Alright guys. This is my first TWD FanFiction, so please be nice. Now, I know Daryl/OC FanFiction is super common and cliche and stuff like that, but I don't care. I love my OC. She's spunky, awkward, and practically the female version of Daryl. Plus, this ain't all romance. This is a story of change, of family, of loss, of happiness, and of music in a desolate world. I really hope you guys give this a shot because I have so many plans for what to do with this story.

ease leave a review. Reviews are what help the story gets better, what keep my creative juices flowing, and what keep me motivated. Even if a review is bad, I will never ever complain. All forms of feedback are wonderful, no matter if they are good or bad.

please forgive all of my grammatical and spelling errors. I am so ditzy!

Enjoy! - Olivia

"I'm still alive but I'm barely breathing. Just praying to a god that I don't believe in."-Breakeven, The Script

"Shit." I hissed as I narrowly escaped from a hungry walker that was attempting to take a chunk out of my leg. I swung my axe quickly behind me, decapitating the walker with one, swift stroke. God, I was getting absolutely sick of these things.

I ran down the street, looking behind me every few feet to make sure I wasn't being followed. I passed building after building, trying to pick a place where I could hide out for a night. There was Hatlin's, which was a bar, a grocery store, a boutique, a pharmacy, and another small store. There were a few abandoned cars scattered about the street. This place had been abandoned quickly. It made for a pretty good hideout.

I've been on my own, almost from the beginning. For a the first two weeks, I had been with a small group of people that I went to college with. We had all been about to graduate Georgia Tech before it all went to shit. When things started popping up on the news and everything went downhill, we naturally stuck together. I think it's a natural instinct, the need to be together, the need to have people around you. And we were doing well. We had all piled in vans and planned to drive to Atlanta. There was a refugee camp there, or at least, there was supposed to be. We were halfway there when we heard that it was overrun. After that, well, that's when it really got bad.

First, we ran out of gas. All of us, all three of our vans. We packed all we had into our bags and fled into the woods. Then, after our food ran out, things went from bad to worse. Members of our group started getting spooked, started freaking out about everything that was going on. They got loud, and reckless. That attracted walkers.

And then, it happened. The massacre. Hordes of walkers began to attack us, spilling out of the woods like a deadly swarm. We weren't ready. People were screaming, blood was everywhere. Guns shot blindly. I fired my crossbow straight at their heads, wincing as the arrow pierced their heads with a sickening crack. I simply swallowed my fear and kept shooting, shaking as my friends dropped all around me. It went on like this for what felt like hours, but turned out to be only mere minutes. Before I knew it, everything was silent, except for the quiet moaning of my friends as they all slowly succumbed to their injuries. I was the only one left standing.

So I did what had to be done. I ended it. I ended it for all of them. I waited for each one to pass out before I swung my axe, splitting their skulls with one swift blow. I killed them. All of them. Quickly and quietly. No muss. No fuss. I killed my friends because I loved them.

After that, I just picked up my axe and my bow and started walking. And walking. And I never looked back.

That's how I wound up in a rinky dink little town malnourished, dehydrated, and all alone.

I peaked into the small store, listening for any walkers that could possibly be hiding. It was dead silently. Quickly, I walked in and shut the door behind me, sliding down onto the floor with my back against the wall. I groaned as my back popped painfully. I rested my head on the wall and closed my eyes. This was as good of a place as any to rest. My eyelids felt heavy as they slowly closed over my dark blue eyes. I heard faint music playing in the back of my head, pulling me into sleep.

"Come on Nikki!" My brother screamed at me, his bright red bike helmet flashing in the sunlight. He was about twenty feet ahead of me. He had always been a better bike rider than I was, and the fact that he was older than me didn't help.

"Stop making fun of me!" I yelled back in my high pitched voice. I was panting, trying to keep up with him. I could never keep up with him, and I never let myself forget that.

"Whatever Nicole!" He laughed, turning and riding even faster up the hill, disappearing straight into the setting sun. I rolled my eyes and pedaled faster, trying to catch up. But, when I got to the top of the hill, I stopped.

Everything I could see was terrible. The buildings were falling apart in front of me. Dead, mutilated bodies littered the ground. The undead stumbled around aimlessly, groaning and moaning for food, for human flesh.

And, at the top of the hill, stood the most terrifying sight of all. My brother, still in his helmet, staring at me. Only, it wasn't him. Before me stood the walker that used to be my brother. My breath hitched and I choked back a sob. And then he started walking, right towards me. I tried to move out of the way, but my legs felt like lead. I couldn't move. He was coming up on me, and there was nothing I could do to stop him. This was it. This was how I was going to die.

