Run, Run Faster
Chapter 2: Grow Up
Kelsie walked up to join the main group, watching as Carl and Sophia played with Morales' kids. Amy waved her over, and she happily obliged. All the adults, minus the Dixon brothers were crowded round, looking at Shane. It seemed he had deemed himself leader of the group that had formed. Kelsie rolled her eyes at that, but decided to listen to what he had to say.
"Right, so it seems as though we are joining together during this time of need. But everyone is gonna need to pull their weight around here, otherwise you will be asked to leave. Some people will need to go on supply runs every now and then so we can keep on top of food, and I'd also like the women to do the cooking and laundry-"
"Oh hell no," Kelsie cut him off. "I ain't being a slave."
"What makes you so special, just because you are camping down there with the brothers from hell?" Andrea snapped.
"You might wanna take that back, otherwise I will kick your ass," she replied, shoving Andrea's shoulders.
"Take what back? The insult to your two boyfriends? Well, it's true. Two rednecks from hell."
Kelsie had had enough of Andrea's insults, and took her down with several punches to her face. It wasn't long before arms wrapped around her waist, pulling the brunette off the blonde. She struggled, till she realized they were Daryl's.
"What happened here?" Merle demanded, looking around at the group. They all stayed silent, not wanting to answer.
"That bitch insulted you both," Kelsie glared, feeling Daryl take her hand and kiss her head. The brunette was known to be a hot-head, which is why she got on so well with the brothers.
"I was insulting you too, if you didn't realize," Andrea said, wiping the blood from her lip.
Kelsie went to attack her again, but Daryl held her back.
"Hey! I will not stand for fighting in this group. If you have a problem with each other, you will deal with it without violence. There is gonna be enough of that as there is," Shane's voice came over them.
Daryl scoffed, pulling Kelsie away from the group to talk to her quietly.
"Won't be no fighting if sugartits kept her thoughts to herself," Merle stated. "Would be a lot easier to live together then, wouldn't it?"
"I should be able to express my opinion," Andrea retorted.
"Then no one should complain when Kelsie gets sick of your shit and kills you," Merle replied, walking back to the tent.
The pair were stood near the edge, arms wrapped around each other as they spoke softly. Daryl pressed another kiss to her head, squeezing her shoulder. It was the first time they were alone, even slightly and they both wanted to enjoy the moment. Even before the outbreak, the couple rarely got a moment to their selves with Kelsie working and Merle always being at the house.
"I want you to teach me how to use your crossbow," she said, looking up at him.
"I don't have too, if you don't want too."
"No, I want too. And might as well learn now," Kelsie smiled, kissing his cheek.
"We can go out hunting now if you want. I could kill for some squirrel," Daryl smirked.
"Race ya!" Kelsie challenged, before running off to the tent, with Daryl closely following.
The couple reached the tent, Daryl catching her in his arms with a grin. She laughed, throwing her head back on his shoulder as he span her around. Merle watched from afar, seeing the couple having fun with an amused expression.
When the couple came back later in the day, Kelsie raced down to the tent to show Merle the squirrel she had killed. Daryl had chuckled when she realized that she had hit her target, and had to admit that she was a fast learner. He followed her down, ignoring the glares from the other group members that he received. When Daryl joined them, Merle was congratulating the brunette and talking about going to find her a crossbow of her own.
"Teach you to make arrows as well," Merle grinned. "And skin animals."
"I can't wait," she grinned back, handing her squirrel to Merle for him to skin before going into the tent and closing the door up. Daryl joined his brother, taking his string of squirrels off and putting his crossbow down.
"Did ya proud?" the older Dixon asked, to which the younger one nodded.
"First shot and she got that. I would say beginners luck, but then she got two more. That's when I said we should come back so we could skin 'em and cook 'em."
"Either you are a good teacher or she's a fast learner. We'll go with the second one."
Daryl shook his head, starting to skin the squirrels with his brother.
Minutes passed and Kelsie finally came out of the tent with a smirk. The brothers looked at her expectantly. She stood in front of them, before unbuttoning her button-up one at a time. Daryl had a confused expression on his face till she held over her shirt to show off a gray tank top. 'Dixon Crossbow Training Academy' was written in marker, causing the brothers to laugh. Daryl pressed a kiss to his girlfriends lips, smiling against them.
Weeks had passed since then, and yet again a group of people were being sent out. Glenn was going, like always. Joining him were Morales, T-Dog, Jacqui and, to Kelsie's disgust, Andrea. The brunette had also offered to go, because she did need a few things but Shane shot her down with it being a bad idea. Daryl made a comment about Andrea not being able to use a gun. That cheered Kelsie up, as well as the fact that Merle offered to go instead of her. Shane had no reason to not let him go, so he agreed reluctantly.
The brothers were currently stood near the cars, talking about something. Merle laughed as he watched Kelsie walk over to them. Daryl wrapped his arm around her shoulders as she passed the older Dixon her list. Merle read over it with a nod.
"Obviously, don't worry if you can't get everything on the list."
"It's all okay, Kels. I will try my hardest," Merle promised.
Kelsie nodded, kissing both of the brothers cheeks before going over to the tent and grabbing the two crossbows.
"You two going hunting then?" Merle asked. "Well, if you catch anything nice, save it for me."
"Always do, Merle. Stay safe."
"Always do, little brother," Merle grinned before going off to join the rest of the group.
Daryl walked over to Kelsie, taking his crossbow off her and putting it over his shoulder. Their hands laced together as they walked into the woods silently.
"I want some deer jerky," Kelsie commented. "Think we could find a deer?"
"We should be able too. Maybe further down the mountains though."
Kelsie shrugged and started to walk, each shooting an arrow at the little critters they saw and smirking at the other when their arrow hit first. It wasn't a normal relationship, but it was them. It was what made them happy, and who gives a damn if they didn't act like adults all the time? In this world, you were gonna have to grow up faster than expected.
