Updated only author's note as of 9/20/21.
I just noticed a few small errors that needed some fixing. I'll also have to visit AxO3 and make the same corrections as well. Again, I apologize for not uploading as frequently as I have in the past. I still have 12 weeks of school left and I'm trying to make it to the finish line. But since I am on fall break for the week, I will try to put out the next chapter. There has just been so much going on with school and my personal life, but I need to try finding more time for myself.
Again I really want to thank everyone for your continuous support over the years! You guys are amazing!
9 days into infection...
A scream filled the silence of the abandoned corner store, followed by a gunshot, and then a body falling limp to the floor. With tears pouring from her eyes and her hands shaking uncontrollably, Amy fearfully looked down at the dead body of what once was a man, face down in a pool of his own blood. His clothes were bloody and tattered, bites marred his arm and neck, and he reeked of putrid death.
Andrea lowered her gun from eye level just as she had watched the body fall limp before her sister. The former civil rights attorney pocketed her gun before she raced over to Amy's side. "Amy? Oh Amy... thank God. What were you trying to do? I told you not to leave the car."
"Andrea!" The sisters embraced merely feet from where the body lay, no longer caring much about it now that they were out of danger once again. Amy couldn't help but stare at the corpse through the tears threatening to fall. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I assumed the worst when you didn't come back right away. You were taking so long and then I heard you screaming. I didn't want to lose you."
"Neither do I! And I don't care if I'm in any danger. Don't you ever do anything this stupid again, do you hear me?" Andrea asked with tears, shaking Amy's shoulders very harshly.
It had been over a week since the beginning of the end came for Amy Harrison's world. What she thought would be a relaxing road trip between the sisters towards Amy's college had had turned into a full fledged nightmare when it was announced that there had been multiple reports of attacks in and around Atlanta. Attacks of violence, riots, and even cannibalism. In only a matter of days the attacks had become nationwide and then finally a full fledged pandemic affecting the entire world. It had only been nine days ago when they last spoke to their parents about the situation and were instructed by their father to leave the city immediately even without them. It was a difficult demand to do, but Amy and Andrea didn't object to their father's wishes. After a tearful goodbye, the sisters bid farewell before the phone lines went completely down.
If not for Andrea and their father's reliable gun, Amy didn't know what she would've done. She didn't know how to use a gun herself and she certainly didn't know how to be a quick thinker on her feet like Andrea in high stress situations. Amy was supposed to wait for her sister when she raced into the gas station without much thought. But all instructions given to her had been disregarded once she heard Andrea's screams.
"I'm so scared Andrea. What are we going to do now?" The younger of the two sisters whimpered in fear. She reached over and buried her face into Andrea's shoulder to lessen her own fear and pain of knowing everything and everyone they loved was more than likely gone forever. And judging by the look in Andrea's green eyes, she shared the same feelings as Amy did and realized the depth of their situation.
"I don't know Amy, at least not for now. I don't know what will happen to us, but I do promise you this much. I will do everything I can in my power to protect you and keep you safe. Even if it means giving my own life to save yours."
After raiding the store of all useful supplies, the two sisters then pulled out of the gas station and onto the roads yet again. The plan was to head to Until about a few days later when Andrea's car finally overheated on the side of the road that day. No car, no phones, and a gun with so many bullets. In other words they were officially screwed. And they would've more than likely died if not for the RV that approached the two of them and out came an elderly man with a hat. His name was Dale Horvath, and he would forever be known as the man who saved them. Their new family.
25 days into infection...
"Quick, let's get out of here!" Carl whispered to his friends at camp. The children all dispersed immediately upon seeing Lori angrily stomp her way over towards Andrea and Amy's tent they had all been shaking roughly.
"I told you we'd get in trouble." Sophia said. She immediately regretted allowing Carl to talk her into the mischief while Eliza and Louis found it hilarious.
Amy jolted from her sleep once the rustling stopped. The sounds of children's laughter could be heard followed by Lori's scolding voice. She already knew the culprits responsible were none other than Carl, Sophia, Eliza, and Louis clearly pulling a small prank on their official babysitter. Not that it bothered Amy anyway - she loved being around the children. And besides, it was past time to get up.
The more time that went by at the camp, the more everyone began to establish a routine that helped the camp run smoothly. And during the days that went by everyone came to be closer than they ever had been. Carl made close friends out of Sophia Peleteir as did Lori Grimes and Carol Peletier. Shane Walsh's experience as a cop and his leadership skills made him fitting enough to be the camp's de facto leader. And finally Amy and another young man Glenn Rhee, became thick as thieves and the best of friends. Or as Amy liked to refer her brother from another mother. Many had assumed since the pair were so close that they'd known one another their entire lives or perhaps were dating, which the two teenagers immediately denied in disgust.
