I do not own, nor do I profit from anything having to do with "The Walking Dead, be it TV show, or comics. I am writing this for personal reasons only.

In The Nick of Time

Chapter 7 Revision "Glad to Meet You!"

Daryl & Gaelynn

Crying loud you are crawling on the floor

Just a beautiful baby, you're nothing more

Close your eyes, you are crawling into sleep

I swear I won't break you

If you let me take you where the willows never weep

Coming quick into your wonderland

Flying high on bleached white sand

Tranquilized by lights you'll lose your way

Well just come with me and I'll make you see

With me you'll want to stay, can baby come out to play?

Circus lights are shutting slowly down

But still you're up in the air

And loving your wings, my dear you play the clown

You're still up in the air and loving your wings

What's gonna happen when you come down

"Clown" by Switchblade Symphony

The next few days following Merle's first visit went just as Russell promised, peaceful compared to how the whole situation began. He kept his promise and did not lay a finger on her. He had also taken her to a small lake close to the campsite, where she was allowed to bathe and wash her hair. Of course, Russell watched her the whole time, but it felt so damn good she refused to let that bother her. She had to admit, after the bath, she felt almost 100% better. But, the impending trade which would put her under Merle's control never left her mind. His voice alone frightened her more than she was willing to admit.

Finally, the day came. The sound of whistling could be heard growing louder as Merle, once again, moved closer to the campsite. Her heart started to beat faster, while her chest tightened, but she did her very best not to show an ounce of fear.

Before Merle was even within sight, Russell said, "Git down on yer knees, you know, all nice like, and be quiet, no matter what. You fuck this up for me and you will die a whole hell of a lot worse than that faggot boyfriend of yours did."

She did as she was told and got down on her knees. After her bath, Russell had given her an old button up shirt of his, as well as a pair of jeans. They were so many sizes too large, they ended up looking like clown attire on her, but they were cleaner than what she had been forced to wear since the first attack. Her panties soon became stiff and so soiled with Russell's semen; they were beginning to chafe, as well as the filthy tee shirt that he had forced her to wear since destroying her own top. She was sure it had not been cleaned since the world went to shit. They left her feeling dirty, smelly, and more exposed to the coldness of the nights than the clownish attire would, so she focused on appreciating small details to avoid thinking of how bad it could have been.

Now, there she knelt, in a smelly shirt that looked like it once was white, but was so stained, it was hard to tell for sure. The jeans were being held up by a short piece of rope. In the back of her mind she wished that Merle would take one look at her, and change his mind about the exchange, she felt that she looked that horrid; which she hoped would work in her favor.

Merle came ambling out of the woods and smiled when he locked eyes on the girl.

"That's good, that's real good. You need to get used to knelling, Sugar Tits, cuz yer gonna be on them knees a lot pretty soon." he said as he chuckled at her discomfort.

He turned to Russell and told him, "I ain't about to trade for this here piece of ass sight unseen. I wanna at least see 'er face and her body before I talk some solid trade terms."

Russell walked over to her and pulled to sack up just far enough to that Merle could see how pretty she was. He saw how her hair, mostly black, with a single white or silver streak curled down along side of the left side of her face. He was taken aback a bit by the color of her eyes, they were purple, violet, more precisely. He had never in his life seen eyes that color. This and the odd streak of silver in her hair made her more exotic and appealing to him, while at the same time, made him edgy for a reason he could not put into words.

Russell then unbuttoned the front of the shirt she was wearing, showing her breasts and stomach to the man. He had her stand up for a second, and removed the rope that held up her jeans, letting them fall into a pool at her feet. Merle's eyes widened a bit, and he could actually feel himself begin to salivate at the sight of her. She was beautiful, and there wasn't a mark on her. It was enough to give him a hard on right then and there. He fought the stiffening of his prick as much as he could, but pricks tended to have a mind of their own. He definitely did not want to appear too eager in Russell's eyes.

About 50 yards away Daryl was moving slowing in their direction, after hearing voices, he soon recognized Merle's voice and moved forward even more cautiously. He had not seen his brother in a long time. He had no idea what kind of experiences Merle had been through since the roof top, or if they had warped his mind, which would make a man like Merle more dangerous than he was when Daryl had last seen him.

As he listened he could hear a few words that led him to think they were making a deal of sorts, a trade or bargain.

When he was close enough to hear everything being said, and could finally see the campsite clearly, he hunkered down, watched, and listened.

