(I do not own The Walking Dead, and I never will. This will be the only time I'm saying it. This story follows canon mostly, if you enjoy fanfics were it's like the OCs are dropped in and they're along for the ride, than this is for you. This will also most likely be the slowest Daryl/OC slow burn ever. Prepare yourself for a strong friendship before anything romantic.)

Revised as of 2/1/19

Toby: Dylan Kingwell

Mason: Gaten Matarazzo

Nye: Sarah Bolger

When the world was normal.

Yeah, that was a phrase she thought of a lot, like right then, as she was bleeding out on the cold unforgiving ground. She wondered what she would be doing right then if the dead had never gotten back up. Would she still be delivering babies, and raising two kids she adored, or would child services have taken them away, seeing an immature twenty four year old not the right person to watch over them. And another upsetting thought hit her…she would have probably never met him.

Even through the cloud of excruciating pain she was in, she still couldn't help but be glad it happened. In a sick way the apocalypse gave her a better life than her past one. Hell, it gave her and her boys an actual family.

Her eyelids slid closed and a melancholy smile slowly grew on her face. At least she made it as far as she did.

Sorry boys… Sorry Daryl.

…(Twelve days before the outbreak)…

I swear to god I'm gonna kill those boys.

She silently snarled as she juggled holding seven bags of groceries and trying to open the apartment door in front of her at the same time. If only the two gremlins would actually help for once she would already be inside.

She blew a strand of hazel hair that had escaped her ponytail out of her face, proceeding to finally get the key in the hole and turn it. The sight she was met with when she entered didn't surprise her in the slightest.

Two boys the ages of eleven and ten were seated on the leather sofa in the middle of the room, the older having curly brown hair and missing his two top front teeth from a hockey accident in the past, the younger with shorter, darker hair and a smattering of freckles, both were in the midst of an intense game of Halo. She let out a sigh as she trudged her way into the kitchen to put away the goods.

"Hey Nye." The boys both said at the same time, and in the same monotone voice. Nye looked up at the two in exasperation and continued putting things away.

The older suddenly jumped up off the couch yelling "Yes! Take that, asshole!"

Nye whipped around "Mason! what did I say about swearing?"

Mason stopped jumping on the couch and turned to face her, leaning over the back of it as the other boy covered him in the game "I was talking to a different player, not Toby." He cleared up.

Nye nodded slowly, smiling softly in fond exasperation.

"Oh, well in that case have at it." Upon hearing her words he turned back, already lost in the game once more. She snorted as they both started yelling nonsense and franticly pushed buttons as an intense battle seemed to start.

"What do you boys want for dinner?" She asked over her shoulder, and "PIZZA!" was shouted right back at her, which she was grateful for after the day she had.

…

"Hey Nye, Mister Owen needs more morphine, poor guy's saying he's gonna keel over" Nye's fellow nurse told her, causing her to sigh. So far she had to deal with one eighty something year old women and her "Business". One little girl with some pretty nasty bruises, that she still didn't believe came from wiping out on a bike, and sixteen total flu patients, Mister Owen being one of them.

The hospital was in such need of more hands on deck, that they had resorted to recruiting some of the OB nurses. Nye included.

She made her way down to his room and her green eyes roved over the deathly pale middle aged man wearing thin framed glasses, and a bushy greying mustache. He was one of her better patients in terms of cooperation, and Nye liked him for his sense of humor, as it was the same immature and morbid kind she usually employed.

"Hello there Bruce, how you feeling?" She asked in an obviously faux chipper voice, knowing he'd rather that than a soothing one.

"About as good as I loo-" His sentence was interrupted by a violent coughing fit, and to Nye's horror, as he pulled his hand away it was revealed to be drenched in blood.

They both stood in silence, not sure what was happening and why it seemed to be effecting people at random.

"Well-" He cleared his voice, trying to hide the waver in it. "That's not a good sign, is it." He said in a way that it was stated as more of a fact than a question, and sadly, as the day went on, he, and the rest of the flu patients only continued to get worse.

…

Time went by and nothing major seemed to happen for days, excluding all of her patients had succumbed to whatever the hell was going around, and the bodies immediately being taken away by higher ups, who to Nye looked oddly like military officials.

And after that… something happened, and it hit hard.

"There have been nineteen more reports of attacks in the last few hours-"

'Click'

"I'm telling you it's the government man-"

'Click'

"Lock your doors, stock up on food and water-"

'Click'

"I know what I saw! He was eating a damn dog, when it was still alive-"

'Click.'

It was like all of a sudden everyone started noticing that something was happening, something huge. More and more patients came in, only not just for this new flu, but for vicious scratches and bite marks as well, and Nye, who had watched pretty much every survival documentary out there, got some serious "End days" vibes. So when a couple days before, Mason and Toby had come home from school and told her about a classmate who had this new flu, that was all it took before she was making them stay home. After that, the news became their most viewed channel. Yet, when the time came… They still weren't ready.

…

It happened in August, 2010.

