Ohmygoodness. I can't thank you guys enough for the amazing feedback! I am more appreciative than you know! Once again, to those of you who have alerted, I love you!
I will say, this chapter is lame. And slightly repetitive, but i swear things will pick up soon :)
Anyways, I do hope you enjoy it!
Brinley stood back by the ancient Winnebago as she watched the camp swarm the bright red and black sports car that had just sped its way up the hill, alarm blaring the whole way. She crossed her arms, looking on with curiosity as a young Asian man stepped out with a large grin.
There was so much yelling and chatter; everyone was shouting questions at the poor kid, on top of Shane yelling at him about the alarm- which was still going by the way- even Brinley was feeling the anxiety of the situation.
Slowly, Brinley approached Dale, whom she'd begun to feel was like the grandfather of the group, and leaned slightly towards him. "What's going on?" she asked quietly.
"The rest of the group is coming back from their supply run. They left some time before you arrived this morning," he answered with a smile. Brinley nodded lightly and watched as Dale waved over the Asian boy, who strode over with a smile.
"Glenn, this is Brinley," Dale introduced. Brinley returned Glenn's smile and shook his hand gladly.
"'s nice to meet you," she said while Glenn nodded.
"How'd you find us?" he asked with intrigue.
"Actually, Daryl found her and brought her here," Dale told him. Glenn's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"No way," he responded. "Daryl, really?"
"Why is that so surprising?" Brinley asked. From what she'd seen, Daryl was a little awkward, sure, but over all seemed like a decent guy.
"Daryl doesn't care much for others," Glenn explained. "Keeps to himself mostly, that and just his brother Merle…"
Glenn trailed his sentence off and scuffed his sneaker into the dirt below him, looking guilty at best. Brinley opened her mouth to respond when Carl cried out and captured their attention.
"Dad!" Carl went running past and into the arms of a man in a sheriff's get-up. The father fell to his knees, hugging his son tightly as he cried.
Brinley watch the reunion from afar as if she were watching one of her mother's soap shows; just a very believable one that had tears springing to her eyes. Brinley, herself, had grown up without her father. The bastard had abandoned his family while her mother had been pregnant with her, also leaving behind her older brother and sister. She never felt much towards her father besides a hint of anger on very few occasions. she figured out of all bad situations came something good, and her older brother was more than just good to her; they were best friends and James protected her more than she could've asked for.
Brinley ducked her head and excused herself quietly, heading towards the RV. She moved behind the large vehicle, out of sight of the others, and let out a shaky breath. For the first time all day she let her mind wander to thoughts of her older brother and covered her mouth with her hands and she sunk down onto the dirty ground.
She was nearly hysterical with tears flooding her vision, but trying her hardest to keep quiet, not wanting to disturb the other's with her problems. Brinley caught her quiet sobs in her throat at the sound of gravel crunching under heavy steps. Looking up, she noticed a tall, lanky man with dark facial hair that was under the shade of a baseball cap. She could barely see his eyes until he surprised her by sitting down a few feet from her and gazing into the distance where you could see the far edges of the lake below.
"I lost my wife," he said calmly. "And my two children. They got them. The walkers, I mean."
Removing a hand from her mouth Brinley frowned deeply as she looked to the older man. "I am so sorry," she said quickly while hiccupping.
"It's gotten a little easier with time, but not much," he nodded. "Who'd you lose?"
"Everyone," she breathed uneasily. "But, my brother yesterday."
"I'm sorry for your loss," he frowned while fiddling with his hands in his lap.
"Thank you," she whispered while wiping her wet cheeks.
"I'm Jim, by the way," he said with a single nod, still staring into the distance. The younger girl turned her head to look at Jim and gave the solemn man a watery smile.
"Brinley," she sniffed. "And, really, I appreciate your kindness."
Jim shrugged simply before letting out a low sigh. "Saw Daryl bring you in this morning, was a real surprise to everyone."
"What was? Surprising, I mean?" she asked curiously, placing a hand on her chest, still calming down from the moment before.
"Besides the fact that Daryl was actually touching someone? The fact you were alive," he answered while glancing his eyes her way. "You should ask Lori for some soap, wash off that blood. You could use a clean start."
