For a simple hunting trip, things couldn't have gone more wrong. Daryl was sitting on the ground, his hands bound and weapons taken, A group of three saviours standing over him. "Neegan's gonna be pretty happy to see you" One of them sneered, tossing a radio to the younger one next to him.
"Call for a ride, should be a truck not too far out. I'm sure they'd have room for a gift for the boss"
The younger saviour turned on the radio, switching it to the channel. "Hey, calling for pick up, we have Daryl, first one here can get in on the bounty. Over." He said before the radio went back to static while they waited for a response.
A moment later a male voice came over the static. "On my way, should be about 20 minutes, over."
Daryl rolled his eyes and went back to trying to loosen the ropes on his wrists. Hopefully they would end up distracted by walkers or their own stupid egos and he could grab his weapon bag. That or make a run for it and hope they have bad aim.
The two older saviours picked up the bags Daryl had, the backpack with supplies he had found and the duffel bag he kept his hunting supplies and weapons in. "So what do we have in these?" One of them asked.
They dumped the bags, not giving time for an answer. "Let's see, weapons, some traps... oh baby food? Toys? Negan's dog's been busy." He taunted, examining one of the jars before placing it back on the pile.
Chuckling, he reached his hand out for the radio the young saviour had. "Give that here Matt." He said, catching it as it was tossed over.
"He's got some good weapons. Lots of useless shit too. Baby crap. Over."
The radio crackled before the same male voice came up. "Lots of walkers on the road. About 15 minutes away but it could take longer. Over."
"Well that's just dandy," He said, crouching next to Daryl, "You're gonna make me a cushy life. There is quite the reward for bringing you back."
He glared back at the saviour, showing no signs of fear although this was the first that he had heard about the saviours having a reward for bringing him in. "Yeah cause you can really trust Neegan to keep his word." He shot back.
The savior laughed, looking to the other older man, "You hear that Don?" He laughed before the man he called Don kicked him in the side, knocking him to the ground.
"You better not mess with Ol' Hank here. He doesn't take kindly to back talk." Don growled, before landing another kick right to his ribs.
Daryl grunted in pain, gasping in air. This situation was starting to get really bad, really fast. He stayed on the ground, working harder than ever on removing the rope, unsure of how many minutes more he had before the truck arrived.
"Well look at that," Hank said, pointing to dust coming off the dirt road in the distance, "Looks like our ride's early boys!"
Feeling his heart drop, Daryl felt the knots start to loosen and looked around him for any weapon he could find.
The vehicle came closer, completely screwed, he prepared to fight with his hands, removing the rope completely while the saviors had their backs turned, watching the was maybe 50 feet away, still coming in fast, as if it wasn't planning on stopping, a loud bass echoing from it. "What's that dumbass doing?" Hank asked, "Hey, turn that fucking radio off! Are you trying to attract every walker for miles?" He yelled into the radio, waiting for a response that never came.
The truck came closer, never losing speed. The saviors stood in the middle of the dirt road, guns drawn. As it came near enough, they began to shoot, aiming at the tires and windshield, ignoring that it was a military truck like their own and would need more than what they had to leave more than a dent.
Daryl took this as the distraction he'd been waiting for and ran to his bags, pulling out a gun and knife before shoving everything else back in. He gathered the supply bag just in time to hear a sickly thud.
Turning he saw the youngest of the three, Matt fly through the air as he heard the deafening shriek of the tires braking too quickly. Shouts and more shots rang out but soon the only noise was the revving engine of the truck and the music blaring from the radio. This definately wasn't the driver they had called.
The driver leaned out, a young woman who couldn't be a day past 30, and waved him over. "Get in Daryl." She yelled.
Surprised that she knew his name, but fearing and trusting this stranger at the same time, he ran to the truck and got in. As soon as his door was shut, she slammed on the gas and drove off. Only after getting up to speed lowering the still blaring music's volume.
She glanced at him quickly, her large polarized sunglasses hiding her eyes from him. "You can keep your weapons, just please don't shoot me. We really don't have time to fuck around.. Huge herd on my ass the whole way here, figured they could cover my tracks for me but we have to get as far from here as possible first." She stated.
