Summary: Daryl and the others have successfully saved Beth from the hospital but not without heavy losses, now travelling to the supposed safe Alexandria Safe Zone to find Maggie and Glenn, the group meet Riley Brooks a young woman with a mysterious past and the ability to see the dead both as walkers and spirits as they fight to survive and the terrifying mysteries surrounding Briarcliff Asylum as they battle living and dead. Daryl/OC, Beth/OC, Rick/Michonne, Tyresse/OC, Beth/OC friendship. Co – Written with WalkingPotterGirl14. Rated M for violence, graphic language, graphic and eventual sexual scenes. Carol, Glenn and Maggie bashing.

Special Thanks To: Hermione and Marcus, Kima Wolfwood, Monarchslayer, missy7293 and Caity6991.

Ghost Orchid

Chapter 9


They started searching the rooms cautiously. Riley gripped her gun tightly as she saw blood leading to the laundry room and Daryl nodded as they both counted quietly before wrenching the door open.

An awful smell of dead, decomposing bodies wafted through the air, making Riley almost gag as she looked cautiously along with Daryl to see heads on top of a dead, wilted Christmas tree and their eyes were gone.

What the hell?

"Oh my God," Riley whispered shocked as she turned on the lights and saw blood splattered on the walls, on the floor and it was all over the washing machine. Daryl grasped her hand as they heard a noise and saw it was coming from the wooden storage box.

Riley and Daryl shared a look as they both cautiously opened it to reveal a body covered in maggots. Riley felt her stomach roll at the sight of the corpse. The body had been amputated and was missing body parts. All what was left was a torso.

"Fuckin' hell," Daryl muttered as they heard a shriek behind them and saw a young girl with literally no eyes. She had a bloody kitchen knife and ran at them wildly.

She ran at Daryl, trying to stab him in the eye as Riley grabbed her only to get her hair pulled by her. Daryl grabbed a chair and smashed her over the head, knocking her out as Riley helped him up.

"Are you alright?" Riley asked concerned as she looked over him, but she suddenly screamed in pain. Daryl looked quickly to see the little homicidal girl had stabbed Riley in her left leg, a look of rage on her face.

"DIE DEMONS, DIE SINNERS!" She screamed fanatically as Daryl shot her. The girl fell flat on the floor as the bullet penetrated her forehead. Daryl kneels down to the floor and looks at Riley's leg. It was bleeding a lot.

"Jesus Christ," he mutters. He looks up at Riley. "Can ya walk on it at all?" He asks quietly. Riley shrugs lightly, cringing slightly at the pains she felt in her left leg.

"I could try," she gets out. Daryl wraps an arm around her waist to give her some support and helps her up. She flinches as she puts pressure onto it and Daryl looks at her worriedly,

"Are ya sure?" He asks. "I could carry ya." She shakes her head, placing her arm around him.

"I'm fine. Just help me back to the room, okay?" Daryl stares at her for a second, going from her face to her leg, before sighing. Slowly, he helps her back to the room they been sharing, crossing a very confused Remy.

"What the hell happened?" He asked alarmed as he helped them.

"Stupid bitch came out of nowhere and stabbed Riley in the leg. She's gone now." Daryl opens the door and lays Riley down on the bed, grabbing a towel from the bathroom and laying pressure on the wound. He turns to Remy. "Get Beth. We're gonna need some stitches."

Remy nods and leaves Daryl with Riley, who was staring at her cut leg. Blood was bleeding onto the towel in a rapid pace.

"I can't believe I got stabbed," she mutters. "I've never been that careless in my life." Daryl snorts, looking back up at her.

"Ain't that bad. I got stabbed in the side with an arrow because I was being a fucking klutz." Riley raises an eyebrow.

"Really?" She asks. She tries to not smile, but the image of Daryl tripping and falling onto an arrow was sort of funny. He looks up at sees her slight smirk, and he narrows his eyes, but her happiness was starting to rub off.

"The hell ya laughin' at?" He asks, but she could hear the chuckle in his voice. She shakes her head, looking away.

"Nothin," she snickers, hearing the door open. Beth walks in with Lily in her arms. When she sees Riley, the little girl reaches out and giggles, trying to get to her mother. Riley smiles and takes the girl into her lap as she begins to play with her hair. Beth looks at the wound in shock.