Brinley hadn't noticed before, but as Jim pointed it out, she looked down to see blood staining her legs and crusting onto her jean shorts; even the hair that fell from behind her ear was matted with it. She sucked in a startled breath as her hands began to shake.
"Oh, God," she murmured mournfully.
"Come on," Jim said with standing abruptly. Brinley nodded and followed suit, not bothering to brush the dirt from her after standing, and followed Jim quietly as he walked around the RV and approached Carol.
Carol glanced around Jim as he spoke softly and raised a dainty hand to her mouth. She was an absolute mess, Brinley was. Nodding to Jim, Carol disappeared into the Winnebago for only a moment before reappearing with a new set of neatly folded clothes, a towel, and a bottle of body wash.
She approached the new girl whose cheeks were stained with tears, and placed a comforting hand on her back. "Come with me, I'll help you get cleaned up," Carol spoke softly.
Brinley gave her a watery smile and nodded. "Thank you," she whispered.
The next morning while sitting quietly beside the fire, breakfast was cut short for Brinley as the sound of the kids in the camp screaming tore her from her thoughts. She shot from her seat and took off into the woods with panic, along with the others. She hastily ducked under the line of tin cans that was strung up among the trees and reached out to tug Sophia behind her, passing her to her mother who grabbed her and held her close.
They stood back and watched the first walker anyone had seen in weeks as it gnawed on the neck of a dead deer. Rick, Shane, Glenn, Dale and Jim pushed Brinley back even farther away as they surrounded the undead being. She glanced behind her to see Lori and Carol slowly take their children away from the undead and back towards camp.
Noticing the arrival of living company, the walker stood, blood dripping from its mouth, giving him an even more gruesome look. With a hiss he took a step towards the newcomer, Rick Grimes, who in turn swung out his tire iron and beat the walker back to the ground.
Taking turns, they each beat the absolute shit out of the walker until Dale finally swung an axe down and sliced easily through its neck. Brinley didn't waver as she stood back and watched. She noticed Amy and Andrea try to hold down their gag before turning and leaving quickly. Brinley was emotionless to this walker; had no remorse, just anger. And that scared her.
"I don't understand," Dale spoke first. "This is the first walker we've seen up here."
"Reckon they're runnin' outta food," Brinley spoke, causing the men to turn and look her way, surprised that she was still there and staring at the decapitated walker.
Jim nodded in agreement, "They're startin' to venture out."
A rustling in the woods behind then caught everyone's attention and immediately the men were on guard, holding up their weapons and pushing Brinley farther away- thanks to Jim. A moment later Brinley's breath caught in her throat as a familiar crossbow wielding hunter came through the trees and bushes with a look of aversion on his face.
"Sumbitch!" he clearly stated with a frown. "'s my deer!"
As Daryl came into the clearing the men backed away while lowering their weapons with sigh. Brinley stepped forward though, earning an eyebrow quirk from Glenn; she crossed her arms and watch Daryl with a curious gaze.
"Look at it, all gnawed on by this filthy, diseased, motherless, proxy-bastard," Daryl seethed and Brinley raised an eyebrow as she watched him kick the body of the corpse with each bulleted insult.
"Calm down son, that's not helping any," Dale spoke with what she noticed- and smiled at- was a small eyeroll.
"Whatta you know about it, old man?" he frowned while marching up to Dale. "Why don' ya take that stupid hat and go back to On Golden Pond?" Daryl scowled before turning and pulling his arrows out of the deer's hide. "Been trackin' this deer for miles; started before I found Brittany."
"Brinley," she corrected him quickly, her disappointment evident to everyone.
"Whatever. Whatta ya think, we can cut around this chewed up part righ' here?" he asked while motioning around the opened neck of the deer that'd been lunch for their walker friend.
"Can't risk that," Shane dismissed with a scowl.
"Damn shame," Daryl frowned while circling the deer again. "Well, I got some squirrel, so that'll have ta do."
He took a step away and the head of the walker somehow seemed to spring to life and opened its eyes before giving a few chomps to the air.
"Good, God," Brinley frowned while looking down at it from her spot a few feet away.
