Hey all, I want to pretend this took a while to get out because I've been busy but really I'm just lazy.
Fanficgirl10 - Haha, I know right, Shane's so easy to write as a wanker because all I think when I look at his face is prickprickprickprickprick, xD. Thank you for reviewing again, it's always lovely. :)
Dalonega Noquisi - Thanks for that, I hope my Daryl voice isn't too off, he's not an easy character to pin.
Fuchsia Grasshopper - Thank you. :D I've got some ideas for some AU stuff so I'm glad to hear that it's not going to be poorly received by at least one person. And thank you for the comments about the pace and whatnot, it makes me feel happy about what I'm writing and makes me wanna just sit locked in my room and write all the time (sucks about that whole 'real life' bullshit). Hmm yes, I also wonder how Daryl and Merle will react to her spending time with the others. ;)
Thank you to the new favouriters and followers as well. Nice to meet you all. ;)
OH! Also, one last thing. I have a new Tumblr that's a bit more fandom (and walking dead) focused than my old one and I'll be posting bits and pieces of chapters coming up and stuff, so go follow if you've got a tumblr. :) testsubject-nineteen . tumblr . com
OHOH. And the very last thing is that there's some racist slurs and stuff in this chapter, sorry if it makes anyone uncomfortable, I don't mean to offend.
It takes Holly a few moments to find her bearings when she climbs out of her tent early the next morning. She'd forgotten about the people from the night before, that they ended up staying and she moved her tent.
The clearing is already a hive of activity and it's only an hour or so past dawn. The new people seemed to be setting up all their stuff properly, unpacking things from cars and the RV to whomever owned them. A new campfire pit, bigger than theirs, had been set up by the group in the middle of the circle of tents. She notices idly that they left their circle incomplete as to not block out hers or the Dixon's tents, which was nice.
By the time she realises that Daryl and Merle are either still asleep or out hunting, one of the campers has already noticed her. A blonde woman heads over her way with an unreadable expression on her face.
She comes to a stop in front of Holly and puts her hand on her hip. "You and your redneck friends, any particular reason there was a fuss about us staying?"
Holly's eyes narrow slightly, and she thinks of the speech she rehearsed in her head last night, before going to sleep. Holly figured in this new life, new kill or be killed environment, that one thing she can never continue to be was weak. That word has implanted itself in her brain after every post-break up spent moping, after every job burned through when she was younger, hell, even just after a bad day when all she wanted to do was go to bed. And really, it always used to seem easy just accepting you're weak, that's just the way you're programmed, when you weren't balancing on the edge of the world like this. Holly squares her shoulders, says, "I just think that this, here," she gestures widely to the camp, and the bravado makes her feel more confident, bigger. "Is probably not the time to start trusting people you've just met. I've lost enough, if you or any of your friends cause me to lose anything else, I don't…" she takes a shaky breath, realises only as she says it how much truth is in that. She doesn't want to dwell on it, it's scary thinking about caring for something in an apocalypse.
The blonde is silent for a few beats before she says, "I've lost enough, too." She turns and points behind her to another blonde out of hearing distance but still watching the conversation with much intrigue. "That's my sister Amy, she's all I have left," she offers Holly a sad smile, "I'm Andrea."
Deep breath. "Holly." Release.
"They don't seem that bad," Holly tells Daryl quietly later on that night, while her and the brothers sat around their own campfire. The other group seems to be still busy setting everything up, because according to Merle, 'they got no fuckin' idea what they're doin'', because he seems to think the three of them have this whole 'apocalypse' thing under control. Two members of the group, Officer Shane, and another Holly hasn't met, are standing by a car with a map rested on the hood. They appear to be conversing pretty intensely.
"Ya think? Don't trust none of 'em as far as I can throw 'em." Daryl appears to have noticed the heated discussion going on at the SUV between Bucket Hat and Officer Shane, casting a dark look over their way.
"What happened to safety in numbers?" She asks him, one eyebrow raised.
"Meant campers, hunters, people who actually got a chance," he shrugs like it's nothing. "Not ladies, kids, old people. These people ain't got no idea of what they're doin', reckon they need us more than we need 'em. We got everythin' we need, they don't got shit but a few cans of fruit and a gun between 'em."
"They got a gook, a spic and a fuckin' nigger too, surprised they ain't dead already, bunch of useless pricks," Merle sends a glare in the direction of the other campers. "They got some nice cooze though." He glances over at the campers again and Holly looks too, realises he saw Andrea, who's carrying a bucket of something across to her campmates.
Holly rolls her eyes but doesn't say anything in response to either thing Merle has just said. Daryl doesn't say anything about it either, doesn't even look at his older brother, just looks at Holly through slightly narrowed eyes. "What changed ya mind? Didn't seem to want 'em here last night."
"Didn't wanna make decisions that aren't my place to make," she corrects him. "I met a few of them today; Andrea, the blonde, and her sister is Amy. And that spic is Morales and him and his family are all lovely. I met Carol and her little girl, I forgot her name, and her husband too, Ed, I think his name was. He was a bit of a prick to me," she shrugs. "I don't want to be a pushover anymore, Daryl. But safety in numbers applies here too. If they're useless then so am I, and if you feel that way you wouldn't have stopped to pick me up."
Daryl leans back in his seat. "Couldn't'a just left ya there to be bit, that's different to not letting' a group of people camp where we are."
Holly wonders if that was an indirect confession that it actually was Daryl who made them stop, but doesn't dwell on it. "Maybe we could try get to know them, maybe you could teach them some stuff about hunting or something, help out, so at least they have a chance. Why don't we go have dinner over there?"
"Huntin' isn't something ya just teach someone in a day by takin' them into the woods. Takes years to learn how to hunt properly and I ain't got time for that. And if we gonna go have dinner with them, we gonna take them our food? They probably ain't got any. If ya just givin' away shit here ya may as well give them ya tent, ya sleepin' bag, but you won't get shit in return." Daryl rants at her, voice quiet as to not let anyone else but the three of them hear.
"I don't have a sleeping bag," she tells Daryl sharply, to which he looked surprised. Apparently he hadn't realised that there wasn't enough room for a sleeping bag in her hikers pack and where else would she have been stashing it? "I'm not saying we have to feed these people or look after them or anything but how do we even know there's anyone else alive out there, really? I don't wanna be stuck with you two pricks for the rest of my life, I'll go batshit insane."
At the humorous tone in her voice at the end, which she was using to lighten what had become a very bleak atmosphere, Daryl seems to relent a bit.
"Well if you two pussies are gunna go over there and spoon feed them and wipe their fuckin' asses then I'm goin' to bed. Don't need to know any more people, 'specially not a bunch'a niggers and fuckin' faggots."
"Well goodnight to you too…" Holly murmurs as Merle leaves. With a shrug in her direction, Daryl takes the lead over to the other part of camp to meet the rest of their new neighbours.
Thanks for reading all :D
