The woods were quiet, empty and Daryl was having no luck in picking up the trail of any game. He was tired of chasing squirrels which would only provide a few measly morsels for the group. Today he had decided he wanted to bring back something more, a deer or a boar. It had been weeks since the last time. Daryl would never admit it but he liked the way it made him feel when he walked into camp with feast of meat slung over his shoulder. The way people looked at him, admired him. In the world before the walkers he was nobody but here he was a hero. Daryl scoffed at the thought of the word as it crossed his mind. Merle would slap me silly if I'd have uttered it "what do I care about being a hero?" he growled. God I'm going soft.
Daryl made his way over to a tree and leaned against it, kicking his feet in the dirt he plucked his pack of smokes out of his back pocket. Only two left, he thought and decided he'd have to make his way into some town for a run tomorrow. That was getting more and more difficult, he and the others had picked most of the towns and everything in between pretty much clean. He lit the cigarette and took a long drag as he leaned his head back against the tree. Closing his eyes he let the beams of sun that were breaking through the leafy canopy above warm his face.
Daryl was lost in the relaxation that the cigarette had brought when he heard a noise, a voice. 'Heelp', it was a woman's voice. Daryl stood to attention and listened intently to decipher where the calls were coming from. When he had decided the direction he paused stay or go. This was the way of the world now, a cry for help could be a trap or a herd of walkers which could over run him. Fuck it he decided as he ran towards where the calls had emerged. Every good hero needs to rescue the girl he laughed to himself as he pictured some fantasy girl out of the posters that had strewn his walls as a teenager.
Daryl started to hear the sounds of a struggle so slowed his pace and silenced his steps. He was approaching from high ground, there was a ridge ahead of him that would provide cover. He reached it and lay on his belly as he peaked of the rim. It was a small camp, nothing notable except for the scene that was unfurling. Two men and a woman.
One of the men had his hand clamped over the woman's mouth as he tried to force himself on her 'quiet now bitch' he grunted at her. The other man looked about for walkers that might have heard the noise 'shut her up!' he called out anxiously. Daryl began to ready his weapon, pieces of shit he decided. As he was aiming his shot the woman had grabbed a rock, she drove it into the man's skull twice. The other turned to react but was met with Daryl's arrow which flew straight and true into his skull.
Kate couldn't believe she had been so stupid and careless. She was paying for it now, being dragged to god knows where. When they had grabbed her they had forced a hood over her head and bound her arms behind her back. There were only two of them she had decided in the car journey as she convinced herself she may still get away. It was a pointless task, now she was out of the car being pulled along in the wilderness. She lost her footing now and then but they just yanked her up hard and laughed as they made lewd comments that made her feel sick. Of all that had happened since 'the end' this felt like the worse.
When her hood was removed she started to get her bearings "do as we say and you'll live" the fat one said as he held a gun to her face. The other came up behind her and shoved her to her knees. This man was smaller than the other and he had a long scar across his face. He leered at her "Don't try nothin' stupid, sweetheart" and she recoiled from his black teeth and terrible breath. He freed her hands, cutting the cable tie with a knife and then he placed his hands on her shoulders. Kate shuddered and pulled away from his grasp "don't do this" she implored but she already knew it was too late.
The scar faced man began to push her to the ground and she screamed as loud as she could, he hit her then. "Heelp" she cried. Kate didn't care who heard, alive or dead. The man put his hand over her mouth and she struggled, he had a look of panic in his eyes. Things weren't going to plan. "Maybe I should just shoot her" the fat man growled as he looked around the camp. But the other man shook his head and told her to "just take it". Screw you she shouted in her head and began to look around for anything that could help her and then she saw it, a rock.
The fat man was busy looking for walkers as the other tried to pry off her skinny jeans with one hand. Kate stretched her arm to grab the rock. Her fingertips were just skirting the edges, gently nudging it closer. The man was saying something to her but she couldn't hear the words in her panic. Terror was beginning to grip her and she urged herself to calm down. Taking a deep breath Kate willed her arm to reach further and suddenly she had the rock in hand. She looked into the face of the scar faced man and caught a glint of something in his eye and then it was gone as she wasted no time in bringing her justice down on her attackers head.