Daryl knew the herd wasn't a lie considering the savior on the radio had mentioned lots of walkers. He assumed the woman driving had been the one leading them, probably killed that driver and anyone he was with too. "Is there somewhere you need to go?" She asked, "I can bring you wherever you want once we're far enough unless it's too risky. I'm sure you want to get that baby stuff back to your family."
He looked at her even more confused. As he opened his mouth to ask how she could know, she held up a radio, the exact same kind the saviors all used. She had been listening to the calls. That's how she knew his name, knew where the saviors were, knew what he had with him.
"You have a group?" He asked.
She shook her head. "No, it's been just me for a while now."
Given her appearance, he almost had to question if that was a lie. Her face was clean and without a sunburn despite it's fair complexion. Her faded dyed grey hair showed black roots, almost a show of how long it had been since the world had gone to shit. Despite that, it was brushed and tied back neatly into a ponytail that just reached her shoulder. Her clothes were all in good condition except a leather jacket that had a hole in the left shoulder and had to be at least two sizes too big.
She pulled a cigarrette pack out of her coat pocket and threw it to Daryl. "Could you pull one out for me? Help yourself, found a few cartons."
He complied and put one into her hand. She grabbed a lighter from the cup holder and lit her smoke quickly, trying not to take her attention from the road. He lit himself one, enjoying the first drag. Daryl still wasn't sure how much he trusted her, but part of him knew she was no threat to him. It seemed she only was a threat to the saviors.
She began to slow the truck down, turning the music off finally leaving them in silence as she pulled to the shoulder of the dirt road and parked. Taking the final drag of her cigarette, she tossed it out the window and pulled out a road map from under her seat. "So where do you want me to take you. We're... here." She said, pointing to a spot on the map, "Although with the extra watches and saviors looking for us by now at any nearby camp they know about, we should stay outside of this circle for now."
The sun was beginning to set, Daryl knew he would either have to get back to Alexandria or the Hilltop soon, or set up camp. He wasn't entirely sure if bringing this stranger back would be a good idea yet. He didn't even know her name. "I can get back myself."He said, tossing his cigarette out the window before gathering his bags.
"You do realize that by now Negan knows that those guys were killed. He knows you were there and I can guarantee he knows I was there. Those woods'll be full of them tonight. Hell, if they know where your people are, they'll probably be there right now searching to make sure they aren't hiding you."
He stopped opening the truck door. It was impossible to deny that she was right. With the radio calls, they knew he was out here somewhere. "Look, I just want you to get back safe. Your baby needs food, right? They need to be safe too though." She said before lighting another smoke, "Besides, anyone on Negan's 'wanted' list is as good as a friend to me. My enemy's enemy is my friend."
"Wanted list?"
She laughed, taking off her sunglasses to reveal her grey eyes, "Yeah. Does it almost bounty hunter style. He has a list of the people he really doesn't like. You bring back one of them, you get a nice reward. Sometimes time with one of his wives, sometimes a promotion to a better job. Both of us are on it."
The conversation between the saviors was making more sense. Daryl realized going out on his own to hunt would probably be out of the question from now on, given the fact that now it seemed people were on the look out for him.
"So you'll just take me home? Then what, you don't have a group." He inquired.
"Yeah. I'll take you home, then I'll turn right around and leave. I don't have a group, but I have a bunch of safe houses. I'll just go to one of them. With what I'm doing, I'm better off alone."
He sighed. His only option was trusting her. "I'll show you where I need to go. It's outside that circle, so I guess we're hiding tonight out here."
She shifted into drive and hit the gas. "Don't worry. I have a good spot tonight we can stay. Found some crazy doomsday preppers emergency bunker. I can get us there in 5 if you don't mind sleeping underground tonight."
He shook his head. Daryl honestly wasn't sure if he'd be sleeping tonight. "Can I just know one thing?" He asked, lighting another cigarette.
Shrugging, she turned the music back on at a low volume. "Shoot."
"What's your name?"
Laughing, she realized she'd never introduced herself. "Petra. Petra Marshall. Nice to meet ya' Daryl."
A/N: So I do apologize if anything is ooc. Takes place around the end of season 7, after episode 14. Obviously the whole wanted list isn't canon or anything, but hey. plot.