It's the End of the World

Daryl's POV.

"Walker!" I heard someone scream and I quickly moved away from the map I was looking at to survey the scene. Andrea was the one to shout, she was perched on top of the RV, her eye pressed into the sight of a sniper rifle.

"Just the one? I bet I can nail it from here." Andrea stated before cocking and aiming the gun into the distance.

"No, no, Andrea. Put the gun down." Rick stated but no one was listening. Shane quickly grabbed his pistol. "Shane, hold up. Hershel wants to deal with the walkers." Rick said as he ran after his best friend. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my crossbow as I followed after them.

"What for man? We got it covered." Shane stated as he pulled his gun up and pointed it at the stumbling figure.

"Is that Alice?" I heard Rick exclaim and I looked towards the figure to see a mass of blonde dreadlocks on top of the persons head. I scoffed lightly and ran a hand quickly over my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things. As soon as I figured the person was real, I started running towards the mess of a girl in front of me. She smiled lightly at me as she stopped, before quickly eyeing Shane and glaring at the loaded gun in his hand.

"You gonna pull the trigger or what? I've had a shit few days, boy. Don't mess with me." She exclaimed and Shane's eyes widened as he lowered the gun in his hands. I chuckled softly, but before I could celebrate properly, a gun shot rang out and Alice fell to the floor. A shivering Sophia was then brought into view from where she was huddled behind a once standing Alice. Before I knew it I was beside the fallen girl, her head cradled in my hands.

"Shit, I was kiddin'." Was all she managed to mutter before her head went limp. Rick came over and placed two fingers to her neck before sighing in relief.

"Oh my God, is she dead?" Andrea gasped as she ran with Carol, who quickly pulled her daughter into a hug.

"Unconscious. You just grazed her." Rick said and I glared at the blonde slightly before I pulled the sleeping girl into my arms and started walking back towards the house.

Alice's POV.

When I woke up, I was hit by a harsh light that made me close my eyes abruptly from the pain. I felt the softness of a pillow under my head and instantly gasped as I sat up, I attempted to place a hand on my raging heartbeat but my hand was pulled into someone else's and I looked to my left to see Carol sitting beside me, water marks on her face from where she'd been crying.

"It's okay, you're safe. Lay back down." She said softly before pushing me by the shoulders so I was against the pillows once more.

"S-Sophia?" I tried to ask, but my voice was incredibly hoarse from dehydration. Carol giggled lightly before pressing a glass of water into my hands.

"Thanks to you, she's fine. Resting right now, but she'll be okay." She said with a smile. I nodded slightly, my body relaxing into the comfortable mattress as I took a big drink from the glass in my hand. I looked to my right as I put the drink down on the bedside table and saw a lone figure sprawled in an armchair. "You've been out for a day or so, he hasn't moved since. He's been out looking for you and Sophia everyday. He was just going out again today when you turned up." Carol explained as I looked him over. His hair was longer, his eyes held dark bags and his beard was unshaven. Even if it hadn't been that long since I last saw him, he looked very different. "I'll leave you to get some more rest. Shout if you need anything." She said as she gave me an awkward hug and walked out of the room. I turned on my side and stared at Daryl's sleeping form. He looked so peaceful that I couldn't take my eyes off him. The guy that stitched me up much have made me high to be thinking these thoughts.

"Will ya stop lookin' at me." Daryl grumbled and I shrugged as he sat up in the armchair.

"Ain't nothin' else to look at. 'S either you or the ceilin'. An' your prettier." I smiled lazily and he shook his head as he leaned his elbows on his knees and clasped his hands in front of him.

"Doc gave you some crazy strong meds, I'm guessin' that's 'em talkin'." He stated and I rolled onto my back and shuffled slightly to try and sit up. I winced as a sharp pain shot through my side and Daryl was instantly there to help me sit up without injuring myself further. I placed myself back against the pillow and tried to get myself comfortable once more. "Hell were you? Started thinkin' you were never comin' back." I heard Daryl mutter quietly and I turned myself back towards him.

'M sorry. Tried gettin' us back as quick as possible but most of our journey was through water, so didn't have our tracks to follow. We stayed in a rundown cabin for a day and finally found some food to keep us goin'." I explained and he pointed at my side, asking me to elaborate. "Let's just say, I fell down a bank not far from here, one of my arrows stuck in my side. Let's jus' leave it at that." I shrugged nonchalantly and Daryl grunted.

"Yer one tough son of a bitch." He stated and I giggled.

"I tell ya, Dixon. Ya ain't gettin' rid of me that easily." I said with a soft smile. He smirked slightly before coughing and climbing up from the chair.

"Ima get you some food." He said as he tried to flee from the room and I quickly jumped and tugged at his hand, it hurt a little but my drug induced mind didn't care.

