"Yer gonna come right?" She asked before taking a pull from her beer. "I wantcha to be there. Ya gotta see what I made. I know itsa couple a months away but ya gotta be there."
"Yer accent's slippin'. Been outta da country fer too long." He smirked around the cigarette dangling from his lips.
"Oh come on Suga'! Ya haveta come! Please? Can't leave a belle hangin' boy." The young man let out a hardy laugh, pulling the cigarette from his mouth.
"Ya ain't no fuckin' belle. Belle's don't go a huntin' with the likes a me. But ya I'll be there. Haven't missed one yet." The woman smiled softly at her companion nudging his knee like she always did.
"I'm glad I came ta visit ya Suga'. This was what was missin' from ma life, ma best friend." Her head fell on to the man's shoulder as he slung his arm around hers. The pair sat in the back on the beat-up truck, just enjoying the small amount of time they had together before she left back for the city.
This was the last time the pair was together. The virus spread through the country like wildfire. The walking dead greatly outweighting the living. It was fight or be eaten and survival was the only instinct needed.
Daryl had been hunting in the woods, tracking a deer when the steady click of a round being reloaded into the chamber of a gun reached his ears. It was a subtle sound but the noise of the shot being fired was never heard. He crept through the trees, following the shooter's actions.
He reached the edge of a road and saw a small herd of Walkers dropping one by one, due to someone lying on top of a car with a large gun. As the last walker fell, the person got up, slung the gun on their back and proceeded to jump down from the car. Daryl, hidden in the tree line, approached to get a better look at the shooter. He noticed the homemade silencer attached to the rifle, lying alongside a quiver of arrows. Blonde hair fell over their shoulders, splatters of blood mixed in with the random leaf and twig. Slinging a bag over the open shoulder, the figure grabbed the bow lying on the ground behind the car and turned in Daryl's direction.
It was a young woman; a very familiar one to Daryl but he couldn't match a name to the face. Noticing she was heading in the direction of the campsite at the quarry, he followed her, not wanting another mouth to feed. He left his crossbow on his back as he swiftly fell in silent step behind her. Removing his hunting knife from his belt, he attacked. Putting the girl in a tight headlock, Daryl pressed the knife to her throat in a threatening manner.
"Ya ain't goin' up tha' way, lil' miss." His voice was low, rumbling through his chest as to not draw attention from walkers. The girl let out a surprised laugh and gave the arm holding her a few pats of excitement, which confused Daryl. Why would she be excited about a threat?
"I'd know tha' voice any day. How ya doin' suga'?" Daryl froze at the sound of her voice and the familiar nickname. Only one girl had ever had the gall to constantly call him that because she knew it annoyed him.
Natalie Olson, the girl from down the street, or as Daryl called her when they were growing up, Nate. The only person who could rival him and Merle's hunting skills and had been a bleedin' thorn in his side his entire life was standing in his arms, alive and well.
"Can ya let go Daryl? The knife is startin' ta hurt." He quickly pushed away from the girl, eyes wide at the sight of her. Natalie was alive, covered in dried blood and dirt, but alive. After not having seen her face-to-face since she moved to Atlanta, Daryl was surprised at how different she looked. Her dark blonde hair was still as wavy as ever but it hung longer down her back then he had ever seen it before. Her eyes were still that rich chocolate color and her pink lips were curled up in a small smile at the sight of him.
"Ya made it outta the city? How?" Her smile got even bigger.
"Well I had a great huntin' teacher. I grabbed what I needed and left. Was tryin' ta head home, find y'all and hope ta survive." Daryl's lip twitched, indicating his want to smile.
"Well, looks like ya comin' back wit' me ta camp. Merle's there. He'll be happy ta see his lil' Georgia Peach is still kickin' ass." Natalie rolled her eyes at the horrid nickname. "Let's go Nate, trackin' a big buck. I know how much ya like cookin' venison. Maybe I'll let ya take a shot at it."
"I don't know what's worse. Bein' called Peach or a boys name." She muttered to herself as she readied her bow and began to follow Daryl through the woods.
For the next forty-five minutes, the pair silently crept through the forest following the trail of the buck Daryl had been tracking. Natalie walked behind the male, arrow notched in her bow. Daryl stopped and signaled to the bush on their left. Grazing in the grass was the deer. Situating themselves behind the bush the both readied their arrows. Appearing to be on the same wavelength, the hunter and the hunteress both released at the same time, hitting the hind of the deer. Startled by the shots, the deer took off, causing Daryl and Natalie to chase after it. Screams and loud commotion was coming from the way the deer had run. Natalie stayed close behind Daryl as they heard a large thump, realizing that the deer had succumb to it's wounds.
"Son of a bitch! That's my deer!" Daryl and Natalie emerged from the trees to see the deer they were tracking dead with a large bite mark in its side.
