So this has been on my mind for a while, well since the end of 'Still' and Daryl went off with these guys. Personally, I am hoping that Daryl goes along with them for a while before he turns on them because I'd like to see Daryl need to be pulled from a whole different brink. I'm not really sure where I'm completely going with this to be honest, but lets find out together, eh?

This is set five years in the future. It is compliant with everything up to 'The Grove' but after that I'm not sure how similar it will be to the show. I'm sure not very at all. I don't have any plans for anyone from the show other than Daryl, Carol, Tyreese, Judith and the Marauders to be in this but I know that that can always change.

I'd like to make note that Tyreese and Carol are not together in this, though they do hold up that front for the people they live with because it was just easier for them to explain and they found it that people trusted them better when they thought they were. Happy reading and Caryl on!

"Tell me another story about my Mommy." Five year old Judith Grimes said, looking up at Carol Peletier. The older woman sighed softly and ran her hands over the dark brown curls that framed Judith's face. It would be her sixth story about her late mother, Lori, in just an hour. Frankly, Carol was running out of stories to be able to tell the child. "Please? Just one more, Aunt Carol and I'll take my nap."

Carol looked down at the little girl and she gave in almost immediately when she noticed the girls wide eyes staring up at her pleadingly. "Oh, alright. One more and it's nap time." Carol moved to lie on the bed next to the child, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "What story should I tell you this time?" She murmured. Carol racked through her mind for a story about Lori Grimes, trying to think of one she hadn't told Judith before. Carol left out a breath before she spoke. "How about one just before your birth?" Judith nodded and Carol leaned back against the frame of the bed.

"This story starts with me, your Uncle Daryl.." Carol's voice cracked a moment when she said Daryl's name and her heart ached for the man she once loved. She hadn't seen him in five years now and she didn't even know if he was alive. She choose to believe that he was alive because he was Daryl Dixon and if anyone could survive in this world, it was him. Even with all her faith that he was alive, she didn't stop worrying about him. "Uncle Daryl... And a deer. Now, no one could hunt like Daryl. He was a myth in the woods and he could always come back with something nice. Rabbits or squirrel."

"Ew! You can't eat squirrels!" Judith interrupted and Carol grinned as she looked down at the girl.

"What do you think we had for dinner last night, child?" She teased, touching the tip of Judith's nose with her finger. Judith's face scrunched up and she shuddered, causing Carol to grin like a manic. This was something that she loved, this time with Judith that she got to have. It was something that she hated that Lori or Rick couldn't do with her and it was something that she had missed doing with her own daughter, Sophia. She treasured these moments with Judith, because she knew they could be taken away from her quickly.

Sure Judith, Carol, Tyreese and the group of survivors they had met up with were safe in the small town they had come across but in the apocalypse safe was never a guarantee. If it wasn't the walkers trying to kill you, it was the people. The fences they had up were strong, but Carol knew that didn't mean anything.

"Anyway.." Carol started her story up again, shaking her head. "Now, Daryl always came back with something for us to cook up, but sometimes... Sometimes he would get lucky enough to get a deer and it was glorious. While no one could hunt like Daryl Dixon, no one could cook deer like Daryl. He never showed me how he cooked the deer, but it was always delicious and mouth watering. Your mother, at this time, was almost ready to have you and she was sensitive towards just about everything, especially smells. And there were few smells your mama hated more than she hated the smell of raw meat. So one day, Daryl was cooking in the kitchen and I was watching because... Well, because I loved to watch Daryl in the kitchen.

"Your Mama came in looking for something to tide her over until Daryl was done cooking but she didn't know there was raw meat and the second she walked in, she vomited all over the prepared deer." Judith made a face at her story and Carol couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you think my Daddy's alive?" Judith asked once Carol stopped laughing. The woman looked over at the little girl and wished that question wasn't something that she thought about.

