Hi all, and welcome! A few quick notes before we get into the story:

Some situations will look very similar to the TV show, while others will diverge drastically due to Sasha's existence.

One of the biggest changes I will be making is that everyone is not automatically infected with the disease. [I promise I will make up for this, give this story a chance even if it puts you off :) ] I know this is a big change, but I just feel as though it makes sense if I want to have any sort of happy ending for this story (otherwise eventually the human population will be wiped out, as it seems there is no chance for a cure to be found. Imagine, even if you live to an old age, what if you die in your sleep and reanimate to kill your family? This is why I am making this change)

This is a Daryl/OC story. Other pairings will be mentioned, but the story will mostly focus on them.

This will be a fairly slow story. These two won't be getting together right away – I like to draw it out a bit : )

I am currently in school and working full-time, so I can't promise weekly updates, but I hope to update at least twice a month! Hopefully more!

Finally, this story is rated M for a reason. There will be mentions of difficult topics, swearing, drugs/alcohol, sex, etc. Please do not proceed if any of these make you uncomfortable.

I hope you enjoy, and please feel free to offer suggestions of what you would like to see, as well as critiques of my writing/story! I am not that great at typing out Daryl's accent, so I apologize in advance and any suggestions would be great!

Sasha made her way soundlessly across the tiled floors, her eyes seeking out any treasures that might be hidden among the dark shelves. The tattered, grey bag on her back was still far too empty – it only held a few bars of soap, toothpaste, and bottles of aspirin, plus the water bottle and granola bars she'd brought with her. The thrill she got when she knew she'd found something good, something really useful, hadn't hit her yet.

She and Glenn had come looking for batteries for the flashlights and any sort of medical supplies, perhaps even some bandages or peroxide. It wasn't easy, living up in the woods, and there had been a few times where they had made due with cut up clothing in place of gauze.

Glenn hadn't wanted to risk going into the city today. It was exceptionally hot and humid, and he feared this would make their scent stand out to the walkers more than usual. Instead, they had journeyed out to a small town just outside Atlanta, about ten miles away from their camp. They hadn't seen a single walker yet, but the small pharmacy, which probably hadn't had much stock to begin with, had already been raided. Still, Sasha knew the women would at least be happy for the soap.

She glanced down an aisle, only to see her best friend sprawled out on the floor, halfway concealed underneath one of the displays. Most concerning was the sight of his beloved baseball cap strewn on the floor next to him. For a moment, Sasha's heart stopped as a million thoughts raced through her head: he had been attacked, he had spotted a walker and hidden, he'd passed out because he'd seen a naked woman for the first time. She let out a sigh of relief when Glenn shimmied out from the display and raised his hands triumphantly over his head, holding a large pack of AA batteries that must have fallen to the ground.

She stuck her tongue between her teeth in amusement when he gently placed the white hat back over his dark hair. Moving along, she happily grabbed a few books that appeared undisturbed, as well as some comics, coloring books, and crayons that she knew the younger children would be happy to have. For good measure, she also picked up a few new notebooks and pencils, as she knew the moms were making some sort of attempt at homeschooling.

Finally, Sasha made her way to the front register, hoping that there would be something behind the counter. She found a locked cabinet, and with some finangling and the hairpin she kept tucked in her pocket for these moments, she managed to jimmy it open.

"Sweet." She hummed, lifting up what looked like an unopened first aid kit. Glenn was already waiting at the counter as she stood, tucking a pack of gum into his back pocket. Inside the kit, there were a few different packs of various bandages, some creams and antiseptic wipes, and a few of those little packs of pain medicine.

"Nice find Sash." Glenn nodded as she placed the kit into her bag. She allowed herself a small smile, before frowning and turning around to eye the wall of cigarettes behind her. There wasn't a lot left, and she couldn't help but feel as though today had been a disappointment.

"Wish we'd found some more heavy duty stuff though. The pharmacy was cleared out. Was there just the one pack of batteries?" Glenn didn't answer her, instead warily eyeing the couple packs of Marlboros in her hand.

"Oh come on Glenn, you know they aren't for me." Sasha argued, ignoring the slight huff that escaped his lips. He knew they weren't for her – that was the problem.

"Yeah, but, I just wish you wouldn't placate them like that. It's bad enough with the…comments Merle makes to you, but I just don't get why you feel the need to try to make them comfortable. They isolate themselves." Sasha waited patiently until he was done, knowing that Glenn was bound to talk in circles.

