Title - Bodies And Souls Collide
Chapter title - When The World Fell Apart
Author - OblivionsGarden
Genre - Hurt/Comfort/Romance/Family/Horror
Disclaimer - I do not own The Walking Dead in anyway shape or form. I only own the plot points surrounding my oc's, not recognized from the show or comics.
Chapter Word Count - 1443 words.

Summary - Everyone remembers where they were when the world fell apart. But that doesn't matter anymore. What matters is surviving, holding on to those closest to us and continuing to move forward, no matter what happens. (Daryl/OC) (Slowburn)

A/n - Finally got around to writing this Daryl/OC fic! I've had it planned for a while but kept putting it off, so it's about damn time. It is going to be a slow burn fic and by slow burn I mean I have no plans of them actually get together until sometime around season 6. The title 'Bodies And Souls Collide' is taken from the song You And I by PVRIS. Not intentionally a song about Daryl and my OC but in some ways it could be interpreted that way. This opening chapter is shorter than the rest of the fic will be as I'm just getting things established.

Please leave a review, I'd greatly appreciate it. Hope you enjoy, xx (:


Everyone remembers where they were when the world started to fall apart.

Teddy was sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair in a circle of other uncomfortable plastic chairs with other people who wished to be elsewhere. Even the session leader, Gail, was thinking of her porch swing and a glass of ros . Teddy glanced around the circle at the people she'd seen every day for the past six months.

Noah and his blue hoodie that she wasn't sure had ever been washed. Julia and her habit of chewing the ends of her hair, which made Teddy wonder if it would come back up as a hair ball like the cat she had when she was six. There was Marcus and Lydia who were so madly in love for saying they only met two weeks ago. Greg and his narcolepsy leaning on the shoulder of Maude who was was nervously picking at her nails.

They all had their issues but that was why they were in that circle. To talk through these issues and deal with them through therapy. Teddy thought therapy was a crock of shit, she just checked herself in to take a break from life. Although, she'd be lying if she said she didn't feel a little better after her sessions with Doctor Stockett.

But in just a few short days she would be back at home, in her own bed with her own belongings. The room she had been staying in was a bland cream colore room. A single bed in the corner, a desk opposite and a wardrobe. That was it. That had been 'home' for six months. How that qualified as a break, she wasn't sure but it had helped soothe her mind. She'd learned not to question things anymore, it only lead to stress.

"Theodora, you're very quiet today. I thought you'd be more excited, what with leaving us on Friday." Gail was grasping at straws not to loose every last bit of interest in her group session. "Are you excited?"

"Ecstatic." Teddy forced a polite smile, sitting up a little straighter before she drifted off into sleep. "My friend's dad is gonna swing by and pick me up. I'm staying at their place until I figure stuff out but I'm gonna go to IHOP on the way home."

"Nothing like pancakes to celebrate your freedom." Noah murmured to himself.

"Well what would you get?"

"Steak. Super rare and bloody." Noah smirked at Teddy's grimace. "Right, I forgot. You're veggie."

Before Teddy could think of something to say the door swung open wide, the handle hitting hard against the wall behind, almost closing it again. One of the junior nurses rushed inside, out of breath and a sheen of sweat on his forehead.

"Doctor, there's an issue."

"I'm in the middle of a session, can't it-"

"It's urgent. It's Melissa."

Murmurs sounded through the circle. Melissa hadn't got better in rehab. She'd been found hanging from the light fixture in her room the night before and gossip gets around fast in that place. Gail stood from her chair and silently followed the nurse from the room. There was a brief pause as everyone glanced from one person to another before they wordlessly decided that the session was over and made to leave.

The halls were bustling with orderlies and various other members of staff. Teddy pulled out her phone, a sure fire way to look like you aren't paying attention to where you're going. She followed one of the nurses to the end of the hall that split off and lead down to the morgue. Three senior members of staff were covered in blood and speaking in hushed voices as more people moved in and out of the doors.

Teddy pretended to type out a text as she watched what was happening. Police had arrived and were being lead to the morgue, two nurses were rushed to the emergency room with gaping wounds on their arms and necks. Soon enough the police had called for back up and everyone was escorted back to their rooms without explanation.