"What happened?"

"We were checking the laundry room and found it covered in blood. We found a body in a storage box and then a crazy little girl ran at us and stabbed Riley. I ended up havin' to shoot her," Daryl explained grimly and Beth nodded as she bathed the cut. Luckily it was a through and through and started stitching it up as Riley drank some water.

"Where the hell were her eyes?" She asked Daryl suddenly and he frowned in thought.

"I dunno, but I think we better leave here and head north. Find Maggie and Glenn and leave. This place ain't safe and that ain't just walkers," he said grimly as they saw a grim looking Rick come in.

"I found this in the dining hall with Tate," he said grimly and held up a jar filled up with something.

It was a jar filled up with countless eyes, staring at them. Riley covered Lily's eyes as Beth did the same to Adam.

"What the fuck?" Remy asked disgusted as they saw Toby growling warningly at the front of the motel.

Cars were coming along and Daryl looked to see a group of white people along with three women. In the back of a truck was a dark skinned man with Eugene tied up and gagged.

"Morgan," Rick said stunned.

Morgan was alive.

"What do we do?" Beth whispered quietly as she helped Riley up to her feet.

"What yer gonna do is yer gonna hide," Daryl says. Riley's eyes widen as she holds Lily close to her chest.

"What?" She asks incredulously. "You're just gonna shut us away?"

"Riley, ya were stabbed in the leg. What if we gotta fight? Ya can't do anything like that. Just stay in and keep Lily safe while we deal with this." Before she could reply, Beth places a hand on her shoulder.

"He's right. We need to keep the kids safe." Riley looks at Beth and then back at Daryl, sighing but nodding her head.

"Okay," she mutters. They hear doors close and Rick goes out to the hallway. Remy hugs Beth tightly before leaving. Daryl takes Riley's face in his hands comfortably.

"Hey, yer gonna be fine, alright?" He says to her quietly. "Yer gonna be fine, and so is Lily, and everyone else. This ain't gonna end badly." She nods, looking up at him. Their eyes connect and Riley feels that shock go down her spine. He leans down and kisses her forehead softly before leaving, strapping his crossbow on his back.

Beth takes her hand and leads her away, giving her a squeeze of comfort. Riley looks at her.

"I don't want anything else to happen to him," she whispers fearfully.

"It won't I promise. Daryl's a survivor. He's been in a lot of battles," Beth said, smiling slightly as she and Riley sat with the others as Carol glared at all of them, hate marring her face as she glared at them.

"This is all their fault. We're all probably about to get killed by these lunatics and it's this bitch's fault. We should have stayed at the asylum and just turned a blind eye," Carol said furiously.

Everyone stared at Carol in shock and disbelief. Carol had alarmingly changed since the fall of the prison and it wasn't good. All of them glared at Carol as Riley chose to ignore her and rocked Lily gently.

"Your daddy loves us all Lily. He's out with Uncle Remy, and Uncle Rick protecting us all. I won't let anyone hurt you my sweet little girl," Riley said stroking Lily's cheek with her right middle finger.

Carol glared at the girl and her freak friends. She would do whatever it meant to keep Daryl and the group safe even if meant killing them all by herself or allowing the asylum group to kill them.

"We'll see about that," she whispered chillingly as a shocked Michonne overheard but kept silent.

She would tell Rick when he came back.


Daryl, Rick and Remy walked silently around the back of the motel. They saw the group that was holding Morgan and Eugene hostage were laughing and talking as one of the guys was making out with a young woman who had red fiery hair.

"Reckon we should fuck in front of the nigger?" One of the men asked smirking. The others laugh while a man, who seemed to be the leader, waved his hand in a sign of agreement.

"Sure. Show 'em the good stuff," he laughs as the others do too. But before any sort of thing like that could happen, Daryl, Rick and Remy all walked out, with the other men in tow behind them, their guns aimed. Everyone stops what they were doing, and Morgan stares in shock at Rick.

"You're not gonna do anythin' like that," Rick growls at the men. The others stare in shock for a straight second before smirks cross their faces. The leader steps up, taking his pistol out.

"Oh really? You and what army? Can't do three against six, man."

"That may be true, but we ain't the only ones here." The man with the woman looks at them, crossing his arms.

