Wow, you guys are amazing! I'm overwhelmed by all the support for this story! I really didn't think anyone was gonna like this and i was gonna be chased away by an angry mob with pitforks and torches or something lol And know that i am reading all your reviews, i'm just terrible at replying because i have a horrible memory and forget who i've replied too lol
But now my dear readers, I want to hear from YOU. I want to know what you want to see in this story. How should Sophia be found? Who finds her? Should Daryl and Carol get together? And if they do, should they have another child? Or shouldnt they? I wanna hear from you and know what you guys wanna see in this story :D
As always, i don't own the walking dead blah blah blah Carol and Daryl would be together by now if i did.
Tale as old as time
True as it can be
Barely even friends
Then somebody bends
Unexpectedly
Just a little change
Small, to say the least
Both a little scared
Neither one prepared
Beauty and the Beast
-Céline Dion, Beauty and the Beast
Daryl Dixon was a beast. He was practically born in the forest he was so in tune with it. His skills were usefully and necessary for survival. He may as well have been made to survive a zombie apocalypse. Daryl Dixon, a survivor of the human race in their worst hour.
So how the hell did he end up stuck in a tree trying to save Carol's little girl?
-0-
There were a lot of things in life Daryl never considered. He never considered following Merle's drug habits, or the possibility that he would ever escape his hometown.
But as he and the rest of the group celebrated at the CDC that night, knowing they were safe and warm and had food in their bellies, several bottles of alcohol making their way around the room, Daryl found himself watching Carol and her daughter smile, and considered what life would have been like if he and Carol had had a real chance.
It was later that he found her sitting alone in the massive library, reading a book quietly while her daughter slept peacefully in the next room. He simply leaned against the door frame to watch her read, remembering all the hours he'd spent doing the same thing years before.
He'd definitely had too much to drink, and that might have had something to do with why he had the courage to approach her at all. But she spotted him before he could say anything, and a genuine smile blessed her features before he could get a word out.
"Daryl? What brings you here?" He crossed the room to the bookshelf and picked a random one out, flipping it open to one of the pages.
"Came ta git a book." He said, peering down at the book he'd chosen. Economic Stability. "No pictures?"
She only giggled in response, folding the corner in the page of the book she was reading and closing it gently.
"Don't like to read Daryl?" she teased softly, he felt himself flush as he snapped the book shut and placed it back on the shelf. "Na I like ta read fine, I jest like looking at the pictures too." He reached over and pulled a book labeled Secrets of the Deep off the shelf and began to look through the pictures, stopping and taking time to look at each one.
"When I was a little thin', my ma used ta get me lotsa picture books. They had photos of the ocean and jungle n' stuff and I always like to look at 'em." Carol was quiet as he talked, not wanting to ruin the moment as he opened up in a very unDaryl way.
"I ain't never been to the ocean." He said softly as he finished the ocean book, closing it and shoving it back into the shelf randomly. Carol thought her heart was going to break as she watched him stare at that book on the shelf, thinking about all the things in life Daryl had missed out on because of his father, because she had never told him about her daughter. She stood to her feet and made her way to where he was, gently pulling the ocean book he'd been looking at off the shelf and carrying it over to the couch, opening her bag sitting on the floor next to it and slipping the book inside. Daryl watched her, slightly dumbfounded as she winked at him.
"Jenner won't miss one book." She said, smiling softly. "You look tired. Why don't you sit here? There's plenty of room on this couch." Daryl obeyed, sitting next to her without a word.
"Mama?"
Sophia crept into the room, clutching her doll in her arms.
"Sophia? What's the matter?" Carol asked as Sophia made her way to her mother.
"I cut my finger." Sophia held out her hand, showing the bleeding digit to both Daryl and Carol. Carol took her daughter's hand in hers and proceeded to coo over her.
"Oh Sophia I'm so sorry. Let me clean that for you honey." Before Carol could react, Daryl stood up; reaching in the back pocket of his blue pants and pulling out the red rag he always carried with him. He held it out to Carol, who took it from him gratefully and began to dab at the cut on Sophia's hand.
Sophia studied Daryl intently while her mother cared for her hand, noticing the contours of his face, the way his brow furrowed, the curve of his cheekbones, the blue of his eyes.
"All done, back to bed for you young lady. It's way past your bedtime." Carol handed the rag back to Daryl before touching Sophia's nose affectionately and shooing her back to bed.
"Thank you Mr. Dixon." Sophia said softly before she returned to her bed.
"There ain't no way thet kid is Ed's." Daryl blurted out suddenly after Sophia had been gone several minutes. The red rag was back in his pocket and he was looking at the door Sophia had gone through. Carol's head shot up, thinking she was going to have a heart attack.
