DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of The Walking Dead. This is for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: I realize that having Elena (and OCs in general) are kind of making Daryl OOC, but bear with me. I'm trying to still keep him "Daryl" but with a bit of a twist? Like… This is the Daryl that nobody sees deep down. Okay, deep deep down!

Cross My Heart.

Two Years Later

"Hey," Elena smiled at Daryl as she walked into the living room. "I didn't even hear you come home."

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that. Didn't mean ta startle ya," Daryl smiled in return. Elena joined his side as he stood in front of the TV glued to the news yet again. It had been at least a couple weeks since they were saying something about some kind of disease or virus. There was some kind of outbreak that had started overseas and was making its way around the globe at a pretty fast rate. Just a couple days ago, the verdict was that it had reached New York and still traveling. Of course there wasn't much information given other than stay indoors and avoid contact with those that are infected. Whatever this thing was, it was killing people—and in large quantities. It seemed to be wiping out the population in some places.

"That's terrible… And they still don't even have a clue, do they?" Elena folded her arms in front of her chest staring at the television as it switched to a commercial.

"When do they ever have a clue?" Daryl sighed. He turned to face Elena, gently cupping her face in his hands and kissed her on the lips. She let out a small giggle as he smiled and kissed her again for good measure.

"I suppose Leah's happy to be spendin' the night at Skyler and Matt's? Getting away from us for a while." Daryl walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the cabinet before sticking it under the faucet to get some water.

"Maybe happy to get away from you," Elena teased. "She loves me."

Daryl scoffed, "Uh huh, sure." He took a few sips of water as he walked back into the living room with the glass still in hand.

"I'm just kidding. She's loves you and you know it. You only spoil her all the time." Elena sat down on the couch and patted the empty cushion next to her. Daryl set his glass down on the coffee table just in front of the couch as he sat down next to her. Elena nestled into his side as he slid his arm around her and kissed her forehead.

Since meeting Elena that morning at the local diner, Daryl had never been happier in all his 32 years. It was like he became a whole new person after meeting her and being with her for two years. He had experienced love—what it felt like to be loved and appreciated. It took him a while just to get used to it. And even now he wasn't fully accustomed to it. He had talked to Elena a little bit about his past and she just seemed to accept him that much more. She was understanding. He still had his doubts deep down though. He had his old man and Merle to thank for that.

A loud static overcame the TV in that moment, snapping Daryl's full attention back to it. He watched as the gray fuzzy lines scribbled down across the screen as it gave off an audible hum before turning into a low screech-like siren.

Elena had sat up, placing a hand on his knee as she narrowed her eyes at the screen. "What's going on?..."

Daryl didn't answer her though. He only stared back at the screen as it turned into bright vertical colors before cutting to a live newsfeed from a nearby town.

"Oh, my God…" Elena whispered beside him, her hand clapped over her mouth.

And Daryl had to agree with that. He wasn't sure what to think. The television showed people running and screaming, absolutely terrified and frantic. There was a building on fire that burned in the distance. The camera feed was threatening to cut off, the audio and video signal weak. Then an anchorwoman had stepped out in front of it. Her clothes were a mess and her hair was disheveled. She looked like she regretted every wanting to be a news anchor standing there in that moment.

"…The outbreak has reached Georgia. I repeat, the outbreak has reached Georgia. Stay indoors and refrain from any contact of those that are infected. If you can make it to Atlanta, there will be shelter, protection, and further explanation of this pandemic. Take caution and be advised…"

Daryl jumped up to his feet and rushed to the nearest window overlooking the street. He peaked through the blinds and cursed under his breath. There was some kind of funny shit going on because what he was seeing didn't seem right. There were a few people walking down the middle of the street that were missing chucks out of their limbs, their clothes tattered. How were they alive and moving? They looked absolutely ill.

Then there was a shrill scream that pierced through the television as the camera seemed to smack into the ground. Daryl watched through the bit of static and tilted camera angle as he could see that very news woman crawl backwards, kicking and screaming. There were feet that shuffled past the camera now in view as that person just seemed to lounge at the woman and tear the flesh from her arm with its teeth.

They had never shown what this outbreak looked like or what it caused until now—they only warned everyone. Seeing it firsthand was a bit different, and Daryl wished he would have taken more of a precaution weeks ago. Whatever that thing was that tore through that woman's flesh was not human. Not unless cannibalism was a new disease.