"Yeah? Where are they?" A bullet flies past his head, and the man pushes back into the car, surprised by the sudden bullet. It hit the car behind them, and the group looks at them in shock. Rick shrugs.

"Let's just say they're close," he replies. The leader shakes off the sudden fright and glares at the man.

"We were here first, man. You can't just kick us out."

"Ya got some of our people," he says, gesturing to the back of the truck where Morgan and Eugene were. "We take this seriously, and we want 'em back?" The leader snorts.

"Your people? They were in the safe zone in Alexandria, which is gone by now. Probably all walker bait." Daryl curses inwardly. He knew that place wasn't safe. If they had left, they would have been swarmed. "They're ours now, anyway."

"You're not going anywhere until we get 'em back," Daryl spat at him. The leader chuckles.

"He speaks," he taunts. "What? You actually have someone worth protecting to need these people for your group? I doubt that."

"We ain't usin' them for protection. They're our friends so let them go or we'll fuckin' kill ya," Daryl warned menacingly and the man laughed again but his group members didn't look so convinced.

"Maybe we should just let them go, Ryan. Ain't like they'll do anything," the man said, looking at the leader who shocked all of them by punching him and glanced at Rick who seemed to be in charge.

"Got any women to share? We'll call it even then if you share a woman with us, preferably a pretty white girl or little one. We don't really care, do we boys?" He asked his group and that was when they snapped.

"No," Rick said coldly as he glared at the leader who smirked.

"Don't say I didn't warn you then, Sherriff," he said as his men and the two women pulled out their weapons as the others in the motel began to fire at them, causing hell to break loose.

Daryl fired his crossbow at one of the men while Remy covered him. The others from inside the motel fired their guns at the surviving group members, leaving Ryan and the two women alive.

The two women sneered at him.

Rick started to head to the cart where Eugene and Morgan were held. Morgan looked battered but was still alive while Eugene looked like he had pissed himself.

"What happened at the safe zone?" Rick demanded roughly.

Ryan laughed then, a smug laugh.

"Negan and his allies blew the place to shit. The leader was getting too full of himself so Negan killed them all and sold the women to Roman and Edward. They'll be having fun," he said smirking.

Daryl heard a click sound and looked to see the red head had a gun aimed at Ryan and the other woman.

"Let em go, them and the prisoners," she said calmly.

Ryan snorted in disgust.

"Fat fucking chance princess-" He was cut off by Tessa shooting him in the head, the gunshot echoing around the car park. She then turned her gun to the other woman and shot her in the head as well, turning to the group with tired eyes.

"I'm sorry about them, but I didn't know that they took the woman as prisoners. To be honest, I'd rather die than see that happen, so…" She aims the gun at her head and pulls the trigger, her blood splattering on the ground, surprising the men. Remy stared in shock at the woman before looking up.

"Well that escalated quickly," he mumbles. Daryl walks over to Rick and helps him untie Eugene and Morgan, looking at the man with a furrowed brow. He didn't know how the hell he knew this guy, but apparently he did.

"What happened, man?" He asks to Morgan. The black shrugs slightly, looking angrily at the dead bodies.

"They killed nearly everyone in the safe zone. Took us away, while the women were taken in another truck." Daryl looks at the man in surprise as he remembers one of the names Ryan had said.

"Wait, he said Roman?" He asks, Morgan nods. Daryl looks at the motel and then back at the men. It was all connected. The asylum and the safe zone. They were run by the same people. No wonder the leaders skeeved him out so much. The only reason why he had suggested they stayed was because Riley came out, and she looked terrified.

'What a decision that was,' Daryl thinks, remembering how they had first met. He had nearly been murdered the first time he saw her, that Sam guy nearly killing him. Her voice had been like a fucking magnet.

And now, here they were.

"We gotta get inside," Remy says, helping Eugene in. "Tell the girls it's good now." The rest of them nod and follow him inside, still keeping a vigilant eye around them, just in case anyone came out.

"It's safe now!" Rick called out softly and the others came out of the basement. Riley being able to lean on Kristi and Beth with Adam and Lily nestled to them as she embraced Daryl tightly.

"Hey, I'm alright. I promised," Daryl said, tracing her cheek. Riley smiled as she saw Morgan sitting down as Carol tended to with no complaint while Eugene was sitting quietly before he swallowed and spoke.

