Note: My first attempt at writing fan fic, or well, anything for that matter. So, go easy on me ;) We'll be seeing Daryl in chapter 2, I promise. He's my favorite character from the TV series, and what made me want to write some Daryl/OC fiction. I need something to keep me busy until October. And of course, I do not own TWD or any of it's characters.
Intro: Running
She had been running full out for over an hour. Doubled over, lungs burning, her muscles were screaming for oxygen, cramping from dehydration and threatening to give out from exhaustion. Her heart was beating so hard it was almost ready to burst from her chest. Within a minute her breathing had slowed, although still coming in deep gulps, and she was able to lift herself back upright and take in her surroundings. Behind her she could see nothing or no one on the trail. Ahead of her just the packed dirt stretching out of what was once probably a well used hikers path. On either side the woods enveloped her.
Already feeling at the end of her rope, she knew she had to push on. She couldn't stop here. She hadn't covered enough distance. Not nearly enough. If she kept going this trail would lead her straight out to the country roads near the highway. That was the last place she wanted to be; too vulnerable, too exposed. No, her best chance was to stick to the woods and take her chances with whatever might be lurking there. Off the trail to her left the woods rose steadily. If she could make it to the top she would have a good view of the land. She could plan her next move. But sun down was coming and if she was going to make it before then she'd need to get moving.
Once off the trail her pace slowed considerably. Bush whacking was a much slower and tiring process. At least here outside of Atlanta the woods had a different character than back home. They were drier, less dense, and less imposing than what she was used to. She climbed over rotting logs and crawled under fallen trees as she made her way up the incline. Each step she took drained her further. "Come on," she pleaded with her failing body. "You can do this. One foot in front of the other." She was mumbling to herself with nearly every step as she weakened rapidly. Her body needed rest, but more than that it needed water. Ahead the woods just rose steadily upwards. It was impossible to tell looking up how much farther she had to go before reaching the top of the ridge. "Come on," she begged once more, but no matter how she willed her body to move, her legs wouldn't budge. "Ok. You win," she whispered, "we'll stop here and rest a while."
She sat, her back against a pine, looking down the way she'd come. The woods were still. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. Beneath her the cool moss made a cushion for her sore body. She stretched her aching knees out in front of her and wondered if she would ever be able to convince her body to get up and move again. It felt good to be off her feet but she remained tense, alert. Soon, however, exhaustion over took her and she nodded off.
When she woke she was startled to find the light faded. She had at best half an hour before it would be too dark to continue. If she didn't find water and shelter she knew she was unlikely to survive much longer. Continuing up the hillside was no longer an option. She pushed herself as fast as she was able parallel along the slope hoping to run across a creek or stream. It paid off. The icy water stung her hands as she scooped it greedily to her mouth. She drank and drank and drank and the nearly debilitating cramping in her muscles subsided. She gave a quick thank you to the universe, closed her eyes and inhaled deeply the scent of the wet forest. How at peace she used to feel in the forest back home. It had always been her sanctuary.
A hand clamped down on her right shoulder ripping her out of the trance she'd been in. It's bony fingers felt more like a claw and she knew even before she turned to face it that the creature it belonged to was no longer human. In one fluid motion she tore away from the thing and quickly gathered a thick branch from the ground. She spun slamming the branch as hard as she could against the side of the creature's head. It just groaned and continued to grasp for her warm flesh. Looking upon it she was hit with a wave of nausea. Even after the months that had passed every single one she saw horrified her just the same. Nothing should be permitted to still roam the earth after it is dead and decaying, but here in front of here was yet another such monstrosity. Again she slammed the branch into the side of it's head. Allowing herself to vent the fear and anger that had been following her all day she hit it again and again until finally it's skull split open and it fell to the ground, limp and lifeless as it should have been.
