Surviving In A Dead World
Chapter One
(this will be a Daryl/OFC love story but for now I just wanna set the scene. I've never written before so feedback would be gratefully appreciated)
Daryl watched from the camoflage of the bushes, and down the aim of his bow, as the doe bent her front legs to gracefully take a sip from the creek. His fingers twitched, ready to aim. One quick, swift arrow and dinner would be served. He curved his finger around the trigger and took a deep breath, not making a single sound. Then he heard it. The snap of a branch. He growled in frustration as the doe's head shot straight up, her eyes wide in a panic, and took off further into the forest. He sighed, sligning his bow back over his shoulder and emerged from the bushes.
"God damn you Merle!" he growled as his older brother emerged from where he was hidden. The older man scowled at him, putting his hunting knife back into its holster.
"That weren't me little brother, sure it weren't your clumsy ass?" he drawled
"Like hell it was, could'a been one of the kids from camp" Daryl bent down, looking for tracks of another animal. Anything.
"Damn brats" Merle growled, looking around the clearing, his hand on his knife.
"They aint that bad" his brother said, and Merle chuckled
"You gettin all broody there Darylina? Never thought you'd be the kinda girl to settle down"
"Shut up" Daryl sighed, getting up off his knees "Looks like that doe werent the only one here recently, we could track somethin' else before dark"
"Or we could just sit around and play tea party with all those little girls" Merle grinned, teasing his brother, Daryl scowled at him. "Well come on then, lead the way baby brother" Merle gave his sibling a shove. They moved on further and deeper into the forest, the late afternoon Georgia sun beating down on them through the trees. Daryl was getting frustrated, the doe's trail seemed to have gone cold, and he couldnt put up with Merle's bitching at him for much longer. Then he noticed something in the dirt, he flung his arm out behind him, narrowly missing his brother. Merle opened his mouth to bitch some more, but Daryl put a finger to his lips. Merle bent down beside him and examined the track.
"Biter?" he whispered "Definately human"
"A girl" Daryl studied the shape of the print "Too small to be a man, too narrow"
"Well let's find the bitch and put a bullet in her brain" Merle grinned, loading up his gun.
"She aint been gone long, we dont know if it's a biter" Daryl said, but he still loaded up his bow all the same, couldnt afford to be caught off guard nowadays, especially not since what happened before they left home. Merle grunted in response.
"There's blood" he said, pointing to the drops of dark red on the nearby tree trunk. He rubbed the trunk and brought his fingers up into the sunlight. "Fresh"
"hmm" Daryl mumbled, and took a step forward. Then he heard it. Rustling. Footsteps. "Merle" he pointed to his left hand side, his brother nodded, raising his gun. The footsteps got closer and closer, the rustling louder, someone, or something was really making a run for it, and getting closer to them. Daryl spun to his left, raising his bow. He squinted, trying to make out what was coming towards him, but all he could see was a small black shape. Merle cocked his gun, making kissing noises. If it was a biter, the sound would draw them out. But nothing.
"Aw to hell with this" Daryl growled, frustrated, and he blindly shot an arrow. He heard it connect with a tree, and he also heard a small gasp of shock. He looked at his brother "That were'nt a walker"
Merle shook his head, lowering his gun. He gesutred to Daryl to follow him as he took cautious steps into the bushes. "Oh ho ho lookie here" he chuckled softly, looking straight ahead of him. Daryl followed his brother's eyeline. Right next to the tree where his arrow had hit, stood a girl. Well, a woman, must have been about 25. She was clutching a baseball bat, her back leaning against the tree, panting heavily. She had a large backpack upon her back, dressed in a white cami top, ripped jeans and Dc Marten's. Her hair was dark brown, her eyes a piercing blue and she had a nose ring. Daryl also noticed her arm was cut, bad. The gash was deep, blood trickling down her arm and on her top. Her blood was on the tree, but it wasnt a bite. It was too neat to be a bite. She was unlike any of the women back at camp, Daryl thought, she was...pretty. Real pretty. He could see his brother thought so too, unable to take his eyes off of her. But still, couldnt be too careful these days, and as the brothers stepped out of the bushes, they raised their weapons towards the girl, who spun around to face them, her eyes wide in a panic, and promptly proceeded to pass out. She hit the forest floor with a soft thump.
"Jesus Christ" Merle sighed as he walked over to inspect her "Women are nuts, didnt even do anything and she flakes on us" he turned her over "She's sure a pretty thing aint she Daryl? She's still breathin, and the cut on her arm aint gonna be fatal" he stood back up
"You aint just gonna leave her out here?" Daryl raised an eyebrow as his brother began to walk away from the girl "She'll be biter meat, with that cut"
"What, you suggestin we take her back to camp?"
"Just to patch her up, they aint gonna let her stay" Daryl looked at the girl on the ground "She looks like she's had a tough time"
"We all have little brother, just cos she's pretty dont make her no different to the rest of us" Merle sighed, and then grinned "You thinkin you gonna get some of that?"
"No" Daryl growled "She's just...shes weak that's all, she looks like she aint eaten for days"
Merle chuckled
"Well maybe I might get me some of that, shame to let her go to waste." Daryl rolled his eyes. Merle tore off one of his shirt sleeves, quickly making a tourniquet for the girl's arm. Even though 99% of the time, Merle Dixon was an asshole, Daryl knew his brother wasnt all that bad. "Well, come on then, pick her up"
"Why me?!"