"I do." Carol said to Judith, running her fingers over her hair. "Now, I gave you one last story, it's time for your nap." Carol climbed out of the bed and tucked Judith in tightly, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "Sweet dreams, Jude." Carol said softly and stood to her feet. She left the room and began to walk towards the stop of the stairs, frowning when she noticed a figure walk into the kitchen. She leaned over the banister for a moment, trying to see if she could catch a better glimpse of them. For a second, she figured it had to be Tyreese but she knew she wasn't expecting him back for at least an hour.

Carol turned back around and knelt down before she walked back into Judith's room. "Jude, come here." She said, opening the trunk that sat at the end of her bed. Judith climbed out of the bed, looking up at Carol with terrified eyes. Carol picked up Judith and set her in the trunk. "Lie down. And don't come out unless Uncle Tyreese or I come to get you, understand?" Carol said to the little girl. Judith nodded and lied down on top of the blankets resting on the bottom of the trunk before Carol shut it as much as she could and Judith still be able to breathe.

Carol pulled the pistol that she kept in her boot out first, making sure it was loaded and the safety was off just in case. Still knelt down, Carol left Judith's bedroom and shut the door as much as she could before she started down the stairs. She had to be quiet or she would give her position away to whoever was in her house. If it was someone from their town, they would have made themselves known already.

Who the hell was in her house and how had they gotten into the town? She was sure that the walls had been secure enough to keep strangers out.

After taking a quick sweep of the rest of the rooms on the first floor and making sure that no one else was in here, Carol started towards the kitchen where she had saw the one figure walk into. Hopefully she would be able to protect herself and protect Judith.

Carol leaned against the wall leaning into the kitchen and she focused on the voices. Two, definitely male. Taking two steps over to an end table and opened the drawer slowly to fist out a second gun. If there were two, she needed both guns to be able to overpower them. With both guns in her hand, Carol moved back to the wall and turned her head just slightly to look.

She stilled for a second when she saw a very familiar leather chest with two angel wings on the back of it barely visible by a crossbow slung over the back. Daryl? No, there was no way this was Daryl. Maybe he had died and someone picked up his things. While their backs were still to her, Carol cocked both guns and came out from the hallway. She aimed both pistols at the heads of the two men in her kitchen before she spoke.

"I don't think so." Carol said with a steady voice. Both of the men stopped moving when they heard the voice, neither turning around. "Weapons on the ground. Now."

"I ain't givin' up my weapons to ya, lady." She heard a gruff voice come from the body that she didn't recognize. Carol rolled her eyes and aimed towards the mans calf before pulling the trigger. He cried out in agony and collapsed to the ground on his knees.

"I said weapons on the ground."

Slowly the weapons each men were carrying were on the ground and pushed over to her. Carol tried to ignore the sinking suspicion that it was Daryl Dixon in her kitchen attempting to rob her, but with each passing second that suspicion grew.

Carol kicked the weapons into the hallway and kept her guns trained on each man, taking a step into the kitchen.

"Ya here alone?" The voice that belonged to the man she shot asked.

"My niece is here. Husband's out." Carol didn't exactly have a husband, though it was easier to explain to people that Tyreese was her husband and it seemed to make people trust them better. So she went with it, though she most certainly didn't feel anything like that for Tyreese. "Unless you want to shoot a five year old girl, I would suggest staying where you are."

"Can't exactly move." He grunted towards her and he turned back to look at her. She glanced down at him and stared into the scarred face of an ugly ass man. Carol only broke eye contact to look over at the other guy with him who had now turned his attention towards her.

Carol felt her heart stop when she looked up at the hardened face of Daryl Dixon. Her gun wavered for a second but she kept her aim on him. This was Daryl, yes, but this wasn't her Daryl. This wasn't the man that she had come to love five years ago, that much was obvious to her.

"On the ground, next to your friend." She snapped, nodding to the spot on the floor. Carol had the mantra of 'This is not your Daryl' running through her head as she ordered him to the ground. When he was on the ground, Carol grabbed one of the kitchen chairs and pulled it back to where she was, sitting down on the chair and keeping her guns trained on each man. She only had an hour until Tyreese would be home, or at least she hoped.