Direct quote from Norman Reedus: "I'm kind of playing him like he's kind of a virgin, to be honest. If anyone approaches me I'm like ugh. I don't wanna be the sexy guy, I wanna be the loser. I don't wanna be having me like "I'm Daryl Dixon come and get it." I wanna be like "What you talking about, baby?" EWW! Almost like cooties." There is also an interview where he says that if he were to have Daryl make out with a female, he'd play it off as if its new to him, he has no game, and never been there before. Personally, before hearing this, I thought he'd be an aggressive awesome full of game relationship guy, but after reading that I intend to write as if everything is new to him, but of course that doesn't mean he'll be like "Durrrr how do I kiss". No, do not worry. I'll figure out how to do this right.
I like the character of Daryl because he's so interesting. He is quiet until provoked then he just gets angry. He doesn't know how to cope with emotions, so he just gets angry all the time. Coming from an abused past and being called a failure his whole life, that would obviously do that to a person. Reedus had a good quote about that about how he's playing Daryl to be a mix between someone who wants to kill everyone and poke their eyes out, to needing a hug.
My original character I don't intend to just flat out give her whole story, description, or life in the first chapter. Like every television show you will learn about her as you are going. So it may seem a little dry in her character the first chapter, but only because she's new to this group and she's not just gonna tell everyone her whole life story day one. Also if any character thinks another character is good looking, doesn't mean automatic pairing and that they like that character. We are all allowed to think someone is good looking haha. I italicize sentences that are thoughts. Enjoy. Reviews are fuel.
Being surrounded by faces that were not half decaying was something she hadn't experienced in nearly a month. It almost seemed surreal. As their small fire crackled and the light dimly lit up the faces, she remained still while the rest chattered. She was seated with her knees drawn up and held close to her chest and her chin resting on the tops of her knees. The low mumbling faded as she silently watched the tips of the flames flicker barely over the stones keeping the light hidden. She looked over her back every so often. She was so used to sitting with her back against a tree or wall, never wanting to be attacked from the behind. But with a group in circular form around a fire, there was no need to watch behind her.
She looked behind her once more.
Old habits die hard.
Glenn passed her a plate that had been circulating around the circle slowly. On it held baked beans, something she was not too fond of, but anything was better than nothing. She scooped it into her bowl regardless and began to pick at it. She passed the bowl to her right, handing it to Amy who appeared to have the same reaction as her.
What a strange day, She thought to herself, feeling the urge to almost pinch herself to see if everything was real. If the dead are walking and I can believe that, I can believe that I am here…by a fire…surrounded by these people.
Six hours ago, Elle was walking on the side of the highway headed to Atlanta. Wearing a white dirt and sweat stained tank top, a pair of brown cargo pants had seen better days, and shoes that were caked in mud, she trudged along the pavement keeping an eye on her surroundings. Every so often scattered cars would be in the middle of the row and she managed to find a couple supplies here and there. Carrying only a backpack filled with enough food and water for a weeks' worth journey, she was armed with a baseball bat and a pistol with only four rounds. After a month of wandering, she finally had set a goal for herself to head to Atlanta upon hearing that shelters were being set up there.
The heat was brutal and sweat soaked her already dirty clothes and forced her walk to be slowed. She set goals for herself of every two hours; she could get a break and sip her water. It took every ounce of self-control to not take a gulp though when it was her time to drink. She had to conserve what she had.
Okay…At that red car flipped over, I'll take a sip. She thought to herself. She noticed at the thought of water her legs decided to pick up the pace a little as she eagerly became even with the car and a small sip of water sank down her throat.
Smacking her lips together to allow the left over droplets to moist her chap lips, she wiped her forehead and then her hand on the side of her pant.
What the…
Suddenly out of nowhere, in the distance she could see movement. A large RV was headed her way, and just beyond it she saw moving vehicles. She stopped in her tracks unable to believe the movement. Obviously the walking dead had not learned to drive, so other people were alive and headed right towards her.
She blinked more than needed in that moment, as if waiting for the moment the cars would disappear and everything was a figment of her exhausted imagination.
Holy shit.
Her body froze in place and the sounds of the engines of the moving line of cars were mumbled to her brain. She let the bottom of her baseball bat rest on the ground while she leaned forward on it. Her body went numb to feelings and breathing felt like a challenge for a moment. The shock of moving cars literally knocked the wind out of her. The heat caused the line of cars to be blurry, but the RV's textures and figure was coming into a solid view form.
She watched the RV slow down as it passed her and came to a complete stop some distance behind her. Turning on her heel, she saw the door opened and an average sized Asian man wearing a faded orange hat leaned out of the doorway. "Don't go towards the city. It's not safe!"
His sentence echoed in her mind.
A sound that was audible.
Don't go towards the city. It's not safe.
A sound other than low moaning of the undead or the animals within the forest mocking Elle with their freedom to sing and chirp as they pleased!
Elle stood there with her mouth slightly open in awe and had to take a moment to remember that she had to respond. She blinked to adjust her vision and then swallowed the lump in her throat to regain her voice.
"..It- It's not?" Was all she mustered to say, feeling rather foolish afterwards.
"Yeah. Walkers everywhere! You all alone? There's no one else with you?"
Elle could only shake her head, "No, just me."
"Wanna come with us? We got a lot of people in our group." He offered, keeping a hand on the threshold of the trailer and leaning out towards her. He seemed to be wanting her answer rather quickly by the nervous face he was making.
Being alone for a month, the opportunity to actually open her mouth and say words to other people instead of herself was enough to convince her to go. Even if in a normal situation, she learned never to trust strangers on the side of the road, she was willing to take the risk. She had accepted a long time ago that her days of life on Earth were not high and if her days ended for some odd reason due to the living then, at least she wouldn't be eaten. From what she had seen early in the outbreak with the army turning on civilians, it would have given her any reason to not trust people. But at the state she was in, alone, hungry, thirsty, giving up…. She would have to go with what life threw at her.
And currently it was throwing a line of cars headed away from the city.
"Alright."
"Get in." He motioned her to come into the RV. The other cars had just about caught up to the RV. Elle did not bother to look at the people within the cars and followed the Asian man into the trailer. The driver, an older looking man greeted her and immediately continued to drive. Elle sat down at the table, across from the Asian man.
