Chapter 2

Thanks for reading this story. Thanks to rosy and Guest for their reviews. I'm glad you like it both. Thanks to all the followers and the one who favourited this story.

New Chapter, read, enjoy and review.

Warning: Some scenes in this story have been inspired by the wonderful story. "My Salvation" by the amazing author Flowangelic. If you haven't read it yet, I strongly advise you to because it's the best Daryl/OC story, I've read so far.

I woke up sweating and breathing hard. I just had a nightmare that I didn't want to recall. But the pictures were still vivid on my mind.

I was sitting on Brick's chest, hitting him repeatedly in the head with my knife. His eyes, lifeless, stared back at me. The knife slipped out of my bloodied hands as someone grabbed me under my armpits. But he wasn't one of Brick's men that were holding me. It was one of my brothers.

"You are going to fail her like you failed us." David said blood dripping down his face.

"She is going to die like the rest of us." My brother Mathew came into sight.

"And there's nothing you can do to stop it." My father said before the three of them turned into walkers and bit my sister. Tearing her flesh into pieces.

I rubbed my face tiredly. Trying to get rid of those horrid pictures. They seemed to be a vision to me more than just a nightmare. And in my experience, my nightmares tend to come true rather than my dreams. They were mainly the reasons why I kept watch most of the time. The lack of sleep made me look more like those walking dead people than a human being.

I got up and went to my sister who has fallen asleep and brushed her hair out of her eyes. I kissed her forehead to wake her up. Which she did slowly. I moved to Sophia and woke the girl up softly. Sophia and Mary rubbed their eyes yawning at the same time which made me smile and I ordered them to get ready. We packed all of our things and left the house. It wasn't safe for us anymore. Before we left, Sophia has secured her rose in my backpack. We went back to the creek where we found her, hoping that someone from her group would be still searching for her.

"Is that where you found me?" Sophia asked once we reached the place.

"Yep." I answered. I gave my sister my bow and took Sophia in my arms. "Come on, let's go on the other side."

Sophia held her doll tightly in her arms as I started to walk in the water. The water was cold, the mud squished under my feet. We were halfway through when my sister yelled from behind me that walkers were coming our way. I quickened my pace as much as I could. I also yelled to my sister to hurry up. As soon as I reached the other side, I put Sophia down and reached out for my sister to help her climb the little steep. I took my bow from her. There were more than just one walkers. I pushed my sister and Sophia forward and we took off running. After several minutes of running we hid behind a tree. Mary had her knife in her hand and I was hiding with Sophia.

I unsheathed my sais and buried Sophia's head in my stomach. At this instant I heard it. A voice calling out Sophia's name. Sophia must have heard it to as she raised her head up to look in the voice's direction. I shook my head and put a finger to my lips. We waited like this for several minutes. I risked a peek just to see if the walkers were still on our trail but it seems that we have lost them. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding until now.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked Sophia and Mary Ann.

"Fine. And you?"

"Okay."

"I lost my doll." Sophia stated.

"Sorry, honey!" I took my backpack off. "At least your rose is still okay." I told her. As Sophia checked her rose, I looked at my sister. "Did you hear it?"

"Someone calling out for her. Yeah, I heard." She nodded.

"Where did it come from?" Sophia questioned me.

I pointed right before us. "I'd say that way." Not sure where the voice were coming from.

"There's only one way to find out." Mary said.

I shouldered my backpack and grabbed my bow. I sheathed my sais back in my waistband. Mary took Sophia's hand and we headed to the location where I thought the voice had come from.

After about twenty minutes there were still nothing. We paused for a few minutes to catch our breath. Someone called for the girl, the three of us heard it and we were going to find this person today. As we were catching our breath, a horse raced past us. That was odd but maybe this someone who had been calling for Sophia was on that horse.

Anyway, the horse were coming from where we had come from and not where we were heading to. So, we turned back and after twenty other minutes, we were walking alongside the water again. I was hesitant at going back there because of the walkers but there were none on our way there. We reached the creek and Sophia gasped and ran into the water. Mary yelled her name to stop her. Sophia didn't hear her as she was yelling the name of Daryl while running to the other side of the water.

I realized then as my sister and I took off after her, that surely enough there was a man on the other bank of the river. Sophia dropped next to him and tried to wake him up. Mary reached her and stopped her. I knelt down on the other side of the guy as I put my backpack on the ground.

He was in a bad shape. An arrow was stuck in his side, there was blood on his face. Mud all over his shirt. I leaned over him. His eyes were fluttering.