"You think what?" She managed to blurt out, unable to take her eyes of Daryl.
"Ain't no way that jackass is related ta that littl' girl." He said, "Jest no way. She don't even look like 'im."
"You're being silly Daryl." Carol said, her heart pounding. The redneck sat on the end of the couch, running his hands over his face.
"I told ya not to marry him, why didn'tcha listen?" Carol took a deep breath, knowing he was drunk and probably wouldn't be able to remember this later. She prayed he wouldn't remember this later.
"I was stubborn. I never thought I'd find someone who was interested in me like he was. He was handsome and kind, at least back then. But I should have listened to you Daryl; I should have trusted your instincts. I'm sorry that I didn't listen to you." She wasn't sure how he'd react while he was drunk, and she was sure he wouldn't remember it, but at least she was finally getting a chance to apologize after so many years.
"Hell woman, if I'd known ya'd wanted to get married so bad I woulda married ya."
Carol's jaw dropped. She had not been expecting that.
"You… you would of… but you said…" Carol had no words. She just stared at the man who had been her best friend for years. "You said you'd never get married…"
"I was lyin'"
"Why would you lie?" Carol watched him intently, a mix of confusion and shock running through her.
"'cause there ain't no one I woulda' married but you."
"Carol do you have the soap?" Lori's voice carried down the hall and she poked her head around the corner, oblivious to the conversation she had interrupted. She shot Carol a puzzled look when she noticed Daryl sitting on the couch, then a concerned look when she saw the shock on Carol's face.
"uhhh soap, yes ,um, I think Andrea has it." Carol blurted out, her mind anywhere but soap.
"Everything ok?" Lori asked, watching Carol with a concerned look on her face. She stepped around the corner into the room, prepared to go to Carol when Daryl stood up abruptly.
"I should git outta here," he mumbled. Then to the shock of both Lori and Carol, he leaned over and kissed Carol full on the mouth, his hands on her face. And then he was gone, brushing past Lori and down the corridor to his own room.
"What was that?"
If there was one thing certain, Lori wasn't oblivious to the conversation anymore, but
Carol really hoped that Daryl would be...
-0
Thank the lord.
Thank the merciful angels that existed Daryl didn't have a clue what had happened the night before.
He appeared almost last to breakfast, looking hung over and exhausted. The minute he sat down at the table and reached for the nearest plate, Lori shot Carol a questioning look and Carol shook her head, tucking her head into her plate and finishing her meal quietly.
"Mom, can I go with Carl to the play room?" Sophia asked as soon as her plate was clean.
"Yes, but you and Carl stay together!" Carol called as Sophia and Carl took off together.
"uhhhaahhhhh everyone stop yelling!" Glenn moaned from two seats away, his head resting on his arm on the table.
"No one has yelled Glenn." Rick snickered as he took a sip of his coffee, prompting Lori to whack him softly on the arm, which did nothing but make him snort with laughter.
T-dog walked by and clapped Glenn on the shoulder just as he moaned "uhhhhh never again…"
"Careful there Glenn with all that moanin' you're starting to sound like a walker." T-dog pointed out, causing everyone to start laughing even though they tried to hide it.
"What the hell happen to your neck?" T-dog asked Shane, referring to the three scratches on the side of his neck.
"I dunno, must have done it in my sleep." Shane replied, shrugging it off.
"Never seen you do that before." Rick remarked.
"Me either, not like me at all." Shane replied with a look at Lori.
"Good morning," Jenner greeted as he headed for the table to grab some coffee.
"Doc, I don't mean to bombard you with questions first thing." Dale started.
"But you will anyways." Jenner replied.
"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea said bluntly.
-0-
Carol listened as Jenner explained the video of TS19 to the group, showing them the organic wiring and explaining each step of how the virus works.
"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asked.
"Yes," Carol replied.
They watched as the resurrection occurred, triggering the brain stem as Dr. Jenner explained.
They continued to ask questions about what it could be, if anyone was still working to discover what this disease was.
And then Dale asked what happened when the clock hit zero.
-0-
They were doing everything to try and get the glass to break. Throwing chairs at it, shooting it, smashing it. Nothing would work.
"The glass won't break?" Sophia whispered.
And then Carol remembered the grenade. "Rick! I think I have something that might help."
"Carol I don't think a nail file is gonna help." Shane said sarcastically. Carol ignored him and went up to Rick.
"Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform, I found this in your pocket." She held out the grenade and he took it, racing over to the window and pulling the pin.
He shooed them back, then threw the grenade, racing for his life from the window.
There was an explosion, the glass in the window shattering like diamonds.
Everyone raced out, the men using the guns to take down walkers as they went. Just as they got to the cars, Andrea and Dale appeared, making a run for the cars.
"Dale get down!"
The building exploded.