"The name's Glenn." He spoke again giving a slight smile. She noticed he had a hard time looking someone in the eye when speaking. He was average height and was nervously cracking his fingers in the silence. His dark hair was hidden for the most part by the cap he wore, that held just as much dirt and wear as the cloths on Elle's back.
"I'm Elle." She nodded and returned the smile.
"I'm Dale." The driver called, an older man wearing a white hat. His look appeared to be as if he had been headed on a vacation before the outbreak occurred. Though, she could not get a good look at his face, she could see the gray and white hairs of his beard poking out to the sides of his face. "Were you headed to the city?"
"Yes." She called to him, turning towards him while she spoke even though he had her back to her driving. "I heard a couple months ago it was supposed to be safe there. I reckon it's not…."
"Yeah, we thought the same too," Glenn spoke, causing her gaze to shift back to him, "but we found it was overrun with walkers. We are heading up the mountain now. We found on a map this quarry that we could use to make a camp for now. Once we are settled down, I'll probably take trips into the city for supplies." On the table there was a map spread out and he pointed at the spot they were heading. "It's only about a half hour driving distance outside of the city."
"Well make sure you give me the directions Glenn. I don't wanna lead our group the wrong way." Dale reminded him.
"How many are there of you?" Elle asked, her southern accent faltering a second when she inhaled improperly. She rubbed her nose and coughed before repeating the question. The lack of water had caused her throat to dry up.
"Well…you'll just meet them when we set up camp. If I tell you names without faces you won't know what's going on." Glenn smiled.
"I don't mean to sound needy, but you guys got water? I have water myself and just wanna make sure if I drink the rest of my water that there is more around to drink." Elle asked, pulling out her water bottle from her backpack.
"We have plenty of water for now and will be getting more once we set up. Don't worry." He leaned back in his seat and looked out the window a moment. "Keep heading down this road Dale."
Elle thought Glenn was an adorable boy, emphasis on the boy part. He obviously was far younger than her. She found him to be pleasant looking, but more adorable in the way one would find a puppy. He looked very innocent just by the look in his brown eyes. They were wide and alert, looking from his hands to the window every so often. The moments he would make eye contact with Elle, she'd give him a small smile; feeling a bit bad for him.
"How old are you Glenn?" She asked, taking another sip of her water.
"Twenty. You?"
"Twenty eight."
"How'd you meet up with all the people following the RV?" Elle closed the cap of her bottle and threw it back into her bag.
"A couple were in the line headed to Atlanta originally…..We stuck together and camped out along the side of the road for a good few weeks. Then headed away from the city. Met a few more people along the road…" He stopped to give another direction to Dale before continuing, "We found nothing but cities overrun by geeks-"
"Geeks?" She gave a small laugh at disbelief of the word that came out of his mouth.
He stopped midsentence and returned the perplexed look as if she should know what the word meant. "Ah…the dead people walking around."
"The walkers," She stated.
"Well whatever you want to call them. The crazy things running around were over running all the nearby towns. We decided a week ago to head back to Atlanta, but we found it was just as worse. We stayed a little outside the city for a few days until we decided to head to this quarry. Then we saw you. After the first week of driving seeing people walking around is becoming rarer and rarer."
"Most people are dead." She said with a lack of emotion. "I haven't ran into a single person since I left my town, until you guys found me walking. I guess would be the right time to say thank you."
"Not going to leave a woman alone on the side of the road." Dale chimed.
Normally she'd make a remark about being characterized as a woman and the meaning behind it, but she held it in, not seeing the point.
Don't even care at this point… I'm exhausted.
For a month alone, she had done very well for herself.
Only a couple close calls…
The rest of the drive Dale, Glenn, and Elle chatted about books oddly enough. Elle had noticed the book collection Dale had, and they began discussing books they have read and ones that were awful. Glenn every so often mid-conversation would stop and give directions to Dale. Talking felt so weird to her; it was a pleasure that she had forgotten to be so relaxing. The birds would only respond to her with mocking chirps but now as she spoke, actual human voices were speaking back. Being alone for a month, her voice would even get on her nerves. Sometimes she had felt if she did not speak to herself, she'd lose the ability to talk. Foolish now she knew, recollecting on her old way of thinking, but solitude is human beings worst enemy sometimes.
By the time they arrived at the quarry, Glenn peaked out the window and told Dale to stop at a clearing which he dubbed big enough to set up camp. Elle was a bit nervous to have to meet everyone in their group, Glenn and Dale she was now comfortable with. Dale reminded her of her grandfather almost, but of course Dale was a bit younger than her grandfather. Dale spoke words of wisdom here and there and seemed to be very calm and collective despite being in the middle of a zombie outbreak.
"Come and meet the others." Glenn opened the door and grabbed a couple bags as he did so. Elle followed behind and Dale followed behind her. She bit down on her lip and held on to the strap of her backpack as she exited the trailer. Tightly grabbing it, she kept her eyes downward until she felt people moving towards them.
The first person to approach them was a tall man with dark hair. He had on a cap that had the word 'cop' written across it. His shirt was a bit tighter than needed to be, but showed off his muscles and well-toned figure. Elle's stomach went into a silent knot looking at his intimidating and power stature. She defined him as a good looking man, but at this point she thought everyone looked good to her as they were not decomposing. As he was in front of her, she though she recognized him. Perhaps she had seen him before at her work. Being a lawyer, she saw cops in passing all the time from various towns grabbing paper work.
Maybe he's one of the ones I'd stare at. She thought to herself, having a sudden flashback to her at the courthouse in her office with the shades open so she would see the officers come in and grab papers from the secretary. She would often spend more than needed time staring, and would then judge the officers looks with her coworkers who too would be indulging in the same activity.
"The name's Shane, where you from?" He shook her hand.
"Elle and I'm from a town 'bout three miles south." She returned his hand shake. His hands were rough and masculine. She wasn't going to ask him if she met him before, as she thought it would come out sounding a bit odd and he would never remember a couple lawyers eyeing officers that entered her county courthouse.
