Chapter One

"Get behind me, now!" Matt hollered, no longer perturbed at the thought of attracting additional walkers. The half dozen ambling towards them seemed plenty. He gripped his hunting knife with white knuckles and glanced down to his pistol. It was a six-shooter, with only four bullets left.

He puled his companion back towards him by the belt loops of her jeans.

"Fucking Christ Allie, I mean it!"

With machete in hand, she side-eyed him and smirked. "You got a plan?"

"Yeah. You take the three on the right, I'll take the three on the left."

"We've got a strategic mastermind over here."

Matt swallowed a grin and glared at her. "Quit that shit and stay focused. Try to keep your back towards me. And don't let them gang up on you. You can take on one but a group of them will bring you down easy."

"Got it," she replied, as the closest walker reached a decayed and graying hand towards her throat. Allie kicked the thing back, and plunged her blade sickeningly into the thing's skull. She had never gotten used to the sound, the amount of force it took to end a life. At least, end it a second time.

Behind her, Allie could hear Matt grunting, presumably putting down the first of his attackers. She knew he wouldn't use the gun unless he had to. Ammo was scarce, and in this world, those few bullets we had left might be the difference between having lunch and being lunch. Or a last train to Clarksville, if one of them were to ever end up alone. But she couldn't think about that now. Two dead men were fast-approaching and hell-bent on killing her. Concentrate, Allie, she reminded herself.

Instead of waiting for her new friends to invade her personal space, she charged them. But these had been large men. NFL star large. She knew she couldn't tackle them to the ground. And even if she could, there's no guarantee she'd be able to get back up after a blow like that. So rather than colliding with their concave chests, Allie sidestepped the pair and swiftly sank her knife into the taller one's head.

She chanced a look towards Matt. He was kneeling over a second body, struggling to dislodge his blade from its skull. But his third walker was right behind him, only feet away really. He wasn't going to get up in time. "MATT!" she shrieked, taking off towards him. It had its hands on his shirt; it was pulling him backwards. No, no, no.

But as quickly as it had begun, everything stilled. Matt stood looking down at three bodies, rather than two, and seemed about as confused as Allie felt. The walker that had so nearly made Matt his dinner now had an arrow lodged between its eyes.

Matt finally looked up at her with mouth open, only to scream with panicked eyes, "Allie, look out!" She turned to look where he pointed, and saw a tall, tan man with graying hair and a seemingly perpetual smirk plunge his knife into the last walker. The one she'd forgotten. Way to go Allie, real fucking smart.

The man and the girl held each other's gaze for about half a second, before she set eyes on a younger man a few yards behind him. Crossbow in hand, he traipsed towards them carelessly, eyes darting between Allie's knife and Matt's gun. Assessing how big a threat they were. Though if he were worried about them as a potential threat, you'd think he wouldn't have bothered saving either of them to begin with. He strode straight past Allie; close enough to touch, then bent to dislodge the arrow from the walker's motionless skull. It came out with a plop, and he wiped the blood on his already stained jeans. The sleeves of his button up shirt had been ripped away, revealing a set of reasonably massive biceps.

Allie watched him with interest, as he strode back towards his companion. Matt was at her side instantaneously, pulling her behind him forcefully by her waist. She scoffed at the action, unworried by the two newcomers. "Relax, Mattie they're not going to hurt me."

"Sure," he curtly replied, glaring at the men.

Allie pinched his arm sharply, grabbing his attention. When he looked at her she continued softly, "If they wanted me, they wouldn't have saved you too. They'd have let that first walker kill you."

Matt stared at her for a moment, processing her words. He glanced at the men to his left, then back at Allie. Finally, he nodded, almost imperceptibly to anyone to but her, and relaxed his stance, waiting for her to take the lead. Talking to people was her thing.

Allie looked between the two men. The one with the crossbow had slung the weapon across his chest and over his shoulder. "Thank you," she finally let out in a gasp. "We'd probably both be dead if you hadn't stepped in."

Matt scoffed, to her left.

She smirked. "Fine, I would be dad. Matt would merely be mortally wounded." The younger man's lips raised slightly at her comment, apparently amused.

"Ain't nothin' little lady," the older man drawled, "Couldn't let a pretty thing like yourself end up walker bait."

