Hey, Readers! I'm so very sorry for the wait. I had a bit of writer's block when doing this flashback chapter. That being said, here it is!

I don't own TWD

Please enjoy!

….

Where The Broken Thrive

Thal an' I were out for our second day of findin' supplies. She mentioned hittin' up a pharmacy for penicillin since we were well into flu season or somethin'. Lately, we'd seemed to be gettin' more appreciation for riskin' our lives for the group. Heh. I remember when not even Shane – who'd be the one sendin' us out there – would thank us. Wasn't so much that we cared…. It's just common courtesy. That shit was startin' to piss Merle off.

….

"Fuck the old world." Merle muttered as he took a sip of his beer.

Thaliana and the Dixons had gone on one of their treks. They had found a lot of squirrels and rabbits, another pig, some more quails, and they dug around for more crawfish when they got to their usual spot. Merle handed Thaliana a bottle of cranberry juice to drink with her chips. Daryl pulled a beer for himself as he tore into a piece of beef jerky.

"Fuck those pussies at the camp n' the douchebag that's leadin' 'em." He continued. "Send us out t' fetch supplies n' don' even get thanks, but from Dale, Carol n' her kid."

"Don' even talk to us or look our way when we come in with the goods." Daryl added "Like we ain't even there."

"The old world's only just passed, really;" Thaliana sighed "People are going to judge based on what they see and hear… based on their fears and what they don't understand…it'll either change for better or for worse as time passes." She looked up at the older Dixon "We're all guilty of passing judgment on people, anyway."

"Yeah…" Merle sighed, remembering how they were in the beginning.

"But… people will come to realize that it'll only get harder… that someone you once hated could end up being your best ally…"

Merle nodded, taking another sip of beer before sitting at the ledge, rather than their regular spot by the boulder. Thaliana and Daryl joined him, both Dixons sitting on either side of the young woman. Her grey eyes looked over the land below them. The grass was still so green, the river still shimmered in the sun and the wildflowers still held their vibrancy. It was amazing to her that in all the chaos, the earth itself moved on as if nothing changed. The world they knew ended. They may have been better off for it: an ex-military, drug dealing, drug using racist and sexist… a hothead with few social skills and was brought up somewhat by his brother – the racist, drug-dealing addict… and an assassin that was afraid of people – men, in particular.

"Hand we were dealt wasn't a fair one…" Daryl said

"That's an understatement…" Merle laughed "Three o' us were dealt a shit hand." he chucked the empty beer bottle over the edge of where they were sitting. "Least you made out good 'fore the world went to shit." He said as he turned to Thaliana.

The woman shook her head "I was paid to kill people… I don't really see where I'm better off, other than being better equipped to survive." she shrugged. "No better off than you guys, really…."

"True…" Merle shrugged "Your money's worthless now, though." He chortled.

"Shut up." Thaliana chuckled as she pushed his arm. "A lot of things are worthless now, I guess… what good is a Van Gogh with walker blood all over it?"

"Or a rare copy of a book by some long-dead writer?" Merle added "None o' that high-culture bullshit mean a thing now."

"What's happenin' right now?'" Daryl began "This hell we livin' in right now is what's gonna be remembered… three o' us are gonna be among the ones that survive an' tell the tale."

"Damn straight." Merle grinned.

They sat for a while and talked about random things: Music, sports – Thaliana stayed out of that conversation until they talked about football, they even talked about dreams. They all had dreams… or rather nightmares revolving around their childhoods. Merle rarely had them but Thaliana tended to have them more often out of the three of them.

"I just… I want to forget him… I want to forget that coward." Thaliana sighed

Daryl looked at her for a moment before his gaze fell back onto the landscape "Kinda hard when you see 'im in the mirror every day…" he muttered.

Thaliana knew that he meant the scars. They were silent for a while again, just looking out at the scenery before them.

"If the world were fair…. Everyone would be the same." Thaliana said "As weird as it sounds… maybe we had those lives because we were meant to thrive here and now."

The Dixons looked at her for a moment, both of them kind of shocked over what she said. But think for a moment, they knew that she believed that no person should go through what the three of them endured. They listened as Thaliana went on to explain further.

"I often think about… how my life would have been if I hadn't gone through the things I did… done the things I'd done." Thaliana spoke "Would I have survived this long?"

Merle thought for a bit. He would think about that from time to time himself about himself and his brother. Of course certain things lent to their ability to survive: being used to not having much, having to fend for themselves, among other things. He was pretty sure that had their lives gone differently, they probably would have had less of a chance.

"Well, what happened jus' happened, it don't define us none." Merle said "We jus' take what we got n' use it t' survive… we'll out live most o' those pussies at camp…. This world's ours t' thrive in. The ones that get looked down on… ev'ryone's gon' turn t' us for help so they can live on like we will."

"Rather it jus' be us." Daryl said "Jus' the three o' us, not have to worry 'bout people holdin' us up."

"Be easier t' get supplies, too." Merle added

"We do have people that would miss us…"Thaliana reminded.

Merle shook his head "Naw, they'll miss you…. Carol n' Dale don't care near half as much 'bout us as they do you."

"They care about you guys, too." Thaliana rebutted "Otherwise, they wouldn't even bother speaking to you – much like how everyone else treats us. Besides… if something goes down, we'd have strength in the numbers."

"… Guess you right." Merle sighed "You think we should stay? We'll stick around… But I'm sayin' this: the moment any o' them fuckers try t' screw us over, we leavin'. Agreed?"

Both Daryl and Thaliana agreed –the latter doing so reluctantly. They knew nothing of what lay ahead of them in the coming weeks; of how they would be separated and the changes they would go through. They weren't aware of the connections they would make, of the people that would come into their lives – new and old – and how all they would go through in this world would shape them.

….

"I'm sorry, Thal." Daryl said. He turned from the snow blanketed streets to look at her as she pulled up to the pharmacy.

She blinked owlishly at him. "What?" she blurted out "You didn't… you didn't do anything…" she said, confused.

"Naw… this one was a long time comin'… an' I shoulda said it 'fore we got close like we have." Daryl explained "I'm sorry for the way I treated you at the start…."

"… I'm pretty sure I told you not to worry about that." Thaliana smirked "I mean… do you think I would've gotten this involved with you if I hadn't forgiven it?"

"Guess not." Daryl chuckled after some thought "Naw… Naw, you wouldn't have."

"I'll kick your ass, if you do it again, though." Thaliana said before smiling at Daryl.

The archer laughed, which was rare for him. The fire this woman had was something he loved. With a soft smirk, he held her hand and looked into her gray eyes with such adoration… a tenderness.

"I promise you… you'll never see that from me again." Daryl said softly "I could never hurt someone I love so much… plus, I actually believe you might be able to actually kick my ass." He chuckled.

Thaliana grinned as they pulled up to the pharmacy and got out the car. "Only 'might'?" she hummed, quirking an eyebrow.

"Well, now you ain't the only tough-ass here." Daryl smirked, looking at her rear and the natural sway of her hips as she walked up to the door "Though, you have a very nice one, I'll be honest."

Thaliana chuckled, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. "You can look at it all you want later… Let's finish up so we can head back."

Daryl looked at her shapely posterior and smirked to himself again. "Yeah, let's hurry."

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So, that is the flashback chapter!

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The next chapter will explore the Carol/Lucien connection

As always – thank you so very much for sticking with me!