"Well, Elle from three miles south, welcome to our group." He gave a small smile and removed the hat on his head. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, before placing the hat back over his curly hair. "Must ask you, do you got any supplies that might come in handy? Any weapons?"
A woman and a little boy came up to Elle and smiled "Lori and my son Carl."
She patted her son on the shoulder, and looked to Shane. She had long brown hair that wildly cascaded down past her chest. She pushed it behind her back and placed her hands on her hips. Her entire body was fragile looking, and as Elle eyed her arms the thought of being able to easily snap her bones in half occurred. She wondered if her body was normally like that or the lack of food and overload of stress did it to her.
"Nice to meet y'all and…I got food and water that'll last 'bout a week, got a baseball bat, and a pistol, but it only got four rounds in it. Nothing too fancy. Planning on saving them for when I need it." Elle wiped the sweat of her forehead that caused her light blond hair to stick to her skin. "Sorry I don't got a lot."
"It's okay." Shane replied. "It's good that you're with us now though. Safer in numbers than in wanderers. We gotta set up camp. Why don't you help Lori make her tent. Sorry to say we don't have any spare beddings in the tents. Might have to sleep in the RV on the floor for the time being," Shane looked to Dale.
"I got a couple extra blankets and pillows you could use. Only thing is when people have to go to the bathroom they have to step over you." Dale said.
"It's okay. Anything is better than the woods." She laughed, absently rubbing the side of her arm running over the cuts, bug bites, and scrapes she had collected from sleeping on sticks and leaves.
"I know this whole thing seems unrealistic but we got a good group of people with us right now. I'm a police officer too, if that throws you any comfort." Shane gave a hopeful look.
"I noticed your hat," She pointed up at his hat.
"Oh." He laughed removing it again and looking at it. "Barely remember its written on this ole thing."
Just then two men walked by them, one with a gun and the other with a large crossbow. Both were wearing sleeveless shirts and by the time Elle noticed them, they already had their backs to them walking towards the woods, so she did not manage to get a good look. The one with the gun turned his head towards them.
"Picking up strays on the side of the road eh?" His eyes traveled up and down her figure slowly, purposely to be noticed by everyone. "At least you got a looker this time 'round." He laughed and looked at Elle while licking his lips. He was a rather ugly bald man that reminded her of the hicks in her town that would sit at the gas station and whistle at any female that would walk by. "We gonna go get us some dinner." He winked at her, before turning his head back in the direction he was walking.
They walked into the woods leaving Elle with a look of confusion on her face.
Uh…
"The hell?" She said out loud.
"That's Merle that talked to you." Dale said. "The other one that you didn't see is his brother Daryl. Steer clear of them and let them do their thing. They get us food and are good at hunting, but Merle is-….Well you will see once he's around camp again. He's not very nice."
"And he has a thing for blondes." A fellow blond walked over. She appeared to be in her thirties. There was another girl, also blonde, younger than Elle, who she presumed to be her sister. "I'm Andrea and this is my sister Amy. Just ignore anything Merle says to you, and don't ever be alone with him. He will try to make a move. Especially when he's drunk. Learned that the hard way."
"I'll keep that in mind." Elle rubbed her neck uncomfortably.
"Well let's get that tent up." Lori said, and Elle followed behind her.
The entire group remained silent while putting up the tents, making the fire pits, scouting the area and other various tasks Shane had told them to do. Elle figured Shane was the unspoken leader of the group. Being an officer of the law also probably helped his gain to power over the group. Although badges meant nothing anymore.
Once everything appeared to be set up, the group gathered around the fire pit as the sun was starting to make an orange and red mixture appear in the sky around the mountain it was starting to hide behind. Shane opened a few cans of beans and began to cook them over the fire. Carol's husband and Jim were the only ones over by their tents chatting away from the group. Elle sat between Glenn and Amy.
"So, how'd you come to be on the side of the road Elle?" Dale asked, once a moment of conversation break occurred.
"Oh…I just was walking is all." She replied, giving him a smile.
"No you know what I mean. How'd you get there?" He pried. "I was vacationing across country when this outbreak happened. Met those two when their car broke down," He pointed at Amy and Andrea.
"Thank god you picked us up. Amy was convinced she could fix our car, and who knows how long we would have been sitting there, till the damn thing started." Andrea lightly nudged Amy giving a small laugh.
"Hey, I watched dad fix our truck all the time." Amy raised her voice slightly, but laughed.
"Yeah but this wasn't a truck and dad used welding tools." She teased.
Elle laughed and leaned back on her hands, letting her legs out straight in front of her. "Well, I was originally in my town when the outbreak happened. Then, when I got separated from my friends, I just started heading towards the city. Sleeping in houses and the woods. Livin' off a nature and what not."
"What did you do before this?" Glenn asked.
"I was lawyer at my city's court house."
"I was a civil rights lawyer." Andrea's posture straightened up and she smiled at her. "What did you specialize in?"
"Civil cases, nothing like murder or big crimes. Just theft, tax aversions, stuff like that." Elle didn't know if it was just the common career path Andrea had or just the way she acted, but Elle liked the two sisters right off the bat.
"You really don't like saying your town name, now do you?" Shane teased while removing the beans from the fire and handing out bowls to everyone.
"Don't matter now, does it? It's up in ruins from when the army attacked." Elle scrunched her nose up in displeasure at the smell of the beans. Shane started to pass the pot in the circle, giving it to Lori and Carl even before himself. "Where I live is up in ruins, and where I grew up a couple miles more south is probably burnt down too."
"Guess you're right. The armies tore up our town. Saw it happen with my own eyes. And if you were 'round earlier you'd a saw that Atlanta was being bombed, just near a month ago." Shane's voice dropped.
"I guess everyone got scared….Blind sited by fear to see what was living and what was dead." Elle sighed and gathered her knees up and rested her head on the top of them.
Glenn passed her a plate that had been circulating around the circle slowly. On it held baked beans, something she was not too fond of. She scooped it into her bowl regardless and began to pick at it. She passed the bowl to her right, handing it to Amy who appeared to have the same reaction as her.
What a strange day it's been…..
The group began talking separately and Elle took the moment to ask Glenn in a low voice. "Is Shane Lori's husband?"
