The hot Georgia sun was a curse in Nikki's opinion. At least it was to them, walking on the highway with no shade or hats to protect their heads from the heat. She wanted to complain, to curse, to rant and rave about how much life sucked but she knew her brother would get pissed if she did. Chris always had a real bad temper and that didn't change when the apocalypse started. In fact, it got worse. It had helped them a couple of times but more times than not it got them in trouble. Like when he was so pissed he punched a wall and alerted a whole building of Diseased that they were there. Nikki had been so pissed off afterwards. Her and Chris had gotten into a fist fight that had almost ended in Nikki getting seriously injured. Chris was way stronger than her and didn't always know when to stop. Luckily some Diseased came towards them and forced them to stop.
"How much farther to the CDC, do ya think?" Nikki finally asked. She was bothered by the quiet more than anything. She'd hated the quiet before the world ended and she hated it even more now that the world was silent besides the sounds of the dead.
"Maybe half a week of walkin' if we keep at this pace. Might be able to find a workin' car though if we're lucky." Chris told her. He wiped sweat from his forehead with his shirt. He'd pulled it off about three miles back when he just couldn't take the heat anymore. Nikki had glared at him for a solid ten minutes afterwards, annoyed that he could strip off his clothes but she couldn't. "We're on the highway so I assume we can. Some people might have just abandoned their cars instead of runnin' out of gas." He said.
Nikki eyed the vehicles about half a mile away from them and hoped that at least one of them had a little bit of gas. "Maybe the cars will have food." She said, the idea making her smile.
"We're doin' just fine on squirrels." Chris said immediately. They'd had this discussion so many damn times. He was getting sick of it. He was getting sick of everything. The heat, Nikki, walking, the fucking things trying to eat them. He was sick of it all.
Nikki's eyes were roaming the sky now, the clear blue empty sky. Not a cloud in sight but also no planes. Nikki couldn't decide which one bothered her more. She had hated planes before and now she'd give the world to hear one overhead. "I know but….I could go for some canned food. It would be a nice change." She admitted.
Chris stopped and whirled around, glaring. Nikki stopped immediately and stared at her brother. She looked a little fearful but mostly she just looked angry and bored. She was so used to her brother's anger by now that it didn't even really bother her anymore. "Enough! I'm fuckin' tired of you complainin' all the damn time! I'm tryin' my hardest to keep you the fuck alive and all you do is make my life a livin' hell!" Chris shouted at them.
Nikki kicked an empty can on the ground. "I thought it'd be the Diseased that would make your life a livin' hell." She said. She had very bad timing sometimes. Like right then.
Chris stormed over to her and grabbed her by the front of the shirt. He felt like hitting her with his bow or his fist but he was always careful not to hurt her too bad. Sometimes he got carried away like when he was blinded by his anger but usually he didn't hurt her. She was his little sister after all and the only family he had left. "Shut up." He growled at her before shoving her back. She stumbled backwards, tripping over her own feet. When she was stable again she glared viciously at her brother, her own brand of anger issues coming through. She used to get angry at a lot of things in the old world but in this new one her anger only showed up due to her brother and the things trying to eat them.
"Like you're so perfect! You complain all the damn time and I never say shit! You screw up a lot too but you never hear me tellin' you off!" Nikki shouted at her brother, getting in his face.
The sounds of the dead filled the air. Nikki and Chris took a step back away from each other and looked around. When they saw the Diseased coming at them from the side of the road the Dawson siblings fell back, holding up their weapons. Nikki had a bow, an expensive one her grandparents had bought her, and a bow quiver that held the only five arrows Nikki possessed. Chris had a shotgun and a bow just like Nikki's. They were pretty damn good with their weapons which had saved their lives more times than once. Their skills were gonna have to save their lives again apparently. Chris made sure his bow was secure on his back (he was so glad they'd bought bow slings before the world ended) before opening fire on the undead bastards trying to kill them. Nikki glanced at her brother before rapidly releasing arrows into the brains of the Diseased coming at them.
