Time After Time

This is the first walking dead Fanfiction I have ever written, so please excuse me if it's not that good. This will be set during the first season at the quarry because I have only seen season one and half of two. Hopefully, it won't take long for me to catch up. I started writing this for my sheer love of Daryl! Anyways, I've blabbered a bit now. I hope you enjoy and please leave a review!

Chapter One

Lyra

It's been three months since the world turned to shit…three months since I last saw another human being apart from my little brother, Cole. Every single day we've been living day by day, hoping that we will live to see another sunrise, hoping that we'll live long enough to find more survivors. It had been so long since we started walking. We'd walked in circles for weeks and we still hadn't found another being of vitality. I was beginning to think there were just us.

"Cheer up" I heard Cole say as he hitched his rucksack higher on his back. For a sixteen year old boy he was pretty insightful. Ever since the world got fucked up, he had changed. He was more sensitive and he could actually respond to a woman crying.

"I am cheerful" I lied, wiping my sweaty hair away from my face. I guess when the only thing you're concerned about is survival, you forget about personal hygiene. "Forgive me for having other things on my mind besides entertaining you" And that's how it's been for the past three months. Every time Cole tries to say or do something nice for me, I shoot him down and belittle him. I know it's wrong, but I just can't seem to bite my tongue long enough.

"You know it wouldn't kill you to treat the one person you have left in this bullshit world with a little bit of respect" He snapped. I said he was sensitive now. I gave a deep sigh before slinging an arm over his shoulder.

"I know, Cole" I mumbled. I wasn't exactly the best person with apologies or heart felt conversations. I was blunt. I liked to stick to the point and the situation in hand. "I shouldn't say those things about you. Man, you're only sixteen…you shouldn't have to deal with these things."

"Well, it's not like we're in a situation to be claiming what's right and what's wrong" He pointed out as he grinned at me. "Let's face it, it doesn't matter how much we complain…we're not getting out of this one. Might as well deal with it."

It was at moments like this where I wondered how he had managed to get that mature and that wise in such a short space of time. He was better at this whole surviving thing than I was. He was in the right mind set. He could deal with this. He was strong enough to make the hard decisions. At only sixteen, he had seen so much death and so much sadness. You can't come out of that without it having some sort of effect on you. There's just no possible way.

"Come on, we should take a break" I sighed as I stopped him from walking and took a seat in a clearing of the woods that we were stumbling around. Cole dropped his rucksack from his back and then emptied the contents before us. We were running out of essentials. Food was plummeting and we barely had any water left. If we were ever going to find other survivors, the time would be now.

"Do you think we're actually going to find any others?" Cole asked as he peered through the trees. "Do you even think there are any others?" I wanted so badly to answer all of his questions with a 'hell yes,' but I couldn't bring myself to lie to him. I didn't want him living a life where he's constantly fearing for his life and he's got to deal with false hope.

"I don't know, Cole" I whispered. "I really don't…but I really hope there are." I could feel the tears brimming in my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I wasn't about to make Cole endure another crying issue. He'd dealt with enough of those over the past few weeks. How was he so much stronger than me? I wanted to be there for him, but I was simply too weak.

"Hey, it will happen" He assured as he wrapped an arm around me. "As long as we try hard enough. Come on, have something to eat." Reluctantly, I took the piece of bread he offered me and nibbled at the corners.

For a moment, there was just silence. No one moved, no one breathed. Silence. That was until something firm and violent grabbed at my hair and yanked my upwards. The searing pain that shot through my skull was indescribable. It felt like someone had pulled all of my hair out by the roots. At least I knew that it wasn't a walker. A walker couldn't be that strong…couldn't be that stealthy.

An arm wrapped its way around my neck and held me tightly in place. I could barely focus properly, but I was aware that Cole was in the same position as me. His attacker was a human…a survivor. After three months, we had finally found survivors and they were practically strangling us.

Kicking and screaming didn't help. My attacker's grip just got tighter. I knew that Cole's captivator was trying to reason with us, but I couldn't listen. I was too far gone in panic mode. Nothing that anybody said would change this.

"She ain't gonna stop strugglin'" The guy behind me grunted as I kicked more and more.

"Well, you're just gonna have to try" The other shouted.