Glenn shifted uncomfortably as he finished the mouthful of beans. "Lori and Carl lost their dad. He was in a coma when the outbreak happened." He dropped his eyes, before raising them again, "Was the sheriff, and got shot in an accident. Shane was their dad's best friend. He's helping out Lori and Carl right now. It's really sad."
"It is…" Elle's voice faded at the end as if she was going to say more. She took another spoonful of beans. "I like Lori and Carl. They seem nice."
"Yeah everyone here is nice, except a select few. Carol's husband for example…He-….He hurts her." Glenn looked down, breaking eye contact.
Elle's face began to burn, "No one stops him?"
"It's not our place and Carol doesn't tell anyone. But I overheard Andrea and Amy talking about Carol's bruises."
"He doesn't hurt their daughter does he?" Elle whispered, looking at Sophia who was across the fire diagonally from her.
"Don't think so." Glenn tried to sound hopeful.
"That's-…a difficult situations. Anyone goes up to him, he'll take it out on her. I understand." Elle, sighed and put her now empty bowl down on the ground in front of her.
"I wish I could do something." Glenn looked to Elle.
"This world is about surviving now…Can't get involved in people's problems." Elle's tone dropped. "You try to fix everything, it will only bite yah in the ass."
Just then a whistle came from the woods and out emerged two figures. From the loud southern voice coming from one of them, it was easy to tell it was the Dixon brothers returning from their hunt.
"Got us some squirrels to cook for tomorrow." Merle yelled. "Whatever the hell y'all got on that fire ain't gonna compare."
Andrea gave a disgusted look to the fire at the thought of eating squirrels. "Ugh…."
The two walked into their tent for a moment, which Glenn and Dale had set up for them. Then they walked over to the fire, grabbing a bowl from Shane and pouring themselves beans.
It was then Elle got a good look at the other Dixon brother Daryl. He was certainly not bald and ugly like Merle was, but everything about him screamed southern white hunter boy redneck that grew up in a trailer. Caked in dirt and sweat head to toe, he had a head of medium brown hair that swept over his forehead from the sweat of his hunt. His muscles, though not as big as Merle's were evident from his sleeveless shirt. Fire light was causing shadows upon and putting emphasis on each inward curve of his arm muscle, making them look even bigger than they probably were in the sunlight. His facial hair was a goatee with bits of five o clock shadow and dirt covering the rest of his face.
Her eyes went down to the ground once more, to avoid being caught staring. She looked around at the rest of the group for a moment. Jacqui and T-Dog were chatting about something and laughing. Lori was holding Carl with an arm around his shoulder, staring at the fire. Elle's eyes met hers and they exchanged a small smile.
Her eyes panned over Daryl once more and she noticed that he looked wild and his eyes seemed like two slits as he looked down at his food and silently ate next to his brother. They both sat near Shane across the fire, Daryl was seated in a way that Elle could only see him if she leaned forward to look over Dale and Glenn.
Merle unfortunately was across from Elle and she made eye contact with him.
Leaving her mind now was Daryl's looks, and now entering was the fact Merle was his brother. Although she hadn't heard a word out of Daryl's mouth, she hoped he wasn't a carbon copy of Merle. Merle seemed already the louder, outspoken, and rude one, but Shane said to leave them both alone. Obviously the red flags of Daryl just had not been shown out in the open to her yet.
"Ran into a couple walkers now didn't we?" Merle said, with a mouth full of food. Elle's eyes did not miss the way his eyes flickered over her once again.
"Ugly sons a bitches." Daryl spoke for the first time that Elle heard. He held a southern accent even more so than hers, with grammar that would make any English teacher cry. The two talked in the way her father used to, improper and extremely southern. She talked without considering her grammar for a long time, but being in a professional setting as a lawyer, a toned down proper tone was needed and trained into her blood throughout her college years.
"They ain't close to camp are they?" Shane asked concerned.
"Naw, they far out there. We almost ended up back at Atlanta for our hunt." Daryl spoke too with a mouth full of food.
"I'm going to stay up all night on watch." Shane said.
"You're going to be too tired too." Lori looked at him worried.
"Don't you worry 'bout me Lori. I'll be just fine."
"You could use the top of my trailer." Dale chimed in. "I'm sure it's a good view point. If you get too tired, I'll switch with you."
Shane gave a nod and went to his tent for a little to grab his gun. "Don't worry about that."
Elle looked up and accidently made eye contact once again with Merle. The moment she saw his lips part to speak while looking at her-
Great…here we go…
"So we just gonna pick up strays on the side o' the road all the time now?" Merle chuckled. "What's your name girlie?"
"Elle…" She responded, not breaking eye contact with him trying to stand her ground.
"She isn't a stray. She's a human being just like everyone else here." Lori stated. "We help out anyone that needs it."
"Just another mouth to feed. You keep helping any sucker you see walking, we're gonna have to choose who we gonna let starve first." Merle let out a 'pffft' noise and looked at Elle once more. "What skill you got that could repay me for feeding your blond ass?"
His tongue traveled across his lips as his eyes traveled down her figure once more.
What an ass
"Excuse me-…"
"Shut up Merle." Andrea raised her voice. "Asked me the same question when you first met me, now shut up."
"Wells I was gonna see if I got the same fucking response as I got from you, before you interrupted my conversation now girl."
"Well this conversation should end." Lori stood up and brought Carl to their tent. "There's children here Merle, remember that."
"To hell with you women and your morals. It's the end of the fuckin' world. Nothing applies anymore." Merle threw his bowl across the camp. "And to hell with these beans."
"I woulda finished it!" Daryl looked to his brother.
"Don't matter now, it's gone!" Merle stood up. "Need my beauty rest for tomorrow. Ladies..." He put two fingers to his forehead and gave them a half of a salute.
"Gonna have to never wake up at that rate." Elle mumbled to Glenn and Andrea.
They laughed a bit and finished their food. Daryl seeing that the attention shifted back to the group and less in his direction since Merle left got up silently and went to their tent to sleep.
"Daryl doesn't seem as bad Merle." Elle pointed out after he left.
"He's much smarter than he lets on." Dale said while cleaning up the dishes around the fire. "But he's still a Dixon and really just follows his older brother. Whatever upbringing they had sure caused them to miss a lesson or two on manners. They both just get angry all the time."
