Not Good With People
Daryl watched the woman closely. She was no longer panicking, and a small smile graced the corners of her lips. Daryl finally lowered his crossbow, but kept it ready to use. Rose was obviously underweight, but who wasn't these days. She was doing well enough though, because she had a layer of muscle covering her arms and legs.
"I'm Daryl. That's Merle."
Rose looked boldly into Daryl's eyes, "Nice to meet you. It's nice to be meeting anyone these days."
Daryl wondered how long Rose had been out here on her own. He looked around. A sleeping bad was rolled up in the roots of the tree. There were canteens next to the bag. He saw bare minimum in way of personal belongings and no tent at all. She may have survived this long, but the woman would freeze to death come winter.
"Now Sweetcakes, what's a pretty girl like ya doin' up here alone?" Merle asked, finally sitting up after having caught his breathe.
Rose's hint of a smile disappeared before she answered, "I left Atlanta. I could tell things were going very wrong with the walkers. So I slipped out before something else got in."
Daryl frowned, "Atlanta fell three months ago. You've been on your own since then?"
Rose nodded, "I found a good place to fish. Some days I go hungry, but most I don't."
Daryl wouldn't have even followed the girl when she ran, but Merle took off after her. In Daryl's mind, a girl who ran probably didn't want someone following her. But Merle followed her, so Daryl followed Merle.
"Why don't you come back with us, sugar?" Merle offered.
Daryl rolled his eyes, "Merle!"
Merle looked back at Daryl with an exasperated look, "There ain't one chick back there that looks like she does, even with her crazy hair."
Daryl didn't miss the fear that entered her eyes at the mention of other people. That didn't make sense to him. Most women, as pretty as Rose was, were never caught without a herd around them. Daryl looked more closely at Rose. He saw the way her right hand went to touch the inside of her tattooed forearm. Daryl knew that look on her face; he had seen it in the mirror before. She had scars of her own.
"Th-There are more of you?" she stammered.
Merle answered, "We're stuck with some goody-two-shoes group. We got some women and children, some city-slicker men, and a cop. Ragtag kinda group."
Rose didn't look any more comfortable to Daryl. In fact, a hint of panic had re-entered her eyes. Daryl understood her fear. People were dangerous. Daryl also understood that she would die if she stayed here through winter.
"Gonna be damn cold come winter." Daryl heard himself say.
Rose looked back up at him, "I know."
"Now Daryl, we can't have a sweet piece of meat like this freezin' to death." Merle drawled.
Rose's eyes never left Daryl's, "I'm not great with people."
Merle laughed, "Join the club sweetheart. Now get your stuff and come on."
Rose was still looking Daryl, so he nodded and mumbled his consent. Slowly Rose tucked her gun into the back of her pants, apparently having forgotten she was still holding it. It took her five minutes to pack up her small amount of belongings.
At one point she bent over and Merle immediately slapped Daryl in stomach, "Just look at that ass! I told ya she was a yoga chick." He stated smugly, not bothering to talk quietly so she wouldn't hear.
Rose stood quickly, turning to face the pair. Daryl looked up, only just noticing that he had actually looked at Rose's ass when Merle made his comment, to see Rose looking back at him with an eyebrow raised. Daryl felt heat in his cheeks, but didn't bother to apologize. Instead he only grunted, vaguely thinking to himself that she did have a nice ass.
"I'm done," Rose said quietly.
"Ladies first," Merle stated, earning an eye roll from Rose.
"You just want to look at my butt some more." She threw back at him.
Merle laughed, "Looks like the ladies got some balls, lil' D."
Daryl said nothing. Instead, he simply started climbing down the incline. Rose followed next, expertly maneuvering the steep hill. Merle was the least graceful on the way down. He opted for sitting on his backside and sliding most of the way down. Rose reached the bottom, only to be showered by dirty from Merle's haphazard decent.
"Shit!" she yelped, jumping forward.
Daryl felt the corner of his mouth raise as he watched Rose trying to brush the dirt from her hair. Merle walked up behind Rose. Silently laughing, Merle reached out to brush some dirt off Rose's shoulder. The moment he touched Rose, she snapped. Daryl watched as Rose grabbed the hand on her shoulder, twisted her whole body around and put Merle's arm in a chicken wing hold with his face on the ground. It took Rose all of two seconds to realize what she had done, and release Merle. It took Daryl a little longer to realize he had his crossbow pointed at her face. Rose backed away from Merle, looking at Daryl with her hands raised.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She mumbled, "I don't like being touched."
Merle stood up, still grinning from ear to ear, "Told you she had balls Daryl."
Daryl watched the panic leave Rose's eyes, but not the guilt. Daryl strapped his crossbow behind his back, and started walking back toward camp. Merle kept up a lively chatter the entire way back, though Rose and Daryl didn't say a word. They kept up a good pace, stopping once for Merle. They ended up walking for about five hours.
When the first signs of people started to show in the forest, Rose stopped. Daryl had noticed her feet slowing down, but he had assumed it was because she was tired. When Daryl looked back, he saw she wasn't breathing hard, but she was chewing her lip and rubbing the inside of her tattooed forearm again. Merle just kept walking, still chattering to himself.
"Camp's up ahead." Daryl grunted.
Rose nodded before speaking, "You remember me telling you I wasn't good with people?"
Daryl nodded.
"Well even before… everything went to shit… I was alone. I kept to myself, and I liked it that way. I'm not sure I know how to be… in a group."
Daryl stared at her a moment. Her green eyes bore into his almost pleadingly. Those green eyes pulled at emotions Daryl preferred not to have. He briefly wondered what she had gone through, then pushed the thoughts away. Still though, he knew she needed a little reassurance from him.
"You'll be fine. Merle and I gotta tent away from the others. It's big nuf' for three."
Rose gave him a small, nervous smile. She walked the rest of the way up to him. They walked into camp together just getting to hear the end of Merle's announcement.
"She's got the finest ass I've seen in years."
Here is chapter two! Please review if you want me to keep going. Every writer needs encouragement.
