Continuing on with the storm scenario! I did borrow some dialogue once again from the show but I don't anything or any characters. Thanks for reading!

Maggie

Maggie used every ounce of strength left in her body to bar the doors. Her feet slid on the dirt floor and her arms shook with exertion, but the two doors were all that stood between her family and a hungry herd of walkers and she was not about to give in.

The others were equally exhausted but the determination in their eyes matched her own. They stood together, weak but unwilling to give up, as the herd scratched and pushed against the doors.

Suddenly, the wind picked up and the walls of the small barn trembled around them. Maggie heard a rumbling that she could only compare to the sound of a freight train barreling down the tracks. The walkers' groans were momentarily drowned out by the roar of the storm and then went quiet altogether; the roar died away as suddenly as it had appeared.

Maggie slacked up enough to peek through the crack between the doors; it was pitch black outside, but when a streak of lightning lit up the sky she could see that the herd was gone.

"It's over," she breathed, sliding to the floor.

"Don't say that! Don't give up!" Beth said urgently.

"No, no! They're gone. We're okay!" Maggie laughed. They all gazed down at her in shock before plopping down on the floor themselves.

Relief flooded through her and she finally felt how tired she truly was as she slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep.

...

Maggie was the first to wake; it looked like no one had thought to keep watch after the night's grueling ordeal.

She rolled onto her side in time to see that she was not the only one awake anymore; Sasha was up and slipping out the barn doors.

Maggie figured Sasha wanted her space - that seemed to be all she wanted these days - but she followed her anyways. As soon as Maggie stepped outside her mouth fell open in awe; trees were uprooted and snapped in two all around the cabin. Walkers were p inner beneath the overturned trees, impaled by branches, weakly gurgling.

Sasha turned to see Maggie behind her, looking just as shocked as Maggie.

"Look at this. This should've torn us apart." Sasha said.

"It didn't though," Maggie replied as she passed by Sasha, walking through the wreckage to a nearby hill.

She sat on a moss covered log and breathed out a deep sigh; Sasha joined her.

"Why are we here?"

"For this," Maggie whispered, staring ahead to the rising sun. It cast a warm orange glow on the fields before them. It was oddly calming.

"I don't know if I'm gonna make it," Sasha suddenly admitted.

"Yes you will. Both of us, we will. That's the hard part." Maggie replied sadly.

"Hey," a man's voice came from their right. Both women jumped to their feet and trained their guns on him.

"Sorry to startle you . . . my name is Aaron." he said calmly, hands raised in surrender.

Maggie gave him a once-over as he eased into view; his hair was cut short and neat. No facial hair. He didn't seem to have a speck of dirt or filth on him and his clothes looked like he'd just stepped out of a J. Crew magazine. He was too clean-cut and put together for the world they lived in now and it made Maggie uneasy.

"I know, stranger danger. But I'm a friend. I'd like to talk to the person in charge . . . Rick, right?"

"How do you know that?" Maggie demanded.

He smiled kindly at her. "I have good news."

...

Daryl

The soft thud of the cabin's doors opening and closing roused Daryl from his sleep. He sat up, stretching, and looked around at his sleeping family.

Standing, he looked out the door to see Maggie and Sasha surveying the storm's damage. No one else seemed to be up and moving yet, so he quietly walked to the other side of the barn to have a smoke.

He'd only taken one drag when Beth appeared, strolled right up to him and took the cigarette from his lips. She tossed it down and stamped it out with her boot.

"The hell . . .?" he began to protest until Beth's lips crashed down on his, effectively silencing him.

Beth had thrown caution to the wind, not caring that one wall was all that barely concealed the two's embrace from the others' hopefully no one would wake yet because Daryl couldn't handle them finding out about him and Beth like this.

Beth's hands tangled in his hair as she rose up on her tip toes to better reach Daryl's mouth. Her kisses were warm and desperate and Daryl's head swam as he pulled her in tight, matching her fervor with every kiss.

