A/N Read a couple reviews of some other stories where the reviewer said that most fan fiction was "love at first sight" and they were tired of "insta-smut." (my term). It got me thinking about characters and character development…and how best to survive.

Chapter 1

Skrrrrrrrit! Skrrrrrrrrit! Aliya shuffled over and over, not so much to make sure that the cards were well-mixed but because, well, it took up time. Over and over. Skrrrrrrrrit! Skrrrrrrrrit! Time was the one thing she had right now. She laid out the cards as she'd done at least a hundred times of the last couple days. One up. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Two up. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Three up. Four. Five. Six. Seven. On and on. Over and Over. Black on red on black on red. Mind-numbing repetitive motions. Perfect for wasting time.

She wondered why she didn't want to spend more time over at Dale's R.V. Everyone was crowded in like little sardines in a can. Around the table playing cards, talking, drinking luke-warm coffee with whatever half-empty bottle they could find to warm them up and keep the conversation flowing. Dale, Andrea. Stuart. Bridgette. Lori. T-Dog. Carl. Carol. Shane. Rick. But not Daryl. Never Daryl. He was the lone wolf in their little pack.

It was cold. Last night's rain had made everything bone-chilling cold and damp today. Aliya huddled in her small tent. Sweatpants, two pairs of socks, tee shirt, hoodie, blanket and sleeping bag all trying to keep her warm. She knew that if she got up and moved around, she'd be warm. If she was active, the blood would start circulating, but really, what for? Restack firewood? The frequent sightings of walkers in the woods made a fire impossible. Wash dishes? Done. They were pretty much eating out of cans these days because of the fire situation. Check the strings of cans and noisemakers that surrounded the camp as a sorry attempt at a warning mechanism. The guys pretty much had that under control.

She thought about the one person that was absent from camp and wondered what he was doing. If he was being successful at finding anything to eat. If he was being...careful. Stop it. Not going to go there, she told herself. I am not developing a school-girl crush on the bona fide bad boy in camp. I am too old and too fucking tired for this kind of nonsense. Plus, forming relationships in this day and age was just a waste of time. There no guarantee that anybody would make it through any given day or night, much less make a pledge of "forever." There was no more forever. A tiny virus had taken that away months ago.

She heard the footsteps and the rustle of fabric before the sing-song voice outside the tent. "Allie? Allie are you in there? You awake?" Bridgette. Poor, defenseless, terminally-clueless Bridgette. God, she just wanted Andrea to mistake Bridgette for a walker. Aliya had tried to be nice to her, repeatedly. She'd make it her mission to understand what it was like to function with half a brain, to be empathetic towards the challenged, but she just couldn't. As Bridgette would say of most things asked of her "It's too HARD."

Now, Aliya wasn't making fun of the mentally challenged, the differently-abled. The special. No, Bridgette wasn't like that. She was just...a ditz. Or, as Stuart usually said to describe her, "stoopid, with a capital stoop." Bridgette was just...dumb. It was hard not to like her, she was sweet and gullible and would do anything for you. But she made it hard. Case in point: after telling her for the zillionth time that your name was not Allie, it was Aliya, after a character in a book , she continued to call you Allie, well, you just wanted to club her like a baby seal.

"I'm in here, Bridgette." Aliya called, sighing under her breath. The perky blonde unzipped the tent and crawled in, goofy grin on her face.

"Hey, whatcha' doin?" she said, looking at the cards laid out in the familiar seven-column solitaire pattern. "Ya' playin' cards?"

"Yeah. What's going on in the r.v.?"

"Oh, not much. Glenn's reading and everybody else's playing Monopoly. I went bankrupt already so I thought I'd come over and see what you were doing."

"Not doin' a whole hell of a lot here, Bridg. Anybody say anything more about finding a house?"

"Yup. They have a whole neighborhood they scouted out, Rick says they just wanna' take a closer look, check out the walker situation and make sure they're ok with Daryl."

"Really? Ok with Daryl?"

"Yup, that's what they all agreed on. " Bridgette plopped down on the end of the mattress. "But he's still gone in the woods."

"Since when does he have the final say around here?" Aliya frowned.

"I dunno, but I'll do anything he says." she giggled.

"I'll bet." The red-head frowned even more. "And then some." she added.

"No, seriously, he scares me. He's always all scowling and mean and angry." Bridgette shrugged. "I'd much rather spend my time with Shane. Or even Glenn. Just not Daryl."

"What's the plan for dinner?" Alyia asked.

"Wait to see if Daryl brings anything back, if not, canned again."

"Great. Just great." she sighed and laid out another game.

"I'll be so happy when we can get a place we can not have to worry about this stuff. We can be safe from walkers…and warm. I'll be happy to be warm again." Bridgette smiled.

"I'll remind you of that come next July when it a hundred and ten and you're sweating your ass off." Aliya smirked.

XXXXX

They were all gathered around the table in the R.V. after dinner. Including Daryl. He was standing near the door, on the edge of the discussion, keeping fairly quiet, only nodding now and then. He stood with his arms crossed in front of him, crossbow resting against his leg. They were addressing the big question of what to do now. It was getting colder. Much colder. They needed more permanent shelter. They needed a way to protect themselves. They needed…a house. The last supply run the men had made, they'd checked out a handful of large houses in a gated community. Room enough for everyone and the added security of a gate, at least on a couple sides didn't hurt either. Plus, these people were loaded. They had…stuff. Lots of stuff. Most of the families had fled. Those that had stayed behind and had succumbed to the virus, however they had contracted it, would be easy to deal with one on one, if they were still in the area.

