AN: Ok, so I lied about putting my note at the end of next chapter. I just wanted to address one thing so far...I know the Daryl I am depicting seems like the biggest ass in the world, but I do want to ease worries and let you all know that he will, eventually, be the Daryl we know and love. However, he really is unlikable in most of the first season and even into part of season two, so I'm not going to let him become a big old fuzzy bear just yet. Not that I think Daryl would even remotely resemble a fuzzy bear...
But anyway, thank you so much for the reviews, favorites, follows, etc. I really appreciate it and it helps to let me know that people are actually reading (and enjoying!) this story. If you drop in, please do say hello. I enjoy it :) Anyway, 1) I don't own anything Walking Dead except my OCs, and 2) onto the story...
When they arrived at the hotel, the streets of Clayton were quiet due to the lockdown. Daryl pulled the truck to the curb and cut the engine and Melissa hopped out of the back of the truck. She walked to Merle's side of the car. He leaned out the window, throwing his now-finished cigarette on the sidewalk.
"Daryl's gonna go in with ya." Merle said, nodding his head in the direction of the door.
Melissa scowled, indignant at this development. "No, it'll be better if I go in by myself. It'll raise suspicions if he follows me in there, especially because half the town has probably heard of your arrest by now."
Merle shook his head. "Listen here sweet ass, don't push yer luck cuz I'm doin' ya a favor just bringin' ya here. Yer smart enough ya can get yer sister without anyone suspectin' anythin'. Daryl's goin' with ya an' that's the end of it." He pulled himself back into the car and rolled up the window, signaling it was indeed the end of the discussion.
Melissa blew her breath out through clenched teeth, not happy at the direction things had turned. She knew she could handle getting herself and Nora away from the Dixon brothers if they stayed in the car, but with one of them breathing down her neck the entire time escaping was going to be a hell of a lot harder than she originally thought.
Remembering she was going into her sister's workplace, Melissa reached into the truck bed and pulled out her uniform shirt. She started buttoning it up and caught Daryl watching her out of the corner of her eye.
"What?" She asked, annoyed at the audience. "You never saw a person put on clothes before?"
"Nah, just wonderin' why ya botherin' to suit up at all." He shrugged his shoulders. "Not like ya gonna need it soon. Yer jus' goin' in to get the kid."
Melissa finished tucking in her shirt and straightened the collar of her uniform. She made sure her bun was in good order in the car's side mirror, and she turned to face Daryl. "I'm a professional. Unlike some people, I take pride in my work."
Melissa did one last check in the side mirror and looked up to see Merle scowling. He rolled the window down a crack and hissed out the window. "Ya need lipstick too? Get yer ass in there!"
Melissa rolled her eyes and turned to head into the building, Daryl hot on her heels. Before she opened the doors, she heard Daryl speak softly next to her. "Remember, girl, nothin' funny."
Melissa walked in through the old wooden doors, ignoring the "Sorry, Temporarily Closed" sign and scanned the lobby for Clarence Patterson. He was the owner that manned the desk every weekend.
There was no one at the desk and all Melissa saw as she walked in were boxes and sheets covering the lobby furniture. She walked to the counter and tried to peek down the hallway behind the desk into the back office, but the office door was firmly shut with a sign reading "Employees Only" in capital letters.
"Hello? Clarence?" She called. No one answered. Melissa frowned, unsure of what to do. She turned to Daryl, who was leaning against the doorway watching her.
"There's no one here." She gestured around her. "Normally, Clarence is here but it doesn't look like he's around." She went and tried the door to get behind the desk but found it was locked. She sighed in frustration.
"What, ya can't just look for her?" Daryl asked, gesturing toward the hallway that led to the guest rooms.
"No, I can't just look for her," Melissa answered, the irritation evident in her voice. "Clarence owns the other two buildings on each side of this one, and he rents them for office space and storage. Sometimes Nora works here or he has her over in one of the other ones cleaning or organizing or something. It'd be easier to ask him directly where she is instead of searching three buildings with five floors each. Or…" Melissa drifted off, an idea coming to her then.
Melissa put her hands on the counter and hoisted herself up and over to the other side. She started to go through the drawers when she felt a strong grip on her arm. She looked up into a set of piercing blue eyes that were filled with irritation.
"What ya think yer doin'? Told ya not to do anythin' funny!" Daryl hissed, trying to physically pull her back over the counter.
