Staying Sane Amidst The Chaos
Summary: Meet Rhey, she just wants to survive just like everyone else. And now that she's found her family, that small spark of hope is back. Pairings in the air.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead, or its characters, which in include Billy and Jamie, two kids from a web mini series on AMC, if you haven't seen it, check it out.(: I do own my OC's.
Chapter One: Reunited.
I was dead. That was pretty damn obvious at this point. I have no arrow, no knife, I'm a freaking moron that deserves to die for not brining extra weaponry, and there was nowhere for me to go unless I suddenly learned how to fly. Or turned into a squirrel. The walkers pressed in on me and I thought on my feet, I grabbed the nearest rock and started bashing away. After a minute or two and a couple of close calls, the damn things were dead around me, leaving me blood spattered and disgusted.
"Mother fucker…" I whispered. I knew I shouldn't stay put, so I gathered my bow, sheath, and arrows and started my search for my way back to my RV. I was walking along silently when the sound of something being shot and an arrow flying at my face caused me to squeak in horror and hit the floor.
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ABOUT?!" I yelled at the invisible assailant. I got no response. I reached up and took the arrow from the tree.
"This is mine now." I said.
"I'd put tha' down if I were you." A husky, southern voice spoke from behind me.
"After you shot it at me? I don't think so!" I replied. When did I become so brave? Or, I am just really stupid for challenging someone who just shot at me.
"I thought you were a walker." He replied as if that made it okay.
"And I think you are a- Holy mother of giants." I turned to face this guy and came face to point with a cross bow and a very scary looking man behind wielding it. I let out a small chuckle and held out the arrow to him.
"Is this yours? I'm sorry." I replied. I held it out to him and he took it back, still keeping the weapon trailed on me. I backed away from him. I didn't want any trouble.
"Please don't kill me." I whispered.
"I only kill threats. And from what I see, you're far from one." He eyed me once more. And I understood why. I wasn't much for an 18 year old. I stood at 4'11, had a small, lean frame, not much meat on my bones, which was getting less and less due to lack of hunger. I couldn't force myself to eat without retching.
"While that may be true, I could still hurt you." I replied. He smirked at me, a very, very attractive smirk.
"Sure." He drawled. He withdrew his crossbow and threw it on over his shoulder.
"What's your name?" He asked. I was a bit taken aback by this sudden question… I mean, the apocalypse isn't exactly the time for getting to know people. Then again this is first human I've actually encountered since I was separated from my family.
"Are you stupid or something?" He asked. I looked up at him, having almost forgotten he was there.
"Huh? Oh! No. Sorry, I was lost in thought… My name's Rhiannon… Rhiannon Grimes." I replied.
"Brianna?" He asked.
"No, Rhiannon… like the Fleetwood Mac song.." I replied.
"Brianne?" He asked again, the confused look on his face becoming even more so.
"No… Rhiannon… as in Rhi, sound lik r-e-e, ann, as in the name Anne, and on, the opposite of off…" I replied.
"Brannon?" He inquired again. I let out a sigh of frustration.
"Just call me Rhey. Is that better?" I asked. He nodded.
"That works, why didn't ya just say that to begin with?" He replied. I shrugged.
"I like my name." I shrugged it off, everyone had trouble pronouncing my name.
"What's your name?" I asked him, I might as well get some human interaction, I'm holding complete conversations with myself…
"It's Daryl." He replied. I nodded.
"Nice to meet you Daryl, thank you for not killing me…" I stuck my hand out to him, he laughed,
"Just don't make me regret it." He replied. I nodded and looked around the woods.
"You have a camp around here?" I wondered. He nodded.
"It's a pretty big one too…" He didn't sound too impressed with this fact.
"I'm guessing you are the one that hunts for food?" I asked. He nodded.
"My brother and I." He said. I nodded, a pang of jealousy running through me. He got to stick with his brother… I had lost both of mine in the blink of an eye.
"Cool.." I couldn't manage much more than that.
"What about you?" He eyed me up and down, the disheveled mess I was. I had fallen down into that valley and I'm suddenly aware of the pain in my ankle.
"It's just me…" I replied. His eyes widened a bit.
"Just..You…?" He asked. I nodded.