"We need to take this arrow out." I stated. "So we can mend his wound better."

"Merle…" Daryl muttered.

"Who's Merle?" Mary asked Sophia.

"His brother, he wasn't very nice …" Sophia answered.

"A shitty day, bro." Daryl said this time.

"A shitty day, indeed." I said knowing well that he didn't seem to talk to me. "Mary, is there anything in your bag that can help us for his wound."

"Yeah, I got some gauge and antiseptic in there somewhere." I nodded as my sister rummaged through her bag.

"Sophia, I have a mission for you. I need you to keep my bow for me. Can you do that?" She nodded. I moved to his feet.

Daryl was still mumbling words to whoever he thought he was talking to. But I knew one thing for sure, the guy did deserve some respect. If what Sophia told me about him was true. He totally went out of his way to find this little girl.

"I ain't nobody's bitch." Daryl snapped.

"Can you get the arrow out?" I asked Mary grabbing hold of his shoes and tried to move him a bit.

"Yeah, I can but…" Daryl woke up at this instant and kicked me.

"Son of the bitch." I exclaimed as I landed hard on my back.

"Meredith!" Mary called.

I pushed myself up and was about to reply but I saw she was looking at something behind me. I glanced behind me and saw that the three walkers that were chasing us earlier were back. Those son of bitches could walk fast when they wanted to. I barely had time to get up and unsheathed my sais, when I smell the foul breath of the creature. I thrust my sais in his temple and he dropped on the ground. My sister took care of the second one by diving her knife in his eye. I grabbed my bow and was about to fire at the third one who was going to attack my sister but before I could, an arrow pierced his skull.

"Thanks, sis!" My sister thanked me.

"Wasn't me." I told her. Our eyes landed on Daryl who had taken the arrow out of his side and used it against the walker.

I took Daryl's shirt off so Mary could have some room to bind his wound better. While she was doing so, I checked on Sophia. She was a bit stunned but she was doing fine. Apparently, Daryl has found her doll and Sophia held it tight to her chest.

Once Mary was done, I suggested to Sophia to wake him up. Which she did. My sister and I stood by watching the scene that was unfolded in front of us. Daryl stared at the girl with great disbelief. And hugged her, a hug that Sophia returned. He told her that he has been looking all over for her.

"Meredith and Mary found me. They took care of me." Sophia said glancing up at us. Daryl pushed the girl behind him and pointed his crossbow at us. "Daryl!" Sophia protested.

"Silence, Sophia!" Daryl ordered her. "And you drop your weapons."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Yeah, like that's gonna happen. And you might need one of those." I waved an arrow at him.

His hand went to his side. "You already took that one out to save my life." Mary told him. "And I mended your wound in return."

"You hit your head pretty hard and we don't have all day. So, I suggest that we get a move on people."

"If you can move, that is." My sister added.

"Hold on." Daryl said getting up keeping Sophia behind him. "We get this little girl back to her mother."

"Mum's alright?" Sophia questioned looking up at him.

"She's okay and misses you loads." Daryl answered.

I walked to them and gave Daryl his arrow back. "Better go, then." I said grabbing my backpack.

"Remind me why we are going that way?" I shouted at Daryl as we climbed the steep. Daryl took the lead, Sophia was right behind him, Mary was behind her and I closed the rear. I kept Sophia's doll in my waistband for her.

"You can go back down, if ya don't like it." Daryl snapped.

"Grumpy much." I countered.

"Merry, don't start!" Mary warned me.

We continued the climb quietly, well, midway through it, Daryl started to swear at someone who wasn't there. Sophia looked at my sister and I both and I just shrugged at her. Once we reached the top; Daryl pulled himself up and disappeared in the tree line.

"Yeah, you better run." I heard him yell.

"He's either nuts or he must have hit his head harder than I thought." I commented to my sister.

Daryl reappeared and pulled Sophia up. Mary crawled up after the girl. I was last to reach the top. As I was the luckiest and the most graceful of them, my hand slipped and I felt myself fell backwards. Someone reached out just in time and caught me. It was Daryl. He hissed me up. I nodded a quick thanks to Daryl and we followed him to the edge of the forest. Out in the open field, we could see a farm in the distance.

"I'll go first." Daryl said before stepping into the open field. "Don't be surprised by the guns." He added as an afterthought.

I stepped in front of Sophia and Mary as a group of men ran towards us. They all had a weapon. Baseball bat, machete, guns. The guy with the gun raised his weapon and aimed at Daryl.