No one slept that night. Screams came from the morgue and the emergency room. Staff passed by the rooms every few minutes, whispering in panicked voices as they failed to stop their hands from shaking. Teddy crept out of her room in the early hours and headed to a young boy called Dylan's room. They'd become friends pretty quickly due to a similar taste in music.

"What's going on?" Dylan asked when Teddy closed the door behind her.

"No idea. Doctor Morovsky was covered in blood this afternoon, saw two nurses with big fuckin' wounds on them. Have you heard the screaming?"

"Yeah." Dylan moved and stood beside her, both with their ears pressed against the door. "Think one of the patients lost it?"

"No. One patient wouldn't cause this much trouble."

A few more hours passed and Dylan had fallen asleep slumped against the wall. Teddy was still wide awake, eyes stinging as the sun rose behind the curtains. It was 6.02 am when she heard the first gunshots.

She was terrified. Dylan shot awake and clung to her arm as she couldn't move away from the door. His nails dug in to the skin of her wrist when she pulled the door open just a crack. Peering out she saw armed guards at both ends of the corridor.

"Close the door!" One of the guards shouted when he saw her.

"What's going on?" She called back.

"Close the door!"

"You can't not tell us! If we're in danger we have a right to know." Teddy shouted, voice lowering when the guard marched toward her.

"Right now all I can tell you is to stay in your room. We have it under control." He gripped the door handle and pulled it shut.

A few minutes later and they heard the door get locked from the other side. Teddy pounded her fists on the door, shouting about how they couldn't just lock them in. No one replied. She began to pace back and forth as Dylan tried to keep himself from breaking down. More gunshots sounded, people were running back and forth, Teddy continued to kick and punch the door until her knuckles were bleeding.

And then all at once everything was silent.

It seemed like hours passed before Dylan spoke up. He asked if she could hear anything from where she was still sat with her ear pressed to the door. She shook her head, an overwhelming sense of dread filling her heart at the lack of sound after everything they had heard earlier. She stood slowly, bones aching from having been still for so long. She tried the door but found it still locked and sighed. Frustrated she moved to the window but grimaced when she saw the drop to the ground from the eighth floor they were on. She thought to try her phone but couldn't get a signal.

Two days passed, trapped in that room. They were hungry, tired and scared. Despite knowing exactly what would happen, Teddy stood again and tried the door. Neither of them were strong enough to break it down. She kicked it in frustration and let out a yell.

"I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE LEAVING TODAY! I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE GOING HOME!"

"Hello?" The voice sounded too faint to be just in the hall, maybe another room.

"Who is that?" Teddy called back, heart suddenly pounding in her chest.

"Doctor Morovsky. Is that you Theodora?"

"Yeah, I'm with Dylan. What happened? Can you get us out?"

Silence, followed by the shuffling of feet. The door in front of her shook and was then unlocked and pushed open, revealing the doctor, covered in dried blood. He shut and locked the door behind him, taking up Teddy's previous post of listening for any noise. When he seemed satisfied he turned to the two terrified patients.

"Monica came back." He frowned as he finally said the words out loud. "She bit Doctor Frasier. Started eating his neck right there on the floor of the morgue."

"What?" Dylan had gone pale, clutching at his stomach. "Eating him?"

"We tried to subdue her, but she just bit the nurses. We sealed the doors as if it were a quarantine exercise and called the police. Apparently it wasn't the first call like that they'd had. They insisted on seeing the nurses in the emergency room... Shot them right in their beds." Doctor Morovsky swayed on his feet and Teddy lead him to sit on the bed. "Then the armed guards turned up and everything went to hell. They were shooting anyone that was bitten and anyone who had gotten Monica's blood on them... Said something about an infection and I knew if they saw me in this state they'd-" He looked down at the blood covering his scrubs.

"Are they still here?" Teddy asked and he shook his head.

"But they're right. There is something wrong with them. The ones who got bit." He stood and unlocked the door. "They're attacking and eating people. I had to... Gail, she attacked me so I hit her with a vase from the hall. She kept coming so I kept hitting and then she didn't get up again."

Suddenly leaving that room didn't seem like such a great option. The three of them sat in silence for a long while until the rumbling on Dylan's stomach caught Teddy's attention. She stood up, taking the keys from Doctor Morovsky's fingers. She opened the door, peering out into the hall, holding up a hand behind her to tell the others to wait.

