Hello readers and welcome to my new chapter. Here, we're going to introduce Daryl Dixon, one of the most popular characters in the series (If some of you didn't know that). Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own AMC The Walking Dead.

S1 Episode 4

When Beth woke up, she thought that the last few months was a horrible nightmare. Her face was pressed against Rick's chest, with the man having a light snore. But then she saw the tent walls, crashing that thought. They're still camped outside of Atlanta and the dead are still walking.

But it doesn't seem so bleak anymore. In fact, Beth never felt more giddy. She crawl up to Rick before giving him a kiss. The man slowly awake before kissing Beth back. "I miss that."

"Same." Beth murmured before resting on his shoulder. They stayed like that for a bit before Beth spoke up. "As much as I like to stay here, when need to get up."

Rick nodded in agreement to that. "You're right." The two slowly got up before changing into their clothes. As Beth dress up, she notice Rick is in thought.

"What you're thinking about Rick?" Beth asked. The only response she got was a chaste kiss and a whisper of 'later'. With that, Rick walk out of the tent.

Beth was a bit concern, but she shook it off. She is sure it isn't anything bad.

-TWD-

"You seem happier lately. Not so gloomy and depressing." Amy said to Beth, as the two help out with the laundry. "Does it have to do with a certain officer that came back from the dead?"

It was the day after Amy's sister, along with the other scavenger groups (Except Merle) and two more, got back to the camp. She was surprise, along with everyone else, that the police officer iss Carl's dad and Beth's boyfriend, while the boy is Sophia's twin brother and Carol's son. Even more surprised when she heard about Rick's and Alex's separate journeys, during the campfire last night. Rick waking up from a coma that came from a gunshot, while Alex traveled alone in the apocalypse until he met two people. Both people searching for their family.

Beth smile as she hang the clothing, nodding to her friend. "At first, I thought he wasn't real. Something my mind conjure up, or maybe a dream." Beth said softly. "But after touching him, feeling him after so long, I knew it wasn't. I didn't think I would see him again."

"Well it shows that even good miracles can happen in the apocalypse." Amy joked a little. But really, she is happy for her friend. Ever since the two met each other with the other survivors, she had been trying to get Beth to crack even a small smile. There were a few successes, but they were smile. Now, seeing the girl glowing like she's on top of the world, make Amy wonder how much effect the former officer had on Beth.

Before she could ask that, the man himself walked towards her and Beth. "Beth, can I speak to you for a second?" Beth nodded, joining Rick side and latching onto his hand as they walk to a place to talk. Amy sighed, a bit jealous of Beth. She hope to find someone like Rick.

-TWD-

"Come on, Alex! I want you to meet my new friends." Sophia said, pulling her brother along. After the two of them awoke, Alex look around the camp. He talked with some of them, such as Dale, Amy and Andrea, and Glenn. He had to keep himself from laughing at the grumbling korean when the others started pulling off car parts. Now, Sophia decided to introduce him to the friends she made at the camp.

"Okay, okay Soph. No need to drag me around." Alex said, laughing a little. The two continue walking until they spotted three kids. One Alex recognize as Rick's son, Carl Grimes. A brown haired boy with the same blue eyes as his father's. The other two kids are Morales' children, the both of them having black hair and looks hispanic american. The girl looks to be the oldest while the boy looks to be the youngest of not only her sister, but the rest of the group of kids.

Sophia wave at all of them. "Hey guys. I like you to meet to meet my brother, Alex." The boy in question gave all of them a two finger salute at them.

"Yo." Alex said, before looking at Carl Grimes. "I already know of you, Carl Grimes. Rick talked about you and Beth during our travel to Atlanta."

Carl smile brightly at that. "And dad talked about you last night, before we went to bed. Thank you for helping him. Really" Alex shrug, not knowing what to say. Morgan did most of the work, healing Rick up. He just helped out where he could. Patching yourself up during one of your father's beatings give you some form of experience.

"And what about you two?" Alex said, looking at Eliza and Louis. "I know your last name is Morales, but not your first names."

"My name is Eliza Morales." The girl introduce herself, before putting a hand on her brother's shoulder. "This is my brother, Louis. We heard a few things from dad about his trip."

"Meaning we spy on him while he talked." Louis grinned, making Eliza push head down. Louis merely laugh it off and escape her grasp.

"Cheeky brat." Eliza muttered before looking at the Peletier twins. "Yeah, we did. We heard that you bit the shoulder of the mean guy, Merle."

Alex grin. "What can I say? The guy was asking to get bit. Whether by walkers or me is up to you" That got laughter from the group of kids. "So, are you guys planning to do something? Or did you want to know the new kid?"

Carl was about to speak when Eliza hushed him. "Do you guys hear that?" Eliza whispered. They were wondering what she was talking about when we started hearing some kind of smacking sound. Alex stiffen at the familiar noise. Oh shit….