"Clarence always keeps a written documented schedule of what work he is having Nora do. It's a part of his deal with the nonprofit agency that placed her here. If he doesn't have documentation of work she's done, he doesn't get the funds from the state to pay her," Melissa said, yanking her arm from his grasp. "If I find the schedule it'll tell us where he has her today."
Daryl backed off from her, letting her continue her search. He watched her search for a few more minutes before the curiosity got the best of him. "Ain't there any guests here?"
Melissa didn't look up at him as she continued rifling through the cabinets. "No, not right now. Clarence has been renovating guest rooms and is a stickler for appearances. Thinks all the random construction equipment will turn guests off. He's probably right."
Daryl huffed, "Sounds like a waste of money, if ya ask me."
Melissa ignored his sarcastic comment and pulled open a drawer to a large grey file cabinet. After a few minutes she pulled out a large green binder and found the tab with Nora's name written on it. She read the schedule and slipped the binder back into its drawer.
"She's here. He has her organizing files for him." Melissa looked up at Daryl, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Clarence knows her too well. Between her reading skills and obsession with organizing things, I think he's training her to be his future filing clerk."
"Great. I don't need to know about that shit. Just get her so we can go." Daryl growled, the irritation evident in his voice.
Melissa's smile faded and she turned around to walk into the back hallway. "I'll get Nora, she'll just be back here in the office," she called over her shoulder.
Melissa knocked lightly on the door. "Nora? Hon, it's Melissa. Can I come in?"
When there was no answer, Melissa knocked on the door again. "Nora? Are you in there?"
Again, there was no answer. Thinking her sister was probably still mad at her, Melissa gently turned on the handled, an apology on the tip of her lips. "Nora, look I know you're mad but-"
She shut up and stared in horror at the two figures on the floor in front of her. Clarence lay on the ground, his hands outstretched and curled inward, as if he had been clawing at something. His grey hair was matted down with blood and his lifeless eyes stared at the ceiling with an expression of sheer terror. His horn-rimmed glasses lay nearby, smashed to pieces in the growing puddle of blood flowing from the massive hole that had been torn into his midsection. His entrails spilled forth from his ravaged body, and Melissa's eyes followed them to the other figure in the room. A hunched over figure knelt in the center of the room, a curtain of hair masking its face from view.
Melissa's horrified gasp drew the attention of the figure and it looked up slowly, its eyes fixating on her with the same lust and savagery that the man on the highway had. She could only watched as it dropped the innards it had been eating, bloody bits still smeared across its cheeks and hanging from its mouth, and hissed in her direction. It had the same shape and general features of a person, but they were grotesquely distorted and discolored. Melissa took a step back when she recognized the face framed by the long flowing white hair now matted in blood.
"Addy?" Melissa whispered.
Addy only answered with another extended hiss, rising to her feet slowly, almost like a baby deer finding its legs. She started hobbling slowly across the office, her torn pink sweater hanging in shreds off her tiny frame.
Melissa took a step back, then another, mirroring Addy's steps toward her. It felt as if her legs were made of lead and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Addy's skin was ashen gray, her eyes glazed over and sunken in. She reached her arms out towards Melissa, as if asking for help.
"Addy…Oh God…Addy, are you ok? Clarence…he…." Melissa was not making any sense and she knew it, but right now her brain was having a hard time processing what was going on in the room. She wanted to reach out to Addy, to the woman that had been taking care of Nora since she was little. But, all she could do was stare at the pieces of flesh hanging from Addy's mouth and Clarence's gutted body lying on the floor. Addy's hands reached her shoulders and the woman grabbed Melissa violently, bringing her mouth towards Melissa's neck and—
Melissa's sympathetic nervous system sprung into action. She didn't have any thoughts, she just went with her body's gut reaction. She brought her right fist back and slammed it into Addy's chin, feeling her knuckles split after connecting with hard bone. She didn't stop there, and instead brought her right fist up to connect with Addy's left cheek. The older woman stumbled back, but only a few feet. Melissa took the opportunity to scoot back a few steps.
"Come on, Addy, stop, please. I don't want to hit you again." It appeared her words fell on deaf ears because Addy suddenly rushed toward her. Melissa instinctually bent at the waist and rushed forward herself, slamming her shoulder into Addy's chest and knocking the older woman to the ground. Melissa scrambled to her feet, turning around to run out of the room.
"Daryl!" She screamed as she flew down the hallway to the front desk. As she came to the front, she saw Daryl had already hopped the desk after hearing the commotion in the back hallway.
