midnight rain | daryl dixon

chapter 1: pilot.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: language, mention of death, very brief mentions of abuse and neglect.

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Before the fall of the world, Alison Swan led the perfect life. She had a well off family, great friends and an Ivy League education - what more could she have possibly wanted?

Before the fall of the world, Daryl Dixon led a tough life. His only family consisted of his racist, delinquent brother and his abusive father, just drifting as a nobody - how much worse could his life get?

Alison was home for the semester from her fourth year at Harvard Medical School when it started. Her and her family received notification of the outbreak before the general public due to the fact that her father, Victor Swan, was mayor of Atlanta at the time. Within an hour's notice, Ali, her younger sister Lucy and their older brother William, along with his girlfriend Harper had packed a fraction of their belongings into bags and were on their way to the Greene family farm for safety until whatever this virus was 'blew over' as their father stated.

Maggie Greene was Alison's best friend in the entire world. Although the two were different in so many ways, Maggie was always real with Ali, which she liked. Maggie never used her for money like some of her city friends tried to - which she also liked.

The pair met at Sunday school when they were just six years old, Maggie was there because her family were avid church goers and encouraged religion but Ali was just there because her father didn't want to look after her that day and saw it as a good way to leave her to get work done. The girls hit it off straight away, and remained close for their entire lives until the outbreak - hence why Alison and her siblings were more than welcome on the farm when the world ended.

They had all seen the news, things looked bad but from the safe confines of the property, none of them truly had an idea of how bad it really was out there.

With her father likely dead in the city and her mother dead years before, the only family Alison had now were her siblings, who each took their turn in protecting one another.

A few months passed and Ali began to settle into life on the farm. With it being a working farm, for the first time in her life Alison (along with Lucy and William) had to work to earn their keep but in a strange way, she didn't mind. Although it took some time to adjust, they all had a routine now and it was nice. The stability was comforting in a time where there was so much unknown.

Alison, Lucy and Harper helped in the kitchen and around the house, occasionally tending to the horses while her brother helped Hershel around the farm. It was hard, but it was honest work.

A few months passed, and although the members of the Greene family lost two of their own (Hershel's wife, Annette and son, Shawn) to the virus, Alison had still yet to fully encounter the new world and for that she was grateful. Frankly, there was nobody less prepared for the new world than Alison Swan.

"Food is beginning to get short." Hershel spoke to the women one morning, Alison stood over the sink peeling potatoes to be made into fries later on in the day. Her sister Lucy had just finished washing up from breakfast.

"Otis is going to head out later today and see if he can catch something, perhaps to be made into a pie later" Hershel suggested "in the meantime, we all need to be careful with how much we are eating" the older man suggested before retiring to the living area with a book from his shelf. Since losing his wife, he opted for more time alone which Alison understood and he was generous enough letting her and her siblings live there so she never questioned him.

"Hey Ali, mind giving me a hand with the horses this mornin'?" Maggie asked in her thick southern accent.

Alison nodded, "Of course, I'll meet you at the stables?" Ali offered to which Maggie nodded, put her boots on and headed out of the door to the stables which were located on the farm property.

Ali finished preparing the potatoes before placing them in a bowl before carelessly wiping her hands on her blue denim shorts. She then pulled her boots on and headed out to meet her friend.

"You know, I've been thinkin'" Maggie began as her friend arrived.

"That's dangerous" Alison replied with a smirk as she grabbed a shovel and started to clear out Nelly's, one of the horses, enclosure.

"I've been thinkin'" Maggie continued, laughing off Alison's comment "What if this is just our lives now forever?" she contemplated, brushing her short brown hair out of her face as she began to work on another horse's enclosure.

"I hope not," Ali chuckled. "As much as I love you, Maggie, you know I love you" Alison continued, "I have college to get back to, you know?" Ali said optimisitically.

"Do ya really think things will ever go back to normal enough for that?" Maggie responded with an arched brow.

"No" Ali replied with another chuckle "But the reality is too depressing, so that's what I tell myself" She said, shovelling another load of straw for the horse.

Maggie chuckled as well "I know I've already said it, but I'm glad you're here" Maggie said, stopping for breath. "As much as I love my family, I would have gone mad if it weren't for you being here" She laughed.

"I know the feeling" Alison laughed in reference to her own sister, who she loved dearly but never fully understood.

The conversation was cut short by Oris walking by the stables "I'm heading out. See what I can catch. Keeping my fingers crossed for some venison pie tonight" He joked.

"Sounds good" Alison responded with a nod "stay safe out there, see you in a bit?" She asked, to which the older man nodded.

Otis and Patricia were strangers to Ali before the virus but after spending the last few months together through such uncertain circumstances, they had quickly become like family to her.

Otis headed off and Maggie and Alison continued mucking out the stables for another few hours before feeding the animals and heading inside to get some lunch and rehydrate. Georgia heat was relentless and tiring no matter what time of year it was.

Ali sat down at the kitchen table across from Maggie, before the two had the chance to engage in conversation - a shot was heard from the distance but was still loud enough for them to hear it.

"Sounds like dinner," Maggie said with a smirk. Little did either of them know that it wasn't, in fact, dinner, and that one single shot had set the groundwork for their lives to change forever.