"Yeah, I hear it to." Carl said, jogging into the forest. "Let's go check it out." Before Alex could stop any of them, or say otherwise, the others followed Carl in the forest.

"Wait, guys! Don't!" Alex whispered fiercely before he groan. He got out of the pistols from his holster (He made sure no one saw them, especially his mother), before following the others quickly. When they all finally got to where the chewing sound is coming from, all of them (Except for Alex) screamed.

The site they stumbled on is a walker, feeding on a dead deer's neck.

-TWD-

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Beth asked when she and Rick got to a secluded spot. Rick mentally prepare himself for the conversation, a habit he formed whenever he gonna bring news to people. Come with being a police officer, also if you married Lori.

"I've been thinking." Rick said slowly to Beth. "About Merle Dixon. Remember when T-Dog said he put chain locks around the door that lead to the roof?" Rick can see the conclusion forming in Beth's eyes.

"You think Merle Dixon is still alive?" Beth asked, getting a nod from Rick. "And you're thinking about rescuing him?" Rick nodded once again.

"It's partially my fault that he still up there." Rick said to her. Before she could interrupt him, Rick hold out his hand. "I know I didn't have much of a choice, but the fault is still there. I don't know for sure if he still alive, but I gotta to try." After that, he stayed silent to hear what Beth want to say. He want her to support his decision, but he doubt it.

It was confirmed when Beth spoke. "Rick, I understand what you're saying. And I understand that you don't want to live with that." Beth said, closing her eyes before opening, reflecting her concern and fear. "But you just got back to me and Carl. What if something happens while you attempt the rescue? I don't want to-"

She was interrupted when the two of them heard screams. The two turn to where the screams come from before running there, along with several other adults.

Rick saw Carl, Sophia, and Morales' children run up to them, before they hug their individual mothers. Rick and the other men went to see what spook them when they saw Alex pointing a gun at a walker, which is feeding on a deer.

"Glad you guys showed up." Alex said, slowly stepping back. "I didn't want waste a bullet, nor draw sound around the place. One walker is good enough for me." Rick didn't say anything, he just slowly an advance to the walker with a baseball bat, with Shane, Glenn, and Morales with him.

The four slowly went up to the walker, until it finally notice all of them. It got up with a snarl and was about to reach out to one of them when Glenn hit it in the back, sending it stumbling on the floor.

Soon, the four started beating on the thing until Dale came in and whacked it's head off. After that, Alex slowly walk to the body, bending down to it. "Congratulation you guys. You hit every single part of the body, except for its head. Amazing."

"Shut up Alex.." Glenn muttered, a small embarrassed blush on his cheek. Rick and the others look a bit sheepish as well before they got more serious. "Why is the walker up here? It should be down in the city."

"The is first one we've seen in the mountain." Dale replied, pointing out the obvious. "They never come this far up the mountain."

"Well, they're running out of food in the city." Shane said. Rick knew that this will be bad. More walkers might come up here, and right now, they don't have that much guns or ammo. If they did, Rick would've saw the scavenger group with more guns at Atlanta.

Another reason he wanted to go back to Atlanta. His bag of guns are probably still out of the streets. If he can get those, the group will have a better chance of defending themselves from a group of walkers. Not only that, but the walkie talkie is still in their as well, the only way he could contact Morgan. If he doesn't get it, Morgan and Duane might walk into a death trap.

In the corner of his eyes, he saw Alex's mother, Carol, coming over to them and then fussing over the boy. Rick snorted a little at how disgruntled Alex looked. He stopped focusing on them when he heard crackling sounds in the forest, making everyone tense. Rick ready his bat, ready to face another walker (or possibly a group), but instead of that, it was a man, carrying a crossbow.

The man looked dirty, with short brown hair, a mustache, and a small patch of hair on his chin. He's wearing a gray, no sleeved shirt, with some dirty jeans with it. From the looks of it, this must be Merle's brother, Daryl Dixon. And right now, he looks angry.

"Son of a bitch. That's my deer!" Daryl cursed, walking around the two corpses. "Look at it, all chewed up by rotten! Disease ritten! Poxy bastard!" With each word, the hunter kicked the body of the walker.

"Settle down son. That's not gonna change anything."

"Oh yeah? What do you know about it old man?" Daryl said, walking up to Dale. "Why don't take your straw hat and go in someone else's business?"

"Yep, that definitely his brother." Alex whispered to Rick as Daryl kept talking a bit more. Rick agrees with the boy, seeing the similarities in looks and personalities.

"What do you think, can we cut around it?" Daryl asked the group. "Get the part that isn't chewed up?"

"I wouldn't risk that." Shane said with a bit of a grimace.

Daryl sigh. "Well that's a damn shame." He then shrug, losing that anger for that, before picking up some dead squirrels trapped in snares. "Well, got a couple of squirrels. Thought we can cook them up."

With that, he went back to the camp, calling out for his brother. Rick and others shared some looks, knowing this isn't gonna be good.