She'd known Glenn for about four years before this whole thing had gone down – they'd been in college together and met at orientation, two northerners swimming in a sea of sweet and slow southern accents. It figured that the world would end just after they'd graduated. Glenn had just gotten a job offer from a company downtown, and was going to quit his pizza delivery job. Sasha thought maybe that would haunt him for the rest of his life. He was a good guy, and smart too. She probably wouldn't be alive if it weren't for Glenn.

When things had started getting bad, it had been Glenn who suggested they get out of the city. They were lucky – they hadn't been able to afford a nice apartment near downtown and instead lived right on the outskirts. They'd just made it out when the military had unleashed the napalms, which it turned out was possibly one of the dumbest things they could've done. Now that they knew you could only kill the walkers with a shot to the brain, all of their previous mistakes seemed silly. Thankfully, they'd run into Dale, Amy, and Andrea on the road after a few days, and eventually found their way to the others.

"Look, I know Merle is an asshole, but he and Daryl do a lot for the camp. Who knows where we'd be without the food they bring in. I don't see the harm in doing something nice for them, no one else ever seems to thank them. Plus, haven't you noticed? Merle hardly says anything nasty to me anymore." Glenn let out another deep breath, drumming his fingers aggressively against the counter.

"You were always too nice for your own good. Just, you'd let me know if Merle ever, you know, tried something?" She rolled her eyes at him as they made their way to the front of the store, peeking outside to check for danger, and Glenn decided to let it drop, for now.

He knew her too well – she might take his words as a challenge to prove that the Dixon men were decent people, and start hanging around them more than she already did. Maybe it was true that Merle had seemed to stop bothering her, but Glenn didn't believe that made much of a difference. Merle was still a prick, and Daryl, well, Glenn just didn't trust someone who was related to Merle. He didn't think Sasha realized how it was, she'd always been kind of oblivious when it came to how men looked at her. Glenn couldn't remember a time when she'd even had a date.

With her long dark blonde hair, green eyes, and full lips, Sasha was the kind of girl that was so pretty as to be scary, at least to many of the guys that had been on campus. She was quiet and smart and beautiful, the type of girl who didn't give flirtatious smiles or hair flips, and was ignored by most of the male population in fear of rejection. But to someone like Merle Dixon, who had no fear and nothing to lose anymore, Glenn was worried she'd look like easy prey. That was part of the reason he'd allowed her to come with him on these runs in the first place – the geeks weren't the always the scariest part of this new world.

"Come on Glenn, let's get going. Shane will lose his shit if we get back late." They cautiously pushed open the door and made a run for the car.

They returned to the camp a few hours before dark, presenting their meager findings to the appreciative group. The women exclaimed over the soap and toothpaste, and Dale tucked the first aid kit and batteries into the RV. He was almost equally happy to add a few new books as well, even if many of them were cheesy romance or detective novels. The smiles the children gave her at the sight of the things she'd grabbed for them, mainly Carl, whom she'd grown especially fond of, were enough to make the run worth it to Sasha. Still, looking around at the camp, she couldn't help but feeling like they'd have to move on soon.

Supplies were getting harder to come by as the city became more and more dangerous. Hell, it seemed like the walkers had started to move together throughout Atlanta, and it had scared her the last time she and Glenn had gone on a run. Sasha would like to move on, find somewhere safer and less out in the open. She wanted someplace with walls, somewhere she could be up high above the ground. She felt like that girl in the second Jurrasic Park movie who wanted to be up high in the trees.

When she got to her tent, her eyes found Daryl sitting in front of his own, where he was sitting on a fallen log and meticulously cleaning his arrows. His giant crossbow was propped up next to him, and he wore a grey tank top, jeans, and boots.

She was grateful that Merle didn't seem to be around. No matter what she claimed to Glenn, some of the stuff he said did grind her gears, even if he was inexplicably getting better. Plus, Daryl was easier to deal with on his own. She walked over to him, knowing that just because his eyes didn't rise up to look at her didn't mean he didn't know she was there. She was pretty sure that Daryl saw everything that went on in the camp.

