You guys are all the best. Seriously. All the reads/reviews/favorites/follows makes me so happy. I wasn't sure how well this story would take off but I am so happy with the reception it's gotten so far. One thing to note about this chapter, as well as ones in the future.. You will notice I make some small changes to what happens in the actual tv series. I want to make it clear that I am in no way a Carol hater. But for the purpose of building a relationship between Daryl and the OC, sometimes she just needs to be moved out of the way just a touch. And I mean, come on, she seems much to old for sexy Daryl. Am I right? So no hating please! Any other feedback is very much appreciated.
Leyshla Gisel: I didn't forget! These are written a few chapters in advance so this was all part of the plan, don't you worry!
IrishBeauty294: Hope this answers your question :)
Note: The OC's last name "Dusquene" is pronounced: Doo-Cane
Three squirrels and a raccoon was not a bad days worth of hunting in Evan Dusquene's eyes. In fact, that was the most success he'd had in weeks. Maybe going all the way to fuckin' Georgia would be worthwhile after all, the 31 year old thought to himself. He personally hated the fact that they had gone this far. Granted, their home state of Louisiana was an absolute hell hole, but wasn't everywhere? He truly did not believe that they would find what or who they were looking for. If by some miracle they were able to get into that prison, Evan did not think there was even a remote possibility anyone was still alive in there. But his sister was determined to try anyways. Even when the two of them were kids, Evan and Rhea never saw quite eye to eye. That really has not changed, but since his kid sister was really all he had left in this world, he would do his best to stick by her.
After a fairly brisk walk in the hot Georgia sun, Evan finally made it to the tree fort they had been calling home the last little while. Normally, he wouldn't be back this early from hunting but since he had actually caught something that would be a decent meal for the evening, he decided to head back earlier, after skinning and gutting all of the meat of course. To his surprise, the rope ladder that Rhea usually kept up until he got back was hanging down for him to climb up. He could only hope that meant she had seen him coming. But he had to be prepared for the worst. There was no such thing as idealistic thinking anymore, not if you wanted to stay alive and keep within an inch of your sanity.
Bracing himself for the worst, Evan adjusted the small animal carcasses that were strung together so that they hung across his back in a way that they wouldn't fall off as he ascended the ladder. He exhaled, running his hand through his near-black hair. The place was vacant. Evan looked around, scanning for any kind of clue to tell him what could've happened. His sister's bow and two favorite guns were missing; there didn't seem to be signs of any kind of struggle either. That gave him an ounce of relief. Especially since he had a pretty good idea of where she would be, provided she went somewhere of her own free will. Quickly, he tied his string of meat to hang off of a support beam on the ceiling of the tree fort and climbed back down the ladder, heading off into the direction of the prison.
It was a bumpy ride for Rhea, sitting in the back of the silver truck. Luckily, it was also a short one. When driving, it was only a few minutes until we reached the outermost fence of the prison; even the outside had a couple straggling biters roaming around. Rhea was happy that these people were decent enough to let her have her weapons back. It would've been pretty stupid to think she could've fought without them. Live bait only bought you so much time anyways. Taking aim, she picked off the few walking corpses with her pistol, not worrying about making noise; once they got into at least one of those fenced areas and cleared it, they wouldn't have to worry as much about making attention. Besides, she was sure the others would using their guns as well. With the exception of that one redneck, of course. Daryl was a peculiar one in Rhea's opinion. At first glance, he didn't exactly seem like he would fit into their little group. Or any group for that matter. But then again, Rhea wasn't particularly an expert on belonging.
The vehicles all came to a stop when they got to the fence. They didn't go right to the gate, Rhea had informed them previously that the gate was locked; she figured that one of the mindless freaks inside had the keys inside a pocket somewhere. Everyone got out this time, even the lady –whom Rhea learned was named Lori- that looked like she was going to pop out that baby at any second. Some of the people in the group that didn't have guns, had makeshift weapons like rebar with sharpened edges to stab the biters in the eye and puncture the brain stem.