"Glenn and Abraham are dead," he said numbly, causing everyone to stare in horror as they took in his shocking words.

"Maggie? What about Maggie?" Beth asked alarmed.

"She and Rosita were taken by Roman and Dr Harper. Roman is taking them to his brothel of horrors. This is payback for the safe zone blowing up one of his factories," he said sighing.

"So the safe zone is gone?" Carol asked stunned and Eugene nodded in confirmation at her question.

"There's only one safe zone left. It's in Louisiana but even that's got unpleasant stories. They don't allow in children, the mentally ill or pregnant women. It's only for adults. No exceptions," Eugene said bitterly.

"Well…we make our own safe haven then," Rick said firmly.

"We could. It ain't hard. Just need to find somewhere that no one will look," Daryl said, liking the idea.

Riley smiled at his hope as did Remy and Beth. The others were too.

"We could go in the country side of New Orleans. I lived there," Remy said quietly as he held Beth and Adam.

"Everyone agree?" Rick asked looking at all of them. Riley steps up slightly, holding Lily in her arms.

"I got an idea," she says quietly. Everyone looks to her and she suddenly feels slightly shy, but forces herself to talk. "We could still head north."

"The safe zone's gone," Carol says to her, malice in her voice. Riley glares at her.

"I know that!" She snaps, taking a deep breath before continuing. "But the north might be better. It's getting a bit colder outside, and up there it's even colder, but the cold slows down the walkers. Down south, there aren't that many cold fronts that pass by. I'm not saying we go all the way up to Maine, but maybe New York, or New Jersey. Something like that."

"Cities are always the first to fall," someone remarks, but Riley didn't have to turn her head to know it was Carol. She sighs.

"I know that as well, but I'm not saying we go to New York City. I'm saying near it, near counties where rarely anyone lived. I know where there are places like that. We could make that safe somehow, and we would be okay. Maybe we could find some of our family," she remarks, thinking back to her father and brother.

She wondered if they were alive right now. No matter how much she held a grudge against them, she wanted to know if they were okay.

"What about supplies?" Carol asks, standing up. "Food? Clothes? It's freezing up there! We'd need so much."

"We'd handle it," Daryl defends, looking at Carol with crossed arms. "We always have, and we could do it then." Riley smiles small at him, happy he had defended her before turning back to them.

"Maybe it could work," Remy says lightly. "We could go there. Walkers might actually be limited there too."

"We need to find my sister first," Beth states, looking at the group. "And Rosita. We can't leave them here. Even if it means going to find Dr. Harper again, I need to see my sister."

"Then we'll do it," Riley states steadily. Everyone looks at Riley in shock. She was the one who wanted to get out of there in the first place, and now she was fully ready to turn around and help Beth bring back her family, with a hurt leg.

"We need a plan first and let's not forget they've got a team of fucking lunatics," Remy said firmly and they all nodded as they started to plan it and Tate came up with an idea that had hit him.

"We can get the McManus brothers to help!" he exclaimed quickly and they all looked confused aside from Riley and the others who smiled widely at his suggestion and nodded.

"Who are they?" Beth asked curiously but Rick knew who they were. They were an urban legend in Seattle.

"They're twin brothers who got sectioned at Briarcliff. They hunted and killed the Russian Mob and bad guys after their dad was murdered in a botched robbery. They were the ones who escaped Briarcliff when this started," Tate explained patiently.

"Any clue where they'd be headin'?" Daryl asked quietly.

"Probably around here. I know Murphy wasn't a fan of Dr. Harper and I know Connor nearly got sent because of his experiments. I know Murphy had a girlfriend named Maggie Greene. Really loved her," Tate said frowning as Beth stilled.

Maggie's Murphy?

It had to be. That had to be the reason why Maggie had gone to New York, five years ago. Maggie was in love with Murphy McManus, or had been.

"We need to find them," Riley said as she cuddled Lily. The little girl cooed up at Riley as she did so. "I don't want anyone else getting into this shit. They don't deserve this. Nobody does."

"And we're gonna find them," Remy says. "We should head out tomorrow. We need to think this out a bit more." Rick nods.

"He's right." He turns to Morgan and helps him up. "Someone take Morgan and Eugene to a room and clean them up. After what just happened, we need people outside to guard this place in case anyone else comes by."

"I'll go," Tate says.

