Disclaimer: Gotta do it. I do not have any copyrights to The Walking Dead, AMC or Norman Reedus *sad face*.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed the first chappie. I was gonna wait on posting this one but I am so excited about the story that I couldn't. I've worked very hard on it, I'm a tad OCD when it comes to anything I write. By the way, it's 2 in the morning, I just got off work, I'm typing the chapter final draft and I'm sucking down Boone's Farm like it's nobody's business. (Hey don't judge me, I'm off tomorrow). So don't get mad if my grammar isn't up to par, so goes the internal and external battles of the writers' life, you write when your muse decides that you need to. I just wanna thank my very first reviewer, eloquent dreams. Thank You! Sorry people, first come, first serve. I was so pumped when I saw my first review. Anyway, enjoy chapter two and please review, they keep me happy!
Chapter Two:
~~~~~~~TWD~~~~~~~
They began their trek to camp in virtual silence, only the occasional comment or question from Arielle breaking the silence. Not that she wasn't used to it by now. Daryl Dixon was a man of few words unless he had something to say. They had backtracked a few miles out of the way to retrieve Arielle's supplies that she had stashed in some shrubs near where she had been currently camping as of late. The extra hike had been worth the time in Daryl's opinion. She had a surplus of ammo, canned goods and medical supplies.
"So, what's your group like?" Arielle inquired, ducking down to miss a low hanging branch. Daryl scoffed at the question loudly.
"Bunch of idiots if ya ask me. Most couldn' tell their assholes from a rabbit hole." Laughing, Arielle simply shook her head at his comment.
"So by our widely different opinions on personality traits, they should be an alright bunch since you prefer talking to dead animals more than humans?" Daryl contemplated her question for a moment before answering.
"To ya, yeah, I guess so. Ya always had a higher tolerance for stupidity." There was no way that Arielle could just turn the other cheek at that statement.
"Well, Daryl, that's all thanks to you and your charming brother." Arielle laughed loudly, dodging the rope of dead squirrels that Daryl had chucked at her.
"Oh yea? Think ya funny, huh? Miss Ivy League." Daryl retorted, fetching what was to be dinner off the ground.
"Come on, you use to love my cunning use of intellect."
"Only when it was directed at someone else."
Arielle matched her steps with Daryl again, once she was sure he wasn't planning on having another tantrum and start throwing dead animals around again. They fell back into a comfortable silence, that was one of the things that he had always liked about her. She didn't feel the need to always fill the air with mindless chatter. Well, maybe just the occasional mindless chatter. He took a moment to really look her over from the corner of his eye. It had been almost 11 years since Arielle went off to college, immediately followed up by medical school. She had grown her hair out significantly, he remembered that she had always kept it a lot shorter, usually around chin length. Her face had thinned out too, losing that last bit of pesky baby fat that Arielle had always complained about. His eyes trailed downward, watching her stumble slightly through the high grass. Daryl couldn't help but smirk at the fact that some things never changed. She had always been a pretty decent hunter but stealth had never been one of her strong points. He watched her as she stumbled here and there over small sticks, dips in the ground and sometimes, even her own feet.
"Christ, Elle. How'd ya make it this long out here with those two left feet?" He asked, helping the red-faced girl to her feet. Arielle wiped her hands on her already dirty pants and adjusted the large bag over her shoulder.
"You should know how motivating a hungry pack of dead cannibals chasing you can be and I don't know what you're talking about, I'm like a gazelle." She replied.
"Walkers."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, our group calls 'em 'walkers' or 'geeks'."
"Walkers, huh?' Arielle asked, letting the term roll off her tongue. 'I think that's more fitting. Geeks just reminds me of the heavy mouth breather that sat next to me in English class." Daryl snorted.
"Always had a way with words."
"Well, not everyone speaks Caveman, Mr. Dixon. I'm not complacent with just grunting and nodding when someone is speaking to me."
Daryl just grunted, Arielle sighed.
"Point proven. Are we nearly there?" Arielle felt like they were walking in circles. She would've bet her entire secret stash of chocolate chip cookies that they had passed the same large oak tree with antler rubbings twice already. Then again, this was Daryl. He could be kidnapped, blindfolded, dropped in the middle of the woods and he would still make it back in time for Happy Hour.
"Nearly there."
Arielle's aching feet were thankful for that. After walking for a few moments more, they reached a break in the trees. Daryl led her through the campsite, drawing attention from amongst the other survivors. He led her to a tent a little ways away from the others. Arielle paused outisde the front.
"Is Merle in there?" She whispered. Daryl nodded, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Of course, ya know he's a lazy sumbitch."
Arielle sat her bag down quietly then crept around the side of the tent. She gave the side one really hard kick.
"Merle Dixon! Get your fat, lazy, ugly, good for nothing ass out here! You stupid redneck!" She called, fighting to keep her voice neutral and not break out into laughter. The tent began to shake violently as if it was sitting smack dab in the middle of a wind storm and she could here Merle inside, knocking things over and fighting with the zipper.