The Diseased didn't let up. They kept coming, out of the trees mostly, and the duo was steadily getting more and more tired. Nikki was out of arrows and Chris was out of bullets and trying to get his bow off his back (it was stuck on his backpack) while his baby sister shoved knives into Diseased skulls. When they heard the once familiar sound of vehicles they glanced towards the sound but not for long. They saw a line of vehicles, a RV at the lead, coming towards them before they focused back on trying not to die.
Nikki shoved her knife deep into the brain of a Diseased coming at her, killing it instantly. She tried to pull her knife out but it wouldn't budge. Panic immediately set in as Diseased continued to come at her while her one and only weapon was stuck. She wasn't strong enough to knock them down and stomp their heads in and she'd put her bow down so she could stab the Diseased so she couldn't exactly hit them with that. Chris couldn't help her; he was too busy fighting three Diseased at once to notice the two coming at Nikki. Nikki looked at the Diseased as she tried desperately to yank her knife free and saw in their eyes the animalistic drive to eat everything with a heartbeat. She felt a scream build up in her throat but she refused to let it out. If she screamed Chris would turn, paying no attention to the Diseased, and get bit. She refused to be the reason he died so she kept the scream in her throat, accepting her death.
An arrow pierced the skull of the Diseased nearest Nikki. She screamed in surprise and Chris did, in fact, turn to see what had happened. The Diseased in front of him lunged for his arm but a man in a cop's uniform came out of nowhere and stabbed the thing in the head. The second Diseased in front of Nikki kept coming but a man with a crossbow, the man who had just undoubtedly saved her life, came up and stabbed it in the head. Nikki looked at him with a mixture of shock, admiration, and gratitude. "Thank you." She breathed out. The man nodded to her but didn't say anything. Nikki stared at him for a moment before yanking her knife free and turning to her brother who was staring at the men and the group slowly getting out of their vehicles with distrust. "You okay big brother?" She asked worriedly.
"Yeah. You?" Chris asked, not looking at her. He didn't know who these people were and even though they'd only been out of safety for three weeks he already knew that strangers were not to be trusted. Strangers were dangerous and he didn't want anyone dangerous near his sister.
"A redneck knight with a shinin' crossbow just saved my ass so yeah. No scratches or bites thanks to him." Nikki told her brother, shooting her savior a smile that he didn't return. He huffed in a way that could have been a laugh though so Nikki didn't take his lack of a smile to heart.
Chris looked at crossbow man. Normally he'd be sizing the guy up but if his sister was telling the truth, and she would never lie about this, then this guy had just saved his baby sister and he owed him at least a thank you. He dragged his sister closer to him but nodded to the man. "Thanks." He said. He left the "I owe you" he'd usually say silent this time. Just until he knew what type of people this group was made up of. If they turned out to be good he'd let the guy know he owed him for saving his baby sister's life. Crossbow guy nodded but didn't say anything.
Nikki eyed her brother, expecting him to say more. He didn't though and she let out an exasperated sigh. "We really are grateful. Seriously. I'd be worse than dead right now without your help." She told the man. She'd learned that talking to strangers was even more dangerous in this world but she wasn't getting that "run for your life" feeling around these guys so she figured she could talk to them. She was an excellent judge of character most of the time. Feeling like she was safe again, she closed her pocketknife and tucked it away.
Chris shot his sister a death glare, furious at her for speaking to the strangers before he had decided how dangerous they were. She looked at him innocently but they both knew she knew exactly what she'd done. Chris could always see through her bullshit. He made a note to blow up on her later before looking towards the group of people that had piled out of the vehicles. There were women, some more men, and two kids. Not exactly a dangerous group then. "Quite a few of you." Chris commented.
"Not as much as we'd like." The cop said. Another man had joined him. A man with dark hair who was watching them in a way neither Dawson sibling liked. Nikki was getting a bad vibe from him and she took a step closer to her brother after retrieving her bow as casually as possible.
"You lose many?" Nikki asked, a sympathetic look on her face. The cop nodded solemnly and Nikki looked at the man and his group with empathy. "I'm sorry." She told them. There were small smiles and nods in reply, they accepted her sympathies and appreciated them.
"Is it just you two out here?" The man beside the cop asked.
