Neon surveyed the quarry as she slowed and pulled through gate Daryl had pointed out. She started along the gravel stretch of road and grimaced as it rattled the car. "I'm goin' to need to tune my baby after this" She groused giving the old TransAm more gas as they climbed the rocky inclination towards the main campsite.
"Been meanin' to ask, where'd you jack this ride from?"
She laughed dryly. "I didn't 'jack' this old girl from anywhere; I saved her from a scrapyard five years ago, my first big project before I decided to open an auto repair and restoration workshop"
"You're a mechanic?"
"Was," She corrected. "I was a mechanic. Now… now I'm just a lass tryin' to stay alive like everyone else," She slowed to a halt beside a 4X4 and saw curious faces beginning to loiter and stare. "Do me a favour and stay here bud" She twisted and patted Spud's head as she slipped out of the car and watched some of the camp's inhabitants venture towards Daryl but only one embraced him in a tight familial hug.
"Thought we'd lost you, little brother"
"Nah, ain't no walker's gonna take me down" She rolled her eyes and began to light a cigarette, her eyes scanning the faces for anyone familiar as the two men talked.
"So how'd you make it back?"
"Neon helped me out" Daryl pointed towards her as she was shaking her lighter finally succeeding in lighting her cigarette.
"Neon?"
She gave a small wave of her hand. "That'd be me"
"Aw, my little brother found a girl," The man standing next to Daryl mocked him lightly. "And a hot one too"
She rolled her eyes as she pushed her sunglasses up perching them atop her head. "Do me a favour and go take a tub of Vaseline and sit in the shade" She shot back at him mimicking the motion of jacking off as she tipped ash off the end of her cigarette.
He barked out a laugh. "Girlies got a mouth too"
"Nah Merle, she's all righ'," Daryl shoved his brother's shoulder. "Better shot than your sorry ass"
She felt herself grin broadly at the compliment before movement in her peripheral made her turn; one of the women of the camp had begun to approach her. "You look like you could do with some breakfast, why don't you come and sit down? I'm sure we could spare something for you"
"Aye," She had been intent of just dropping Daryl off and then hitting the road again but she wasn't about to throw away the hospitality that had been offered. "Thank you"
The woman smiled extending her hand. "I'm Jacqui"
She clasped it and shook it firmly. "Neon"
Jacqui's brows jumped in surprise. "That's… a strange name"
She chuckled softly and shook her head before motioning towards Daryl. "Nickname that saighdeoir gave me"
"So what's your real name?"
She paused briefly before deciding to stick with her recently acquired nickname. "Let's just stick with Neon for now, I-uh-I get pretty particular about how people say my real name and it annoys the ever livin' hell out of me to keep correctin' people"
Jacqui smiled with a nod. "All right, Neon"
She turned giving a low whistle and watched as Spud poked his head out of the car window. "Come on, Spud" He gave a wuffle and jumped from the window running over to her side.
"No, no, no," She jerked around at the angry words and saw a man striding towards her. "Get rid of that fucking dog now"
She immediately balked at the idea and glared at the man. "He hasn't done you any harm" She snapped, Spud looked up at her before tensing and beginning to growl, the fur along his ridge of his spine beginning to stand on end as he crouched lower, every muscle in his body taunt as he sensed her rising anger and awaited a command to attack.
"Not yet it hasn't, but if it goes off barking it'll draw the attention of every fucking walker around here, you're risking this entire camp over some mangy mongrel"
"Spud's not an 'it', he's a he," She spat back correcting him as Spud crept forward a step ensuring he was between her and the unknown man. "And he's saved my life more than once, he knows not to go off his rocker at every little sound, and he's the best goddamn friend I've got right now," She snarled trying to drive home the point that the dog at her side wasn't just some thing to her. "So, if he's not welcome then neither am I" She turned on her heel calling Spud after her and headed straight for her 'Am.
"Hey man, back off," It was Daryl that spoke up. "Neon saved my fuckin' life in the city; if she hadn't come along when she did I'd be walkerchow"
"I'm not talking to you, Dixon"
"Shane calm down," The man turned storming off as a woman stepped up beside him and tried to calm him by placing her hand on his arm, she sighed and watched him stomp away before shaking her head and turning back. "Sorry about that, I'm Lori"
Neon regarded her for a moment before nodding, introductions now being thrown at her left and right as she was steered towards a small camp fire that had been set up in a central area.
"So where are you from?"
