Disclaimer: I don't own the walking dead, amc, or norman reedus (no matter how much i wish i did..=~P ) Oh, and btw, before anybody starts asking, the O/C's name is pronounced (Air-e-l) not like Ariel from the little mermaid. It's my bff's name and i absolutely love it! I hope you enjoy the story, i already have the whole thing written but i want to gage people's reactions before i start turning out three chapters a week. Enjoy!

Chapter One:

Some people who've come in close contact with life and death experiences say that things tend to speed up, others beg to differ: that things slow down. For Arielle Mason, it was a horrible and dizzying concoction of both. Not being able to tear her eyes away from the surrounding tree line for more than a minute, she glanced down the incredibly high dropoff of the cliff in front of her. She couldn't help but wonder if the water below was even more than a few feet deep, not that she had much choice in the matter.

Glancing back over her shoulder, she caught sight of the first of the undead break through the tree line some 30 yards behind her current position on the ledge. Arielle couldn't believe that her afternoon had morphed from tracking a doe a few miles back (surviving on junk food and edible plants and berries in the woods just wasn't cutting it anymore) to coming across a traveling group of the undead a little while ago. She had booked it as fast as she could, managing to drop her beloved bow along the way, the makeshift quiver equipped with many brightly colored arrows, strapped to her thigh, proving to be utterly useless as of this moment. Knowing that her chances of taking the group of undead on were slim to none at this point, Arielle checked the Beretta holstered at her hip, four bullets, not much use against 15 or so dead people. She took one last glance over the drop off before taking a few steps back, mentally preparing herself for the life or death stance against gravity she was about to face. Taking in one deep calming breath and one last look over the beautiful, luscious landscape that was the Georgia countryside, her home for most of her life, Arielle couldn't control the barrage of images that danced through her mind as she raced to the cliff's end.

Her father, his handsome face, calculating and withdrawn, forever hating her very existence for taking his beautiful and precious bride away from him. As much heartache as she suffered by his hands, at this moment, Arielle couldn't bring herself to hate him for his cruelty. Her sisters, Maria and Satine, so beautiful with their long corn silk hair, tall statute and, for the most part, unwillingness to even be around their curse of a younger sister. She recalled one time when she was four years old, her older sisters had dressed her up in their "big girl" clothes and paraded her around the block in a mock model showcase. She knew that they partly did it to embarrass her but she loved every minute of it. Her much older sisters were spending time with her, something that Arielle silently craved, an older female figure in her life to fill the motherless gap. Not to mention that their cruel antics helped thicken her skin and make her into the woman that she was today. Arielle, even in her possible moment of death, forced the unmentionable person that she wanted to think about last out of her head, even now, it caused her too much pain. What, she thought, was to be her last thought went out to the one other person who was most dear to her, the person who had pretty much raised her even though he was only eight years older than her. Her quirky and always reliable older brother, Bobby. Her admirable brother was the only one who never held a grudge against her, instead, he nourished her. He helded out a hand to her when she needed it most. So did..

As her feet cleared the edge of the cliff dropoff, Arielle allowed herself the one last mental image of him, a silent guilty pleasure for herself. Hell, she was probably gonna die anyway, might as well die as she lived. His angular jawline, his deep crystal blue eyes, his dark sandy blonde almost brunette hair. She could almost hear his voice inside of her head as she plummeted towards the cold, icy water below. Her very last thought rang clear through the onslaught of images and memories inside her mind.

"I'll be with you all soon, whether it be heaven or hell..."

TWD~~~~~~~~~~~

"This oughta be enough." Daryl Dixon mumbled to himself while pulling a bolt out of a large tree, a particularly huge squirrel sticking to the end. Tying his kill to the collection of previously caught around his neck, he cleaned his bolt on a rag that he always carried in his pocket, deciding to head back to the lake that he had seen about a quarter mile back. The young hunter was in desperate need of a canteen refill.

