1. Georgia On My Mind
Disclaimer: I do not own Walking Dead, but I do own my own OC, Evan Holt and her family as well as friends. This is my first attempt at writing a Walking Dead fanfic, so I tried my best on this.
Atlanta, Georgia
She had heard the shout from the distance and concluded that it sounded like it came from the direction of the highway at the city limits, and made the split second decision to check it out and quiet it down. The city was the most heavily populated when it came to the dead, and if they found someone there, then it wouldn't take them long to find her camp…well, more like her car. Grabbing her axe, she told Chief to stay and guard the place, but made sure to leave him the car with a window slightly opened for him to breathe, and went to investigate. She made her way to the side of the highway and looked around and followed more noises, this time noises of some of the dead, snarling and snapping their jaws at whoever their sorry victim was this time. She followed the noise and saw a young Asian man, with a baseball cap, holding a backpack trying to get away. Looks like his ride either got swarmed or just died – either way he was a sitting duck. Grumbling to herself she lunged forward and swung her axe with all her might, splitting one zombie's head, then ducking out of the way from another one. As she brought down a few of them the man started helping her, bringing down one that was going for her. They managed to put them all down and had time to catch a breath; the man now looked up at her, simultaneously noting the axe in her hand, and that the girl looked to be about his age or maybe Amy's, but then that was probably because of her height, "Th-thanks," Glenn remembered himself quickly as he clutched his bag of supplies.
The young girl nodded, "…," she said then turned to walk away, "Good luck," she said over her shoulder, walking away with her bag and axe in hand.
Glenn blinked as his senses finally reacted and he followed after her, "Wait up," he called after her.
She sharply glanced at him, and shushed him, "Shh."
He ducked his head down and looked around for any straggling walkers and didn't see any, but still followed after her quietly. They walked into the woods, with her leading the way. Smart, her companion had noted, hiding in the woods, and probably even hiding her scent, and not being forced to fight so many all at once or run as much. They were close to the clearing in the woods where her car was parked, and so far the girl didn't seem to be bothered with Glenn following after her.
Once Glenn was sure no more walkers were nearby he glanced over at his newfound companion, and took the time to observe her, "Um, I'm Glenn…Glenn Rhee," he introduced himself, feeling uncomfortable with the quiet.
She was pretty from what he could see; dark rich coffee colored hair, reaching just past her shoulders, a delicate oval-like, diamond shaped face with an attractive jawline, refined high cheekbones, thin mouth with a full bottom lip and a delicate spare upper lip, and a curvy, lithe, and petite frame, with a body that could be thought of as athletic. She was dressed in a green gray long sleeved jacket, black t-shirt underneath, a pair of ash gray shorts and black sneakers – very tomboyish.
"What's your name," Glenn asked her, noticing she hasn't said anything as they walked along the pathway she was walking through
She stared ahead, without looking back, "Evan," she answered back curtly.
Glenn nodded at that, interesting name. "Soo…where are we going," he asked her, looking around again. He could see trees and bushes so far, twigs and dirt on the ground, no sign of any geeks so far.
Evan stopped at that and turned back to look at him, "We," she asked with a raised brow.
Glenn swallowed, briefly wondering if she was going to possibly rob him and leave him for dead, kill him, or both, "Yeah, we. No one can survive out here alone now," he tried to convince her. Then again if she planned on doing any or all of that she would have done it already, she was the one holding the axe.
She pursed her lips and looked at him over her shoulder, "You were alone," she pointed out bluntly.
"I'm really not," he said quickly, "I was just making a run, to get supplies," he explained.
Evan stared at him, "Making a run," she repeated, "For your group," she asked, "on your own," she said incredulously.
Glenn gave a little chuckle, "Well when you say it like that…," his voice trailed off, attempting to make a joke of the situation, and it seemed to have coaxed a smile from her, "It's exactly how it sounds," Evan interrupted him with a faint smirk.
She didn't seem to be much of a talker, and if she was then she was very blunt and direct in her responses and from what he could tell now, she had some sense of humor. Glenn laughed at that, "Yeah I guess it does," he admitted, then looked around, "Now really where are we going?"
The dark haired girl gave him a look, but sighed, "We…are going to my car right now," she replied, "And then you can tell me where you need to go." She turned to resume her walking, "I drop you off, and then I leave," she concluded.
Glenn followed after her, "Or you can stay with me and my group," he said hopefully. She seemed like a nice girl, and she did help him out back there.
