Disclaimer-I do not own and of The Walking Dead, I only own my OC's :) Please review! I appreciate any and all feedback!
Piper screamed as she desperately pulled her mother out of her crazed father's grasp while clinging to her crying niece with her other arm. She managed to pry his decaying fingers from her mother's arms as she yanked them into the nearby bedroom and slammed the door shut and locked it. Her mother huddled on the floor gasping for breath.
Piper quickly sat the young girl down and pulled her mother up. "Mom, help me! We have to block the door! I don't know what's wrong with dad, but he can't get in here…you saw what he did to Aiden."
She choked back a sob at the memory of her father ripping chunks of flesh from her little nephew, his sister watching in horror before Piper had found them. Her mother quickly gathered herself and helped Piper drag the heavy dresser in front of the door where they could hear the man clawing and pounding on it from the outside.
Piper's mom slid down the front of the dresser and sobbed violently, shaking at the thought of what just happened. Piper crouched in front of her mother, wiping the tears from her own eyes before checking her for injuries. Angry red lines stretched from her mother's elbow to her wrist on her right arm, not breaking the skin, but likely to leave dark bruises. Piper wrapped her arms around her mother and niece while tears poured down her cheeks as she desperately tried to withhold her sobs in the hopes that what had once been her loving father would leave them alone.
After sitting in the same spot for a little over an hour, Piper heard the main door open, squeaking as it was slowly pushed open by someone. She heard muffled voices before the man that was once her father growled and banged on the door again. Before she could react, an arrowhead speared through the door inches from the top of her head. She screamed and pulled her in-shock mother and still sobbing niece away from the door.
The muffled voices stopped and dead silence filled the room. After a moment, Piper heard slow, steady footsteps approach the door of the bedroom. Eventually a knock sounded along with a gruff voice, "Anyone in there?"
Piper looked for some sort of weapon. She remembered the pistol her mom always kept in her bedside table and quickly pulled it out. "W-Who's out there?" She shakily called. She gently pushed the little girl clinging to her leg towards her mom. Her mother was slowly bringing herself back into reality and lifted herself from the floor and walked over to where her daughter stood, holding tightly to the little girl's hand. Two voices conversed on the other side of the door for a while before a new voice grumbled through the door.
"We ain't gonna hurtcha. Why don't ya come out?" Piper did not trust that voice…it sounded dangerous. But she really didn't have an option did she? She couldn't exactly stay locked up in the bedroom with her mother and niece… There was no food there and who knows what sickness was going around that made her father go insane. She needed help.
She nodded to her mother who gave her a nervous look before helping to pull the dresser away from the door. Piper unlocked the door and slowly opened it, aiming her pistol in front of her as she slowly made her way out of the room. Two men stood several feet away from the door. The older looking of the two was a man with a crew cut that seemed to be in his forties or so with jeans and hiking boots on as well as a white wife-beater with a rifle in his hands. The other man looked to be in his early to mid-thirties by Piper's judgment, and wore dark jeans, similar hiking boots as the other man, and a cutoff flannel with a wife beater underneath. He had messy brown hair and both men had striking blue eyes that seemed to pierce right through her. The second man had a crossbow in his hands and a scowl on his face as he paced the kitchen connecting to the hallway where the other three stood.
The two men took in the terrified and disheveled appearance of the women and the little girl hiding behind them. The younger woman, who appeared to be in her early twenties, was fairly skinny, wearing dark blue jean capris and a dark purple camisole. She had no shoes on, making the men assume that they were very caught off guard by the now dead man at their feet. She had her long wavy chocolate brown hair pulled into a ponytail, with bangs wisping down into her face while her dark green eyes shot between the two with suspicion and fear. She bore a striking resemblance to the woman beside her. The older woman had dark hair that was pulled in a low messy bun at the base of her neck with almost identical eyes to the other girl. She was dressed in pale jeans, a dark green button-up tank top and was also barefoot. The little girl crowded behind the younger woman's legs. She wore a bright blue shirt with a picture of a white cat on it with little jean overalls that ended just above her knees. Her hot pink sock covered feet wiggled slightly in discomfort. Her dark brown hair went to her mid-back and her bright blue eyes looked curiously yet fearfully at the two men.
Piper watched nervously as the men stared them down and then looked at each other, seemingly having a silent conversation. They nodded at each other and turned back to Piper and the others, lowering their weapons, but not completely releasing them. She kept her weapon tight in her grasp, but lowered it, so it was no longer pointed at their faces. When the older man began to approach she whipped the gun back up and quickly backed up. He held his hands up before slowly backing up a step. "Easy there darlin'." The man said in his gravelly voice.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Piper's mother asked quietly. The man's eyes flashed to her and gave her a wicked smirk, which instantly put Piper on edge.
"Haven't ya hearda' the mess that's comin'? People're risin' from the dead and eatin' people. Can't say you din' know that though, judgin' by the man on the floor there." He pointed crudely to the women's loved one lying on the floor with a bullet in his brain.
This was the first the women had looked at him and they both began silently crying as they remembered that their family was gone. Piper collapsed to her knees and the gun slid from her hands as she covered her mouth with one hand while the other clutched at her father's arm. Her mother just stood there, still somewhat in shock as she held the small girl's hand, when the men coughed to get their attention.
