I really hope you guys are enjoying this so far. I want to establish a reasonable bond between Thaliana and the Dixons before Rick comes out of his coma. I also want this to follow the TV series as closely as possible without just plonking OC('s) into any scenes and altering them.

I don't own any of the TWD characters… :'(

….

The Oddest Crew, Indeed.

"How do you deal with that?" Carol said quietly.

She stood about 3 ½ feet from Thaliana on the edge of the embankment. The moonlight glittered on the now black water. Thaliana had her hunting rifle in hand, placing a sight and a silencer on it.

"With what?" Thaliana queried. Her tone filled with her usual calm.

She lifted her gun and looked through the crosshairs and caught a walker on the other side of the embankment as it meandered by. She led the target just a bit to account for distance and fired. Though the noise of the gun was significantly muffled, Carol jumped when she saw the walker's head explode across the water.

"How is it that the Dixons don't faze you?"

Thaliana shrugged and continued to scan the embankment, taking down another walker that appeared out of the woodwork not too far from where the first died.

Daryl happened to be finishing up taking a leak in the wooded area several feet from them. just as he finished and turned around, he saw Carol and Thaliana through a small clearing. He decided to inch closer and listen in.

"Doesn't it bother you when they say such mean things to you?"

Thaliana held her gun to her side and gave an exhale. "I've dealt with many similar personalities over the course of my life, even had to work with some of them. I decided that they were probably just assholes and had to learn to filter out the petty stuff and just get the job done. Not much different, really."

…

I looked at Thaliana as she continued sniping walkers. I admired and envied her. She's a very brave and strong woman. A beautiful person. A beautiful soul – at least that's what I believe about her… what I believe people would see if they gave her a chance. She's so zen and ferocious at the same time and didn't care what people thought. Even though the group shuns her, she'd still go out on supplies runs and help keep watch for the camp. I started to feel bad that she is so unappreciated by the group.

"Thank you." I said softly, which I think made Thaliana turn in my direction. "You put your life at risk for a group that avoids you and, aside from Dale, I've never heard anyone thank you… not even Shane. So… thank you for helping us survive."

Thaliana gave a slight nod and looked back out over the water.

"It wasn't just me out there;" She said. "No one thanked the Dixons either."

I was surprised at first when she said that… but as we walked back to the group, I realized she was right. "Credit where credit is due". As much trouble as they cause around the camp, the Dixons were out there, too.

….

Daryl couldn't believe his ears. Thaliana just stuck up for him and Merle. Those few words spoke volumes to Daryl.

"You an eavesdropper now, brother?" Merle whispered with a chuckle.

"When'd you get here? Daryl inquired.

Merle snickered and leaned his back against a tree next to the one Daryl was rested against. "'round the 'asshole' part, I suppose."

"So then you heard it, too… eavesdropper."

Merle scoffed and looked up at the stars peering through the spaces in the tree foliage. Never had anyone say anything like that about him before. Why did it have to be her? He hated her… didn't he? She wasn't like them… was she? He cursed under his breath. Trying to figure her out was making his head spin.

"That's one bafflin' bitch, I'll be honest." The elder Dixon exhaled.

"Yeah." Daryl said as he walked past his brother. "I'm turnin' in."

Merle nodded as his brother passed and then looked out over the sparkling water. He stayed for a while to think about what happened today. He actually enjoyed Thaliana's company. It actually made him a little happy that she was able to get Daryl to laugh – he hadn't seen that in many years. And she's had their backs when they were pinned down by walkers on their third supply run together. Perhaps she did it for herself, because she wanted to survive. Either way, she was an asset; it left Merle wondering if they would have made it back alive without her.

"That girl's all right, I guess." He mumbled to himself before making his way back up to the camp.

…

Thaliana couldn't sleep last night. She tried some warm milk, a bath in a waterhole about 30 feet away from camp – which was wonderfully warm after soaking the day's heat and sunlight in, she read half of a novel on her kindle, everything she could think of. Each time she fell asleep she saw her father, she felt the pain he inflicted on her and every time she woke up, her heart would pound. She had finally given up on getting any sleep and settled on sitting atop the roof of her car and watching the sun rise while brushing her teeth. Even this plan was foiled when Daryl and Merle approached her. At least she had minty breath.

"Mornin'." Daryl murmured.

"Good morning." Thaliana responded.

Merle and Daryl jerked back a little bit at the sound of her voice. It was groggy sounding, as if she only slept for five seconds after being up for twenty hours… she still had her hair bonnet on and her clothes were exceptionally disheveled.

"You look like shit." Merle quipped.

"So charming…" Thaliana retorted sarcastically as she took off the hair bonnet. "What brings you by?

"Fancy goin' huntin' with us, city girl?" Merle asked. "Best time o' day t' do it."

The young woman immediately looked at them warily. Why were they being so nice? Not a single racial slur since they came over. Not even a "bitch" sprinkled in anywhere…yet.

"You're unusually cheery and amicable…" Thaliana uttered, neatening up her ponytail. "What's your angle?"

"No angle; … We jus' wanna hang out… like in the van." Daryl answered.

It was Thaliana's turn to be dumbfounded. She thought about it for a minute; she did actually enjoy their time in the van, minus the walker herd scare and the "Midnight" incident, obviously. Eventually, she agrees to join them on their hunt. She grabs her twin hooks, her bowie knives, a first aid bag she stuffed with mesh nets, and a Remington 700 XCR. Merle gave a whistle when he saw her attach the silencer.

"Modified Remy 700, huh?" Merle surmised. "Juiced up for distance and larger caliber?"

