The World of the Walking Dead

Disclaimer: I do not own AMC's 'The Walking Dead'. If I did, the group would have run into some military personnel within the first year. I find it hard to imagine that they never once came across a living person who was from the military, especially seeing as the original Quarry Campers were set up right outside of Atlanta for a quite a long time. There had to have been some military personnel who returned back to the cities, even if it was just to scavenge more supplies off of civilian survivors or, more than likely, to kill all survivors.

"There's some form of encrypted information coming through on the third monitor."

"Move: let me see that." Eyes scanned the documents with a severity that surpassed all, micro-analysing every single aspect; every single word, and constructing the hypothetical results as they went along. "Where did you get this from?" He straightened, though his eyes remained on the monitor.

"What is it?" The man, gaze unwavering from the screen, let out a disbelieving chuckle. "Brendon? What is it?"

"A cure."

''

Three months earlier

"Ya know what Shorts? We call 'em hoarders, an' you're definitely one of 'em."

"I am not! Excuse me Dixon. One day we're gonna need those 'useless' things and I'm gonna be standing right there saying 'I told you so'."

"I don' think you fully understand th' concept of 'travellin' light'. Now, we take only what we need: nothin' more, nothin' less." As quick as they were, they could be quicker without carrying around half the items that they had.

"Fine, fine." Zero conceded. "Well, I don't really need the books." She said, commenting as she sorted through her pack. "Don't need this, this, this… what the Hell is that?" She shrugged, chucking the bounded papers behind her.

"Shorts."

"Don't need it; don't want it. You want me to condense and stop hoarding? I will."

"Shorts." He said a little more forcefully. She ignored him, rummaging through her belongings and humming. He rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time. "We're goin' to Washington." That did the trick.

"What?" She sounded as confused as she looked. "I thought we agreed to not going anywhere near D.C." He stood up, standing close to her as he held out a large yellow folder.

"We ain't got no choice Shorts." Her face paled as she recognised exactly what Daryl was holding. She reached out.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Seems we ain't the brightest crayons in th' box Shorts." He said, putting the folder back into the pack, shaking his head at their stupidity. Dr Jenner had given Zero the formula he believed would cure the virus and both Zero and himself had forgotten.

That was why they found themselves watching after a group that seemed to be in charge of the little town they'd come upon.

"How are we going to play this? I mean, there's got to be, what? At least fourteen people camping out in there." Daryl sent her a smirk.

"Teachin' you good."

"Maybe tonight you can teach me better." She told him with a wink. "Practice makes perfect Dare." They remained staking out the mechanics of the local town, waiting for the change of sentries upon the roof before making a move.

''

"Let her go." The man said.

"But she cut me man! Come on!" The Leader waved a dismissive hand at one of his men.

"I said, 'Let her go'." The other man didn't seem to be wanting to follow the leader's instructions. "I swear, ese, let her go." The man relented, none too gently releasing Zero's arm.

"I love you. Seriously G: you're my main man now."

"You know this puta? What the Hell G?!" 'G' pointed at him, eyes narrowed.

"Show some respect or I'll let her finish what she started." Zero turned to her previous captor, smiling at the man.

"That's right: Me and G, we go way back." She was having a great time trying her best to remain cocky about the situation when all she felt was utter disbelief. She never even gave a thought as to whether they were alive or not.

"You're not off the hook Cero. What were you doing snooping around my place?" She rubbed the back of her head and sent Guillermo a sheepish look.

"About that: I was, uh, sorta looking for a car and some gas." G raised an eyebrow.

"'Sort of looking?'" He was about to correct her statement, telling her exactly how it was when another familiar face came in with a pissed off looking Daryl stalking behind him.

"Yo G! Guess who I found lurking out there! It's that gilipollas who shot me in the ass." Daryl's eyes immediately found Zero's and narrowed when he spotted blood.

"Yours?" He questioned, not even bothering to greet their old acquaintance. Zero shook her head and nodded to the man she'd cut earlier. "Serves ya fuckin' right." He said. He then nodded to Guillermo in acknowledgement. "Got out of Atlanta." He stated. "What made ya change location?" Guillermo looked around.

"Follow me: we'll talk in my office." He then addressed the men in the garage. "They're guests so treat them with respect. Thanks to them, most of us here are still alive."

As they walked to the office Daryl sent her a look. He had no idea what the fuck Guillermo was on about. As far as he was concerned, their meeting in Atlanta was nothing short of an huge clusterfuck. Guns were exchanged and they were all damn well nearly killed because of a bag of weapons. Guillermo however, he looked well and truly thankful; like he and his men had truly been saved by their rag-tag group of survivors.