The other man was redressing a young girl, while Merle looked on eagerly. Then the two men began to barter back and forth, and finally came to terms both were comfortable with. Russell would get 150 strong pain killers, and a nice sized amount of Morphine in exchange for the girl. If Daryl knew his brother, he was fairly sure that he would kill this man before giving him anything, and just take the girl for himself. Daryl looked at the slight figure on her knees between the two men, and felt a small pain in his heart knowing what sort of things Merle would do to her if he got his hands on her. He was already certain he could not let that happen, but did not know yet what he would be able to do to stop it.

Russell and Merle shook hands and Merle said he would return the next day about the same time. He had not brought any of the drugs with him for this trip, nor did he plan to bring any the next day, when he would kill Russell on sight and take the girl. He told Russell it was because he didn't want to risk being robbed in the woods on the way to Russell's campsite, and that he would bring along a few extra thugs the next day for added protection.

Daryl wonder why he didn't just kill the man right now, but was glad to hear he would have a little time to come up with an idea on how to save the girl from the hell he knew Merle would subject her too.

Merle started to move back towards the woods, hesitated as if he heard something, looked around the area with an odd look on his face, then shook his head and moved away.

"Go on and lay down Baby Girl, you gonna need all the rest you can get, I think you are gonna be real busy in the next week or so." Russell said laughing.

He was so proud of how well he had dealt with Merle and the amount of narcotics he would be getting the next day! He was foolish enough to actually feel like he was getting the better deal. Russell had never been much of a ladies' man, but he sure could party. And all those years of partying, had left him missing a great number of brain cells. Most would consider Russell "As dumb as a brick" but he thought he was still pretty sharp and in charge. This had not been the first time he had come across a girl alone or with someone easy to take down like this girl's Faggoty friend. They would be lost in this new hellish world, and see him as some sort of savior! He would keep 'em for a while, then work a trade with a man he crossed paths with, or if he could not find someone to deal with once he was bored with his latest catch, he would just tie 'em to a tree, cut a long gash on both of her arms, avoiding any major arteries, and hope the smell of blood would attract a walker to take care of her for him.

Gaelynn lay down awkwardly, and did her best to cozy up as close to the fire as she could with only her sense of feel to lead her. It warmed her only marginally, but she was afraid to try to get closer, afraid she would end up burned badly. Not only had the day began to come to its close, and the air cooled, but the conversation between Russell and Merle did just as much to chilled her just as the late afternoon air. She just kept telling herself she was strong enough to handle anything any man could dish out. She was a survivor. And just before she fell into as light sleep, she recited the MacManus brother's prayer once more, as sleep overtook her.

Russell broke out a bottle of whisky he has been saving for a special occasion and took several long draws on the bottle in order to get his buzz started quickly. The buzz hit quickly and made him feel warm in his gut. He reached into a bag next to his chair and pulled out a blanket, stirred up the fire a bit, then laid back in his chair to nurse the rest of his bottle. It was not long before Gaelynn could hear his snores begin.

Gaelynn had not allowed herself to succumb completely to the sleep she needed until she heard Russell's snoring start. Then she could relax a little more and felt herself really start to slip into what she hoped would be a dreamless sleep.

Suddenly, she felt a hand clamp gently yet firmly over her mouth from the other side of the bag over her head. Her first thought was that Merle had returned. Then almost as soon as the hand covered her mouth, a voice in her ear said "Don't scream, I ain't gonna hurt ye, understand?"

There was a pause. He could sense her inner struggle and watched as she tried to not only calm herself, but to assess the situation that was suddenly upon her. Daryl thought to himself 'She was a fighter this one', and he could tell she was weighing her choices very carefully. After another moment, she shook her head yes.

The man, whoever he was, used his gentle, quiet words to further calm her and she was amazed when she actually began to feel some of the terror she had been overcome with during this past week begin to ease up bit by bit, which was against everything she knew she should be feeling at that moment. This man was a wild card, his words were strong, yet quiet enough to be soothing, and he was offering to help her. She was unsure what to think… her recent decisions had not been good ones, she was afraid the next bad decision would be the one that left her for dead.

She listened to each question he asked and responded as calmly as she could. She felt, more than heard him slip farther away from her, towards the sound of Russell's snoring. She held her breath.

For the second time in just about a week, she listened to someone's throat being slashed, followed by the sounds of death. The first time, she did not know what it was she heard, but Russell had been very happy to give her the grizzly details about how he had killed her young friend. This time, when she heard the gurgling, choking sounds, she knew what it meant, and part of her was overjoyed.

The man was suddenly right next to her again, and she marveled at how he was able to move about so silently. He bent down to her and said "Russell won't be bothering you ever again, but I think we need to get away from this campsite as fast as possible, so if it's all the same to you, I am just gonna pick you up, and get the hell out of here. I will take care of the gag and restraints as soon as we done put some miles between here and where we're going. That OK with you? "

She really had no choice at this point so she just shook her head yes again.

