Chapter 1

Sierra Lynn Dixon is the much younger sibling of Daryl and Merle. A few months before the outbreak she was out with her brothers at a bar after a long hunt. Needless to say she didn't remember much from that night other than waking up the next morning totally naked on an old disgusting mattress. She just knew what happened by the ache between her legs.

At 30 years old Sierra thought she would never go through this. Terrified she reached for her simple flip phone and noticed that she had several missed calls. She immediately called Daryl.

"Sierra Lynn, where de hell are ya?!" Daryl yelled into his phone.

"Ah….don't know."

"Sierra, what do ya mean ya don' know?" he asked.

"Ah thin Ah was drugged. Ah don 'member leavin' the bar."

" 'right, get dressed an go outside and tell me where ya are." Daryl sounded worried and Sierra knew that if her brother was worried then she knew that he was extremely worried.

Sierra was in tears as she quickly got dressed and left the building without seeing anybody moving about the building. When Sierra got outside is when she realized where in Blue Ridge she was. Last night the siblings were at Blue Ridge Brewery on Depot Street and now she was on Maine and Messer.

"Sierra, where are ya?" Daryl asked.

"The corner of Maine an' Messer. D, get here quick."

"Don' worry Lil' sis, Ah'll be there as soon as Ah can. Ah'll be in my truck."

"Ok, just get here." Sierra hung up and curled up on a bench down the street a bit.

A lot of people in town knew of the Dixons. And for the only sister with her over protective brothers, dating and going out was always hard. This happened when she was with her brothers, she was terrified to learn what would happen if she was with a group of friends or by herself.

Sierra didn't know how long she sat there before she felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see her big brother. Daryl sat down next to her and Sierra dived into his side and started to cry. Daryl, who normally didn't show his emotions, wrapped his arm around his baby sister.

"Shhh…darlin', it's goin' to be a'right now. Sierra, Ah got ta know…." Sierra looked up at him, identical blue eyes meeting each other. "Do ya want to go to the doctor's or police?"

"No, Ah just want to go home." Daryl nodded and they went to the truck. Sierra climbed into the passenger side and they drove home in silence.

Two Months Later

Sierra put that night before her, hoping to eventually totally forget about it all together. That is until one morning about two months later. She woke up and instantly needed to throw up. Sierra dashed into the one and only bathroom in the little cabin she shared with her brothers and threw up everything she had in her stomach.

"Sierra?" a quiet gruff voice asked. Sierra looked up, still feeling green, to see Daryl standing in the doorway. Sierra groaned and continued to heave into the porcelain throne.

Daryl knelt behind her and rubbed her back. He knelt behind her for a good ten minutes when another set of footsteps walked into the bathroom.

"What do we have here? A party in the jon?" Merle asked sarcastically.

"Shut up, Merle." Sierra groaned.

"Is she okay?" he directed his question to his brother.

"Ah just found her like this." Daryl said quietly. Sierra reached up and flushed the toilet and leaned back against Daryl.

"Ah wasn' here long." She said as she wiped her mouth on the nearest towel. Daryl put a hand on her forehead.

"Ya don' feel warm."

"Let's get ya off that floor. Find ya somethin' to eat." Merle said. Sierra nodded and Daryl helped her up.

Merle was in the kitchen and was making oatmeal. It was always what they ate when their stomachs were upset. Sierra sat down at their measly table and Daryl got her a glass of water. Merle was still busy in the kitchen when Daryl sat down beside her with the glass of water.

"Is it possible for ya to be pregnant?" he whispered remembering the night she was drugged. Sierra looked at her brother with wide blue eyes.

"Ta be honest, probably. Ah don' remember much other than waking up naked in dat room. And Ah haven' had a period in a while." Sierra responded in a soft whisper.

"Okay now, what are my baby siblings whisperin' about over here?" Merle asked as he placed the bowls in front of them. Sierra looked from Daryl to Merle trying to decide what to do.

"Merle, do ya remember when all of us went drinking two months ago?" Merle nodded slightly in remembrance. "Ah don' remember much after ya and Daryl went to play pool. All Ah know is that Ah woke up the next morning naked in some dingy motel room." Merle was quiet as he took in this information but Sierra knew that he was pissed.

"You're telling me that ya were drugged and raped?" he asked, rage was evident in his voice.

"Yeah, and Ah think that Ah might be pregnant."

"Are ya sure?"

"Ah missed my period, and Ah'm nauseous on top of everythin' else."

"First thing's first, take the test and we'll decide from there. Eat up, the oatmeal should be okay or yer stomach." Merle got up and kissed her forehead and left the house.

"Why do Ah have a feelin' that he is going to do somethin' stupid?" Sierra asked as she took a small bite of oatmeal.