She pulled back first and buried her head against his chest.

"What was that about?" he panted.

"I'm sorry," she whispered breathlessly. "I just . . . last night, I wasn't so sure we'd make it."

He rested his head on top of hers, breathing her in; he'd felt the same way and was grateful to still be alive and well and standing there with Beth in his arms.

"Daryl?" At the sound of Rick's voice, Daryl reluctantly released Beth and stepped back into view of the others, Beth following close behind.

Everyone was starting to wake up.

"Y'all seen Maggie or Sasha?" Rick asked.

"Saw 'em checkin' the perimeter earlier." Daryl replied.

Beth offered to feed Judith so Rick could get a fire started; Daryl looked around the barn for anything they could eat, coming up empty-handed. He was about to offer to go hunt for some breakfast when the doors opened, signaling Maggie and Sasha's return.

They weren't alone though. The two had their guns pointed at a man they led into the barn. Daryl and the others quickly gathered around, pulling their own weapons in case.

"Check him," Rick commanded, eyeing the stranger in their midst.

"We already checked him," Maggie protested.

"Check him," Rick repeated, ignoring Maggie.

Daryl stepped forward and frisked the man, finding no weapons.

"He's clean," he announced.

"My name is Aaron. I don't mean you any harm, Rick." the man said. "I've been watchin' your group and have good news. I'm a recruited for a sanctuary . . . the Alexandria Safe Zone, we call it. I want you and your people to join us."

"You been followin' us?" Rick asked menacingly.

"Well, yes." Aaron admitted. "We have to be careful about who we let in."

"Mmhmm," Rick mused. "We tried a sanctuary before. . . didn't work out so well. They tried to kill us and, well, that left a bad taste in our mouths as you can imagine."

Aaron ignored the skepticism and malice in Rick's voice and continued on. "I understand, there are people out there that have lost their humanity. That's why we carefully scout anyone we might let in. We have to protect our own. But this is a real save haven. We have walls. Check my pack, I have pictures."

Maggie rummaged through Aaron's bag, producing the polaroids and handing them to Rick. Daryl looked over Rick's shoulder at the pictures; they were grainy and hard to see, but there they were - walls, houses, people.

"We have homes, water, food . . . it's safe and you'd all be more than welcome there." Aaron continued.

"Why recruit people? Why not keep this to yourself if it's so great?" Daryl asked.

"We have supplies and shelter, but our greatest resource is people. We need people in order to keep going. Y'all are good people. And you know how to survive. You deserve someplace safe and we could use your survival skills. It's a win-win."

"Rick?" Machine asked, taking the pictures from him.

"No," he replied, shaking his head.

"Rick!" she repeated. "This could be real."

"You wanna risk that again?" Rick snapped.

"Yes!" she exclaimed. "I think we have to risk it or we're not gonna make it. We have no water, no food, and we're exhausted. If this place is legit, we could settle."

"If it's legit. That's a mighty big if, Michonne." Rick replied.

"I think he's sincere," Maggie chimed in.

"I can take you there," Aaron offered. "If you don't feel right about it you can leave, I swear."

Rick was deep in thought. He looked conflicted. "Y'all really wanna chance this?"

"Yes, we do." Maggie spoke up. No one disagreed with her.

"Fine. But I drive." Rick decided. "You just tell me how to get there and we'll go."

"But our location, I have to protect our people . . ." Aaron began.

"You're inviting us in but you don't want us to know where it is?" Rick demanded.

"If y'all decide to leave we need our location to be secure." Aaron protested.

"If we decide to leave, we won't harm anyone unless you give us cause. Now, either I drive or we don't go at all."

"Fine," Aaron sighed. "I have an RV a few miles away."

Daryl glanced at the group and could see the same hope beginning to sparkle in each of their faces. Alexandria could be the answer to their prayers. Daryl wasn't so sure, but they had no other choice than to give it a shot.