The hall was silent and still despite the clear chaos that had ensued just two days prior. There was a bed over turned onto it's side by the elevator who's door was stuck open and light no longer working. Doors had been kicked down from the inside and Teddy was glad she didn't have the strength to do that. In one of the rooms, Noah lay face down in a pool of blood and Teddy jumped when Doctor Morovsky appeared beside her and silently pulled the door closed.

The three of them moved slowly and as quietly as possible until they reached the ground floor. There was blood on all of the walls, bodies piled against one wall. Bodies of people they once knew and lived beside. Teddy bit her lip, looking away as Dylan clung to her arm once more. The doors were locked but someone had already smashed through some of the glass.

The outside was quieter than Teddy had ever remembered the world being. She stood for a moment, looking around for any signs of life but no one came. Dylan was looking to her for what to do as he had since he first arrived at rehab. But Teddy, as self assured as she pretended to be, was hoping Doctor Morovsky had a plan because she was at a loss.

They decided to head into the kitchen first, since they hadn't eaten for days. Once they were satiated they packed up as much as they could carry and headed toward the main area of town. That was their first mistake.


The centre of town was full of people. Well... No longer people but they used to be. Teddy knew some of them but they didn't know her anymore. They came toward the group, reaching forward and grabbing, groaning as they did. They ran towards a gas station as fast as they could but Dylan was panicking, not looking when he was going. He fell with a cry and by the time Teddy turned to look, his throat had already been torn away.

The Doctor dragged Teddy inside, the both of them pushing over a vending machine to barricade the door. Teddy dropped to her knees behind the counter, out of view of those things outside. She tried her hardest to catch her breath, ignoring the image of Dylan's blank eyes staring at her.

"Doctor, what are we-"

"Michael. No need to keep calling me Doctor."

"What are we gonna do?"

"There were broadcasts on the radio about everything that was happening." Michael whispered, keeping one eye on the door to the store. "They stopped but they said something about a refugee camp."

"Ok, let's go there."

"In Atlanta."

"So we find a car! Lindale is like an hour and a half from Atlanta, we could make it in a car."

Teddy peeked over the counter and saw that the things were still feasting on Dylan. She looked around and saw a car pulled over haphazardly just a little ways down the street.

"Maybe if we're quiet." She murmured, more to herself than Michael. "I'm so glad I was such a little shit teenager."

"Why?"

"I may have stolen a car or two in my time." She turned to face the Doctor. "Is there a back exit. I don't much feel like lifting that vending machine again."


They lucked out finding a car so close to the gas station. They filled it up and headed off toward Atlanta with the hope that they could find this camp. They tried to find the broadcasts again with the radio but heard nothing. When they reached the city it was almost over run with the things. They doubled back on themselves and stuck to the backstreets where there were fewer of them.

"Hey, we should head in there." Michael pointed to a store that seemed to specialize in hiking, camping and hunting supplies. "We might find something useful. Or at the very least something to defend ourselves with."

That was their second mistake.

It seemed that alot of people had had the idea to head inside the store for supplies. As soon as they were through the door hands were grabbing at their clothes trying to get a grip. Teddy ducked down, pushing her way through the bodies and shouting for Michael to do the same. She tripped and scrabbled across the floor to get away. Hopping up onto her feet she called for Michael again but got no reply.

She spotted the sign for the hunting section and booked it in that direction, stealing a glance behind her for Michael. She didn't see him but she did see the frenzy of things by the door and fresh blood splattering the glass. Fighting back tears she continued on, spotting the hunting knives just ahead. Before she could reach them another walker emerged from behind another shelf. She turned but there were more behind her.

"Fuck!" She cursed, hopping from one foot to the other as her frustrated tears finally fell. "Damn it!"

With nearly no sound at all, the thing before her fell forward and hit the floor, head landing almost neatly between her feet. Teddy stared down wide eyed at the arrow emerging from the back of it's skull. The voice that came after was husky and Teddy looked up to see two men. One wielding a cross bow and a scowl and the other a smirk and a hunting rifle.

"Don't just stand there girly, grab yourself a knife and follow us."