She changed into a white t-shirt, some ripped shorts, and some flip flops before grabbing her respective shampoo and orange shower caddy. She tossed a fresh towel over her left shoulder and remembered to pull a hair tie over her wrist.
About ten minutes later she was down at the quarry ankle deep in the light blue water massaging shampoo into her scalp, the need to wash the dirt and oil from her hair had become very much needed. And even though using water from a lake filled with frogs wasn't first choice, it was luxury compared to the other options she and Andrea had been forced to choose from on those first few days of civilization's end.
With her damp hair obstructing her vision, Amy was blindly searching for the towel she placed close by. At least she had assumed she did when she bought it with her, and now it seemed to have vanished. She never had the chance to avoid bumping into the massive chest and knocking all of her belongings to the ground. The teenager would've hit the rock hard ground if not for the calloused, hard hands that caught her by the waist and pulled her back onto her feet. "Whoopsie daisies. Almost missed a step there'. Here, lemme' give you a hand there sugar." A deep, Southern accent drawled out, and then followed by an uncomfortable chuckle. Within seconds the same hands traveled from Amy's waist to her backside.
Amy immediately pulled away knowing it was none other than Merle Dixon, only to have the pervert yank on her wrists and pull her against his chest. By now her blue eyes were widened with fear through damp strands of hair, which also gave her a complete view of her much older groper. By the slurring of his voice and his blood shot eyes, there was no doubt that Merle was strung out yet again. Amy struggled against his grip with all her strength, pulling, kicking, and even trying to scratch whatever part of the older Dixon she could. She even yelled out for help, but her attempts to alert anyone were futile as she had come alone. "Get the fuck off of me! Stop it, you're hurting me! I said no!"
"You know what they say sugar? It only hurts the first time, but after that... it only keeps gettin' better and better. But don't you worry there darlin'. I'll be gentle." Merle said through slurred speech.
Merle may have been strong, but Amy had advanced reflexes. Taking the opportunity, she fiercely rammed a knee into Merle's groin in order to temporarily disable him and give the disgusting son of a bitch a taste of his own medicine. Her plan went accordingly as planned. Merle fell to his knees in a significant amount of pain with a reddened face and had obvious trouble breathing as he clutched his gonads."You god damn bitch! Just wait until I get my hands on you again! Fuck, my balls!"
Whimpering in disgust, the blonde gathered her belongings in a hurry and began running, only to bump into another person more muscular than her own. Looking up with wide eyes, she was momentarily stunned to see it was none other than Daryl Dixon. She had seen him many times before around the camp, mainly in the company of his brother. And unlike the more boisterous Merle, Daryl was far more reserved and withdrawn. Indeed a very hard book for even Amy to read since he barely spoke a word to anyone at the camp or showed any emotion on the surface. He was the mystery no one dared to unravel - the lone wolf that would rip out anyone's throat if they dared to cross him.
Merle still rolling in the sand, shouted for Daryl to help in any way he could. He held his gonads and screamed. "Well don't just stand there ya' pussy. Grab that little bitch!"
The younger Dixon brother looked down at his brother with a look of shame. Of course, he had no intentions of ever becoming close to anyone other than his brother. Especially after the loss of their father and half-uncle at the hands of the walkers. But just by looking into the fearful eyes of the blonde girl before him, he could see that she was a person with a kind soul who definitely didn't deserve what Merle was about to do to her. A young girl who definitely didn't seem to just give herself to any man looking to proposition her. Perhaps it was only fair she got one chance since there may never be anymore. He stepped close enough to Amy and looked her dead in the eye. "Leave. Right now. Cause' you best believe if he gets a hold of you again, I ain't gonna be there to stop him."
Complying, Amy pushed past Daryl and raced all the way back to the camp until she ended back in Dale's RV. With her back against the door she slid down it in complete shock of the recent events. It ended as quickly as it had happened, but the teenager was thankful to have left only shaken. It wasn't until she began checking over herself did she realize her graduation ring was now missing from her pocket, most likely due to the scuffle with Merle. It was lost and had been the only item with sentimental value that her parents had bought her as their final gift to their youngest daughter.
She cried endlessly that night at the memory lost somewhere by the quarry.
