The Places We Hide

Chapter 1

Pairing: Daryl x OC

Rating: M (little bit of a slow burn. It's Daryl guys)

Location: The Quarry

"We should go around and introduce ourselves. If we're gonna be together for a while, might as well get to know each other," A dark haired male with a crooked nose told the group. Harper glanced around at the other huddled faces and pulled her thin jacket tighter around her.

"I'll start. Name is Shane; I'm a sheriff deputy. I was off duty when the military came in shooting up the hospitals. I got out as fast as I could." Shane turned to the woman next to him. She had a young boy wrapped in her arms.

"I'm Lori, and this is my son, Carl. My husband died right before the outbreak; Shane was his partner. He came and helped us get out of town. I, um, was a school teacher."

Harper listened silently as everyone began introducing themselves. Dale, the man who befriended her on the backed up highway, was jovial and optimistic about what was happening. The pair of rednecks on her other side were getting under her skin. Scratch that. One of them was getting under her skin with his side comments. The other was silent, but his sharp eyes didn't miss a thing.

"What about you?" Harper glanced up and saw the group watching her, waiting for her to introduce herself. She cleared her throat and sat up a little.

"I'm Harper. I was an ER nurse in Macon. The military came in and started killing everyone, no questions asked. No one was sure how it was spreading at first. I hid in one of the badge entry medication rooms until it died down. I made it back to my house and got the hell out of there," Harper told them.

"You got lucky," Shane commented. Harper narrowed her eyes at that trying to decide how to take it.

"I hid in the cabinets. They blew the door off the hinges but didn't think to open any of the cabinet doors," Harper expanded, staring Shane down. Everyone was quiet until the annoying redneck broke in.

"It's ma turn now, ain't it? The name's Merle, and this is ma lil' brotha, Daryl. We was jus' passin' through and got caught in the roadblock like the rest 'a ya." Merle grinned at the group, letting his eyes land on Andrea and drift to Harper.

"Cain't say I'm disappointed by the company," He leered with a wink. Harper rolled her eyes and looked back into the fire, taking note that Daryl didn't open his mouth once. He'd kept his fingers laced together in front of his mouth, letting his elbows rest on his knees.

Shane took over after that, their new self proclaimed leader. He gave everyone duties and had an inventory taken of everything they had. Most of the women were put to work around the camp with mind numbing chores while the men hunted, patrolled and scavenged. The inherent male domination at camp made Harper want to leave altogether, but she didn't think she would last long on her own. With Atlanta no longer an option, she didn't even know which direction to head in.

After that first night at the camp, Harper spent her days helping with daily chores and watching the group. She watched little miss widow run off in the woods with her dead husband's partner for a quick lay. She watched Carol cower to her abusive husband, Ed. And she watched the Dixon brothers. Mainly Daryl. He did so much for the group and no one said anything to thank him. They wouldn't have nearly enough food if it weren't for his daily hunting trips.

Harper walked out of the tent Dale had given her to use and saw Daryl coming out of his, not too far from her. She made sure to set up close to them, knowing Shane would stay far away from the brothers. Something about the former cop was leaving an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

Harper grabbed her bag of clothes and walked up to Daryl.

"Got any clothes that need washing, Daryl?" She asked, drawing the redneck's attention to her. He narrowed his eyes and looked her up and down. His eyes were almost slits; Harper was surprised he could still see anything. She could see his proverbial hackles rising from her being so close.

"What? You hunt for us; least I can do is help with some laundry. That's all Shane seems to want the women to do anyway," She explained. Daryl studied her for a second longer and reached into his tent to grab a bag. He dropped it at their feet.

"Do whatcha want," He grunted and moved to walk away, but he stopped when his tent rustled again.

"What's all this? Well hello Miss Nurse, ya wanna wash ma drawers too?" Merle leered. Harper rolled her eyes and shouldered Daryl's bag, noting how light it was. He must not have very much with him.

"Daryl actually does something that benefits the group, you don't."

"I could do a whole lot ta benefit ya," Merle grinned down at her, puckering his lips up.

"In your dreams, Merle. You can keep your STDs to yourself." Harper nodded to Daryl and took their bags down to the quarry where the rest washed their clothes. She sat down next to Andrea and her sister and started pulling the clothes out.

Andrea glanced over and noticed a pair of boxers in Harper's pile. "You get roped into doing someone's laundry?" She laughed softly and scrubbed at a stain on one of her pullovers.

"Offered to do Daryl's." Andrea made a face, obviously not caring for Harper's answer.

"Why?"

"He does a lot for us, and no one takes the time to thank him." Andrea stopped messing with her shirt and moved her hands around like she was trying to find what she wanted to say.

"He's just so, so unapproachable and dirty. Both of them are!" Andrea's sister, Amy, looked uncomfortable and shied away from making eye contact with either of the women. Harper had to take a second to breathe before responding.