The end of the world.

…

"Mason get the bags and pack some clothes! Toby, start getting out all the cans of food we have. Go!" Nye yelled as soon as she locked the door behind them. The three of them bolted off in different directions. Frantic, the boys running to do as she instructed.

How the hell is this actually happening?! Everything was supposed to be fine, I was supposed to just be being my paranoid self, there's no way this is actually happening!

Her mind flashed back to what they heard on the way home.

…

"How many times do I have to tell you, normal people don't know how many calories are in a Hershey's bar!" She shouted at Mason as they all got in her bright orange Volkswagen type 2 (Or in other words, her hippie van), cheerfully dubbed Pumpkin. They had been getting more cans of food and more jugs of water from one of the smaller and less raided stores nearby.

"It was just a harmless question, why are you getting so pissed?" He tried defending himself.

She turned in her seat to stare at him in disbelief, while Toby hung his head.

"Because when she said she didn't know, you looked her up and down and said "Well you should" I mean what the hell Ace!?"

He simply shrugged in a 'What can ya do' fashion, causing her to sigh heavily.

"That's the ninth time you've done something like this Ace, and I'm talking about this month. Do I need to waste money on some stuck up teacher who makes you learn manners?" She joked as she started the van, making Mason snap his head up and stare at her in horror.

"You wouldn't." He said in fear.

"OH, I would." She replied, reveling in the feeling of one of her "Bad Guy" moments, as they didn't happen often.

"It wouldn't even work!"

"We'll see."

She cackled as he groaned, and Toby sat back with a smile, glad the heat wasn't on him (As if it ever was).

But the lighthearted atmosphere dead quickly as Nye turned on the radio, and instead of their favorite music station playing "I Love Rock 'n Roll" or "Take on Me" they heard a prerecorded clip being played.

"Please evacuate at once. This is not a test. There is a safe zone stationed in Atlanta. Please make your way there. Avoid the sick at all costs. Please eva-"

As it started over Nye quickly shut it off, leaving them all to sit in shock over what they just heard.

So… She was right.

While some part of her tried to say "This will all just blow over." She knew. Deep down she knew this was it, there would be no more walking into the apartment after work to see her boys playing Halo or Minecraft, no more going on nice long walks to clear her head, no more going to get ice cream just 'cause.

She knew that in the future, when looking back on the day it all started, she would look back on this moment, when her boys looked up at her in fear and confusion, when she steeled herself for the first time for what was to come, and when she swore that the two gremlins behind her would make it, even if it took her own life.

Heh, if you asked her a ten years ago if she would have sacrificed herself without a moments hesitation for someone, she would have said "Hell no, every man for them self." With only one exception. But now… Now she had two foster kids who were her whole world.

And nothing was taking that world away.

…

Nye came out of her stupor, and quickly did a mental checklist of what they would need, Food, clothes…

And weapons. She didn't care if they were just sick people, she'd seen the damage they could do, and no way was she going to leave her and the boys unprotected.

She nodded to herself and darted into her bedroom, making a be-line for her closet. Quickly changing out of her Batman themed scrubs, and putting on a thin grey sweater and a pair of jeans. Afterwards she reached for the silver safe at the top of the closet, she threw it down on her bed and swiftly opened it, pulling out her silver pistol and many survival knives. She ignored the Harry Potter wand she had once put in there as a joke, and finally grabbed her sheaths.

She got up, slipping one of her knives into a sheath she put on her left side, and did the same on her right hip with the pistol, and because she was paranoid/smart, put a knife in her right boot as well, leaving two large knives and their matching sheaths which would be given to Mason and Toby. As she turned to grab her bags she saw something else in the safe, something she knew she couldn't leave without. So with a despondent sigh she slowly reached in and grabbed it. Turning it over in her hands she felt tears begin to form, ones she had been fighting tooth and nail to keep in after hearing the broadcast.

Holy shit, Mom, what am I gonna do? She asked herself in her head, and knew there would be no response. There never was.

She took a deep breath and blinked away the tears, No time for that. She leaned down and put the item on her head. Before leaving though, she grabbed three fishing poles that were sitting in her closet, as well as a large tackle box next to them that smelled of the lake. You never know. She told herself, hoping she wasn't going over board. But then again… She had a van, so she could throw pretty much anything in with their supplies and I still not cause a dent in the room of the back. With that in mind she grabbed a few more less important things in terms of survival, but still important all the same.

On her way out the door, she remembered something. Opening her bedside table, she grabbed a few pill bottles, stuffing them deep into her bag.

They all made their way back into the living room, Mason with their clothes, Toby with their food, and Nye with weapons, fishing gear and random things like photo albums and the two's favorite items, (A green stuffed dinosaur named Button for Toby and a grey crochet blanket named Manny for Mason) On their way to the door Nye grabbed her car keys on a doughnut keychain, and her inhaler.

"Uh…Now what?" Toby meekly asked, followed by Mason nodding along in question.

She took a deep breath and shifted the newly placed goggles atop her head.