Nikki wanted to tell the man to fuck off but she figured Chris would be pretty pissed off if she did. So she kept quiet. Chris took a half step in front of her, protecting her while simultaneously making it clear that he was in charge of the two of them. "Yes." He replied curtly, glancing back at crossbow guy to make sure he was leaving his sister alone. His worries were apparently unjustified. The guy wasn't even paying attention to them anymore. He was going around to the Diseased, picking out the arrows in their heads.
"Why's that?" The man asked.
The Dawson siblings were instantly pissed. "Hey we didn't ask you how you lost your people so don't go askin' us!" Nikki said furiously, taking a step towards the man. Chris held her back though he felt like he was gonna punch the man. He wanted to. Nikki definitely wanted to too but she wasn't gonna fight her brother to try it. "Insensitive prick." She grumbled angrily, turning away so she didn't have to look at the man that pissed her off. That was one way she dealt with her anger, turning away. For some reason, if the source of her anger wasn't right in front of her she could calm herself down easier.
"Watch your mouth." Chris ordered her, his eyes still glaring at the man.
"Fuck that!" Nikki said furiously, looking back at her brother. He looked back at her and their eyes locked. They glared at each other and the whole time Nikki was trying her hardest not to smile. She always smiled when she staring someone down liked this even when she didn't want to and it made her look psycho. Chris always got really mad when Nikki grinned while angry and he usually mocked her over it. Chris turned towards her and took a step closer, invading her personal space in an obvious threatening way. Nikki managed to glare at him for another minute before finally looking away. "Sorry big brother." She grumbled out before turning away again.
Chris glared at his sister a moment longer before turning back to look at the men. He glared right at the man that had pissed them off, displaying as much anger as possible in his expression. "You better watch your mouth too. We don't put up with assholes." He told the man.
"Shane was way out of line. He won't act like that again." The cop said firmly, shooting the man beside him an angry look. Shane shot the cop a not so nice look and Chris seriously doubted the cop could keep the man from saying anything. Still, it was better to just nod and pretend like he believed the cop. "What's your names?" The cop asked.
"Chris and Nikki Dawson." Chris told the cop. There was no harm in saying their first and last names anymore. It wasn't like they knew these people and names weren't exactly important anymore. People didn't really need names with the dead walking around trying to eat them. "What's yours?" Chris asked.
"Rick Grimes and this is my old partner Shane Walsh." The cop told them. The duo glanced over at Shane briefly before focusing back on Rick. "That's Daryl Dixon." Rick said, nodding towards the man still collecting arrows. "And I'll introduce you to everyone else when we stop again." He told them.
Chris frowned deeply. "You're actin' like we're comin' with ya." He told the man.
Rick stared at him, assessing him. The boy was obviously tough, he could tell that easily thanks to the boy's lack of shirt, and he seemed extremely protective. Rick figured he must be a good leader to have kept his sister alive for this long on his own. He'd probably need some very good reasons as to why they should come with them. "Would you rather keep walking? Straight into a city full of Walkers? You won't last too long on your own." Rick told the boy.
Nikki looked at her brother, her stomach suddenly in knots at the idea of a city of...did he just call the Diseased "Walkers?" Nikki liked their name for them better than hers. She was definitely going to start using that. "Bro, I don't want to go there if it's too dangerous." She said quietly, barely loud enough for the men around them to hear.
"We can get a car, drive straight through. They can't eat what they can't catch." Chris told his sister, sending a slight glare towards Rick. He was glad the guy had warned them but why did he have to throw in the bit about them not surviving? All it had done was scare his sister.
"What if there aren't any workin' cars? What then? The CDC isn't worth it if one of us ends up dead." Nikki said, worry obvious in her voice.
"You're heading to the CDC?" Rick asked. Chris shot his sister an angry look, why did she have to say that? He still didn't know about these people and he wasn't sure if he wanted them to know where they were going or not. "We're heading there ourselves. We could take you." Rick told the siblings.