As he approached the water's edge, he pulled a small water canteen from his pack on his back. Daryl knew that he really ought to boil the lake water before consuming it but being that he had nothing to do that task with, not to mention he was too far from camp to go without, he knew that he was shit outta luck. Swishing a sip around in his mouth, Daryl decided that a little of the water wouldn't kill him, at least until he got back to camp.

He stood up straight, stretching his tired muscles, trying to work out the kinks. As he bent to pick up his crossbow by his feet, the sounds of groans and rustling reached his ears. Daryl whipped around, crossbow in his arms and scanned his surroundings, keeping a lookout for possible walkers. Listening carefully, he realized that the noises he was hearing were not coming from the woods around him, the bushes not even bothered by a slight breeze, but were coming from above him, as impossible as that seemed. He turned around in spot, crossbow still tightly clenched in his arms and scanned the cliff lining the lake behind him. Taking in the trees and foliage above him, Daryl decided that now was as good as time as any to high tail it back to camp. As he was turning away from the cliff, a figure caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Raising his crossbow to get a better aerial view through his lens, he tried to zero in on the figure standing on the protruding cliff's edge, nervousily pacing back and forth. From his current position, Daryl couldn't tell if this person was a walker or a human even though he was leaning towards human, they moved too erratically for a walker.

As if said person could read his mind, Daryl watched as the person paused, only to begin pacing more before pulling a gun out of their waistband. Daryl's grip tightened on his crossbow, waiting with bated breath to see what said individual was planning on doing. He or she checked the gun clip then moved a few paces back from the ledge to only turn back, squatting down slightly before charging full speed back towards the edge.

'Holy shit, they're going to jump.' Daryl's mind yelled. He didn't know exactly how deep the water below was and if it wasn't very deep, this person's life was about to end prematurely.

"What the fuck are ya doin'?" Daryl hollared just before they flung themself off the cliff's edge.

A few seconds ticked by, Daryl was completely stumped as to why this person had leaped from the too high cliff. Before he could dwell on this line of thought any longer, a huge group of walkers appeared out of the tree line, shambling to the cliff's edge before halting. The mindless beings looked around, confused, as if not sure where their next meal had disappeared to. Finally, aftering seeming to sniff out that there was no longer anything for them to chow down on, the group turned around and headed back into the woods. Daryl finally turned his attention back to the water's surface, scanning the calm exterior for either a survivor or a floating body. Not seeing either of the questionable two, he began to pace the lake's shore line, slowly worrying a path into the soft sand and tiny pebbles. After a moment's consideration, Daryl left out a loud huff and began to unlace his hiking boots.

'What the fuck am I doin'?" He silently asked himself before quickly trudging out into the cool, muddy water. When the murky water was waist deep, he quickly dove under. Resurfacing a moment later, Daryl swam out to the spot where he had seen the person go under. The water seemed pretty deep at this point so he dove under again, and resurfaced, and dove again, and again, and again. He resurfaced, taking in one more deep breath before diving in again, for what he hoped would be the last time.

The cold water was incredibly murky and stung his eyes. Daryl continued to reach around him, searching for any sign of the missing person. Just when he was resigned to stop searching, his right hand connected with what felt like an elbow. He tightened his hold and pulled them upwards. When Daryl resurfaced, he awkwardly gathered the person up into one arm and half swam, half dragged the person to shore. When Daryl laid the person on their back, he quickly realized that said person was a young woman, who wasn't breathing.

"Shit!"

He wasn't familiar with CPR, hadn't bothered with it before, now he wished that he had. Quickly scanning his memory for what he had seen people doing on television shows, Daryl pinched her nose shut and breathed into her mouth, forming a seal around her mouth with his. He repeated this step over and over, afraid that he had gotten to the woman too late. Suddenly, the woman pitched forward, spitting up so much water. She leaned to her side and continued to retch the rest of the lake water out. Daryl lightly patted her back, not knowing what else to do. She rolled onto her back, still coughing to clear her throat. Daryl waited a moment, letting her catch her breath.

