Thank you for those who read and reviewed, reviews are what make me want to keep on writing! Emberka-2012: He did find what he was looking for, he always does! I'm hope you like where I'm going with the story. Gurl3677: I was talking about the scent people tend to leave behind when they've been somewhere. I just have it in my head that because Daryl is such a good tracker that he almost has a nose like a dog haha. He is a little bit superhero in my eyes CreepyDaisy: thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy my updates!

Ali and Daryl obviously have a lot to learn about each other, can't wait to start this journey with them, gotta love new beginnings!

Chapter Two

"Daryl?… alright guys he's coming around… he's coming around." Rick's voice was a far away sound, drowned out by the intense pounding in his head. He sat up slightly and the pain was enough to make his stomach lurch. He rolled to his side and got sick, Carol's reassuring hand rubbing his back.

"It's okay, get it out." Her voice was a little sharper than Rick's. Things were slowly coming into focus around him, the prison yard, dark except for the fire glowing up by the cell block entrance. He could see Lori, Beth, and most of the others hovering around the door.

"She hit me." Daryl's voice stuttered and broken, his head still pounding uncontrollably. "Bitch hit me in the head… She must have… I can't remember."

"Yeah, you got a pretty bad blow to head." Rick crouched beside him, and when Daryl looked in his eyes he was surprised to see a trace of annoyance.

"What?" He asked "Why are you lookin' at me like that?"

Rick shook his head, looking down at the ground. "Why the hell didn't you tell anybody you were goin' out? Why'd you just leave without lettin' anyone know where the hell you were headed? And what in the hell possessed you to go out alone, knowing what you were looking for? Two strangers occupying a part of this prison and you don't even tell me? ME, at the very least? What the hell's wrong with you?" His face was growing red with anger as he stood up. "They could have killed you Daryl. You could have died and we wouldn't have known what happened to you."

"I decided, and I went with what I thought I should do." Daryl was scowling in his direction, and with all the strength he could muster, pushed himself off the ground. Carol bent down to help, but he moved her hands away. "I can do it!" He snapped. Staggering to his feet, cursing under his breath, he kept Rick's gaze. He wasn't gonna be the one to look away first like a coward. "I shouldn't have to explain everything I do, you're acting like a nagging wife for shit's sake. I'm not gonna run it by you every time I step outside of your line a sight Rick. If that's what you expected than… well that's just fuckin' sad." Daryl held his hand to the back of his head, feeling dried up blood, some still warm and wet. His eyes trailed back up to the cell block entrance. "What's this? Did you find her?"

Rick nodded, lips pressed together. Carol stood, wiping her tear streaked face with the back of her hand. She pointed a shaky finger at where everyone was still gathered. "She and the girl are in there… Herschel's tryin' to bind her wound… she lost a lot of blood." Carol looked up at him "Did you know she had a child with her?"

Daryl nodded "Had a feelin', when I saw her the other night there was a second figure, a smaller one, thought that might be what was happenin'… didn't figure it'd be two girls though."

A slight grin spread across Carol's face. "Yah, you'd be surprised what we little women are capable of. Anyway, he's trying to mend her, but you severed an artery and Hershel doesn't know if he can stop the internal bleeding. The girl's just hysterical."

Rick's voice cut in "She's about twelve, I think her name is Emma. From what I heard the other one's name is Ali."

Daryl's eyes were on the ground. "I wouldn'ta hurt her, if she hadn't of tried to hurt me first. She fired on me. You must have heard the shots… right? Ya heard em'?"

"Yes." Carol answered quietly "That's why we came running. We came in time to see the younger girl hit you in the back of the head with a two by four. The other one had a gun on you, but just collapsed, started hemorrhaging right there outside the south tower."

Daryl shook his head, pressed the back of his hand to his mouth. He wouldn't have even tried to hurt her if he knew about the girl. Actually, he wouldn't have even thought about it if she hadn't threatened him first. He wasn't in the practice of harming women. He had seen enough of it in his young life, he wouldn't ever want to be the kind of man who would hurt a woman… maybe that was why he felt guilty looking down at her body, thinking she was dead. It wasn't in his nature.

