Alright, so this is my first fanfiction ever. I absolutely love The Walking Dead, and especially Caryl. So please tell me if it was good, any tips are more than welcome! Also, English isn't my native language, so if you find any mistakes, please tell me.

Rated M for cursing, and smut in later chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead, Daryl Dixon, Carol Peletier or any other character of the series or comics.

Oh, and one more thing.. Please enjoy! :) Megan

"Say what now?!" Daryl growled angrily.

"You're telling us we're ALL infected?!" T-Dog asked, his eyes widened with shock.

Rick sighed. "I know, I should've told y'all sooner."

"Yeah, ya should. So why didn't ya, huh?" The hunter barked.

They had been driving non-stop since they had to leave the farm, but now they had stopped to discuss what their next step would be. It was then that the cop decided to tell them about the infection.

Everyone stared at Rick in disbelief. He cleared his throat, opened his mouth, and then shut it again, not knowing what to say.

"So.. we're all becoming walkers?" they heard a small voice say. Carl stepped up from behind Carol.

Carol.. She looked so scared. Daryl couldn't stand it, and for some reason he felt like he needed to comfort her. When she caught his gaze, he gave her a quick nod before looking back to Rick.

"Well.. Eventually, yes. I think so. Unless someone, somewhere finds a cure in time. Or, you know.." Rick swallowed, looking at his gun. The boy smiled at his father, "I'm sure they'll find a cure, dad." The cop smiled back, clearly relieved by his answer.

Daryl let out a sarcastic chuckle, but said nothing. Lori shot him a warning look, and he shrugged. Stupid bitch. He knows she's a mother, but not of the whole fucking group. He had never really liked the woman, but she was the wife of his best friend, so he had decided to just ignore her instead of fuss about it.

Everyone was quiet for a few seconds, before they saw a stray walker stumbling out of the woods, moaning softly. Beth let out a small squeal in surprise, which caused it to turn around in their direction. It started growling and reached out for them with its rotten fingers, eager to get to its meal. It didn't get far before an arrow struck its left eye though, and it dropped onto the ground with a small thud.

Daryl looked annoyed as he went for his arrow, holding the head at its place with his boot as he pulled it out. "Yer' a nasty-smellin' son of a bitch," he mumbled, before turning around, seeing how everyone stood there, watching him.

"What are y'all lookin' at? Y'all wanna wait 'round for other geeks tryna eat us?"

Hershel cleared his throat. "He's right. We gotta move, find something safe for the night." Everyone nodded in agreement. "So what's the plan?" Lori asked. Glenn spoke up, "Let's just drive around until we find a house or something, we can spend the night there and look for a more permanent place in the morning. I'm fucking exhausted."

"All right then. Let's go." Rick answered, and everyone got back to their cars.

Daryl swung his crossbow back over his shoulder and walked over to his bike. As he saw Carol looking around not sure of what to do, his lips formed into a small smile.

"Ya comin' or what?" She looked up and hurried towards him, sending him a thankful smile. He liked it when she smiled at him, although she hadn't done it much since.. since Sophia.

Daryl swallowed. He was still mad at himself for failing her and Carol, he was so close.. And then that asshole Shane went all fucking crazy and opened up the barn, and all those geeks came out.. And Sophia. He was too late and there was nothing he could do about that.

He shook off his thoughts, strapped his crossbow to the back of the bike carefully, and swung his leg over the shaft. She quickly climbed onto the bike as well and wrapped her arms around his waist tightly.

He touched her hand for a second before looking at her face in one of the mirrors, "Ya good?" She shifted a little before nodding at him.

"Hold on then." He said, feeling her tighten her grip even more. He revved up the engine and they drove off as the cars followed.

They had been driving for a while now, seeing nothing but trees. They needed to find a town, but he had no idea where they were. Daryl looked down at her hands, which were mindlessly playing with the edges of his shirt. It kind of tickled as her fingers brushed past his skin. The woman even had her head rested against his back. He shivered slightly, but decided he wouldn't disturb her thoughts.

Instead he looked around him, trying to see any buildings over the treetops. Still nothing. But luckily, after a few minutes a large building appeared in the distance, and he sighed in relief. He hadn't noticed until now, but he was really tired. It seemed like a large office building, and Daryl stopped at the side of the road. Rick pulled up next to him and rolled his window down.