Rick took the lead and moved towards the fence, wire cutters in hand, while the rest of the group flanked on either side of him. Glenn and Maggie wasted no time in finishing off the couple nearby cadavers, Glenn using a machete to splice open their skulls and Maggie using an axe, while Rick snipped a hole in the fence. Once there was an opening that was sizeable enough for all of use, Lori in particular, to fit through everyone climbed through the hole one after the other. The younger ones went first –the boy Carl and the blonde girl who looked around 18 –followed by rest of them as Rick held it open and T-Dog kept an eye out.
Out of some kind of politeness that Rhea wasn't truly sure even existing anymore, Lori insisted Rhea go through first; when Rhea tried to refuse the very pregnant woman's offer, Lori gave her an icy glare that reminded Rhea of her mother's own frigid look that could chill anyone to the bone. Since they didn't have time to argue, Rhea stepped through the gap in the enclosure that Daryl and Glenn were holding open on the other side. The temporary new addition to the group immediately turned around after making it past the barrier, holding out her pale, olive-toned hand to help Lori through. It was definitely a tighter squeeze for Lori, and Rhea was momentarily concerned that one of the stray pieces of thin metal may scratch Lori's protruding belly. Why Rhea was taking this kind of care over someone she had literally met less than half an hour ago, she didn't. She figured it had something to do with the fact that she was pregnant; the thought of new life almost gave her a ray of hope for this world. But deep down, the former mob daughter knew the hell that this poor baby would be born into. Pity was not something Rhea had felt much of in her life, but this was an exception. And I thought I had a rough childhood, Rhea thought to herself, suppressing a scoff as the rest of the crew climbed into the area. Rick brought up the rear and Glenn and Daryl were quick to weave a bright red wire through the hole, closing it tightly so no one else could get in.
The troop found themselves in a narrow walkway of sorts. Only a few feet from where they entered into the prison boundaries, they were met with another chain-link fence. At the one end of the lane, there was an steel door that undoubtedly led up to a guard tower. On the other side of the fence in front of them, walkers were clambering against the barrier, groaning loudly and sticking their rotting hands through in hopes of grasping their next meal. Hurriedly, and with weapons at the ready, they ran through the pathway, Daryl taking the lead. Perhaps he wasn't the so-called leader of the group but he definitely didn't waste time taking action when it was needed. Papa would have liked that, Rhea mused to herself briefly regarding the biker vest wearing man running in front of her; she was all too aware of how, in the business of crime, not asking too many questions or assuming authority was a trait needed to keep you out of a morgue.
They rounded a corner and went through a gate into another small, fenced area. This space, too, was clear of any undead inside, though that did not stop the youngest Dixon from raising his crossbow to eye-level, checking the zone. Everyone came to a stop when they came to another, larger gate; this one led right out into the prison yard and had close to thirty or more biters inside, all of them flocking to the gate where they could both smell and hear the humans.
"It's perfect," Rick uttered as he looked forward to the enclosed yard, breathing a little heavier than normal for the brisk jog. "If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers. We'll take the field by tonight."
While it would be no easy task, Rhea knew that it was definitely doable if they played their cards right and had a fairly good tactical plan. It was times like this that she really wished that she would've been able to be more involved in her father's old 'business'. Not that full on shootouts happened very often with the mob, since that would draw too much attention, but still. From what little she knew of him, Rick definitely seemed like a guy that knew just how he wanted to do things. And if he had come this far, Rhea surely wasn't going to argue his ability now, especially since she didn't have any kind of plan to offer herself.
"How do we shut the gate?" the oldest of them asked Rick.
Glenn piped up at the question, "I'll do it. You guys cover me." As soon as he started speaking, the short-haired brunette standing beside him was shaking her head. If Rhea's judgments were correct, it appeared as though there was some kind of relationship between them, and by the decisiveness of Maggie's reaction and rejection of Glenn's "suicide mission," it was a good guess that it wasn't strictly platonic. "I'm the fastest," Glenn argued back, pleading his case.
