Chapter Text
Chapter 3
Daryl was restless. They had been walking for hours as they made their way from Atlanta back to their camp. They were all sweaty, hungry and tired; but there was something making Daryl continue to push hard, at an unforgiving pace.
More than once he had almost forced the other three to get up and continue, something was in the air and he didn’t feel like spending any more time away from his Alpha. He needed her, he needed her to ground him in his despair at the loss of this brother; he needed her scent to calm his racing heart, he needed her long thin fingers in his hair and her words in his ears. And he was not willing to wait any longer.
They were close enough to quarry that the feeling of dread in his gut had started to calm, but then the first shot rang out. It was like the shot had been a beacon, and suddenly Daryl was running faster than ever in his life. Rick was barely a few steps behind him, needing to get back to his own family as much as Daryl needed to get back to his.
The carnage they found in the camp once they reached was the things nightmares were made of.
Daryl shot any walkers that got too close to him, the putrid smell making him unable to catch Carol’s scent over it and causing him growl in frustration. Then there was movement at the corner of his eye, and instinct took over. Before he realized what he was doing, Daryl had leaped over a fallen corpse and shot a walker in the head.
Sophia’s screams as the walker fell over her mother and her was the thing that finally made him react. In two steps he was pulling the body away from them and throwing it to the side. He was definitely not expecting Sophia to leap out of her mother’s arms and into his, making him fall on his ass at the impact of her small body over his.
“Are you alright?” Were you bitten? Scratched?” It was probably the most the young Alpha had ever heard him speak at once, but all she could do was shake her head from where she had burrowed it in his neck as she continued to cling to him.
His eyes searched for his Alpha’s, and he felt like he could breathe again when he finally found them.
Carol was sitting down in the same spot where the two of them had fallen. She looked shaken, but she was alright. There were tears in her eyes as she looked at her daughter in his arms, and the whimper that escaped him as he moved one of his arms towards her was enough of an invitation for her to join him and Sophia in their embrace.
Daryl couldn’t remember the last time he had felt like this. He had Sophia in his arms and he could feel Carol arms around the both of them. He had arrived just in time to save his alpha, one moment longer and he would have lost her just after finally having her. That was all that ran through the Omega’s mind as they continued to sit in a heap in the dark night, clutching each other as everyone around them cried.
It wasn’t until a few minutes later, that Carol was the first one to finally notice things around them. They had mourned, they had rejoiced in being together; but now they needed to get things done.
“Daryl,” Carol said softly, the Omega raising his eyes to hers as he heard his name from her lips for the first time. He bit his lip as the immediate response to her saying his name was his lips started to pull up into a smile. “We need to find a safe place to sleep tonight, can you help us with that?”
He looked at her like she was something from another world. The way she spoke to him, like he wasn’t just a piece of trash stuck on her shoe, a dirty Omega who was good for nothing; but as someone who was important enough to ask, not order, for his help? That was something Daryl Dixon was definitely not used to.
He grunted what she took as a yes, unable to really form any coherent words. He started to move away, once he slowly pushed Sophia back into her Mama’s arms. Before he moved too far, he was stopped by Carol’s hand softly touching his cheek. The feeling of her touch, stopped him dead on his tracks.
“I forgot to ask you,” her voice was low, but it was all Daryl could hear. It was drowning the crying from around the camp, as his every cell focused only on her. “I’m a terrible Alpha,” there was a self-deprecating smile that Daryl never wanted to see again in her face, “are you al right?”
Daryl closed his eyes, as he tried to keep himself from turning his face and nosing the inside of her wrist. Her scent was surrounding him, and he finally felt like this hellish night was coming to an end. “Don’t say that-” he opened his eyes to look straight at her, “-never say that again.”
He allowed himself a small sniff, as she caressed his stubble covered cheek once again, before he finally stood up and moved back to where the rest of the men were working on what was left of the camp. He had arrived on time, he had protected his Alpha; his mate was still alive and he was going to keep it that way for a long time.
-*-*-*
It took a long time for Sophia to finally calm down and stop crying.
Daryl had left them once he made sure they were fine, and after he made sure they were protected enough for his liking. Shane had given him a nod as he moved to stand guard around them and the rest of the women and children, as the Omega moved to what was left of his and Merle’s camp.
Most if it was salvageable. The bigger tent- Merle’s- had been completely destroyed in the attack, but even if it hadn’t been it wasn’t an option since he was not going to put his mate in the disgusting place his brother had called ‘home'.
His own tent was smaller, probably good enough for his Alpha and her pup. And it wasn’t like he was going to sleep that night anyway; he was determined that he was going to stand guard over his women and not allow anyone, or anything to hurt them ever again.
After moving the bodies that had been scattered around ‘their’ camp, putting them with the rest of the walkers, he moved slowly to what was left of Carol’s and Sophia’s camp. He couldn’t help but smirk as he saw what was left of Ed still inside their tent, kicking the body as he moved inside their destroyed tent to see if there was anything he could salvage.
He took what wasn’t spattered with the man’s guts, which wasn’t a lot if he was honest. He shrugged it off, he would get them whatever they needed, and he could share what he had until then. He moved the things to his own camp before going back to his Alpha.
Carol was sitting in the ground, by the RV. She had Sophia in her lap, and the girl had finally succumbed to tiredness; she was asleep in her mother’s arms. Daryl tried not to let the fact that Lori, who was sitting by Carol, was looking at him as he approached keep him from doing so.