"Ya gonna live?" He asked, rubbing his fingertips roughly across his lips and chin, a nervous habit he had developed in childhood. The woman slowly opened her eyes, turning her head to the side to look up at her savior. She opened her mouth to say something but, whatever it was, died on her lips. Eyes widening, she bolted upright and continued to gawk at him, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Daryl lifted an eyebrow up, confused by the young woman's behavior.

"Catfish got ya tongue?"

The woman lifted one pale hand, brushing her soaked red hair out of her face.

"Daryl?" She whispered, her throat scratchy from coughing up the lake water.

Daryl froze, wondering how the woman in front of him knew his name. Before he could ask her how she knew him, she beat him to the punch.

"It's me, Arielle Mason, Bobby and Satine's little sister.' She exclaimed, crossing her soaked legs into a more comfortable sitting position. 'I know it's been almost 11 years but I don't think I've changed that much."

Daryl sat back on his heels, giving the young woman a full once over now. She had long red hair, reaching down past her shoulders. Since she was sitting down, Daryl estimated her to be about 5'8, 5'9 and about 130 pounds. He couldn't really tell for sure, the green short sleeve t-shirt and light blue jeans she was wearing were baggy on her. Whether from lack of clothes or lack of food, he wasn't sure. Scanning the rest of her, he took in the light dusting of freckles along her cheekbones. Daryl's gaze froze upon reaching her face, more importantly her eyes. He would've recognized that tell tale sign anywhere. All four of the Mason siblings from his hometown had the same unique eye color of green/gray/blue that they inherited from their mother. He remembered the eye color vividly from Satine and Arielle.

Daryl was pulled abruptly out of his memories by a pair of arms pulling him down into a hug, clasping tightly around his neck. Arielle couldn't control the tears that were streaming down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry, I know that you were always so socially awkward but I am just so happy to see you. I haven't seen another breathing person in so long, I was beginning to think it was just me out here. I thought you were dead." She exclaimed, her voice slightly cracking on the last part. She pulled back out of the slightly awkward hug, Daryl had lightly wrapped one arm around her soaked waist. Daryl couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips.

"C'mon, Elle,' Daryl drawled, using the nickname he used for her when she was little. 'Do ya seriously think a couple dead people could take down a Dixon? We're made of stronger stock than that."

Arielle smiled at the use of her nickname, accepting his hand to pull herself up into a standing position. She bent to pick up her soaked pack from the ground but paused, Daryl's words floating around in her head.

"We? You mean that Merle's alive?"

Daryl wrapped his crossbow around his shoulders and fixed her with a mock glare.

"Merle's ten times tougher than me, course he ain't dead.' Daryl bent over to pick up her pack, handing it to her. 'Besides, he's gonna be in a right mood when he sees ya." Daryl turned to the direction of the camp but hesitated, turning his attention back to Arielle.

"Ya comin' back to camp, right? Do ya have somewhere else to go?"

Arielle fought back the tightness in her throat before answering.

"Well, it's just me now, so yeah, I guess I'm coming with you." She answered, looking back up at him. She knew that this conversation would come sooner or later but she wasn't prepared to see the pain that rippled across his face as her words sunk in.

"What happened?" He asked quietly, staring at the line of dead squirrels now hanging from his shoulder once more. Arielle didn't particularly feel like skipping down memory lane again but Daryl deserved to know. They were like family to him, too. She crossed her arms over her chest and rubbed her arms, trying to friction some warmth back into them.

"Well, I had stuck around for a few extra weeks after Dad's funeral to visit with family. When the broadcasts started, I didn't think much of it, like another H1N1 scare or something. It was when Bear was bitten and turned a little later, that we realized how badly things had gotten and how quickly they had gotten that way." She paused, taking a steady breath to calm herself.