"I didn't mean to hurt her… she shot at me." His voice was strained. "I didn't mean to… I swear."

Ali...

"How are you feelin'?" The old man's voice was soft and reassuring. Her hand was holding a cold cloth to the wound on her side. Emma was right next to her, a familiar feeling among all the strangeness that surrounded her. "Any better?"

Ali sat up slowly, the pain in her side enough to stop her heart. She didn't want to give into it. "I'm okay. Thank you… I'm okay. Um… who are you?"'

His eyes crinkled at the edges accompanying his bright smile. "My name's Herschel. You're Ali… right?"

She nodded, holding Emma's head against hers, pressing the girl's hands against her own cheeks. Hoping that this was real, wishing with every piece of her that this wasn't a dream. She wasn't dead. Emma was here. Someone was taking care of them both. What had happened? "What happened?" Her voice echoed her thoughts.

Emma scooted her body on the bed with Ali, snuggled in next to her. The woman next to Herschel started to explain. "Rick noticed that Daryl was gone, and then we heard the shots. Found you all as Emma here was giving Daryl a pretty big headache." The woman's face broke out in a slight smile, Ali took notice of her pregnant belly. "And we grabbed ya and brought ya both here. Just in time too. You would've bled out in minutes. Herschel here, he brings people back from the dead… in a good way."

Ali would have laughed if she felt she had the strength. Instead she just asked "Who are you? Your name?"

"I'm Lori." She put her hand on the boy's shoulder that was standing directly at her side. "This is my son Carl. My husband Rick is the man outside with Daryl now. You'll meet him soon enough. My turn to ask you a question…. Okay?"

Ali leaned back on her pillow, in no mood to put up a fight. "Yah, okay. What?"

"Why did you try to kill Daryl?"

She swallowed what felt like a cinder block down her throat, mouth dry, pain everywhere. She answered honestly, lacking the energy for pretend. "He followed us, came after us, brought it to our doorstep." She turned her head towards Lori's gaze. "We've been here for months… months… and you come in and scatter the calm." She took a sharp breath in and felt the pain shoot up her side. Emma squeezed her hand tightly. "This prison was ours. We knew about the men in the cafeteria, and we meant to leave them be. You come in, you set them loose. Walkers stirring everywhere. You brought destruction. We were okay. It was peaceful, quiet. We were surviving. You ruined it… ruined our chances at making it out of this."

Carl glared down at her. "We saved your life."

Ali's eyes were fluttering closed again, beyond exhaustion. "I wouldn't have needed savin' Carl. If you hadn'ta come along, we wouldn't have needed savin' at all."

Daryl...

Daryl hovered over her bunk wordlessly. Now that he was staring down at her, motionless, everything about her seemed so fragile. He wondered how he had felt threatened by her in the first place.

When she woke up a moment later, he remembered exactly why he felt that way.

Her eyes were on fire, hand on the inside and back of his thigh, grabbing what skin and muscle she could and twisting, out of pure reflex. He hollered out in pain and fell to his knees, his hand immediately shooting out and grabbing the back of her head, handful of hair. He tugged so hard he was looking up at her chin. Her hand loosened on his leg, and slowly he released her hair.

"Jesus Christ girl… I wasn't gonna hurt ya, I was just checkin in, seein' how you were… fuck… my leg." His anger took the better of him. "My fuckin head has been throbbing since your little sister took a fuckin bat to it. What the hell is the matter with the two of ya? Huh? What?"

Her hands began to tremble. He watched her entire body start to shake. "You came after us. You know you did. You came looking. I saw you come looking. I was protecting what's mine… where is she anyway? Where's Emma?"

Daryl nodded toward the opening to cell block. She saw a soft glow outside the door, she guessed from those fires he and his comrades were so fond of making. "She's out there with Carl, Lori, Rick… the rest. You got a chance to meet a few of em'." Daryl took a breath in and turned away from her. "Anyway, you should get some rest. We'll look after her. Get some sleep."

When he glanced back at her, her eyes were shut, mouth whispering "Sorry I tried to kill you."

He couldn't help but smile sadly as he walked out, "Sorry I almost let you."