"I got these for you and Merle. There wasn't much to choose from, but I thought it was better than nothing." His eyes finally lifted, first to eye the cigarettes she held out, and then to gaze at her. Daryl wasn't sure why Sasha, of all the people in the camp, tried so hard to be friendly with him and his brother. It was unnerving to someone who hadn't had any friends in his life, let alone friends that looked the way she did, to suddenly have someone thank him. And then, the first time she'd brought him cigarettes, well that had almost too much to take when he'd realized it meant she'd been thinking about him on her run, about what he might like to have.

At first, he hadn't worried about it, sure that Merle's obnoxious personality would scare her off soon enough. Only it hadn't. Sure, the girl blushed at a lot of the indecent comments Merle made, but she stood her ground. Merle seemed to like that Sasha didn't care what he said, and had grudgingly gained a little respect for her. Now, Daryl was at a loss with how to act around her, but had decided to just let things play out. He was sure that eventually she'd get sick of the Dixons.

"Ya didn't have ta do tha'." He grumbled, but he took the pack, which was as good as him saying thank you. Sasha hesitated a moment longer, before sitting on the log next to him, careful to keep a good amount of distance between the two of them. Daryl wasn't exactly a people person.

She shrugged out of her green jacket, nearly groaning at the feeling of the cooler mountain air hitting her sweaty arms. It was far too hot to wear sleeves, but she always kept her arms and legs covered on runs. It was better protection from teeth than nothing. Daryl pretended not to watch as Sasha pulled a small knife out from her jacket pocket, wondering how such a small creature was able to protect herself. She was seemingly inspecting the knife and frowning to herself.

"Will you teach me?" Her voice, soft and sweet, hit Daryl by surprise. He glanced up to find her watching him, and he just stared, waiting for her to explain. The way his icy blue eyes scrutinized her sent a shiver down her spine – she'd never want to be on his bad side, that's for sure.

"I just, I don't really know how to hunt or defend myself very well. And I know, you uh, I've seen you throwing knives and obviously you can hunt, so I thought maybe you could teach me." She stammered, wondering what had possessed her to ask him this. He'd probably just laugh at her, or tell her to fuck off. Before he could even think about answering, a booming, maniacal sort of voice washed over them,

"Whooee, well whadda we got here? Ya keepin' my baby brother company, are ya girlie?" Merle was standing above them, swigging down a bottle from a brown bag. His face was covered in dirt and his white tank top had dark, dried spots that looked suspiciously like blood, which Sasha decided not to comment on.

"I thought Daryl might appreciate having someone to talk to other than his big, dumb redneck brother." Sasha opined bravely, her eyes careful to not leave Merle's face. Daryl stilled, watching his brother from the corner of his eye. Merle glowered at Sasha for almost a full minute, waiting for her to break. When she didn't, he smirked and let out a gruff chuckle,

"Mhmm, I'll bet you was. Yer a right site better lookin' than ole Merle here, sure little Darleena was mor'n happy to keep ya company." Sasha flushed a little at his insuniation, but knew better than to get defensive. She had learned quickly how to deal with Merle. She got up from the log, slapping the other pack of Marlboros to Merle's chest a little harder than necessary. He grunted.

"You're welcome." She sang, not looking at Daryl. He hadn't answered her, simply going back to his arrows. She didn't expect him to reply with Merle around. She could only hope that he would think about it. She left them then, heading back over to her tent to change out of her sweaty clothes.

"Ya gonna help her out?" Merle had taken her place, picking out a cigarette from the pack and lighting it. His eyes screwed up at the taste; he'd always preferred stronger, hand-rolled smokes. Daryl grumbled, wishing Merle hadn't heard her request. He honestly didn't know.

In the past, he would've immediately blown her off. He didn't care much for other people, preferring to stick to himself. He barely tolerated his own brother. She would only slow him down if he took her hunting. But still, the thought of her up against a walker, armed with just that little knife, troubled him in ways he couldn't explain.

"Ya oughta help her." Merle grunted, and Daryl was shocked that his brother had come to like the girl that much, until he cackled, "Hell, maybe it'll getcha laid." Daryl let out a noise somewhere between a snort and a hiss, ignoring Merle's continued snickers. He stood, slinging his crossbow over his shoulder, and his eyes unconsciously squinted in the direction of Sasha's tent. He stalked into his own tent, his voice gruff as he responded,

"Just shut yer mouth. Idiot."

Thanks so much for reading! Please leave a review, I love reading your thoughts!