Rick groaned and heard leaves crunching as his weight shifted to his side. His head was pounding and he had no idea why. Rick slowly sat up and opened his eyes to a cold dark forest. Rick could only see vague shapes from the moonlight that filtered through the branches.
A groan next to Rick had him reaching for his knife. Two more sounded near him, but this time he heard a huff of a breath and a quiet 'fuck'. Rick relaxed slightly at the sounds of life.
"Everyone ok?" Rick asked in a hushed tone that didn't travel beyond the people near him.
"Fine," came Daryl's gruff response.
"I'm ok," said Carl as he adjusted his hat.
"I'll live," said Carol, "But I have a killer headache."
Daryl grunted in agreement.
"Same," said Carl.
"So do I," replied Rick.
With everyone accounted for Rick eased himself into a standing position. "Looks like we've lost our daylight," he said before helping everyone to stand.
"Yeah. That was an awful earthquake we had. We were lucky that no walkers came across us while we were passed out," said Carol, accepting Rick's hand and then dusting herself off.
Rick remembered the earthquake they experienced that caused them all to fall over and be knocked unconscious. It was strange. But Rick couldn't dwell on that.
Rick sighed, "We're better off heading back to the van. It's too dark to find the cabin now. We can camp in the van for the night and look for the cabin once it's light."
Rick spun around trying to figure out which way it was back to the van. After a few moments, he turned to Daryl to get him to point them in the right direction.
Wordlessly Carol passed Daryl her torch. Daryl turned it on and used a hand to shield the light, minimising who, or what would see it. Daryl did a lap around where they were standing, looking into the bush nearby and the ground around them. Then he did a second lap with a frown on his face. After a third lap, Daryl looked towards the sky, his eyes tracking the stars that were visible through the trees.
"You know which way we're heading?" asked Rick. He felt a twist in his stomach even as the ache in his head was dying down. With how much Daryl was looking they might be lost, which was concerning since Daryl was never lost.
"The van's north of here, and that way's north," said Daryl pointing behind Rick, "But I don't see no tracks. No footprints, no broken bush, no crushed leaves, nothing. It's weird, 'specially since you two are with us," said Daryl pointing at Rick and Carl, who weren't the best at hiding their tracks or travelling undetected in the forests. "It's like we dropped out of the sky."
"But we didn't. We walked from the van," said Carl sounding slightly confused. He pushed his hat up and even in the dim light, Rick could make out the bandages covering his missing eye. "Then we fell and got knocked out by the earthquake," finished Carl.
"I don't see no tracks from where we walked. This forest looks different than before too," said Daryl with a scowl at the surroundings.
"We were moved?" asked Carol shifting her rifle on her shoulder.
Daryl took one last sweep of the area with the torch before passing it back to Carol, "Nah, I don't see nothing. No tracks at all. No one's been through here."
"Like we just dropped from the sky," said Rick, repeating what Daryl said earlier with a thoughtful tone.
Daryl nodded.
Rick ran a hand through his hair, "We were heading south of the road. So long as we head north we should hit the road and we can find the van from there," said Rick, then he pointed behind himself and looked at Daryl, "This way was north right?"
"Yeah."
Rick nodded and started moving, "If we can't find the road in forty minutes then we'll look for a spot to make camp."
They couldn't find the road. They'd walked for about forty-five minutes north of their previous location. The road should have been thirty minutes from their location. Rick had glanced back at Daryl at the thirty-five minute mark to make sure he hadn't gone off course, but Daryl just nodded him forward. Rick felt his gut twist again. They should have at least come across the road by now. What Daryl said before concerned him. How could there be no tracks? Rick and Carl were not good at hiding their tracks in the forests, and none of them were even trying to hide them in the first place. So Daryl should have been able to have seen at least his and Carl's tracks with the torch.
Rick slowed to a stop and the others gathered in close around him.
"It's been forty-five minutes. We haven't come across the road. Look for a spot to camp. It's cold but we'll have to live without a fire tonight. We don't have anything for noise traps so watch will be taken in pairs.
Everyone stated their understanding
Rick started moving forward again with everyone else fanning out around him, looking for a good spot for the night. If there was such a thing. They all stayed well within hearing distance in the quiet forest.
A soft quiet whistle asking for attention came from Carl. Carl stayed where he was while the others gathered around him. Once they were all close Carl spoke up in a soft whisper.
"There's a light ahead. I think it's a camp," he said pointing ahead.
Rick looked and could see the faint light Carl had spotted. On closer inspection, he realised that there were a few of them.
