Alright! This is my first The Walking Dead fic and I'm pretty excited about it. The show is so brilliant! So here's how this thing is going to be set up: Most chapters will deal with a single episode each - although some episodes may not be used or based off and some chapters will be their own little thing, like this one - and occasionally, I'll put up these smaller chapters called "Meanwhile Moments" that were just sort of snippets of bonding or delving into further detail about something. Things like that. So without further blabbing, I present a fanfic that I hope you'll like!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own The Walking Dead, although I totally wish I did! I also do not own Daryl Dixon, which saddens me deeply. But Marlie is mine, so no touchy, please.
Necessary Nouns to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
Chapter One: Speed
She walked stealthily along the tree line, just out of sight of the ten-point buck grazing in a green clearing. Her size eleven feet barely touched the ground as she walked silently on the tips of her black hiking boots, unconsciously sniffing the bark-scented air for any signs of rotting flesh. There was nothing but the leaves and dirt beneath her feet to smell.
Armed with only a twelve-inch Browning knife, which was a hefty blade meant for killing anything it touched, Marlie stalked around the antlered beast in hopes of picking the perfect angle to pop out and strike. She carefully brushed away a lock of thick brown curls from here eyes and blinked back beads of sweat.
When she was exactly where she wanted to be, Marlie drew her shining blade out from its black holster near her military-grade pocket belt that she took from an abandoned sporting store, silent in every movement.
The buck would not know what hit him.
Marlie had killed deer with her father when she was young - well, she was still considerably young at age twenty-six, but living during the apocalypse would grow anybody up. But the young woman didn't have a dad anymore and had to hunt based off what she had been taught years before. She'd already managed to kill two deer in the past two weeks with just her knife and wits. The end of the world seemed to have sparked the natural human instinct that dealt with hunting. Now she remembered what her dad had told her. The keys to success, he unoriginally called them.
Stay downwind. Watch your step. Eyes on the prize. Respect what you're hunting. Know your surroundings.
She mentally checked each item off the list, but when two arrows ripped through the air, seemingly out of nowhere, and hit her prey in the left hindquarter, Marlie burst into action.
Without glancing to the side where the colorful-feathered arrows had originated, the girl sheathed her blade and bounded hastily through the clearing and after the buck, running on her toes to quicken her pace. It was wounded and bleeding, but Marlie still found herself struggling to keep the animal in her sights. She wouldn't give up that easily, though. This deer was going to feed her for a month if she played her cards right.
Speed had always been a strong point, luckily for her, and it was working out for Marlie now. Her legs were strong and her lungs were stronger. Not only was Marlie keeping her breaths even, but she was also dodging trees and roots and bushes like it was her job. In a manner of speaking, it was her job. Surviving had become her occupation after the virus outbreak that killed people and then brought them back as meat-eating monsters. So, technically, hunting and learning the skills to do so successfully was her job.
As she ran, an outreaching branch scraped across her cheek, leaving a lightly bleeding cut just below her eye. She barely felt it, what with the adrenaline poisoning her veins and all.
The deer maintained a distance of about fifty yards in front of Marlie, but before long, she began to gain on it, working her long legs to her advantage. It was only a matter of time before she either caught up with it or it made a fatal error.
The latter came first.
In an effort to evade the two-legged predator chasing it, the deer turned to the left on a dime, putting extra strain and weight on its bad leg. It cried out horrifically in pain, it's legs buckling beneath it.
Marlie caught up to the animal before it could attempt to rise again. There was just barely enough time for her to slow down. Without giving her lungs time to refill with oxygen or the deer the chance to kick her in her teeth, Marlie rolled over to the buck and in one fluid movement, her knife was unsheathed again and the deer was dead with a clean stab wound to his chest where the girl had pierced its heart.
She closed her eyes when it was over and sighed loudly, finally taking a moment to breath again and leaning her back against the animal in a few seconds of relaxation. Marlie didn't usually allow herself to do such a thing as be chill, but then again, she didn't normally go chasing down her prey like she just had. Her heart raced and pounded in her ears as she panted heavily. A smirk crossed her lips and she shook her head at the insane yet successful hunt that had just occurred. It gave her a thrill to know that she could kill an animal like that with just a blade.
Then she remembered the arrows. Her eyes flew open when she heard leaves rustling to her right.
A filthy man carrying about a dozen dead squirrels on a string stood several yards ahead of her, pointing his crossbow at her head. There was dirt smeared on his cheeks and forehead and grime beneath his fingernails. He didn't smell so great, which made Marlie wonder when the last time he'd cleaned himself was.
Still smirking, Marlie asked, "What? Do you really think a walker could run that fast or use a knife to kill what it's hunting?" She shook her head and fidgeted against the dead deer's warm back. Already, her camouflaged tank top was sticking to her sweaty body uncomfortably and her nose dripped with perspiration. The black cut off gloves that reached part way up her forearms heated her palms terribly, but she refused to remove them.