"Well at least he doesn't look at all females like they are a piece of meat." Amy chimed in, making a disgusted noise in her throat.
"Seems more interested in squirrels from how long we've been around him." Jim said sitting down by the fire. Carol's husband directed with a clicking noise to Carol to follow him to their tent. She silently got up and took Sophia with her.
Elle went over to the RV with Dale. He handed her a couple blankets and a pillow. "I know it won't be comfortable but…"
"It's fine." She smiled and took the bundle from his hands. "Trust me. It's more than enough."
Sleeping was difficult at first, not for the comfort, but because normally she would never be able to sleep when she was off on her own. She'd climb a tree and stay awake and alert in the darkness of the woods until exhaustion took over. Any noise she'd hear in the pitch black would keep her on her toes. Now laying on the RV floor, the only noise she would hear was the snoring of Glenn just a little ways down from her.
There's someone on watch. I'm as safe as I could be here…
"Sleep okay?" Dale asked her as she emerged from the RV. Elle's head snapped towards the noise, until realizing Dale was standing on the roof, "Thought, I woke you when I stepped over you."
"Slept just fine, thanks for asking." She placed a cupped hand above her eyes to block out the sun while looking up at him. "Anything going on?"
"I think they are making Glenn go into town today alone for supplies. The brothers are off to hunt again, I think."
Sending them all off to do the dangerous stuff, She thought to herself. What the hell everyone else supposed to do?
Elle went over to the rest of the group that was scattered around the fire pit. The Dixon's were packing up their hunting gear, Lori and Carl were going through their bags, Amy and Andrea were gathering up a pile of fire word, and T Dog and Jacqui were tending to a small cut Sophia had gotten on her leg.
"Maybe we'll find a big ass deer today." Daryl grabbed his crossbow off the back of their truck, taking a moment to secure the various ropes he had attached to himself, "Cook us some venison."
"Yeah and maybe we'll find that hooker dad always brought home in the woods too." Merle threw his backpack off the bed of the truck he was seated in. He closed up the back of the truck, and bent down to tie his shoe.
"Shut up Merle, was just saying is all." The younger Dixon snapped, throwing the rag he had in his hands at him. "Gonna be living off squirrels rest of our damn lives."
"Morning." Andrea greeted Elle as she spotted her walking towards the fire pit. She patted the log next to her motioning her to sit.
Elle sat down and leaned forward resting her elbows on her knees. "Morning, how'd y'all sleep?"
"Alright." Amy sighed, "Thought I heard things in the woods though and was up for a good hour."
"Just me takin' a piss is all." Merle yelled over to Amy, butting in on the conversation. "Gonna ask me, how I slept sweet thing?"
Lori looked up from chatting with Carl to roll her eyes. "Come on Carl, go play with Sophia, I gotta go talk to Shane."
Elle looked over to Merle feeling annoyed by him already, "Obviously not well enough if it was intended on being beauty rest."
Merle considered what she said before laughing. "Feisty one aren'tcha?" He raised his practically invisible brows, eyes glinting briefly, "How 'bout you come watch me hunt. I'll impress yah with my hand eye coordination." He took his gun and mocked aiming at something, before looking back at her with a grin
Elle's stomach twitched but she remembered to keep her cool, He wants a reaction from you.
"Uh-…I'd come along to hunt. Not to watch." She straightened up in her seat.
"You'd get in the way," Daryl spoke up. "Don't need no women out doing a man's job."
"Don't want you to chip a nail there girlie." Merle added in, showing off his yellowed teeth in a smile that caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand up.
"We ain't taking yah." Daryl stood up, putting his crossbow over his shoulder. His eyes met Elle's for the first time and she saw a flash of danger within them.
Already off to a great start with these two…
"I didn't actually wanna go. I might get violated in the process..." She glared at Merle, while speaking. "The comments can stop any day now."
She didn't want to admit to them that she had no idea how to use a gun; it would only reinforce the thick headed Dixon brothers ideas that women were weak.
"Oh come now you'll warm up to me." Merle teased, standing up himself. "Let's go brother. Don't miss ole Merle too much ladies."
"We won't," Amy yelled to him. After they were out of earshot, she spoke again, "I don't like them."
"You're not the only one." Andrea said. "Merle really is becoming more and more of a problem each day."
"I know," Shane rubbed his chin, "But they get us food and have muscle, something we're lacking in this group. Daryl ain't as bad as Merle, but we can't ask Merle to leave cause they come as a pair."
"Well something's gotta be done. He has no respect for anyone. Merle is gonna end up attracting all the walkers around here to us. He fires his gun without thinking." Lori's voice rose. "He doesn't listen to a word you say either Shane."
"I know Lori. We just have to work with what we are given." Shane trudged off to his tent.
Elle took out a granola bar from her backpack to munch on. She was used to eating slowly, to make her small rations last longer than they should.
"Alright got the list?" Suddenly Shane appeared nearby with Glenn standing with his backpack on and a nervous look in his eyes.
"Yeah I do. I know where to go. I'll be fine." Glenn gave a hopeful smile.
Elle turned over her shoulder and met eyes with Glenn. "You sure you wanna go alone?"
"I'll be faster that way. When we were in towns nearby, I would go off on my own a lot and get supplies."
"Good luck Glenn. Be safe." Lori said to him, standing at Shane's side.
Glenn gave his nod of acknowledgment and climbed into a truck nearby to head to the city.
"Wanna help me with getting fire wood?" T Dog asked Andrea and Elle. He handed the two axes, "Dale's got all sorts of tools, but these are the only axes he's got. Don't break 'em."
The three went along the edge of their camp and chopped at random tree branches and gathered fallen sticks. They created a pile nearby the fire pit and spent the time talking about movies.
What is there really to talk about at the end of the world?
She took another swing at the tree she stood in front of. Its branch was nearly off, just a couple good hacks would do the trick.
The past.
The talk of movies made them miss the simple pleasures in life, and most of all electricity. Andrea and T Dog started to talk about missing a couple of household items they used to have. The talk went from meaningless missing, to suddenly very depressing. Amy joined in there talking, and it started to go very down hill. The sadness in their voices, made Elle feel the need to snap them out of their states of mind.