I woke up with a start, my entire body jolting up. My axe hit the ground with a soft thud as it fell from my lap. The music was gone. I had been dreaming. It was the same dream that I had had every single night since my friends died. It was terrifying and stiffening, and I think what makes it so horrifying is the fact that it could be true. My brother could be a walker right now. And I would have no idea.

I was about to close my eyes again when I heard it. A scream. It was a woman's scream, coming from the pharmacy next door. My blood turned to ice. There was a woman next door. Another yell followed, this time a male's. There were two people next door. I haven't seen people in weeks. I didn't know what to do.

They kept screaming and yelling, which I knew was attracting walkers here. They were going to find them, to find me really soon. I had to do something.

"Maggie!" The man yelled. They sounded like they were in trouble. They needed help.

And at that moment, I made a decision, a decision that would change the rest of my life completely. I decided right then to go in and help them. I didn't have anything to lose. Might as well do some good before I go.

I launched myself up from my sitting position, slinging my bow off of my shoulder, knocking an arrow. It had become a sort of habit for me now. I ran out the door of the store and turned left, towards the pharmacy next to me. I could hear grunts and growls coming from the inside. Oh yes, there was definitely a fight going on in there.

Forcefully, I kicked the door open, aiming my bow. There was a walker right there in front of me, and without hesitation, I shot it in the skull. I ran into the store and started shooting at all of the walkers in my sight. There were at least a dozen of them. I heard grunting next to me and knew that one of the other people was taking on a walker. As one closed on on me, I reached for my axe at my side. My axe and my bow were my favorite weapons, although I did enjoy my guns as well. Over the past few weeks, I had become quite skilled at nearly all manners of weaponry. I put my axe through one walker's skull, then pulled it out with a swift yank and struck another, blood splattering on my dark jeans. I didn't care. They would just dry over the other blood stains, the blood of my fallen friends. I kept shooting and striking until they were all down. Even then, I went up to each one and struck them in the head aggressively, just in case.

Slowly, I slung my bow back over my shoulder, my axe still in my other hand. I could feel blood on my hands and arms.

"Thank you." A woman's voice said behind me. She had a thick, southern drawl. I turned around and saw her clearly for the first time. She had short brown hair and warm brown eyes. She wore a green t-shirt and a pair of worn jeans. She was beautiful. She looked me up and down. Honestly, I didn't envy her. I probably looked like absolute hell. I hadn't showered or bathed in days and I hadn't changed since the attack. Needless to say, I was a little gross.

"We would have been dead if you hadn't saved our skins." The man came and stood next to her. He had black hair and fairly tan skin. He looked Asian, maybe Chinese or Korean. He wore a worn baseball cap and a tattered t-shirt. He looked worn down, like he had been through a lot. We all had.

"It was nothing." Was all I said, fairly quietly, looking down at my feet. What was I supposed to say?

"No it wasn't." The girl disagreed, stepping forward. "You risked your life coming in here. You could have easily just let us die. But you didn't. You helped us, even though you have no idea who we are . People like that were hard to find before. Now, it's nearly impossible."

"Oh, well, you make me sound like a hero" I smiled sheepishly. I was taken aback by her straightforward kindness. "but I can guarantee you, I'm just a normal girl."

"So am I. The world needs more girls like us." The man chuckled loudly, and she elbowed him in the gut. They looked like an adorable couple. "I'm Maggie." She smiled. "This is Glenn."

"Hi." Glenn gave me a small smile. I could tell that he was just as wary of me as I was of him, but Maggie seemed unfazed.

"I'm Nicole." I said.

"Where's the rest of your group Nicole?" Maggie asked. "Were you on a supply run or something?"

"No. It's just me." I replied.

"Really?" Glenn seemed shocked.

"Yeah. They all met a rather unfortunate end a few weeks ago. I was the only survivor. Now, I'm just trying to go day to day." It was the truth. I lived day to day, no more, no less. That's what it took to survive. This seemed to surprise them. It was hard to live in this world, but to live in it alone? That was nearly impossible.

Maggie and Glenn exchanged a knowing look, one that I did not understand. I'm sure it had something to do with me, though. After a few moments, Glenn finally shrugged his shoulders and said "Fine. You have to convince the cops though." and Maggie smiled. She turned to me and gave me a kind look.

"We have a farm." She told me. "Just a few miles up the road. We have a group of about 15 of us are holed up there for the time being. You can come with us if you like."