"She's crazy, she killed Clarence!" Melissa screamed as she made her way to the front. She could hear the hideous growls behind her and she turned to see Addy running full speed down the hallway toward the both of them.
Without stopping to ask questions Daryl put Melissa behind him, raised his gun and shot Addy in the gut. It was a shot that would put any normal person down. Addy stumbled but continued ambling forward.
Melissa acted purely on instinct. She reached down and unsheathed the trench knife she had kept hidden in her pants. She slid her fingers into the brass knuckles and rushed forward, bringing the knife back and slashing it sideways. The tip of the blade connected with Addy's neck, just above her collarbone. Melissa jumped back taking the knife with her, a spray of blood spewing from the wound, but still Addy kept coming. With a cry of frustration, Melissa prepared to jump her again when the sound of a gunshot rang out and Addy dropped to the ground, the fresh gunshot wound in the middle of her forehead oozing blood. Melissa dropped the knife and sank back against wall, panting heavily from the physical exertion. Her heart was thudding in her ears as she looked toward Daryl, the gun in his hand slowly lowering, his eyes fixated on the figure on the floor. His eyes flicked toward hers and she saw a mixture of shock and disbelief in his gaze.
Melissa let her gaze reluctantly travel down to the body in front of her. Addy's eyes remained open, devoid of life. She reached down and gently brushed the gray hair out of the woman's face and accidentally touched a strand of flesh still stuck to the woman's cheek. Melissa was then transported back to the image of Clarence's mangled body that had greeted her in the office only minutes before and she felt a wave of nausea overtake her. She doubled over, feeling the muscles of her stomach contract and its contents make its way back up her throat. She turned her body so she vomited in the corner, away from Addy. When she was done she straightened and turned to see Daryl digging in his pocket.
"Ya all right?" He asked hesitantly, taking a step towards Melissa. He produced a rag from his pocket, gray with dirt from God knows what. He held it out in her direction and Melissa absently took it, wiping her mouth. She went to put it in her pocket and Daryl cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable.
"Ya got some blood on yer face." Melissa appeared confused, automatically bringing her hand to her cheek. Blood on her face? From what? It took a moment to remember that when she had stabbed Addy blood had sprayed in all directions, including all over her face.
Daryl handed her a bottle of water he found behind the desk. Melissa wet the rag and while she wiped down her face Daryl stalked past her, glancing into the employee office.
"Goddamn," he muttered and she couldn't have agreed more with the sentiment.
"What the hell happened here?" Daryl asked, going back to join her behind the desk. "That like what ya seen on the highway?"
Melissa nodded, still staring absently at the body in the hallway. "Yeah. Same thing happened. Guy with the infection attacked us. Merle did a perfect kill shot and the guy just kept coming. Finally took a shot to the head to take the guy down, just like Addy here…"
Melissa trailed off. Daryl turned, a questioning look on his face. Melissa suddenly felt ill all over again.
"Oh my God, Nora…" she whispered.
There was a moment of silence and then Melissa took off running. She hopped the counter as if it were a mere bump and started running for the stairs that would lead to the second floor.
"Nora!" She screamed, the panic evident in her voice. Melissa was halfway up the stairs before she felt an arm wrap around her waist and yank her back, a rough calloused hand clamping over her mouth.
"Shut the hell up!" Daryl hissed in her ear, dragging her back down the stairs and into the lobby. "We don't know if there are any more of those things in here."
Melissa visibly relaxed and Daryl removed let go of her. "There shouldn't be. I told you, Clarence was renovating things so there are no guests here, and since it's Sunday there wouldn't be any construction workers."
Daryl's pointed look made fear well up inside her and she shook her head furiously. "Don't even suggest to me Nora is one of those things. She's fine."
"Well, what ya suggest we do then? Can't go searchin' every room in these buildings."
Melissa reluctantly agreed. Daryl was right, they certainly didn't have the time to search every floor of every building without drawing suspicion as to why they were there.
"Well, I know that Clarence is…was…in the process of moving his stuff to an office on the top floor of the building next door. He might have some files up there. He said he always wanted an office with a view." Melissa spoke quietly, trying to remember the man as she had known him and not as the pile of flesh and guts she had seen in his office.
Daryl nodded and they quickly exited the building. They ran into the building next door and Melissa was about to start up the stairs when Daryl tapped her shoulder. She turned and he held out the trench knife she had dropped in the other building.
"Thought ya might need this. Seemed ta come in handy back there." He spoke quietly, not wanting to alert anything to their presence.
