Characters are from TWD. I am just writing for fun :)

An Irresistible Offer?

Alice didn't think she would be able to fall asleep after the day long ordeal, so she offered to take first watch. She could hear Glenn's steady breathing beside her, but that did little to calm her nerves. She had just killed a man.

Before the world went to hell, Alice had finished her first year of neurosurgery training at Hopkins. She spent 3 months in the neuroscience ICU. And as a result, Alice had seen her fair share traumas and deaths. She had seen hundreds of patients with traumatic brain injuries induced because of gunshot wounds, falls, and car accidents. This head trauma often led to hemorrhaging and shearing of the brain tissue and as a result, some of these patient's brains were damaged beyond repair. After a month, she found that there was very little that could shock her in the ICU. Maybe she was just becoming immune to their suffering.

She had seen too many of these cases to count, but she couldn't say that she had ever personally induced this damage. Today, she had taken a baseball bat and bashed a living man across the face with it. Glenn had wiped the blood off of the bat when they got back to their small tent, but she couldn't really wipe the image of the man rolling on the ground at her feet from her memory that easily.

Alice was a logical person, and she knew that if she hadn't killed the man, he would have raped her. Maybe he would have murdered the two brothers, and God forbid, Glenn. She didn't necessarily regret killing him, but her hands shook as she remembered the sound of his skull splintering underneath her bat.

When it was her turn to sleep, Glenn eyed her carefully but didn't say anything. She concentrated on Glenn's breathing to help lull her to sleep. Eventually, she drifted into a troubled slumber. Recently, she only dreamed of her family and of death. Today is no different—the nightmares devour her and escape is futile.

"Can I be excused?" Alice asks her first-grade teacher. She's in tears by the time she reaches her sister's classroom. She knocks on the door, asking to speak to her older sister.

"I forgot my lunch," she sniffles when she sees Nancy at the door.

"Chin up, Alice," Nancy says. She walks to her cubby and a minute later her sister is back, holding out her lunchbox to her.

"Won't you be hungry?" Alice asks, clutching the lunchbox to her chest.

"I'm not that hungry," Nancy says with a smile.

The dream fades but Alice is sure—she's never been more certain of anything else in her life— that Nancy is somewhere out there looking for her. Alice knows that she's going to find her alive because Nancy is tough. Tougher, stronger, better than she ever was or will be. She would give absolutely anything to talk to her older sister now. She needs her sister to look her in the eye and tell her that everything will be alright. She wants to sob into Nancy's shoulder, crying for her parents and for Derrick, who called her from the hospital before he died. He fell ill with the sickness and he knew what would happen next so he called her, trying to explain to her everything that him and Dr. Pruitt knew about the epidemic.

Alice knows that the next image that float to her mind isn't real. It's a dream. She wasn't there when Derrick died. He was alone in the hospital, but she imagines being with him as he died. She would have held him. She doesn't think she would have been able to let go. In her dream, she's clutching Derrick's body to her.

"Derrick, not yet" she whispers, but he is unable to speak. All he can do is mouth "I love you" to her over and over again. Just outside the door she hears the usual noise of the hospital—carts rolling by, doctors speaking in hushed tones, nurses moving with quickened footsteps, but at the bed, she's staring at Derrick in silence. He's brown eyes close. He's dead. Then his eyes snap open. She watches in horror as his face morphs into the face of the man she killed. She grips her bat and drives it down into his skull. It makes a sickening noise. There's blood dripping over his forehead, a gaping wound where she had broken his skull. She hits him again and again and again until there's hardly anything left of his head. Blood splatters onto the floor.

The dream moves on and Alice cannot escape the inevitable, familiar scene that follows.

"Mom? Dad?" Alice cries and she kneels beside her parents and continues to shake her parents. They aren't waking up. She thought she had more time. She knows what's next. She knew the moment she saw them bitten. She turns her mother's shoulders so that she would face her. A spot of blood is on the pillow and she can see it on the edge of her mouth. She clutches her father's body, sobbing. She takes the knife from her the duffle bag. Her hands are shaking. She begins to weep.