"We're all dirty, Andrea. We haven't seen running water in weeks, and if you're trying to lump Daryl with his brother, you're in the wrong. Merle and Daryl are two different people, and Daryl is carrying his weight in the camp. Let's see how long you last not eating what he brings back for us." Andrea pressed her lips into a tight line and didn't say anything after that. She scrubbed her clothes roughly and got up to leave as soon as she was done, dragging Amy behind her.

Harper wasn't phased by Andrea's bad attitude and kept cleaning Daryl's sleeveless button up.

When she was done, she headed back to camp and immediately felt eyes on her. Looking over, Harper caught Shane eyeing her down. Ignoring him, she started hanging their clothes up to dry on the line near their tents and then joined the others by the fire.

Carol was sporting a new bruise that no one wanted to comment on. She carefully avoided everyone's eyes and motioned for Sophia to go and play with Carl. The tiny thing of a girl nodded and walked over to her friend, looking over her shoulder several times to glance at her quiet mother.

"Ya know, you should be careful who you decide to buddy up to. The Dixons don't seem the type to repay the kindness you're showing them." Harper looked over her shoulder and saw Shane standing to her right, arms crossed as he looked over their camp.

"I'm not expecting something in return; I'm helping out." Shane scoffed and sat down next to her on the log they had as seating. Since their first day at camp, he rubbed her the wrong way. He must have noticed that she didn't worship the ground he walked on like some of the others did so he made it his mission to get under her skin.

"They're rabid dogs, Harper. They'll end up biting the hands that feed them. Ya wanna end up looking like Carol over there?" Shane warned. Harper finally turned to face Shane and moved in close so he would hear her.

"It's better than being near a snake you just know is going to strike." Shane's lip curled back in anger, but Harper stood up and left before he could say anything else. She made her way over to Dale's RV and leaned against it.

"You really know how to rile that man up," Dale chuckled from his lawn chair atop the RV. Harper snorted and looked up at him.

"He's just an easy target." Dale smiled down at her and started rummaging through one of his bags. He found what he was looking for and tossed it down at her. Harper caught the paperback book in her hands and smiled at the cover.

"How did you know I liked Thomas Harris?"

"When everyone was talking about their favorite movies last week, you made a comment about the Hannibal movies. I figured you would like the books too. I asked Glenn to keep an eye open on his last run," Dale explained.

"Thanks, Dale." Harper smiled and held the book up a little as she walked back to her tent.

Harper turned up her music a little louder to drown out all the honking around her. The highway was at a complete standstill and no one was even inching forward. She'd cut the engine off a while back and rolled the windows down but left the battery on so the radio would still play. She leaned back and closed her eyes, but the loud mouth in the truck next to her started going off again.

"Why the fuck ain't we movin'?!" Harper opened her eyes and looked to her right at the blue truck with the two men in it. The one talking looked a little older with a buzz cut and gray stubble covering his lower face.

"Shut up, Merle," The other grumbled, biting his thumb nail. Rolling her eyes, Harper shut her car off all the way and got out like many others had.

"Ah! She finally comes out!" Harper looked over at a cheery, older man sitting outside his RV. She smiled a little at him and nodded.

"I'm Dale and this is Jim. Want something to drink?" Dale held up a water bottle for her.

"Thank you, I'm Harper. Do y'all know what's stopping everyone from getting into the city?" Harper took a small sip of water while Dale shrugged his shoulders.

"The radios have been pretty silent; just music on repeat. They haven't had any traffic updates either." Harper sighed and leaned against Dale's RV. It wasn't like she could go anywhere, not with all the cars in front and behind her keeping her stationary.

The loud sound of helicopters and planes made everyone grow silent. People were climbing on top of their cars to get a better look. Harper watched the military airforce get closer to the city, and she watched as they dropped the first few bombs.

People started screaming when the explosions sounded, but Harper was frozen in place, watching the smoke start to rise over Atlanta. It was Dale that urged her back into her car and told her to follow the caravan that was moving off the side of the highway. Dale saved her life.

Harper woke up, not realizing she'd dozed off, to the sound of someone walking past her tent. She unzipped her tent and peeked out. It was Daryl with a string of squirrels thrown over his shoulder. He walked over to a log near the outskirts of their camp and sat down with a bucket to start skinning them.

Seeing an opportunity, Harper set her book down to crawl out of her tent and head over to the hunter. She sat down beside him and watched him skin the first squirrel.

"Can I help?" Daryl looked sideways at her, barely acknowledging her presence next to him.

"Ya know how to?"

"Nope, but I'm a quick study."

"Ya got a knife?"

"No, I was hoping I guessed right and you had more than one on you."

