Chance meeting.
Hey folks! So this is an alternative start of my Walking Dead fanfic "What are the odd's". There is a difference between them though, meaning the timing in the season. This one starts just after they get to the prison whereas "What are the odd's" starts a little after, when they have the farm set up. I hope you enjoy and read the full fic :).
I awoke to the early morning light as usual. No point wasting precious daylight hours. Climbing slowly out of my bedroll I stretched and looked about me.
As I changed my clothes my mind wandered. How long had I been alone? The dead were walking for a year. My group had slowly been picked off one by one. Jeff had been turned five months ago leaving me as the only survivor of our group.
That's when I went on the run. I never stayed in one place longer then a week.
I had been in this abandoned home for a few days now, but I felt restless. It was time to move on.
I had been studying my torn map, looking for a small, quiet town to settle in. There was a small town a few miles away that looked promising.
Rolling up my bedroll I packed what little possessions I had. Drawing the curtain aside I checked to see if the coast was clear. There were a few walkers but I could take them.
I drew my knife as I pulled open the door. I rushed down the garden path towards the bike I had borrowed long ago. Rotting fingers reached towards me but with a few skilled lunges they were down.
I loaded my bedroll onto the rack on the back of the bike, dumped my water bottle, map and gun into the basket on the front and hefted my backpack further up my back.
Weaving through the abandoned cars, I let my mind wander. What I really needed was a permanent place to settle. Somewhere less populated. Somewhere I could fortify and live the rest of my days. I was tired of running.
I nearly collided with an overturned car and decided now was not the time to ponder things but to pay attention lest I fall flat on my ass and get munched on by the dead.
I reached the town in fairly good time. Just past noon as I had gotten lost a few times. Leaning my bike against a wall I did a quite sweep of the town. The door to houses hung open, clearly they had been ransacked so I skipped past them. At the end of the road there was a nursery. It looked a little worse for ware but relatively secure. This would be my place of rest for the night.
I shimmied through an open window, knife in hand. I quietly dumped my bags into one of the cots and made to check the rest of the rooms.
I made my way through the building, taking anything that could be useful. Searching through the back of a cupboard I found a flashlight. It still worked.
The door to the room crashed open and I shot to my feet, reaching for my gun. I stopped short when I found myself staring down the length of a crossbow. I raised my hands slowly as I met the gaze of the crossbow's wielder.
He looked surprised. I think he expected a walker. We stood looking at each other. Was he going to shoot? If I made a move to grab my gun, surely he would fire. My fate rested on his shoulders.
I took a deep breath and gave a small smile. He took aim and I closed my eyes, waiting for his arrow to piece my heart.
The whisper of his shot brushed past my ear. My eyes shot open as I chanced a glance behind me. A walker was crumpled at my feet. Where had it come from? I noticed a small door to the side. I could be chow right now if not for my rescuer. Glancing back up to Mr. Crossbow I noticed his weapon still pointed at me but lowered slightly.
"You saved my life?" he looked me up and down, sizing me up.
"I saved my life. Where are your people?" he narrowed his eyes at me.
"In the ground." I said simply with little emotion. It would not be wise to show him how terrified I was. I moved to take hold of my gun and he took aim again. Holding my hand up I took hold of the gun and lay it on the ground. My other weapons soon followed. "I don't have much so take it or kill me." He relaxed his stance a little.
"How long have you been on your own?" now that the adrenalin had gone I noticed he had a southern accent. Strange the things you noticed in dire situations.
"Five months." he raised an eyebrow. He was rocking on the balls of his feet slightly, ready for a fight or flight. "Look, I don't like the unknown. Are you going to kill me or not?" I rested my hand on my hips.
"You want to die?"
"Not particularly but we all die sometime. Just don't let me become one of those." I gestured to the dead body at my feet. "Or tie my shoelaces together. That would be hilarious." I said humourlessly. He smiled slightly. He had blue eyes I noted.
