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Joe drove an old truck from the warehouse with most of the gang riding in the bed of the truck. No one spoke. Some of the men were looking around at the scene as it passed them. Some were readying their guns. Daryl was loading his cross bow and checking his strings while secretly stealing looks at Len, who was glaring at him.
Once Joe found an area to park, the gang unloaded and started to walk. Daryl kept his crossbow out and ready as he walked behind the rest of the men while they headed towards an old neighborhood. He let his bright blue eyes watch the area around them for walkers and Len, to make sure Daryl knew where the man as. Salem's warning ringing clear in his mind. Len was going to try and kill him. Daryl didn't doubt that. They had had issues since Daryl joined the men and now, throw a woman into the mix...
" Alright, boys," Joe drew up short and turned around to face the group. " We are going back to that house. We need to see if the killer left anything that will help us find him. We also need to look for blankets, clothes, socks, shoes and canned goods or any food we can use. We will load the truck up then drive it back to the warehouse. After that, we will hit the woods for hunting. Keep your eyes open and your senses alert. Find your search buddy. Daryl, you're with me." Daryl frowned but nodded.
The gang entered a house that had clearly seen a fight not long ago. There was fresh walker blood on the floor and from the smell of rot, Daryl was guessing the walker was still inside and that this was the house where their member had meant his end, twice. Joe patted Daryl's shoulder and pointed to the stairs while the others fanned out through the house. Joe took the lead up the stairs with Daryl following behind him. They stayed quiet until they reached the top stair.
" We will look over the bedrooms up here, see if we find anything before we look for supplies. You look for you and you only. You know what you need more than any of us. I will be looking for me and Salem. Girl has needs." Joe said with a smile.
While Joe went through one of the drawers in a bedroom, Daryl crouched down to check under the bed. To his shock and surprise, a small glint of medal greeted his eyes. He glanced over at Joe and saw the leader's back was to him still. Daryl looked back at the medal before he reached out and grabbed it. He pulled his arm back and stared at the Sheriff badge with a cold dread forming in his stomach. He'd know that badge anywhere. It was Rick's. He carried that badge everywhere. That meant two things to Daryl. One, Rick was alive and at one point, anyway. Two, they were hunting him.
" What's you got there, Daryl?" Joe asked. Daryl came up on his knees and placed a hand on his hip as he stared at the badge. Joe walked over to him, sitting on the bed when he reached the hunter. " A badge? Looks like we are looking for a good old boy."
" Could belong to whoever lived in the house." Daryl offered in his quiet, rough voice.
" Could be but I doubt that. Tony said he saw the man hiding under the bed." Joe said. He clapped his hands on his thighs and nodded to himself. " You done good, Daryl, finding that. Done real good. Let's take our loot and see what the others have found, if anything." Joe smiled and let his hand come to rest on Daryl's shoulder before he used Daryl to push himself off the bed and walk out of the room. Daryl looked back down at the proof that his 'brother' was still alive and had been here. With a frown, Daryl stood up, tucking the badge into his back pocket.
After the truck was loaded with their loot and the men were settled in the back, Joe quickly drove them out of the area and back to the warehouse. Everything would stay in the truck while the boys hunted. After they were done getting dinner, everyone would help unload it. Nothing would be split up as everyone had their claim on what they found. That wasn't a surprise to Daryl. They were out for themselves instead of the group, at least with supplies.
Daryl kept himself as quiet as he could be while they spread out through the woods to hunt for food. Daryl listened for animals, walkers and Len. Again, Salem's warning went through his mind. Now, more than ever, Daryl needed to watch his ass. They were looking for Rick and Daryl would be damned if he let them hurt a member of his group. Daryl knew he would stay with the gang until he figured out a way to get himself and Salem out safely and now he needed to stay to figure out how to find Rick. The heaviness of everything was settling on him. How was he going to handle this? How was he going to keep all three of them safe? Before, Daryl would have worried only about himself but now, now he was a different man.
A little while later, the gang meant up in the area they had picked to converge on. Every man had a dead animal or two in his hand but Len. That didn't surprise Daryl at all. He doubted the man had even tried to find food for them. Daryl shifted his hold of both of his rabbits to his other hand as Joe took stock of what they all had.
" Claimed. Now give me those rabbits." Len said, pointing to Daryl's kill. Daryl frowned and took a step back.
" These my kills." He snapped as everyone grew quiet.
" Not now, give them up." Len said.
" Find your own." Daryl grumbled.
" I did and I just claimed them. Now give him here!" Len ordered.
" Fuck you." Daryl replied. One of Len's hands went to the hilt of his knife as the two men glared at each other.
" I claimed them. It's how it works here. Tell him, Joe, tell him how it is." Len said. Joe sighed and placed his hands on his hips.
" Usually, Daryl, if a man lays claim on something, he gets to keep it. Don't matter who found it first or who killed it. Who ever claims it, keeps it." Joe said. Daryl swiped his tongue over his bottom lip, tasting the salt of his sweat there. " But in this case, with Daryl being so new, we will let this slide."
" That ain't fucking fair!" Len exploded. " I claimed that shit fair and square!"
" You want it so bad, come and fuckin take them!" Daryl snapped. Len yanked his knife out and tensed up.
" Gladly, Bitch." He snarled out. Grins and chuckles went around the group, the men more than ready to watch the fight go down.
" That's enough." Joe said, making some of them groan. " Put your knife back, Len. Daryl is keeping his kills."
" But..." Len started.
" I said enough!" Joe actually yelled. " Daryl keeps his kills and that's the end of it!" Daryl and Len continued to stare at each other, ready to rip into one another when Joe stepped between them, making sure he was facing Len. " Put that knife away and because you couldn't be bothered to get your own animals, you don't need to eat tonight."
" What the hell!" Len exploded.