"Now we do what they said…We go to Atlanta."

…(Two months into the outbreak)…

That son of a bitch is dead!

That was all that was going through Nye's mind as she ran for her life. It was meant to be an easy run, Glenn did it a hundred times by himself, so it should be even easier with a team, right?

Fuck no, apparently. As everything that could go wrong seemed to happen, God, all she wanted was to help out in a different way than fishing, but of course they had to bring Merle, who at the moment was popping off rounds like ammo wasn't an insanely valuable resource. And it was right after the mystery shooter had stopped as well. She muttered a few more death threats and continued running.

As she made it to the outer door to the building they were hiding out at, she went to swing the door open to bolt inside, but there was one problem. The door wouldn't open.

"Shit, shit shit!" She frantically whisper-yelled, while trying to open the door, but finally stopped when she saw just how close the Walkers were getting.

"Oh no way, no way in hell." She breathed. As she started running around the building, searching for a different way in. It took until Merle finally took a break from shooting for her to finally find a door that opened. She ran through it and quickly slammed the door closed.

"Yeah, take that! No hot meat for you jackasses!" She cheered, riding a raging adrenaline high.

But in all her boasting she didn't notice the three walkers in the room, that were now coming closer, and when she did all she could do was shakily raise her monkey wrench and say,

"Shit."

…

Mason lifted his gaze up from the lake, looking over at Toby, who was staring up at the camp.

"When do you think they'll be back?" Toby asked, not bothering to look at Mason as he limply held his own fishing rod.

Mason shrugged, he figured Toby was worried about their guardian, but he was worried too, and didn't have the energy to try and cheer the younger boy up.

The older boy made the decision to pack things up, (Which was a bit because they had knocked the rest of the bait into the water on accident). They ended up catching three decently sized fish, though they didn't know what kind they were, as Nye had only taught them how to fish so far.

They carried their bucket towards Lori, one of the mothers of the kids they would play with. Though they didn't particularly like Lori. After she had seen Nye give the two of them knives, she went and gave a speech to their guardian about how children shouldn't have weapons.

Nye had simply walked away in the middle though, and later on when the boys timidly asked if they shouldn't play with Carl anymore, she told them "Nah, you two play with whoever, as long as they're in your age range it's fine. Oh, but don't try to play rough with Sophia, got it?" They had both nodded and ran off, secretly happy they could still play with Carl.

And they were pretty sure that after Nye started helping with the laundry more, Lori forgave her for her, as Nye put it, "Refusal to deal with bullshit condition", that Lori took as her simply being a bitch.

Amy made it to Lori the same time they did.

"Any luck?" Lori asked, and Amy prompty dumped out a bucket of mushrooms.

"How do we tell if they're poison?" She asked uncertainly, and the boys looked at one another, both thinking the same thing. Nye could tell.

Mason opened his mouth to tell them but Lori spoke before them.

"Uh, there's only one sure way I know of." She said and started brushing dirt off of one of them, leading both boys to roll their eyes. Was Nye really the only one who thought it would be a good idea to read up on what plants and stuff were edible in Georgia? Then again, Nye was already preparing for the apocalypse when they were in diapers.

"Ask Shane when he gets back?" Amy asked as she sat down.

Lori nodded and got up, taking the bucket. "Yeah, you got it."

It was at this point Mason was tired of the two women not noticing their presence.

"We got fish!" Mason yelled, even though they were only a few feet away.

Toby put his face in his hand as Mason startled the two with his outburst, but Lori quickly recovered, and smiled at the two.

"Oh, you two didn't have to do that, we're doing just fine on food, so why don't you go play with Carl, hmm?"

And, they should have expected that. They both nodded glumly and put their bucket down, the order Nye gave them a few days ago ringing in their heads.

"I don't care if she can be a bit overbearing, I want you to treat Lori and everyone else with as much respect as you treat me, okay?" They had nodded, but Mason had looked at her with a confused look on his face "Even the Dixons?" Nye had paused, as a silent feud had been going on between the Dixon clan and the Conner clan. She was hesitant, but her conscience finally won out. "Yes… Even the Dixons." Both boys fought the laughs bubbling up, as she had seemed to pout over her last sentence.

Carl smiled at them as they both sat down and started playing with the toy cars he wasn't using. "Kids, I want you to stay where Dale can see you, okay?" Lori told them, having Carl answer with "Yes, Mom." And the boys with "Yes, Ma'am."

And as Dale warned her to not to go too far, both boys looked up at the road, wondering when the group would be back.

Wondering when Nye would be back.

…

The Walkers slammed into the glass door without showing any sign of stopping, and they all watched in trepidation, fearing that any second the glass would give way.

And as a walker picked up a stone and slammed it into the door, T-Dog muttered, "Oh God."

They all ran farther back into the store, away from the door.

"What the hell were you doing out there anyway?" Andrea asked the new guy.

"Trying to flag the helicopter." He said, and T-Dog looked at him as if he lost his mind.