"I don't give two shits if ya a woman, nobody talks to me that way!' Merle roared, emerging from the tent, glaring around for the culprit. 'Where the fuck ya at? Ya chicken shit!" Arielle walked quietly up behind him crossing her arms.
"Now, Merle, is that anyway to speak to a lady?" Merle spun around, his hand flying for the knife at his waist. He paused though upon realizing who had called him out.
"Ellie? Well, hot damn girlie! Figured ya were walker food by now." Merle exclaimed, pulling Arielle into a bear hug.
"Aww, Merle. You always know what to say to make a girl's heart melt." Arielle said, pulling away from the huge man. He continued to grin down at her.
"What can I say? Always been a ladies' man." His eyes darted over her shoulder, as if searching for something.
"Where's the rest of the clan?" Arielle's smile faded from her face, she wrapped her arms around herself once more.
"They didn't make it. It's just me now." The smile on Merle's face faded as well.
"Well, that sucks."
"Thanks, Merle. Understatement of the year." She snapped, running a hand through her hair. Arielle knew by experience that Merle could be a grade A douchebag most of the time. Those words coming from him though, were like a heartfelt eulogy.
"Now don' be gettin' ya panties in a bunch. I was hopin' that ya and the others had gotten the hell out of Dodge before the walker shit hit the fan. Ya guys woulda been helluva lot better company than most of the retards round here." Merle waved a hand, signalling the camp.
"Don't bullshit a bullshiter. You were hoping to take another crack at Maria." Arielle said, shaking her head and laughing. A wide smile broke out on his face again.
"Nah, I already ran the transmission out on her long ago. That pussy was more beat up than a fat kid in the school yard." Merle laughed at his own sick joke. Arielle waved her hands out in front of her, trying not to gag.
"First off,' Arielle pointed a finger at herself, 'sister. Second, ewww. I don't need to hear that shit. I wanna keep what little food there is in my stomach there."
A deep, male voice pulled them out of their conversation.
"Excuse me, gentlemen, but are you going to introduce your friend to everybody else?"
Arielle turned her attention to the two people that were standing behind them a few feet away. Her eyes roamed over the two. The man was a little taller than herself with dark hair and brown eyes. He had a slightly awkward shaped nose but other than that, he wasn't bad looking, she could tell just from the way he was standing that he was muscular. She turned her attention to the woman standing next to him. She was only a few inches shorter than the man and was really thin, with very long brunette hair and hazel eyes, which were eyeing Arielle up and down in a curious, observing way. Merle's voice pulled her out of her observation of the two.
"Hello, Officer Shane. Did someone call in a domestic dispute or somethin'? Or was it a noise complaint? We were just welcomin' back a good friend of ours. Do we have to file a request for visitations now?" Merle strutted over to the man. Arielle noticed the dark haired woman tense as Merle stopped right in front of the man. Arielle glanced behind her to Daryl, who was standing poker straight, arms crossed and jaw clenched. She had seen that stance too many times to count. Daryl was waiting for Merle to go too far and have to break up a possible fight. Rolling her eyes at him, Arielle stepped around Merle and held out her hand.
"Arielle Mason."
The man glanced down at her hand questioningly before taking it, returning the civilized gesture.
"I'm Shane Walsh. This here is Lori,' pointing to the woman who smiled at her, 'I guess we're the welcoming committee." Arielle gave them a warm smile.
"Well, given our extenuating circumstances, I'll understand if I don't get an actual party."
Merle huffed loudly behind her before walking away.
"Making friends already, Ellie?" He called out before disappearing into his tent. Daryl had taken a seat on a log outside the tent, cleaning his bolts for his crossbow. Arielle turned her attention back to Shane and Lori.
"Sorry about that. Merle can be moodier than a grizzly bear coming out of hibernation. He can sometimes be a real tool." She explained before jumping slightly at a loud snort that sounded behind Shane. He stepped sideways, revealing a small brunette boy with crystal blue eyes. Arielle automatically felt her heart melt a little, she was such a sucker for blue eyes. The boy took a small step forward, smiling up at her.
"This is my son, Carl." Lori introduced, ruffling her hand through his unkept hair. Arielle knelt down to his eye level, offering her hand.
"I'm Arielle, it's a pleasure to meet you, Carl." She smiled at him when he shook her hand. He continued to stare at her in a slightly awed way.
"I like your name, it's cool." Arielle laughed lightly, she was used to hearing that all the time, well, maybe not so much lately.
"Thanks, I think it's pretty sweet myself." She replied, standing back up to the adults' eye level.
"I also like your hair color. I haven't met many people with that shade of red. Is it real?" He questioned, receiving a light squeeze on his shoulder from his mother.
"Carl, that's rude." She said curtly. Shane lightly patted the boy on the back.
"Yeah, little man. It's like how you're not suppose to ask a woman her age." He joked, receiving his very own stink-eye from Lori. Arielle waved a hand at them, brushing it off.
"Don't worry, it's no biggie and yes, it's real." Arielle smiled at him again before addressing the two adults.
"Shane, Lori, I was kinda hoping on joining Team Survivial of The Fittest here, that is if it's ok? I can be useful, I know how to hunt thanks to Daryl, and I can cook, help out with chores, take patrols. You name it, I'm also pretty good under the hood of a car."