"Alice!"

Alice emerged from the nightmare, aware of Glenn at her right side, shaking her. She sat upright, sobbing. She was crying because of the man she killed, because of Nancy, because of Derrick, and because of her parents. She couldn't stop the words as they poured from somewhere deep inside of her, these words were buried so deep inside, for too long. "I'm so sorry! I killed my own parents. They were bit. I had to. And I loved them. And Derrick. I waited for him for so long and now he's gone too."

She couldn't breath as pain swept through her body. Glenn tugged her into him awkwardly at first as if he was unsure if he was allowed to touch her. Then when she crawled into his arms, he tightened his grip. She continued to sob. Glenn held her as she sank to the ground.

When Alice awoke, she could hear voices outside of the tent. Glenn was no longer by her side. Neither was his knife. Alice sat up immediately, hand reaching for her bat.

"Let me wake her, alright?" she heard Glenn say from outside the tent.

"Hurry, Chink!"

Merle Dixon, Alice thought as she stood up.

"Oh! Your awake," Glenn said, as he peaked into the tent. "There's um…Daryl and Merle are here."

She immediately caught sight of the two brothers standing just outside her tent. She was a little surprised to see Merle and Daryl at her campsite, but she waved at them anyways. Merle turned to greet her as if she were an old friend. "Morin' Doc," Merle said as she approached them, thumping her on the back, "you look like shit!"

"Thanks, Merle." Alice grumbled. But to be fair, it was probably true. Of course she looked terrible. She had killed a man yesterday. She hadn't looked at herself in the mirror lately but after last night's breakdown she probably had puffy, bloodshot eyes.

Glenn shrugged at her helplessly as she turned to Daryl. He was leaning heavily on his right side. "You alright?" she asked in way of greeting. Daryl was awkwardly shuffling his feet, not knowing where to look.

"You said you would take a look at my leg," Daryl muttered, gesturing at his thigh, "I think s' infected."

"Cashin' in our favor for savin' you, Doc. Though I can think of a few other ways you could repa—

"Glenn, why don't you, uh, show Merle around camp. I'll take a look at Daryl in the tent," Alice cut Merle off.

Glenn threw her an incredulous look. There was literally nothing in their campsite—just the tent and Glenn's car. He also didn't seem thrilled at the prospect of spending more time with Merle.

"Oh-ho! I get it, you want some alone time with Darylina here," Merle exclaimed, grabbing Glenn by the shoulder. "Ya heard the doctor, let's go Chinaman, you can help me with the truck. Take care of my baby-brother, sugar." With that, Merle sent his brother a wink and pulled a stunned Glenn away towards his parked truck.

"I already told you, I'm Korean!"

"Whatever!"

"Shut up, Merle," Daryl snapped at the retreating figures, but he followed her into the tent.

She gestured for Daryl to lie on one of the sleeping bags. He looked nervous—he was biting his thumb and avoiding her gaze, but he lay down on the sleeping bag without protest.

"Okay. So how exactly do I do this?" Alice attempted a joke as she elevated his leg with Glenn's backpack.

"You ain't a doctor?" Daryl exclaimed, sitting up in surprise.

"Me?" Alice asked in mock surprise, "You wouldn't believe it, but I happen to be a prolific romance novelist. I wrote about romances in the hospital, so don't worry—I know what I'm doing."

Daryl stared at Alice blankly as she fished around in her duffle bag for the first aid kit. As the silence remained, Alice turned to look at Daryl and laughed at his expression as she sat down next to him.

"No. No. I am a doctor. That was a joke. Sorry. My bedside manner is a little rusty," Alice hurried to explain.

"Now, don't take this the wrong way Daryl, but I'm gonna need you to take your pants off," Alice said, trying her luck at humor again.

"Jesus. What sorta doctor are you?" Daryl grumbled. The question was rhetorical, but Alice could see the blush rising on his face as he unbuttoned his jeans so she politely looked away and continued speaking.

"A neurosurgeon. At least I would have been if the world had not gone to hell. I just finished my first year of residency."

"Uh-huh."