"C'mon, people. What the hell," Daryl said as he brought his crossbow in front of him and squinted, aiming one at the head.
She watched blankly as Daryl scoffed and easily shot an arrow into the hissing, decapitated walker head. Easily, he walked up and placed a boot on it and yanked out his arrow from its eye socket. "Gotta be the brain," he said as he shook his head and began to walk away, pushing past Brinley, completely unfazed.
"Don' you guys know nothin'?" he muttered. "Merle!"
The girl froze and let her eyes widen while remembering what she had over heard about Daryl's older brother. From what she'd had observed of the hunter's personality- which wasn't much- she knew it wasn't going to go over well. Quickly, Brinley paced forward towards him; she didn't know what she was going to do, or accomplish, but Brinley felt the need to so something given what he had already done for her.
"Merle!" he called again while tossing down the line of dead squirrels by the fire. "Get yer ass out here. Got us some squirrel; stew 'em up!"
"Hey Daryl," Shane called. "I gotta talk to you." Daryl slowed his quick pace and turned to Shane with a suspicious gaze.
"'Bout what?" he asked hesitantly. Brinley sat down on the edge of a cheap fold out chair by the fire and watched intently as the men who'd traveled with Merle to Atlanta slowly, and remorsefully, approached Daryl.
"'Bout Merle," Shane stated. "There was a, uh, problem in Atlanta."
Daryl turned on his heals and started towards the taller man. "He dead?" he asked simply while glancing between the guys. Amy, Andrea, and Lori silently began to trickle out the RV upon hearing Daryl's voice through the camp. Everyone knew shit was about to hit the fan.
"We don't know," Shane spoke.
"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl snapped back quickly, causing brinley to flinch lightly.
Rick walked forward. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it."
"Who're you?" Daryl asked bitterly while sizing up the new guy.
"I'm Rick Grimes."
"Rick Grimes," he mocked. "got somethin' you wanna tell me?"
"Your brother was danger to all of us," Rick stated simply. "So, I handcuffed him to a roof connected to a piece of metal. He's still there."
Brinley's hand covered her mouth and she sighed, feeling utterly devastated for Daryl. Its one thing knowing you're brother is dead; it's the unknown that is so, so, much worse. It was also then that she noticed T-Dog returning to camp with fire would, a look of guilt washed over his face as he noticed the confrontation at hand.
Daryl wiped his face with his forearm, looking lost and defeated. "Let me process this," he spat. "You say you handcuffed my brother to a roof? And you left him there?"
Daryl's shouts had everyone tense as they continued to watch. Brinley gnawed on the tip of her thumb, feeling anxious.
"Yeah," Rick answered quietly, the regret dripping from his voice. Daryl seethed for a moment before lunging at Rick. No sooner had he moved, Shane tackled him to the ground. Brinley sprang to her feet quickly as T-Dog dropped the wood logs and rushed over. Everyone was on their toes as Shane quickly held Daryl down, arms entwined around his neck and head.
"You best let me go," he spat while struggling in Shane's hold.
"Naw," Shane replied. "Think it's better if I don't."
"Let 'im go!" Brinley shouted while hurrying closer. Morales shot his arm out and caught the small girl and pulled her back.
"The hell?" she shouted more. "Let him go!" Shane's eyes flickered over to the new girl and glared as he brought Daryl down farther.
Rick got down on one knee and looked straight to Daryl. "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic," he said. "Do ya think we can manage that?"
When Daryl didn't answer, Brinley tried to tug roughly from Morales's grip and groaned deeper. "Fuckin' let 'him go!"
Rick glanced from her to Shane and nodded light. Shane let go and shoved Daryl away. "What I did was not on a whim," Rick explained. "He was putting us all in danger, firein' off shots; he does not work and play well with other."
"s'not his fault," T-Dog said, finally standing out. "I had the key. I dropped it."
"Couldn' pick it up?" Daryl snapped, still breathing heavily from his spot on the ground.
"I dropped it down a drain," he replied with embarrassment.
Daryl pounded his fist against the dirt angrily before pushing himself up. "'s that s'posed ta make me feel better?" he asked while walking around them. "'Cus it don't."