Daryl turned the TV off and looked at Elena. She stood in front of the couch with her hand still covering her mouth in shock, her legs threatening to collapse from under her. She was terrified.

Daryl shook his head. He had to snap out of it. He had to act.

"Call Skyler—Get Leah on the phone," Daryl walked into the kitchen and tossed Elena the phone from off of the counter. Once she caught it and her shaky fingers start to dance across the digits he headed outside to the garage. He scanned the 12' x 22' room before he found an old wooden baseball bat and picked it up. Just the idea alone seemed ridiculous but it was all he could think of at the moment.

He locked the door behind him as he entered back into the kitchen. Elena was still fumbling with the phone in her hands, wiping her face.

"I—I can't get a hold of them. The lines are down or something," Elena shook her head. She looked up at Daryl from across the room and noticed that he had a baseball bat in hand, staring.

"Alright…" Daryl tried to think of the next best plan of action. They had to move. "Head upstairs, start throwin' some shit together. We're getting outta here."

"What do you mean? Where are we going?" Elena asked as they climbed the stairs, Daryl one step behind her.

"For starters, we're goin' to your sister's. Make sure they're okay, get Leah. Then it sounds like we're headed for Atlanta…" Daryl stepped into the bedroom from behind her. He quickly grabbed the nearest bag and threw it onto the bed. Daryl threw some clothes into the bag for both of them as Elena ran across the hall and seemed to raid the bathroom. She tossed a handful of things into the bag as well before they heard a window shatter downstairs. Elena and Daryl exchanged glances.

"You think that's good enough?" Elena motioned her hand towards the bag.

"It's gonna have to be," Daryl threw it over his shoulder. "Stay up here. I'm gonna see what's goin' on, run this to the truck." He clutched the wooden bat in his hand.

"No—" Elena gasped.

"I'll be right back," Daryl leaned over and kissed her on the forehead before he ran down the stairs. He slowed as he approached the last few, looking around and taking in what had caused the window to shatter. Those things had managed to break in and climb through. Daryl grimaced at the sight of them. They were repulsive, half rotted walking corpses. What kind of virus, disease, outbreak was this?...

At the time, there were only three shuffling around in the living room and knocking things over in a clumsy manner. Daryl hit one with the bat to knock it back so he could bolt for the door through the kitchen. He ran outside and opened his truck door, tossing the bag inside. He was glad at a time like this that he never locked the damn piece of shit.

As he was about to run back inside for Elena, he stopped. He remembered he had that old Horton Scout 125 HD crossbow Merle had given him a few years back hanging in the garage from his hunting days. He figured if he could snatch that and throw it in the truck for good measure, it would make one hell of a weapon against these things with hardly any effort on his part. And as he had grabbed the crossbow and tossed it in the cab of his truck, he realized how wrong that seemed. Weren't these things human? At least they were at one point in time.

Daryl had just grabbed the doorknob to enter back inside the house when he could hear a scream.

Elena.

He threw the door open and bolted for the stairs, knocking one of those corpses back with the bat in the process. Once he reached the top of the stairs he realized that Elena trapped herself in the room with two of those creatures banging against the door. They noticed his appearance as one of them turned and started dragging its feet towards him.

At this point, he didn't care if those things were human or if they were ever coming back. He beat the one walking towards him into the wall but it just kept coming. The second one began to drift over now as he raised the bat and bashed the first one's head in. Its skull collapsed in on itself fairly easy as its blood spurted. Daryl didn't stop though. He turned and slammed the other one against the wall just in time before it could reach him. And just like the first one, he brought the bat down on its head until it splattered.

Daryl dropped the bat and threw the bedroom door open. He was relieved to see Elena. But his eyes were drawn to the red. Her shoulder was bleeding, covered in blood. Tears were running down her face as she stared back at him at a loss for words. She didn't have to explain, Daryl knew what happened. He could tell that one of those things must have taken a bite out of her shoulder, exposing torn tissue.

Because he left her by herself, unprotected.

"Shit, Elena…" Daryl pulled her towards him gently, looking closer at the wound. Maybe it wasn't all that bad. Surely he could help her patch it up. It was just mostly missing skin.

He pulled her into a hug as she began to cry into his chest. He didn't want her to be upset; he didn't want her to cry. She didn't deserve this.