Evan hummed, "Why would I do that," she asked him, "You barely even know me."
They finally reached her car, an old 1980 AMC Pacer DL station wagon, which had been exactly where she left it.
'Nice,' Glenn thought to himself, admiring the old model, "If you wanted to kill me you would have already tried to hack me with your axe," Glenn pointed out smartly, "And like I said before, in these times, no one should be alone," he said as he got close to the passenger's side door, only to jump back when he heard a growl and a menacing bark, as a dog jumped up baring its teeth at him threateningly.
Evan smirk faintly, "I'm not alone," she said to him. There was a dog in her car, a mixed breed one it looked like, a German shepherd mixed with another breed. The dog was still baring his teeth at Glenn menacingly. "What happened to your ride? How'd they find you anyways," she asked.
That was the most she's said to him so far. "My ride died on me. And they must have gotten a whiff of me or something," Glenn explained, as the dog kept growling at him, making him draw back some.
"Chief, down boy. Enough," Evan ordered the hound, "Friend," she said to her companion.
The dog slowly calmed down, his eyes softened and turned playful as he started to pant at Glenn in a sweet manner. Glenn relaxed and smiled at the dog, "A dog is good company, but you need more than that," Glenn still tried to convince her.
Evan shrugged, and opened the back side passenger door to put her axe away there, "Chief's been a pretty good guard for me so far," she let her self smile humorously, much to Glenn's amusement. Chief moved over to her energetically, and started licking her at her cheek, making her giggle and reach up to pet his head affectionately, as he moved head to try and lick at her hand. Glenn felt himself smile a little, "…" as he moved to sit in the front passenger seat. Evan closed the passenger's door and went to get into the driver's side, "Where to, Glenn," she asked.
Glenn started giving her directions and Evan started up the car, and proceeded down the road per Glenn's instructions; it looked like his campsite wasn't far from where she was if she kept to a certain trail and made some turns.
The ride was a long one and gave them time to talk, or at least Glenn seemed to want to talk, "So uh…I noticed you don't have an accent. You're not from Georgia are you," he asked her.
Evan stared ahead, her eyes focused on the road, "Nope," she replied.
Glenn nodded, "Where are you from," he asked her.
"A small town in Minnesota," Evan answered.
Glenn nodded, "That's way up north," he observed, and blinked in surprise, feeling a wet nose sniff at him, but smiled a little.
She shrugged, "You don't have one either," she pointed out again.
"One what," Glenn asked getting distracted by their furry companion.
"An accent," Evan replied simply, "Not a native either," she asked, to which Glenn nodded with a sheepish smile, "Pretty obvious," he admitted.
Evan smiled as she took a quick glance at him, "He likes you," she observed.
He nodded, and reached up cautiously to pet Chief's snout, "So what are you doing all the way down South," Glenn asked her, then moved his hand away once Chief gave his palm a few licks.
The young woman stared ahead as she turned the wheel making a turn, "Looking for my family," she replied, "I thought that the CDC would be the place where they might be," she explained.
Glenn hummed with interest, "So were you just living in your car in the woods this whole time? Were you on your way there?"
"I was," she answered him straightforwardly.
"What if you run low," Glenn asked her looking over his shoulder at the back of the car, just past Chief, who was sitting behind Evan and looking out his window.
"I'd hunt or fish, or I'd try and find some gas stations, snack machines or convenience stores," she stated, "I tried so far to avoid cities and big places. It's crowded there and I don't like cities," she went on.
Though it did make sense to him, big cities, meant more people, i.e. more dead people.
They lapsed into silence again, only for it to be filled with Chief's panting and sniffing as he looked around. Glenn seemed to pick up on Evan not really focused on talking – Evan had other things going around in her mind at the moment, along with focusing on the road ahead. She had noticed they were already somewhere in the thick forests of Georgia; it was nostalgic enough to make her think of her home. The brunette stared dead ahead as she contemplated Glenn's offer, and that made her think of what sort of group this was. Were they violent? Were they rapists, and murderers? Was she driving into a trap? The world may have gone to hell, but she didn't think that people could lose their shit already. But she supposed when it came down to survival and the dead rising, it would make the sanest man do the unthinkable. But then again maybe it's always been that way. She held back a shudder and almost felt tempted to ask Glenn if he was leading her into a trap. This made her hands grip the wheel, which Glenn seemed to notice, "You okay," he asked her lowly.