Amy got up earlier the next morning to take her mind off the incident from yesterday. By hanging out with Glenn as she watched the children. With Shane keeping a close eye on the camp and not just Lori, Merle knew better than to try anything again. And Amy finally found that her mind was off the Dixon brothers, that was until later when she went to pick mushrooms. There she was, hunched over the dirt, skin burning, and eager for thirst as she searched tirelessly for mushrooms. Amy had finally grasped another when a hand quickly yanked her up on her feet and scared the living shit out of her. A shaking hand immediately went to her chest as she calmed her nerves knowing it wasn't a walker, but only Daryl. "Jesus you scared me to death. What are you doing out here?"
Daryl simply just stared back at her with such a calm and collect persona, it made Amy shiver under his glare. Her first thought had been that he or Merle may have come to finish the job. Just as she began taking a few steps back, the roughneck took that equal number of steps forward to be closer to her. Before the girl could scream again or even fight, Daryl grabbed onto Amy with one hand and then fished in his pocket with the other before pulling the object out for her. Her graduation ring. He rolled his eyes when it looked as if she were about to begin crying. "Oh shit. And here come the fucking water works. This the thanks I get for trying to be considerate."
Amy gladly took her graduation ring into the palm of her hand. There was so much she wished to say to show her thanks. She went to go hug Daryl, only for the roughneck to shove her away as if they were diseased. "You're amazing. Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this me-"
But Amy never got her chance to show her thanks, as Daryl has cut her off with a rather cold and chilling dose of reality. He looked her dead in the eyes as he spoke. "You say that bullshit as if we're friends. But we ain't, and we never will be. So what? Just because some stranger does a good deed for you, that makes them a kind soul? You're so damn trusting and naive, so fucking stupid it almost makes me sick. It's privileged brats like you that need someone to come running to save them every step along the way. Yesterday at the quarry proved it when my brother got a hold of you. Now him, he's everything that's wrong with this world. An addict. Alcoholic. Drug dealer. And criminal with no morals. And I'm his kin. If you're willing to be stupid enough to trust me, then you might as well trust him too. Consider yourself lucky. I actually was gonna keep this for myself."
"I'm sorry. I-I thought since you helped me, I could show my appreciation. What you did was nice. And I was brought up to show kindness to people who help." Amy barely got these words out. The feelings of elation were replaced with embarrassment and complete fear. She hadn't done anything other than try to thank Daryl for returning her ring. The current conversation was nothing like she imagined and she didn't know how to handle the roughneck's cynical attitude. How he could make her feel guilty for simply thanking him was beyond her.
The corner's of Daryl's mouth stretched as a wide, yet sarcastic smile spread across his face. His first time ever smiling at her and Amy was more terrified than relieved. "Well where I come from, people like me take everything that we get from people like you. "You'll learn why it's best you don't trust anybody. And besides, you're lucky I just so happened to give a damn the other day. Normally I never do anything for people I shouldn't care for. As far as I'm concerned, there's only one way you got any value girl."
And with that, he didn't even bother to stick around for her reaction or words of defense. Not that they had anything worthy to talk about. Without as much as a goodbye, Daryl shoved past a bewildered Amy back toward the camp.
32 days into infection...
Daryl looked closely at the tracks pressed into the earth below him. He crouched down on one knee as he followed the path of tracks leading further from the camp. This had to be it. The same deer he had been tracking for days now. And judging by how fresh the tracks appeared, Daryl was so close to killing this deer that he could taste the venison already. And if it took him all morning he would place all his efforts into finding and killing this deer. Even with the splitting headache and slight congestion he had been experiencing since the previous night.
So finding and killing the deer had been his main focus all morning.
That was when Daryl finally began to notice it was incredibly hot out as he wrapped up the day's hunt. And not just your regular southern heat wave, but more like an internal heat as if his there were a fire igniting inside him. That had been the first sign. And then there was the sneezing, congestion, headache, and finally the chills. No doubt about it, but he had managed to come down with a horrible case of the summer cold.
How in the hell was it possible to get a cold in the summer?
So in a desperate attempt to bring his body temperature down, Daryl rushed to the quarry with his crossbow tossed behind his shoulder. He figured perhaps the cool water would ease his suffering a little, enough to where he wouldn't feel the need to strip. "Ain't no way in hell these bastards getting an eyeful of me and my goods." He thought. He had completely ignored the children, the blonde and the Asian or Chinese boy with her.
That was until he met eyes with her.
They hadn't spoke much since he returned her ring. And judging by the small and inviting smile she gave, she hadn't quite gotten the message when Daryl had practically threatened her into keeping her distance. So when she had begun to approach him despite Glenn's protests, Daryl immediately shot her down and left her standing speechless. He was not in the mood for conversation, much less anything with this pain in the ass cold. And it carried on for hours until his body could no longer fight the illness and Daryl found himself curled up in his tent later that night. Merle had gone on another one of his nightly strolls through the woods as he considered Daryl contagious. This left the younger Dixon alone in their secluded tent.