Just as the walking corpse's body fell to the forest floor, the girl too collapsed. Physically and mentally exhausted, darkness imminent, this is where she'd have to stay. She crawled to the body and quickly examined it. There was a distinct bite mark out of the meaty part where the back of his neck met his shoulder. Poor bastard had been snuck up on from behind, very much as she nearly had been. Maybe he too had been working his way here along the creek where the rushing water drowned the sound of the creatures footsteps. He was dressed in hunter's camouflage. Perhaps he had been out searching for food to take back home to his family, or perhaps he decided to take his chances in the wilderness away from the larger throngs of civilization turned cannibal corpses.
She pushed the thoughts of who this man might have been before the end of the world from her mind and set to searching the corpse for anything that might be useful. A hunting knife. It was better than nothing. She tucked it away and then got to work. She quickly found a cubby under some deadfall she could fit into. She dragged the corpse behind her leaving it in the entrance hoping it would mask her scent and deter anyone or anything from investigating further. No sooner had she set up her shelter then darkness fell. She curled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself. It was cold during the nights here, but she dare not make a fire, in the darkness it would be much too obvious. She slipped surprisingly quickly into sleep.
Chapter 1: The Others
From a rocky outcropping at the top of the ridge she could see for miles. Below her the forest stretched out down the other side of the hill. At the bottom lay a swamp. Beyond the swamp sat a farm. It appeared to be inhabited. She could see several vehicles, including an RV. She needed to get closer where she could get a better look.
Getting down the hillside was quick enough. Maneuvering through the swamp, however, took the better part of the day. As difficult as it was for her, she soon realized it held its advantages. It was even more difficult for the dead who didn't plan their steps. Far to her right she could see a corpse stuck in the mud, standing helpless unable to move. She left it, unwilling to risk the treacherous mud herself over something clearly unable to pursue her and do her harm.
It was late in the day as she neared the edge of the farm. The sun had already started to go down. Just beyond the edge of the trees she could see the outline of a tent. She crept closer, every sense on full alert. There was a line strung outside the tent. From it she could see squirrels hanging, and what looked like it could only be a string of ears. Surely her eyes were mistaken. She hadn't eaten in days and had been pushing her body further than it ought to be capable. No doubt she could be seeing things that weren't actually there.
She wondered who these people might be. Had they known each other in another life before everything went to shit, or had the end of days drawn them together, strangers bonding over shared strife. Suddenly she froze. Someone else was approaching the tent from the direction of the farm house. A woman: middle-aged, with a small frame and short peppered hair. Her approach was a gift from the universe as the girl had not seen the man by the tent and would have stumbled right into him had she kept going. Inside her head she muttered a hasty thank you. Hunkered down, she lay still so she could listen. Unfortunately from where she was she was not able to make out all of what was being said, but she was able to pick up bits and pieces.
"...Just go! I don't want you here!" He lashed out verbally at the woman. She couldn't catch enough of what was being said to determine what had happened. The woman said little, or what she said was in audible as they were both now obscured from the girls view.
"... a real piece of work, lady" There was an explosive anger in his words. She heard something else in his voice though, aside from anger, or at least that was the impression she got
"You ain't my problem. Sophia wasn't mine!" The voice shouted, "... keep an eye on her!" Had someone been injured then, or worse? Hurt, could that be what she heard behind the anger? It didn't matter. This man was volatile, she was certain of that, one she needed to stay clear of.
The air was tense and thick. After the older woman walked off the silence was almost deafening. She was afraid to move or even breathe lest she get caught. So she laid in wait in the cold, hoping the man would soon return to the farmhouse with the rest of the people, or retire to the tent as it appeared to be his. As the night progressed and the temperature dropped dew collected on her, dampening her clothes and chilling her further. She wanted to laugh. The last two days it seemed far more likely that it was going to be exposure that ended her rather than the corpses that were up walking about. In the darkness she could barely see the silhouette move to the tent, but in the stillness she heard the rustling of the flap quite clearly. She waited a while longer praying he would be asleep and not here her departure.