"Same here," Tyreese speaks.

"Me too," Kyle says quietly. All of them nod. Riley goes to help them, but Daryl surprisingly wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her back. She looks up at him questionably.


"Ya still gotta heal that leg. Ain't good to be movin' around," he whispers to her. She sighs but nods, knowing he was right. Keeping a firm hold on her, he helps her back to the room and opens the door, then closes it as he sits her on the bed. Lily sits in Riley's lap, looking at Daryl as he closed it.

Riley leaned into him as he sat down next to her on the bed and held her tightly. Her compassion amazed him. She had just escaped from the asylum but would go back there to help Beth find Maggie, and Daryl would go with her. He wouldn't let her out of his sight. She meant so much to him and so did Lily.

"I was so worried about you, Daryl," Riley said, tracing his stubble clad cheek. His was getting longer but she thought it made him wild, like a wild man who dwelt in the woods. She loved his dark beauty.

"Ya didn't need to. I'm right here. I ain't gonna leave ya or Lily. Ya two are my family along with the others," he said, resting his forehead against hers tenderly as their eyes said unspoken emotions.

Riley smiled and traced his face as she placed his hand over where her heart was beating softly.

"That's how much you and Lily mean to me, Daryl. You saved me that day," she said, cupping his face in her soft hands.

Daryl took a shaky breath and nuzzled her cheek.

He wouldn't let go of her and Lily.

They were the missing pieces along with Beth, Rick, Judith, Remy, Tate, Violet, Michonne, Kristi, Zoe, Kyle, Tyresse and Maggie. His family in a dead world.

"Hold me tight," Riley said softly as Lily softly cooed.

"I ain't lettin' go, sweetheart," he whispered huskily.

"I won't either," she whispered back softly.

Daryl felt comforted by that then. That Riley had promised him that she wouldn't leave him or Lily alone. He held her tightly as Lily giggled at them adorably, her blue eyes twinkling.

She was such a beautiful baby. She looked like an angel dressed in a pale lavender onsie with a matching hat as she cuddled into them and the parents simply held her, both of them whispering how much they loved her.


Remy was having his back checked over by Beth while Adam happily rolled on his stomach, laughing happily, his dark brown tufts of hair falling in his eyes as Remy picked him up and looked at him with soft dark grey eyes.

"Your dad and momma love you Adam Hershel. That's why we're goin' back to the asylum so you can be safe and meet your aunt Maggie," he whispered softly as Adam cooed and Beth leaned into him and their son.

"We love you, Adam LaBeau," Beth said softly as she stroked her son's cheek tenderly.

Adam cooed softly at them.

Beth smiled at Adam. He was so adorable in his Winnie the Pooh onsie and curled into them both as Beth fed him a warm bottle of formula. He happily suckled it as he grasped their fingers in his tiny hands.

"You're good with him," Remy said softly as he watched Beth and Adam bond.

"I love kids. I took care of Judith when Rick was ill," Beth said, cuddling into him and he kissed her soft hair that was the colour of sunshine as they sat in silence for a while before he spoke.

"You saved me you know," he said seriously, hoping she wouldn't think him an idiot. "I was in a bad place for a while. I mean, I had Riley and Violet and everyone else, but when your group came in it was like a beacon of light for all the people there that didn't deserve to be there. It was just…everything we could want."

Beth smiled at him tenderly and kissed his right cheek before holding him and Adam.

"You saved me too, Remy." He snorts, shaking his head.

"Doubtful. I was barely anything." Beth's brow furrows in disappointment. She places a bubbling Adam on the bed and turns to Remy, taking his face in her hands. She makes sure his eyes were connected with hers so that her message got straight through.

"Remy, you are not nothing," she says quietly. "You're an amazing and caring person. You have this insanely bad past, which no one deserves at all, and you survived it, and made it through like a champion. You're sweet, and handsome, and kind, and I couldn't ask for anything more. Adam loves you….I love you," she whispers.

He lets out a shaky breathe and stares at her bright eyes, full of honesty and truth.

"Really?" He asks, his voice breaking slightly. She nods, a small smile coming over her face.

"You really do?" He asks again, this time his voice full of disbelief. She giggles.

"Yes," she laughs. He suddenly cups her face in his hands and leans in, connecting her lips to his, which she returns happily. She wraps her arms around his neck as his go around her waist lovingly, pulling her closer to him, if possible.

