The fiery of Georgia's sun beats unmercifully down on everyone's skin at camp. Stealing a bit of shade from the RV but it still isn't enough.
His eye's catch her, pulling her locks from a high tail. The locks pour onto her raw shoulders, she's not from Georgia.
She says she's a teacher, but its doubtful. The tattoo's that paint her tan skin, swears spilling from her lips, although Penny doesn't seem to mind her, she's suspicious .
From the time Daryl had found her, she seemed to be a woman completely untouched by the misery ,other than she was drenched in geek bile from head to toe, along with the child who held her hand protectively, they seemed mentally fine. It was obvious the child wasn't hers, due to the difference in skin colour, Daryl didn't even bother lifting his crossbow at the two bodies, and the woman herself didn't bother raising her crimson soaked shovel at him, they were left at a standstill.
The child, a young dark girl, her hair bunched in two pigtails, that day she wore ,underneath all the guts, a yellow plaid shirt along with a jean pair of shorts, she kept glancing back from the burly man, to the woman, but the woman just kept on staring back into the blue eyes of the man ahead of them.
The woman, tanned with long brown hair tossed into a baseball cap the words "Hook 'Em" plastering the base, she was wearing a once blue blouse and tight fitting blue jeans. Her eyes mesmerised in his, she adjust the pack that was strapped to her shoulders, two words escaped her lips.
"You're alive?" She catches herself, understanding how dumb she must've sound, of course, he was living and breathing, by now he would've already attacked the two.
"Well no shit," He adjust the squirrels that'd been strapped to his waist, and continued walking away. The loud sounds of thumps trailing behind him catch his ears. "The hell-" He turns to see the woman, dragging her left leg, limping painfully, not a moment to soon, the woman found herself looking down the shaft of an arrow.
"You bit?" Her eyes enlarged in shock, mouth dangling open, she grips her blood drowned shovel raising it with her free hand.
"No! She hurt herself! We were climbing a fence a few minutes ago, and she landed wrong!" The young girl shielded the staggering woman. Daryl didn't lower his crossbow, nor did she lower her shovel. She motioned teetering back and forth in front of the child.
"No, I'm not bit," She replied herself, weakly lowering the shovel to her side again.
"Mind if I make sure?" He takes a look around, checking for walkers, not one in sight, he lowers his crossbow. The woman nods, kneeling beside the child trying to pull her skin tight jeans over her knee. Daryl pressed his large hands around her thin ankle, her ankle almost completely swollen, she continues tugging at her jean leg, when the blood starts seeping through her pant leg.
She grits her teeth, and tries barring the pain, the skin around the wound turns a irritated red, the child looks at her with a her with uneasiness, but the woman works her lips into a thin wearing smile to shows she's ok.
The child sending a weakly tired smile in reply to the woman's, but the smile dies slowly as the corner of her lip drawing to a straight line.
Through Daryl's examination, the wound was horrible, blood trickled from every inch of the wound, it wasn't just a simple fall, something worse, but she was right, she wasn't bit. This woman was doomed without the proper care, rather she'd die from infection or become a human happy meal for the geeks, she couldn't take care of herself, let alone a child as well.
"It's bad," He bluntly says. Fear sets in the child's eyes but before the kid says anything the woman interrupts.
"It's fine, it doesn't hurt at all, Penny" She pulls herself to her feed, gritting her teeth in agony. She takes the pack off from her shoulders, opening it and rifling through it's contents, pulling a large folded piece of laminated paper out, "Could you just show us were we are, we'll get going," She stuffs her hand in her pocket, digging around. Taking the paper in his rough grip, he searches, and with a quick sweep of the page, his large finger points to a large looking field.
" If yer heading into the city, I'd watch it," His warning seems a little unsettling, but he repeatedly looks back from her eyes to her ankle, swollen, bloody...
