Disclaimer: I own nothing. This was written for pure entertainment purposes.

Safe and Sound

Daryl struggled to climb up the steep hill; the arrow in his side burnin' something fierce. He was almost there, fifteen feet if that. Grabbing a small tree and adjusting his footing, looking for a foothold to keep his balance he took three more steps, quickly leaving him fatigued.

"Fuck," he muttered, leaning against the hill. Ten more feet.

"Quit bein' a pussy," Daryl told himself as he heard Merle's taunting laugh ringing in his ears. Gathering his strength he took a few more steps, five feet; almost there. Pulling on his last bit of strength, he was just a foot from the top, just had to pull himself up.

Then he lost his footing.

Blue eyes widening with fear, Daryl felt his stomach drop as he started to fall back. Out of nowhere a small hand grabbed his hand by pure chance and pulled him back to the hillside. He looked up into meet the gaze of his savior.

Green eyes met blue, a petite woman, blonde, barely into her twenties; just saved him.

"I've got you," she murmured, her pale pink lips quirking into a ghost of a smile. "Can you make it up?"

Daryl nodded, it took a minute but with some maneuvering and favoring his good side with her help; he was able to get to the top, quickly moving away from the edge, panting out of exhaustion and pain. He looked at the blonde who was wisely keeping her distance, a small hand held crossbow hung loose but ready in her hand.

"Did you get bitten?"

He shook his head, he saw a bandage wrapped around her arm. He nodded at it, "scratch or bite?"

"Neither, I fell, scraped it on a rock."

"Ya ain't bullshittin' me are ya?"

"Classy," she muttered under her breath. "That was two days ago and I'd have turned by now."

"Still don't-" he cut off as he heard a rustling off to the side, immediately, even though his crossbow had no arrows in it; Daryl still brought it up as a precaution.

The blonde snorted, "Easy Rambo, it's just a friend." She turned toward the direction of the noise and whistled a four note melody:-G-Bb-A-D(*)-which was returned a few seconds later. Light footsteps began approaching them, he could hear a low whining or crying noise, followed by a girl's voice.

"Shh, it's ok Connor." A very familiar voice said.

Sophia?

She emerged from the bushes, carrying a baby boy with brown hair, dragging a large duffel behind her. She stopped short when she laid eyes on him. "D-Daryl?"

He couldn't help but smile, despite of the pain he was feeling. "Hey kid."

Her face broke into a wide grin as she dropped the duffel, handed the baby off to the blonde and hurried over to him, stopping short when she saw the arrow sticking out of his side. "You're hurt," her big hazel eyes filling with tears.

Awkwardly, Daryl wrapped an arm around Sophia's shoulders, drawing her into his good side. He took in her appearance, a little dirty, tired looking but she was safe and he was grateful to the blonde.

"I fell Sophia, it happens."

"Were you… Were you looking for me?" She asked in a small, tear-filled voice that would've broken his brother.

"I was, an' I don' regret it," Daryl gently tilted her head so she'd look at him. "Made a promise to your ma that I'd bring ya back to her, whaddya say we go see her?"

Smiling, Sophia nodded and took Daryl's large hand into her smaller one. She turned to the blonde and held her other hand out to her. "C'mon Chloe, let's go."

Daryl watched the blonde and she chewed her bottom lip, mentally weighing her choices. She'd obviously been on her own with the baby for awhile. He admired her for keeping him safe, even more so for keeping Sophia safe as well.

"We're at a farm, s'not much, we're staying in tents and stuff, but the guy who owns it lets us use his showers when we need it. Food, water, shelter… you and your boy could stay with us, at least for the night if you're headin' somewhere ya need te be."

After what seemed like an eternity, Chloe nodded and slowly approached them. Connor made a fussing noise and squirmed in his mother's arms.

"I know baby boy, I know," she murmured as she knelt on the ground and opened the duffel bag and then pulled out a bottle, formula and bottle of water. Digging around, she came up with two energy bars and handed them to Daryl and Sophia who took them gratefully. Daryl downed his in three bites, if that; making Sophia giggle as she ate more slowly. Her gaze landed on her doll tucked into Daryl's belt, her face lit up and she pulled it out of his belt, causing him to jump and wince.

Her face fell, and she cringed, immediately expecting a smack. "Sorry," she whispered, waiting for a hit that would never come.

"Hey," she looked up at him. "I ain't yer sorry excuse fer a daddy, I'll never hurt you Sophia."

"And if you did, I will happily cut off your balls," Chloe informed him as she stood with Connor who was now in strapped to her chest in a baby sling contraption as he happily drank a bottle; in one hand a five inch hunting knife, the other her crossbow and a 9mm that he couldn't see tucked away in her waistband. She put the knife away, slung the bag over her shoulder and walked over to them; handing Daryl some aspirin and a bottle of water. "It's not much, but hopefully it'll take the edge off until the arrow can be taken out."

He nodded, cracking the aspirin between his teeth and taking a few gulps of water. "Thanks, Mama Bear."

She quirked an eyebrow but didn't protest the nickname. "How far is this farm?"

"Mile, maybe two." He eyed her hand held crossbow, "Nice set up."

She nodded at his. "Yours too. Got anymore arrows?"

Daryl shook his head, he'd need to make some or hit a sporting goods store in the future. Biting her lower lip again, Chloe handed her weapon to Daryl. He took it from her, their fingers barely brushing. She kept her grip on it as he tried to pull away. He stared at her with a furrowed brow.

"This was my husband's, please don't let anything happen to it."

"I won't," he promised quietly.

Sophia got their attention with a small gasp, she was gazing at down at the creek where two walkers had wandered through. Both were snarling up at them, staring hungrily at them.

Chloe wrapped a comforting arm around the girl's shoulders. "It's ok sweetie, they can't get up here, even if they do; we'll be long gone, ok?"

Sophia nodded and backed away from the edge.

She looked at Daryl, "Are you able to take lead?"

Daryl nodded, he'd be able to hang on till get got to the farm. "You got my back?"

Sophia was quick to defend the blonde. "Chloe saved me, you can trust her."

Chloe smiled at the girl. "From the mouths of babes…"

Daryl snorted, the raging pain in his side had turned into a dull throb. He'd be lucky if it didn't get infected.

"Let's go home." He said and started back toward the farm.

Sophia smiled at Chloe before following Daryl.

Smiling sadly, Chloe pressed a kiss to her Connor's dirty hair. He had fallen asleep, though he could sleep through just about anything. The bottle long finished and wedged between her breasts. "Watch over us Ollie," she murmured as she followed the two into an unknown future.

To be continued

AN: Hi! This is my first venture into The Walking Dead and technically my third into Smallville. For those of you who aren't familiar with Smallville, don't worry you don't have to be. Chloe (like Daryl) was created for the show and she's my favorite from the series. Though I highly recommend you get the DVDs and watch from the beginning. Anyone who is familiar with Smallville, yes, I did tweak the timeline. Instead of the series ending in May of 2011, it ended in May 2008, with Connor being born in February of 2009 and the apocalypse happening in late June of 2010. Everything from 2.04 (Chupacabra) is slightly AU.

* The melody, for those of you who have seen The Hunger Games, was used between the main character, Katniss and her ally, Rue; to let each other know they were safe.