"I think Carl's right. It looks like a camp with a few people in it. We'll get a closer look. If they seem friendly then we ask to stay the night. If they're not then we take them out," said Rick in a hushed tone.
"What if there's too many?" asked Carol.
Rick knew that the likelihood of the camp being too much for the four of them to handle was low, no matter how armed they were. Their chances were even higher with surprise on their side.
"Then we avoid them and search for another place further out to camp," replied Rick.
Carol nodded her approval of the plan.
With the plan set, Rick walked closer to the camp with his gun up. His footsteps were almost silent as he approached. Rick could hear Carl's soft steps behind him, and while he couldn't hear Carol or Daryl, he knew they were close.
Through the gap in the trees, Rick could make out two dozen or so people sitting around a few fires. The camp had a few vehicles parked around and an RV at the back of the camp with tents scattered around the middle. Rick couldn't properly make out their faces from the distance and low light, but he could see a few children and elderly around the fires. Rick couldn't see anyone on watch, but he did see a noise trap just ahead. Rick looked back at his group and knew they saw the same, an underprepared group. If they wanted they could easily take them. But the camp had elderly and children, so Rick planned to talk first and leave if the camp wouldn't let them stay. There was no need for a fight if this group was protecting children and elderly.
Rick lowered his gun and nodded to the others. They all nodded back. Daryl levelled his crossbow, Carol hefted her rifle and Carl brought up his handgun.
Rick was going to go in alone and ask to stay the night. If the camp accepted, the others would come out and stay the night with two people keeping an eye on the group and acting as lookouts for walkers. They would take it in shifts and head off as soon as it was light. They might mention Alexandria if they felt the camp was safe. If the camp refused to let them stay, then they would leave. If the camp tried to take a shot at Rick then the others would cover him while he got out.
Just as Rick was about to step towards the camp he heard shuffling steps and moans.
Rick saw a walker break the treeline and head towards the camp, with other walkers following behind it. The walkers were spread out and coming from multiple sides of the camp.
"Fan out, go!" commanded Rick quietly.
As one the group surged forward, jumping the noise trap and started quickly taking out walkers. Rick used his hatchet to split the skull of a walker that almost took a bite out of an elderly woman. A second later Rick saw a crossbow bolt take down a walker that grabbed a woman who just stepped out of the RV.
The woman saw the walker drop and let out a scream. At the same time, the elderly couple yelled for help, looking up at Rick with fearful eyes.
Rick hauled the elderly woman up, "Get to the RV!" he hissed as he pushed her in that direction and did the same with the man.
The fighters of the camp stood up and grabbed their weapons.
"Don't shoot! We're here to help!" called Rick, "Get everyone to the RV and form a circle!"
"You heard him form a circle!" ordered one of the camp's men.
If Rick wasn't fighting walkers he would have frozen. The man sounded so much like Shane.
Rick buried his hatched in another walker as he stalked towards the RV. The camp fighters started shooting walkers but didn't shoot Rick or his group.
A walker in front of Rick dropped, hit by a silenced shot. Carl gave him a nod and turned towards the outskirts of camp where a couple of walkers were exiting the tree line.
Carol knifed a walker and ushered people towards the RV, taking down any walkers that got too close to the handful of people she was protecting.
Daryl shot another walker that stumbled towards the RV and stabbed another near him.
Rick was almost at the RV, knocking down a walker that was trying to bite the elderly man. The sound of more guns being fired drew Rick's attention to the dirt road that led into camp. Rick tensed and pulled out his Python, however, the camp members didn't react to the four new people running into the camp and shooting up walkers as they went.
Most of the camp made it to the RV and with the help of the four newcomers, the walkers were quickly finished off.
There were tearful reunions with the newcomers who entered the camp and Rick ignored it, making sure that all the walkers he could see were dead for good.
Rick grouped up with his people once it was clear and looked at the people they saved. Rick's muscles locked in place, and his gaze sharply moved to one of the men who came into camp part way through the attack. The man stepped forward with a young boy on his hip.
"Thank y'all for your help. You saved my family and a lot of people here," said the man as he took another step forward and held out his free hand, "I'm Rick Grimes."
Every muscle in Rick's body was coiled and ready to move. Rick couldn't help but stare at the man who had introduced himself as 'Rick Grimes'. The man was clean shaven and wearing his deputy sheriff's uniform. On his hip was Carl, a young Carl who couldn't have been more than twelve.