"Helicopter? Man, that's crap. Ain't no damn helicopter."

Jacqui piped in "You were chasing a hallucination, imagining things. It happens." And as he tried defending himself Glenn did a headcount, when he came up short of a trademark pair of goggles, he snapped his head towards the group.

"Guys… Where's Nye?" Everyone became deathly silent, looking to one another to see if anyone knew.

"Oh no, no no no, Crap!" Glenn panicked. Andrea tried shushing him, as he started pacing, gripping his head as if in pain "God, this is all my fault, I was put in charge of this run, and now she's gone!" He took a deep breath and turned back to everyone. Rick was about to ask who "Nye" was when Glenn spoke up again. "When was the last time anyone saw her?" And immediately, Andrea paled.

"Shit, I didn't think she meant she was gonna go alone." She said softly.

Glenn stared at her and uncharacteristically demanded "What do you mean? Go where?"

Andrea took a deep breath and said "The building across the street."

Now everyone paled.

"And you're saying she went there, alone!?" T-Dog asked/shouted.

"I didn't think she would go! She just said we might find something useful there." Andrea tried to defend herself.

Glenn looked down, grief already hitting him. Chances were, since they hadn't seen her…

…

Nye took a deep breath, as she slowly slumped against the wall, panting and covered in walker blood. She looked down at her left wrist, bearing a thin blue leather watch.

Five minutes. It took her five minutes of dodging and bludgeoning to kill only three of those bastards.

Thankfully it seemed Merle had finally stopped shooting, meaning he either got bored, or someone stepped up to him… Yeah, he got bored.

She took a deep breath and got to her feet, slowly making her way to the door on the other end of the room. Upon opening it however…

"Holy sh-" She clamped a hand over her mouth and stared at the several walkers in the room outside. Okay, so she was staying in there until Glenn or one of the others found her. It sounded like a good plan, once they saw she was gone they would hopefully come look for her, so she would wait it out.

It wasn't good plan.

It all happened in a matter of seconds to her, first she heard a car alarm, then a red sports car drove up to the building they were all hiding in, the sports car was followed by what looked to her like a moving van. Finally, she saw people get in said van, then, they just left.

She gaped as they drove away, without her. She knew realistically it was her fault, and that she should have stayed in the building they were hiding out in, but the thought that the building across the street could be a goldmine was just too tempting, and she did find a few heavy duty box cutters there, so it wasn't a total waste. But she couldn't help but be angry, at herself for being stupid, and at them for leaving her, because now… Mason and Toby would think she left them, just like their family before. And that's what made her panic.

…

As Rick clung to his wife and son, he looked up at Shane, intending to thank him, when something caught his eye. Two boys, both around the age of Carl were looking around, looking more panicked by the second, and that's when he remembered, Merle wasn't the only one they left behind. He felt guilt grip him tightly.

She had kids, the woman they left behind, had kids. The younger one was already crying, and the older was frantically shaking his head, as if this was all a nightmare he wanted out of. Glenn walked up to the two, and without saying a word, knelt down and hugged them both, this caused the older to finally let go, and as he sobbed into Glenn's chest everyone seemed to realize who was missing. Amy put a hand over her mouth and Dale looked down, eyes shut. Sophia, whom Nye had watched over multiple times started shaking like a leaf while Carol rubbed her shoulders in an attempt of comfort, even though the woman herself was tearing up.

Unbeknownst to Rick, Nye had staked claim to a spot in a fair few peoples hearts, after watching the kids for Lori, Carol and the Morales', and helping them with their homework. After pitching in by fishing before Shane had even asked. After chatting with Amy about random things like boys and fashion (Though Nye had no real clue about the second one) just to take the girls mind off of what was going on around them.

Nye had made a fair few care, and made a fair few cry as a result.

And that night, as Carl got his father back, two boys thought they lost their only guardian.

…

It was a miracle Nye slept at all, all the thoughts of Mason and Toby thinking she was dead kept her awake, but around 2:00 AM she finally lost the fight and fell asleep.

Around midday, Nye was jolted awake at the sound of a door slamming open, followed by hushed voices. She perked up as she heard a familiar voice mutter something.

Wait, was that-

She jumped hard a she heard a crossbow being shot.

A wide relieved grin split across her face

The sound of a decayed body hitting the floor made her brave enough to open the door and step out.

She treaded lightly as she saw Glenn, Dixon Junior, T-Dog and someone she didn't recognize.

None of them noticed her approaching presence, and as she opened her mouth to make a retort on how they left her behind (Dramatic entrances always were her favorite) she was interrupted by having to duck, in order to avoid getting skewered.

Everyone stared in shock as she quickly stood back up to her five foot three height, and turned to look behind her. The sight she was met with was one of the drywall behind her, with a crossbow bolt sticking out. It clearly would have been a head shot if she hadn't ducked. She turned back around, holding her hands up in peace.

"The hell, Dixon!?" She shouted shakily.

Daryl lowered his crossbow, shocked that what he assumed was a Walker, was the second person that had been left behind.