"Stay behind me." I said to the two girls behind me. I glanced briefly behind me and saw my sister took her gun from her holster. I reached behind me to draw an arrow from my quiver and I tightened my grip on my bow.

"That's the third time you've pointed that thing at my head." Daryl said loudly to the guy with the gun. "You're gonna pull the trigger or what?" The guy lowered his gun and exhaled. He turned his head towards us but before he could say anything, a gunshot echoed through the field and Daryl collapsed on the ground.

His own people had shot him.

"Daryl!" Sophia screamed.

"Son of the bitch!" I exclaimed. I nocked the arrow and pulled the string, My fingers grazed my right cheek as I did so. Four heads snapped in our direction and in response at my weapon aimed at them. The guy with the gun aimed at me.

"No! Don't shoot!" Sophia jumped in front of me. "Meredith's a friend."

The guy with the gun dropped on his knees and his gun on the ground. "You're alive!" He said with great relief. He pulled Sophia in his arms.

I un-nocked my arrow and lowered my bow. "Rick, come on we need to get him to Hershel!" One of the four guys said.

Sophia pulled away. "They took care of me." She said as an explanation to her survival.

"Rick!" The same guy snapped. Rick turned around and nodded.

"Introductions will wait." Rick said simply before going helping the others with Daryl. I put my arrow back in my quiver. And Sophia came and pulled me behind her.

A blonde woman and an older man came running to them; "Oh my God, oh my God! Is he dead?" The blonde woman asked.

"Unconscious. You just grazed him." Rick answered her. The old man's eyes landed on Sophia.

"Sophia?" He said surprised to see her there.

"You found her?" The blonde woman asked me with tears in her eyes.

I only nodded. From across the field I heard a woman called Sophia. The girl let go of my hand and ran towards the voice. She ran past everyone and landed in the woman's arms. They hold onto each other in a crushing bones hug. Both on the ground crying into each other's arms.

"Her mother, I presume?" I said to no one in particular.

"Yes, her name is Carol." The old man answered.

The old man was Dale and the woman; Andrea. Mary and I followed them into the house. Rick and another old man disappeared upstairs with Daryl while everyone else was focused on Sophia. Mary looked a bit sad because she knew that we were going to leave them, we were going to leave Sophia. And I would lied if I said that I wasn't a bit sad to leave Sophia behind.

"Thank you for bringing my baby girl back to me." Carol said holding Sophia closed to her and looking at my sister and I.

"You're welcome." My sister smiled warmly at Carol. "Sophia is a brave little girl."

"We did what was right." I replied shortly.

"Meredith?" Sophia tugged at my shirt. "My rose?"

"Oh, yes!" I put my backpack on the ground and retrieve the rose and gave it to Sophia. "Here you go, hon."

Sophia offered the rose to her mother. The old man came back downstairs and searched the room with his eyes. His eyes landed on my sister and I. He asked us to follow him. We followed the man upstairs, into one of the bedrooms. Rick was inside with another man, Daryl was in the bed a bandage around his head. The sheet covered his torso and back.

"I am Hershel and I own this farm." Hershel said as I closed the door behind me. "Are you the one who has mended Daryl's wound?"

"Yeah, that's me." Mary replied.

"She's pretty good at those things." I added,

"She's pretty good, indeed." Hershel said with an appraising nod. "What's your name?"

"Meredith Williams. My sister's Mary Ann." I answered.

"I'm Rick and this is Shane." Rick introduced himself. "And you already know Daryl."

"Yeah, can't say that it was a pleasure." I countered. "I don't take it very well to be held at gunpoint."

"You were aiming your weapon at me." Rick retorted.

"Fair enough." I shrugged.

"Where are you from?" Shane asked.

"Boston but it doesn't really matter, now does it?" I replied.

"Look, we are grateful for what you and your sister did for Sophia. It's just hard to trust people these days." Rick continued.

"I hear ya." I replied. "You don't have to worry about my sister and me. We're not staying. Sophia has been returned to her mother. So my sister and I will leave."

"We could probably stay the night. We both need some rest." Mary suggested.

"Or not." I replied. "We can find another place to rest."

"Where? The house we were has been visited by someone. Walkers are lurking into those woods. Where will we go?" Mary snapped. The four men in the rooms were watching us intensely. "I think that this farm is safe and walkers free. We could at least stay the night. Just one night." Mary pleaded me this time.

I stared at her. She really wanted to stay and I would lied if I'd say I didn't need a good night's rest. I turned to Hershel. "If it's not too much trouble. Can we stay tonight?"