He was only a wink away from sleep when the rustling of the tent zipper awoke him. The flap to the tent flew open and there crouched before him was none other than Amy, arms full of supplies. Daryl couldn't help but groan aloud, rubbing his temple. "Most people would've quit by now."
"Well I'm not most people. And you're sick. Here, I went ahead and borrowed Carol's mom kit. It's got medicine and green tea to help you sweat that cold out of you. Now careful because this tea is gonna be very hot." Amy said, handing off the cold medicine to Daryl. He watched with boredom and curiosity as she placed the tea bag and honey in the thermos, before shaking the two together.
"Tea and honey? But I ain't no fairy. Can't I just add a little whiskey and be done?"
"No. The point is to break the fever, not get drunk." She said. Amy would've snickered at his pouting if the comment hadn't been offensive. To see Daryl Dixon slowly break his hardened exterior with each interaction made her feel pleased that she was slowly pulling him out. It also made her heart flutter a little. They didn't say much as he quietly sipped on his tea.
40 days into infection...
"Shit!" Amy cursed while looking down at the blood oozing from the palm of her hand. And she continued to do so as she wildly searched for a towel in the boat.
Andrea reacted rather quickly to her sister's cries. "You OK? What have you done to yourself now?" She gently laid the strung up fish back in the boat and went to inspect Amy, tilting her cowboy some.
"Fuck! I cut my hand trying to get that fish off my line."
Andrea had glanced around the quarry nearby at all the people nearby. There had been Dale and Jim, keeping a close eye on everyone in the vicinity as usual. Dale had lived up to the stereotype of the worrisome old man by rarely allowing Amy or the children out of his sight. He may have meddled in everyone's business, but it was for the greater good and Dale was a good man. Good enough to where she and Amy considered him their adoptive father. Lori, Carol, and Jacqui held their positions by the shore where they washed clothes while Carl and Sophia were getting a lesson on catching frogs from Shane. And for the first time Ed was nowhere to be found, praise the lord. Along with the Daryl and Merle Dixon who both disappeared not too long ago. "Well if you had focused on the fish and not your raging hormones, then you wouldn't have this problem." Andrea eyed Amy suspiciously.
Hearing her sister confirm her suspicions caused Amy's stomach drop. That along with her pole as well. She plucked her pole from beside the boat where it fell in the blue water. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know exactly where I'm going with this. You know Shane. Amy, if you're going to fall for someone, at least not let it be a man more than twice your age."
"Oh... right." Amy inconspicuously sighed in relief. Andrea was half-correct as it hadn't been Shane she was staring at. This hadn't been the first time she and Andrea had gone fishing while at camp. In fact, it was one of the few activities in which they were familiar with. There hadn't been much quality time spent together during Amy's teenage years coming up. Which probably explained for Amy's acting out and selfish perspective in high school. So to make up for lost times the two sisters would hop in the boat and fish to feed everyone in the camp. Amy had even ended up delivering a few fish for Daryl to feast on being that he had been sick.
Only this time she sliced her palm harshly with the knife while trying to unhook the fish. It stung like hell just as badly as it had bled. And it continued to do so until she finally got the bleeding under control after she and Andrea returned to camp. But the cut was still fresh and was directly on the palm of her hand. Along with the cut being deep and painful, the blood had seeped onto her shirt and jeans.
Cleaning an open wound in the river was out of the question. Only God and those frogs swimming around in there knew of the bacteria floating around. So Amy took a detour and went for Dale's RV where there was hydrogen peroxide, clean water, and a first aid kit at the least. Exiting the RV, she hadn't even noticed Daryl coming from the woods until he stopped and met eyes with her. The blood stain on her shirt was far too obvious to miss. Which explained the questioning look he gave her. "What the hell did you do to yourself girl?"
"It's nothing really." She hissed, placing the towel over the cut yet again.
"Stop." Daryl ordered her. He took her bloodied hand into his own and inspected the longitudinal cut going across Amy's palm. "I call bullshit on this being nothing. You can't even catch a fish without fucking up? Damn."
She didn't know what to think as Daryl went for the first aid kit. Definitely not him taking her injured hand and going to work on the cut. Amy could only watch wordlessly as Daryl properly cleaned and dressed her wound with such patience. It was almost as if he had become a different person from who he normally was. The man she'd met before had barriers no one could break down. Disappeared was the bitter man who was now replaced by a man with heart and dignity. After a short amount of time he wrapped the gauze around her hand and over the large band aid. And finished by running his thumb repeatedly over the bandages. "Whoever knew we had a doctor and hunter wrapped into one. Thanks." Amy warmly smiled.