Glenn broke out in a huge grin. "Nye! Oh my god, we were so worried, we thought you were-OW!"

But as Glenn had been saying all this, she was making her way toward him, and gave him a solid hit on the arm.

"You assholes left me here! And yeah it's mostly my fault, but seriously!?" She shouted in indignation, the stress having got to her.

Glenn looked down in regret, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, but we-I'm really sorry."

Damnit, she could never stay mad at him when he looked like that, like a kicked puppy.

She sighed. "Whatever, you're forgiven,"

You might as well have told him the apocalypse was over, he looked so happy.

And then she realized something. "But if you guys thought I was dead then why the hell did you come back? Oh and who's that?" She added as an after thought, pointing at Rick.

"Oh, well that's Rick, Lori's-"

"Dead husband!?" She finished for him and he nodded sheepishly.

"Yeah, that."

"Well damn." Nye said faintly, before spinning on her heel, holding her hand out to Rick. "Pleasure to meet you Sheriff."

Rick's brows furrowed slightly, as he shook her hand. "Pleasure's all mine."

T-Dog cleared his throat uncomfortably. "And we kind of left Merle behind too." He muttered, regret filling his voice. But all Nye could do was stare.

"So let me get this straight." She slowly started. "You left not only me, but Merle?"

All but Daryl (Who was looking rather impatient) nodded, looking guilty.

"Then what the hell are we just standing here for?! Let's go get him!" She definitely wasn't the man's biggest fan, but after spending the night there alone, she was feeling sympathetic for him, knowing that even as tough as the man was, he was probably scared shitless like she had been.

She started running towards a random door.

"Uh… Other way Nye."

"I knew that." She totally didn't.

They all ran up the flight of stairs leading to the roof. T-Dog cut a chain keeping the door closed and Daryl immediately kicked it open, leading Nye to roll her eyes.

They say I'm the dramatic one.

He shouted Merle's name a few times as they walked through the door. They walked toward were he was meant to be chained, and for an agonizing second they all just stared at the scene in front of them.

She faintly heard Daryl yelling as she stared at the pool of blood, surrounding a severed hand.

As everyone was dazed, she slowly walked up and crouched down near the mess, grimacing at it. Immediately she could see that this wasn't adding up, there should have been large pools of blood, but instead there was just one small one.

Well, holy shit, the bastard was smart enough to use a tourniquet.

She opened her mouth to tell them as much.

"I wont hesitate, I don't care if every Walker in the city hears it."

She snapped her head up upon hearing that, and was half surprised and half exasperated to see Daryl holding his crossbow to T-Dog and Rick holding his gun to Daryl.

"Okay that's enough assholes. Dixon, you gonna keep pointing that thing at people or are you gonna help find the human dick you call a brother?"

Rick stared at her in slight shock, as Daryl lowered his weapon. While everyone was used to Nye's vocabulary and didn't even blink at her brash way of speaking anymore, Rick was very much not used to it.

Daryl turned to T-Dog. "You got a do-rag or somethin'?" And after taking T-Dog's offered rag, walked up to where Nye was crouched.

She watched with a tight frown as he picked up the hand.

"I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs."

Nye whistled. "Damn, that bites."

He gave her an unimpressed look, to which she shrugged. It wasn't her fault she had no filter.

After wrapping it up he walked over to Glenn, and much to the man's displeasure, put the hand in the backpack he was wearing.

"Yikes, sorry Glenn." She faintly said, causing him to give her a slight glare, which only made her have to fight off a smile, as an angry Glenn was like an angry puppy, there was just nothing threatening about it.

"I'd bet my last Twinkie he used a tourniquet." Nye piped up as she stood, leading Rick to look at her, nonplussed, as he was still getting used to her immature disposition.

Daryl nodded, and she filed this down as the first time they could agree on something.

"Probably his belt, be much more blood if he didn't." He started following the trail Merle made. Rick nodded to Glenn and T-Dog to follow, as Nye was already making her way over towards him.

They turned a corner and went through a door leading inside, Nye tried to read the sign on it, but it was too faded.

They looked down the staircase they were met with, hoping to see some sign of him. "Merle? You in here?" Daryl yelled as they made their way down.

…

Dale decided to walk towards a certain tent before he went to warn people about Jim's behavior.

"Uh, Mason, Toby? How are you, uh…" He called, trailing off, and let out a sigh.

"How are you boys feeling? You need anything? Some food, water…?" He asked, stronger this time.

"We're fine Dale." He heard from Mason, only, his voice was thick with tears, contradicting his statement.

"Oh, boys…" Dale whispered, pained that these two kids had to go through losing a parent all over again. He had hoped he could get them to eat something, but it seemed they weren't ready to leave the tent. He knew that pushing them was the last thing they needed, so he stepped away, hoping he would be able to get them to eat when he planned to try again in a few hours. After a few steps he turned back to the tent one last time.