The sound of the rock on her assailant's skull satisfied her, his blood began to pour and she went for the second strike. His hand released her mouth and she shouted "bastard". Then she remembered the other man, he was turning towards her, shit, she panicked. Then something extraordinary happened. She saw as the arrow pierced his ugly face and he crumpled to the floor. What the hell?
Kate regained her senses and shook the body off herself. Standing up she began to look for the shooter. Who was this person she began to wonder. She couldn't see anyone or sense any movement; she picked up the gun off the fat man's body and called out "show yourself".
Daryl hid out of site after he fired the shot, he still hadn't really decided his next move. He watched the woman climb from under the corpse. She wasn't some big titted, long legged blonde he'd imagined. She was small with dark hair and a sort of wild look on her face. She picked up the gun and called out for him to 'show himself', she sounded strange, her accent was foreign but at the same time it was familiar. "Don't shoot" he shouted before he had really finished deciding his next move. Although he was fairly sure she wouldn't shoot him anyway, he'd saved the woman after all hadn't he. A satisfied smirk crossed his face as he showed himself.
The man came out of the bushes with his arms outstretched above his head and a faint smile on his face 'don't shoot' he called, toying with her. He made his way down the muddy slope with as much finesse as was possible. Then they stood 10 feet from each other at an impasse. Who was this stranger? Friend or Foe? He saved her life but for what? A million questions raced through her mind as she studied him. He looked strong, much more so than the two men who had captured her. He batted his hair out of his eyes and lowered his hands to his sides. Kate noted his weapons of which there were many. Finally she said "Thank you" and she meant it. The stranger did a sort of half smile and before he could say anything she continued "you didn't have to do that, come here, fight these men, you might have saved my life just now"
"Might have?" Daryl chuckled. Maybe she wasn't some damsel in distress.
"I wasn't doing too bad on my own if you didn't noticed, but thanks anyway" she paused and then decided to introduce herself properly "I'm Kate"
"Daryl Dixon" he stated, he couldn't tell whether she was glad he was here or pissed off that she'd needed his help.
Kate laughed inwardly; it sounded so formal, the giving of a full name. The she looked around the camp, there wasn't much, "I'm just gonna take a couple of things and you can have the rest" she offered as she began to gather some things in the fat man's back pack. It was her way of repaying Daryl Dixon, she didn't need this stuff anyway. Once she got back to her car she would have everything she required and would be back on her way. Hopefully it's still there, where ever that is she contemplated.
Daryl watched Kate intently as she picked through the belongings of the two dead men. Up closer he could study her features more thoroughly; she was attractive, but not stunning. She had big brown eyes like a doe and she was small in every sense of the word, slender and little bigger than five feet high. His mind wandered and he imagined this little doe slung over his shoulder as he made his way into camp and he let out a soft chuckle. Then Daryl plucked his last cigarette out of his pocket and lit it.
"I have a group" he took another drag of his smoke "women, children, families, ya welcome to join us" he offered in a raspy voice. He'd done this a few times now, found people and brought them back to the sanctuary of the prison. They could be there in a couple of hours. But the offer seemed to catch her off guard and she turned round to look at him. "I have to ask ya 3 questions first" he began, but before he could continue he was interrupted.
"No thank you… I'm okay on my own" Kate said casually, she didn't want to offend the man but she'd been part of groups before and had no interest in joining another. Besides which she wasn't so sure she trusted this Daryl Dixon. She'd had men befriend her before.
Is she crazy? Daryl wondered. Who would want to be out here alone… besides himself? But that was different he decided, he was only out here to gather supplies, he liked returning to camp and bolting the gate behind. "I can't just leave ya out here" his voice cracked slightly as he said it, he was unsure why he had even suggested it. Yet he continued "let me at least take ya to ya car". He walked towards Kate as she mulled over his suggestion, "I'll take ya to your car and you can drop me off at my camp".
Kate watched Daryl as he made his proposition. He seemed almost unsure of himself which made her trust him more, besides he had done nothing to make her questions his motives so far. She looked out into the vast expanse of trees and dirt for an answer that wasn't there, in this world there were no easy answers. So she went with her gut. "Okay Daryl Dixon, you can escort me to my car" she nodded and tossed him a pack of cigarettes she had found in the campsite.
The hunter caught them easily and stuffed them into his pocket. "Just promise me you're not crazy and that I won't regret this" Kate added with a faint smile.
Daryl gave a cocky half smile, "cross my heart" little doe he added in his mind but he wasn't sure why.