"Please don't leave. It's been a few days without everyone and I could use some company other than a kid. Hell it's nice just listenin' to ya talk and I never thought I'd say that." I said with a small smile and he sighed as he looked between me and the door. I gave him my best attempt at the puppy dog eyes. Just as I was doing that, Carol popped her head around the edge of the door.

"You guys want food?" She asked and I sent her a wide grin as I nodded my head. "Great, I'll get you some too, Daryl." She said before leaving once more. Daryl grunted before sitting down in the armchair once more. I quickly let go of his hand and laid back down on the pillows.

"I'm so glad I found you guys! I'll admit, when I saw the farm I didn' expect everyone to be here. It was jus' a place we could hunker down for the night to get some rest." I rambled as I pulled the comforter up to cover my arms. "And there you were, ma knight in shinin' armour runnin' towards me. Who'da thought it?" I smirked and Daryl let out a small scoff.

"I ain't no hero." He stated and I smiled as I turned to look at him.

"Ya are to me. I heard you went out there every day lookin' for us. Everyone else lost hope, but you, you kept goin'. That's gotta count for somethin'." I said and he grunted, I could tell he was uncomfortable with the way he was biting his nails, something he always did when put under the spotlight. I hesitantly lifted my hand and placed it on his shoulder. He quickly lifted his head and met my eyes. "Thank you." I said and he simply nodded. "You're a better person than you think you are, Dixon." I said before closing my eyes, no longer able to fight the sleep that wanted to consume me.

Daryl's POV.

I watched her chest slowly rise and fall as she slept, she'd been asleep for an hour now and I hadn't moved, wanting to still be here when she woke. I placed my head in my hands and roughly tugged my fingers through the greasy strands before rubbing my tired eyes with my palms. I didn't know why I was still here, I could have gone hours ago but I just couldn't bring myself to leave her. I hadn't even been to see Sophia, and she was the one I was adamant I was looking for. Carol came in around ten minutes later holding a tray with two bowls and a few slices of bread. She placed the tray on the bedside table before crouching down next to me.

"How is she?" She asked and I shrugged softly as I played with my fingers.

"Doped up, she'll be alright." I said and she nodded her head softly as she looked over at the blonde girl still sleeping peacefully.

"I don't know how I'll ever thank her for what she did. If it wasn't for her, I might never have seen my little girl again." She said as she stood up to pull the comforter further up her body so only her head was peeking out.

"She did what any of us wudda done." I said and Carol shook her head sadly.

"No, she did what you would have done. I'll admit right now I'd lost hope of us ever finding her again, and I know everyone else was thinking the same thing. If it wasn't for Alice, my little girl would be dead. And if it wasn't for you going out there and looking every day, I'd be dead too. Because no one else would have looked for her apart from me." She said and silence descended upon us. She stayed for a few more moments before getting up from her position and placing a bowl of broth in front of my face. "You need to eat. You haven't eaten anything since they arrived and we already have one skilled hunter down. We can't have you joining her." She said before leaving the room. I placed my bowl back down on the tray and stood up so I was hovering over her, I placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her softly to try and wake her up. When that didn't work I did it a little harder. Her eyes flew open and she instantly sat up, a hand clutching her chest slightly.

"Eat up." I said before handing her the bowl and a few slices of the bread Carol had brought in. I pulled her pillow up so she could sit up and she hesitantly sat against it, trying not to hurt her side anymore than she already had. She dipped the bread into the juice before bringing it to her mouth and taking a tentative bite. She moaned slightly before digging back in for more, I couldn't help but smirk slightly at the sight.

"Don't judge me, Dixon." She said as she continued eating and I simply shook my head. She looked at me for a moment before looking at the still full bowl beside her. "You need to eat." She said with a small glare and I rolled my eyes slightly before grabbing the bowl and eating some of the contents.

"Weren't eatin' before you did." I shrugged and she sighed softly as she placed her now empty bowl back on the tray.

"I'm fine, Daryl. I'm still alive, I ain't bit so you don't have to worry 'bout me. You need to keep your strength up for everyone else." She said and I didn't say anything in return. She sighed once more before I heard rustling coming from the bed. I looked up to see her out of the bed, a hand pushed lightly to her wound.

"The hell you doin'?!" I exclaimed angrily and she groaned as she picked up her clothes from the small chair beside her.

"I'm gettin' my ass up. I ain't layin' round here all day while everyone else does shit for me. I'm gettin' dressed, and I'm comin' back to camp with you. I don't belong in this house! I belong with the group, and don't you dare say otherwise." She shouted back at me and I grunted as I got up and walked towards her. I wrapped my arm around her waist and proceeded to help her across the room.

"You're a stupid son of a bitch, ya know that?" I mumbled and she wrapped her arm around my neck so it was easier to carry her weight.

"I know." She said with a small smile and I groaned as I helped her over to the bathroom. Once she was inside she shut the door and I fell back into the small chair beside the bed. This girl was going to be the death of me.