"Ya wanna check it out?" Daryl grumbled. "Seems pretty great if it's not crowded with walkers. Just stay alert, okay?" Rick answered, and he drove off.

Before he followed the others, Daryl looked behind him at Carol and said, "When we get there, ya stay behind me, ya hear me? I don't want ya gettin' hurt or

anythin'."

Carol threw him a surprised look, but nodded and said, "Yeah, okay." He was satisfied with that answer, and they continued their way.

When they arrived, there were only a few walkers staggering around. They were taken down quickly by Glenn and Daryl, while Carol stayed on the back of the bike as promised.

When all the guys but Hershel went inside to clear the rest of the building out, she decided it was safe and got off. While she walked over to the rest of the group, her thoughts wandered off to Daryl.

He had saved her last night, and she couldn't be more grateful for that. She saw Andrea being taken down by walkers, and at that moment she was sure she'd be too. She tried to run, but there were just too many. They were literally everywhere.

And then Daryl suddenly showed up with his bike, and she saw the fear in his eyes. She knew he cared for the group, even though he barely ever showed it. But she'd never expected to see him scared like that. She had heard him mumble, "It's okay. Everything will be fine. You're okay. You're safe," to her once they drove away from the farm.

Throughout the day she had grown more tired, so she had decided to rest her head against his back. She felt his body stiffen, but he had relaxed pretty soon.

She never realized how nice he smelled until then. But then again, he hadn't really smelled him ever before.

She giggled at the thought of her secretly sniffing him when he wasn't looking. When she noticed the strange looks Lori and Maggie gave her, she quickly wiped the smile off her face.

"I really wish I could take a long, hot shower now.." Lori sighed. Carol wanted to say something, but at that moment she heard a short whistle coming from the building. They all turned around to see Daryl giving them a thumbs up. He had a huge smile on his face, which was rare. So something told her that whatever was in there, had to be pretty amazing.

They took the few supplies they managed to take from the farm out of the car, and followed Daryl inside. As soon as they got in, everyone let out cries of joy. Rick and Glenn came walking towards them, also smiling.

"Can you believe it? A fucking furniture store!" Maggie cheered. "Oh my god Rick, this is fantastic!" said Lori as jumped in her husband's arms. Everyone was ecstatic.

Carol looked around and smiled. This is almost too good to be true. There were even a few actual rooms, to serve as an example for customers. There was a beds section, a living room section, a dining room section..

If they could gather some food and supplies, it would be a pretty great place to stay. There are no windows, so walkers couldn't spot them easily. And they could lock the door from the inside, so that no one could sneak up on them. She jumped when a low, familiar voice disturbed her thoughts.

She looked up into the most beautiful blue eyes she had ever seen. They weren't as blue as hers, but a bit darker. It suited Daryl, kind of matched his personality, somehow. A bit dark, but still really nice if you looked a little deeper.

"Didn't mean to scare ya. I said, pretty good place huh?" He grinned. She smiled and nodded. "Absolutely! We can finally sleep in real beds again.. And luckily we've got plenty of blankets and sheets now, because I left my pajamas and spare clothes at the farm.."

Was it just her, or did he blush when she said that? He suddenly looked somewhat shy, gave her a quick nod and rushed off, leaving her slightly confused. Well.. that was odd. But then again, it wasn't the first time he was acting strange around her, so she decided not to think anything of it. She guessed Daryl was just not that good in conversations.

She walked around the huge store, and heard two muffled voices as she walked past one of the example rooms.

"Glenn, I want to be near my father and Beth tonight!"

"But.. Then we can't.. you know.." She heard Glenn mutter.

She heard a loud sigh, guessing it was Maggie. "Is that all you think about?"

"Oh come on Mag, don't pretend you didn't think about it when you saw all these heavenly beds?"

"Well.." A short giggle. "Alright. I guess daddy and Beth are safe enough here." She heard the young girl say.

She smirked. She was really glad for the youngsters that they had found eachother. With it being the end of the world and all, it wasn't exactly a great place to find love. But then again, it wasn't impossible either, Maggie and Glenn had proved that.