The boughs she had leaned up against the fallen log offered her little protection from the cold. She hadn't had time, thanks to getting pinned down earlier, to build a proper shelter. She shivered and looked longingly at the lights of the farmhouse. They would have blankets there, if not heat, maybe a wood stove if they were lucky. She thought she could hear the rumble of a generator if she listened closely. "Probably more trouble than they're worth," she cautioned herself. Still a part of her longed to head inside. "It's the cold," she warned, "you're obviously not thinking clearly."
Sleep didn't come easy this night. Her close proximity to these others left her on edge. Mostly however the cold bit at her. She tossed and turned, rubbed her bared skin attempting to warm it, and wiggled her toes to keep the blood flowing. Was it colder this night than last, or just the dampness? It wasn't until morning when the sun rose and so did the temperature that she was finally able to drift off.
She was woken to the sound of a vehicle tearing up the driveway and the commotion that followed. People spilled out of the farmhouse towards the car. She couldn't tell what was going on. The two men from the car, one of them was wearing a police officer's uniform, opened the trunk and pulled a third person out. They were headed towards the barn. She crept closer to see what was going on. There were a lot of angry words and hushed voices in the mix around the farm. Whatever was going on it was a big deal and she wanted to know. As the men came around the front of the barn she got her first clear glimpse of the one they had dragged from the vehicle.
A strangled cry escaped her lips before she could catch herself. It was Randall. One of the men looked up. He must have heard her. Fear paralyzed her for just a moment, then she turned to flee. No point sneaking around at this point, they already knew she was there. She went for speed, leaping over logs and dodging branches as she ran. Her body, though, lacking fuel and not yet recovered, was no match for her pursuer. She felt the dull whack of something hard hitting the back of her skull and everything went dark as she lost consciousness.
Shane dragged the girl back to the barn where Rick was waiting with Randall. They had handcuffed him inside and padlocked the door. He dropped her limp body at Rick's feet.
"Found this on her," he said, holding up the hunting knife she had stolen from the Walker that had tried to eat her the day before.
Rick looked down at the girl laying at his feet. Young woman actually, she might be in her mid-twenties, he thought. She was a tiny thing, barely over five feet tall and lucky if she weighed a hundred pounds. Rick noticed she was very thin. He guessed things had been tough and there hadn't been enough to go around wherever she was from, that or she'd been out in the woods a long time. He recalled before they'd come to Hershel's farm how sparse food had been and felt a pang of sympathy. Her brown hair was shoulder length, dirty and matted with twigs. Her skin was grubby. What stood out most to Rick were her bare and bloody feet.
"She's dangerous, Rick." Shane's voice brought Rick back.
"How do you figure, Shane? Look at her, she's just a girl..."
"She was spying on us, for Christ sake!"
"Maybe. Maybe she was just looking for some other survivors. All alone in the woods, stumbling upon this farm, looking for a better life like the rest of us," Rick offered, still trying to see the best in people no matter how cynical his best friend had become.
"Then why did she run?" Shane protested. "Tell me that then, why did she run?"
"Maybe we spooked her," Rick offered with a shrug. "How should I know."
"That's just it, though isn't it Rick?" the vehemence in his partners voice was clear. "You don't know. When the hell you going to realize the world isn't what it was anymore. You can't trust people. Not him," he gestured to the barn, "not her," he pushed the girl's limp body with his foot, "the world's changed, man, and you'd better start realizing that."
"What do you suggest then?" He questioned his partner.
"We lock her up," Shane nodded to the barn that held Randall, their other prisoner. "Find out what she's doing here. See if she's a threat," he trailed off briefly, catching Rick's gaze staring him straight in the eye, "and if she's a threat," he continued, "then we kill her. Same as him, Rick. We can't put the group in danger, you know that's how it's got to be. You know that, Rick."
Rick sighed, and nodded. "Not until we know for sure," he compromised, "you hear me Shane? We've got to be sure."
"Whatever man, I hear you. You just make sure you're thinking of Lori and Carl, that's all. We need to keep them safe." The two of them bent down and picked the young woman up by the arms and dragged her body into the barn.