" You heard me." Joe sighed and nodded to himself before he made a show of wiping off his sleeves. "Now, you made me raise my voice and I really hate doing that. Let's get back to the warehouse and unload. I'm sure Salem is worried about us. Let's go."
After dropping off the animals to the kitchen and started to unload the truck, a idea begin to form. Joe let them keep what they claimed. Joe told Daryl that after today, the claim rule would apply to him as well as the others. If Daryl wanted to claim something, he could as long as no one else claimed it. Once Daryl claimed whatever it was his, none of the others could take it or touch it.
Joe showed Daryl where he kept all the food they found. Joe kept a tight count on the food and only allowed them to have so much a day, as to not run out, Joe explained. At first, Daryl thought that was why Salem was so thin. Joe didn't let them all eat much but at dinner, he threw that idea out of the window. The men had plenty of food but when Joe made Salem's plate, there was barely anything on it. Daryl knew then it was because Joe was using food as a way of controlling her as well as the chain. He gave her enough to keep her going but not enough to give her much strength to fight them.
That night, after Joe locked her up in Daryl's room, they worked together to move the dresser over to cover the door. Salem sat on the bed, looking like she was dead tired and well worn. Daryl frowned and opened one of the pockets of his cargo pants. He reached into it and pulled out a small bottle. He whistled to get her attention and when she looked at him, he tossed her the bottle.
" What is it?" Salem asked with her own frown. She turned the bottle over and quickly read the label.
Flint stone, chew-able vitamins.
" Vitamens. You need to take them and build your body up. You barely got any pick up and go." Daryl made sure to keep his voice down, just in case anyone was listening to them.
" Joe will be pissed." Salem said, unscrewing the cap of the bottle. She shook her head, looking up at him while piling out grass from the bottle. " W hat the hell?"
" I put the grass in there to muffle the sound of the pills. I didn't want him to hear them in my pocket. We gonna keep this between us." Daryl said. Salem looked back into the bottle, seeing the colorful pills through the grass. She pulled out one, looked it over carefully and when she was sure it was a flint stone vitamins, she popped it in her mouth. Slowly she chewed it while she read over the label. Second later, she was tossing back two more pills, looking up at Daryl as she hurried up and chewed them.
" It says adults should take two. I took third to make up for what I have lost." She explained. Daryl nodded, reaching into his other pocket. He pulled out a small crispy, red apple. He tossed it to her, seeing her eyes light up. He reached in again and pulled out another one. " Where did you get these?" Salem asked, bring both apples to her small nose to smell them deeply.
" We passed an apple tree. Picked ones that were good but I shoved those two in my pocket for you." He said. Salem frowned and narrowed her eyes at him.
" Why?" She asked.
" Why what?" Daryl asked, sitting down in the chair in the room.
" Why did you give me those vitamins and save these apples for me? What do you want in return?" Salem snapped. Daryl leaned forward, letting his elbows come to rest against his thighs.
" You need to build up your strength if you gonna make it out there." He said. She shook her head as she rolled her eyes.
" Oh yeah? Just how are you going to get me out there? I'm not allowed outside." She said. She brought the apple up to her mouth, suddenly starving. The moment Salem sank her teeth into the skin of the apple, her eyes shut on their own. Sweetness exploded against her tongue and she heard herself moan. She cupped the apple with both hands, forgetting all about the hunter who was staring at her. "Oh my God..." She chewed as fast as she could before she took another bite, and another and another. Daryl's eyes twitched before he started to smile then chuckle. The sound froze Salem's moments. Her eyes flew open at once. She felt her cheeks heat. One hand swept across her lips while her other one kept a grip on the apple. " Sorry." She said softly between bites.
" I ain't figured out a way to get us out yet but I will. We ain't staying here. It ain't safe." Daryl said. Salem swallowed her treat as she regarded him carefully.
" What makes you think I want to go anywhere with you?" She asked.
" I ain't rapin you. I didn't rape you." He answered simply. Salem blinked hard before she dropped her eyes and pulled her legs up to her chest while she sat on the bed. " Eat those apples. I'll sneak you the vitamins. You build up your strength while I work on getting us free."
" Where will we go?" She asked when she looked at him again.
" I don't know yet. I saw a few signs for a town. Maybe there." Daryl answered.
" Anywhere is better than here." She said even softer than she was talking.
She ate both the apples before handing the cores back to Daryl. He pocketed them and the bottle then went to his bed on the floor. Like the night before, he slept in the corner and she took the bed.
TWDTWDTWD
In the morning, Daryl followed Joe and Salem to the bathroom again. Joe was his usually, chipper self, talking like it was a very normal to walk with a girl on a chain. Daryl didn't say much, only answering when he had too. When they reached the bathroom, Salem went in first then waited. Her eyes were hopeful that Daryl would follow her in and not Joe. It was a wasted hope. Joe didn't give Daryl time to come in. He walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Seconds later, Daryl heard the lock click.
He didn't see them again until breakfast. Joe was sitting at the end of the table with his smile. The others were talking around the table, planning their day. Salem shuffled into the kitchen with two plates. There was bruising around her neck in the shape of a hand. Her cheek was sporting a new bruise as well and she refused to meet Daryl's eyes. He stared openly at her, feeling the heat of his anger raising up slowly.
" Well boys, Salem is free to all tonight so that means you want her, you better prove yourself today. I will be watching everything you do. You want her? Bring us the most food or supplies, kill the most dead." Joe explained. Grins spread through the men as they muttered that they would earn her over the others. Salem briefly closed her eyes. It was then that Daryl made a choice. A split second decision that sealed his fate to hers...
" Claimed." Daryl blurted out, silencing them all. Daryl refused to look at anyone but Joe as he cleared his throat and said loudly, " Claimed. I claim her."