A/N: Why I'm so obsessed with the Walking Dead, I'll never know.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

No one knew what started the virus. It seemed as though one day, the dead decided to stop being dead. As the virus spread and more people were dying and un-dying, panic swept through the globe.

But Joanna Cross would not be stopped.

Her daddy taught her to stand her ground and to fight for what she believed in. He taught her at a reasonable age how to handle a gun only in dire circumstances. He taught her never to waste food. Sometimes, Jo thought he knew about the upcoming apocalypse.

Exhaling slowly, Jo pulled her compound bow back. The doe tip-toed around a bush, sniffing it hesitantly. Jo closed her left eye, relying on her dominant eye for guidance. Aiming for the heart, Jo was just about to let the bolt fly when a whiz and a thud made her draw back behind a tree suddenly.

An arrow was sticking out of the doe. An arrow that wasn't Jo's.

Daryl Dixon quietly made his way to his kill. He rubbed a dirty hand over his weary face. The doe was big enough to feed everyone back at camp, but something was off. He felt like he was being watched. A twig snapped to his left and he drew his crossbow up immediately. A girl was standing there, a large compound bow drawn back with an arrow ready to fly into his skull.

"That was mine." She said slowly. Daryl growled.

"It's my bolt in its heart." He tried not to snarl at the girl. Ever so slowly, she relaxed her bow and lowered it, still keeping the arrow notched just in case.

"I've been following her for two days." She told him, her voice neutral. Jo knew he wouldn't give up the doe easily. She doubted he'd give it up at all.

"Listen girly, I ain't got nothin' against ya, but I have a group to feed." Daryl snapped now that the arrow wasn't trained on him.

"How many?" Jo asked, her voice barely above a whisper. She'd been with a group until a week ago when they ignored her about the cave they found. She had a bad feeling and decided to keep watch outside while the three others, a female and two males, investigated. Their screaming echoed loud enough for Jo to get the hell out of there before what was inside decided to come out.

"Too many." Daryl simply told her. He didn't know this girl. He didn't know how many she was with. They already had too many damn mouths to feed.

"I'm alone." She told him, taking a step closer. Daryl tensed as she came closer. "I can help hunt and cook. I'm good with a gun and a knife." She told him, bending down to help carry the doe.

"It ain't my decision…" He told her hesitantly. A girl like her all alone? He figured she could take on the world if she could survive this long alone. But there was no harm in taking just one girl into camp… Shane could decide what to do with her.

When they got back to camp, Daryl stared at a strange man who was holding onto Lori and Carl for dear life. Daryl always figured they were Shane's since he and Lori fucked loudly in the woods all the time. It was a damn nuisance when Daryl was trying to hunt.

Daryl looked around and noticed that someone was missing. His brother. The new man told him about what happened and Daryl saw red. He couldn't believe they just left his brother handcuffed to a roof. He was ready to leave camp right then and there to go get Merle when he heard a small cough from behind him and a hand on his arm. The girl was looking at him grimly.

"You'll lose the light before you even reach the outskirts. And you can't help him dead." She told him. Daryl had to furiously bite his lip to keep in the string of obscenities he wanted to belt at her, but he knew she was right.

"I'm going first thing tomorrow." He snarled and pushed past her roughly. He ducked into his tent to gather the necessities and stuffing them into his old rucksack. He paused when he heard the girl introduce herself.

"My name is Jo and my group was… They didn't survive. I'd be very grateful if you let me stay here with you." Jo smiled a little. There were a lot of them, it almost gave her hope.

"It's nice to meet you, Jo. I'm Lori; this is my husband Rick, and my son Carl." When the long-haired brunette turned to her husband, a tear escaped from one of her eyes. Two blondes stepped forward and took over introductions.

"I'm Amy, and this is my sister Andrea. Up on the RV is Dale, the one sulking over there is Shane, that's Carol and her daughter Sophia and her husband Ed is over there. That's Glenn, T-Dog, Jacqui, Jim, and the Morales family." Amy spoke rapidly, pointing to each person in return. Jo tried to keep up, but names were never her strong suite.

"Where ya from, Jo? You don't have a Georgian accent." Andrea asked.

"I was born and raised in Chicago until my dad moved down to Georgia when I was 17." Jo smiled, remembering her old house. Her old life.

"How old are you now?" Amy asked bluntly.

"Um, 25 now." Jo thought back to when her last birthday was. She could barely remember through all the martinis her friends had bought her to drown her 'sorrows' for being half way to 30.

"That's a pretty fancy bow there. Where'd you learn to hunt?" Shane came over to the girls, eyeing Jo up and down. She was a brunette, her bust-length hair pulled into a side ponytail draping over her shoulder. Her green eyes narrowed as he took in her dirty blue jeans and black t-shirt. It hung loosely now, lack of food taking its toll on her. Before all this had happened, Shane suspected she might have been chubby. But now she was almost pure muscle.

"I was in archery club in college. My dad saw how much I loved it and bought me this baby for Christmas last year." Jo shrugged. There was something about this guy that unsettled her. He was staring at her like she was prey. A rough hand pulled her around and she was staring at the hunter from earlier. He glared at Shane.

"She needs a place ta stay an' I just so happen ta have room." He snarled and pulled Jo into his tent. Jo turned, arms raised.

"Relax. I ain't gunna do nothin' to ya. Just didn't like the looks Shane was givin' ya." Daryl mumbled and motioned for her to take the bed. He picked up Merle's blanket and settled into the cot his brother slept in. It reeked something awful, but he'd rather take it than let her suffer. She eyed him warily but sat on the dirty mattress.

"I never caught your name. I'm Jo." She looked at the rough man as he turned on his side away from her. Jo let out a huff and furiously turned in her bed to face the opposite wall of the tent as well.

"Daryl." She barely caught his name as she drifted off.

Reviews are greatly appreciated