"Welcome to Casa de Guillermo hombres. We have a few things to discuss."

"What th' fuck were you on 'bout out there? Savin' your lives an' shit?"

"'It doesn't matter how we die: we all come back; we're all infected'. Shit, man, we had Mr. Craigson down in the basement, ready for burial. We locked him up, we were still a little sceptical about it all, but that old man started banging on the door not too long after. We had to put all the elderly down but it saved us from what would have been a fucking shitstorm. Thanks for the heads up. You saved our lives." Daryl's jaw clenched but he otherwise remained his stoic self. Zero didn't need to look at him to know that he was pissed, and he had every right to be. She had completely forgotten that it wasn't common knowledge and that the only ones of the Atlanta Survivors to know about that little tid-bit of information was herself and the Sherriff's Deputy. She inwardly cringed. "We then got the fuck out of dodge after a group of assholes came and tried to rob us. Ruthless puta's they were. Big fucking guys with big guns. Mercs of some kind for sure, well, some of them. We buried quite a few; it was a bad time." He let out a sigh. "Anyway I'm glad that you made it. Where are the rest of you? That Deputy?" Daryl twitched and took a step towards Zero, looking as menacing as ever. Guillermo put his hands up. "Okay, touchy subject. What did he do to her?" He asked Daryl.

"Got handsy." Guillermo looked shocked at that.

"Never would have picked it. You alright though?" She nodded.

"Nothing I can't handle, and even if I couldn't, I got Daryl here." He nodded.

"So, you were saying that you were looking for a car and some gas right?" She nodded and Daryl pulled out the folder.

"Ain't gonna believe this." He said simply, watching Guillermo's face as he looked over the information.

"I was a lowly custodian back at the nursing home but this is the real deal isn't it? You have the cure?! How in the name of Jesus did you come across this?!"

"We were at the CDC before it blew up. There was one man still standing."

"I'm assuming you need to get somewhere and fast."

"You've guessed right. Got anythin' that'll help us?" Daryl asked. Guillermo smirked at him.

"Me and my people have exactly what you need. However, give us a day to make a few modifications and I'll stock you up on enough gas to get you at least halfway there. You are headed to D.C right?" They both nodded. "Check this out." He said, standing up and exiting the office. They turned to each other and Zero shrugged.

"If he's that excited I'm expecting something 'Fast and Furious' worthy."

"We're havin' a talk later." Was his reply.

''

Later came sooner than Zero would have liked and she was not enjoying the brooding, angry demeanour that the Hunter was sporting.

"Dare, Daryl, I'm sorry. I, well honestly I forgot."

"How th' fuck do ya' forget somethin' like that Shorts?"

"Well I don't know." She said, and the sarcasm wasn't lost during the rest of her reply. "Maybe it was sometime during my run in with cannibals? Or maybe the time I was shot and stabbed and hunted down? Oh, maybe it was when Shane threw me to some walkers Daryl. I don't know if you've realised but we've had more pressing issues to attend to."

"You've known since Jenner." He closed his eyes, still pacing, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"He said it lays dormant in our blood; our DNA. No matter how it happens: we die and we come back."

"Who," he began, knowing he wouldn't like the answer, "who else knew?" Zero couldn't look him in the eye. The disappointment on his face was too much and it was only going to get worse with her next answer.

"Jenner told Rick and I before we got out of the-"

"Fuckin' Rick this and Rick that!" Daryl verbally exploded. "What th' fuck haven't th' two o' you done? What else are th' two o' you keepin' from the world? You already been injected with th' fuckin' cure too?" He sneered. He couldn't reign his anger in at the moment. "He ain't important; ain't even here yet you still fuckin' protect him!"

"I wasn't prote-" Daryl held a hand up, shaking his head.

"No." He said simply. She was going to protest but the look in his eyes, the betrayal, stopped her. Daryl left without another word.

''

"I'm not sure how we can repay you, G. This is fucking awesome!"

"Hey, only thanks I really need is a shot of that cure. Make sure we're first in line okay chica?"

"Vatos first: no worries G. Just make sure you look after yourself and keep a tight leash on Felipe." There was no mention of the young Miguel throughout nearly the entire stay. He wasn't there; he hadn't made it and those ruthless bitches who attacked them in Atlanta were obviously responsible. Zero clasped Guillermo's shoulder before giving him a quick hug. "Stay safe and remember: Shoot first, ask questions later. It's done us a Hell of a lot of good."