"Oh, no. I wouldn't want to be a burden." I tried to be as polite as I could. The truth was, I didn't know if I could trust them. What if they were horrible people trying to lure me into a trap to kill me and eat me?

But then again, what if they weren't? What if they were actually just good people?

Glenn seemed to sense my apprehension. "Hey, it's cool. I get it. You don't know us. I don't blame you for being nervous. So, how about a deal? If you don't like it, or if it seems too sketchy, we will drive back and drop you off right where we found you, okay?" He offered.

I don't know if it was his sincerity or Maggie's kind smile, but something about them made me believe them. Call me crazy, but it's true. "I'm just surprised that you guys have enough faith in me to trust me so soon. ." I breathed. "Thanks." I added quickly. "I guess I'm coming with you."

"Alright, let's get our stuff and head out." Glenn nodded, walking over and grabbing a knapsack off the bloody ground. They had been here for supplies. Huh, smart people. Maggie followed suit, grabbing her own bag. I turned and began to pull my arrows out of walkers' skulls and put them back in my quiver. I couldn't afford to lose any. After a few moments, we were all set to go.

They led me outside to where their car was parked.

"Umm, I hate to be rude, but," Glenn started. "Could you put your weapons in the trunk, or with Maggie? I know it's a weird question to ask, but…"

"I get it." I nodded knowingly. ""These other people wouldn't be so open to me if I came in armed to the teeth. I get it. It's all about appearances." Glenn seemed relieved that I didn't put up a fight. I headed over to the open trunk and placed my axe, my bow and quiver, and my bag of guns in the car.

"Is that...an AK-47?" Glenn pointed towards my gun, his eyes wide.

"Yeah. I found it on a soldier in Atlanta. Figured he wouldn't mind if I took it." I told him, closing the trunk. Maggie just stared at me while Glenn kept looking at the now closed trunk. I think my gun shocked him.

After his initial fascination wore off, Glenn got in the driver's seat, Maggie rode shotgun, and I sat awkwardly in the back. Boy, I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into.

We rode in an uncomfortable silence. Of course we did. We didn't know each other. I was an outsider, a newbie. In this world, you never knew who to trust.

I looked out the window as we pulled into the farm's driveway. A long white picket fence wrapped around the property. Horses and cows grazed throughout the grassland. A beautiful farmhouse loomed on the horizon, it's walls a brilliant white. I had had dark green shutters and a wraparound porch. A few tents were scattered around the front lawn. There were most definitely people here. More people than I had seen in a long time.

Glenn parked the car at the end of the driveway. A group of people came down to greet them.

"Come say hello!" Maggie gave me a reassuring smile. "They're going to accept you. Trust me." I wanted to. Believe me, I wanted to, but I just couldn't. Not after what I had seen.

They got out of the car simultaneously, but I held back, my nerves freezing me in place. What if they didn't trust me? What if they thought I was lying? What if they were nuts? Well, I had already kind of ruled out the latter. Maggie and Glenn seemed pretty normal.

But still.

I could here greetings being exchanged outside. There were hugs and smiles and laughter. It made my heart ache. I had had that, once. I had had people who loved me, and waited for me to come home, who smiled at me all day. And now, now I was all alone in this hell hole. All of that had been taken away from me. It was just me now, Something they were not familiar with.

I heard Maggie say "Yeah. We barely got out of there alive."

"How did you get out?" A new voice asked. This one belonged to a man, probably an older one.

"We had a little help." Maggie said vaguely. Obviously, she wanted me to make an entrance. "Come on out."

I opened the car door slowly, my nerves still pretty frayed. Here we go. It's now or never.

I turned to face the group, and walked toward them, trying to muster up as much confidence as I could so I would not look so weak. But, I probably ended up doing the opposite.

I scanned the group quickly. They were a very diverse group, ranging quite dramatically in both age and race. Each held a weapon of some sort and looked utterly exhausted. They all looked me over with the same, distrusting stare.

Maggie walked up next to me "Everyone this is…"

"Nicole?" A voice asked from a little further away. My head snapped up so quick that I thought I had gotten whiplash. That voice. That deep, southern voice. It was one I knew, one I knew all too well. "Is that really you?"

"Oh my god." Was all I could whisper as my nerves let go, and I lurched forward, running at full speed. His arms enveloped me in a bone crushing hug. I practically melted in his arms. I didn't care that the rest of my group was looking at me like I was nuts. He was alive. My brother was alive. "Oh my god, I missed you so much Shane."

I will start every chapter with song lyrics. Let me know if you have any ideas!

Please review, fav, and follow!