"Well, alright, you don't have to sound so skeptical. Now, let me take a look."

Daryl began to squirm under her gaze. For his sake, she avoided mentioning his colorful boxer choice—she and Glenn had to raid department stores for clothing and their first choices weren't always available either. Instead she concentrated on the bullet wound.

"This is good. It skimmed your upper thigh. There's no shards in your leg. I'm going to need to clean it and then you will need a few stiches."

Alice reached for the alcohol and cotton swabs. "This might sting," she warned and began to dab the alcohol on the bullet hole. Daryl flinched slightly at the burn from the alcohol.

"So, what did you do before this?" She asked him as she cleaned his leg.

"What's it to you? S' infected?" Daryl asked, avoiding answering her question. His eyes were now closed. He leaned back, his chest rising and falling with deep, deliberate breaths.

"Just making conversation and it's not infected. The wound is deep, but it should heal pretty quickly. I'll give you some antibiotics too. I don't have anything to numb the leg though, so this is gonna hurt."

"You don't have to give me any meds," Daryl grunted as she began to push the needle through Daryl's skin. He winced as she worked the needle through.

"It's the least I can do," she said, "I'm gonna give you a painkiller once I'm done. Precocet. It's going to take a little while to kick in."

"You think I don't fuckin' know? I ain't an idiot." Daryl snapped and then cleared his throat, looking at her apologetically, "and, uh, thanks."

She grinned at him, not taking offense at his comment. She was used to patients who felt embarrassed or felt intimated by doctors. "I should have given you one before I started stitching you up… sorry! I completely forgot I got them yesterday. It was a busy day. I got a buncha supplies—an ankle and wrist support for Glenn too. He made his own braces, but they were falling apart."

"S'okay. It don't hurt much….Yer boyfriend, he a doctor too? Or is he the fuckin' romance novelist?" Daryl asked her, staring intently at a hangnail on his thumb.

Alice looked up at him and laughed in surprise—Daryl was actually attempting to make conversation. And he was joking!

"Glenn? No. He's not my boyfriend. And he's not a doctor…or a novelist. He was a pizza delivery boy."

When Daryl snorted she threw him a mock glare, "shh. You won't even tell me what you did before this, so I don't want to hear any judgments from you. Now, hold still for a second. I'm almost done here. It's actually nice to do this…stich and talk. Almost feels like I'm back at the hospital. It kinda makes me forget about everything else."

He looked up from his wound to stare up at her. She blushed slightly under his gaze. "Ya killed a man yesterday. That ain't somthin' you can forget" he suddenly blurted out. Alice winced, remembering her nightmare.

"Yeah. Well. So did you." She finished by pressing a piece of gauze to the wound and secured it with tape. "Alright, you are all set. I'll see you back here in a week for your checkup."

She saw the corner of Daryl's mouth turn up in a slight smile at her joke. He nodded at her and then began to try to pull his jeans up.

"But seriously, just give it two weeks and then you can take the stiches out. I'll give you some clean gauze too."

She reached to help him but he swatted away her hand, "I can do it myself," he insisted roughly, and then cleared his throat and softened his voice, "Merle an' me met the men a couple of days ago before we ran into you. They weren't good people."

Alice found herself surprisingly comforted by his words and she smiled brightly down at him. Daryl's ears turned a little pink, making Alice smile grow even wider. Daryl finished buttoning his jeans up and Alice offered him a hand up. Daryl looked at her outstretched arm for a second before pushing himself up without her assistance. He grunted slightly as he knocked his injured leg on the duffle bag.

"Are you allergic to any medications? Like penicillin?" she asked, internally shaking her head at his display of masculine pride. He shook his head so she handed him his painkiller and a bottle of water. "I can also give you Cephalexin. It's an antibiotic that—

"Merle has some stuff. I don't need the c-eph…uh, the antibiotic," Daryl said, "save it for yer next patient." But, he took the painkiller and swallowed it.

"Thanks for stichin' me up, even if it were yer own damn fault I got shot in the first place," Daryl grunted, but he held the tent flap open for her.