"Your Mother is one tough cookie, Glenn said they don't know what happened, so she could be just fine. And I have a strong feeling she's still out there, fighting to get back to you two, so I don't want you two to go giving up hope just yet, alright?"

He waited for a response, and when he didn't get one he sighed and started making his way back, but stopped when he faintly heard "Thanks Dale." From Toby.

He smiled lightly, hoping to God that he was right, and that those boys would get to see their mother again.

…

Daryl shot down a female Walker, and Rick signaled the other three to come with him into the room. They both looked around one more time to insure that it was Walker free, and as they did Nye walked up to the dead Walker… Well, she supposed it was double-dead now.

"Had enough in him to take out these two sumbitches, one handed." Daryl said, motioning to the dead Walkers they found.

Nye walked away from the four men to search for something else, hopefully something pointing them in the exact direction to which Merle went, and against her will, Toby's voice filled her head.

"Let's split up and search for clues."

And God did that hurt. They probably think I'm dead…

She shook herself out of it, she would see them again as soon as they found the one handed asshole, and she would greet them with the most dramatic entrance anyone has ever seen.

"Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother." Daryl said as he reloaded his crossbow. "Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails."

"Charming." Nye said from the other side of the room.

"Any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is." Rick warned him.

Nye nodded in agreement, "Yeah, though, if he still has the tourniquet on, he'll definitely last longer."

They all continued to make their way through the building, following the blood trail.

"Merle!" Was shouted by Daryl, which was immediately followed by Nye whisper-yelling "Dude!" And Rick trying to shush him by saying "We're not alone here, remember?"

"Screw that. He could be bleedin' out, you said so yourself." He retorted, causing Nye to roll her eyes.

They walked up to a stove, and Nye immediately knew what he had done.

"Oh dear lord, the dickwad is definitely in pain town now, if he wasn't before." It was a ridiculous sentence, but add to that the fact her voice came out laced with disgust, it sounded anything but humorous.

Rick picked up what looked like a bacon press, and Glenn looked from the bloody belt on the stove to what the former sheriff was holding.

"What's that burned stuff?"

"Skin." Rick and Nye both said at the same time. "He cauterized his stump." Nye clarified.

Glenn looked away, seemingly sick at the thought of someone having to go that far to survive.

"Told you he was tough. Nobody can kill Merle but Merle." Daryl told Rick in a vindicated manner.

"Don't take that on faith. He's lost a lot of blood." Rick warned him.

"Yeah? Didn't stop him from bustin' out of this death trap." Daryl said as he started to lead them towards a broken window.

"He left the building?" Glenn asked in disbelief. Nye bowed her head and let a deep sigh. In her opinion, they were going through way to much trouble for that sexist bastard.

"Well isn't that great, it'll be like trying to find a needle in a haystack now." Nye said in defeat.

"Yeah, why the hell would he do that?" Glenn nodded to Nye and continued his sentence.

"Why wouldn't he? He's out there alone as far as he knows, doin' what he's gotta do. Survivin'." Daryl barked back.

T-Dog turned to him. "You call that surviving? Just wandering out in the streets, maybe passing out? What are his odds out there?"

Nye snapped her head up to look at T-Dog, fearing he just pissed off the second trigger happy Dixon.

"No worse than bein' handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks." Daryl snapped, seething.

Glenn rubbed his eyes and T-Dog looked down, not sure what to say in his defense, or if he should even try defending himself. Whereas Nye simply crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, waiting to see if things were going to get violent again.

"You couldn't kill him." Daryl got in Rick's face. And Nye leaned forward. "Ain't so worried about some dumb dead bastard."

Rick took a step forward. "How about one thousand dumb dead bastards? Different story?"

And of course Daryl didn't back down. "Why don't you take a tally? Do what you want. I'm gonna go get him."

Daryl started to walk away, only for Rick to put his hand on his chest to try and stop him. "Daryl, wait-"

Daryl backed out of his reach. "Get your hands off me!" Glenn tried shushing them, but it was futile. Nye was off the wall at this point, and while Mason and Toby didn't fight much, she still had enough experience to know how to break one up.

"You can't stop me." Daryl got back in Rick's face, and Nye was preparing to march up to the two men, but luckily Rick started speaking before she had the chance.

"I don't blame you. He's family, I get that. I went through hell to find mine. I know exactly how you feel." It seemed Rick knew exactly what to say, as Daryl took a step back and swallowed thickly.

"He can't get far with that injury. We can help you check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head." Rick finished.

Everyone was silent, waiting for Daryl's response.

"I could do that." He said softly.

And it was like everyone could breath again, but of course, someone had to ruin it.

T-Dog shook his head. "Only if we get those guns first. I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?

Damnit! There are guns we have to get too!?

Nye leaned her head back and let out a groan, causing everyone to look at her questioningly.

She dropped her head back down. "Alright, but we are hurrying our asses up. I'm not spending any more time here than necessary, Ace and Smalls need to know I'm, ya know, alive."

…

Mason numbly made his way to the clearing where everyone seemed to be at that moment.