"Because it's Merle." Daryl answered shrugging his shoulders. "What are ya going' ta do if ya are pregnant?"

"Ah don't know, but Ah know that Ah can't kill it."

"Ah knew that ya would say that. Do ya want me to go and get a test fer ya."

"Nah, Ah can go get it. After Ah eat, do ya mind if Ah borrow yer truck?" Daryl smiled and handed me the keys.

"Ya I trust, Merle not so much." Sierra laughed as they both ate in a comfortable silence.

Sierra ate slowly, careful not to trigger another bout of nausea on her already nauseous stomach. Thankfully it didn't, but she couldn't eat a lot of it anyway, even with Daryl glaring at her when she got up.

"Ah don' wan' ta chance it." Sierra said. Daryl conceded and let her go out and get what she needed.

After Sierra go ready for the day, putting on a pair of blue jeans and a red tank top with a flannel button down over it. Sierra climbed into the old pick-up to go down to the pharmacy in town. This is the one thing that was really going to not be fun. Since Blue Ridge was a small town there was no doubt that within the next couple of hours everyone was going to know that Sierra Dixon bought a pregnancy test.

Once she bought the test, along with a few items she thought the family might need, like soap, she went back home, trying to get the clerk's reaction out of her mind. As she traveled her mind was in a haze and by the time she got home Merle still wasn't home.

"Ah got some stuff fer ya, too." Sierra said as she walked into the cabin.

"So, are ya goin' to take it now?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah, Ah probably should. Ah got ya a Reese's." Sierra said tossing the bright orange package to her brother. She then grabbed the box in the bag and just looked at it.

"Whatever it say's, Ah'll always stay by ya, no matter what." Daryl said. Sierra nodded and walked into the bathroom.

Sierra stared at the little test waiting. It was the longest fifteen minutes of her life. Then finally it changed, and there in the window was a little pink plus sign.

"Shit." She said.

"Erra? Is everything okay?" Daryl asked. Sierra walked out of the bathroom.

"It's positive." She whispered. Daryl just nodded and led his little sister to the living room. He sat down next to her but in a way that he could face her.

"Ah know ya don' want an abortion, but ya need to start seeing a doctor."

"Ah know, Ah'm scared, D." Daryl wrapped his arms around her in support.

"Ah know ya are, but yer not doin' this alone." Sierra smiled as he kissed the top of her head.

Merle didn't come home until sometime later, after Sierra had sat an appointment with an obstetrician at a woman's clinic in town. Daryl was cooking dinner since it was his turn and Sierra was sitting in the living room tweaking with the strength of her compound bow. Merle grabbed a beer from the fridge and sat down next to her.

"We're goin' to have ta stock the fridge with somethin' other than beer." She said as he popped the lid on the bottle.

"It was positive then?" he asked.

"Yeah, Ah've already got a doctor's appointment scheduled next week."

"Good."

"Merle, where were ya today?" Merle took a long drag of beer before he answered.

"Tried to get answers from the bar." he answered after a while.

"And?" Daryl asked leaning against the counter as he drank a beer while dinner was cooking.

"Brandon didn' tell me a lot, but he was able to pull up the footage from tha' nigh'. The guy didn' look familiar, probably passin' through."

Daryl and Sierra were quiet as they took in the information that their older brother gave them. Dinner was a quiet affair, even for them. Sierra, again, wasn't able to eat much, due to her morning sickness. Sierra probably looked green because Merle began laughing.

"C'mon, darlin', can't handle a bit of squirrel meat?" he asked. Sierra glared at him as she jumped up and ran to the bathroom as her stomach revolted at the smell of cooked squirrel.

"Guess we'll have ta be careful of what meat to get." Daryl said.

"We'll manage, little brother. Do ya 'member when Mama was pregnant with Erra?" Daryl shrugged, "She got sick a lot with Erra and with ya. It'll be just like that, we'll keep track of what she can handle and not."

"We'll have ta cut out huntin' trips down. Ah don' want her ta be alone." Daryl said gruffly.

"Didn' Ah just say we'll take care of her. If it means we take turns huntin', we'll do that."

"Careful now, Merle. People might say that ya are gettin' soft." Sierra said with a smile.

"Only for ya baby sister." Sierra chuckled and dug into the potatoes.

"Ah don' know why it's called mornin' sickness when it lasts all day." She groaned.

"Are those taters sittin' alrigh'?" Daryl asked.

"Yeah, at least." Sierra didn't think they would since they were fried.

"Squirrel is no and fried taters is yes." Daryl said. He stood up to go and find a pad of paper and a pen.

"What's he on about now?" she asked in between bites.

"We're makin' a list of food you can and can't handle." Merle said as he took a swig of his beer. Sierra had tears prick at the corner of her eyes.

"My brothers are so sweet."