Nikki perked up at the idea but Chris frowned. He wasn't so sure about this. What if they were tricking them? What if they tried to hurt them? Chris thought he could take the men down; crossbow guy would probably be the only difficult one. He was sure Nikki could take on the women if need be, she wasn't exactly weak and she could really pack a punch if she needed to. Would it even be worth it to go with these people? He could always get him and his sister to the CDC on his own. It would take a while though, he knew that, and when he glanced back at Nikki he could only think about how he wanted to quickly get her somewhere safe. He glanced back at the large group near the vehicles before turning back to Rick, his mind made up. "Alright, we'll come with you." He told the man. Rick smiled a bit and Nikki instantly perked up. Shane didn't look very happy and Chris glared at him. "But I'll be in charge of my sister. No one orders her around but me, got that?" The older Dawson sibling said.
"Wow Bro. Rude much?" Nikki said, giving her brother a sharp disapproving look. These people were being kind to them and her brother was being an ass. Typical.
"Shut up Nikki." Chris ordered her. She glared at him but listened, keeping her mouth shut as she turned away from him. Chris let out an aggravated noise before turning back to Rick and Shane. "We gotta deal?" He asked them.
Rick nodded. "Deal. She's under your charge." He said. At his words, the ready-to-fight tension in Chris's shoulders left. Rick smiled a bit more and turned towards his group. "Dale, you got any room in the RV?" He asked. Dale nodded in reply. "Alright, you two can ride with him." Rick told the siblings.
"Thanks." Nikki said brightly while her brother just nodded curtly. Rick smiled at her and she grinned back before turning towards the man who had saved her life. Daryl Dixon. Nikki liked the name. She smiled at him and when he just looked at her she pointed towards the arrows in his hand. Her smile faltered slightly as she did, uncertainty creeping up on her when she didn't get anything in return from the man. "We allowed to have ours back or are you keepin' them for yourself?" She asked the man, joking. Daryl didn't say anything, just separated their arrows from his and handed them over to her. Nikki cleared her throat awkwardly and focused on the arrows now in her hands. "Seriously, thank you. My brother would have had to put me down if you hadn't saved me." She told him, her stomach knotting up at the idea of what her brother would have had to do.
"No problem." Daryl grumbled out. He didn't know why the girl was thanking him again. He'd just done what anybody else would have done, saved a struggling girl's life. The only thing he understood about the girl was her concern for her brother. Daryl thought that if he might worry about his brother having to put him down too instead of worrying about actually dying.
Nikki smiled at the man one last time before turning to her brother and handing him his arrows. She noticed his gun still lying on the ground and frowned. "We're not leavin' Grandpa Bill's gun are we?" She asked worriedly.
Chris glanced back at the gun on the ground. He'd run out of bullets and it was pretty much useless. If he took it with them he'd just be adding dead useless weight to their load. But it was Grandpa Bill's gun. When he'd died, long before the outbreak, they'd treated his gun with the upmost care. It felt wrong to leave it even if he wasn't sure whether or not they'd ever find bullets again. "We're not gonna leave it." He assured his sister. Instantly her face brightened up with a huge smile. Chris smiled back at her before putting his arrows back in their slots.
Nikki carefully put away her own arrows, her eyes drifting to the group getting back into their vehicles as she did. She caught the kids staring at her and smiled at them as kindly as she could. The girl smiled back slightly but the boy looked to his mom, as if he was unsure whether or not he could smile back. Nikki huffed quietly through her nose, thinking the woman must be a strict mother. She eyed the rest of the group with interest, wondering what their lives had been like before all of this started. She noticed a blonde woman looking at her with a sad expression and Nikki couldn't stop herself from frowning or from concern appearing on her face. She wondered what made the woman look at her like that. She didn't like it. She focused on everything she could but the woman, trying to act like she hasn't even noticed the look.
Daryl watched the siblings for a moment, noticing how differently the two stared at everyone. The brother was staring at everyone with distrust and seemed to be sizing up everyone. The sister seemed more trusting though still a bit on guard and she seemed...interested? Like the group was some fascinating spectacle or something. Daryl shook his head; they reminded him a bit of him and Merle though neither of them had ever looked so raptly at something like the girl did at the group. They seemed tightly knit together, a team despite their obvious differences and their brief argument before. The older brother was definitely protective and definitely strict. Daryl pegged him to be a younger Merle right away. He wondered if the brother was as much of a drug user as Merle.