"I lost my oldest brother to a coma… Well sorta.. He was in a coma when this shit started, then I was left to die by his buddy, who took my brother, my sister in law, my nephew and a couple other people I had gathered, away… I hope they're all safe." I replied. I wasn't entirely sure why I was telling this man my entire survival story, but I felt he couldn't do much harm to me as long as I didn't challenge him.
"That's tough.." He replied. I shrugged.
"I'm still alive, and I'm looking for 'em, I just need gas for my RV… I was chased by walkers and lost a few of my arrows along the way… Wasn't able to take all of 'em out until I grabbed a rock…" I replied. I figured I should probably go and find those… he nodded.
"That's a plus I suppose." He muttered.
"Yep!" I popped the 'p'. We stood in silence for a minute or two.
"Well, it was nice meeting you Daryl, and I wish you well in this apocalyptic world, and I'll see you later.." I said. I turned on my heel and began to walk through the trees.
"Wait!" He called, I could hear him rushing to catch up to me. I stopped. Maybe he will kill me… I should not have trusted him!
"Look, please don't kill me. I can give you all my supplies for your camp, I'm sure I have more than enough… Just leave me a bit of supplies and my weapons and I'll be fine." I said. A bit hindered, but fine.
"I don't want your supplies… And I don't wanna kill ya.." He replied.
"Okay…" Now I was confused, why did he stop me?
"In exchange for your supplies and RV, you can stay at the camp and help out." He offered. This was the second time this man had shocked me in the last 15 minutes, and I had a feeling it was not going to be the last.
"That's a fair trade…" The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them or even had time to think about them.
"Alright, follow me." He said. With those words said, we walked along, the opposite way of my RV, and hopefully to a place I could stay. We walked along for a few hours, nothing being said aside from information about the camp. There was an interesting group of people.
"And here we are." We had made it to the place as the sun was setting and he was greeted by a man in a hat who had a beard.
"We've been worried Daryl." He said.
"Yeah, well, I found a stray." Daryl moved to the side and displayed me to the man, the man smiled at me, I smiled back and then gave Daryl a look.
"I'm not a cat!" I hissed at him, this just earned a chuckle and he walked away, I presume to clean his kill from today.
"I'm Dale, and you are?" He asked me.
"I'm… Rhey." I said, I didn't feel like trying to teach someone my name.
"Well Rhey, I'm glad to have ya, here let me show you around." We moved about the camp, I met Andrea and Amy, sisters who had stuck together like glue, then Jacqui and T-Dog, the Morales family, Carol, Ed, and Sophia.
"WE GOT FOOD!" A loud voice caused me to spin away from Sophia, and my jaw hit the floor at the site of the 5 teenage boys that walked into the camp site. I fought back a squeal of delight as I waited for my twin and friends to notice me.
"Boys, take your kills to Daryl and then come meet Rhey." This caused the group to stop, and my brother turned to me.
"Rhiannon?" He asked.
"Ryan." I grinned. He rushed at me and tackled me to the floor.
"Oomph…" I grunted as I hit the floor with a thud.
"Is this your friend?" I could hear Dale laughing.
"Better! My sister! The one I told you about!" Ryan replied, he got up and pulled me up as well where I was able to greet my friends. There was Austin, a boy who had gone to school with Ryan and I, Jason, another friend, Ross was another friend, and then you had Ben, with whom I was closest aside from Ryan.
"We thought you were dead." Ross admitted, I looked up at him, slightly confused.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because Shane told us you were…" My fist clenched at the sound of that very name.
"You don't even have tell me." I seethed. Then it hit me.
"Where's Lori and Carl?" I asked.
"AUNTY RHEY!" There's my boy! I laughed as my nephew ran to me and hugged me tightly,
"Hey there bud!" I grinned down at him.
"Billy and Jamie are with Kylie, so is Hayden, come on, Mom will be happy to see you, and Shane too!" I couldn't let Carl see how much I hated Shane, because I'm damn positive he didn't tell him the truth.
"Awesome. Show me the way." I laughed. The boys walked to give Daryl the kills and help him skin them and I allowed Carl to lead me away. Kylie was elated to see me, Hayden was doing fine for a baby in the end of the world, as were Billy and Jamie, two kids I babysat and found running the street with weapons back in King.