"Maybe this will," T-Dog stated loudly. "I chained and padlocked the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at 'im."
"It's gotta count for somethin'," Rick said calmly.
Finally after giving Morales the worst glare Brinley could muster, he reluctantly let go of her arm and surrendered his hands to the air. She stalked to the Winnebago to get a bit closer, having a glare-down with Shane as she did so.
"Th' hell with all y'all," Daryl shouted, he voice clogged from the tears was fighting off as he wiped the back of his hand across his eyes.
"Jus' tell me where he is so I go get 'im," he said with red, sad, eyes. Brinley crossed her arms and looked away; rolling her lips together and pushing back her own tears at the whole display.
What the fuck was wrong with this camp; the guy just wanted his damn brother back. Why would you even chain a guy to a roof anyhow? It's the goddamn end of the world; no one should have time for that shit.
"He'll show you," Lori spoke, volunteering her husband for a trip back to the city. Brinley mouth dropped open a bit in surprise as she turned to stare at Lori. "Isn't that right?" the older woman asked while staring at her husband. On Lori's other side was Amy, mimicking Brinley's expression.
Finally, Rick nodded and looked to Daryl. "I'm goin' back," he said. Lori turned and pulled herself into the RV and Daryl turned on his heels, stomping towards his tent. Not even a fraction of a second later, Rick was following suit, striding off towards his own tent.
Brinley took a few steps out of the cover of the RV and stood in the middle of camp and ran her hands through her hair, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.
Maybe death would've been a better option than Crazy Camp.
Daryl heard the soft footsteps following him as he stomped furiously to his and Merle's tent. Honestly, he didn't care. He had bigger issues on his mind.
Merle. Those assholes left his brother chained to a roof; a fuckin' roof top. What kind of sick bastard does that, anyhow? He sure as hell never would've.
Ripping into his tent, Daryl quickly raised his hands and threaded them though his short hair, tugging lightly as he fought back more tears.
He fucking cried in front of them all. Jesus Christ; Merle was right: he was a pansy ass.
"Daryl?"
He jumped at the sound of the soft voice and turned to see Brinley standing cautiously at the opening of his tent. As he looked over the small woman, he could help but mistaking her name; he'd done it purposely, actually. He wasn't going to give everyone another reason to think he was a pussy, especially now that they just witnessed him crying over his brother.
Daryl lowered his arms and let them hang at his side as he cocked an eyebrow at her. "I am so, so sorry," she spoke while taking a hesitant step into the tent. Her sympathy caught him off guard and he took a step back and swiped his thumb across his lips.
What the hell was she so sorry for? If she'd have met Merle, she'd be saying differently, he was sure.
"It's just…" Brinley paused and wrung her hands nervously. "I understand. And what they did was wrong."
"Thanks," Daryl finally answered. The kindness and sincerity in her voice was something that he wasn't very familiar with; especially since he had just met this woman the day before.
He concluded that she felt sorry for him, and pity was one thing Daryl Dixon neither wanted nor needed.
Brinley's eyes were wide with concern and confusion as Daryl continued by giving her a single nod and brushing past her, exiting the tent. "Honestly," she called after him lightly.
Daryl turned to her sharply and licked his lips. What the hell was she, a mind reader? Just what he needed: some girl to come around and pick apart his brain and confront his emotions. Screw that shit.
"I really hope you find him," she finished with a soft smile that somehow seemed to tug at Daryl's heart.
"Damn straight I will. He's chained to a roof, he ain't goin' no where."
Leyshla Gisel: Thank youuuu! :)
Paula: Thank you, I'm so happy you love it!
Alina Maxwell: Thank you! I appreciate it very much!
TheBoelynLegacy: hahaha! I have to say I love your reviews, they make me laugh! I'm so glad you are liking this story! :)
Fire Daughter: I love that you love this story! Thank you very much! :)
spoiledrotten94: Thank you!
Nelle07: I'm glad you are liking it! And I think we're all glad she wont be like Andrea ;)
(): Thank you so much for your feedback, I really appreciate it so much! Please, let me know how you liked this one :)
