Note: This story is loaded with spoilers for season 3 up to the midseason break. please read with caution if you haven't already watched all 8 episodes of TWD Season 3
Belongs to Us
Chapter 1
Inside Woodbury:
"Come on little brother. You've always been a pussy. I kicked your ass then and I'll kick your ass now, one handed!"
"Fuck you, I ain't doing it!" Daryl took a swing at Merle with his left hand, making sure the knife was in his right. Daryl glared at the governor. "I'm not going to kill my own kin! You can forget it. But I won't think twice about killin…" Daryl couldn't finish his sentence because Merle lunged at him, knocking them both to the ground.
"You will, you fuckin asshole. And Blondie 'll make sure your sorry ass is safe!" Merle punched Daryl repeatedly in the face as he straddled his baby brother. He couldn't kill him but he didn't think twice about breaking his nose and knocking his teeth down his throat. The crowd cheered. To them it was just another fight another round of entertainment. It spurred Merle on. He knew what he had to do. He put the handle of his knife in Daryl's hand, pointing the blade at his own stomach. "Just do it! Hell you ain't even have to, I'll do it for you." He curled his hand tightly around Daryl's making his brother hold the knife.
Daryl grunted and with all his strength he bucked Merle off of him. "You fucking psycho!" The two of them fought each other, rolling around on the ground trying to get the knife from the other. Merle had Daryl on his back again but it wasn't long before he once again was tossed into the dirt. "You're getting pretty strong there baby boy, yet not quite strong enough!" Merle lunged at Daryl. He didn't realize until it was too late that Daryl had his own knife clutched in his hand with the blade facing his stomach. The weight of Merle's body pushed the blade in deep.
.
Molena Georgia:
He stumbled along the walkway knowing that if he didn't get off the street soon bad things would happen. He put his back against a building; the brick was sharp against his skin. A few drops of blood fell staining the pavement next to his feet. Daryl felt like the ground moved when he looked down, but he didn't realize it wasn't the ground, he was swaying on his feet. His vision blurred and his eyes slowly closed. His mouth hung open. Desperately he tried to take a deep breath, his wound made it impossible. Keep moving, a voice inside his head warned. Strangely the voice was his brother Merle, yet it wasn't the usually insulting tone Merle had. Daryl answered out loud. His voice was faintly above a whisper, with a biting edge of a man struggling for life. "I need… a fucking… break!"
"I'll give you a break little brother. I'll break your gotdamn neck if you don't move yer pansy ass!"
Daryl laughed like a drunken man. Now that was Merle. "Hey pussy, how come you only show up when I'm dying?" He leaned his upper body away from the wall leaving his backside against it for support. He searched for Merle. His crossbow dangled from his shoulder for a minute before sliding down his arm and landing on the ground. Still talking to Merle, Daryl looked at his bow. "…bet…I…can't get ya to pick that up for me, can I? Lazy fuck!" His head swayed as he lifted his chin. He closed his eyes in hopes that the world around him would stop spinning. "What the hell did I drink? You slip some of that shit into my drink?" He looked around but Merle was gone. Delirium was beginning to take hold. Slowly Daryl was losing his grip on reality as his life was slipping away.
He didn't know how long he was standing there, half sitting on the wall but Merle was back. "Open your eyes asshole." Merle's words echoed. The only thing Daryl could do now was obey. He looked up and saw a walker dragging its right leg. "No…no fuck you!" Daryl groaned when he reached for his bow. It felt like it weighted fifty pounds. The woman paid him no mind, he knew that wouldn't be the case soon enough. She would charge once she got his scent. Taking his hand off his wound proved to be a mistake because the few drops of blood suddenly became a puddle. Daryl turned his eyes back to the walker. She stood to her full height, facing him.
"Son of a bitch! I'll fucking bleed to death first before I let one of them bastards eat me! Merle you could fucking do something, help me out you bastard!" He struggled to engage his weapon failing to pull the cord back into position. "Come on man! Come on!" Daryl's words were pleading, heartbreaking.
The woman dropped to her knees holding her hands into the air. "Don't shoot! Please don't shoot! I thought you were one of them!"
Daryl slid down the wall, feeling the rough brick tear into his flesh. His crossbow hit the ground seconds before he did. "Merle, what the fuck is happening? Walkers don't talk…they don't talk."
Brown gave Mel a displeasing stare before delivering the news to her and Charlie. "He ain't bit, but that don't mean he's well neither. That looks like a knife wound if I've ever seen a knife wound before. What the hell kind of man did you bring to us? Charlie, I swear you sure know how to pick 'em."