Apparently, though, Rick also wasn't too keen on the idea, "No, you Maggie and Beth draw as many as you can over there. Pop 'em through the fence." The former police officer turned his attention to the new female amongst them. "You have your bow back and your gun?" Rhea simply nodded in return, she had her bow slung across her back and pistol in hand, but she still didn't want to point out that she had a second gunned tucked in the back of her jeans, covered by her now loose navy blue t-shirt. "You and Daryl go back to the other tower." Glancing over at Daryl as Rick was giving them instructions, she noticed that he already had his icy blue eyes on her, which he was quick to move away the second he noticed her eyes meet his. Rhea momentarily furrowed her brows in confusion at the small, odd exchange between them before she followed him running back to the tower near where they first came in. She could hear as everyone else took their places as her and Daryl made their way to the guard tower; vaguely making out that Rick would be the one to make run for the gate.
Sprinting down the gravel-covered walkway, Rhea and Daryl made it to the orange door of the guard tower. With his crossbow in one hand, Daryl stood behind the door with his other hand on the handle; Rhea went to the opposite side, closer to where the door would open up, and leaned against the cement wall of the tower with her gun raised. Daryl looked at her, briefly sweeping his eyes across her face, trying to gauge if she was ready to enter the structure yet. She met his gaze with her own sky blue eyes and gave a sharp nod, signalling for him to open the door.
Twisting the door knob, the door swung open and Rhea ducked inside, whipping her head around looking for any danger. She took a few steps forward, Daryl following her alert as ever. Their feet moved quickly up the metal steps, and to their relief they didn't hear any growls or see any reanimated bodies. They reached the top in silence and carried on out the door to overlook the yard. Rhea took a spot up against the rail, keeping her gun trained on the field below, with Daryl around the corner.
Rhea could make out Lori getting ready to open the gate for Rick when she heard a scoff beside her. "I'm startin' to think that bow's just for show."
With slight annoyance, Rhea glanced over to Daryl who was wearing a small smirk on his lips. "Please, just didn't want to show you up," she retorted with a cheeky grin.
Though she had looked away by then, Daryl's smirk grew ever so slightly at her playful jab. That didn't last long, however, as the gate opened and Rick entered the yard. Aiming carefully, Rhea began picking off some of the walkers that were getting close to Rick, or any that seemed to be making their way over to him. Daryl followed suit, as Hershel and Carl were in another one of the guard towers did the same. The amount of bullets being fired almost completely drowned out the sound of the hungry snarls below. Rick made it to the gate at last, moving as fast as he could, he kicked one of the cadavers back and shut the gate, locking it shut, and hurrying back into the guard tower beside the fence.
"He actually did it," Rhea murmured in both shock and amazement. The man beside her didn't notice as she put her gun back in its holster and picked up her bow and loaded it.
Daryl lowered his weapon for a split second while made a couple circle gestures with his free hand. "Light it up!" He yelled towards the rest of the group and the slaughter began. Now that Rick was out of the way everyone began their killing spree, cleaning out the rest of the walkers from the field. Rhea had to be much more methodical when using her bow. Though she had been using it almost since the outbreak, she wasn't nearly as familiar with one as opposed to a gun. Daryl took a peek at the woman beside him, and now took note that she had switched weapons. Still trying to stay focused at the task at hand, he also couldn't help stealing a look everyone once in a while. He definitely noticed that she took more time when she was aiming. But he was impressed, though he would probably never admit it, with how accurate her shots were.
Within virtually no time at all, the field was clear, motionless bodies dressed in blue jumpsuits littered the grass. Rhea smiled to herself, feeling the effects of the small victory. They made their way back down to the ground where everyone else seemed to be headed. She momentarily caught Daryl's eyes and he gave her a short nod of approval as she made her way over to Hershel, Carl and Lori. Carol and rest except for Rick were coming up to the gate as well and Carol asked how Lori was, noticing she was holding her stomach.
"I haven't felt this good in weeks," the pregnant woman replied with a smile as she held the gate open for us.
In fact, everyone seemed quite happy as they walked into the yard. "We haven't had this much space since we left the farm," Carol exclaimed. Rhea couldn't help but feel joyous as well, though she wasn't entirely sure why. It's not like she would be staying here long.
The group, Rhea included, was jolted out of their cheerful state when they heard yelling in the not-too-far-off distance. All of their eyes fell towards the outside of the fence where they saw the figure of a male standing, shouting out. Slowly people's gaze went from the man to Rhea, and her eyes grew slightly wider. He was calling her name.