Glenn and Rick crept slowly into the clearing, amazed at the lack of Walkers in the area. They decided to help Daryl hunt for their dinner, having just settled in the prison and finding the prisoners ate up most of the canned foods already. The progression of Lori's pregnancy made her act even bitchier than usual, so Rick was first to volunteer to aid in the hunt despite the fact he was awful at it.

Daryl had ditched them nearly an hour ago to track a hog he saw fresh hoof prints for, leaving the two to wander around on their own with their silenced-rifles and knives.

"We're screwed," Glenn whined. "Daryl's gonna catch deer and pigs while we get lost. And you know he'll never let me hear the end of it! I had to convince him to let me join and now—"

Rick raised a hand to silence the Korean. "Shush. If we're gonna find meat we need to be quiet. I don't want Daryl giving me that smirk either." They both nodded in agreement—no one wanted to be subjected to Daryl Dixon's you're-a-fucking-dumbass-and-I'm-better-at-surviving smirk. It was almost worse than a Walker bite. Almost.

So they continued walking, taking short breaks to check the area every time they heard a twig snap or leaves rustle. Any squirrels or rabbits they saw scurried away before they could even get their fingers on the trigger, leaving them with a new respect for how quick Daryl must be to catch them so many at a time.

Glenn jerked his arm up, halting Rick in his steps, whispering urgently, "Shit, Rick, look!" Ahead of them was a clearing, as perfect as a magazine cover, with wildflowers on the soft grass and roses climbing up the trim trees until it met buttons and budding roses at the rays of falling sunlight.

"Maggie would love this," Glenn said.

The scene was so perfect Rick couldn't believe it. No Walkers, no wild animals—just flowers and sunlight and a sense of perfection he'd never seen even before the apocalypse. "Lori would, too."

More like Lori would stop being a bitch for two seconds to appreciate this.

They walked forward, slowly, as if afraid their presence would alter the moment and send them back to the hell they live in. They stopped, hearing a shuffle, readying their weapons to be met with the creature slowly emerging from the dark woods into the sunlit space. Rick and Glenn's jaws dropped as they were met with the unbelievable sight of—

A unicorn.

White with ivory hooves and a sparkling horn, eyes as clear blue as the sky. Its mane and tail were silky smooth and cascaded down its sleek body as if it was some romantic painting, living with no flaws and outside the realm of possibility.

Rick and Glenn exchanged mirrored looks of admiration and awe. They gingerly eased their way into the clearing, closer to the unicorn that stood confidently and unfazed by their presence. Rick reached a hand out, slowly, showing Glenn (who copied him—he'd never touched a horse before, let alone a mythical horse made of magic and sunshine and happiness).

For the first time in a long time, they felt okay. They knew they would be okay with their guardian unicorn around. The lack of Walkers was proof enough that there was something special with the creature, warding off evil.

The unicorn nodded its head in approval and the men's finger tips were grazing his nose when it suddenly whinnied and jerked its head to the side, falling to the ground in a flurry of white disaster. They looked down and saw dark, almost-black blood ooze from the unicorn's face and its white skin suddenly faded to grey. Sticking out of it, near to its horn, was a bolt.

Daryl stepped out into the clearing—which was now dark, covered by clouds, urging the flowers to bulb down and wither away. Thunder boomed in the distance and the wind picked up, strong enough to knock Glenn's hat off as flowers were blown from the clearing. Rain poured down and beat on the men and the unicorn, smearing the blackened blood into the earth and making the unicorn look dirtier and disgusting.

"Daryl! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?" Glenn shrieked.

The redneck lifted an eyebrow and roughly jerked the bolt from the unicorn's head. "Ya'll wanna eat, don't'cha?"

"NOT THE UNICORN!" Rick screamed. "WHY WOULD YOU KILL IT?!"

Daryl kneeled down and tugged at the dead back hooves of the creature. "Fresh meat is fresh meat. C'mon, help me carry this fatass back to the prison before it gets too dark out."

Knowing they can't undo the tragedy, Glenn and Rick sigh and grab the other two hooves. The rain pounded harder and harder and the wind was so strong it'd knock them over had they not had the unicorn's body between to act as leverage. They trudged their way back to the gates of the jail, the sky now darker than before, and Maggie hurried from the guard tower to let them in.

Then, gate opening slowly, Glenn sniffled at the loss. Daryl scoffed and suddenly dropped, "Ya'll act like ya've never seen one before. Wait til you see some chupacabra, those fuckers are way more delicious."

Glenn stepped away and began dry-heaving what was left of his innocence into a bush.

A/N: This is the first story I've uploaded here, so if there's any errors in formatting, grammar, spelling, or anything at all please tell me. I did look it over and if I missed something I'd love to know for future reference. Constructive criticism is always welcome!

Thanks for reading ;)