Behind Officer Grimes stood Lori, and that alone took Rick's breath away. Next to her stood Shane, Carol and Sophia. Beside them was T-Dog, Amy, Andrea, Dale, Jacqui and Glenn. God Glenn, he looked so young. He was barely an adult. Rick could see the younger Daryl too, crossbow up and standing slightly apart from the group. There were other people too, the Morales family, the elderly couple whose names Rick never learnt, Jim, and a few others that died last time during the attack.
Finally, Rick managed to form words and directed them at his group without taking his eyes off the members of the camp, "Y'all are seeing this right?"
"I see it, I just don't believe it," said Carol with a shaky voice. Rick didn't need to guess where Carol was looking, his own eyes flicking over to the living Sophia.
Carl started to take a step forward but Rick put out a hand in front to stop him. Carl glanced at him but stayed put.
Rick's eyes kept drifting over the group but they kept lingering on Lori, Shane, little Carl, and Glenn.
After another few moments of silence, Dale spoke up.
"Thank you for saving us. I'm Dale. Can we get your names?"
Rick raised a brow, "I'm surprised you don't recognise us."
"Dad, none of them know what you look like with a beard," said Carl with a smile.
Rick chuckled and glanced at his son, "I suppose not," he said, then Rick turned to face Dale and the rest of the camp, "I suppose we should introduce ourselves. I'm Rick Grime, this is my son Carl," he said pointing loosely to Carl, "That's Carol Peletier, and Daryl Dixon," Rick continued pointing to his group.
Immediately confused murmuring started.
"Now you see why we were a little confused. 'Cause this looks like the quarry and we haven't been here since the beginning," said Rick.
Silence started up with those words. 'The beginning' seemed to really quiet people down.
Little Carl wriggled in his father's grip and Officer Grimes had to let him down. Little Carl took a few steps towards the older Carl, looking up at him curiously.
"So you're me?" asked little Carl.
Carl laughed and took a few steps forward, crouching down to little Carl's height, "Yeah, I guess I am."
"This is so weird. It's like one of my comic books," said little Carl.
"I know right! Honestly, I thought I was just in a cool dream," replied Carl.
"This would be a super cool dream," agreed little Carl, "Hey, is that dad's hat?"
Carl grinned and tilted his hat up, illuminating his bandages in the low light, "Yeah it is. But it's mine now."
"Can I try it?" asked little Carl.
"Sure, but I want it back. If you want your own you can ask your dad for his," said Carl as he put his hat on little Carl and pushed the brim down.
Little Carl giggled and pushed it back up so he could see once again.
"Carl," said Grimes, his voice shaking as he slowly stepped forward and kneeled in front of Carl. Grimes lifted, shaking hands to Carl's cheeks, fingers brushing the bandages, "Carl, what happened?"
Carl's smile fell and he closed his eye for a moment, then took a breath. When Carl opened his eye he put a hand on Grimes' shoulder.
"I'm fine dad," said Carl with a small reassuring smile.
"What happened?" asked Grimes, gently repeating the question.
Carl just shook his head, "It's nothing I'm fine."
Rick could hear Daryl's angry snort.
"Carl," Grimes tried again. But when Carl said nothing he turned pleading eyes onto Rick.
Rick was stone faced. He couldn't say it. He couldn't bring himself to say it.
Grimes kept looking at him with pleading eyes as he held Carl.
"Some little shit shot him," said Daryl, breaking the silence.
Rick kept his eyes on Carl and his younger self. He saw the worry, then the fury wash over his younger self before it settled into anguish.
Lori's gasp was clear to hear and Rick saw Shane put a hand on her shoulder while the other fist was clenched so tightly his knuckles were white.
Grimes gathered Carl up in a hug, "I'm so sorry Carl. I'm so sorry. I never wanted this for you."
"It's not your fault dad. It was never your fault," said Carl as he hugged Grimes back. As Carl said the last part he looked over his shoulder at Rick.
Rick felt his shoulders drop and his expression becoming a mix of weary and sorrowful.
Rick felt something gently tug on his shirt sleeve. Automatically Rick looked down and his breath left him as he saw little Carl looking up at him from below the rim of his old hat. Little Carl slowly reached up and instantly Rick bent to scoop up little Carl and hefted him to his hip.
Little Carl grabbed at his beard and Rick let him, far too used to Judy doing something similar, but with a lot more tugging. Rick instantly felt calmer holding his child, even if it wasn't quite his Carl.
"It's so strange to see you with a beard," commented little Carl.
Rick raised an eyebrow, "Good strange or bad strange?"
Little Carl hummed, "I don't know."