"And she's hormonal. Oh shit, Erra's temper is goin' ta be twice as bad now." Merle said with wide eyes.

"Oh shit," Daryl muttered as he pinned the list on the fridge.

"Ah'm not that bad." She huffed as she crossed her arms, pouting a bit.

"Yeah, ya are." Her brothers said in unison. All three of them laughed until Sierra couldn't breathe. Once they calmed down Merle was talked into cleaning the kitchen and Sierra went to bed.

The next week flew by fast and the day of Sierra's first appointment came. Merle and Daryl decided that they were both going to come with her the first time. When they told their sister she felt relieved that she wasn't going to be alone. There wasn't one in town but the closest one was thirty minutes south of Blue Ridge.

The ride there seemed to take forever. Neither of her brothers were allowed to smoke, as she got sick at the smell and second hand smoke was bad for the baby. Sierra had to quit herself but it wasn't affecting her as much as she turned to mints and gum to help her.

"What is there's something wrong?" Sierra asked as they parked the truck in the parking lot.

"Don' you worry about it, Erra. Worrin' is bad for the baby." Merle said.

"Now, let's get in there so we can see our little niece or nephew." Daryl said.

"Ya guys do realize Ah might have ta get partially naked, right?"

"We'll be fine Erra, we'll be there ta see this baby with ya."

They walked into the small clinic, there were only a couple of other couples each in various stages of pregnancies. Daryl and Merle sat down as Sierra went to check in. The couples were giving them weird looks as they probably thought that her brothers were something different to her. It didn't take long before a brunette woman called her back.

"Is it okay if my brothers are in the room with me?" Sierra asked the nurse.

"Of course, support of family is very important during pregnancy. I'm Amber, I'll be your nurse, alright Miss Dixon, let's get started with the basics." Amber said.

Sierra was led to a room where her height, weight, blood pressure and temperature was taken. She was also asked a bunch of questions, like when her last period was, the last time she had sex and when a positive pregnancy test occurred. After Amber recorded everything she was led into another room.

"Alright, there a couple of different methods of doing an ultrasound. One way is on the outside on your abdomen and the second is transvaginal. This early the best is the second option and it's a bit better as it doesn't require for you to have a full bladder and you can see your baby better."

"It doesn't hurt, does it?"

"No, I'm told that it's painless, most you can feel is a bit of pressure."

"As long as its another woman doin' it." Merle said. Daryl elbowed him and Sierra rolled her eyes.

"Don't you worry, Mr. Dixon. Your sister will have another woman doing the procedure, Dr. Theresa Johnson. Now, is the father in the picture?"

The siblings froze at the question. Amber noticed the reaction an immediately feared the worst. Amber put down her clip board and looked at Sierra.

"Did something happen with the father?" she asked kindly. Sierra took a deep breath before looking at the kind nurse.

"Ah was raped." Sierra whispered.

"Alright, we can talk about options then."

"Ah can't kill it. Ah don't know what Ah want at the moment."

"Listen, Nurse Amber, we already failed at protection our baby sister once, my brother and Ah have decided that we will stand by her at whateva decision she'll make." Daryl said.

"Good, you don't have to decide right now, you still have time. Now, I'm going to go get the doctor. Sierra, if you could take off your jeans and underwear we can get started as soon as Dr. Johnson comes in. While you're waiting you can cover up with this blanket." Amber left the room leaving the siblings alone. Sierra turned to her brothers as soon as the door closed.

"Daryl, Merle, Ah love ya both but Ah'm not getting' undressed with ya in the room." Sierra said.

"Right." Merle mumbled. Her brothers got up and left the room.

Sierra undressed and got back in the bed with the blanket covering her back up. She called to her brothers and they walked back in and sat down feeling very awkward. Sierra couldn't help but giggle at them.

"What are ya laughin' at?" Merle asked.

"Ya both look so uncomfortable." She giggled.

"Laugh it up, Erra. Can' wait ta see yer face when ya change the first diaper." Merle sneered.

"That is if Ah keep it." Sierra whispered.

"Ah know baby girl, Ah know." Merle kissed her forehead and Daryl squeezed her hand.

There was a knock on the door and a woman with bright red hair and pale skin walked in. She also wheeled in a machine with her. She smiled at the Dixon siblings before closing the door behind her.

"Hello, Miss Dixon, I'm Dr. Theresa Johnson."

"Hi," Sierra said. So far the doctor was really friendly.

"Is this your first time?" Dr. Johnson asked as she set up the machine.

"Yeah, Ah wasn' really expectin' it." Merle scoffed and both Sierra and Daryl slapped him. "Be nice." Sierra said.

"Siblings, right?"

"That obvious, huh?"

"You all have the same eyes, as well as the same smirk." The three siblings smirked and the doctor just smiled.