"I'm not going to kill you. What's your name?" he had lowered his bow.
"Sarah." he kicked my weapons back towards me. Replacing them in their holsters I asked, "And you are?"
"Daryl."
"Daryl... Thank you for saving... Our lives." I smirked at him. "Are you staying here?" I noticed neither of us had moved. I think we each expected the other to attack so I lifted myself up and sat on the countertop.
"Nah. Gathering supplies." I noticed the toy duck clutched in his hand.
"You have a baby?" I received a glare. I jumped back off the countertop and he raised his bow. "I presume a new born?" Sticking my head back into the cupboard I pulled out all the things he would need and shoved them into my supply bag. "There should be a medical cabinet around here. I bet it's in the office." I pushed past him while he looked on disbelievingly. I smiled when I heard footsteps following me.
The office was at the far end of the building, somewhere I hadn't scouted yet.
"Have you checked for walkers?" he nodded so I left my knife sheathed. The place was a gold mine. "I'm surprised this place hasn't been looted." Emptying the entire contents of the cabinet into the bag, I handed it to him. "Some toys would be a good idea too."
"Why are you doing this?" he asked, looking at me like I was some sort of alien.
"I have a soft spot for children." I shrugged my shoulders.
"You lost a kid?"
"No. My nephew. Maybe." A raised eyebrow from him. "I'm from England. My family are back there." I felt a lump in my throat so I pushed passed and returned to my bags. There were a few toys still in the cots. I handed him a cuddly teddy bear. "You look after that baby. Life is precious these days. It was a pleasure meeting you Daryl. Good luck out there."
Grabbing my bag I moved into one of the corners to set my bed up. Maybe I could fortify this place, it seemed pretty quiet and it hadn't been looted. Maybe no one else would come here.
Sighing, I stood and rolled my shoulders. I was tired of running.
I jumped out of my skin when I turned round and he was still there.
"Shit!" I placed my hand on my heart. He smirked at me. "What are you playing at?"
"You're coming with me." He simply said.
"Excuse me?" Confusion filled me.
"I'm not leaving you here on your own." His bow was completely lowered now.
"And how do I know I can trust you? How do I know that you're not some psycho just looking to get his kicks? The last guys who show up killed my friends and left me for dead." I growled. I didn't know this man and though he seemed alright, I couldn't trust him. He narrowed his eyes.
"We'd protect you from people like that. You were prepared for death not too long ago. You have nothing to lose." I conceded his point.
"And how do you know I'm not a psycho?"
"I've known a lot of psycho's. You aren't one of them." what a curious man.
I wanted to go with him but I was also scared. What if he was what he appeared? What if his group were good people? Would they accept me? Would I become one of them? Would I love them and lose them like I had with my last group?
"I... I don't know you. I'm tired of running... But I've been betrayed before."
"I can't in good conscience leave you here, alone." he tried to reason with me.
"Can I keep my weapons? And if I want to leave you won't stop me?" he smiled.
"Yeah. Come on, before it gets dark." I moved slowly so as not to look too eager. Maybe tonight I could get a decent nights rest. I gathered my things and followed him outside. A wide grin spread across my face as he stood beside a motorbike.
"Sweet." he flashed me a lopsided smile as he took my bedroll and attached it to the bike and straddled it.
"Hop on." he jerked his head at me. I positioned myself behind him. "Grab on, I don't bite." I laughed as I wrapped my arms around him and blushed slightly.
It was exhilarating. The wind blowing through my hair. I felt refreshed and happy. The ride wasn't long and shock filled me when we pulled up to the gates of a prison. As soon as he shut the engine off I let go.
"This is perfect." I whispered to myself. I received a questioning look at the huge grin on my face. "I might be able to sleep properly for once." he nodded and grabbed his bags. I took the one filled with toys and followed him.
"The group won't trust you at first. We only just got here ourselves. Our leader... He's just lost his wife so its probably best if we keep you out of sight until he's a bit more stable."