"Our deer, suga'. It's like ya forgot all 'bout me." Daryl looked back at his blonde companion and glared but was only smiled at in return. He stepped forward to see what could be salvaged from the animal.
"Look at it. All gnawed on by this…" he moved towards the decapitated walkers body and vicious started to kick it while speaking. "Filthy, disease-bearin', motherless, poxy bastard!" Natalie stood to the side and just watched Daryl take his anger out on the dead dead body. It was better his rage was towards the unanimated corpse than someone else.
"Calm down, son. That's not helping." The old man in the boating hat stepped forward towards Daryl.
"Good Lord, here we go." Natalie removed the arrow from her bow, slinging it over her shoulder, using her free hand to rub her temples. She knew exactly what was going to happen.
"What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'?" Daryl snarled in the old man's face as Natalie sighed. She walked over and pulled him back from the group.
"Temper, suga'." Her voice was soft and pleading, not wanting to jump into a fight so soon. Daryl was going to start in on her but all he saw in her eyes was concern for him. She knew better than anyone what could happen if his rage took over.
"We've been trackin' this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. Nate here's real good with venison." He crouched in front of the dead deer and pulled out his hunting knife. "Ya think we can cut around this chewed up bit here?"
"I would not risk that." The man in the police cap with the rifle slung over his shoulders grimaced at the idea of eating that deer. He looked over at the woman who showed up with the hunter, taking in her pretty appearance before returning his gaze to the deer. Daryl sighed and stood up, removing both his and Natalie's arrows.
"That's a damn shame." He adjusted the rope on his shoulder, drawing the group's attention to it. "I got some squirrel, 'bout a dozen or so. That'll have to do." He turned around to face Natalie, slipping her arrow in to her quiver. "Yer helpin' with the dirty work, darlin'" Natalie rolled her eyes at the man, shaking her head at his demands.
Suddenly, a grizzly growl ripped through the air as the decapitated walker head began to snap at the space above it.
"Oh God." A pair of blonde women stood a few yards away, looking nauseous at the sight. Natalie sighed and removed the bow from her shoulders, withdrawing an arrow from her quiver.
"Come on, people. What the hell?" Both Daryl and Natalie fired an arrow, wedging themselves in the same eye socket, effectively killing the walker. Daryl walked over and ripped only his arrow from the head, but left his foot on it for leverage when Natalie pulled hers out. "It's gotta be the brain."
"Don't y'all know nothin'?" Natalie questioned as she wiped the bloody arrow on her jeans before stashing it back in her quiver.
"We don't know your name, how's that for a start? Or how do you know Dixon?" The man in the police cap stalked up to her, staring down at the blonde.
"Natalie Olson. Suga' ova there calls me Nate. Charmed, I'm sure." Natalie gave the man a tight smile. She was getting weird vibes from the Officer as he eyed her, wanting to end the conversation as quickly as possible. Natalie walked away from him, catching up with Daryl.
"Come on, girl. Merle's gonna be surprised ta see ya still kickin'." Natalie smiled at the man as they walked back up to his campsite.
"Merle! Merle! Get yer ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel. Let's stew 'um up. And I found someone ya gonna want ta see!" Daryl looked over his shoulder and smirked at a bouncing Natalie as the moved towards the Dixon's section of camp. The crowd of men that had attempted to take down the walker in the woods had followed behind the hunters, looking somewhat uneasy.
"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." The man in the police cap called out to the man.
"About what?"
"About Merle. There was… There was a problem in Atlanta." Daryl stopped in his tracks, turning to face the officer.
"He dead?" Natalie could feel her body tense at the thought of the older Dixon being dead.
"We're not sure." Daryl began to pace like a caged animal. Natalie took several steps closer, in hopes of finding out what happened.
"He either is or he ain't!" He shouted at the man, staring him down. Natalie stood behind Daryl, a fierce glare plastered on her face.
"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." A man Daryl had not seen in camp before stepped forward.
"Who are you?"
"Rick Grimes."
"Rick Grimes?! You got something you wanna tell me?" Natalie silent stood her ground at Daryl's side, not liking how guilty this Rick Grimes character looked.
"Your brother was a danger to us all. So I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." Natalie gasped at the cruelty of this group of people. She advanced forward, getting in Rick's face.
"Who the hell do you think you are, playing God like that huh?" Her glare cut into Rick as he stepped back from the woman.
"Nate, git over here." Daryl pulled her back from the man, turning his back on everyone but her. He wiped his eyes before hardening his face again. "Hold on, let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof?! And you left him there?!" He shouted at the new guy, advancing on him with Natalie close behind.
"Yeah." That was all Daryl needed for the rage switch to flip. He moved to attack Rick but the man shoved him back. Staggering back a step, he ended up standing next to Natalie. Seeing the hunting knife holstered to her thigh, he reached over and took her knife. Since she was seething with anger, Natalie just let him take it.