Daryl turned, started to walk back to his truck. Chris noticed this and quickly walked towards the other man. "Hey." He called out. Daryl stopped and turned, giving Chris a blank unreadable look. Chris walked up to him till they were just a foot apart, close enough for him to lower his voice slightly and not be overheard. "I owe you. For savin' my sister. Anythin' you need, I'll do." He informed the other man. Chris figured he could tell the man that now. They were going with these people so he actually had the chance to pay back the guy.
"You don't owe me nothin'." Daryl said. He hadn't saved the girl's life to get something in return. He didn't even want anything in return! How the hell was this kid supposed to help him with anything anyways? There wasn't anything Daryl could think of that he could ever need to ask help with. Well...except maybe finding Merle. But he would never ask the kid to help with that. He hadn't wanted Rick's help or anybody else's and had only taken it cause they wouldn't let him go alone so he wasn't about to ask a damn kid for his help.
"No. I do." Chris said firmly.
"It's like an honor slash pride thing." Nikki interrupted. She'd been listening in the whole time, wanting to know what her brother was saying. She usually listened in on conversations, not liking being left out of anything. She especially listened to Chris's; wanting to know everything happening to her brother in case something went down. "It'll be like a ball and chain around his neck till he pays you back. He's big on honor and pride and all that. Which, by the way, if my big brother is going to pay my debts then I should pay his." She said. She turned towards Rick who had yet to move, a slightly biting smile on her face. She noticed Shane still staring at them in a way she didn't like but she paid him no never mind. "Rick, thank you for savin' my brother's life when he turned around like an idiot and lost focus of the Walker in front of him. I owe you. Anythin' you need, I'll do." She told the man, mocking her brother on purpose. Despite the fact that she'd spoken to anger her brother, Nikki wasn't lying. If Rick wanted something, she owed it to him to do it. He'd saved her brother after all.
"I turned because you screamed! I thought you were about to get bit!" Chris said furiously, glaring viciously at his sister.
"Well yeah! But that's why I wasn't gonna scream! I knew you'd get yourself killed if I did!" Nikki said, sounding just as furious as her brother. She regretted her words the second they were out.
Chris was livid. "You were just gonna let yourself die?!" He shouted at her. His hands were clenched into fists and every vein in his arms was popping out. There was a vein on his neck too that popped out and throbbed with each angry breath he took. His jaw was locked and his face was red with anger.
"Better than lettin' you die!" Nikki shouted back. She was furious with her brother for being so angry with her but her body barely showed it. Her shoulders were tense and her expression was mad but the rest of her seemed calm. Her hands weren't in fists and she seemed to be shrinking back even when she was yelling. Daryl watched her and decided it must be because she expected her brother to punch her and was fearful of it. He could understand why. Her brother looked like he could really deliver a punch and though she looked strong she probably couldn't handle real punches from him too well. "I wasn't gonna let you die because I screwed up!" Nikki told her brother. In the old days she would have been tearing up by now but not anymore. She didn't have room for tears anymore, just anger.
Chris took a step towards her, to hit her or to keep yelling he wasn't sure. Rick stepped between them instantly. "Alright, I think that's enough." The man said. Chris glared at him but Nikki relaxed slightly, glad the argument was over. "We've made just a bit too much noise and are just a bit too close to the city to continue with this." Rick said. Nikki glanced back at the city and thought that he was right. Chris looked that way too and thought the same thing but grudgingly. Rick watched them, waiting for one to speak. When neither of them did he decided that they agreed with him. "Go on and get in the RV. It's time we move out." He told them.
The siblings didn't say a word. Chris grabbed the shotgun from off the ground before turning to his sister, giving her a look that said he was waiting on her. She ducked her head slightly as she walked past him, her eyes on the ground ahead of her. She looked beaten down, a considerably different demeanor than a few seconds before. She was still mad though, you could see it in her eyes. Chris was still mad too but you could see it in everything, from his walk to his face. Neither one looked at each other once as they climbed into the RV. Rick watched them, hoping the two didn't argue long and feeling as if he had done the right thing by taking them in.