"We loaded up all our supplies, our ammo and weapons into my Suburban. I guess that's one thing I can thank Dad for, being a survivialist freak, you remember that arsenal he had in the shed? Anyway, before skipping town, we headed by you and Merle's place but it looked as if you two had already taken off. Which is probably a good thing now because I kinda panicked when neither of you answered the door. I busted in your front door, just to make sure you guys were not hurt or anything.' Arielle admitted sheepishly, casting her eyes to the ground. 'Sorry, heat of the moment, shit was hitting the proverbial fan."

Daryl couldn't resist the smirk that crept onto his face at her words.

"Elle, how touchin'..." He drifted off.

"Shut it!" Warning flashed in her eyes and Daryl quickly closed his mouth.

"Anyway, we made the mistake of trying to take the highway to Atlanta, trying to reach that safe zone that was broadcasting on all the stations. The road was overflowing with traffic and... I got.. I got out of the SUV to ask if anybody had heard about the city when..." She had to pause to get her breathing under control along with the tight clenching in her chest.

"A few of those things came out of the woods right by my vehicle, I didn't even see them. I forgot to grab my gun out of the car. Bobby jumped out, yelling to me but I didn't turn around quick enough. The thing knocked me to the ground, Bobby pulled it off of me and put a bullet in its head. He didn't notice the two come up behind him. Maria honked the horn but it was already too late. I tried to pull them off of him but I had hurt my elbow in the fall, I wasn't strong enough... Maria took down the other two and Satine.. she handed me my gun." Arielle paused again, fighting back the lump in her throat, the memories burning behind her eyelids like she was experiencing the horrifying night all over again.

"She grabbed me and pushed me towards him and, uh, she told me 'Your fault, your responsibility'..." She stopped, unable to continue. She plopped down on to the lake bed, needing a moment to collect herself. Daryl squatted down next to her. She quickly rubbed the hot tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Sounds like the Satine I remember, cruel bitch." He whispered quietly.

"I'm sorry, Daryl. If I were you, I'd hate me, too." She whispered, staring blankly across the lake's calm surface. Daryl shook her shoulder roughly.

"Hey, now don't be doin' that. I don't hate ya, shit happens, it wasn' ya fault." He said forcibly. He stared down at the young woman he had known all of her life, wishing that he had something better to say to take away the blame she was shouldering on herself. He also wasn't sure how to broach the next question, not sure if she was gonna start crying or something. Thankfully, he didn't have to.

"We set up camp with some other survivors we came across. At a river some 15, 20 miles west of here. It was normal enough I guess, hunting, fishing, chores, yada yada. Well, one morning a few weeks ago, I went hunting. I had seen some fresh deerprints on the outskirts of camp. Just before I left, Satine asked me if I wanted her to tag along. I refused to let her come, you know she was never very great at tracking and keeping quiet in the woods. I just left her behind, I camped out in the woods that night because it had gotten too dark. I was awoken to the sounds of gunfire, by the time I made it back to camp it was nearly dawn. The entire camp was destroyed, nearly 30 people. Men, women, we even had six children there. I took care of the bodies, salvaged what I could and I've been on my own since."

Daryl continued to watch her. Arielle had pulled her legs to her chest and tucked her knees under her chin, slightly rocking back and forth. Reaching over, Daryl lightly laid his hand upon her shin, giving it a light squeeze. Arielle rolled her head to the side, turning to look up at him.

"Didn't mean to nearly break down in front of you like that. Must be the stress of, well, everything." She whispered, closing her eyes and enjoying the sense of peace that washed over her at having and knowing that Daryl was here and he was okay.

"S'okay. We probably should get goin'. Gonna be dark before ya know it." He replied, standing up and offering her his hand again. She gratefully took it and stood up, their hands still clasped together longer than necessary. Daryl laughed shakily, withdrawing his hand and turned to pick his pack and crossbow up. Arielle took one steady breath before following suit, heading with her friend into more unknown.

~~~~~~~TWD~~~~~~~

So, how'd ya like it? Drop me a review and let me know. I'm not above begging, just so you know.