"Hey! Watch the knife!" A large African man shouted to the two police officers. Daryl advanced on Rick again but was quickly grabbed by the Officer. The cop's arm was slung tightly around his neck, forcing him to the ground.
"You'd best let me go!" Daryl fought against the grip as Natalie watched in anger.
"Nah, I think it's better if I don't"
"He said let him go!" Natalie started to run at the man to tackle him but Rick came up behind her and restrained her arms behind her back. He forced her down to her knees in front of Daryl.
"Chokehold's illegal. You best let her go now." He growled out as best he could since he was limited on oxygen. Natalie squirmed in Rick's hold, trying to yank her arms out of his grip as she glared at the man restraining Daryl.
"You can file a complaint. Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day." Natalie could feel Rick crouch down behind her, still holding on to her arms.
"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" Neither Daryl or Natalie answered; they just continued to glare at the others captor. "Do you think we can manage that?"
"Mmm, yeah" The Officer let go of Daryl, leaving him on the ground. Natalie stopped struggling, signaling her surrender. At that sign, Rick let go of her arms, letting them fall to her sides. Daryl gave her a quick once over, deeming her fine.
"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not play well with others." Natalie knew Merle was a huge asshole but leaving a man chained to a roof during the apocolypse is absolutely cruel.
"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it." The man who warned Rick about the knife spoke out about his part.
"You couldn't pick it up?"
"Well, I dropped it in a drain." Daryl picked himself off the ground, sticking a hand out for Natalie. He pulled her up and started to walk away.
"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." He threw a handful of sand on the ground in anger.
"Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof… So the geeks didn't get at him… With a padlock. It's gotta count of something." Natalie could see Daryl's eyes begin to water before he quickly wiped any sign of weakness away. She stealed her emotions, know that she would need to be the strong one in this situation.
"Hell with all y'all!" Daryl yelled at the crowd.
"Just tell us where he is so that we can go get him." Natalie stood her ground, addressing the man who restrained her just moments before.
"He'll show you. Isn't that right?" A skinny brunette stepped away from the RV parked in the camp. Rick nodded his head, agreeing with the woman.
"I'm going back." Natalie nodded sharply at him before turning on her heel, pulling Daryl away with her. She led him over to a secluded part of camp hoping to talk him down from the infinite amount of rage radiating from him. He began to pace in front of her, visibly shaking with anger and attempting to hold back tears.
"Hey, hey, hey. Stop!" She quickly got in his path, causing him to crash into her body.
"They left my brother on a roof Nate, don't tell me to stop anything."
"I'm not tryin' to tell ya anythin'. We're goin' in ta enemy territory and I need your head on straight. You and me will get him back." Natalie reached out and grabbed his forearm, causing Daryl to internally smile. She used to do that when they were growing up so they'd stick together easier. Daryl knew that she was with him in this, they'd get Merle back together.
They went over to where they had deposited their weapons. Daryl quickly took all of Natalie's dirty arrows, as well as his own. Rick Grimes, now dressed in a full Sheriff's uniform, and the other officer, who was named Shane, were swiftly approaching where they stood.
"Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" Daryl and Natalie rapidly turned their gazes on the officers.
"Hey! Choose your words more carefully." Daryl pointed the fist full of arrows at Shane.
"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant." Natalie began to swiftly approach the man, ready to get in his face but Daryl grabbed the handle of the bow strapped to her back, pulling her backwards and away from Shane. "Merle Dixon… The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."
"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst… me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being." Natalie was subconsciously nodding along, agreeing that no one should die in this manner.
"So you, Daryl, and Natalie, that's your big plan." Rick turned his gaze to an oblivious Glenn. Once he realized the attention was on him, he groaned.
"Oh, come on."
"You know the way. You've been there before… In and out, you said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask… I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." He gestured to the skinny brunette woman. Natalie assumed that she must be his wife.
"That's just great, you're going to risk three men, huh?" Natalie scoffed, her glare intensifying at the officer who just brushed her aside. Daryl looked over at her from his seat, watching her step towards Shane.
"It's four people going, not just men." Shane chuckles at the woman attempting to stare him down. He put his hands up in surrender.
"Five." A voice sounded from behind Daryl. The man known as T-Dog volunteered to go with them.
Daryl huffed. "My day just gets better and better, don't it?"
"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?"
"Why you?"
"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."
"That's five." Dale, the old man in the fishing cap, finalized the rescue party.
"It's not just five. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that Walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp." Shane was pleading Rick to stay, to prove that this was a suicide mission on both ends.
"It seems to me what you really need is more guns." Glenn's face lit up in realization.
"Right, the guns."
"Wait, what guns?"
"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting on the street, waiting to be picked up."
"Ammo?"
"700 rounds, assorted." Rick's wife, Lori, stepped up to join the conversation as Natalie sat and observed while Daryl left to ready his crossbow.