" We have a camp, down the ways, we got kids there too," He suggest, as her eyes dark to his, he just looks straight to the ground, "If ya want, just until ya heal, other wise yer gonna be a meal for the walkers,"
And that's were it all began, Daryl had saved both of there lives, sparing them for just a little longer. Daryl delivered the two Jane's back to the camps, with out a name or question, he left the woman and child in Lori's care. The two Jane's were both came to be known as Penny, the child, and Bay. Bay was very weary at first, the new life was something she didn't expect, the set up was very much like a family camping trip, the whole family, the RV was the main attraction with tents scattered around it, and of course a fire pit right in the middle. Penny loved the whole idea, two other kids around her age named Carl, Lori's boy, and a girl named Sophia.
Scraping the layer of dirt from under each of her finger nails is how Bay spent most of her sun soaked afternoons at the camp. Her leg ridded her of all duties, in a situation like this, shouldn't she be happy? For once since the dead started walking, she didn't need to worry, rest was a luxury... A luxury she couldn't afford.
" Hey Carol, mind if I help you?" She limps her way towards the basket of dampened garments, catching a tight hold and raising it into the air.
"Bay, you know you shouldn't be working, you could strain your leg even more," Carol roughly grabs at the basket, releasing a good weight of the basket off of Bay's shoulders. This isn't the first time this week she's tried sneaking a bit of work, now and then she'll run off with one of the baskets, or she'll try and sneak off to check of the traps, but she never gets too far.
"Please, this...this not working? I feel utterly useless, I should be helping! " Bay begin pleading, tearing up her eyes , puppy dog eyes, Carol always went soft on her, but today was different.
"You have to let your leg heal properly! Other wise you wont be able to do anything," Carol's harsh words sent Bay's eyes observing the ground. She rested herself back down into one of the chairs around the fire pit.
"Sigh," Carol left on the note of that.
'I shouldn't have pushed it,' The thought trails on her mind as Daryl entered from the woods with another string of squirrels. He sits himself a great distance away from her, rubbing his head while he drops the fluff of furs on the picnic table. She smiles at the meal, it might not be much, but it was something.
"Thanks, Daryl" She calls, her voice calm and collected. A bit of shock and amazement flash on his face, the words seeming alien to him. Carol's eyes dart back to Bay and back to Daryl, as she grasp the stringed meat, even a walking by Lori seems shocked.
Pulling her leg with every limp, she makes her way closer to Daryl.
" I used to hunt, before all this," A wounded smile plays it's way across her chapped lips. The form is some what alien to the crowd standing before them, they eye him like a ferocious animal.
Her eyes glance to the eyeing crowd of Lori, Carol, and now accompanied by Dale, who go back to their business once they catch her eyes on there's.
"I used to hunt deer, and when I was younger I hunted moose," The smirk grows wider, as her eyes dance to the ground. She's fully aware that he could be completely not listening, but she continues.
Daryl twitches his nose, Canada, she must've grew up in Canada, but she never slips up a ' Aye' or anything such.
"I wasn't very good with a gun, but a bow on the other hand... Well I was pretty dam great with a bow," She raises her head to meet his full attention. He was shocked but the conversation she tried striking, a child, pig tails bouncing with each stride she takes, Penny, of course she nuzzles up underneath Bay's arm, holding onto her hip.
One look at the child and the woman was breath taking.
Just skin enveloped around bone, nothing more. She acts tough, Bay, she pulls herself, weak from her injury, she can barely hold her gun up properly.
The kid, Penny, couldn't be anymore happy, always smiling, ignoring the fear, she goes with it.
Bay's and lifts up to Penny's shoulder, brushing the side of her cheek.
"Penny, say thank you to Mr. Dixon, he caught dinner for us," She levels down to the child's size.
"Caught?" Penny eye's dart at the string of squirrels, a slight groan escapes her lips, but with a playful smack of Bay's wandering hand, she straightens out, dinner is dinner.
"Thank you Mr. Dixon," The corner of her lips forming a large smile.
A pang slings in his heart, never had someone truly thanked him for hunting, they just nodded, and he just took it. As he was about to reply, a loud obnoxious voice interrupted.
" Hey! Darlene! " The voice was obviously familiar to the everyone, it was the redneck, crack-head, alcoholic Merle Dixon. Penny, clutching closer to Bay, whisper quietly, alerting Bay to leave.
"Well anyway, Thanks, Daryl," She waves goodbye, holding the little girls hand. And that was it, she disappeared off into the RV.