"It'll be alright. You'll be just fine. Ain't nothin' gonna happen to ya," Daryl tried to soothe her, speaking softly in her ear. He ran a hand through her hair and kissed her on the forehead again. "We'll get in the truck and we'll go get Leah an' your sister. We'll head to Atlanta like they said on the news. It'll all be okay." But for some reason or another, he felt like it was all a lie. He wanted it to be true though—wanted it to be true more than anything.

There were now car alarms ringing out in the neighborhood as Daryl could hear more ruckus coming from downstairs. A door slamming and footsteps. Someone was here. And it wasn't until he heard his name being called out that he realized it was none other than Merle.

Daryl didn't yell anything in return. He just waited, figuring Merle would head upstairs eventually. Which he did.

"Hey…" Merle stood in the doorway. He stared at Daryl and Elena, his eyes also drawn to the blood. Daryl could tell he was debating on saying anything more, seeing Elena clinging onto him with tears rolling down her face. But he spoke up anyways, "She bit?"

Daryl glanced down at her. She refused to look back as he hesitantly nodded to Merle.

Merle sighed, "Ye know what's gonna happen, right? After ya git bit?"

Daryl could feel Elena's hands grip onto the back of his shirt as she forced herself to look over at Merle. Her hands began to tremble at his words.

"I witnessed it myself. The news ain't lyin'…" Merle continued, "There's a reason ya gotta stay away from the infected."

"No," Elena shook her head. "No, I'm okay. I—"

"Look, ain't no easy way o' puttin' it. Yer gonna die. An' yer gonna turn into one of 'em."

Elena immediately looked up into Daryl's face, her bottom lip trembling. She pressed her face into his chest and cried harder, her nails almost digging into his back now as she could probably rip his shirt at this point if she wanted to.

"Jesus Christ, Merle—" Daryl glared at him. "The hell's your problem?"

"What? Ya want me ta beat 'round the bush? Ain't sugar coatin' nothin'. Have ya seen this shit?" Merle scoffed.

Daryl ignored his brother as he tried to console Elena. He could feel tears stinging at his eyes now, a wave of anger, fear, and regret washing over him. He shouldn't have left her by herself. What the fuck was even going on? He rubbed her back and hugged her tight. He almost felt afraid to let her go. Like if he let her go, she was going to die. According to Merle she was. But he wasn't about to believe that, not for one second. He could fix it. It wasn't that deep. He could fix it, damn it.

"It's okay… Just remember what I told ya," Daryl whispered near her ear so that Merle couldn't run his mouth.

"C'mon, let's go," Merle motioned towards the stairs as he took off. Daryl made sure Elena was okay to follow as they went after him downstairs. There were no longer any of those rotten corpses walking around as Merle came to a halt in the kitchen. He appeared to be looking for something.

"Where're yer keys? We're getting' the hell outta here," Merle spoke up.

"We can't leave. We have to get a hold of Skyler. And Leah—We have to get Leah," Daryl shook his head. He was damn determined to follow through with his plans. He wasn't about to abandon them.

Merle closed the gap between them and grabbed Daryl by the chin, slightly pulling him forward and forcing him to look him in the eye. "I said where are yer keys, boy?"

Daryl shoved Merle off of him. He trudged over to where his keys were hung on the hook under the cabinet by the sink and grabbed them. "I ain't leavin' here without Elena. An' I ain't leavin' unless we're goin' to Skyler's." Daryl stared at Merle, staying close to Elena's side.

Merle cursed under his breath, dropping his gaze to the floor. Daryl knew there were probably a shit ton of words he wanted to throw at him—call him a pussy for wanting to hang back, wanting to try and save people when it was probably a lost cause. But Daryl didn't want to believe that. He wanted to be positive for once in his goddamn life. They were going to be okay. Everyone was going to be okay. He could fix Elena's shoulder. They would find Leah, and Skyler, Matt, and Hannah. All of them would make it to safety until this blew over. That was that.

But out of nowhere, Merle sent a punch straight to Daryl's jaw. The hit had caught him completely off guard and threw him off balance as he was immediately sent stumbling backwards, crashing to the ground. He felt the back of his head collide with the hard kitchen floor. His vision started to close in on him. Elena's scream, Merle's lingering voice, the car alarms and chaos from out on the street… They all began to fade away as everything went black.

Please, please, please let me know what you think? One click and a few keystrokes away? xoxo