The roughneck nodded almost in a shy manner. "It ain't nothing nobody else couldn't have done." Daryl had watched with no words as Amy waved to him before slowly walking away. "Hey girl."
Amy turned back, brushing her hair out of her face.
"Listen, about the other day... I'm... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said the things I said." The roughneck barely stammered out. He wiped the sweat forming on his forehead and looked down at his dirty boots before going back to meet the blonde's blue eyes. "And thanks for the tea."
"It's OK. And Amy. My name is Amy by the way. I just thought it'd be better if you placed a name to the face." She smiled to let him know her appreciation. Especially for him bothering to know her name, much less taking care of him when he was ill. Amy watched, dazed as Daryl walked back over toward Merle further into the woods.
Having witnessed the interaction from afar, Glenn wiped the sweat forming at his brows. He had gotten the opportunity to know Amy in the days they spent together at the camp. Besides being close to his age, he and Amy found that they enjoyed one another's company as close friends. Close enough to where he even considered her family like Dale. So when he noticed her conversing with Daryl Dixon, a massive alarm flared within him. "Umm... You want to enlighten me on what that was all about?" Glenn questioned.
"He's not so bad. Maybe all he needs is just one person to at least try to care." The teenager thought. Amy gingerly ran her fingers over the bandages where the cut was. "Nothing. He was just helping me."
59 days into infection...
Daryl had retreated down to the quarry in order to be alone with his thoughts. There was no doubt in his mind that Merle would do something to place the group's safety in jeopardy during the run. That he himself was too much of a knucklehead to refrain from making poor decisions. Merle had been in and out of juvenile detention, prison, and did his time in the military - summing it up, Merle was one tough son of a bitch with behavioral problems. But he was not invincible. No man or woman in this world was. That was why he was trapped somewhere in the city. Chained to a roof like a wild animal left to die. And all because of Rick Grimes. If not for Shane holding him back, Daryl would've plunged his knife right between the cop's eyes himself. Even with his wife and son there to witness it.
Before the world went to hell he had always expected the worst in every situation. Only thing was Daryl just didn't expect to lose his older brother too. His only surviving family he had left.
His eyes widened at the sound of approaching footsteps in the sand behind him. Out of instinct, Daryl went for the knife concealed in his waistband, only to slip it back in. It was only Amy, standing there with her hands up as if she expected for him to attack. Once she realized she was out of harms way, she went ahead and came closer to the large rocks along the shore where Daryl was. Rather than take a seat on the rocks, she stood awkwardly on the shore with her arms folded. As much time she had spent rehearsing her conversation with Daryl, there really wasn't much she could say to lighten the situation.
After all, she had nearly lost her sister as well in the city. She knew the pain Daryl was feeling, only it was on a much higher level. Unlike her he didn't have anyone else to rely on for emotional support at the camp. Others were either frightened, cautious, or untrusting of both Dixon brothers. But not Amy - not anymore like before.
Before he could comprehend what was happening, Daryl felt a pair of gentle hands engulf him from behind. Following that was the blanket of blonde hair pooling past his shoulders. Hair that smelled of the sweet aroma of vanilla. There were no words. No tears or emotions. Just a simple embrace that lasted for a prolonged amount of time before Amy pulled away. The roughneck looked back just in time to see Amy having already backed away from him. Her hair slightly blowing in the breeze behind her.
"I'm sorry about Merle. Really I am. But putting yourself in danger won't bring your brother ba-"
"Then what the hell am I supposed to do, huh?! Pray to the lord? Confess my sins? Maybe I should beg for forgiveness then I suppose. Unlike people like you, I'd rather take action than sit around hoping for a miracle. He's my brother. And he's all I got left. Without him I have nothing left in this world." Daryl said. He jumped off from the rock he was sitting on. As much as he hated Rick and T-Dog, he would need their help in his mission to rescue Merle. He angrily stomped past Amy who didn't even bother to block his way.
"I guess I can't stop you. But I can tell you this. Once you're out there, there's the possibility anything could happen. Just please come back safe. And I think you're wrong. There always is something good left, whether it's a person you care about. You just need time to see that it's been there all along." Amy pleaded with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. She could only stiffle back a small sob as she watched him walk away without as much as looking back with a second thought. She couldn't blame the man though - it was his only surviving familiy he had left. Merle was his brother. And she was just some girl who tried to show that she cared. That there was one person in the camp that was willing to look past his hardened exterior and break through that barrier.