Rick gave little Carl a sly smile, "How about I help you make up your mind?" he said just before he shoved his chin onto little Carl's cheek and moved his chin side to side. Judy always seemed to enjoy it when he did that. Just like Judy, little Carl giggled and lightly pushed against Rick's face.
"No stop! It's spikey!" said little Carl, laughter breaking up the words.
Rick stopped his attack and gave little Carl a huge grin. Little Carl returned it, with his own blinding smile.
Rick walked over to his son and Grimes. They had pulled back a bit but still had hands on each other's shoulders, and were looking at Rick and little Carl with soft smiles. Rick placed his free hand on his son's head and returned the gentle smile.
With that Carol stepped forward and made her way to her younger self and Sophia. The camp let her through, watching with confusion and shock. Carol gently grabbed Mrs Peletier's hand and gave her a pure sunny smile, one Rick knew was real and not fake. Mrs Peletier gave a shy smile back and Carol wrapped both her and Sophia in a hug.
Daryl stood back, his eyes sweeping the members of the camp but lingering on Glenn.
Rick caught his eye and tilted his head in a subtle 'go on' gesture.
Daryl hesitated for a brief moment, then steeled himself and stomped confidently through the crowd up to Glenn.
Glenn looked up at Daryl, his weight shifting from side to side.
"You do good man," said Daryl, clapping Glenn on the shoulder.
Glenn looked ready to bolt when Daryl put a hand on his shoulder, but managed a nervous, "Thanks, man."
Daryl gave Glenn a final clap then turned to Andrea, "Just don't shoot me this time."
Andrea's eyes widened before her expression turned into a grin, "Can't promise anything," she replied.
Daryl huffed out a laugh.
"How is this possible?" asked Dale as he approached the Rick's and Carl's.
"I have no idea. But it's about as strange as the dead walking so I'm not even gonna question it," said Rick honestly. He had no idea where to even start questioning it. Eugene might have had a theory, but he wasn't here.
"That earthquake from before was weird. Maybe it had something to do with that?" suggested Carl.
"I told ya's the forest was different," said Daryl gesturing with his hands towards the forest.
"Pookie, you also said 'it was like we dropped out of the sky'" quoted Carol.
"Well there weren't no signs we were there before, and now we know we weren't," retorted Daryl, "We didn't walk into this forest."
"Where were you before?" asked Shane.
Daryl turned a sharp gaze to Shane and Rick decided to intervene before that look led to blows exchanged.
"We were closer to D.C. A few days out at most. We went out on a run trying to find a cabin we got word about," informed Rick.
Carl let go of Grimes and stood up next to him, "It was supposed to be a quick and easy run, so much for that."
Carol shrugged, "Nothing much we can do about that now."
"It's too dark to do much of anything now. Do y'all mind if we stay here for the night?" asked Rick.
"You saved people here, so I see no problem with it," said Grimes then he turned to look at everyone else.
"They helped, I say they can stay," said Glenn with a shrug.
"They saved Amy, if they want to stay then they can," added Andrea, tightening her grip on her sister.
Amy gripped her arm at the same spot the walker grabbed her, "I'd like them to stay. Thank you, for saving me."
"They took out a lot of those things. I think they can stay," said T-Dog with a nod.
"I think it would be good for you to stay the night. It'd be rude to throw you out after you all helped us," said Dale, turning to look a little pointedly at Shane who had said nothing during the exchange.
Shane looked back, then shrugged, "They saved our asses, they can stay if they want."
Dale looked like he was about to speak again but Lori spoke up before he could.
"Carl, baby come here," said Lori quietly looking at little Carl on Rick's hip. Her expression was tight. She was worried.
Little Carl passed Rick the hat and started to squirm but instead of setting him down Rick just walked over to Lori and handed him over.
"Thanks," said Lori with a small smile that didn't reach her eyes.
Rick just nodded and went to stand by his Carl, who was looking longingly at the interaction. Rick tapped his arm and passed Carl his hat. Carl took it with a small smile and put it back on.
They would need to talk about this later. Rick needed to talk to his whole group about this and where they were going with the whole situation.
Dale turned to Rick, "Do any of you need anything?"
"If you can spare a tent that would be nice, we'll share," answered Rick.
Dale looked around at the carnage of the camp, his shoulders slumped, "We can do that. If you don't mind taking one of the recently vacated tents. I'm sorry but we don't have any other spares."
"That's fine. Thanks, Dale."
"What are we going to do about our dead and the walkers?" asked Jacqui softly.
