CHAPTER ONE

PRESENT DAY, PRISON

"I'll always come back to you…"

Daryl Dixon woke with a start from his recurring dream-turned-nightmare, sweaty and short of breath. Groaning, he stared up at the bunk above him, scrubbing his hand over his face as he came back to reality and to the reality of where he was.

The irony of being holed up in a prison somewhere was not lost on him, considering.

"Day two million of the apocalypse. I ain't seen her in..." Months? Years? "Damn you, Alison Stevens. I need to get you outta my head," Daryl grumbled under his breath. He'd been dreaming of her more frequently than before, and as nice as it was to see her face, the last memory he actually had was of her turning her back on him and walking out the door. "Damn it," he said, louder this time, groaning again as he sat up.

"You alright, Daryl?" Rick Grimes' voice came from the doorway. Daryl looked up to see his friend leaning against the doorframe, staring at him. He looked concerned.

"What? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he said, cracking his back before standing up. Rick said nothing. He just continued to stare. "What?"

"Nothin'."

"Why're you starin' at me like that?"

"It's nothin', Daryl, Jesus." Rick shook his head. "Just checkin' on you, is all."

"Don't need no one to check on me, 'm fine," Daryl replied, indignant. "You need somethin'?"

"Just wanted to see if you were comin' on this run with us today, but now I'm thinkin' maybe you should stay here. Get some rest."

"Don't need no rest, neither." Daryl started for the doorway, but stopped when he reached Rick, who wouldn't budge. "Come on, Rick. Move."

"What's goin' on with you, Daryl?" Rick crossed his arms, indicating he wasn't planning on moving anytime soon.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about, Rick."

"Naw… somethin's off. You ain't been yourself lately."

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"You're more surly than normal. Talkin' to yourself a lot. About someone named Allie."

Daryl's eyes widened at Rick's mention of her name, then quickly narrowed as he scowled at his friend.

"Ain't surly," he said. Rick chuckled, but continued to stand in the doorway and stare at him. "What?"

"Who's Allie?"

"Don't wanna talk about it."

"Maybe you should."

"Don't you have a run to go on?"

"It can wait. It's still early." Daryl glared at Rick, who only stared back at him with a slight smirk on his face. "You ain't gonna win this one, Daryl. Who's Allie?"

"It don't matter who she is. Was. It don't matter!"

"It might… maybe if you talk about her, you'll stop dreaming about her."

Huh. Rick knows more than he lets on… Daryl stared at Rick for a beat, and then sighed.

"I don't know if I want to stop dreaming about her," he said lowly. "Besides, it don't matter. Not like 'm ever gonna see her again."

"It obviously does matter, Daryl. Talk to me." A pause, then, "It won't leave this room."

"Don't care if it does leave this room… if I tell you, will you get the hell outta my way?"

"Yup."

"Fine."

Taking a seat back on his bunk, Daryl sighed again and scrubbed his hands over his face, motioning for Rick to take a seat at the small desk across from him. To his surprise, Rick sat down, and for a moment Daryl considered bolting from the room. He didn't, though, and instead starting telling Rick about the only woman he'd ever loved.

They'd met, as people often do, at a dive bar on the outskirts of Atlanta three years before the end of the world. Her name was Alison, but her friends called her Allie. She was short, about 5'4" or 5'5", thin and curvy, with long red hair and bright green eyes. Just to look at her, one might have thought she was quiet and demure, but that image was shattered as soon as she opened her mouth. Allie was a firecracker, sharp and witty – all characteristics that worked out well for her, since she was the bartender at the dive bar where they'd met.

The first night he spoke to her was not the first night he'd seen her; he'd noticed her weeks before but had always been too shy to talk to her. He didn't think he was her type – the guys that swarmed around her at the bar were all the same: preppy college idiots, with their collared shirts and their cargo shorts. And Merle, of course, but Merle hit on anything with a pulse. Merle had started in hardcore on Allie once he'd realized that Daryl liked her… which is how Daryl and Allie started talking.

Their romance was quick and intense after that. Allie moved in with Daryl after six months of dating, and he'd proposed to her four months after that, with a vintage ring that had been his mother's. The band was silver, thin and delicate, with two small diamonds flanking a large emerald. It reminded him of her eyes.

They lived together for two years and never set a date, with her always telling him she didn't need a piece of paper to feel married to him and him being fine with it. It was close to their third anniversary when Merle really got in trouble with the law, and ended up getting released early on good behavior into Daryl's custody. And that was when the trouble started.

When Daryl got to this part in his story, he stopped, sighed, and closed his eyes for a brief second.

"Her parents lived in Atlanta, and I guess she had talked to them before decidin' to up and leave," he told Rick. "She was only 'posed to be gone a week, but… this whole thing started on the second day. I talked to her on the phone, and she tried to get me to come to her, but the phone lines all went down in the middle of me talkin' to her."

Rick had been staring at him with rapt attention the entire time he spoke.

"And?" Rick asked.

"And… nothin'. That's it. Last thing I heard from her was her cryin' and sayin' she was sorry and that she loved me… and I said it back, but it was too late."

"So is that why you and Merle ended up in Atlanta? And how you met up with Dale and them?"

Daryl nodded. "Pretty much. But by the time we got to Atlanta, the entire city'd been overrun. I went to her parents' house but there was no sign of anyone." He shrugged. "I can only hope she got out… but eventually I had to stop lookin' for her. Too many roadblocks."

"She may still be out there, Daryl."

"Yeah…" Daryl scoffed and shook his head. "Anyway, that's it." The two of them sat silently for a few minutes, and then Rick stood up.

"Thanks for sharin' that with me."

"Did I have much of a choice?"

"Not really," Rick smirked. "But I'd better get goin'. Glenn and Michonne are waitin' for me."

"You need me to come?"

"Naw. You stay here. Rest, like I said. I'll keep my eye out for anything… or anyone of any interest," Rick told him with a wink. Then he left.

Daryl sighed and laid back down on his bunk after a minute, closing his eyes. As if I needed him to keep my hopes up that she's out there, Daryl thought to himself. Fuckin' asshole. He sighed one more time and allowed himself to relax into the hard mattress, eventually succumbing to sleep once more. The last thing he saw before going all the way under was a blur, a vision of fiery red and bright green.