Carol sat bolt upright in bed gasping for breath, a sheen of sweat on her forehead. Her heart pounding so hard that it threatened to burst right out of her chest. She swung her legs over the side of the mattress where she and Judith slept. She had moved it to the floor so she wouldn't have to worry about Judith rolling out of bed and hurting herself. She glanced at the little girl sleeping next her to clutching a small stuffed cat to her chest. Carol breathed a sigh of relief she hadn't woken her. She brushed a stray blond hair away from her face. She made a small noise in her sleep and rolled onto her back.

She stood up and pulled on her boots and jacket while she took some calming breaths feeling herself on the verge of a panic attack. The last time she had one was a week ago and it had frightened Judith horribly. After a few minutes her breathing slowed and her heart stopped pounding and returned to a normal level.

She slipped quietly out of the room and made her way towards the kitchen to get breakfast ready for her and Judith. She grabbed the matches from the counter and lit the gas stove. She pulled a down a box of instant oatmeal. That would do. Judith liked oatmeal.

She turned the faucet on in the sink and waited. It took a few minutes for the water to get going good when you first turned it on. It had taken her week of tinkering with and reading plumbing for dummies but she had finally gotten it working. There was no hot water; but once a week she would heat up water on the stove and give Judith a bath. After she had bathed Judith she would take her on bath. The rest of the week they would settle for wash off in the sink.

She moved the pot of water to stove and while she waited for it to heat she opened a can of oranges. That would go good with the oatmeal. She poured the oranges into a bowl and set it on the table. She walked to the front window and moved aside the heavy curtain that she had hung when they first got there.

The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon. She looked at the fence and saw two walkers caught in the spears she had tied the fence; she would have to go out after breakfast and take care of them. To make it more secure she had found some barbed wire and ran it along the length of the metal fence surrounding the fence. It keep walkers out and discouraged any people that might happen by. She had also tied tin cans to the doorknobs on the inside of the house as an alarm. That way she would know if anyone were trying to get in.

She went back to the stove and turned the water off. As she was getting ready to pour it into the oatmeal she heard a noise from the backyard. She sat the pot of water down as quietly as she could and grabbed her gun and stuffed into the waistband of her pants. She picked her machete and quietly as she could, removed the tin cans from the door. She opened the door slowly and looked around the back yard. She made out a dark figure in the corner of the yard, where she kept the snare to catch rabbits and squirrels.

She crept up slowly behind him and pressed the blade to his throat before he had a chance to react.

"Don't fucking move." She snarled doing her best to sound tougher and scarier than she actually did.

The dark figure stiffened for a moment. Then he let out a low chuckle and scoffed.

No fucking way.

She would recognize that laugh anywhere. She lowered the blade slightly but move away from him completely. She had to be sure.

"Daryl?" she croaked in a low whisper. Genuinely afraid that it wasn't him and she had finally lost her mind after months of no one to talk to expect for a one year old whose conversational skills consisted of one or two word sentences.

He slowly turned and kept his hands raised to show her that he wasn't a threat. He smiled when turned around and saw her still pointed the blade at him.

"Damn it's good to you."

AN: Confused? I know, so am I. Got this idea while I was at work. And I just had to come and right it. Not sure where I am going with this but it is going somewhere. I already have the first few chapters planned out.

This will be my first full length story. The chapters will probably be short at first and I don't know how often I will get it updated at least until I get into a rhythm and figure out exactly where I am going with this. But I will try to update this at least once a week. Maybe twice if I get the time when I'm not at work.

Hope you liked the first chapter. Let me know what you think.