He noticed her jaw clench, and her eyes harden a little, "…How many…?" She suddenly asked in a low murmur, "In your group," she added.
Glenn blinked at that, "Oh um…almost 30 people," he recounted, "They're all really nice," he paused, "Most of them are nice," he corrected himself. Evan just stared ahead, "Most of them…right," she repeated quietly.
He looked around their surroundings, "Yeah especially the one in charge. He used to be a cop," he said, "He's cool," he said.
Evan's eyes flickered at that as she hummed, "Cool," she echoed, "Good," she nodded. "Who else," she asked calmly.
"Uh well, it's mostly families all together, so women, and children are there too," Glenn answered picking up on Evan's suspicion and distrust of the group.
That seemed to get her to relax her grip on the wheel as she continued driving and they lapsed into another silence. She only spoke up when to ask how much further, and where to turn next. Other than those instances, Glenn seemed to notice that Evan seemed pretty comfortable with being quiet. Then again given the situation with the dead rising, and her only companion being a dog, Evan had to be quiet in order to survive, and it wasn't like a dog could talk back whether she had spoken to it or not. Then again maybe someone like Evan did talk to her dog – with this outbreak, more people may have just lost their minds. Though she looked perfectly sane to Glenn. But who knows, maybe she thought he was crazy too.
She could see the road ahead leading and winding through some mountain cliffs, and ahead she could see a quarry ahead.
Smart, she thought to herself, it provided natural protection. She could see some cars parked around the camp, tents, and looming over them was a Winnebago RV. Evan could see an elderly man with a hat, sitting atop it, with binoculars and a rifle close by. Evan looked around and saw women and children walking about, with men guarding and watching them. This looked more like a community campsite, or a hippy commune, as her dad would say, which made the corners of her lips lift upwards in a faint smile.
Evan heard Glenn getting out of the car once she stopped it, "Hey Shane, Dale incoming. Guess who's back," he shouted out to two members of his group, alerting the brunette.
She got out of the driver's seat, after whispering a command to Chief again, to heel unless she said otherwise. The young woman still didn't know if things would get ugly or not, especially when she saw a well built man with dark curly hair, a repaired nose and dark eyes approached them.
This must have been the cop that Glenn was talking about, Evan noted mentally.
"Hey Shane," Glenn greeted him with a smile, "I uh, didn't get all the stuff on the list," he said quickly.
The cop, Evan quickly realized was Shane, waved it off, "No worries Glenn," then his dark eyes flicked to Evan with interest, "But looks like you saved someone."
Glenn laughed, "Actually she saved me," he admitted sheepishly, "Shane this is Evan," he introduced them, "Evan this is Shane," he looked between the two.
Evan nodded slowly, "Hey," she said curtly, looking from him to some other people joining in to greet Glenn and to look at the newcomer.
There was a skinny, brown haired woman with brown eyes, and protective and firm motherly face, with a little boy who looked like her only with blue eyes coming up behind Shane. The dark haired girl assumed that they were mother and son, and possibly Shane's family, although the boy really didn't look like Shane and seemed to take after the mother. There was the same elderly man, who was sitting on his RV coming down, shouldering a rifle, and wearing a fishing hat on his head, two blond women, who resembled each other, coming up to them too. Evan could quickly deduce that they were sisters.
Shane spoke first, addressing her, and drawing her attention to him, "It's nice to meet you Evan. I'm Shane Walsh, but Glenn already told you that," he gave her a crooked albeit friendly enough smile, as he held out his hand to her.
She stared at him then his hand and reached out to take it, giving it a firm grip and a shake, "You too, officer," she replied, then glanced at people and gave them all a curt faint nod, and managed a thin delicate smile.
She got smiles, nods, and some hellos back. The brown haired woman smiled at her, "I'm Lori Grimes, and this is my son, Carl," she said giving her a smile and a polite nod, whilst she placed her hands on her son's shoulders, who gave her a shy but friendly smile and a wave at Evan.
Evan gave him a small wave back and nodded at the mom and son, "Evan," she said and reached out to shake their hands. She heard Chief whine and pant behind her, giving a light bark, in reminder that he was still here.
She noticed Carl's face light up at the sight of a dog, "You have a dog," he asked her excitedly.
"Yup. His name is Chief," Evan smiled, "Had him since he was a pup," she said, then glanced back at Lori and Shane, "You guys don't mind do you?"