"Observant." Thaliana replied with a nod. "I knew a guy… he died before all this started, though."

"Your guy did a good job on that baby; looks better than the standard."

"Works better, too."

"Time didn't stop, guys; let's get goin' if we're gonna find some deer." Daryl said and began walking off into the woods.

Merle gave a 'ladies first' gesture and immediately followed behind Thaliana, putting an extra rifle magazine in her bag as she caught up to Daryl.

As they walked through the woods, they had quiet conversation about different things: The best rock songs – which sparked a healthy debate, hunting experiences, Merle talked about his time in the military. Daryl talked about his run-in with the Chupacabra, which Merle laughed at. Thaliana used the Remington to take down the occasional walker as they journeyed. They did get some small game: Rabbits, quite a few quails, a pig that must have wandered off a farm somewhere – Merle cut the throat and removed the guts so it would bleed out and reduce the weight, some squirrels – which the Dixons teased Thaliana over; she didn't like them, feeling they were just a cuter version of rats. They decided early on to tie their game up high and come back for it as they made their way to camp. No luck with a deer yet.

After their almost two-mile trek from camp, they came across a rock ledge with a small but noisy creek running down it. Thaliana took out some mesh nets and went over to the water. After about an hour, and some help from the Dixons, they had four mesh nets filled to brimming with crayfish. The bags were tied off, tethered to a sturdy tree and left in the water to stay fresh. Thaliana looked out at the stunning scenery beyond the ledge as Merle and Daryl set up lunch. There was lush greenery speckled with wildflowers and a sparkling river below them. The sky being so vividly blue and speckled with fluffy clouds, made the view even better.

"Beautiful." hummed Thaliana.

She crossed her arms and felt something solid press against her arm. After reaching into the pocket inside her jacket, she remembered that she left a digital camera and about 10 memory sticks in there.

"Camera?"

Thaliana turned to see Daryl walking up to her and went back to the camera to turn it on.

"Fancy camera." He remarked upon seeing the slim device.

"Yeah…" Thaliana answered softly "I came down from New York to… buy a house here and retire… I was going to take pictures."

She looked back out toward the landscape, squinting her grey eyes a little when the sun came back out from behind a cloud. Still, she lifted the camera and took a few shots of the area.

Daryl head pointed for Thaliana to go back with him to Merle, who just finished putting out lunch: Some sandwiches, beef jerky, a few beers, and some bottles of water. The Dixons sat by the large boulder beside the creek while Thaliana sat on top with her sandwich and bottle of water. Daryl wiped his mouth of any crumbs.

"Merle brought a beer for you, y'know." Daryl said.

Thaliana picked off a piece of the sandwich and ate it. "I appreciate the thought, but no thank you." she answered. After she caught glimpse of her watch and quickly took out a pill bottle and opened it to get a pill out. She took a sip of water and downed the pill before eating some more.

"Too good for a humble beer, city girl?" Merle joked.

Thaliana looked at the trees around them as they swayed and rustled gently, and then back down at the pill bottle.

"It's not that." She began "Because of the abuse, I suffer from absence seizures; my body just stops moving and it looks like I'm staring blankly into space. I have to take these pills to reduce the chance of it happening. Stress and alcohol are aggravators for my condition. "

The three of them eventually began telling parts of their past to one another. Some pretty heavy stuff that they dealt with in their lives. Thaliana huffed a breath and a small smirk spread on her face.

"You know, I never thought I'd be saying all of this to anyone. I think I've talked about my past with you guys more than anyone." She added.

Daryl looked out at the river. He remembered how different their lives were. Merle being in and out of jail, dealing drugs, even being a drug addict. Thaliana had been alone all her life… Daryl, too – but at least he had Merle to a degree… Thaliana had no one. They started out the same, ended up with different lives… and still they were – all three of them – so alone.

"Reckon it's 'cause yer an outsider…. Jus' like us." Daryl said as he looked back to her "Right, Merle?"

Merle took a long guzzle of his beer, but said nothing afterward, which prompted Daryl to turn his sight to his brother. Merle just opened up Thaliana's beer and began to drink. Daryl just shook his head. He knew Merle to be a bit stubborn at times.

"Oh, God – we must be the most screwed-up group of people ever to exist." Thaliana remarked with a groan and a facepalm.

Merle and Daryl almost choked on their beers when she said that. It was hilarious to them because there was probably some truth to it.

"You probably right, city girl; but we all still kickin'." Merle replied.

Their walk back was quiet one. As they got closer to camp, their load became heavier with Merle carrying the cleaned pig and a bag of crawfish, Daryl carrying 2 bags of crawfish, the squirrels and rabbits, and Thaliana shouldering a bag of crawfish and the quails. Once again, the camp was ecstatic over what they brought back. A thank you from Dale and Carol yet again, but that was fine by them

This became their routine; leave early morning, come back late afternoon with the spoils. The trio actually quite enjoyed spending time together. After a few treks, they realized people started noticing how their interactions changed. Some thought that it was a good thing, as the Dixons were causing less trouble around the camp. Some felt that Thaliana was a fool for being so friendly with the racists. There were others still that thought "gutter thoughts", since the three of them would be gone "hunting game" for hours on an almost daily basis since their last supply run. It seemed like only Dale and Carol understood the strange common bond that the three of them shared. In any sense, Daryl, Thaliana and Merle didn't care.

xxxxxxxxxx

So that's the end of this chapter – posting the next one shortly. I hope you guys are liking this so far.

Thanks for sticking with me!