"I'm so glad you're alive…" Lori hugged me to her, and I smiled. I had missed my sister in law.
"I'm glad I found y'all." I replied.
"Lori, who you huggin?" The Devil himself spoke up from behind my sister and I detached myself from her and stepped to face him, the world's biggest grin on my face.
"Hey Shane, miss me?" I grinned at him.
Shane and I ran down the street, attempting to find a way to the hospital that wasn't completely over run with freaking monsters.
"You go that way, I'll go this way." He pointed toward the path with the most monsters for me.
"Fuck that, I'm sticking with you. I want to see my brother." I replied. He sighed, looking extremely angry.
"Just go that way!" He yelled. That scream would attract more, so I nodded.
"See you soon." I said. He nodded and we both ran separate ways. I bashed my way through the street when a shot rang out and clipped my side. I almost hit the floor, but kept my footing.
That bastard was a dead man if I ever saw him again.
His jaw was on the floor for only a second until it broke into a smile and he walked towards me, arms opened wide.
"It's great to see you made it. I thought for sure those walkers got you!" He wrapped me in a way too tight hug.
"Well, it takes a bit more than that to get rid of me." I laughed, he laughed too, releasing me from the hug and slapping me on the back with enough force to cause me to topple over. Carl walked over to me and helped me up.
"Whoa, must be a little weak there." He chuckled. I nodded and stepped closer to Lori once I was up. After that, I met Glenn and a couple other people and found a small group to recover my RV with. I was accepted into the group, but that night at dinner, I felt a pair of eyes glaring daggers at me. I looked up and saw Shane and woo, if looks could kill, I would be dead ten times over. I scooted closer to Daryl, and continued my conversation with Ben about the possibilities of survivors from our school.
A Month Later
I had been back with my family and douchebag for a month now, and I had taken to watching the children or hunting with Daryl or going on trips with Glenn to scavenge for supplies. This particular time, we were being placed into groups, Daryl, Ben, Ryan and I were hunting for food, the other boys were staying at camp to guard and watch the kids, and another group was going with Glenn.
"Why can't I bring Rhey?" He asked yet again, Dale rolled his eyes.
"Because, she's a decent shot and food is pretty damn important." Daryl spoke. I felt a grin spread across my face at the sound of this compliment.
"Whatever, I still think she should go with me." He huffed. I laughed.
"As much as I adore you guys fighting over me, we are losing daylight and precious time. Don't forget the baby formula and diapers and wipes." I reminded Glenn, adjusting his cap.
"Let's go!" Merle shouted from up the walk. The rest of the group followed after him after goodbyes were said and Daryl, Ben, Ryan, and I left for our hunt.
"What really gave you that scar on your side?" Ben asked as we walked along. My hand instantly went to the ugly scar I had attempted to keep hidden but that was foiled when I was washing up in the lake and the boys surprised me, at the time though, I quickly dismissed it as a glass cut from scavenging.
"Shane's failed attempt to kill me." I admitted bitterly.
"He tried to kill you?" He asked in complete shock. I nodded.
"Couldn't tell ya why… I was going with him to find Rick, and he shot at me when my back was turned." I replied.
"What a bastard." He muttered.
"I should have killed him my first night back here, but something tells me Lori would murder me…" I said.
"Why do you say that?" He asked.
"Those two have something going on… I know it…" I said. And I knew Rick wasn't dead, because if Shane handled that situation anything like he handled the one with me, he didn't follow through.
"Look, let's not talk about, let's just hunt, that'll get your tension out." Ben said. I looked over at him and smiled. He smiled back.
"Alright, let's see who can get the most kills." I bet, his face grew serious. He was extremely competitive, that I knew.
"You're on." He replied. I laughed.
"3… 2… 1… Engage!" I exclaimed. With this being said, he and I ran our separate ways, both intent on outdoing the other, leaving Daryl, who had been behind us, laughing to himself.
Hello all, it's been a while since I have done anything on this site, and I apologize, but I promise additions to all my stories will be up soon if you are following them! and this little story will be following my new favorite obsession, The Walking Dead. Let me know.
Rhey.