As he made his way closer, he began to hear the conversation going on between Jim and Shane.

"What does it matter? I'm not hurting anyone."

"Yeah, except maybe yourself. It's a hundred degrees today. You can't keep this up."

But Jim just kept digging. "Sure I can. Watch me."

Lori walked up to him now. "Jim, they're not gonna say it so I will. You're scaring people. You're scaring my son, Carol's daughter, Mason too." Mason looked up at her, and gave her a confused look. He wasn't scared of Jim, but he was confused as to what the man was doing.

"They got nothing to be scared of. I mean, what the hell, people? I'm out here by myself. Why don't you all just go and leave me the hell alone?"

At that, Mason turned to leave. All he wanted was to see what was going on and grab some food for himself and for Toby.

But it appeared Shane wasn't done trying. "We think that you need to take a break, okay? Why don't you go and get yourself in the shade? Some food maybe. I'll tell you what maybe in a little bit I'll come out here and help you myself. Jim, just tell me what it's about." Shane tried to bargain. "Why don't you just go ahead and give me that shovel?"

Jim looked up at him. "Or what?"

It appeared things were getting interesting, and not in the good way.

"There is no "or what". I'm asking you. I'm coming to you and I'm asking you, please. I don't want to have to take it from you." Shane tried.

"And if I don't, then what? Then you're gonna beat my face in like Ed Peletier, aren't you?"

Mason blinked in confusion, not knowing about what had happened with Ed.

Jim turned to everyone. "Y'all seen his face, huh? What's left of it." He turned back to Shane. "See, now that's what happens when someone crosses you." Shane looked at him with look in his eyes that sent a chill down Mason's spine.

Mason wasn't sure if he liked Shane. "You don't always have to like someone to trust them, and you don't always have to trust them to like them." Nye's words rang in his head, and it made him realize something else. Mason didn't think he trusted Shane either.

"That was different, Jim." Shane said, glaring at the other man.

Amy piped up "You weren't there. Ed was out of control. He was hurting his wife."

"That is their marriage. That is not his. He is not judge and jury." Jim said to Amy, and glared at Shane. "Who voted you King Boss, huh?"

Shane tried to calm him. "Jim, I'm not here to argue with you, all right?" He took a step towards him. "Just give me the shovel, okay?"

Jim shook his head. "No no no." Jim started muttering, and Mason was actually starting to get scared.

"Just give me the… Jim!"

Jim shoved Shane away and raised the shovel up in an attempt to hit him, only for Shane to tackle him to the ground and pin him.

"Okay, shh shh." Shane tried calming him, and Jim thrashed in his hold.

"You got no right!" He yelled and continued thrashing.

"Stop. Shh." Shane kept saying.

By this point Mason was rooted in place, too stunned by what he was watching to step away. And he couldn't help imagining what Nye would be doing if she were there with him.

"You got no right!"

"Jim, just stop it. Hey hey hey hey."

"Don't!" Everyone watched, not sure what to do as Jim continued thrashing and yelling.

"Jim. Jim, nobody's gonna hurt you. You hear me? Shh. Jim, nobody is gonna hurt you, okay?" Shane tried to reassure him, but Jim's response made everyone's blood run cold.

"That's a lie. That's the biggest lie there is. I told that to my wife and my two boys. I said it a hundred times. It didn't matter. They came out of nowhere. There were dozens of 'em. Just pulled 'em right out of my hands. You know, the only reason I got away was 'cause the dead were too busy eating my family"

Everyone stood in stunned silence. Lori put a hand to her mouth, and Dale looked frozen.

But Mason became pale as a sheet, and finally walked away as everyone else was distracted.

There's no way Nye's alive. Not in this world, where everyone gets torn apart. Mason told himself, feeling completely detached from everything.

He hadn't even realized he made it back to their tent until Toby's voice broke him out of his daze.

"Did you get anything?"

Mason looked at the other boy's face, noting how red and puffy it was, and how he probably looked the same, if not worse.

He simply shook his head and laid back down next to Toby, latching back onto one of Nye's pillows and burying his face back into it.

Comforted only by the smell of peaches and daisies coming off of it.

…

"Uh uh, no way in hell Glenn." Nye shook her head violently.

"She's right, you're not doing this alone." Rick backed up the goggle wearing brunette. Which was followed by Daryl's helpful "Even I think it's a bad idea and I don't even like you much."

Glenn sighed and tried defending his plan. "It's a good idea, okay, if you just hear me out. If we go out there in a group, we're slow, drawing attention. If I'm alone, I can move fast. Look." He pointed to a part on the diagram he drew up. "That's the tank, five blocks from where we are now." He pointed to a different part on it. "That's the bag of guns." He then pointed to the last spot. "Here's the alley I dragged you into when we first met. That's where Daryl, Nye and I will go."

"Why me?" Both the woman and archer asked at the same time, leading them both to glare at one another.

"Your crossbow is quieter than his gun, and Nye's good with hand to hand."