If they spend all this time thinking about sad stuff they ain't going to live right…
"No good talking about what we miss. It will only make us sad." Elle said with a bundle of wood in her hands. "We spend time feeling sorry for ourselves, we will lose hope."
Elle did not like to get emotional. Feeling sad and sorry for one's self was something she avoided at all cost. Going down that emotional road would lead to nothing but trouble. With the amount of death she had seen in front of her eyes, she tried to become cold to it.
"I can still dream about my computer." Andrea said, with a bit of a snarky tone, sounding as if she did not want to be lectured on what to say.
Elle did not mean to come across as rude, but again when it came to emotions she thought it was better to be cold about sad things than to start crying.
Nothing gets solved from crying.
She learned that the hard way too.
Hours later after doing more chores to help out the camp, Elle decided to go off on her own to search for any edible plants. If for some reason she could not down squirrel, it be nice to have a backup to eat.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Dale said after she let him know where she was heading.
"I've been able to handle myself alone for a month, I can do this." Elle gave him a reassuring smile. It felt bizarre to her to have to ask for permission to go off now. Before it was, if she wanted to do something, it was done on a wim. Now being part of a group meant rules and disagreements to occur.
She'd be damned if she could not go off on her own ever.
"Don't wander too far, and take your baseball bat or something." Dale said from the roof of his RV, "It's gonna be night sooner than you know it. I think the brothers just came back with more squirrels."
She looked over to the Dixon tent, to see the two sitting outside of it. Daryl had a cigarette hanging from his lips, but his hands were busy skinning and cutting away into the squirrels. Merle was also smoking a cigarette but his hands were resting on his lap, doing nothing at the moment.
"I'll come back soon…Don't wanna miss dinner." She put one hand in a fist and mocked an enthused arm movement.
Grabbing her bat from the RV, she wandered off to the left of camp and quickly left the eyesight of Dale. Looking at the ground as she walked, she quietly kept her guard up listening to her surroundings. Eventually the low chatter from camp was out of her earshot and everything seemed like it was two days ago when she was off on her own.
The sound of nothing.
Couple birds here and there.
But in retrospect nothing human.
After searching for around thirty minutes, she came across wild blackberries.
Yes!
She placed her backpack on the ground and kneeled in front of the wild bushes carrying her prize. She carefully picked the berries placing them in a circular tin she had in her backpack. There was enough to allow everyone at camp to have a helping. Inspecting the one in her hand, she popped it into her mouth soaking in the juices that lay on her tongue. She crunched down on it, slowly swishing it around her mouth keeping the taste as long as she could.
So gooooooood.
Nothing really could be thought, other than how amazing it tasted in her mouth. She sat there taking in the moment, sitting with her back to a tree.
Cautious.
Surviving alone, she wasn't good at hunting. She never killed animals. The gun she picked up, she did not have the slightest idea how to use, but thought if she ever got that desperate, she'd figure it out. She was excellent at tracking, gathering, and most importantly hiding. She could climb any tree and make it into her safety net. When the army was around towns she took refuge in, she could hide from them very well. It was not a skill she had, but most certainly one she developed. Her tracking was from her experience on working her father's farm. She could find natural goodies very well and also see where someone went off running in the woods too, as often her little sister would wander off too far.
No…Don't go thinking about the past. She thought to herself, plopping another blackberry in her mouth. Remember what it does to a person. Just gotta stay in the now. No need to think about childhood stuff that don't matter now.
Picking the bushes dry, she placed the tin in her bag and headed back to camp. She got only a couple yards from where she was seated when she heard the crunching of leaves. Without even thinking, she crouched down, looking towards the direction of the noise. She knelt behind a tree and looked through an overgrown thicket.
On the other side of the thicket, was a walker clawing at a tree. Towards the top of the tree, was a small squirrel minding its own business, walking along the branches unphased by the half decaying corpse trying to eat it. Elle took a moment to consider her options. Killing it seemed to be the only option at this point.
One less walker around to worry about the better.
She looked around once more to see if there were any more of this creatures friends walking about, but the entire forest seemed empty. The sun was starting to set even more, and the lighting of her surroundings was starting to become a bit dim. Trying to make the least amount of noise as possible, she stayed low to the ground as she walked around the thicket. The walker still had its back to her, making snapping noises as the animal in the tree was enjoying himself a bath by nibbling on its own fur; not realizing it was giving the walker a show.
Inching closer to it attempting to be as quiet as possible, Elle when deemed close enough, stood straight up and gripped the baseball bat tightly in her hands. She lined up the swing and let a low whistle escape her lips to get the walker's attention. It turned around quickly at the noise.
SMACK!
She swung the bat directly at the walkers face, her hands vibrating at the impact with the creature. A loud squishing noise occurred and a crunch as the walker's nose was the main impact with the bat. It fell to the ground at the unexpected force, and Elle continued to beat the walker with her metal bat. Each hit caused the sound of decaying skin and bone crunching and squishing to echo in the forest. Blood splattered up off the bat and on to her clothes whenever she swung the bat up away from the creature to gain momentum. The creature made moaning noises as she kept slamming the metal into its face. Brain bits started oozing out the sides of its head where large holes were. A few more smacks caused one of the eyes to fall out and be crushed under Elle's mighty swings. Although the creature was now clearly dead, she continued to attack it viciously letting out a grunt of anger towards it.
"You ugly fuck." She gritted between her teeth, standing straight up to look over the mess in front of her. Blood stained the forest floor and her weapon. Seeing her bat soaked in blood, she sighed.
What a mess.
She walked away from the body and sat on the ground. She took a couple leaves from the ground and started to attempt to use them to wipe the blood from her bat. It worked only a little bit, removing the brain bits and other various organ pieces clinging to the metal, but the blood was only smeared more on it. Her clothes had blotches of blood on them, as well as a couple droplets on her face. She wiped the blood on her face with her hand, not knowing all that did as well was just smear it.
Originally not going to inform the group there was a walker nearby, she deemed she would have to as the blood on her shirt was not going to disappear magically.
"What the hell happened?" Dale asked, spotting Elle walk back into camp.