"No worries." He replied. "You best get back to that Hunter of yours. Seems you've got a bit of talking to do on this trip to D.C. Oh, and be careful alright? Don't want to see you or your man stumblin' around town eating brains, si?" Zero smiled at the group of Vato's. With a final wave and a 'thank you so much and I love you all', the two Atlanta Survivors drove away.

''

"It's been seven hours and fifteen days." Daryl rolled his eyes as Zero tried to gain his attention. "Daryl, seriously, please?" He had been ignoring her for the better part of two days and it was wearing her down.

"Why th' fuck didn' ya say anythin'?"

"I know it's hard to believe me, but Daryl, it seriously slipped my mind. We've been at this together for how many months now? I guess I just figured you knew."

"I ain't no fuckin' scientist Shorts." And there it was, the nickname. She smiled to herself. "No secrets: nothing at all. You think hard about anythin' else I might need to know and tell me the second you remember." She nodded frantically, hooking her pinky with his before pledging to honour the agreement. He rolled his eyes, again. "Now, any place we should stop at?" She looked at the map.

"Uh, there's the cop shop two streets away. We could rig up the sound system in either the shopping mall, local pool, hock shop or the electrical appliances place."

"Lemme see." Daryl's eyes wondered over the map, his mind racing as he went through possible scenarios and plotted escape routes. "Okay. Rig up the pawn shop. That'll leave a five street gap between us and them. Should be plenty of warning if the music stops." Zero nodded, placing a kiss to the Hunters' lips before hopping out, her trusty machete at the ready.

"Meet you in, what, ten minutes max?"

"I'll be on the roof. Meet you at the front door then."

Zero made her way, covertly, down the streets of the town. She killed a few walkers here and there but otherwise made it to the pawn shop without too much hassle.

"Jesus." She looked around and almost face-palmed. "Good evening. This is Zero with the five o' clock news bulletin. A horde of flesh-eating zombies is headed your way, but, feel free to loot all the jewellery that'll be completely worthless! Not like your lives are at stake or anything." Commentating her actions never failed to amuse her and neither did the stupidty of people. It seemed someone had gone so far as to try and erase the debt they had here at the local pawn dealers and she couldn't, for the life of her, understand why. That also meant that, seeing as the screen had fallen into sleep mode but the battery hadn't drained fully, that someone was in the building still. She shrugged, getting to work on rigging up every single speaker she could find in the shop, amps included. This was going to be fun.

''

Daryl laid as flat as he could against the concrete of the roof of the police station, watching as every single walker turned their head and started towards the obnoxious noise coming from the centre of town. The new distraction system was, in a way, genius: walkers, attracted to noise, would all flock to wherever the music was playing, abandoning whatever it was that they were doing in favour of trying to find the source of the noise. It worked and it worked well. He rolled his eyes at the choice of music he knew would be on repeat. When the coast seemed clear enough, he jumped down, landing in front of the entrance and waited.

"Really Shorts?"

"Oh, oh here she comes! She's a man eater!" She sang to him. "If you love this you'll fall over yourself at the cannibalistic-themed playlist I've got playing over there."

"Come on. I didn't go in either, if that's what you're wonderin'." She smiled up at the Hunter. The agreement was simple: bigger than a single story building or with more than five rooms: wait until they were both together before heading on in. "Let's do this Shorts." He went in first, a metal bat in his hands and a short sword in the other. His crossbow, he'd always love, but the practicality of it in small areas: not so much.

"Shit, Dare, I thought you said you hadn't come in here yet." He held a hand up, silencing her as he looked around carefully, listening to something. All dead and decomposing, but handcuffed to their desks, were the bodies of Officers. Some had turned, others hadn't, but all of them shared a bullet to the head. "Some of them were alive... hadn't even turned." Zero said solemnly. Daryl walked down the aisle, peering inside the holding cells and interrogation rooms. He heard movement, heard a moan, and walked into the office that belonged to the Chief of police. He was out a moment later, closing the door behind him and shaking his head at her.

"Don't go in there." She raised an eyebrow, but the look on his face made her nod. "C'mon. There's always another level to these fuckin' places. Holdin' cells are all up here meanin' we'll find their arsenal downstairs." They made their way to the evidence room. "Through here." She nodded, getting infront of him to pick the lock, fiddeling with the electronic keypad for a while before they were granted access. "Let's clean it out."