"You're overselling my skills, Speedy." Nye said anxiously.

"You'll be fine." Glenn assured her, before turning back to Rick. "While Daryl and Nye wait here in the alley, I run up the street, grab the bag."

"You got us elsewhere?" Rick asked, not understanding why they wouldn't all stick together.

"You and T-Dog, right." He pointed down at the map. "You'll be in this alley here."

"Two blocks away? Why?"

"I may not be able to come back the same way. Walkers might cut me off. If that happens, I won't go back to Daryl and Nye. I'll go forward instead, all the way around to that alley where you guys are." He quickly explained. "Which ever direction I go, I got you in both places to cover me. Afterwards, we'll all meet back here."

They all shared the same look of surprise.

"Hey, kid, what'd you do before all this?" Daryl asked.

"Delivered pizzas. Why?" Glenn answered, oblivious to their surprise.

Nye smiled wide. "Well holy shit."

…

Daryl loaded his crossbow and Nye adjusted her grip on her large monkey wrench.

As they made their way down the alley Daryl spoke up. "You got some balls for a chinaman."

Nye grimaced in secondhand-shame and groaned "Godamnit Dixon."

Which was followed by Glenn's annoyed "I'm Korean."

Daryl shrugged. "Whatever."

They both hid behind the dumpsters as Glenn ran out to grab the guns.

"What do you think will happen when we try to bring him back?" Nye asked in a conversational tone. Daryl looked at her in confusion in response.

She sighed "Merle, ya know. I just think he won't be too pleased to share a camp with the guy who made him go all '127 Hours' on himself."

Whatever Daryl was going to say in response would forever be a mystery, as some kid came barreling down the alley.

"Whoa, don't shoot me! What do you want?" The kid begged as Daryl pointed his crossbow at him.

"I'm lookin' for my brother. He's hurt real bad. You seen him?" Daryl immediately started questioning the kid.

And of course, because the world loved screwing them over, the kid started yelling.

"Ayudame!"

Nye put her hand up to her head, gripping her hair tightly in stress. "Dude shut the hell up!" She whisper-yelled.

"Shut up! You're gonna bring the geeks down on us. Answer me." Daryl demanded.

Nye looked back and forth from Daryl and the kid, and the entrance Glenn was supposed to come down any second.

"Answer me!"

But it seemed the kid would only yell whatever it was he was yelling, and it was moments like these Nye wished she took Spanish instead of French.

"Ayudame! Ayudame! Ayudame!"

Nye turned around back to the two. "Dixon, shut him the hell up! We're gonna be swarmed by Walkers if he keeps this up!"

And because their luck was so bad, two more people came into the alley.

"Oh son of a-"

The two new men immediately saw her and Daryl as hostiles, and decided to hit first, ask questions later. What happened next was a blur of kicks and punches. And as Nye got hit in the face by one of the two men, she saw Glenn being grabbed by the other.

"That's it. That's the bag, Vato. Take it! Take it!"

"Get off me! Get off me! Daryl! Nye!" Glenn yelled as he was dragged away towards their car.

Oh hell no.

She ran toward them, but was knocked down violently by the one who had already punched her.

"Come back here, you sumbitches!" Daryl yelled after the men, raising his crossbow.

She was mighty satisfied to see Daryl shoot the one who hit her. It was even better that it hit its mark in the man's ass.

The men drove away with Glenn, leaving the bag of guns behind, and as she slowly sat up, still winded, Daryl ran over and closed the fence gate, so no Walkers could get into the alleyway.

And afterward, he surprisingly turned to her.

"You good?" He asked gruffly.

Her mouth dropped open at that.

"Erm… Yeah." She said slowly.

Okay… It seems Dixon Junior isn't as much of an ass as his brother. She begrudgingly thought to herself.

He nodded, and immediately the anger was back as he turned back to the kid.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Stop it!" She heard Rick yell as Daryl beat up the kid. She looked to see him and T-Dog running up to them.

"I'm gonna kick your nuts up in your throat!"

Real classy, Dixon.

"Let me go." The kid begged, and if it were any other situation, she would have felt sorry. But this guy's people just took Glenn, their sweet as a lil' cinnamon roll, Glenn.

"Chill out." T-Dog tried to get Daryl to ease up.

"Uh, dude, in case you haven't noticed, they took Glenn!" She shouted at T-Dog as she got up.

"That little bastard and his little bastard homie friends. I'm gonna stomp your ass!" Daryl continued raging.

"Guys! Guys! We're cut off!" T-Dog yelled over all the commotion.

Rick quickly took charge. "Get to the lab. Go."

"Come on. Damn, let's go." Daryl drags the kid along as Rick went back and grabbed the bag of guns and the sheriff hat. And they all started running back to the building.

This was in no way how Nye had expected her day to go.

I'm way happier with this version. I plan to get around to revising all these earlier chapters, because they're seriously cringy as fuck. I honestly don't know how I got any of you to stick around with how these early chaps are *Embarrassed laugh*