Show: The Walking Dead.
Name: Always Remember.
Pairing: Daryl/Rick.
Author: Noirian.

This is a work of fan-fiction. These characters do not belong to me and I do not benefit from this in any way other then having fun.
Enjoy and if there are any mistakes, please notify me so I can fix them!

The moment the brown haired man entered the Harrison Memorial hospital, he frowned. The entrance smelt disgusting. It was almost comparable to a mix of hand sanitizer and sterilized food, except it was much worse. The only familiar thing here was the smell of leaves and dried blood that was permanently embedded in his clothes, but the scent was barely noticeable compared to the overpowering stench of the hospital. Daryl couldn't wait to get the hell out of here. Thankfully the sheriff's department had managed to track down his truck and return it to him so the hunter no longer had to rely on public transport and hitch hiking.

"Are you Daryl Dixon?" a bronze skinned nurse spoke suddenly and interrupted Daryl from his thoughts. He glared at her before he responded with a sharp nod as she glared at him over her clipboard.

"Your pig of a brother has left already; said something about needing his magic stash before mentioning how I probably only worked here so I could get with the doctors." The woman practically sneered at the hunter before she turned and walked away; her high heels clicked loudly with each step against the tiled floor.

"Bitch." The hunter spat out and briefly considered flipping her the bird before he decided against it and instead quickly scanned the area. Once he located the front desk, Daryl made his way over to where a perky brunette was working. It was almost amazing how happy she looked in a sanctuary full of disease. Putting that stray thought aside, Daryl walked over to the woman; the squeak caused by the rubber soles of his heavy boots on the floor made the nurse notice him. The moment she caught sight of him, her eyes hardened and her smile became forced in a way that the hunter was all to used too.

"Good morning." The woman greeted him and Daryl nearly grimaced at the sickly sweet tone that was just so damn fake.

"Is Rick Grimes here?" His low Southern drawl thick against the woman's own petite tone as he asked the question.

"You are about the tenth person to ask about him this week and it's only Tuesday! He must be a good-looking man to be so popular." She winked at him and Daryl frowned. Was she insinuating that a man like himself was interested in that city-slicker?

"I wouldn't know." The hunter growled under his breath before he glared at her for good measure. "What's his condition."

"Worried about your friend?" The woman forced a smiled at the tense hunter before she turned to her computer and typed in Rick's name. Upon finding the results, she looked back at the irritated hunter. "He had a successful operation and is no longer in a critical condition but he's fallen into a deep coma, however it is stable. Did you want to visit him? He's on the second-"

"Thanks for the help." Daryl spoke quickly to cut her off while he wrinkled his nose, the smell of the hospital was once again overpowering his senses. He turned around quickly and started to stalk away, very eager to leave the place that made him feel as helpless as a rabbit caught by a fox.

Daryl glared at the road in front of him as he rested his right arm on the windowsill, his forearm dangling out as he flew down the high way in his pick-up truck. The air was cool and pleasant against his skin but his brow was furrowed in thought as he drove. The radio was quiet in the background, a constant babble of music and voices that was only there to fill the silence. The green forest that surrounded the highway was teeming with life, and the man decided that the moment he got home, he was going hunting. Only after he had told Merle off for not being at the goddamn hospital though.

The hunter's grip on the steering wheel tightened as he watched the tiny red arrow on the gas tank drop lower. If Merle kept on spending all their money on weed again he wouldn't be able to fill up the truck. The bastards who had stolen it had siphoned all the gas before trying to pull it apart; thankfully they were dumb-asses and gave up long before they could do any damage.

"Your lipstick stains
On the front lobe of my-"

Daryl was as quick as lighting to turn off the radio, his frowning deepening at the thought of listening to anything annoying and repetitive. Music these days was just going down-hill. Glancing back up at the road he noticed a car further up with its doors flung open. The hunter slowed down as he got closer to the car, someone was walking over to his window.

A woman with blonde hair was stumbling towards him at an alarming rate, her eyes were dark and stared at him like she wanted to inhale him. The hunter couldn't tear his gaze from her and those wrong eyes until he glanced at her mouth and saw the smudged red stain.

'It's lipstick,' Daryl thought to himself as she got closer to the truck, 'It's just lipstick.' At this point the hunter turned to the car, almost hoping that there would be someone else in there. However when he saw the other person, the dark haired man could feel the bile rising up as he tried to tell himself that what he was seeing wasn't real.

It was a fucking kid. A toddler strapped into the car in the backseat with small limbs all limp and not moving. Daryl's eyes flicked back to the woman and the empty look in her cold eyes that were still just staring at him. He looked back at the kid because he was wrong right? That kid would be fine and kicking and screaming and crying or something. But the kid wasn't. They was just sitting there while blood slipped down their arm and-

A sudden bump on the window caused Daryl to jump and as he whipped his head to look at the woman and he could only stare at her blood stained teeth as she pressed against the glass. She let out a moan and Daryl pressed his foot down on the pedal because he had to get away from whatever she was. She couldn't be human; not if she did that to her kid.

Worry gnawed at Daryl as he sped faster down road. He had to get home. If Merle wasn't okay- the hunter shook his head at that thought as he pushed his foot down even harder. He couldn't be worrying. He just had to get home.

Thank-you for all the reviews/follows/favourites. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank-you for reading!