"The nurse said that the transvaginal one doesn't hurt, it doesn't right." Sierra asked the doctor as she powered up the machine.

"Not at all, I've had it done myself. Now, I need you to relax. It'll feel a bit odd at first, but I promise the most you will feel is some pressure." Sierra nodded as she watched the doctor gel up the wand. "Are you ready to see your baby?"

All three siblings nodded in anticipation. Dr. Johnson smiled and inserted the wand. The doctor was right, it didn't hurt but it did feel odd. They looked over at the screen, it was black and white and there were a couple of blobs on the screen.

"Interesting." The doctor said.

"What's interesting?" Sierra asked as she switched her gaze to the doctor.

"It looks like you're carrying twins."

"But twins don' run in the family." Sierra said as she looked at her brothers for confirmation.

"Actually, ya were a twin at first, she died still in the womb and Mama was a twin. Aunt Lynn died in a car accident about 32 years ago." Merle said.

"We thought ya knew." Daryl said.

"Well damn, anyhin' else Ah should know about?" she asked.

"Nope, that's about it." Merle said. Sierra turned back to the doctor.

"Are they identical?" she asked.

"No, it looks like different sacs. So it'll be fraternal twins." Johnson said. Sierra nodded and looked back at her brothers.

"Don' ya worry none, Erra. We'll be here her ya with whateva ya need." Merle said.

"Yeah, ya need ta concentrate on those two. Let us worry abou' everythin' else." Daryl said.

"Well, it looks like that you have plenty of support. Now, I know your situation is a little difficult so can talk about your options."

"Ah want them, after seeing them Ah want to keep them. They're Dixon's we protect our own." Sierra said

"That's righ'." Merle said with a smile.

"Okay, well everything looks okay. You look to be about 9 and a half weeks. Your estimate due date is September 10, but could very well deliver early. Most mothers of twins have them early."

"All righ', should Ah avoid things?"

"Yes, smoking and drinking and you'll learn what does and doesn't trigger the morning sickness."

"She quit cold turkey. And we're making a list of foods she can and can't handle." Merle said.

"Ah got a question." Dr. Johnson looked over at Daryl. "We hunt most of our meat, is that okay for her to eat?"

"Yes, most people think it might be a bit better for you."

"Just no squirrel, at least for a while." Sierra said with a smile.

"Alright, let me print his out and you guys will be free to go." Dr. Johnson said. She printed out the picture and her and Daryl and Merle walked out so Sierra could get dressed again.

Both Merle and Daryl were leaning against the wall waiting as she got dressed again. Getting her pants back on again was not fun. She was having problems buttoning them.

"God dammit." She cursed as she finally buttoned them.

"Erra, everythin' okay?" Merle asked. Sierra walked out and glared at him.

"Ah have to go and buy more clothes, my pants wouldn' button. It was like that this mornin', Ah thought Ah was just bloated." Sierra said.

"Don' ya worry none, we'll head to the store and get ya a couple of pairs of jeans and a few shirts." Merle said. Sierra nodded and they left the office to head to the store and then home.

***Two Months Later***

Sierra was now about 17 weeks pregnant and her stomach already looked about 6 months. She was at work when the first reports came in. Her co-worker/friend Lauren was sitting next to her watching the TV. Sierra worked at the attendance office at the local high school. It was almost the end of the day and an emergency broadcast came on the TV.

"This is not a drill, everyone needs to evacuate any small town and head to the refugee center in Atlanta. Whatever you do, do not get bitten or scratched by the infected. You will turn into them. I repeat…" the front door burst open and Daryl and Merle were walking into the school and several students and staff were rushing to the exits.

"C'mon, 'Erra, we gotta go." Daryl said. Sierra nodded and they left the school. Their stuff was already packed, even the stuff for the twins, as well as Merle's bike and several packs full of food and weapons.

"Are we goin' to Atlanta?" she asked as she climbed into the truck.

"Yeah, fer ya and the twins." Daryl said.

"But everyone is headin' there, whateva this is Atlanta won' be safe fer long." Sierra said.

"She may be right, little brother, but we don' have any otha option at the moment." Merle muttered as they drove south towards Atlanta.

Sierra fell asleep almost halfway there with her head on Merle's shoulder. The ride was quiet except for Sierra's soft snoring filling the cabin of the truck. Sierra was spread out in the middle, her feet in Daryl's lap and her head on Merle's shoulder.

"Ah can' imagine what's goin' through her mind right now." Daryl said sometime later.

"Ah don' think this is goin' ta light up anytime soon. This is goin' ta be tough fer her." Merle said.

"We got her back. We'll make sure that all three will be okay." Daryl said as they drove south, both sides of the highway full of people heading south. Daryl and Merle glanced at each and they fell silent.