"What a gentleman," Alice couldn't help teasing him, fascinated with the way his cheeks flushed pink as she stepped past him.

He limped out of the tent, following her towards Glenn and Merle who were talking in hushed voices near the truck, looking at a map.

"She patched ya up, Darylina?" Merle asked his brother, not raising his head from the land map.

"Bad news, Merle. The leg has to go. It's a really bad infection." Alice told the older brother seriously. Merle whipped his head around. Alice met his eyes, trying to keep her face still. His face morphed from horror into shock and then froze in surprise.

"She's kiddin', man." Daryl muttered, throwing her an incredulous look.

"The fuck's wrong with you, girl?" Merle barked, shaking his head.

Alice shrugged and then addressed both brothers, "Well what are your plans now? Where are you two headed? Daryl, you have to keep off of the leg for a bit."

"We're headin' to Atlanta," Daryl responded, leaning on the truck door to keep his weight off the foot.

"Atlanta is overrun with walkers," Glenn broke the news to Daryl, "I've told Merle already. There's no refugee center. Alice and I were there for a supply run recently. The government actually bombed the place. Sure, there's supplies but it's completely overrun."

Alice looked at Daryl sympathetically. When her and Glenn found out that Atlanta was a dead end, they were also pretty broken up about it.

"Son of a bitch!" Daryl cursed, kicking the truck angrily with his good foot.

"They were throwing napalm in the streets. There's nothing there for you two," Alice confirmed.

"Yer boyfriend told me plenty 'bout Atlanta. He says yer headin' to the CDC," Merle suddenly said, throwing his brother a significant look.

Alice looked at Glenn and then back at Merle, "yeah, that's right. We are heading to the CDC."

"Tell you what," Merle said after a long pause. "Y'all can come join us. We can head to the CDC together. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours, that sorta thang." Merle said to Alice, winking.

Alice stared at Merle and Daryl for a second before she responded. Daryl was shuffling his feet again. He's probably annoyed at his brother for not consulting with him first, Alice thought.

"I have to discuss this with Glenn first, if you don't mind."

Merle just shrugged, "We'll take care a ya, won't let none o' them "walkers" get ya two. I ain't gonna offer again."

Glenn opened his mouth to say something before being stepped on by Alice. Glenn bit into his bottom lip to keep from making a noise of pain, and turned to look at Alice questioningly.

"Glenn? Let's go." Alice ordered as she led him back to the tent, leaving the brothers to talk as well.

"What the hell, Glenn?" she hissed when they were out of earshot.

"I didn't say you were my girlfriend!" Glenn hurried to assure her. Alice scoffed and waved him off. "Glenn, I know. I just don't think we want to travel with them. Daryl seems fine, but Merle might be a loose cannon—

"I know. I know. But, maybe we can give it a trial run. I mean, we'll get to the CDC faster with them. And our car is a piece of junk and it's almost out of gas… and I don't know how to rig cars and siphon gas!"

"Are you sure you want to deal with Merle Dixon?"

"He's limited the number of times he's referred to me as Chinaman, so that's nice. He's a good shot with the riffle and I don't think he's going to do anything too stupid. He's already mapped out the best route to take. They've saved us once. Besides, there's safety in numbers, right? We've been wanting to find survivors for months now. And here's our chance."

Alice carefully considered what Glenn was telling her. If yesterday proved anything, it proved that there was indeed safety in numbers. Her and Glenn had discussed joining a group of survivors if they had the chance. She turned back to look at the brothers, eyeing them carefully. She slowly nodded her head again. "O.K. Alright. I trust your judgment Glenn and I don't think they are going to do us any harm either."

Glenn squeezed her shoulder and the two walked back to the Dixons who also looked like they were done talking.

"Well?" Daryl demanded while he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

"If the offer still stands, I say we team up." Alice said, addressing Daryl, "I guess you won't have to remove the stiches yourself. Lucky you."

Thank you so much to those of you who are following and reviewing the story! It means so much to me :) This is a shorter chapter, but the next chapter will be up soon. I hope you are enjoying the story!