"I'm just gonna have to knock this summbitch out" He called. WHAT!? There is no way anyone is going to knock me out. I felt his hand slip around from my waist and up to my mouth and nose. He covered both parts of my body and gripped tightly. I began to panic more and thrashed about like a madwoman.

It didn't take long for my vision to blur and for my body to grow limp before I slumped into the man's arms.

Daryl

I carried the girl over my shoulder all the way back to camp. And no, I did not feel bad for what I did to that bastard. She shouldn't have been going on the way she was. If she'd just come forward quietly, I wouldn't have had to knock her out.

When we made it back to camp, I got a bit of grief from the other guys for doing that to a 'lady,' but it was nothing that I couldn't handle.

"Why the hell did you do that to her?" Lori all but screamed at me. Man, I couldn't handle that bitch either. She was always way too hormonal. "These are the first new survivors that we have seen in weeks! And you knocked her out because she was clawing at you. Are you that much of a pussy!?"

"No! I am not a pussy!" I shouted back. Yeah, I might get a little sensitive or whatever when people talk to me like that, but I can't help it. "She was screaming! I didn't want to attract every walker for miles. No, as per usual, you wouldn't think about that"

I'm not usually a dick. Well, that's debatable, but you get my drift. I can be a bit awkward, but I'm not a dick. I can be a pretty nice person if you catch me on a good day. There's just something about Lori that pisses me off so much.

"Hey, I think she's waking up" I heard Glenn say. Even though I claimed that I didn't feel bad, I still wanted to make sure that she was okay. After all, it was me who had knocked her out.

Lyra

My vision was still hazy, but at least I was waking up. I couldn't tell where I was, who was around me or what was happening.

"Where am I?" I asked whoever it was who was leaning over me.

"It doesn't matter where you are" A soft voice soothed. "How are you feeling?" She had brown curly hair that spilled over her shoulders and a kind face, but I knew I couldn't trust her. In this situation, who could you trust? It was at that moment that I remembered Cole. Was he hurt?

"Where's Cole?" I asked, trying to sit up, but my head had other plans. "Is he okay?" The woman pushed me back down onto the ground and smiled warmly.

"Hey, you need to relax" She soothed. "He's just fine. He didn't create as much a fuss as you did. He didn't need to be knocked out." I didn't want to hear about the commotion I made. I wanted to see my brother.

"Who knocked me out?" I asked as I fought against her to stand up. "Which one of you sick fucks thought it was okay to leave me without a breath!?" I was infuriated. Someone had practically choked me in order to keep me quiet.

"It was me" A guy sighed. His hair was covered in sweat and water. He was the scruffiest out of the lot, but hey, who really cared at the moment. I wanted to launch myself at him and punch him into oblivion, but I knew that my head wouldn't be able to stand it.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" I shouted.

"Lyra, calm down" Cole sighed as he came up behind me. "The important thing is that we've found survivors and we're safe. Just forget about what he did." That was the first unwise thing that my brother had ever said since the world turned to shit. How did he expect me to forget the fact that some guy knocked me out? Things like that didn't just get forgotten about.

"You should listen to your brother" The man laughed. "He talks some sense. Probably the first one around here who ever has, man. He ain't no fool."

"Oh, shut up, Daryl." The sheriff snapped. He seemed to be the leader of the group. He stepped forward and took my hand in his own.

"I'm Rick" He introduced. "I'm so sorry about the way that you had to meet us. Daryl is a little silly under pressure.

"I am not" He defended.

"Anyways, I'd like to welcome you to our little group." He smiled. Looking back on it, I can tell that he was trying to be nice and make me feel included in this but, at the time, I just threw it all back in his face.

"What makes you think I want a welcome from you guys?" I questioned. "After what you guys did to me and my brother, you can just go fuck yourselves. I don't want to be a part of your stupid little group." I couldn't help storming off. I was just so angry at them all. How did they possibly think that it was okay for them to do something like that?

That was where it all started. That was where my survivor family started and that was where my hatred for Daryl Dixon started. One month on, I still have that same hatred.

Well, I know it was a short first chapter, but it was kind of like an introductory to the story. So, did you like it? Hate it? Any opinions? Please review, so I know if I should continue on with a second chapter or not. Thanks!