Melody pretended to fold the man's biker vest before holding it up. "Are these Hell's angel wings?"
Brown looked at the jacket closely. "I don't think so. But whatever they are I don't think we can trust him. He didn't get knifed on his own."
Daryl moaned and cussed in his unconscious state before falling silent again.
Mel moved closer taking a look at his sweat covered face. "Well… we may not have to worry about that long. He looks like death. Worse than those things!" She pointed outside meaning the walkers.
"He got identification?" Brown asked Charlie as she folded his slacks over the chair Mel had hung his jacket.
"I don't know." Charlie searched his pockets coming up empty before finding a leather snap close wallet attached to a chain in the inside pocket of the vest. Typical biker style. There was a driver's license; the picture didn't match the man lying on the living room floor. She read the name out loud. "Merle Dixon…" she fingered through a couple of membership cards and a worn ATM card before finding another expired license, this one with a younger picture of the man. "Daryl, his name is Daryl. And his driver's license is expired." She didn't know why she said that, other than the fact that she was curious to know why he didn't have an updated one. Why hadn't he been driving for…she glanced at the card again, three years? Where had he been the last three years?
They settled in for the night keeping the place dark. The last month the three had grown accustom to this life they lived in a house belonging to a family they never met. When Brown had found the place it was abandoned but secure. He brought Mel and Charlie here and they had made it a home the best they could. To Charlie it was more like a prison. Not a prison keeping her in but a prison keeping others out.
They had a three night watch schedule that Brown had made up for them. Charlie was on tonight the first of her three. She found herself watching Daryl more than she watched outside. They didn't have much activity in this area anymore not since most of the dead had moved on. Once in a while they saw a lone walker but it was easy to keep hidden. Seeing this man today had surprised her. The way he staggered made her think he was one of them, and apparently he thought she was one too. Charlie wasn't even sure if Daryl knew she wasn't. He was delirious and barely made it back to the house with her help. He had only spoken once and that was to ask for Rick. When she couldn't answer him he said something that sparked her curiosity. "He's yer fuckin husband or did you forget about him again?" Who would forget they had a husband? And was Rick the one who stabbed Daryl? There were so many questions she could ask him, if he only woke up long enough to answer.
Before dawn Daryl granted her wish by waking up screaming. Charlie grabbed the rag he had in his back pocket. She had a moment of hesitation because it was filthy before she twisted it into a gag shoving it into Daryl's mouth. She prayed he could breathe through his nose. "Calm down! Please calm down!" He looked at her with wild eyes. Brown came rushing into the room followed close behind my Mel.
"What the hell is going on?" Mel lit a kerosene lamp which made Brown bark at her. "Put it out!" A moment passed before Mel began to dim the lamp.
"No wait!" Charlie ordered. She saw Daryl's eyes begin to focus on her. "Daryl…is that your name. Nod if it is." He shook his head but regretted it because nausea twisted his stomach violently. "I'm going to remove this, please don't scream again."
He didn't scream instead he dry heaved the minute she pulled the gag out of his mouth. Charlie didn't move out of the way instead she rolled him onto his side and supported him so he wouldn't choke. As soon as she was certain he had stopped spitting up stomach acid she rolled him onto his back once more. He groaned in pain and gasped for breath.
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have gagged you. But I was worried you would call out those things again. Can you manage a sip of water?"
Daryl wanted the water but he knew better. He couldn't handle being sick again, the pain was unbearable. He shook his head and closed his eyes.
Charlie waited a long time before telling Mel and Brown to head back to bed. "He's out again, no need to stay up. I got this." She reached for the lamp but Daryl stopped her.
"Who the fuck are you?"
Brown spoke up before Charlie had a chance to speak. "Turn that fucking light out. Wasting fuel we need for this shit. He can puke just as easily in the dark than the light!" Brown paced the room for a minute and then turned his attention back to the suffering man lying on his floor. "I should be asking you who the fuck you are."
"You know my name already." Daryl coughed hard. The stomach acid burned his throat making it necessary to cough even though it made his side hurt worse. He clenched his jaw closed making his teeth grind together with a sound that gave Charlie the chills.
"Listen take a small sip of this." She held the cup to his lips while cradling his head. "It will stop your cough." As he listened to her she explained what happened ending the sentence with, "That is Adam Brown, we just call him Brown and his sister Melody, Mel for short. You're safe here and you need to rest. Your wound is deep."
Daryl turned his face letting her know he had enough water. "Your…"
"I'm right here. I'm going to stay here with you."
He shook his head. "What's your name?" He barely could manage the words because all the activity had robbed him of any strength he had left.
"Charlie…my name is Charlie."
