Author's Note: Hey, y'all! Okay, I'm taking it way back to season two, right after they left the CDC. My goal for this story is to stick as close to the show as possible, with minor changes, while showing a romantic relationship between Daryl and Carol. Like a lot of you, I was hoping that Daryl and Carol would get together in season two, but obviously that didn't happen! So, in this story, I'm making it happen. I've always wondered how they would have handled Woodbury, Terminus, and Alexandria as a couple. So, I hope y'all enjoy! And please excuse any spelling or grammar errors. Also, as I'm sure you all know, I own nothing of The Walking Dead. Enjoy!

Daryl Dixon was an odd man. Carol Peletier supposed she had no real reason to call him odd; she'd never said more than five words to him, but there was just something about him.

Like now, for example. He was staring daggers in her direction as she helped her daughter Sophia. Sophia noticed it too, her body flinching under his intense gaze.

"Momma, why does he always look so mad?" Sophia asked.

Carol gave him a look right back, as if to say, "What's your problem?"

"I don't know. Let's finish putting the rest of our things away and get ready to go.

After about an hour of being on the road, they ran into a problem. The highway was littered with abandoned and wrecked cars. Trash and long-forgotten items were all over the road and grass. It seemed impossible for their vehicles to be able to get through it all.

They heard a loud popping sound, followed by the whoosh of released air, and the RV came to a sudden stop in front of them. They all got out of the vehicles, headed toward the RV to see what had happened.

She could hear Dale complaining as they approached. Apparently, the RV was in need of a new radiator hose. Luckily for them, there were plenty of cars around to steal one from.

Daryl began to rummage through the back of a car. T-Dog wanted to siphon fuel. Carol mentioned finding some water. Her throat felt desert dry. Lori was against them taking from the dead, but even she couldn't deny that they needed certain things.

Pretty soon, they were all mingling through the cars, looking for things that could be of use to them. Carol followed Lori, with Carl and Sophia trailing behind her. They looked in car windows, trying to find anything they might need. When Carol looked into a vehicle that still had passengers, her nose crinkled up in disgust.

"Kids don't look," she advised them, knowing damn well that they would look anyway.

After awhile, they found a couple cars with trunks loaded with clothes and supplies. Lori took one car, and Carol took the other. One of the first things she found was a beautiful red top made of light, soft material. She smiled. She loved red. It was one of her favorite colors.

She caught Lori staring at her inquisitively.

"Ed never let me wear nice things like this," Carol said, putting the shirt back down. She hated admitting that out loud to someone else. It was embarrassing to tell someone else that you were never allowed to pick out your own clothes.

Lori only nodded.

"We need clothes," Carol stated, walking over to help Lori. The women set to picking through more clothes.

"Hey, Carl? Always within my sight," Lori told Carl.

"You too, Sophia," Carol added.

The women had just finished gathering clothes when they saw Rick, Lori's husband, running toward them, a panicked look on his face. He motioned for them to get under the vehicles.

In a panic, Carol made a move to go grab her daughter, who was standing several feet away with Carl, but Lori grabbed her, placing a hand over her mouth so she wouldn't scream and forcing her under the vehicle. She watched helplessly as her daughter got underneath a different car, far away from Carol.

Walkers. An entire herd of them. They shuffled past, growling and grunting. Carol kept her eyes on her daughter, praying that one of those things wouldn't find her and grab her out from underneath that car.

They waited. Waited for what felt like eternity but was actually probably only a few minutes. Then everything went quiet. There were no more walkers shuffling by. No more growling and grunting. They were safe.

Sophia eased out from under the car. Another walker appeared, and Sophia started freaking out. She pushed herself back underneath the car, but it was too late. The walker had already fallen to the ground and was reaching for her.

Carol tried to scream, but it was muffled by Lori's hand clamped around her mouth. She made a move to go help her, but Lori held her still. Her world was crashing down. She had to get away, had to go save her daughter.

Sophia stood up and took off towards the woods. Rick followed behind her. Carol wept, having no idea that was the last time she would ever see her daughter alive.

Author's Note: This chapter was slow, I know, but stay with me! If you liked it, please leave a review or follow or favorite! Thanks!