-TWD-

And their thoughts turned out to be correct. When Rick told him what happened, it ended up with Alex on his back, Carol and Sophia at his side, and Shane putting Daryl on the chokehold. When Daryl processed what Rick told him, he attempted to punch. Rick dodge it, and he and Shane went to subdue him when he pulled out a knife. That's when Alex jump on his back and bit on his shoulder, like he did with Merle Dixon. Let just say that Daryl was not expecting that.

"I would like to have a calm, rational, discussion on this." Rick told him while Shane still choke holding the hunter. "Can we do that? Can we?" When Daryl gave a nod from his hold, Shane released him.

"What I did to him was not on a whim." Rick continued, after Daryl got up. "He was putting all of us endanger, acting reckless."

"Don't blame Rick for all of this." T-Dog said, joining the conversation. "I had the key and dropped it." Rick wasn't surprised by what T-Dog admitted. Last night, during the camp, T-Dog wanted to be the person to tell Daryl what happen. He didn't want to hide from him.

"You couldn't pick it up?"

"It was dropped inside a pipe." T-Dog explained. "There was no way I could get it."

Daryl turn away from him in anger. "If you think it make me feel any better, it doesn't."

"Then how about this?" T-Dog replied back. "Before I left, I lock the door to the roof with a padlock. No walker can get through there if they tried. Your brother can still be alive."

"That's gotta count for something." Rick said to the hunter.

Daryl wipe his eyes, facing away from everyone. "To hell with all of ya'll!" Daryl shouted, his voice strained. "Just tell me where he is, so I can bring him back!" Rick was about to replied when he heard Lori speak up.

"You're going to show him, aren't you?" Rick resist sighing, turning his head to Lori. Despite the two being divorce, there are still times Lori knows Rick's thoughts and vice versa. These are one of them. He also notice Beth and Carl staring at him, waiting for his answer.

"I'll take you there, help you get rescue your brother." Rick told the man. He isn't the kind of guy to let a man die if he could do something, especially if it's somehow his fault. He can't live with leaving Merle to the walkers without trying to rescue him.

-TWD-

"Are you sure okay? No bruises or scratches, anything like that?"

"Mom, I'm sure I'm alright." Alex said to his mother, resisting the urge to groan in annoyance. In these past weeks, he forgot how much of a worry wart his mother can be. He is now reminded of that fact, after Carol brought him to a tent to check up on him. Also yesterday, when she noticed his bandaged up hands. "Beside, I had worst than scratches before we left home, you know that."

His mother flinch at that. Before the apocalypse, Ed used to beat his mother several times. At age six, he got the same beatings whenever he protects his mother. The two of them also made sure his attention is focus on them to make sure he doesn't do anything to Sophia. Alex didn't like the looks he give his sisters sometimes, especially when his mom gave him the talk.

His mother spoke up once again, but changing the subject. "And by the way, why do you have a gun with you?" This time, Alex did groan. He was hoping his mother will forget about that tiny detail, but his hope was for naught.

"Well, I couldn't survive alone with nothing mom." Alex told her honestly. "And the dead isn't bias to children. Anything with a heartbeat, they will try to eat. So I needed something to fight back."

"Well, now that your back with me and Sophia, you don't need the guns."

Alex knew that she was gonna say that. But he's not about to give up his gun. "Yes I do mom. The walkers are gonna come up here and I can't defend myself with just a knife."

"You don't need to defend yourself anymore."

"Yes I do!"

"I can protect you and Sophia, with the help of the rest of the adults."

"You're not gonna always be near me mom and you know it!" Alex retorted, making her flinch. "Ed left me high and dry first chance he got, without you having a chance to stop it! I had to defend myself for first weeks of this damn apocalypse before Morgan and Duane found me! So you definitely know that you're not gonna be here to protect me or Soph 24/7!"

By the time he finished, he noticed tears coming out of his mother's eyes. "I am so sorry Alex. I didn't think Ed would do something like that." The boy sighed. He shouldn't have yelled like that.

"Don't apologize for something you couldn't control." Alex said to her softly. "You know that bastard hated me with a passion, after I stopped him from hurting you more the first time." Alex got up, rubbing his bandage hand. "I gotta go talk to Rick before he goes. Need to give him something to help him out on his rescue mission."

He walk towards the exit of the tent, but stopped to tell his mom one more thing. "Don't worry about me having the gun mom. I'm not a kid anymore." He stopped being one long ago, due to the bastard. With that, he left the tent to give Rick one of his guns. He's need all the help he can get if he's going back to Atlanta and while he isn't about to help rescue the bastard that nearly toss him off a roof, he's gonna give Rick anything that can help.

And that's the end. I hope all of you liked this chapter. Had a bit of a hard time doing it. Next up, Rick is going on that mission, plus some drama at the camp. I hope it will be to your readers' liking. Review, favorite, and follow please and I will see you guys later.