"Ya shouldn' have to ask. It's a free country." Daryl exclaimed, suddenly standing right next to Arielle, successfully eliciting a few choice swear words from her that she wouldn't have normally said in front of Carl. Lori's eyebrows shot up.
"Sorry, been really jumpy these past few weeks." Shane simply nodded in agreement.
"It's understandable. Of course, you can stay. We have a few extra tents in Dale's RV and there are plenty of spots up this way where I can help you pitch it." Shane explained, pointing up to an ancient R.V. where a group of people were standing, staring down the small hill at them.
"She can jus' as easily pick a spot next to me and Merle. If she needs help, which she don't, I'll help her." Daryl said stiffly. Shane's eyes once-overed Daryl, biting the inside of his lip while he did, before turning back to Arielle, silently asking her what she wanted. She couldn't help but find the whole exchange quite hilarious. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Daryl and Merle musn't of made many friends here.
Arielle laughed lightly, trying to diffuse some of the building tension.
"It's fine, Shane. I've been neighbors with these two my whole life. Nothing new there." Shane studied her for a moment before nodding.
"Your call. Nice to meet you, by the way." With that, Shane turned and headed back towards the main part of camp.
Lori, suddenly seeming to realize that she was left standing in so close proximity to Daryl, loudly cleared her throat and took a few steps back.
"Well, I'll go grab you a tent. C'mon, Carl." Lori turned towards the R.V., grabbing the boy's hand and practically dragged him along. The boy shot Arielle one last smile before turning away.
"Seems like ya got an admirer." Daryl said casually before heading over to his tent. He plopped on a log, pulling out his knife at his waist then proceded to skin the first of his kills. Arielle sat next to him and pulled her own knife from her ankle holder, grabbing one of the squirrels to help out.
"A little too young, don't you think?" Arielle asked, slicing into the squirrel with quick movements.
"Not that one." She heard Daryl mutter under his breath which she chose to ignore as if she didn't hear it at all.
"Besides, you know I was always a sucker for older guys." A sharp intake of breath caught her attention.
Tearing her attention from the partially exposed animal, Arielle glanced over to Daryl, who had his finger wrapped in a rag from his back pocket. She placed the animal and knife down then held out her hands.
"Let me see." Daryl quickly pulled his injured hand out of her reach. The action reminded her of a little kid, scared of the sting of alcohol that goes along with cleaning a wound.
"I can take care of myself." He snapped, trying to pull away further from her. Arielle rolled her eyes and grabbed his wrist, pulling it towards her.
"I was nearly finished with my residency when the world ended, remember? Besides, don't be such a baby." She laughed, lightly pulling the rag off his injured index finger. Daryl fixed her with a hard glare, which she ignored. She was immuned to the Dixon Glare of Death. Arielle poked around the gash for a moment before reaching for her duffel bag.
"It's really deep. You're gonna need stitches."
Daryl groaned but kept quiet after that. He merely watched as Arielle went to work on cleaning and stitching up the deep gash. Daryl couldn't keep his eyes from Arielle's face for too long. She was biting on her lower lip and her eyebrows were pulled into a hard line, concentrating on her task. He had to admit to himself, she had fully grown out from the gawky teenager to a very beautiful young woman. It just amazed him how much she seemed to of grown into her own body, he just hadn't seen her since she left for college.
Arielle had gotten an apartment outside of campus, only coming back to visit on holidays. Everytime she had come home to visit, Daryl had always been away on a construction project or she was never around when he would come to see her after finding out that she was in town. It was almost as if she had been avoiding him.
Daryl mentally shook those thoughts away. He really didn't want to start thinking about all that right now but since it seemed that the universe hated him, he wasn't so lucky. Arielle lightly cleared her throat.
"Listen, Daryl, I want to apologize. For what happened the last time we saw each other. I shouldn't of done what I did. I would just blame it on the alcohol but that was only really the catalyst for the whole thing." She watched Daryl out of her perpherial to see his reaction. His eyes darted between her and the ground before coming to rest on the log next to them.
"Ain't nothin'. No point in bringin' it up."
Arielle tied off the stitches and cleaned her hands, shooting Daryl a deathly glare when she finished.
"Jesus, I just wanted to clear the air. Didn't want things uncomfortable between us." She huffed, jumping up off the log before storming away, her shuffling feet kicking up dirt in her wake. Daryl glared after her.
"Well, congrats. Ya did a great job." He called up to her, catching a few peoples' attention in the process.
Arielle stopped short, contemplating turning around and knocking Daryl off the log onto his stupid ass. Deciding to take the high road, Arielle continued walking away to get her tent, sorely tempted to pitch it up with the others instead by the lone Dixon tent.
~~~~~~~TWD~~~~~~~
Another one done! I hope that everyone likes what I'm doing with the show's characters. I try to write them as original as possible but with my own twist in there. Even with Daryl and Merle, I wanted to lessen the testosterone down a little especially with Merle. Please leave a review, good or bad, just so I know what everyone is thinking. Later!