Shane smiled at that, "Nah, it'd be nice to have a guard dog around," he waved it off. Lori smiled a bit warily, "Just as long as he doesn't get mean and bite anybody here," she said sternly.
Evan shook her head, "He doesn't. Only if there's trouble," she replied shortly, as she moved to open the car door and let Chief out.
He hopped out, and went to stand by her side instantly and looked at everyone who was approaching. "Chief, stay," Evan ordered him quietly, to which he obeyed, "Friends," she let him know.
Carl looked like he was itching to pet him, "C-can I pet him," he asked hopefully and politely, making Evan crack a smile again, "Yeah sure, c'mon over here," she motioned to him.
The young boy, whom Evan guessed was around 10 or 11, moved forward and smiled at Chief, who was panting and looking up at him and the new faces. Carl reached forward and started to pet Chief's head as, while Chief tried to move his snout to sniff and lick at Carl's hand, making the young boy beam happily. Soon other kids ran forward, a brother and sister of Hispanic descent, all seeming to be drawn to Chief, making Evan grin a little, and watch the scene.
Then someone cleared their throat, making her turn to who it was and she saw it was Shane again, "So…s'it just you and yer' dog," he asked curiously.
Evan straightened up and nodded, "Yup," she replied bluntly and without missing a beat.
"Any family," Shane asked her.
She shrugged in response, "Probably. Don't know. We got separated," she explained.
Shane nodded again, "Sorry to hear that," he sounded apologetic, though something about him made her alert. She didn't know what it was, but she had always trusted her gut.
But one look in his eyes, and Evan recalled a lesson she was told as a kid growing up, by her dad, 'If you can't see the whites of his eyes or his pupils, but only see darkness, be careful. Those kinds of people hide things,' he had warned her, 'Dark eyes hide things all the time.'
The dark haired girl smiled at him faintly and nodded, as she pushed those words aside for a moment, "Thanks."
The former police officer gave her a smile back and again the splinter of uneasiness came back, "If ya' like yer more than welcome to stay with us," he said, "We got plenty of room and could always use 'nother pair of hands," he said in his husky voice and crooked smile, which Evan was sure made a lot of girls swoon.
Despite that, she smirked thinly and nodded again, "Thanks," she said shortly, now feeling more interested in ending this conversation and getting him away from her.
Instead she looked back at Carl and Chief, who it looks like was on the ground now letting Carl two of the children scratch his belly. She smirked this time more genuinely, noting how spoiled her dog was going to be here.
"Do you have a tent," Lori asked her this time, for which Evan was relieved, and she shook her head, "Nope. I've been sleeping in my car for the past couple of days," Evan answered.
Lori gave her look that Evan recognized as maternal sympathy, "Well if y'all like I can get you a tent all set up."
Evan shook her head, "No that's fine. I don't need one," she waved her offer away, "I don't wanna take your stuff, and put you out," she said stubbornly.
The older brown haired woman smiled at her kindly, "It's not taking if we're offering it to you, honey," she chided to her gently, making the younger woman smile at that a little, "Still, no thanks. The car's been comfortable enough."
Lori nodded, "Okay, if you change yer' mind let me know," she said.
Evan nodded, "Deal. Now what would you like me to do first," she offered giving her a pleasant smile.
That seemed to be enough to win Shane and Lori over, as well as Dale, and some of the other campers. The first thing, Evan did was help divide some of her supplies up; food had been the first to go, and she had pooled it with the rest of their rations so it could be cooked and served for everyone, which Evan had helped with, and through that learned the names of many of the other campers. There was another older woman, and housewife, with pixie cut hair, and tired but soft, doe-like blue eyes, who was called Carol Peletier, and she was the mother of young girl, named Sophia, who was around Carl's age, and the wife of a man named Ed Peletier, who wasn't too far behind them. Evan noticed how quiet Carol seemed to be, especially with her husband not too far away from them. She also met an African American woman named Jacqui, another housewife, named Miranda Morales, who was the mother of the other two children who came to pet Chief, who's names were Eliza and Louis, who were now still keeping Chief company. There were 2 blond women, who were named Andrea and Amy as well. Probably due to the age, Amy quickly gravitated towards Evan – she was probably glad to have someone her age and a girl around.
"So how old are you Evan?" Amy asked, seeming to latch onto Evan right away, and Evan couldn't really blame her – not many girls Amy's age were around.