"I understand." Just then a young boy came down the steps that lead into the prison cellblock.
"Who's this?" He asked as his hand moved to his gun. Sadness filled me. He was too young for this.
"Sarah. She's been on her own for a while. Couldn't leave her." Daryl handed the boy one of his bags and they both surveyed me. I tried a small smile.
"Dad won't like this." I shifted a little under their gaze.
"We'll keep her locked in a cell until your dads back with us." The boy must be their leaders son. I put the bags on the ground and took hold of my gun. The boy's gun was drawn and pointing at me in the blink of an eye.
"Relax." I repeated the motion I did earlier with Daryl. My weapons discarded on the ground I kicked them towards the boy. "I just want a chance if you'll let me." he seemed to approve and gathered my weapons.
"I'm Carl." He turned and entered the building. Daryl gestured for me to follow.
The cellblock was dark and dingy. But I couldn't feel safer.
The sound of a crying baby reached my ears. We came to a small room where a small crowed was gathered.
"Newbie in the house." Daryl said loudly. All eyes turned on me.
They were a mix-matched group. An old man with one leg, an Asian man, a teenaged girl, Carl, Daryl and a woman around my age holding the baby. I smiled nervously at them. I handed the bags with the baby stuff to the boy while Daryl fixed a bottle of formula.
Daryl had said the baby was a newborn but by the looks of it he/she must have been a few days old at the most. My heart melted as I looked at it.
"What..." I stopped my question right away. They watched me like a hawk. "He... She's beautiful." Daryl took hold of the baby and started to feed it. I couldn't help the smile that came to my face. It was a strange sight, a redneck feeding a baby.
"This is Hershel, Glen, Beth and Maggie. Rick is... Around somewhere." I nodded to each of them. "And this right here, is Little Asskicker. Hey, You like that?" he spoke in a cooing voice. I couldn't help but smile. "This is Sarah."
"Pleased to meet ya." Hershel said and smiled slightly at me. The rest just looked on curiously.
"She's been on the run for five months. On her own."
"Really?" Glen exclaimed.
"Yeah. Not slept right since." I rubbed at my eyes absently. "I understand if you want me to leave. But if I have to leave can I sleep first? I'm exhausted." Daryl looked to Glen.
"We could lock her in a cell? She gave all her weapons to Carl."
"Yeah. When Rick's back we'll discuss what to do with her." Glen ran his hand through his hair. "Come one." He gestured for me to follow him.
"Make it a cell on the upper floor and away from the rest of us." Maggie said not unkindly. "Sorry, we got to protect our own."
"I understand. Just... Thank you." I followed Glen and Carl trailed behind, keeping watch on me. We climbed to the upper floor of the cells. He ushered me along the walkway and to the cell furthest away.
"I'm gunna have to check your bag." He held his hand out. "Now." He said forcefully when I was not forthcoming.
"I'd much prefer a woman checking it please." he nodded quickly.
"Fine." as soon as my bag left my hand the door was closed and locked.
The cell consisted of a bunk bed, toilet and a small sink. I flipped over the mattress to the cleaner side and lay down. Before I knew it I was fast asleep.
My backpack was returned to me the next morning. I hadn't meant to sleep for so long. I must have needed the rest.
It seemed that Rick hadn't returned but had been informed of my arrival. Daryl had been told to watch me, which suited me fine. I trusted him to a certain extent. I stuck by his side as we walked out of the prison into the field.
We made our way to what looked like a grave. I noticed the flower clasped in his hand.
"Who did you loose?" I asked softly.
"Too many people. This... this is for Carol. We didn't find her body." he sat on the ground and rested his elbows on his knees.
"I'm sorry. How long ago?"
"Yesterday."
"Yesterday? Holy shit." he nodded. I sat beside him while we just looked at her grave. I laid my hand on his knee briefly, offering what little support I could.
Yeaa... Wasn't sure where to end this so I ended it here. Might come back to it. Might not. Hope you enjoyed.