"It's alright, you can stay the night." Hershel said. "But you will follow my rules."

"Which are?" I questioned.

"No guns on my property and you stay clear of the barn." He told me.

"Alright." I nodded.

We left the room together. The sun was still high. We went outside and set up camp a bit further away Rick's group. We left our guns in a bag inside our tent. Maggie, Hershel's daughter, came to find us and offered us to use the bathroom. She also gave us clean clothes. Mary looked at me and said that I could go first. So, I went up to the house and Maggie showed where the bathroom was.

I went upstairs and locked myself up in the bathroom. I took off my clothes and stared at my reflection in the mirror. There was dirt all over my face, scrapes on my body but my eyes inevitably landed on the pink spot on my side and thigh. My scars were a reminder of what took place almost two months ago. I stepped under the water and let warm water wash away all the dirt, the tiredness and the pain for the time being. My sister was right warm water can make you feel better even for a short amount of time.

When I stepped out of the tub, I realized that my dirty clothes were gone. I put on the clean clothes. I took a look in the mirror again and was glad to see that I looked like my old self again apart maybe from the dark circles under my eyes.

I left the bathroom fully clothed and yet I felt naked without my weapons. I'm so used to have them in arms reach. I went down and recognized my sister's voice coming from the kitchen. I followed the sound of her voice.

Mary turned around and stared at me for a few seconds. "You cleaned up pretty good." She commented with a smile. "I can actually see the color of your face."

"White, just like yours." I replied.

"Always the smart-ass." She muttered as she walked past me to take a shower herself.

Carol and Lori both smiled at me. A smile that I didn't feel like returning but I did anyway. I stood awkwardly in the doorway for a few seconds. "Er...where are my clothes?"

"I took them to wash them later." Carol said steering something in a pan.

"You don't have to. I'll do it." I retorted.

"It's alright. It's the least I can do after you brought back my daughter." Carol turned to me. "I can never thank you enough for that."

"You don't have to." I answered.

"You protected my Sophia. You saved her. I have to thank you." Carol shook her head. "Who knows what might have happen if you haven't found her."

"There's no need to dwell on that. She's safe that's all that matters." I nodded. I turned around to leave the kitchen when Lori spoke up.

"You could sit at dinner with us."

"No, we're fine." I retorted. "We wouldn't want to intrude."

"You're not intruding." Lori assured me. "There's enough food for all of us." She smiled. "I won't take no for an answer."

"I guess we could share the dinner."

It was the most awkward dinner I've ever been to. We could actually hear flies even if there were none. Glenn tried to start a conversation but it just failed. Only the cluttering could be heard. I thought we were intruding, my sister and I. But apparently, it seems that there were some unresolved issues between Hershel's family and the group. Let's just say that the atmosphere was pretty heavy.

After dinner everyone went their own way, minding their own business. I left my sister with Maggie and Beth in the kitchen and walked to the front door that's when I heard Carol.

"You did more for my little girl than her own daddy ever did in his whole life." Carol said to Daryl. Sophia had told us about her father. Ed was his name and apparently it was the kind of father that beats the shit out of you. I stayed in my spot, I didn't want to listen but I didn't dare to move either.

"I didn't do anything Rick or Shane wouldn't have done." Daryl answered after a pause.

"I know." Carol retorted. "You're every bit as good as them. Every bit." Carol exited the room and closed the door behind her. Her eyes immediately spotted me. "Meredith!" She smiled.

"Carol." I nodded.

We stood there for a moment, none of us said a word. "Sophia told me everything you and your sister have done for her." Carol started.

"You've already thanked me for that. There's no need for you to say it again." I cut her off. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude or anything. I just don't need to hear it again."

"It's alright." She said smiling softly. She rested her hand on my shoulder as she walked past me to join her daughter.

Before I could stop myself, I went to Daryl's room. I knocked on the door softly and opened the door.

"Hey, how are you doing?" I asked him.

"Good. You?" Daryl returned the question to me.

"Alright, I guess." I shrugged. We both fell into silence as I leaned my back against the door. I sighed before speaking again. "I should probably thank you for saving my sister, Mary, back there. If it wasn't for you she could have turned into walkers' food."

"'Cording to Hershel, she saved my life too." Daryl answered simply.

"Yeah, she has a gift for that." I replied quietly. I pushed myself away from the door. "Erm…I should probably leave you. I mean you need rest I guess. So, goodnight."

"'Night!" Daryl said before I left his room.