-0-
Daryl was in his element, the place he knew best and where all the years he spent perfecting his tracking and hunting skills came alive. They'd escaped the CDC two days ago and were continuing on away from Atlanta, all of them dejected after what happened. They decided to stop for a couple days to get themselves in order, and Daryl was using the opportunity to escape into the woods to hunt. The map showed a large lake, surrounded by nothing but forest that Daryl was happy to get lost in.
With his crossbow in hand, Daryl became alive in the woods, a born hunter whose purpose was to hunt and provide. Club it over the head and drag it back to the cave if you will.
He'd been tracking a huge buck all morning, carefully following its trail and using his tracking skills to move in on the beast, knowing a kill like this would bring everyone's spirits up and fill all their bellies if just for a little while.
He was close, very close. He'd already got a shot into the deer's hindquarters, wounding it badly, and now it was time to move in for the ki-
"CARL!"
Daryl swore profusely under his breath as the buck startled and took of through the trees. He hiked his crossbow over his shoulder and started retracking his kill, mentally complaining about how noisy children were.
"Carl help!" Daryl took off without hesitation when he heard the cry for help, clearly in a young girl's voice.
The scream came from by the lake, and within seconds Daryl was standing at the edge of the lake, searching for the source of the scream.
It was Sophia, she was standing against a tree, her foot caught between two of the roots. Daryl wasted no time in getting to her, but just as he got there a low moan sounded from behind him. A walker, male, appeared from the trees with snapping teeth and arms raised to ensnare them and tear at their flesh.
Within seconds Daryl had whipped his crossbow off his shoulder and shot it between the eyes. He moved forward and grasped the arrow, pulling it out of the now motionless walker just as Sophia shouted "Look out!"
Two more walkers were headed their way, a male and a female with hungry, snapping teeth. Daryl shot both of them in the head and turned to Sophia, not even bothering with the arrows.
"Lemme see kid," he said, leaning down to inspect where her foot was caught.
"It's stuck," Sophia said bluntly. "And it's starting to hurt."
"Yea it's in there all right." Daryl confirmed after he'd gotten a good look. "I think I can get it out, but it ain't gonna feel pretty." Sophia swallowed hard and tried to nod bravely, but Daryl could see the tears starting to build up in her blue eyes.
"Hey," he said, looking her in the eyes. "I ain't gonna let nothin' happen to ya, we'll get ya back to yer mama." Sophia nodded again, this time a little more confidentially.
"uhhh, Mr. Daryl…"
"Jest Daryl kid. No mr." he grunted.
"Daryl, there's another walker coming!" she pointed into the trees, where a female walker wearing a fancy dress and jewelry was dragging herself towards them, snarling loudly.
"Damn it," Daryl muttered. "I'm gonna do this real quick kid, ya just hold on." Quickly Daryl knelt down next to Sophia and carefully tugged her foot out from between the roots. Quiet tears were rolling down Sophia's face as she dropped down to hold onto her injured foot.
Daryl didn't even bother with the crossbow this time. He slid his knife out and approached the walker, stabbing her in the eyes with a quick, practiced movement.
He turned back to Sophia and his heart nearly broke at the sight of her tear-stained face as she held her ankle.
"lemme see 'phia." Daryl knelt down next to her and gently examined the offended ankle. It wasn't broken, but the bruising suggested a light sprain.
"You'll be alright. Small sprain if anythin'." He slid one arm under Sophia's knees and the other around her back, easily lifting her scrawny frame off the ground.
"Ya need a sandwich or somethin' missy. Too damn scrawny." Sophia let out a giggle that immediately turned into a shriek as two walkers appeared out of the woods in front of them, one of them missing his entire arm.
"Hold on 'phia, we're gonna have ta make a run for it. Can't fight em' off when I got you." Sophia buried her face against the faded blue sleeveless shirt Daryl was wearing as he stumbled through the forest with her. He wasn't sure how long he kept going, but he was breathing hard by the time he stumbled into a small clearing with Sophia still curled up in his arms, figuring they'd moved pretty far into the forest by now.
He only looked back once, to see that two more walkers had joined the chase.
Where the hell are all these comin' from? He wondered as he immediately went into survival mode, calmly taking in his surroundings to figure out what to do.
He quickly spotted a large maple tree 20 feet to his left and ran to it, hoisting Sophia up onto his shoulder.
"'Phia, I need ya to climb the tree. Climb as high as ya can. I'll be right behind ya." Sophia nodded, her eyes wide as she clung to the nearest branch and worked to pull herself up without the use of her injured foot.
Daryl turned to face the walkers, arms raised and knife ready. There were now five in the chase, and a sixth one was emerging several feet away. Daryl stabbed the first one to approach and shoved it off, delivering a firm kick in the chest to the next walker before grabbing onto a branch and hoisting himself up the tree after Sophia, surprised to see that she was already several branches up the tree ahead of him.