"Oh my god, is that yours?" Jacqui asked, meeting Elle just outside the RV. Shane got up from where he was seated to address Elle as well.
She scanned the campsite for a moment, seeing everyone was starting to sit around the fire. Lori was helping Carl with a book he was reading, Carol's family was seated around their own fire, T Dog was adding more logs to the main fire, and the Dixons were cooking their hunt over the fire. Everyone had looked up at the slightly blood covered Elle. She met eyes with Daryl and Merle first, then looked back to the three people in front of her.
"No. It was a walker's," She kept her voice low, not wanting anyone else to hear. "Was only one loner, wouldn't be too worried. I took care of 'em."
Dale gave her a perplexed look, "Here come over here, I got water we can wash you up with."
He lead her over to the side of the RV where he had a bucket of water and a rag, "Was using this for my forehead when I was standing up there in the heat, but clean off your bat and face with it."
"Thanks Dale," She took the damp cloth and started with her face and fingers. The cloth slowly started to become stained red, and became the natural color of it once she dipped her bat into the water and cleaned it off with the rag.
"You should have had someone with you," He said as she dumped the bucket of dirty water out, "You could have been killed."
"Don't worry about me Dale. I said I could handle myself and I did. The son of a bitch is dead." She gave him a small smile almost sick smile. She could tell he was the most cautious of the group, and every group did need someone like Dale around. He was their reality check, but Elle was certainly not used to having someone be worried for her safety, especially someone she just met. "I can handle myself."
"Too much confidence-" He started, but she cut him off.
"I know Dale. I am confident but not stupid. If there were more, I'd have ran." She paused. " I appreciate the concern though. Really, I do."
Don't wanna sound mean to him, he's just overly worried.
She liked Dale, but she could already foreshadow that he was going to be worried if any living breathing person walked out of his eye sight.
"Come on, I got something for everyone around the fire." Elle continued to smile at him, and walked over to the fire and sat on a log next to Glenn and Amy. "Made it back okay?"
Glenn smiled at Elle and rubbed his neck, "Yeah, I got us some food and water bottles. Couple medical supplies-"
"But was the trip safe? No close calls?" Elle pressed.
"Ah-….For the most part. Towards the end, I had to run to the truck and speed off to lose a couple geeks, but I stayed hidden for the most part."
"Someone else could go next time." She offered to him.
"No…I know my way around the city the best. Don't think anyone else can do." Glenn shifted uncomfortably.
"You sure?"
"Yeah." His answer went against his tone. Being asked to go into the city was a big risk, but he was not hyping it up to be one. She did not know Glenn well, but from the way his body language was being displayed in front of her, she pegged him to be a push over. He would do anything asked of him or be taken advantage of by other group members. . There was no concrete evidence to back this thought she was having up, but time would tell and she'd see how many times he would go into the city without anyone else going with him or offering.
"Hey I got something for everyone." Elle reached inside her backpack, "Found these in the forest. Figured it go well with whatever we are eating."
Merle and Daryl glanced over at this, looking up from the meat they were cooking on the fire. The looks on their faces were stoic and blank, even after she opened her tin to reveal blackberries for everyone. A couple people made the sounds of approval and a few thanks were thrown around here and there to Elle and Glenn and even to the Dixon brothers who were cooking the food.
Plates were passed out in the circle, carrying squirrel meat that seemed charred and kept on the fire a bite longer than needed. The group picked at the food, with the Dixons eating the meat much faster than everyone else due to being used to the taste and texture. To Elle, the food was not bad at all considering it was the first time she had cooked meat in a month, so she could look past the odd burnt flavor to it. The only one really having trouble with it was Carl and Sophia who didn't like the thought of eating something they thought was 'furry and cute'.
They all chatted around the fire, Elle taking an even more liking to Glenn and Amy than before. They seemed to just click very well right off the bat.
A familiar smell waved through her nostrils and she looked looked across the fire and through the flames, sat Daryl and Merle taking drags off their cigarettes. If she could only have a drag-
No not an option. She had quit for a solid two years, but with the current state of the world, lung cancer was a risk she was willing to take. The smell of second hand smoke filled her nostrils and her teeth clamped together at the urge of sweet nicotine running through her veins.
No do not ask them. At least not tonight. You are already off to a bad start with them, grubbing for smokes won't make it better.
To distract herself from her hidden away addiction, she started to offer the blackberries to the people around her. Everyone happily took a handful. She even let Carl and Sophia take two handfuls since they were promised extra berries if they ate all their squirrel meat. Lori gave Elle a thanks as she took her share for helping her get the children to eat. Elle stood up to reach the remaining people who were out of reach to offer the fruits too.
She gave some to Ed and Carol, trying her best to keep a pleasant smile when she made eye contact with Ed.
Bastard.
Keeping a straight face, she went up to the Dixon brothers and held out the tin. "Blackberries?"
Daryl took a handful and gave her a small nod, not making eye contact. It was then, Elle noticed a small mole on the side of Daryl's face, hidden slightly within his goatee. She focused on that, as he wasn't making eye contact with her. Oddly, she thought it was fitting on his face. She then looked to Merle who on the other hand could never cease to keep his mouth shut as he grabbed a huge helping of the fruit.
"Well, little miss Betty Crocker herself is feeding me. Gonna sit here and place these in my mouth sugar?" He slyly smirked at her, blowing smoke purposely in her face. Her body tensed up, at the smell of delicious nicotine and other toxins inches from her. Her heart rate rose as she craved for more of the sinful smell. She took a large gulp, and bit her tongue.
No.
The look in his eyes showed he was on more than cigarette fumes. There was a daze to his whole figure and his body seemed slanted.
He's a druggie. Perfect. She mentally cringed. She quickly stole a glance at Daryl- he seemed to be normal, but she could not tell accurately if he was on whatever drug Merle was clearly on.
"I'm all set." She went back to the other side of the fire and sat down to eat the remaining berries for herself. She was not in the mood to get into a battle of words with Merle.
A thank you would have been nice.
Elle took note while eating her berries of, the way Lori and Shane looked at one another. The way her eyes would light up and her smile was more than just a depressing hopeful one whenever they looked at one another-
They are more than just friends, She thought to herself. She'd seen those looks before, and experienced it herself once too. Or if they are just friends, they won't just be friends for long.
