Author's Note: I don't own anything having to do with the Walking Dead only Daisy (Ace) belongs to me.

So I just recently stumbled across this amazing show and completely fell in love with it so I decided to write my own fic. I know there are thousands of stories out there but I promise mine will always be original. Things will happen out of order only because I believe it will work better for this story. Rated M for language and situations. 'Walking Dead' will represent a break in time.

Any suggestions/comments/critiques are all welcome!

Chapter 1

It felt like it had been a different lifetime since the last time I walked down the streets of Atlanta. Being a waitress at one of the diners on the outskirts of town wasn't my dream job but it was better than what was waiting for me at home. I was used to pushing through the never ending crowds to get to work and dealing with the countless, unruly customers all day long. Now it was eerily silent and now more than ever I had to keep my wits about me. There were walkers everywhere and I was down to a mere two bullets. I could almost hear my eldest brother's voice in my head belittling me for not paying more attention when he had tried to teach me the ins and outs of survival. Clearly I had paid enough attention or I wouldn't have made it this far.

I readjusted the small bag on my back and kept a firm hold on my hunting knife. It wasn't as long as I would have liked, meaning I had to get even closer to the geeks, but it was the best I had at the moment. The risk of using one of the only bullets I had left would have been suicidal alerting the whole city that I was there.

Something had definitely caught the walkers attention as they all seemed to be grouped together on one side of the town. I wasn't going to complain though as I crept along side of one of the buildings and into what used to be a coffee shop. Annoyance flooded through me when I tried the tap and no water came out. I needed something, anything, to quench my thirst or I wouldn't make it much further.

I slid to the floor a minute hiding myself behind the counter in case a walker decided to get nosey. Any one else would have given up, being alone in the world for months now, but here I sat reminding myself that I had to fight for the right to live; to survive. I wasn't exactly brought up in the environment that would allow me to just roll over and die.

The silence of this new post-apocalyptic world was deafening. I longed for the day I could once again get lost in my blaring music for a few hours. My ears were now on hyper alert listening for the slightest shuffle of feet or the low growl that would ultimately try to make me its lunch. When I reopened my eyes I shuffled around the drawers behind the counter looking for anything useful.

There was a time when I wouldn't think twice about breaking the register open and cleaning it out. Money had no value in this new world though. It didn't matter if you were a millionaire or dirt poor. The dead were coming for us all.

I downed an unopened bottle of water that I had found and a couple stale biscuits. It wasn't the most appetizing but beggars couldn't be choosers and it would have to do until I could get back to the woods and hunt. I really had to find a sporting goods store to loot. I needed bullets, but more importantly, I needed a crossbow; something that would be able to take walkers out at a distance without making so much noise.

I moved slowly, each step calculated and purposeful, as I made my way out of the coffee shop and into the next building. Material things never held much meaning to me but I was happy to see that I had stepped into a clothing store. I stripped out of my shirt that was being held together by shreds before pulling a tank top over my head and grabbing a light jacket to put over top.

"You heard me!"

I froze in my spot not moving a muscle. It had been at least two weeks since I had any contact with another human being. That one had not worked out so well and I wasn't ready to go through that again. I went to leave the building when I heard the voice again.

"You can kiss my lily white ass."

Curiosity had gotten the best of me and I placed a cautious hand on my knife as I made my way further into the store and up a flight of stairs. I could hear his voice again, my eldest brother, cussing at me for giving two shits about someone else.

When I got to the top of the stairs the door had been chained closed and locked. I was able to push it open enough for me to see through. It didn't look like other containment places that walkers had been held up in. They would have been all over the door as soon as I appeared. I had to be sure though and gave the door a quick kick with my foot and stood back waiting to hear the growls.

Silence once again met my ears except for some incoherent mumbling. Whoever was on this roof was alive and that's all I needed to know. I took the lock pick out of my bag and worked on the lock. The chain slid to the ground with loud clanking noise and I grabbed my gun from the small of my back. Walkers were predictable, they only wanted one thing and that was to destroy you, eat you alive. Humans were another story. My mind wandered back to the last guy I ran into and I cocked my gun before kicking the door open with my foot.

"You ain't goin' to eat me, fuckers," a familiar voice snarled as I made my way onto the roof.

I dropped my arm with a sigh as I saw the man handcuffed. "You've gotta be shittin' me."

"Well ain't that a bitch," he laughed.

"And here I thought you'd know how to get out of cuffs by now, been in them enough, haven't you?" I questioned pulling my lock pick back out of my bag and squatting down next to him to free his hand. "How'd you get like this?"

The cuffs were free and he stood rubbing his raw wrist. "Damn nigger dropped the key. They left me here to die like a damn animal."

"They?"

Walking Dead

We had taken a truck after siphoning gas from a few surrounding cars to make sure the tank was as full as possible. I was filled in about the camp and what had happened on the roof. He didn't ask about where I had been or what I had been doing and I certainly didn't offer up the information. By the time he put the truck in park my blood was boiling.

"Didn't think you would see ol' Merle again, did you Officer Friendly?" He took a swing at the man before some guy with dark curly hair restrained him in a chokehold.

My eyes landed on the only black man in camp and I wasted no time in taking a swing at him myself. I might not have done much damage but the anger in me wanted to hit him repeatedly. That was until someone had their arm snaked around my middle and pulled me back.

"Better keep better control of your whores, Merle," the curly haired man warned as he set me back on my feet but kept an arm around me making sure I couldn't go towards the black man again.

"One wrong move douche bag and you'll end up with a knife in your ass," I growled elbowing him hard in the stomach to let me go.

"She'll do it too," that voice was like music to my ears but the only smile that could be seen was in my eyes. "Ace knows better than to take some guys shit."

"How do you know?" Curly man questioned as he threw daggers in my direction.

"'Cause I taught her, jackass," Daryl replied walking over to us with a crossbow strapped to his back. "And you're going to want to choose your words more carefully."

Officer Friendly stepped up in front of me with his hand out trying to smooth things over. "Looks like we got off to the wrong start, let's try this again. I'm Rick."

I glanced down at his hand before meeting his eyes, "Ace."

He got the hint that I wasn't going to be shaking anyone's hand and he gave a slight nod. He looked over to curly haired man and introduced him as Shane before ushering him away.

"Shit Daisy, thought you was dead," Daryl stated once it was just the three of us again.

I cringed hearing my name. I hadn't heard it in so long I had almost forgotten that Ace was just a nickname. Daryl was the only one I ever allowed to call me by my given name.

"Only thing that can kill a Dixon is a Dixon."

I didn't miss the smirk that played on Merle's lips or the slight concern that flashed through Daryl's eyes but both were easily ignored.