Hello all you lovely people! I have recently gotten a rather large plot bunny roaming in my head. Because of this, I decided to write this fic. I am thinking it will last around 15-20 chapters by the time it is done! I do hope you all enjoy it!
RATING: THERE WILL BE TRIGGERS IN THIS STORY. THIS INCLUDES MENTIONS OF RAPE, BLOOD, AND POSSIBLY MORE.
PAIRING: Daryl/Rick
SETTING: This will take place AFTER season 3 but BEFORE season 4b.
SUMMARY: Daryl had lost his brother in Atlanta. In an attempt to find him he joins a group that call themselves 'The Claimers'. At first he is hesitant to go along with there ways, but in the end decides it is the only way to survive. The apocalypse does bring out the worst in people after all.
Men Like Us
Prologue
Daryl couldn't say that he enjoyed being with the group. They all had their issues. He just needed a way to survive the world they lived in now. It was his instinct to latch onto someone that appeared to show leadership skills. This is how he ended up with Joe and the Claimers.
It was a rough start to begin with. He had lashed out to everyone in the group. Hell, he was in a fist fight with Len every chance he got. Len even had the audacity to mention his brother at one point. That ended up with Len having a broken nose and a cracked rib.
Still, he continues to journey along with them. It was a way to try and find Merle. In the beginning when shit hit the fan, he had lost sight of his brother. They had been separated in Atlanta, leaving him detached from everyone else. At the time, he didn't have any idea what to do. He tried to figure out where Merle would have run off to.
That was how he met Joe. They encountered each other in a run-in when Daryl had gone into the home of one of Merle's old druggie friends. His "dealer," as Merle would try and argue. He had opened the door, bow raised as to ensure there had been no dead men walking around. His finger had been on the trigger, just when Harley had slammed the door open. It took only a second for him to be surrounded. At first he was ready to fire, only to have Joe gave him a wide grin as if he found him funny. It only took Daryl a second to lower the weapon to the floor.
Daryl had appeared to follow Joe only for the leadership quality he had shown. The man had an aura about him that screamed for people to listen to him. Daryl didn't like to admit it, but it reminded him of his old man. He appeared to care but then other moments he didn't. Daryl didn't mind at first. He had shrugged off the feeling the group gave him of unease. Merle had stuck by worse before all this happened.
The first time they had come along a limited group of survivors, it was a total of 6 people. One kid. Two women. Three men.
Daryl can still remember their faces, the look of sheer horror on each woman and child as the men were stabbed, each by the head of an arrow plunged right through their skulls. Daryl knew his own face probably contorted to the same look when Dan grabbed the kid, stating "claim" as if he were an object to be won. He couldn't hold back his feelings, almost jumping on the man and stabbing him then and there.
Daryl turned his own weapon around, pointing it towards Joe. He remembers screaming till his throat went hoarse. The anger he felt for this group was more than the anger he held toward his own father. He remembers the look of indifference Joe had on his face.
"He marked his claim."
The words would always echo through Daryl's head. He stormed off after that, not being able to rid himself of the cries the kid screamed. His body told him to run from the group, to get away and never come back to their horrors. Yet he knew if he left, he was as good as dead.
So he stayed. The sickness he had felt towards staying with them had caused him to leave on multiple different occasions. If he wasn't trying to survive this, he would have beaten the shit out of all of them. It wasn't just Dan who caused the problems. Billy liked small blond women. Tony enjoyed the spunk of the ones that never gave up fighting. Len also seemed to have his preferences.
Just thinking about it made Daryl want to hurl. The only one that didn't seem to stake claims were Joe. Joe always seemed to be the one that was the head honcho, but didn't feel any sexual drive for any of them. Instead, he enjoyed cutting open the men as if they were carcasses for science students to dissect.
Daryl remembers the first living, breathing person's life he took. They had come across a young girl in the woods. He could already feel the disgust forming in his stomach from the look Dan was giving her. He stepped forward, the words pushing out of his mouth before any of them could say it.
"Claimed."
He hated himself once the words had left his lips. He can hear the others whistling and hollering as if they were proud of him. Instead of focusing on the men, he turns his full attention to the girl. She looked nervous having large men calling out like that.
The sound of her voice had been frantic. She spoke of trying to find her mother. Daryl kneels down next to her. His eyes look at her with guilt as he pulls out his knife. That appears to silence the group behind them. "Ya got a name?" His words were rough and distraught.
It was either he lets the filthy men have her or… Put her down before their hands could get anywhere near her.
"S-Sophia. P-Please mister! I just want my mommy." The kid held tightly to a torn up doll in her hands. Daryl gave her a small broken smile with a shake of his head.
"I am sorry kid. Ya deserve better 'an meetin' us in the woods." He can still remember the look of shock that her eyes had shown as he plunged his knife into her heart. His arms had wrapped around her, waiting for her to completely bleed out as if she were an animal ready for slaughter. His body had been shaking the entire time. He can barely remember laying her down on the ground. He placed a flower, a Cherokee Rose, on her lifeless corpse.
After that, Daryl did the same thing every time he could. His hands were full of blood from the children and women he had killed. It was either him saving them from the horrors of his group, or letting worse happen to them. It had caused more conflict in the group; however none of them went against his words.
Joe had made sure of that. After all, they had their rules. His claims grow in number with each family they found. He would always try and claim the children first. He would always try and show the parents that not everyone were as awful as they thought. His mind starting to go numb at the screams of the innocent people he killed. He would try and save everyone he could. Even if it meant him becoming one of the worst scum left in this world.
Yay for prologues that last longer then the writer intended it to be! ha. this is just the setting up the background so you know what happened before of course! The next chapter is when stuff actually starts to happen~ ;D
Also, through the fanfic, I will try and post a song I listened to while writing the chapter. As I am very music oriented, I tend to listen to a few when I write.
For this chapter: Bottom of the River by Delta Rae