He then picked her up in his arms, grabbed her pink Hello Kitty backpack that lay close to her as well as the "Speed Racer" bag that had belonged to Tristan, and off they went.

They move quickly through the woods, as the man explained again that he would remove all the restraints as soon as it was safe, he wanted to put a lot of distance between Russell's campsite and the two of them just in case Merle doubled back for some reason.

When Gaelynn heard him call Merle by his name, she stiffened up and starting to struggle against his hold on her. How did he know Merle's name? What did it mean that he knew Merle? Were they working together? Had she made the wrong decision after all?

"Listen, I'll explain everything as soon as I can, but right now, I need you to settle the fuck down so I before I drop yer ass. Listen, to me and listen good, if Merle does decide to double back any time soon, he sure as shit will be able to track us. He is the best tracker I ever seen. Now stop your fucking wiggling cuz if I drop you cuz of you fighting me, I'm gonna think you don't want my help after all and I will leave your ass right here."

She took a deep breath and nodded her head, settled back down and heard him say" You can either trust me, or I can leave you right here. Knowing what kind of things Merle is capable of, that is not what you want me to do right now."

He carried her for what seemed like a long time. Finally, he stopped and set her down in a sitting position on the ground. He pulled off the bag off of her head. She immediately held her head down, with her hair hanging in her face, as if she were hiding from him behind the thick cascade of inky curls. He then pulled out his smaller hunting knife from his boot and quickly cut the ties around her wrists. The rope had chaffed and cut into her, leaving her wrists raw and bleeding.

The man began to speak to her softly, "I'm gonna let you take care of that gag while I go gather some wood and kindling for a fire. You got a choice; you can run off if you want, I won't try to stop you. But if you got any sense, you will stay put, at least until you learn more about what the deal is between me and Merle. When I get the fire going, I'm gonna clean up them wounds and stuff too."

Then he just walked off towards the woods surrounding the clearing where his own campsite set. He felt like he had not talked that much to anyone in a very long time, talking to others, especially females always made him uncomfortable, but it had to be done. She deserved some answers.

She had purposely kept her head down as he cut her loose, and told her his plan. She was afraid to look up at him right away; not because she feared him, but because she was in a bad state and needed to collect herself before confronting this stranger. She had to know for certain that she could look him in the eye without crying or even showing weakness, until that time, she would keep her profile low. She took the gag off and then immediately hugged her knees into her chest in a very defensive position, staring at the ground in front of her. She wanted him to think she was frail and was more frightened than she actually was, if that was even possible.

Daryl headed into the woods to gather what he needed in order to get a good fire going. He felt he had put enough distance between Merle and where they were that a fire would be safe enough. He was just inside the tree line circling the campsite picking up wood and sticks as he moved round the site.

Soon after the man disappeared into the woods, and she felt it was safe enough, she reached for her bag, pulled out several items, stood up, and did changed into her own clothing quickly, as if her life depended on her getting this done and sitting back down. She not only did not want the stranger to see her nude, but she wanted to regain her position on the ground, with her hiding her features until she felt stronger. Changing into her own clean clothes went a long ways towards that end, and she was beginning to regain control. She had felt dirty and powerless wearing the clothes that Russell had made her wear, she needed her own clothing so she would feel a little more herself, before he came back.

Daryl moved slowly around the campsite, just out of sight. He gathered the firewood as he circled the campsite. Suddenly, for some reason he could not comprehend, he looked back at the girl for a second. He had intended to give her some privacy in order to calm herself down; he never intended to spy on her. As he started to look in her direction, he was almost certain she would be gone, having grabbed her backpack and taken off. But there she was, standing in the lowering light of the day, changing into different clothes, glancing around every few seconds, thinking she might catch him watching her. His first instinct was to turn away, a feeling of shame swept over him for invading her privacy, but try as he might, he could not make himself turn away. Something grabbed his attention and he just could not take his eyes off her.

She started her quick change by pulling off the dirty rank shirt that smelled of Russell and sweat, and put on her only bra, a tattered black one that used to make her feel sexy and silly at the same time. She yanked it on, covering her smallish breasts. Most men would consider them young and impressive breasts; to her they were nothing worth writing home about. She never thought of them as anything more than something to attract men who would then hurt her. She turned to pick up her jeans at the exact moment that Daryl impulsively glanced in her direction.