Melissa took it, giving Daryl a nod of thanks. She hoped he wouldn't think to ask of where she had gotten it. She didn't need the redneck to know she had been hiding a weapon from them, not when she had given him a hard time about "trust" before. Turning, Melissa headed up the stairs.
When they reached the fifth floor she looked back to Daryl who held his finger to his lips than to his ear, indicating silence and to listen. Carefully, Melissa held her ear to the door. She could hear faint movement behind the door but there was no telling what was in there, not until the door was open. She turned to Daryl and gestured with her hand, silently communicating she was going in. She slowly turned the doorknob, taking in a sharp breath and wrapping her hands tightly around the brass knuckles of the knife. Daryl counted on his fingers to three, and Melissa burst into the room, knife held high, her weight on the balls of her feet with her elbows tucked into her body protectively. Melissa immediately let the knife fall to her side when she saw what she could only describe as a beautiful vision in front of her.
"Nora!" Melissa shrieked, running across the room and practically tackling her sister to the floor.
"Ouch, Missy, what are you doing? Look, you made me drop my files!" Nora was trying to push her sister off but Melissa had an iron grip around the younger girl's waist.
"Are you ok? Did anything get at you? How long have you been up here?" Melissa was shooting rapid-fire questions and Nora had to hold up her hand.
"Missy, this time you have to slow down. I'm fine. What's wrong? Why are you at my work?" Nora had adopted an almost motherly tone, and Melissa had to take a deep breath to calm her racing pulse. She sighed in relief and clasped her sister to her chest in a tight hug.
"Missy, I can't breathe. What is going on?" Nora said with a hint of irritation and Melissa reluctantly let her go.
"We were looking for you, sweetie. How long have you been up here?"
"For a few hours. Mr. Patterson told me that since the streets were locked down I should just stay up here until it was lifted. Why was there a lockdown, Missy? Mr. Patterson said it sounded bad." Nora said.
Melissa eyed her sister, wondering how much she truly knew about what was going on. "What did Mr. Patterson tell you?"
"Not a lot, he said that he was listening to his police scanner and it sounded like a lot of people are getting sick and being sent to the hospital. He said Ms. Warner and I shouldn't be out on the streets since she was already feeling sick." Nora bent down to pick up the files she had been carrying before Melissa nearly barreled her over.
Melissa was confused now, trying to piece together what had happened at the hotel. "What do you mean, Ms. Warner was sick?"
Nora shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. After you left last night she said she thought she had the flu. And Mr. Patterson said she looked really pale and had a fever so he said she could sleep in the employee bedroom behind the desk until the lockdown was over."
Melissa couldn't think of anything to say to this. This was news she had not expected to hear and now the police part of her brain was trying to rationalize how Addy had gone from having flu-like symptoms to…whatever the hell she was now? Melissa was pondering this information when Nora looked over her shoulder.
"Who's that?" She asked, pointing at Daryl. He hadn't moved from the doorway and the expression on his face was unreadable. Melissa half-smiled in his direction.
"That's Mr. Dixon, sweetie. He and his brother are giving us a ride. Nora…we're going on a vacation." Melissa said, fully aware she was lying through her teeth.
Nora's brown eyes widened in shock, but then crinkled as a smile spread across her face and she clapped her hands in delight.
"A vacation? Where?" She squealed. They never went on vacations anywhere.
"Yes, a vacation. Mr. Dixon and his brother are taking us to Dahlonega. We're going to go camping." Melissa said, trying to muster fake enthusiasm.
At the mention of camping, Nora's face fell. "Camping? Missy, I hate camping. There's bugs and dirt and…just ew!" Nora's nose crinkled in disgust and Melissa's patience wavered slightly.
"Come on, you've never even been camping. Don't worry, we'll be staying in a cabin, with air conditioning…aren't we Mr. Dixon?" Melissa looked to Daryl and but he didn't respond. He was looking hard at Nora and Melissa had to clear her throat to get his attention. He met Melissa's gaze for a long time, longer than she liked, but then gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Melissa continued with the lie she was spinning, knowing she was playing on her sister's tendency to trust people too quickly and she had to fight from feeling guilty. She was trying to get them to safety. "But we are going to go out of town. I've already talked to Mr. Patterson and he said it was ok if you leave early today. So, we're going to go right now, ok?"
Nora paused, looking hesitant and Melissa felt her desperation growing. "C'mon, you're always saying we don't get to do things together. This is our chance to take a girl's trip."
