Rick sighed as he sat next to Lori in the circle. The group had pulled in for the night, Rick sealing them into an old super market, long picked clean. It had been two months since they had escaped the farm, and this was one of the safer places they had stayed.

CRASH

Rick jumped as glass shattered as box fell from the table Carl was sitting on. The boy appeared sheepish for scaring the group.

"Sorry!"

Rick sighed. "Its all-"

CRASH CRASH CRASH

Rick jumped to his feet as the ceiling gave way, walkers raining down on the group. Everyone scattered as they ran, Beth being cut off and chased down a hallway. Rick turned to go after her as a walker fell on him. Rick struggled before Tdog kicked the walker off of him, stabbing it in the eye. The group ran out of the building, running to where the cars were parked. As they ran, walkers poured out behind them, dozens right on the groups heels. Another dozen walkers appeared at a corner, forcing the group away from the cars. The group circled up as walkers surrounded them. Rick pulled his pistol, firing as fast as he could, knowing they didn't have nearly the ammo to fight off this many walkers.

One walker grabbed Rick's arm, and just as he shot at it, the walker's head exploded. As the body fell, Rick saw a black truck come barreling towards the group, someone leaning out a window shooting the walkers.

The truck circled the group, keeping the walkers at bay as the shooting continued. Rick pulled the group in close as the last of the walkers fell, and the truck stopped.

Two men jumped out of the truck, running up to the group. The men were massive, covered in muscles, tattoos and weapons. They each had two pistols on their hips, the younger carrying a crossbow while the older had a massive gun. They both wore black leather vests, covered in patches. Rick knew enough to recognize them as real bikers, ones that clearly were ready to fight.

"Anyone bite? Scratched?"

Rick looked around, and saw everyone shake their heads, before he realized something.

"Beth, she's in there still!"

The older man nodded as he handed the gun to the younger man.

"Ya good?"

The younger man nodded. "Go on, I got this."

The man turned back to Rick. "What does she look like?"

Maggie stepped forward with tears running down her face. "Blonde, 21, small. She got chased down the hallway coming out of the main room."

The man nodded. "Stay here, I'll be back."

Beth screamed as hands grabbed around her ankle, pulling her to the floor. She kicked back at the walker as it pulled itself across the floor towards her. Beth tried to kick off the rotting corpse, but the long dead man had grabbed both her feet. Beth sobbed as he pulled closer to her, knowing that her death was here, before suddenly the walker was thrown off of her.

Beth yelped as a huge man stepped over her, crushing the walker's head below his boot. Beth gasped as the man shot several walkers that were coming close, every shot hitting its target. The man moved to the side as he pulled Beth to her feet and down the hallway, taking down walkers as he moved. Beth ran to keep up with him, before he turned and looked Beth up and down.

"Hang on."

Beth opened her mouth to question the man, but shrieked as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder, running down the hallway into the main room, dodging walkers. Beth screamed as her hair was grabbed, but the man held strong, shooting the walker off of her. He slammed into the emergency exit door and as he ran into the sunlight, walkers poured out of the building after them.

"Down!"

Beth heard a new voice call out and the man hit the ground as gun fire rang out. Beth braced herself for the crash, but the man easily held her weight as he dropped covering her. Beth crouched on the ground and watched as a man a few yards away sprayed bullets into the walkers. They quickly fell, and just as the shooting started, it stopped. Beth gasped for air from where she laid on the ground, shaking after her terrifying experience. She heard a chuckle beside her where the man was standing up.

"Well that was fun wasn't it?"

Beth stared at the man as he offered his hand, helping her up. Beth looked around and saw the man with the gun walking over, Maggie running up behind him.

"Beth!"

Beth ran to Maggie, grabbing at her sister as they met. Maggie checked Beth over for bites before hugging her again.

"I thought we lost you!"

Beth shook her head to where the two men were quietly talking.

"He saved me."

Maggie nodded. "They saved the group."

Beth watched as the group reassembled all clearly shaken by the close call. No one appeared to be injured as everyone checked in with Rick, who turned to the men as they walked up.

"Thank you, you saved all of us."