She looked towards the eldest man, Dale, as he sat down across from her. "Currently runnin' out of Boston headin'… well, anywhere that's not a city, I guess"
"Wow, you're a long way from home" She made a noise of agreement before Dale nodded towards Spud. "Is he yours or a traveller you picked up along the way?"
She glanced towards the dog basking in the sun at her feet and grinned softly stroking his one good ear. "Picked him up along the way. I found him tryin' to take on a group of shufflers-" She paused trying to grasp for the word Daryl had used. "Walk-walkers? That's what you call them down here, right? Well, whatever you want to call them," She shrugged lightly. "I decided to give him a hand and shared some jerky with him, and he's been by my side ever since"
He nodded listening intently before another man came over to join them, Jim, if she remembered correctly. "I've done what I can for now, we're not going to get far if we have to move the RV"
"Shoddy hose or shoddy connection?" She queried as she looked towards the vehicle in question and then back at both men seeing them looking surprised. "I had a repair and restoration workshop, I can take a look if you want"
"By all means, another mind might help us conquer this problem" She stood trailing after Dale towards the old Winnebago. "Daryl was saying you're a pretty good shot"
"Sniper for her Royal Majesty," She peered into the tiny engine cavity and took the penlight Dale held out to her. "I retired five years ago"
"Do you mind me asking why you left?"
"I didn't leave, I retired, there's a big difference. And my retirement wasn't entirely voluntary; mostly because of injury and…" She hesitated trying to find the diplomatic word for brawl. "Let's just call it a disagreement with my CO at the time, words were said, fists flew and there was a tribunal" She stretched clicking off the penlight and turned leaning back against the grill of the RV before Daryl and his brother caught her eye. "So what's the deal with saighdeoir and that pig he calls a brother?"
Dale looked over at the two brothers' in question. "They're like the rest of us, just trying to survive," She nodded watching Spud as he lapped up the attention of the children that were busy petting and playing with him. "He looks like he's having fun"
"Aye, he's a real stud," She smiled chuckling softly. "My early warnin' detection system" She glanced over at Dale before deciding to explain when she saw his confusion. "He keeps an eye open while I sleep"
"So you've been travelling alone this entire time?"
"Yeah, ever since Boston. Well, until I met up with Spud somewhere around Knoxville, that is"
There was a pause and Neon turned back to inspect the engine again. "Would you consider joining the camp?"
She knew the question had been coming but she just hadn't been able to judge when. "With the greetin' I got, I think it's safe to assume neither Spud nor I are welcome here" She pulled the radiator hose out to inspect it properly. "And as I said before, if Spud's not welcome then neither am I"
"Shane will understand, he knows we need strong people that can fight"
She huffed a soft laugh. "That I can do just fine, I'm a pretty mean cook too, or at least that's what I've been told," She felt a smile curl at the edges of her lips as she remembered the last breakfast she'd shared with both her children and her brother. "And I can sow, patched myself up more time that I care to count… or admit"
He laughed. "Well, I'll talk to Shane and try and sway him towards letting you stay"
She turned an eye towards the camp and surveyed it; it was a dire situation if she'd ever seen one, it was people trying to keep themselves together, trying to cling to what was instead of coming to terms with what is, and so she shook her head. "You don't need too. I shouldn't be stayin' long, I only stopped in the city for supplies when I happened across saighdeoir"
"What is that you keep calling him?"
"Hmm? Saighdeoir?" She laughed pushing a stray strand of hair out of her face. "It's Gaelic for archer," She shrugged looking over at Daryl and watched him wiping down an arrow. "Suits him, all things considered," She held up the pipe changing the subject. "Got any duct tape?"
He nodded handing her a roll that had been mostly used. "I'll still talk to Shane. If you stay a while at least you'll get a better night's sleep than having to worry about if the walkers are going to get you or not"
She sighed mutely before weighing the options out in her mind and surveyed the camp once again before deciding a few days of good rest would do her some good. "All right, but I'm goin' to need a place to stay, as much as I love my 'Am she's uncomfortable to sleep in for too long"
"There's plenty of camping equipment you can borrow"
"All I need is a tent; I've got all my own supplies"
He nodded with a broad smile. "No problems about sleeping on the ground then?"
"Dirt, sand, marsh," She shrugged. "I've done it all before, so you'll hear no complaints from me" She watched him turn and leave to find Shane, and let a soft sigh slip through her lips. "Couple of days, just to get some proper sleep in" She murmured reconfirming her resolve.
So I've come to the conclusion that I want to try and update every Saturday, it gives me enough time to screw around during the week and finish editing other chapters, writing the next installment, and if I feel up to it attempting some artwork (because I'm seriously considering turning this into a comic as well).