Aliya watched Daryl shift back and forth, tear at the cuticle of his thumb, and look around the r.v. from under furrowed brow. When their eyes met, she would try to look away, embarrassed that once more he saw her looking at him. It had happened on more than one occasion during the evening and she was mortified. She did not want to mess with him, literally or figuratively. Daryl Dixon was one to steer clear of, every fiber of her being told her that from the minute the two groups met.

The men did most of the talking. It was decided that there would be one last trip made into the area to decide which places they would occupy, if any. They would see how many walkers were around, what the needs would be for beefing up security, and what resources were available once they arrived.

Since the other men had already checked out the area and Daryl was out hunting that day, Rick suggested that Daryl take someone and go on a final scouting mission before they broke camp and moved. They could get in, check things out, and get back to the group to report on their findings.

Bridgette spoke up and suggested that he take one of the women with him, which brought a round of groans from all of the other women but Andrea. She sat there with a smug look on her face. Aliya looked at her and caught herself smirking. Andrea looked like she was almost ready to stand up and give her acceptance speech. She knew that Andrea thought she was all that now that Shane had taught her how to shoot. Everyone was looking at Daryl now, puzzled looks on their faces. The was shaking his head slowly. "No." he said quietly.

Rick pointed out the fact that Bridgette's idea was fairly astute. A woman will pick up on things a man might normally not think about. Kinda' sexist, but ok, Aliya thought. He added that Andrea was a good shot and had experience running recon, having been into town on numerous trips with Shane. Aliya really had to force herself not to snort out loud, but even at that, she did roll her eyes and as she looked back down, she noticed that Daryl was looking straight at her, a slight smile on his face. Was he thinking what she was thinking? Did he know about Shane and Andrea's little "trips" too? What else could it be? From the look on his face, Aliya knew she and Daryl were thinking the same thing - the only recon Shane and Andrea had done was on each other.

"I think Daryl, you should take Andrea and check things out." Rick finally had said it out loud and Aliya had to bit her lip to keep from smiling again.

"No." Daryl said flatly.

"No? Why not?" Andrea snorted indignantly.

"Don't want to." he shrugged.

"You don't want to?" she said. "I don't see why not." Andrea's face was flushed now.

"Uh, ya' fuckin' shot me, 'member?" Daryl said, frowning. "You don't think." he said slowly, measueing his words to emphasize the dig at her.

"Hey, I thought you were a walker. You certainly looked like a walker. How was I supposed to know?"

"That's the point, Andrea. You didn't know," Aliya said quietly. "and you took the shot anyway." Daryl shot her a look that was a combination of shock and amusement. Aliya couldn't believe that she'd actually said it out loud. She really hadn't intended to, it just sorta' fell out of her mouth.

Bridgette piped up and said "Well, I'm sure that Andrea didn't mean to, you know, she wouldn't do something like that on purpose." Aliya shot her a look that said "Shut the fuck up." in no uncertain terms.

"Now, I think before we get off the subject, maybe Daryl, you tell us who you want to take, then." Shane said.

Daryl looked around and pointed at Aliya. "Her. All-ya." He said it in two syllables, more like "All a' ya" only without the middle. She blinked a couple times and looked at him. His eyes were on hers, trying to gauge her reaction.

"Nuh-huh." she said. "No way."

"Yes." he was still looking at her.

"Daryl, why would you want to take Allie?" Bridgette said.

"She's quiet. She thinks fast. I seen her shoot. She pays attention ta' what's going on." he said, picking up his crossbow. "We leave first thing tomorrow." He turned and hopped down the stairs and left the R.V.

"What? Wait. No! Don't I get a say in this?" Aliya protested, looking around the group.

Andrea glared at her, her brow furrowed. "Apparently not." she snarled, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder and turning towards Shane, not so subtly.

XXXXX

"Why?" Aliya wrapped the blanket around her tighter. It was freezing now that the sun was starting to go down.

"Done told ya."

"No. I'm serious. Why?"

Daryl kept working on his crossbow, not looking up. "Need ta' finish here." he said impatiently.

She frowned and shook her head slowly, letting out her breath loud enough for him to hear her frustration. "Fine. " she said quietly, turning her back to him. "I just hope you don't regret your choice."

"Seven." he said, again without looking up.

"Seven." she said, walking towards her tent.

XXXXX

She slammed the door of the rusty pickup and leaned the rifle on the seat between them. She put the gym bag with the two pistols and the ammunition on the floorboard between her feet, pushed the lock on the passenger door and fastened her seatbelt. Daryl sat there watching, bemused. "Seatbelt?" he grinned.

"Well, I'm pretty sure this baby don't have airbags." she shrugged. "Can't be too careful."

"You gonna' tell me I can't smoke in my own truck next?"

"Nope." she said, taking of her sleeveless vest and rolling it up like a pillow. "Smoke all you want." She put it under her head and leaned against the window, crossing her arms over her chest.

Daryl gunned the truck over the little rise and they took off down the rutted gravel lane towards the county two-lane. Aliya closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. Sleep, however, was the last thing she could have pulled off. Her nerves were on edge, she felt like throwing up at any minute. She was scared. Nervous. She didn't want to be going on this scouting trip, let alone going alone with Daryl Dixon.