"That can wait till morning. It's best to get some sleep while you can. You can bury the dead then and burn the walkers," said Rick trying to be gentle, "It's best to set up a watch to make sure there are no more of them. There wasn't last time, but it won't hurt to be sure. That was a lot of gunfire and it tends to draw some attention."
Grimes nodded, "Good idea."
"I'll check the perimeter," said Daryl, taking his crossbow off his shoulders.
"I'll go too," said Dixon, looking at his older self with an expression that Rick knew. Dixon wanted to talk.
"No, you're not going," said Shane firmly.
"Why?" asked both Daryls' so in sync that it seemed to surprise even them. They both glanced at each other before the older Daryl spoke up again.
"I know what I'm looking for and I can secure a camp," retorted Daryl.
Shane scoffed, "You're probably going to sneak out and look for your brother again."
"Hey! I didn't sneak out!" exclaimed Dixon.
"Merle is one of the toughest sons of a bitch I know, he cut off his own hand but he's still kicking," said Daryl.
"He is?" asked Dixon quietly.
"Yeah, he is. If we stick around long enough I'll help you find him," replied Daryl.
"We will," added Rick, speaking up. The group would need to talk about it, but everyone knew how important Merle was to Daryl. Rick knew they'd all do it if Daryl asked.
"But not now. We have other things to do if Officer Stuck Up here will let us," said Daryl with a bit of bite in his tone.
"T-Dog you secure the perimeter, Dixon you stay here," ordered Shane.
Dixon glanced over at Daryl, "Which one?"
That seemed to momentarily trip Shane up, "Long haired Dixon. Short haired Dixon, you help T-Dog."
"T-Dog's beat and I don't take orders from you," said Daryl shifting his stance slightly and lowering his crossbow in preparation to throw it out of the way.
Rick put a firm hand on Shane's shoulder, "Shane, brother, I trust Daryl with my life. He's saved it more times than I can count. If you want someone to secure a perimeter then Daryl's got it covered. Both of them do."
Shane looked into Rick's eyes for a long few moments, "You vouch for him?" Shane asked.
"I do."
Shane's gaze drifted back over to both Daryl's, "You say you can do it? Then do it. T-Dog stay and get some rest."
Rick gave Shane a nod and took his hand off his shoulder.
Both Daryl's left and Rick could almost hear Dixon's brain ticking over with questions.
Once they were out of sight Rick turned to the camp, "Right, collect the dead and put them on this side of the RV, the walkers on the other side. We clean up and make sure that all of our dead don't come back then we can get a few hours rest and continue this in the morning. The kids sleep in the RV tonight. Anyone with injuries gets them looked at first." said Rick automatically giving directions, "Carol, can you help the injured then please find us a tent? Carl with me, we're clearing the walkers."
Rick moved to the nearest walker and grabbed under its arms while Carl grabbed its feet. They moved with practised ease together and dropped the walker on one side of the RV before quickly moving on to the next.
Grimes was quick to follow along with T-Dog and Glenn. Shane hesitated for just a moment before he started doing the same. Jim and Jacqui teamed up to move their dead into a line in front of the RV while Andrea and Amy collected blankets to cover them with.
Dale, Lori, Mrs Peletier's and Mrs Morales ushered the kids into the RV. The elderly couple followed them in.
Morales went over to every walker they dropped by the RV and made sure it was dead, stabbing a small knife into each head that looked too intact.
The other people, who Rick didn't remember, split between collecting their dead and cleaning up the camp.
A few people did go over to Carol for injuries, but it looked like they were mostly scrapes and cuts rather than bites.
-o-
Hello everybody! I'm cross-posting this fic from Ao3.
This fic is set between seasons 7 and 8 for Rick, Carol, Carl and Daryl, and will touch on elements at the start of season 8, but no knowledge past this is needed. God knows the characters don't have it.
This story will have the Daryl/Rick ship. It's nothing major for the first part and it doesn't play a huge role in the story overall. But the more the two interact the more you'll see it. Otherwise, canon ships apply.
This story is going to be done in parts. The first part is complete and all on Ao3. I'm working on the second part. There's one chapter out and I'm almost done with the second chapter. I'll update this fic weekly till it catches up with the Ao3 posting. From then on it'll be whenever I have chapters. Which honestly is subject to the whim of my hyperfixations.
If I made any spelling mistakes please tell me! Unlike walkers, I don't bite.
Thank you for reading!
Follows/favourites help both Daryl's secure the perimeter, and comments help Carl and Rick move the bodies.