Daryl stopped what he was doing and gave Harper a once over. He didn't understand why the girl was suddenly bothering him, but he didn't think it would hurt to let her try to skin their dinner. She either would prove useful and be able to help or she'd gag and leave him alone. He wasn't sure which outcome he really wanted to happen.

Grabbing his extra knife from its holster, he handed it to her along with one of the squirrels. Harper copied his earlier movements and started to prep the animal, taking the inner organs out and dropping them in the bucket.

"Ya ain't too bad. Thought ya'd be more squeamish," Daryl commented, working on the next one. Harper laughed softly and grabbed another squirrel.

"I worked in a level one trauma ER; I wasn't allowed to be squeamish."

They were silent as they worked, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Harper liked that Daryl didn't talk as much as the rest of their camp did. She also knew that Daryl had what it took to survive longer than any of the others; it was like he was made to succeed in this new world, and she wanted someone like that on her team. The more she got to know the hunter, the more she could learn from him and hopefully grow on him. She needed someone to have her back other than Dale. She liked the old man, but she needed more allies.

They finished and sat quietly next to each other before Daryl finally spoke up. Harper was surprised that he initiated any kind of contact; he usually ignored everyone at camp.

"Ya have a weapon?"

"I have a pocket knife-"

"Tsk, that ain't gonna do nothin' for ya out here. Keep ma knife, it's better than a damn pocket knife," Daryl grumbled and stood up. Harper bit back her smile and stood up too. He unbuckled the sheath from his belt loop and reached for Harper.

She didn't say anything as he fastened it to her pants. Finally realizing how close he was to her, Daryl's ears pinked up and he took a step back, putting space between them until he was more comfortable..

"Don't go losin' it or nothin'," He grumbled and moved away with the squirrels to go cook them.

"Thanks, Daryl!" She called happily, but he didn't turn around. Harper smiled and slid the knife into its holster that rested against her left hip. She looked over, feeling eyes again, and saw Shane staring between her and Daryl.

She wanted to get out of his line of sight, but Shane was already making his way over to her. He got close enough that Harper could see the artery near his temple pulsing.

"What kind of game are you playing here?" He snarled lowly. Harper glared right back at him and stood her ground, sick of him thinking he was king of the rock.

"I'm not playing a game, Shane. I'm learning to survive, and I want to learn from Daryl." She watched his nostrils flare. "What? Does that make you angry? That I would rather be around a redneck than a sheriff? Get it through your thick skull, Shane. I. Don't. Trust. You."

"You're making a mistake," He hissed.

"The only mistake I would make would be to let you watch my back. You would save yourself over anyone else. I'm calling it now. We'll have to see when your true colors come out." Shane went to say something else, but Dale showed up beside them.

"Everything okay here?" He looked pointedly at Harper, but she shrugged him off. Seeing that most of the camp had stopped what they were doing to watch them, Daryl included, Harper decided not to rile him up anymore.

"Everything's just peachy," She said a little too loudly and moved away to sit by the fire. She didn't know if the others had heard what was said, but they for sure saw the tension between Harper and Shane.

Daryl propped the meat up to cook and much to Harper's surprise, sat down next to her, leaving a good foot of space between them. He didn't say anything, but Harper knew they were making progress.

Daryl watched the rabbits cook over the fire and tried not to look at the blonde next to him. He'd heard enough of the conversation between her and the cop, and he didn't like what Shane had to say. It was nothing new; his family had a long running with the local law enforcement. But Harper surprised him.

He didn't understand why she would choose to be on his side instead of Shane's. Shane was an ass, but the entire camp flocked to him for answers, and he had no problem ordering everyone around.

Daryl did know one thing for sure; Harper was much better company than Merle.

Shane kicked a nearby bucket and stormed out of the camp. Everybody was quiet as they watched him leave, no one getting up to follow him, not even Lori. Carl was tucked into her side, probably not having seen that side of Shane before.

"If he keeps pushing me, he's not going to like what happens," Harper mumbled so only Daryl would hear her. He snorted and looked at the squirrels.

"Whatcha gonna do, girl? Gonna stab him?" He wasn't serious, but when Harper didn't say anything, he slid his eyes over to gauge her reaction. Her eyes were serious but thoughtful; it had his heart pick up a bit, not sure why he liked it.

"I will if I feel like he's gonna hurt me. Which I'm not so sure he won't do," She grumbled, looking up at Daryl. He was a good foot taller than her, even while they were sitting.

"He ain't gonna get a chance to." Harper smiled at his soft words and nodded.

Note: I've been missing for a long time, mainly because I've come to a writer's block with my other stories and needed to take a hiatus. My love for The Walking Dead has been alive since the first season, but I never knew if I had what it takes to write a fanfiction about it. I have a rough outline down for this story as well as two others that could follow it. The first installation will be centered around seasons 1-2 with a few changes. This first chapter is a little shorter just to see if anyone likes it. The rest will be much longer.

~LL