Evan smirked faintly, "23," she replied simply, and noticed with a side glance how that seemed to make Amy perk up immediately, "Me too. Well, I'm gonna be 24 soon," she said happily.
Evan nodded as she peeled a potato; she had always liked cooking, mostly cutting, peeling or cleaning, it was a way to help her lose herself and not think about much else, "Nice," she hummed peacefully.
Miranda smiled at her work, "So where are you from," she asked her.
"Minnesota," Evan replied without missing a beat.
Amy blinked in surprise as she peeled the cucumber in her hand, "You're a long way from home," she remarked.
Evan nodded at that, "Yup."
"What are you doing so far away from your home," a quiet voice stunned her, and Evan realized it was Carol, once she looked up to let her eyes meet the older woman's.
The dark haired girl wouldn't lie, she had actually for a split second leaned a bit forward, to hear Carol's question.
Taking in Carol's face for a moment, and how restless Carol's eyes seemed to be, Evan took a moment to answer, "Road trip with the family," she admitted, "Early retirement for my dad," she explained.
Amy smiled at that, "That's really great, so like cross-country," she asked her.
Evan nodded, "Something like that," she stated calmly. Carol nodded at that and turned back to do her task, "Must be nice," she commented in her usual timid manner.
Evan nodded, "I guess it is. Camping has always been a pastime for my family," she smiled a little.
Jacqui chuckled, "I don't know if I could ever survive out in the wilderness. My job keeps…kept me in the city," she said quickly and her smile became more forced. Evan nodded slowly, "It's not for everyone," she agreed trying to change the subject, "So what did you all used to do before this," Evan asked, not wanting to share anymore than necessary.
Jacqui smiled and answered first, "I used to be a city zoning department worker."
The dark haired girl smiled at that, "You were a busy lady," she murmured.
Jacqui nodded, "You got that right," she chuckled, and turned to the rest of the woman's circle.
Evan glanced at the others, "And the rest of you?"
Amy smiled, "Just a college student," she replied.
Evan smiled back a little, "What major?"
"I was undecided at first, but thought about social work, or something," Amy admitted then went on, "My sister's a civil rights lawyer," she said proudly, and that told Evan all she needed to know about Amy right there.
It was clear that Amy adored and looked up to her sister, and from the looks of it, Amy was the younger sibling. It brought up memories of her older brother, and it made her think of her younger brother, and her nephew, who both looked up to him.
Evan looked up at Amy and motioned with her head towards an older blond woman collecting firewood, "Is that her right there?"
Amy followed her jerking head and smiled brightly, "Yeah, that's Andrea," she stated proudly.
The dark haired girl nodded and went back to her work, handing the potato over to Miranda, so she could cut it, "How about you? Anything you used to do before this," Evan asked, wanting to steer herself away from her own thoughts.
Miranda smiled, "Housewife and mom, full time, before that though I was thinking about opening up a day care," she admitted, "Managed to get some business up, until…well, yeah…," she grew quiet.
Evan nodded, "Right," she murmured as she picked up another potato to quickly peel up then hand to Miranda.
She turned to Carol, "How about you?"
Carol looked back up at her and looked back down at her task, "Just a housewife, and mother," she murmured quietly.
The young girl nodded watching Carol intently, noting her behavior right away, "You okay," she asked her, and that was when she noticed the tension.
Everyone seemed to grow quiet and withdraw from it all now; Evan glanced at Amy and the others. Amy had a look of utter disdain and displeasure on her face, and Evan wondered if she should have asked the question in the first place, "Sorry…," she mumbled. She noticed how Jacqui looked upset and disappointed, whilst Miranda looked saddened, and uncomfortable. Evan felt like she just broke some sort of rule when approaching Carol.
Carol just shook her head, "Are you finished with the peeling yet?" She asked her, changing the subject.
Evan looked down and peeled a bit faster, "Right, yeah almost. Sorry," she muttered again.
Now Evan was certain she felt like she had just broken some unspoken rule regarding Carol and suddenly felt bad even though she just met everyone today, "If it's okay with you, your daughter can go ahead and play with Chief whenever she'd like," she offered, feeling she had to make some kind of amend on her part.
The older woman nodded with a twitch of her mouth, as she waited for her and Miranda to finish with the peeling and cutting. Once everyone got quiet, they did – looked like tonight they would have some meat with potatoes and vegetables.