"You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're going to turn around and leave?"
"Dad, I don't want you to go." Rick and Lori's son Carl's voice called out timidly, not wanting his father to disappear again.
"To hell with the guns, Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in." Natalie stood up in a rage.
"You best watch what you say about Merle, lady. Ya got no right to condemn a man to die on a roof because you want your husband to stay wit'cha!" Daryl could hear Natalie yelling from the truck and got out to go get her before she blew up at the whole camp. He knew better than anyone how much of a time bomb she could be when she was severely upset or angry. Daryl grabbed her by the arm and dragged her towards the truck. He lifted her up by the waist, her short stature making it slightly hard to get in the back of the van.
He jumped in right behind her. He puts his hands on her shoulders making Natalie look him in the eyes. Giving her a nod, he takes a step back releasing her from his grasp. He observed as she secured all of her weapons before taking a seat in the back of the van, draping her bow across her lap. Daryl began to pace anxiously once more before reaching through the window into the cabin of the van and honking the horn.
"Come on, let's go!" Natalie looked up at him from her seated position as he yelled out to the rest of the camp. T-Dog had joined them in the back of the van while Glenn was in the driver's seat. Rick was talking to Shane, receiving spare rounds for his gun. Once the back of the van was shut and Rick resided in the passenger seat, they were off.
Natalie fiddled with one of her arrows as she sat in the back of the van with Daryl and T-Dog on their way to rescue Merle. Her face is set in a hard line as she glares at the man across from the hunters. She put meaning in the phrase "if looks could kill." Daryl quickly peered over at Natalie, seeing her grip on the arrow tighten. He discreetly tapped his bent knee against her own three times, hoping she remembered their old hunting signals. After taking a deep breath, Natalie's grip on the arrow loosened and she returned Daryl's gesture with a single tap.
"He'd better be okay." T-Dog looked up at the pair of archers, observing the angry look on Daryl's face and the frightening glare poised on Natalie's.
"It's my only word on the matter. I told you the geeks can't get at him. The only thing that's gonna get through that door is us." Natalie let out a small scoff.
"If he ain't fine-" Natalie was pointing her arrow at him, ready to protect the boys she had grown up with but Daryl grabbed her arm cutting her off. She turned to look at him and saw the determination and anger in his eyes as he tapped his finger three times once more. 'Breathe and focus', that's what he wanted her to do. Just like when they went hunting back at home. Keeping eye contact, she nodded once. Message received.
The van came to a stop on the railroad tracks. Glenn turned around to address the three in the back.
"We walk from here." The group got out of the van and quickly made their way down the tracks, searching for the opening in the chain-link fence.
"Merle first or guns?" Rick asked as he rolled the fence back to let the others through.
"Merle! We ain't even havin' this conversation!" Daryl gripped his crossbow tighter as he pulled Natalie through the fence.
"We are!" Rick barked out orders as if he were made leader and that did not sit well with Natalie. Guns were not more important than a human life. She turned around and began to walk backwards in front of him.
"No we ain't Dudley Do-Right. Merle first." Rick stared down at the woman, impressed by her determination to save another human, even if she insulted him. Her eyes flickered with the same rage as Daryl's.
"You know the geography. It's your call." Glenn was silent for a moment, internally going over the layout of the city.
"Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first."
"Damn right, Merle first." Natalie muttered as she notched her arrow, prepared to fight to save the elder Dixon.
As they approached the department store, Daryl decided to take the lead with Natalie following swiftly and loyally behind him. The store was relatively empty until a moan broke the silence. A lone walker took notice to their appearance and began to shuffle towards the group.
"Damn, you are one ugly skank." With that comment, Daryl poised his crossbow and fired a bolt into it's head. The body crumpled with a thud, not moving again. He retrieved the arrow and they continued to the stairs to reach the roof.
The group quickly climbed the stairs until the reached the door T-Dog had chained shut. Said man took the bolt cutters and cut the padlock keeping Merle on the roof and the walkers in the building. Once the door was opened, Daryl charged in with Natalie close behind.
"Merle! Merle!" Daryl called out for his brother, Natalie hot on his heels. Once down the set of small stairs, he stopped and could feel his heart break. Sobs ripped through his throat as he yelled. "No! No!"
Natalie had stepped around Daryl to see what could cause him to crack like that. The sight before her was one she never wanted to see again. The arrow she had been holding fell limply from her hand as it shakily raised to cover her mouth as a heart wrenching sob burst through. "No!" Her eyes were swimming with tears, sobs making her whole body shake as she stepped backwards, crashing in to Daryl. Neither seemed to register the collision due to the sight of a pair of bloody, empty, handcuffs dangling above Merle's severed hand.
Binge watched The Walking Dead and this was born. Hope y'all like it and let me know what you think! ~Kathryn