What he saw, what sort of stunned him and caused him to stare at her was a tattoo, down the entire plain of her back, from shoulders to hips, were wings in red ink covering its surface. They looked so real and perfect for a tattoo, even in the dimming light of the day. There was a smaller tat on the lower middle part of her back, the area they called tramp stamp. But he could not tell what it was.

She slid on a clean pair of panties, also black, also showing a great deal of wear and tear. After finally putting on clean undergarments, then came her black jeans and socks. The last garment was a black long sleeved shirt, that she had cut small holes in at the wrist. Because the sleeves were so long, they allowed her to put her thumbs through the holes. Then she quickly sat back down and put on her boots, lacing them up so quickly she skipped a few of the holes. She finally began to relax, now that her body was covered, and she began to unlace the boots and retie them, focusing on her movements. She needed to not think about where she was, what would happen next, of the strange man who had come to her aid in the nick of time.

After watching her put on the rest of her clothing, Daryl was finally able to force himself to look away, he felt ashamed that he had looked for as long as he had. He stood there, holding onto the firewood, and took several deep breaths, willing himself to get control over his reaction to having seen a female's nude form for the first time in so many months, he had lost track on when the last time was. She was way too young for a man his age, even if he was looking to try to hook up with a woman, which was the last thing on his mind since he saw his first Walker. Merle was constantly whining about the lack of tail he was getting, but that was just Merle being Merle. Daryl had never been much of a ladies' man; he had enough trouble just thinking of what to say to one let alone how to woo one into his bed, which had only happened a few times when he reached the right amount of drunkenness. The right amount to be bold enough to try, but not enough to keep him from sealing the deal.

Even on the few occasions he was with a woman, he always felt like he was missing something. Other men he had listened too never seemed to stop talking about, or trying to get laid. To him, if felt only a little better than when he jerked off. He could not understand what the big deal was so he never really made a big deal about it; something Merle never missed a change to tease him about.

Now, he stood there, in the growing darkness, waiting a few more minutes until she had finished tying her boots and his heart had slowed to a closer normal rate. 'What the fuck?' he thought to himself. He was not used to having much of a reaction when it came to women, let alone a girl as young as he suspected is one to be. He now felt ashamed about that, as if he was now some sort of pervert. He shook his head, hoped the blush had left his face and walked back inside the campsite with his arms, as well as his jeans, filled with wood to some degree or another. He was thankful it was getting so dark; she would most likely not even notice the slowly shrinking bulge in his crotch area.

She was sitting there, knees up, arms wrapped protectively around them, staring at the ground in front of her, avoiding eye contact with him.

He followed her example, letting her choose the pace of how things would play out for a while, hoping it would give her some reassurance that he was not going to hurt her and had respect for her needs, so he kept his back to her, working on the fire. It also gave him enough time to completely lose the erection he had surprised himself with.

"You got a name?" he asked.

"Yeah" was her only answer, then a long pause.

"Feel like telling me what it is? Or I could just call you Baby Girl" he said half jokingly. He regretted the joke immediately.

"Gaelynn" was all she said.

"Heh, bet you caught hell in school," he had never heard the name before and due to his close association with his very bigoted brother, he mind focused on the 'Gay' part of her name.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she spat back at him.

"Gay" Lynn, you know….?"

His demeaning comment gave her just the right amount fury to fuel her confidence; she retorted "I find that very offensive" not liking the way this conversation was going. "My best friend was killed by Russell just a week ago, he was gay, and the kindest person I have ever met. If you have a problem with gays, you need to take it somewhere else!" she furiously barked back at him.

"Fucking forget it! I ain't saying another word" he returned, feeling attacked and deserving of every bit of it. But being a Dixon, he could not just let it go. "I help you and you ain't got the decency to cut me some slack." He snarled back at her, in a weak attempt at defending his actions.

This just was not like him at all. He lived most of his life not giving a shit what anyone thought about him, and here he was letting a little girl get to him, making him feel defensive, and ashamed. He felt stung.

There was a long silence. Then she said "What about you?'

"What about me?" he continued with his snarl.

"Name?"

"What do you care?" he replied.

She rolled her eyes and said nothing more. Let him sulk, she didn't care, as long as he kept his distance.

At this point, he finally had the fire going the way he wanted it, he stood, turned and for the first time, he looked at the girl he had rescued one minute, then began trading harsh comments with the next.

At that moment, feeling angry and stronger than she had all week, she finally glanced up at the face of the man who professed trying to help her, while at the same time, offended her, and snapped at her. Their eyes met, locked together and for a moment, neither of them felt the anger, the warmth of the fire, or the chill of the night.

They just stared at each other as the night sounds ticked around them.