your doin', girl?" His hand was quick to cover mine.

I turned my head to look at him. Our faces were only inches away.

"I…I just wanted to see how heavy it was?" His eyes were staring into mine and it made me nervous so I had to look away.

"And?"

"Well,it's heavy. No wonder your arms are so jacked." I answered. He chuckled and finally lifted his hand off mine, and I moved back to my spot. "I saw you today, shooting those walkers straight in the head, every single time. When did you learn to shoot like that?"

"I'd go hunting with my brother as a kid all the damn time. I was sixteen or something when I saw this crossbow one day in the store. Knew I had to get it, so I saved up for months to buy it. Took a while to get the technique down 'cause I had to teach myself." He explained.

"My grandfather was a hunter too. I spent a whole summer with him in Georgia this one time. He taught me how to shoot. Surprised both of us when it turned out I was actually pretty good at it, you know? So he got all excited and decided to take me hunting with him…It took us hours, but we finally found this deer. We got real close to it. My grandfather tells me to shoot, but I froze. I just kept thinking about Bambi." I paused for a moment. Daryl was shaking his head at me and chucking. "Anyway, I refused to take the shot, so he did. And…and then I just started bawling my eyes out...I couldn't stop..."

"What happened to the deer?" He asked, bringing me back to the story.

"Well it died…My grandfather knew I wouldn't be able to bring it back with us, so he offered it to these two hunters that heard the shot and my cries They thought that someone got shot or something."

"Ya said there were two hunters?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"How old were they?" He seemed really into this story.

"They were brothers…one of them was probably early thirties. The other one, the cute one was…maybe early twenties. Gosh, it was so embarrassing. The older one was hysterically laughing at me, like a hyena. The cute one was nicer, he didn't laugh at me. I could tell he felt bad for me, looked at me like I was a baby or something for crying…and" I was cut off with another question.

"How old were ya?"

"Don't laugh…I was seventeen." I whispered. Daryl started to laugh. Didn't I just tell him to not laugh? I gave him a gentle punch on the arm. "I said not to laugh."

"It was me." He said while he was laughing.

"Huh?" What was he talking about?

"Me and Merle."

"Merle?" I was so confused.

"My brother. The hunters your grandfather gave the deer to…it was us." He finally stopped laughing.

"No…no way…" I was shaking my head. That was impossible. I brought my face closer to his to study him. The eyes. I remember those eyes. How hadn't I noticed before. "No fucking way…" This time I started laughing. "What are the chances?"

"Ya thought I was cute back then?" He asked with a smirk on his face and chuckled.

"Still do." I said under my breath.

"Really?" Daryl looked into my eyes.

Shit. Didn't mean for him to hear me. I just gotta play it off cool. "Maybe…if you'd swipe that smirk off your face"

"We'd still laugh about you all the time." He was still looking right into my eyes, which for some reason was making me nervous.

"Oh great." I shook my head. "So I was just a big joke to you guys."

"Pretty much."

"You suck." I said playfully punching his arm.

I woke up to the sun rising. After a few blinks, my eyes finally adjusted to the light. As I yawned, I heard a voice.

"Mornin' sunshine."

I jumped when I heard Daryl's voice. Of course, I'd fall asleep using his shoulder as a pillow. This is embarrassing. When did I even fall asleep? "I'm sorry…" I moved away from him and stood up to stretch.

"Don't be. Ya needed the sleep." After a pause, he continued. "Why don't ya go in and get a few hours?"

"Where? I don't even have my own cell?"

"Mine. I got two beds in there." He offered.

"Thanks Daryl."

"Yeah…whatever." He shrugged.

A light tapping on my shoulder woke me up again. Carol. "Uhh…hi."

"Breakfast will be ready in a bit. Why don't you come down in a bit? Wake Daryl up too."

"Me?" Why couldn't she just wake him up?

"Yeah." She said as she walked out.

After a few stretches, I gently spoke called his name. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. "Daryl…Daryl." I gently tapped his arm. "Whoa." He grabbed my arm in a defensive manner.

"Oh…it's you…" He let go of my arm instantly. Daryl got up slowly, pushing the blanket off, and stretched his arms. Shirtless. He was shirtless.

"Breakfast…" I turned around so I could stop myself from staring. I could hear him laugh. "What's so funny?" I spun around and crossed my arms. Stop staring. I choose to look at the wall instead while I waited for him to answer me. He didn't, but I could feel his eyes on me. "Yeah that's what I thought." With that I walked out. I could hear him laugh again.

"I must be imagining things...thought I heard Daryl laughing for a second there." Glenn told Maggie.

"So it wasn't just me?" She asked him. They gave each other a look and gave me a questioning look as I walked over to the rest of the group.

"How did you get Daryl to laugh?" Rick spoke up. Everyone fell silent to listen to my response.

"I…I have no idea why he was laughing at me…" I shrugged.

Carol handed me a bowl of canned fruit and I sat down beside Sasha and began to eat.

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