“Hey,” Daryl muttered, side eyeing Lori as he approached to crouch next to Carol’s free side. “I have a place for you two to rest,” he could feel Carol’s eyes on him, and he couldn’t meet them. He just looked at the top of Sophia’s head where she had tucked it under her mamma’s chin.
“Thank you, Daryl.” Once again, the Omega in him felt like the biggest thing in the world as he heard his name come out of his Alpha’s lips. He hated it, he loved it. He watched as she looked down sadly at Sophia, moving her hand to nudge her daughter awake.
Before he realised what he was doing, Daryl had put his hand over hers stopping her movement. At her look of surprise, he dropped his eyes again. “I can carry her, no need to wake her up.”
Silence followed his words. It took him a couple of seconds to gather the courage to raise his eyes to hers once again. The look in her eyes wasn’t one of contempt, as he expected. Her eyes were shining, he wasn’t sure if it was with tears or something else, but it was definitely something good. “Sweet Omega,” she murmured for his ears only as she moved the hand that he hadn’t realised he still had in his grasp so she could be the one grabbing him instead.
He blushed like he had never blushed before. He was glad it was dark, and only Olive Oil was there to witness his embarrassment. Slowly, still wondering if he wasn’t about to get told off at any moment, he moved so he could put an arm under Sophia’s knees and the other one around her small back, grunting as he stood up with her in his arms.
“Are you sure about this, you don’t even know him?” He tried to make it as if he wasn’t able to hear, but Lori wasn’t as quiet as she thought she was being when she addressed Carol. The distrust was clear in the Beta woman’s voice and Daryl felt the need to sneer at her. He would never, ever hurt his Alpha or his Alpha’s pup, never.
“Lori,” He was still giving them his back, pretending not to hear. His eyes looked over what was left of the camp, and he couldn’t help but cringe. There was not much left, Andrea was still sobbing over her sister with Dale looking over them. The old man gave him a nod, that just made him look away. “Please never doubt my Omega.”
Carol felt like someone else. She was dead tired, her arms hurt from having carried her twelve year old daughter when the attack started, and she just wanted to sleep. The last thing she needed was one of her friends second guessing her choices. Probably, the first good one she had done in many years.
She looked at where Daryl was waiting for her, cradling her daughter in his arms. The corner of her lips started tugging up- that was her Omega; the man who had a chip on his shoulder bigger than the state of Georgia was holding her daughter like she was a precious thing, and if just for that, she would not have Lori saying anything bad about him. “He’s been nothing but good to us, just try and get some sleep.”
She didn’t leave time for her friend to answer, getting to her feet and approaching Daryl. Her hand went to rest on his back like it was the most common thing. His reaction was to immediately tense, so she moved her hand higher until it was touching the back of his neck. His reaction did not go unnoticed, but she understood it was just too much to handle at one time.
With Daryl leading the way, Carol followed him to where his tent stood. Carol looked around, finding their meager belongings scattered around, and the place a lot cleaner than she would have expected after the night they had.
“It’s almost daytime,” his deep voice made the hairs in her arms stand. “But you and ‘phia can get some sleep in the tent, it’s clean.” He was still shy around her, and she wasn’t surprised. She gave him a smile, to which he dropped his eyes again. Silently he moved to put Sophia inside his tent, grunting when his knees made contact with the hard ground. “There’s some food there,” he pointed to a corner in the tent, looking at her over his shoulder.
He got out of the tent, standing up only to tense as he found that he was standing closer to her than he had expected. She was a good three inches shorter than him, but the way she made him feel? He was not sure if he liked it or not. “I’ll keep watch.”
She was looking up to him, he could just feel it. He could barely see her, the night was dark and they weren’t in a position to waste any resources; but he just knew where she was. Something soft touched his hand, and he couldn’t help but startle lightly.
“Shhhh,” she said softly as she took his big calloused hand in hers. Without saying anything else, she started moving into the two person tent pulling him behind her.
“Carol,” he protested softly. Even to his ears, his protestations sounded weak.
“Come,” her voice pulled him to her, and he just obeyed. She kneeled inside the tent, not letting go of him, as if knowing that he would run at the first chance given.
Daryl moved behind her, in a way he knew he was strong enough physically to break her hold on him. But that didn’t mean that he wanted to. This one was one hold that he was not willing to break.
She laid in front of her daughter, pulling him until he was inside the tent with them too. It was cramped, it was obvious the tent was not made for two full grown adults and a teenager. But Daryl wouldn’t change it for anything.
“Daryl,” Carol said softly as she finally let go of his hand, letting him make the final choice.
Carol felt as Sophia moved to curl against her back as she laid on her side.
Daryl took a deep breath, he was kneeling at the entrance of the tent looking down at where his Alpha and her pup were waiting for him. Their scents were mixing in that place that was his, and pride swelled in his chest. He had done this for his Alpha, him, the good for nothing Omega.
Slowly he moved, until he was lying straight as a rod beside Carol. He could feel her soft breast pressing against his arm, and he didn’t know what to do.
“Turn,” Carol said as she pushed his arm forcing him to turn on his side so his back was to her. Tentatively, Carol moved her hand over his arm, until it was gripping his hand. Slowly as if not to spook her, Daryl brought her hand to his chest, as he moved further back into her. And with his Alpha at his back, Daryl’s very awful day finally ended.