The man didn't budge for several moments, but then he slowly lowered his bow before tossing it over his shoulders casually. With his other hand fisted on his side, the dark-haired man said, "No, but then again, neither can most people."
Marlie shrugged, blinking against the sunlight flowing between the leafy canopies of the forest that revealed dust particles in the air. Her blue eyes sparkled as they filled with sunrays. "If they're hungry enough, they could." She turned her back to him then and proceeded to remove a handful of thick rope from one of the belt's many pockets.
"What are you doing?"
She rolled her eyes, not interested in conversation with this southern man. "Tying rope around this deer. What does it look like?"
The man scoffed. He obviously had a smartass on his hands.
"And if you must know, I'm going to drag it to the road where I parked my car." Damn her for giving in and telling this stranger more than needed. Her excuse: this was the first living person she'd seen in a week or talked to in a month. She sort of savored any conversation she could get.
And he was attractive.
"And what then?"
Marlie stopped twisting rope around the animal's neck and turned to the man. "Then I'm going to take it to hop into my Dodge Challenger, drive to my cozy little shack just past the woods, cook this thing and then eat it." She quickly resumed her work.
"By yourself?"
She inhaled deeply. Was that a headache she felt coming on? This guy was unyielding; Marlie knew he was fucking with her purposely. Getting to her feet, she said, "Listen, guy - "
"That's not my name." He smiled sarcastically.
Marlie cocked her head and crossed her arms. "Then what is it?"
He kept grinning and said, "Daryl Dixon."
"Marlie Bryant. And yes, I'm doing it by myself. Do you see anyone else in these woods?"
Daryl looked around and shrugged. "I was just going to suggest a better plan."
"Oh yeah? Like what?" She gave in and decided to play his game.
"You don't sound very interested."
"Tell me."
"What do I get in return?"
Marlie smirked at the man and then glanced down at her kill. "A piece of my prize."
Daryl's eyes widened. "Your prize?"
She nodded.
"Who put two arrows in him 'fore you even made a move? I been trackin' that thing for miles."
With a laugh, Marlie retorted, "At least my aim is better! You hit it in the leg. A lot of good that did you."
"If I hadn't wounded it, you wouldn't have been able to take it down. Simple as that."
Squinting her eyes slightly, Marlie realized this man was right. Granted, there was a chance she would have brought the beast down without his help, like she had done twice before, but the fact was that they had done it together. "I made the final blow, which means it's mine."
Daryl rolled his eyes and shook his head at this woman's persistence. While he was sort of enjoying the banter, he was also getting pissed. What was it with this woman that played with his head so much?
"But," Marlie continued, "You did slow it down. Therefore, I'll share."
"Oh, thank you, gracious one," Daryl joked sarcastically.
"Whatever," she said impatiently. "Do you want some or not? And what was that other plan of yours?"
Daryl sighed. "There's a camp just a few miles that way." He pointed west where the sun would be setting in half a day.
Marlie looked with a hand thrown up to her forehead to block the rays from her denim blue eyes. She knew that a camp meant people, but people would slow her down. Yet, Daryl had said camp. Did that mean they weren't on the move? Walkers didn't wander very far into the forest, so if a little society was to be made, the woods were the best place to do it. Still, Marlie was used to moving and traveling and…well, she wasn't sure. It wasn't like she was looking for family - there was none left - and the few friends she once had were also dead. Or undead.
So what was there for her, in the end? Nothing, really. Only surviving, but without any real reason to.
She sighed and looked down at her black-booted feet, which had collected a bit of mud during her deer chase. Marlie prepared to answer, but was caught completely off-guard when one of Daryl's arrow sped beside her right ear. The light breeze it produced tickled Marlie, but it frightened her more than anything. Tensing, she spun around just in time to see a walker topple backwards fifty yards away with the arrow stuck between his lifeless eyes. "Christ," Marlie whispered under her breath, watching as Daryl sauntered over to the dead dead corpse and yanked free his arrow, shaking the excess blood off before reloading his weapon.
Marlie instinctually searched their surroundings for more walkers.
"Well?" asked Daryl impatiently when he returned to her. "What's it gonna be?"
The adrenaline was still seeping into her veins, but she was clear-headed enough to know what option she should chose about the camp. "Okay."
He blinked, a little surprised.
"I'll go to your camp."
Daryl nodded.
"As long as it won't be an inconvenience."
"Everything's an inconvenience these days." He laughed humorlessly.
Marlie nodded slightly and allowed Daryl to assist her in dragging the animal towards the west. Towards camp.
Well? What did you think? Chapter One...complete!