"I'm comin' 'phia." She was staring past him to the small group of walkers gathered at the base of the tree, snarling and reach upwards towards them. Daryl pulled himself up to a large branch next to hers, pulling his crossbow off his back and sticking it safely into the branches. He only had 3 arrows left.
"Can they reach us up here?" she whispered to him.
"Na, they ain't that smart. We'll be safe up here for a while."
"Are we gonna be stuck out here for a long time?"
"I dunno, hopefully not too long."
"Daryl, are we going to die?"
"No Sophia, we're gonna be jest fine." He responded, not sure if he had just lied to Carol's little girl.
Sophia was silent for a while after that, curling up against the trunk of the tree while staring down at the snarling walkers. Daryl was quiet as well, concentrating on watching the forest, his mind running and working on how to keep Sophia safe and get them both out of here.
Several hours passed in silence. It didn't take long for the sun to set, and a chill was beginning to develop in the air. Daryl quickly noticed that Sophia was beginning to shiver. She was only wearing a pair of shorts and a thin t-shirt.
Without a second thought he unbuttoned the sleeveless shirt he was wearing and tossed it to Sophia, who looked up at him in confusion.
"Here 'phia, it's ain't much and it's dirty but it'll keep ya warm." Sophia shot him a smile and pulled the shirt over her body, feeling warmer already even though the sleeves were missing as she curled up against the tree. The vest was grimy like he said, but it was warm from being against Daryl's body and smelled foresty and comforting, the distinct scent of the Daryl lingering on the fabric.
It didn't take long for Sophia to notice the scars spread all over Daryl's body, thicker ones on his back and smaller ones, some round, on his upper arms and chest.
"Daryl, how did you get so many scars?" Daryl stiffened at the question, but he'd had a feeling she would have noticed sooner or later.
"Ya don't wanna know kid." He said bitterly. Sophia fiddled with the edge of his shirt, eyes downcast.
"My mama has lots of scars like that, she doesn't think I know about them, but I've seen them lots of times before." Daryl clenched one of the branches next to him, trying not to think about how Carol had gotten those scars, even though he already knew the answer.
"Mama says she just clumsy too, but I know that's not true." Sophia continued, her bright blue eyes boring holes in Daryl's head. "I know what my daddy did to my mama. Daryl, why did my daddy do that to her?"
Sophia's eyes met Daryl's then, and he could see the fear, the need for reassurance in her baby blues, he just didn't know if he could give it.
"My scars," Daryl said quietly, not even sure why he was telling this to her in the first place. He didn't tell anyone about his scars, especially little girls.
"My daddy gave me these. He wasn't nice either, like yer daddy." He was desperate enough to change the subject off Carol that he would open up to a little girl about his own rotten childhood.
"Didn't your daddy love you?" Sophia asked, and then continued on without waiting for an answer.
"My dad loves me; he gives me hugs a lot. But sometimes mama gets real mad at him when he does that and tells him to leave me be."
Sophia's voice faded away and Daryl's stomach began to sink with dread as realization hit him. Now he knew why Carol had desperately hated Ed. He clenched the branch again, failing to even notice how red his fist was getting as Sophia chatted away next to him
"'Phia," he said gruffly, cutting off her chatter. "Its best you get a bit of sleep now, I'll stay up and keep watch."
"You won't let them eat me will you?" Sophia whispered, glancing down worriedly at the still snarling hoard of walkers below.
"You ain't got nothin' to worry about kid, nothin's gonna eat you.
Daryl waited until Sophia tucked herself firmly in the branches, still wrapped snuggly in his shirt, and went to sleep.
Keeping himself awake would be easy if he just kept imagining his hands wrapped around Ed's neck.
And there you have it, a little insight into Daryl's past and why he likes the pictures lol. I hope Sophia isn't too out of character here, but i can really see her opening up to Daryl and feeling comfortable around him. I'm also having way too much fun picking out songs to go at the beginning of each chapter XD beauty and the beast just fit Soph and Daryl so well i had to use it.
I really REALLY wanted a good long chance for Sophia and Daryl to bond before they know they're related, form a sort of friendship before Daryl finds out he's a daddy XD I nearly passed out when Daryl was holding Judith and feeding her it was so adorable. I HAD to put a scene with him carrying Sophia in :D
I hope ya'll like this chapter XD I'm so not going to threaten to never update unless i get like 2984922 million reviews either, it pisses me off when authors do that like they're intitled to reviews. You gotta earn 'em buddy! but, reviews are very encouraging and do make it much more pleseant to write XD And don't forget to tell me your ideas! XD