Allie willed herself not to roll her eyes. "Still, we appreciate it. Not everyone would have stopped. Or at least, they might have stopped, but they would have wanted something in return. Probably something we wouldn't want to give."

Daryl frowned at her comment, not because it insinuated that the two of them would want a consolation prize for saving them, but because of the look the boy- Matt- gave her. It surprised Daryl how much his stomach churned at the thought of someone hurting her, making her repay them the way she was insinuating.

"Hardly had a choice in the matter," the older man continued, "Daryl here heard your scuffle and had done sprung into action before I could advise him against it. You're lucky he's a softie, I might not have bothered with ya."

"Shut it, Merle," the younger man, Daryl, muttered. But when he looked up he found Allie smiling brightly at him, her hazel eyes glittering in the noontime light. With her dirty blonde hair cascaded in perfect waves over her shoulders, and a thin sheet of sweat making her neck and ample cleavage glisten, Daryl couldn't help but take in her body. He quickly looked away, forced himself to.

"S'nothin'," he muttered again, kicking at the dirt under his feet. But she continued to grin at him, taking amusement in his embarrassment. "Of course it's something," she replied softly, only to him now. He met her gaze for a moment, but quickly looked away again, uncomfortable with the intimacy.

"I'm Allie, and this is Matt," she told the pair, "Are y'all out here alone, too?"

"May as well be," Merle replied, but Daryl cut him off. "Nah we've got a camp 'bout a couple hour's hike north of here, on a quarry right off the highway. You should come back with us."

Merle eyed his brother with surprise, Daryl rarely spoke two sentences to him, and they were brothers. This chick was a total stranger. Impressed with the progress he nodded, "Yeah, we could use a coupl'a folks who can actually defend themselves worth a shit."

"The people at your camp, they won't mind?" Allie asked hopefully. She and Matt had been hiking through the mountains for days, and the prospect of spending time with any other living human in addition to his surly self really appealed to her.

"Nah, so long as ya help out and all," Daryl said. "But we oughta leave now if we're gonna get back before dark. C'mon."

Allie and Matt followed behind their new companions, Matt hauling their enormous pack, stuffed to the hilt with canned goods and camping gear.

"So how do you two know each other?" Allie asked them.

"Darleena here's my baby brother," Merle gleefully replied, clapping his hand to his younger brother's back. They didn't look close in age, a decade between them easily. And though their demeanors were hardly similar, Allie could see the similarity. Their eyes, mostly: both bright blue and intense. "How bout the two of ya? Ya fuckin'?"

Allie snorted loudly and Matt smirked at her, mischief in his eyes. "Oh yeah, big time," Matt boomed, "Woman can barely keep her hands off me!" Merle and Matt made eyes at each other and snickered, unperturbed when Allie slapped Matt upside the head.

"For fucks sake Mattie- too far! Jackass..." she muttered. She noted how Daryl seemed to relax at her reaction. His shoulders had gone taut, jaw fixed in a tense line, at Matt's remark.

"Well that's great news, sugar tits! How bout you and me have a little alone time when we make it back to camp? A lil' naked roll in the hay?," Merle drawled.

Allie gave him a look of mock sympathy, "Merle, you're just not my type. It's not you; it's just your shit awful personality. I hope we can still be friends."

Even Daryl was grinning now, impressed that the woman could hold her own against his brother.

"Nah, she's my sister actually," Matt explained.

"You two don't look alike," Daryl commented, eyeing the two of them.

"No, we wouldn't. We're not related by blood. Grew up in foster care together."

"That don't make her your sister," Merle mused, but Matt quickly cut him off with a set jaw.

"It does to me."

Merle nodded, and they continued walking. "So how'd you two end up in the system then?"

"Well my mama was a meth head, or so they tell me. Apparently I was born blue and high as a fucking kite. Explains my affinity for the more illegal things in life, I'll tell ya that much. Never knew who my daddy was. Don't think my mama did neither. I was always in the system," Matt said.

"And what about you, darlin'?" Merle prodded.

Allie hesitated a moment, her eyes meeting Daryl's once more as he watched her curiously. The expression on his face was indecipherable, but if she had to guess, she would have called it interest. He watched her face carefully, awaiting her response.