It was information she felt no urge to share with anyone. She was good at reading people's body language, and perhaps it was something she'd prefer to keep to herself as a talent.
Slowly everyone went to their tents, leaving the plates stacked in a pile by the fire. It was T Dog's night to watch on the RV, giving Shane the night off. Eventually it was just Elle, Merle, Daryl, and Glenn around the fire.
"Where'd you find that shit anyways blondie?" Merle asked her, as he finished his last berry.
"A bush 'bout thirty minutes that way," She pointed off in the direction behind her.
"Women can git lost in the woods alone. How 'bout next time you ask good ole Merle here to chaperone you." His chuckle transformed into a coughing hacking fit.
"I'll be fine by myself. Was today wasn't I?" She kept her tone lowered, feeling too tired to get into an argument still.
"Kill'd a walker I hear? Lucky swing?" He blew smoke out across the fire. The glow from the embers lit his face, causing him to appear almost skeleton like. He was a frightening looking creature for still having air in his lungs.
"Keep it down," Elle raised both her hands up flat, fanning downward to mimic the lowering of volume,
"Not everyone knows there was a walker 'round here again. If we all lived off a' luck, we'd be dead now wouldn't we?" She proposed, "Naw, I took that walker out not by luck."
Glenn stood up, "I'm going to sleep. G'night everyone."
He's so polite.
"Why don't you stay a while blondie? Or you gonna go tuck the chink in for beddy bye time?" He laughed hoarsely, lighting up another cigarette.
Glenn's body twitched at the obvious offending comment, but kept his mouth shut as he turned on his heel and walked towards the RV. She looked back at the rednecks and pursed her lips.
"I'm actually tired myself." She looked up and made eye contact surprisingly with Daryl this time. The lesser of two evils at this point, looked to be less intimidating than his now obviously racist brother.
Well they are brothers, they are most likely both racist…
"That floor gittin' uncomfortable yet? I got enough room in my bed fer yah." Merle kept pestering, as she stood up.
"Fuck off, yah pig." She finally said, raising her voice and turned to head off to bed She stopped with her hand on the RV latch, before turning her head towards the fire, "Honestly, you don't know the first thing 'bout treatin' someone decently."
"To hell with you then!" Merle yelled after her, watching as she slammed the door to the RV shut with more force than needed. "She'll wake up the 'hole fuckin' camp with that attitude. She almost as worse as Andrea. Good for nothin' pair o' tits."
"You're settin' the bitch off." Daryl said as he lit another cigarette. "Hate to break it to you bro, but I think she ain't that into you."
"To hell with these whores 'round here," He hacked up a bit, and then spit on the ground. "And don't be telling me nothing 'bout these women Darlina. You don't know the first thing 'bout talkin' to these girls. My chances with them be a whole lot bigger than yours ever 'onna be."
"Shut up Merle." He spit as well, raising his voice and throwing his empty plate to the ground.
"Don't be tellin' me to shut up, ya worthless shit," He stuck a finger rather close to Daryl's face as if to lecture him. "All my life, I've been tryin' make a man outta you, and now look. Yah got three blonde bitches walkin' 'round this camp. Man up and fuck one o' them already. It's painful to look at how pathetic you are."
Daryl stood up and kicked the plate that he had thrown on the ground, sending it flying across the camp. "I told you to shut yah fuckin' mouth old man. I ain't worthless, yah meth head."
Merle stood up as well, and stood inches from Daryl. "What I offend your white ass? I ain't no meth head!"
Daryl shoved Merle backwards, letting out an angry grunt. Merle then shoved back at him muttering some curse word. Daryl took a swing at Merle, who threw his arm up to block it. Merle and Daryl ended up then on the ground, with Daryl in a head lock, and Merle choking him tightly laughing.
"Don't upset the bull, if yah can't handle the horns, little brother." He tightened his grip, with Daryl throwing punches up towards Merle's head to try and escape from the position he was in, "What I tell you 'bout tryin' to make a man outta you. Been tryin' near thirty years and still you's always second best tah me."
He let go of Daryl throwing him to the ground. He stood up straight and stretched out his arms, before reaching in his pocket and pulling out a plastic bag of white powder. "I'm gonna go have me some more of this. Pick up this shit Darlina."
Merle kicked his own plate and pointed to the area around them. During their short brawl a couple things had fallen over and the stack of plates had been strewn about in the dirt.
Daryl stood there alone, watching his brother walk along the edge of the forest to get even more high than he already was. Daryl looked down at the plates, and instead of picking them up, he took his rage out on them. Kicking the plastic wear and then bending over to grab one of the smaller logs used to sit on, he threw it over his head.
Elle and Glenn sat in the RV watching from the window, hidden by the darkness. Although they both did not hear what was said, they did see the fighting.
"Shit…" Elle said as they watched Daryl head to his tent, his whole body tense.
"Their arguing has been getting worse each day." Glenn said, sitting at the table, now looking to Elle. "I bet they didn't spend a lot of time together before this happened, and now being around each other every day is getting to them."
"Merle is a complete asshole." Elle, scooted off the seat and went to snuggle herself in her sleeping bag. "They both got anger issues."
"See that's-," Glenn went for his sleeping bag as well which was in the hallway of the RV as well. He slept on the other end of it, with his feet facing her head, "-why we don't wanna ever upset them. Those two may fight and attack each other but they won't kill one another cause they are family. One of us upset them, especially Merle, who knows if he'll pull a gun. Shane doesn't think he will, but I'd rather be cautious."
"I'd like him to pull a gun on me," Elle smirked even though Glenn couldn't see, "I'd love to pop a round right where it'd hurt 'em."
She pictured it in her head and that was the lovely thought that she drifted to sleep to.
I would love if you could take the time to review good sir or miss. It's really the only thing that keeps me going cause it makes me see you want more. I'd like to thank my Beta Syd for helping me see where my errors are and giving me suggestions. My chapters may take a week or so. I edit them a lot, and always want more than 10,000 words per chapter so when you guys get something to read, it actually will take you a while to read and not just five minutes. With that in mind, enjoy your day reader thanks for reading and I'll be updating soon.