The older man shook his head. "Ain't a problem for us. You folks headed somewhere?"

Rick nodded. "Fort Benning."

The younger man shook his head. "Its gone man, burned down. Nothin' but dead there."

Beth sighed, as did many members of the group. Rick glanced back at the group before looking back at the two men.

"Guess we won't head there then."

The older man glanced at the younger before speaking. "We have a safe haven, a town. Your group is welcome, as long as you follow the rules."

Rick nodded. "We'd appreciate it. I'm Rick grimes, pleased to meet you."

The older man smirked. "Merle Dixon. This is my little bro Daryl."

Two days later Beth sat with Maggie as carol served up dinner. The Dixon brothers had donated quite a bit of food to the group, everyone was eating well tonight. The brothers were an enigma. They had yet to say anything personal about themselves, mostly keeping quiet. Some of that had to do with the obvious tension in the group. The brothers were strangers, and strangers that did seem rather threatening.

Merle was built like a tank, massive across his shoulders and strong chested. He had very short hair, and had piercing navy blue eyes. Merle had an air of calm about him, as well as a sense of authority. Rick was following what advice the brothers had given them, and the rewards were great so far. More food, supplies and a few warm nights to sleep in an old motel. Beth saw Merle communicate with Daryl threw out the day, mostly thru small head motions or short sentences between the brothers.

Daryl was smaller, but had a whipcord body, and moved with purpose. He was constantly watching everything around them with an almost predator gaze. Daryl was never without his crossbow, and had proven its usefulness from the start: He cleared the motel single handedly as well as bringing back a dozen squirrels and 4 rabbits by midday.

Beth looked over the fire to where the brothers were sitting together, cleaning the weapons they had used to rescue the group a few days ago. Rick sat forward from where he sat.

"Not to be rude, but I was a cop before all this. That is a lot of fire power you two are packing."

Merle smirked. "Yeah, and we used it to save your asses. Trust me, we ain't beginners. We know what we're doin'."

Rick nodded. "I can see that. Are you both ex-military?"

Daryl laughed. "Naw man, we ain't spent a day in the service."

Dale cleared his throat. "You're both demons."

Merle smirked. "The Dixon bros, at your service. Sons of the Demon president."

Rick frowned. "You're both high level bikers?"

Merle nodded. "You could say that."

Shane growled. "That makes me feel safe."

Merle eyed Shane. "It should. We've never hurt an innocent, not once. Bad guys on the other hand, leave them for us. It's what we do."

Dale spoke before Shane could respond. "We're not trying to argue, we just want to know a little about you two."

Daryl scoffed. "Oh yeah? How much do you know about your group members huh?"

The group was oddly quiet before Merle snickered.

"Get to know everyone else, then we'll talk."

Rick sighed, turning to the group. "It would be good to know about everyone. Heck, Tdog, I don't even know your real name!"

Tdog chuckled. "Theodore Douglas. Youth pastor from savannah. Grew up in Atlanta, was looking for my family when I ran into all ya'll."

Rick nodded. "Rick grimes. I was a cop, shot in the line of duty, was in a coma when all this started. Woke up to the dead, eventually found my way to the group."

The group continued, each person introducing themselves.

"Lori grimes, Rick's wife, carl's mom. I was a stay at home mother. Shane got carl and I out of town."

"Shane Walsh. Rick's partner, met up with Tdog and Dale at the highway."

"Carl grimes. I was in 6th grade."

"Carol Pe-Davidson. I was in bad marriage, before my husband left me for dead when the walkers came."

"Dale Horvath. I was retired, traveling cross country, with my wife how died of cancer a few months ago."

"Hershel Greene, father of Maggie and Beth. The group stayed on my farm, we were chased off 2 months ago."

"Maggie Greene, I was in college before."

"Glenn Rhee. I was a pizza delivery guy, part time college."

"Beth Greene, I was in junior college."

"Andrea Holden, I was a lawyer, lost my sister at the quarry."

Rick turned to Merle, motioning.

Merle smirked. "Merle Dixon, full time Demon. Older brother of this guy"

Daryl chuckled. "Daryl Dixon, also full time demon. But that is the shortest way to round up our story."