Whilst the women were preparing the rest of the dinner, Amy had gotten Evan partnered with a task of preparing the plates for everyone, and they talked again, this time about the different members of the group. So far, Evan got to know the relationship between Amy, Andrea, and Dale. Then there was Miranda's husband, who seemed to be a rather jovial, and hard working man, then there was Jim, who also seemed like a rather quiet and withdrawn man, albeit also hardworking, and task-oriented. There was another African American man, everyone just referred to T-Dog, who seemed like an easy-going guy to get along with, that Evan found to be a delight. And as far as everyone else, the rest of the camp survivors seemed nice, and welcoming to a point that Evan did not regret saying yes to join Glenn's offer to join the group.
By the end of the night, the fire was set up, and the food was cooked and Evan was sitting next to Amy, Andrea, and Dale. Chief was by her side, lying down, and resting his head on her lap, now much more subdued, probably tired from playing with the kids the rest of the day, Evan mused humorously.
Everyone else was absorbed in the conversation on what to do tomorrow, and who would take over the nightly watch, as they ate. Jim had offered and was picked now to take over the night guard, then would switch with Shane.
They all lapsed into low murmured talks, now talking amongst themselves; Shane, talking with Lori and Carl, Andrea and Jacqui talking, Amy listening to something Dale was telling, T-Dog, Morales, and Jim, talking. Well, mostly T-Dog and Morales, Jim was just watching them. Though, Evan had caught him, subtly glancing in her direction once, she didn't give it much thought, and just took the time to enjoy her simple meal, while feeding some of the meat to Chief, making sure he ate too. This wasn't the first time she had shared her dinner with Chief, feeding him scraps from table as a little girl, until her dad caught her and broke her of that habit. But she had to do it again, seeing as how she was trying to save food, and she didn't think that asking these people to set up a separate meal for a dog would be in any of their interests, since they were trying to ration the food between themselves too.
Chief's ears suddenly pricked upwards and he turned his head away from the food she was holding up to him, and looked in the direction of the forests and he started to growl lowly, and grunt.
"Chief?" Evan murmured then followed the direction he was looking in with interest. Then without warning her dog was now standing up, and growling louder, getting everyone's attention.
Shane took charge and stood up, grabbing his a weapon in hand, "Who's out there," he demanded.
"Now calm down yerself' down, it's just us," a light and scratchy voice drawled from the woods, and soon a man came out, holding up his hands, "Jus' ole Merle," he said smugly as he stumbled closer, making Chief stiffen and let out a bark.
The man who called himself Merle paused, taking in the dog, "Y'all got a mutt now? When'd that happen?"
Shane glared at Merle, "Today. The dog came with a new arrival," he explained shortly. "Now sober the hell up Dixon," he demanded sharply.
Merle sneered at Shane, "Aye' aye, Officer…" he spat, getting in Shane's face.
"Back the fuck offa' 'im," a second voice came from the woods, a sharper, more rougher one, and like that another man came out from there, holding what Evan could make out as a crossbow, and quick enough getting in Shane's face, and shoving him back roughly, "An' call damn yer' mutt off," he snapped.
Shane glowered at the other man, and turned to Evan, "Evan, you mind callin' yer' dog off," he asked carefully.
This drew Merle and the other man's attention to her, with Merle leering at her, once he realized it was a woman, and the other just staring her down harshly.
Evan nodded and stood up, "Chief, down," she called him off, and watching Chief reluctantly relax, though still looking at Merle and the other stranger intently, like he expected them to attack.
"Here, now," Evan ordered Chief, who lowered his head and returned back to her side. She looked up at the two men, "Sorry about him," she said looking from the one called Merle, who she could describe as being in his mid to late 40s, jutting sharp cheekbones, gaunt face, morning stubble, thinning dark blond hair, blue eyes, from what she could tell by the light of the fire, and a muscled build. The younger one behind him, was a bit thinner, but had some build on him, and he was sporting a crossbow.
The older man continued to leer at her, "No problem sugartits," he smirked at her, making Evan raise a subtle brow at him, "I'll make sure he doesn't bother you," she said, ignoring his reference to her.
"Well ain't you a sweet thing," Merle drew closer to the group…and heading right to her.
Evan, however stood her ground, "Not always," she said, ignoring the wide eyed looks and tense silence coming from the others.
Merle paused at that and laughed at that, "Ya' gotta be lotsa' fun ain't you," he looked at her, "Mind if' I find out," he grinned at her lecherously.