"Cos you're the one who wants to save her, Saint Daryl" Merle took his brothers' crossbow and slung it over his shoulder, as well as the girl's backpack and bat. Daryl sighed, bending down and picking up the girl. She wasn't heavy, not at all, he easily managed to put her in his arms, bridal style. His brother raised his eyebrows.
"I aint gunna throw her over my shoulder, she aint a kill" Daryl grunted at his brother just to shut him up. Merle laughed and walked on ahead. Daryl looked down at the unconcious girl in his arms, she really was pretty. And she smelled amazing, even if she had been on the run for days. He noticed a cut on her cheek, and she was filthy. Poor kid.
"Pick up the pace little brother" Merle yelled from ahead of him "This aint no time to be fallin' in love!"
"I aint" Daryl grunted, to no-one in particular. When they made it back to camp, everyone's eyes went straight to the mysterious girl in Daryl's arms, and the tourniquet on her arm.
"That wasn't quite what we were expecting" an old man by the name of Dale, chuckled "Bit different to deer, isnt she?"
"How badly is she hurt?" A tall, skinny woman named Lori asked, as she came over to Daryl "Here, take her into my tent" she said, leading Daryl over to where her tent was pitched. "Carl, fetch me some bandages" Lori said, looking over at her son. He was at least 12, pale and skinny like his mama. Kid's dad had been shot and killed before they left Atlanta, and now his mom was sleeping with his dad's best friend, the muscly guy, the police officer, Shane, although everybody pretended not to know. Carl dashed over to where all the medical supplies were kept, in Dale's RV and grabbed some bandages and some antiseptic liquid. Daryl led the girl down on Lori's camp bed.
"She passed out on us in the forest" he said to Lori, as she took the tourniquet off of her arm "Dont know her name or nothin', Merle's got her stuff"
"Thank you, Daryl" Lori smiled at him. He grunted in response and stalked out of the tent, bumping into the blonde sisters, Andrea and Amy on the way out.
"Anything we can do to help, Lori?" asked Amy, poking her head into the tent, Lori nodded.
"Bring me some water for her and some crackers, she hasnt eaten in weeks by the look of it, and Andrea, she's gonna need some clean clothes, fetch her things from Merle?"
"If there's anything of hers left" Andrea sighed, she knew what the Dixon brothers were like. Scavengers. She wouldnt be suprised if Merle had already emptied the poor girl's backpack out. She walked over the where the brothers were skinning what little kill they had made. She felt her stomach turn. "Merle, you got the new girl's stuff?"
"Maybe"
"Merle." she said through gritted teeth. He really knew how to test the patience of people.
"Yeah I got it, but what you gonna give me for it, sugar?" he grinned at Andrea, and she glared at him. Daryl made a disgusted noise and handed Andrea the backpack, and the baseball bat.
"Thank you Daryl" she smiled
"Whatever. She gonna be ok?" he asked, looking towards the tent.
"I'm sure she'll be fine, shes in good hands with Lori" she reassured him.
"Hm" he nodded, before going back to skinning his squirrel. Andrea threw the backpack over her shoulder and walked back over to Lori's tent.
"T-Dog" she called
"Yeah?" responded the tall, muscly black man, standing up from where he was sitting with the other men, Jim and Moralez. She handed him the bloody baseball bat. "new girl's?"
"Yeah, would you mind cleaning it up and putting it with the other weapons? Just cos we dont know her, we need to be safe"
"Sure, you do know Shane will flip when he comes back dont you?"
"I'm sure the Dixon's can handle him, they brought her back after all." shrugged Andrea. "I havent got a problem with one more person"
"It's one more mouth to feed though" said Jim, frowning. Moralez nodded in agreement.
"We're running low on food as it is, and my kids need feeding"
"We all need feeding, that's why Shane and Glenn have gone into Atlanta for food and supplies" said Andrea. "Just...we cant turn our back's on her, she's a human being after all and from what I can gather, she's alone."
"Just see what Shane says, you know how he can be" Dale put a hand on Andrea's shoulder, trying to calm her down a little. She sighed and walked back over to Lori's tent. Lori was outisde washing her hands. Andrea placed the backpack just inside the tent.
"How is she?" she asked
"Still out, but I cleaned up her arm and bandaged it properly. It was pretty bad but she'll be fine, thanks to Daryl and Merle."
"Never thought I'd head you say that" Andrea chuckled slightly and Lori smiled. She looked up as they both heard the sound of an approaching car. "They're back"
"I'm gonna sit with the new girl, just in case she wakes up" said Lori, putting a hand on Andrea's arm "Just tell Shane where I am, okay? And Carl."
"Sure" Andrea nodded, before walking back over to the cars, where everyone had gathered. Shane stepped out of the car, followed by Glenn, the Asian boy. "Anything?" she asked
"Not much, but we managed to get some more food and ammo" Shane said
"Geeks are everywhere though" sighed Glenn, adjusting his hat "Was a close call"
"I'm glad you made it back" smiled Amy, as she and some of the others helped Glenn with the bags from the trunk.
"Where's your mom?" asked Shane, ruffling Carl's hair as him and the small boy made their way to the weapons stash with the ammo. Andrea jogged over to them
"Shes in the tent. The Dixons found a girl in the woods"
"And they brought her back here?" asked Shane, frowing a little "They know the rules"
"She isnt bit, she was unconscious, still is. Lori had to patch her up a little but she'll be fine. They couldnt just leave her out there" Andrea reasoned. Shane sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Alright, but shes gonna have to earn her place her, we cant just keep taking eveyone in, this isnt the freakin' Salvation Army. Wait out here little man" he said to Carl as he unzipped the tent and stepped inside.