"Dare, whoever came through here was holding a grudge against law enforcement." He paused what he was doing for a second, knowing exactly where this conversation was going.

"Not his style, Shorts. Merle wouldn't've hunted down Officers and then bring 'em here just to cuff 'em to desks." She tilted her head.

"Hunted?"

"Not all of 'em are cops from this station." Her eyes widened.

"Holy shit. They're not." She said, recalling the names of the county's on the shirts. She started thinking. Besides, it's not like Merle lost his hand or anything all that dramatic this time around. He wouldn't go out of his way to find Rick and the group in the first place. But there was a nagging feeling that wouldn't leave her. Something about this whole situation was wrong and she had a feeling that it had something to do with the Atlanta group.

"Stop thinkin' on it. We need to get out of here soon." She shook her head, trying her best to focus on the task at hand.

"Dare, somethings nagging at my mind. I've got a feeling things are gonna ge-" She didn't have the chance to finish her sentence as two men barged into the room, guns aimed at the two of them.

"Put the fucking weapons down... now?" The voice questioned. Daryl tossed his head back, not believing what he was seeing. He cocked his gun at the man.

"Put it the fuck away before I shoot your balls off Chinaman." There was a moments pause before the expected reply was said.

"I'm Korean."

"Wait, what the fuck?! How the fuck are you two even here?" Zero demanded.

"Fuck's sake. They've been fuckin' followin' us." Daryl said, eyes narrowed. "How long?" Glen was getting antsy, not at all liking the murderous aura the Hunter was projecting.

"Hey, hey, look: we were just checking up on you. That's all."

"How didn't we know about it?" Zero asked, turning to Daryl.

"I didn' think they'd be fuckin' stupid enough to try somethin' like this." He answered. "Now that they have: I think I'mma need to take care o' th' threat." He threatened, storming up to the Korean man, sword to his throat. "Got any reasons why I shouldn't?" Glen gulped.

"I, uh, I..."

"We didn't know this was where you were going okay?" Lee said, hands up in surrender. "We were told to follow, to make sure you're doin' fine and we've done that. We'll head on back and we'll leave out where we've been."

"Ya think, for a second, that I'mma believe th' shit that's comin' from your mouth? Lets try that again."

"Seriously, what are you two doing anywhere near here? We're so far from King County and Atlanta that it's not funny." Zero questioned.

"Shit went downhill fast after you left, okay? Rick thought he was doing good when we came across some gated community. The place was off and we decided to get the fuck out of there while we had the chance."

"Where are the others? The kids? Maggie, Beth and Herchel?"

"They were all alive and well when we left them." Lee shrugged. "Some huge fucking fight and well, our group sort of took over. The guy who was in charge surrendered. Sent him packing."

"Wait you took over someone else's safe house?"

"Town, really, and, uh, yeah." Glen answered sheepishly.

"Then what th' fuck ar' ya doin' here?" Daryl growled.

"We were worried! Jesus Christ! Can you get the sword away from me please?!" Glen cried out. Daryl backed off. "We may or no have followed you since the uh, second week." Daryl kicked one of the evidence racks over in frustration.

"I'mma kill 'em." He said, lunging for either one of the men as Zero encircled her arms around his waist.

"Dare, calm down. Please?" He scowled, reluctantly nodding.

"You're gonna tell us why you're here and if I don' like the answer, you lose a lil' piece o' yourself. Got it?" Glen nodded, fear evident on his face as Lee, too, nodded, although in a calm manner.

"Daryl, Zero: we caught wind of some information that ya'll are going to want to know. One of the people in Woodbury, they knew your boy Walsh." Zero turned to Daryl.

"What did I say?" Daryl closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"He's got himself a group."

"Fuckin' great." Daryl clapped a few times. "What else? What else could be fuckin' anymore worse than knowin' he's gunnin' for us and has a personal army?" It was Glen who answered.

"Merle's with him!" He blurted out. The two men watched the dawning comprehension as it crossed the faces of both the woman and the Hunter.

"Fuck off." Daryl said, not knowing how to properly respond. "You're fuckin' tellin' us every little thing that fuckin' went down after we left. Don't ya dare leave anythin' fuckin' out."

Authors Note: ...Hello? *echoes around empty space* Well, I, uh, I'm back. Apologies for the extraordinarily long wait for this Chapter. I'm hoping, hoping, that now I've finished this, there'll be more sooner than expected. Thank you to all of you for persevering through this. Much love. As usual: I hope that you've enjoyed.