Evan eyed him, and took a subtle glance behind to see Daryl, staring at Merle's back sharply, and rather disapprovingly, "No thanks. Not feeling it right now," she replied evenly, and flatly but giving a faint twitch of a thin smile on her lips.
"Shame," Merle snickered, "Coulda' had some fun for the night."
That was when Shane intervened, "Leave the girl alone Dixon," he warned him strictly. To Evan, it was clear Shane had a big hero complex, and him being a lawman, and all; everyone here obviously listened to him and relied on him, just because of who he was.
"Easy now Officer Friendly, just gettin' to know our newest gal an' makin' her feel at home," Merle said back innocently.
Shane glowered at him and looked ready to get into his face, "I'm warnin' you now Dixon, back off."
"Yer' the one who needs t'back the fuck offa' him," Daryl spat back at him already getting in Shane's face.
Merle grabbed Daryl's shoulder roughly, "Let 'im' bark, he got no bite, Daryl," he taunted.
She quickly surveyed the group, and frowned as she saw them all stiffen, and glare at the Dixon brothers. Dale, clearly being the older and wiser peacekeeper, looked like he was prepared to intervene, and smooth the tides, whilst the women looked uncomfortable, or upset, especially with Andrea and her condescending stare – she clearly didn't think much on Merle at all. Lori was sitting closely to her son, but glaring at the two rednecks, and Amy just shook her head at this predicament. It was clear that nobody here liked those to brothers, and didn't make much of an effort to hide it. The rest of the camp was starting to get on edge, and Evan didn't feel like being the reason a fight broke out, and she didn't feel like getting kicked out for it, seeing as how it was too late to leave for the night, so she moved towards Shane.
"I'm fine. He's just joking. It's not bothering me, so knock it off," she stared at Shane intently.
Shane frowned at her, his dark eyes meeting her dark green hazel eyes, but he relented and drew back.
She could hear Merle snicker at Shane, and mutter some insult under his breath at the cop. Evan couldn't hear it, or chose not to hear it, but could tell it was an insult with the way Shane's clenched his fists.
Evan didn't call Merle out for it, and instead just chose to let it fly, she glanced at Daryl who now seemed calmer, but still on alert as he shouldered his crossbow, "Sorry about that," she said, not wanting any trouble from him either. As much of a fighter as Evan tried to be, she didn't want to make an enemy of someone like him, who always looked to be itching for a fight.
Daryl stared at her with dark hard eyes, and he snorted at her, "Don' need yer' fuckin' help," he snapped, before taking off, following after his older brother, leaving Evan to stare after him pensively, "Huh…" she muttered.
So much for not wanting to make an enemy of anyone here, she mused to herself.
She felt Chief's cold wet snout nudge at her hand, bringing her out of her thoughts and back to him, and the rest of the group members. The night went on, and Miranda and Carol offered to take over the cleaning of the dishes, while others got assigned as watch, and the others to retire for the night. Evan was given some reprieve, after the day's events, and decided to sleep it off in her car.
Bidding the others goodnight, and ignoring the lingering looks and goodnights she received from Shane and Jim – both to her seemed…strange, in her opinion, and in different ways.
Something about Jim seemed tense, while Shane just felt…odd.
Out of habit she made sure she closed and locked the car door for security measure, before lying down on the leathered back seats.
Making room for herself and Chief in the backseat, she got comfortable and threw the blanket over them, "Weird day huh, boy?" Chief just blinked as he made himself comfortable just grunting in response, "Weird day to match this new weird and crazy life we've got now…"
Though weird was the word that was far from how she would describe this situation now.
All she wanted to do now was think or dream about her home and her family, her life before all of this happened; her dad, her brothers, her mom, her nephew, her friends.
Raising her wrist, she looked at the name she had gotten tattooed on there, and lifted her other hand to trace over the letters, reading LEE. Feeling her eyes grow heavy, she knew she could sleep a little easier now, with these kinds of people, and especially with Chief sleeping close beside her as always. The letters of the tattoo being the last thing she could see before she dropped arms heavily to rest and closed her eyes and let sleep take her for a while. There was tomorrow to prepare for now, while she couldn't help but think to herself how it is she got herself this far down south to Atlanta, Georgia all the way from her hometown.
She couldn't help but think of the song her mom and dad loved, and used to sing by their favorite artist, "Georgia On My Mind," by Ray Charles.
Evan would have laughed at the irony if she wasn't so tired and already off…