"I got put in foster care when I was ten," she began to explain, "We were in an accident, me and my mom and dad. Drunk driver hit us head on going 80. They both died." She paused and stared hard at the ground, willing herself to continue. Years later, it still pained her to tell this story. Everything about her had been redefined in that one horrific moment, when she realized she was an orphan.

"I didn't have any other family. So I got put in foster care. First home I was put in, Mattie was waiting at the front door. Like he knew I was coming or something. Lucky thing, too..." she trailed off.

"Why's that?" Daryl grunted, startling her with his sudden input. Allie frowned more deeply at the ground, not trusting her voice. But Matt was at her side in an instant, backing her up, like he always had.

"Because that home wasn't one of the nice ones," Matt said bluntly, with an air that said clear as day this conversation was over. Daryl nodded and they continued on, chatting idly about what they'd done since the outbreak. Merle explained how they'd come across the other survivors at the quarry, after watching the bombs leave Atlanta in ruins. Matt told the brothers about the trek up the mountain, in hopes that higher ground and deeper wilderness would mean fewer walkers. They walked in pairs, with Merle and Matt taking the lead and Daryl and Allie following close behind. Allie thought she noticed Daryl sneaking glances at her every so often, but she couldn't be sure. His eyes always seemed to moving, taking in everything at once and leaving nothing to chance.

When they finally arrived at the camp, a man with broad shoulders and dark features stomped up to them, anger in his eyes. Allie took it in stride.

"Hi!," she chirped, smiling broadly at the surly man, "I'm Allie. It's really nice to meet you." She stuck her hand out without hesitation, and with a flicker, the man's demeanor shifted. His lips curled into a playful smile and he took her hand gently, replying with a, "Shane. And this is?" he pointed at her brother.

"Matt, my brother. Sorry about barging in on all of you like this. Merle and Daryl got us out of a tight spot back there in the woods, and thought we might like to come back to camp with them. Safety in numbers and all that. But if your camp is full up, we totally understand. You don't have any obligation to us."

Shane smiled down at the girl, "Well you're right, girlie. Much safer to be in a group, more men around to protect ya. Y'all can stay if you'd like, so long as you help out around camp and don't cause any trouble." His smile didn't reach his eyes, Allie noticed. Shane's eyes travelled up and down her body, seemingly unable to setting on any particular feature. Unconsciously, she moved closer towards the Dixon brothers and Matt, taking comfort in being nearer to them.

"Well be as helpful as we can," she assured him, her smile now gone. Seeming satisfied, she turned on her heel and headed in the opposite direction of the man, with Matt and the brothers close behind.

"Want me to carry the pack?" she asked Matt.

"Aw hell no! I lugged this fucker all the way up that goddamn mountain. And you want to carry it the last ten feet and take all the credit? Not gonna happen."

"Well fuck you very much, I was just offering."

"Sure ya were. Just like you offered to clean and gut that last rabbit we ate. Knowing full well you hadn't a clue how to do it, and I'd have to take over anyways. Real sneaky."

She shoved him playfully, and looked up at Daryl, her gaze taking him by surprise.

"Where's your tent?" she asked.

He scowled at her, confused. Why the hell did she need to know that? But he pointed over to the edge of the camp, the farthest tents from the rest of the group. She nodded her approval and watched as Matt and Merle took off in that direction, presumably to set up camp.

"What, you think you're gonna be our pets now?" Daryl spat, immediately kicking himself for the harshness of his remark.

With Merle and Matt a safe distance away, she brought her hand up to lightly touch his arm, but he jerked away from her. It was instinct, really. Allie knew that more than anyone. She knew what a person had to go through in order to develop such a visceral reaction to being touched. But determinedly, she reached out for him again, this time more firmly pressing her palm to Daryl's forearm, watching his face contort, then relax, as he overcame his discomfort.

"No," she said softly, "I'd feel a lot safer if I knew you were close." The unabashed honesty of her gaze floored him, and he felt heat rise to his cheeks. She felt safer with him close. Not Merle, not the both of them. Just him. Unsure of what to do or say, he turned abruptly and sulked off after his brother, grumbling about work that needed to be done.