Daryl's voice piped up behind her, "Yeah, my brother 'n me are gonna get ya a ride. Got a nice place all set up fer ya."
Nora didn't say anything, but then a smile broke out on her face and she nodded enthusiastically. Melissa breathed out in relief. Nora put the files down in a neat pile, taking painstakingly long to make sure they were aligned perfectly edge to edge, and grabbed Melissa's hand, smiling up at her. Again, the guilt started creeping in but Melissa fought to keep it down. Putting her knife back in its sheath and then pulling Nora behind her, she went down the stairs with Daryl following closely behind.
They had just reached the ground floor and started heading outside when Melissa's heart dropped.
Chief Nelson's police cruiser was parked behind Daryl's truck, and he had Merle out with his hands up on the hood, his legs spread. Chief Nelson was frisking him for weapons.
"Damn," Melissa whispered, "Damn damn damn damn damn." Daryl looked over her shoulder at the scene in front of them and swore under his breath.
"They're telling everyone to get off the streets for the lockdown. He must have seen Merle in the car and went to tell him to get inside. He's not supposed to be out of his cell." Melissa whispered to Daryl.
"What is it, Missy?" Nora asked and Melissa could only shake her head, pressing her finger to her lips. Melissa was trying to come up with a plan when she heard a click behind her.
"Sorry girl, gotta do this my way," Daryl whispered in her ear, pressing the barrel of the gun hard into her back. Nora looked back, seeing the gun and squeaked in terror. Melissa held onto her hand and squeezed it with reassurance although her heart was pounding wildly.
"Hands up, nothin' funny," Daryl said. Melissa had a fleeting thought of grabbing her knife but knew she would never be able to get to it in time, not with Nora there.
Daryl, almost gently, nudged Melissa out the front door and Nora followed, clutching Melissa's hand tightly. "Ya gonna let my brother go now asshole?"
Chief Nelson whirled around from where he had been handcuffing Merle and his eyes widened in confusion when he saw Daryl with a gun trained on Melissa and Nora.
Daryl continued, undeterred. "Ya let my brother go, or the girls here get ta take a bullet," he said, pressing the gun harder into Melissa to prove his point.
"Ok, ok, hang on. I'll get him out, just leave them alone," the chief stuttered, his hands fumbling with the keys to the handcuffs. He had just finished unlocking them when Merle spun, his fist in the air. He didn't have much space to get a good swing in, but the man was strong and despite the constricted space was able to land a blow to the chief's cheek. Chief Nelson's head spun and he stumbled back. Merle continued on the offensive, stepping forward and delivering an upper cut to the chief's jaw and Chief Nelson stumbled back and fell to the ground, blood dripping from a cut to his lip. Merle's boot met the chief's gut and the man doubled over on the ground in a fetal position. Merle kicked him again, and would have continued if Melissa hadn't let go of Nora's hand and rammed her body into his.
"Get away from him," she yelled, "You're killing him!" Melissa had pushed Merle back a few feet and positioned herself in front of the chief. She drew her knife out and took a forward fighting stance. Merle's eyes widened slightly when she saw what she was holding but he rushed forward like a bull toward a matador. Melissa knew she was no match for Merle hand to hand but she stepped back slightly, slicing the knife through the air and Merle let out a grunt, clutching at his arm where she had sliced his skin in a shallow cut. His eyes bulged and with a howl of anger he dove for her legs, both of them tumbling to the ground in a tangle of limbs.
Melissa ended up under Merle, his heavy weight pressed down on her chest. His fist came down and when it connected with her face Melissa tasted the bitter taste of copper. He was dropping another punch but Melissa reached up with both hands to grab his arm and pull him forcefully down toward her so they were practically nose to nose. Merle tried to twist his arm away from her grasp, and with a force she didn't know she had Melissa pushed his full upper body back and brought her legs up to wrap them around his neck from behind, her feet hooking around his front. Using all the strength in her legs she pressed back on his chest, forcing his whole upper body to lie back on the ground. Merle swore in pain and finally rolled off of her, rubbing at his neck and trying to scramble to his feet.
Melissa rose first and picked up her knife that had dropped nearby. She took fast strides towards Merle, who was still on his knees, and raised her arm to bring down the knife in a kill strike. Before she could bring it down Melissa felt a hard crack to the back of her head and she crumpled to the ground. The last sounds she heard before everything went dark were Nora's screams and the distinctive sound of a gunshot.
Also, thank you to MollyMayhem84 and BitchGoddess. You guys rock!