The younger one was the one to speak this time. "We're headed to Georgia. S'posed to be an army base bein' built there. If ya think ya can pull yerselves together, you can come along til' we get there." Piper could tell that this was uncharacteristic for the men by the grimace on the other man's face and the hesitant way the younger one gave the offer.
"What are your names?" Piper asked softly as she looked up at them.
"Daryl. This here's my brother Merle." The younger one spoke. Piper nodded.
"Piper. My mother's name is Claudia. This is my niece Bailey." She responded as she ran a comforting hand through the young girl's hair when she came up to her, once again clinging to her. The men nodded and approached the girls.
"Go pack what'chu need and let's get movin'. Gotta lotta ground to cover and who knows how many of them things are gonna be around." Merle said. After Piper picked up Bailey, the two women rushed into the other room.
Daryl and Merle stood in the kitchen, standing at the tall island that was settled in the middle of the room. "What're we thinking little bro? Takin' in women. They'll be nuttin' but extra baggage."
Daryl shook his head. "You saw that lil' boy in the other room. These women won't stand a chance on their own. And they have that lil' girl. May be everyone for themselves out here, but it'd be a sick thing to leave'em here."
Merle nodded and began rummaging through the pantry. It was full of random canned goods. Corn, green beans, corned beef hash and more filled the lower shelves. "Hey Darylina, lookie here." Merle gestured to the full pantry and just as he was about to start pulling stuff out, the women returned from wherever they had wandered off to.
Piper had stuffed a duffel bag with a few various outfits for random weather possibilities as well as all the flashlights and batteries she could find. She also packed pictures of her family and some other probably useless things that she just couldn't leave behind. Her mother had packed about the same in a large camping backpack. Piper then made her way into Bailey's room with the little girl in tow, packing a few outfits in the little girl's small purple backpack as well as her favorite stuffed animal, a wolf she named Luna, and a children's book full of short stories. Bailey was only three, so Piper hoped that there would be enough stories to keep her entertained for a while. She then turned to Bailey as she forced a few more outfits for her in her own duffel bag.
"Sweetie, we can only take what you can carry in your backpack, so go pick out a few small things and put them in there okay?" Bailey nodded with a focused expression and started rummaging through the room she had for her visits to her grandmother's house, where they found themselves at the moment. Piper watched as the little girl found a picture of her and her parents, causing her stomach to drop. What could have happened to them? Marcus and Annie might be… She shook her head violently, shaking the image from her head. She knew that her brother Marcus was smart. He could get himself and Annie someplace safe. She just hoped that someday they would find each other again.
Piper then led her mother and Bailey into the kitchen to regroup with the men. Seeing what they were about to do, Piper nodded and walked around the corner, returning with two large plastic green bins.
"Might as well get as much food as we can. I'm going to go through Dad's gun cabinet." She trailed off sadly. "Mom, can you help him? Get whatever we can." Tears threatened to fall as she pulled her dad's gun cabinet keys from the key bowl by the door.
Daryl followed her into a living room decorated in a South Western theme, with Native American pictures on the walls and a large fireplace off to one side. A large dark wooden cabinet was against the nearby wall and Piper made quick work of the locks.
When she turned around she saw Daryl standing there with an almost sympathetic look on his face, which was quickly hidden by a scowl. She shook it off and began pulling guns out and lying them on the floor between herself and Daryl. There was a shotgun as well as a couple rifles, a crossbow that hadn't worked in years, and three pistols. She left the crossbow hanging on the inside wall of the cabinet and pulled out box after box of ammunition and arrows. Daryl was surprised at the outcome and began gathering the weapons.
Piper stopped him as he was about to pick up a small black pistol that looked as if it was very well cared for. She grabbed it from the floor and loaded it up before making sure the safety was on and sticking it in the waistband of her capris. "It's mine. A gift from my dad." Daryl didn't respond and just grabbed the rest of the ammo boxes, piling them carefully in his arms. Piper walked back into the kitchen and noticed that her mother and Merle had finished packing up the food.
After a final glance through the house, Piper pulled her duffel bag over her shoulder and grabbed a bin full of food while Merle grabbed the other. Her mother was in front, leading Bailey by the hand outside where a light blue pickup truck sat with a motorcycle in the back. Piper read the license plate. 'Georgia' was printed with a peach decorating the side.
"What are you guys doing in Wisconsin if you're from Georgia?" She asked in disbelief.
"We were up north huntin' when all this shit started. Makin' our way back." Daryl answered. Piper nodded and set the box in the back of the truck along with her duffel bag. When she approached the truck, she saw that it was only a three seater and looked at the men questioningly.
Merle laughed, noticing her look. "Yeah toots, it's gonna be a tight squeeze. Not that I mind much." He smirked and waggled his eyebrows and Piper snorted.
"Don't even start that. I won't hesitate to put a bullet through your perverted brain." She said partially joking. Merle lifted his hands in surrender and pulled open the passenger door. "After you ladies." He said with a mocking bow. Piper rolled her eyes and ushered her mother in, lifting Bailey and settling her in her lap after settling in next to her mother with Daryl pulling himself in last. Merle walked around the front of the truck and pulled himself into the driver's seat, slammed his door shut and started up the truck.
Piper and her mother gave their home a sad once-over, taking in the trees that surrounded their beautiful old Victorian style home. Tears filled their eyes and they held hands tightly as Merle drove the old truck down the driveway.