He pulls back and gives her another peck, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"I love you, too," he says softly. She smiles and holds his hand in a gentle grasp. "I love you so much." She smiles and caresses his cheek with her hand as Adam crawls in between them, giggling up at them. Both of them laugh as Beth picks him up into her arms, tickling his belly. He laughs loudly while Remy smiles.

This was life. He liked it.


Lily had fallen asleep after a while, her head laying on Riley's chest as she slept. Her chest would rise and fall as she kept breathing steadily, her nose twitching ever so slightly in her sleep.

Daryl smiled at her as she slept, her soft snores making him chuckle as he looked at Riley who was sitting quietly down beside him. He stroked Lily's cheek tenderly as she slept peacefully.

Riley cuddled him and Lily as he looked down at her, a slightly unreadable expression on his face. Looking slightly shy, he kissed her gently.

Riley was startled by the kiss but didn't shy away as she kissed him gently back, wanting to show how much he meant to her as they kissed passionately.

Daryl tangled his right hand in her soft, wavy dirty blonde hair as they kissed each other.

Daryl couldn't help it. Riley was beautiful and she looked like an angel in front of him as the moon danced on them.

Riley sighed happily against his lips. This was the first time she had ever been kissed. The only other man who had kissed her had been Dr Harper, and that had been because he forced her.

Daryl was different though.

"Daryl," she breathed softly.

"Tell me to stop, Riley," Daryl panted as he kissed her passionately, saying all the things he couldn't say yet. She seemed to understand as she kissed him back tenderly, running her hands underneath his shirt as she felt the muscles and faded scars from his abusive past.

"I don't want you to stop, Daryl," Riley breathed softly as she rested her forehead against his and Daryl groaned softly as he rested his own forehead against hers tenderly.

"Don't leave me, Riley," Daryl choked as his hands stroked the skin of her stomach underneath her shirt and she held him tightly, breathing in his woodsy scent.

"I won't ever leave you Daryl. I promise. I won't leave you. Lily and the others….you're all my family, baby," she said, stroking his face.

Daryl looked at her as his eyes burned.

She had pretty much said she loved him just like he had.

He held her tightly to him.

"Everything will be fine, I promise," Riley said soothingly.

"I know it will. Just got a lot to lose now," Daryl said, holding her tightly and Riley smiled then at him. He made her so happy, and she wondered if this was God's secret plan for her and her friends.

"You'll all be fine my boy. I know God is keeping ya'll safe and well. Thank you for keeping my Bethie safe and I know you'll find Maggie and her friend," Hershel said from where he was watching them with a smile.

Daryl smiled and kissed Riley gently on the lips, and she blushed a light pink that made her look innocent.

"That was my first kiss, ya know," she said, smiling shyly.

Daryl felt proud but sad at the same time.

"Ya ain't ever gone to a dance?" he asked softly and she shook her head sadly.

"No. Even at the asylum, me and the others weren't allowed. Only Dandy, Natalie, Erin, Trevor and their rich friends could go. It was like a damn dictatorship there," she said sighing.

Daryl made a promise then to take Riley dancing.

"I ain't either. Only danced with my grandma or momma when it was the holidays or a birthday. Merle was a ladies man," he said with a slight smile.

Riley kissed him, running her hands through his messy hair, but she didn't mind. It was another thing she loved about him.

"We'll have our dance."

Daryl smiled and nodded. Hershel smiled as he watched them and went to check on the others.


Hershel found Beth and Remy fast asleep with Adam curled into him, along with Pirate, the one eyed white dog who was happily snoring. He watched them with a smile.

He was very proud of his youngest daughter. She had become such a strong woman in the last two years, stronger than he ever thought she would be

"Well done, Bethie," he said softly, walking over. "Well done." He places his hand on her forehead and she smiles in her sleep, seemingly feeling his touch. "You've made us very proud. You're so strong and fierce, and you've been through hell. And you're just going to prevail more. Your sister will be surprised." He turns to Remy, who had his arms around Beth. He could tell he loved her just by the way he held her. "You keep her safe boy."

With that, and one final smile, Hershel leaves the small family to lay and sleep peacefully. He knew the peace wouldn't be forever, but he would let them enjoy it while it was here.