Here is another little chapter for y'all. Sorry I haven't been posting much, but I have some thing's going on in real life that have to come first. I'll post more when I can, so please be patient with me. Thanks.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own any of The Walking Dead characters and I'm NOT making any money off of them! I only claim the OC characters I created for this story.
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CARYL ON!
"Man...ya gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me!" Merle exclaimed, banging his fist on the glass of the door to the apartment building they had pulled up to. Having lead them to where he said they would be able to find more shit then they could carry, they were now at a dead end. He hadn't been honest with them, he wasn't sure at all what they would have found inside, but there was one apartment he had his mind on hitting up. One single apartment that held everything he had come to get. But with the security locks set in place on the doors along with the metal security gate closed and bolted shut, their was no way they were getting in any time soon.
Kicking at the door and turning, Merle fumed, his face red in both anger and from the sweltering heat. Pacing the sidewalk, he breathed heavy, trying to think of where else he could hit up for a quick fix.
Glenn, Morales, Andrea, T-Dog and Jacqui all stood back watching, unsure of how to settle the man, or even really wanting to help settle him. He had made it clear on the way into the city, he was a racist asshole and not one of them really trusted him now.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Andrea sighed and looked at the others, "Maybe we should head up the street...to that department store. There's a cafe next door to it, we could check both for food and clothes."
"Whatever we decide, we need ta get off the street," T-Dog said as he pointed up the way to the geeks that were heading down towards them.
"We can take the alley way...there's a back entrance," Glenn pipped in as they all began to move.
Glancing back over his shoulder, Morales called out to Merle, "Come on, Dixon...we'll hit up others places. We gotta get out of here."
Huffing, Merle saw the geeks headed towards him and snarled. He was in a foul mood and being with these people wasn't helping matters. Shaking his head, he glanced back at the door and then took off, following the others into the alley. Once they came to the back of the department store, he stood by and watched as the large black man used a pry bar to open the door and they all went inside.
The back room they found themselves in was empty of humans...and the dead. The only things there being boxes of merchandise that hadn't been put out yet. They made there way through to the front of the store before hunkering down out of sight of the front doors and the geeks outside on the street.
Looking at everyone, Glenn breathed out, "Okay, let's spread out, get what we can carry and get the hell out of here. And whatever you do, stay quiet and out of sight."
Looking around some, Jacqui shook her head, "We ain't gonna find a lot here, Glenn. Just maybe some clothes, that's all."
"Place should have some tool's...maybe even a break room," T-Dog whispered, his eyes darting around. "Could find something of use."
Merle scanned the room, but remembered seeing stairs back in the stock room. Resting his rifle on his shoulder, he glared at them, "You fucker's do what ya want. I'm gonna check out upstairs and the roof."
"We need to stick close," Glenn whispered, his tone firm.
"Fuck you. I'm better on my own," Merle said and headed off.
Shaking his head, Morales sighed, "Jacqui, you go with T...Andrea stick with me and Glenn. We'll take this half, T...you two take the other half of the building. We'll meet back here in fifteen minutes."
"Gotcha," T said as he stood back up and ushered Jacqui to the other end of the building.
"I'm gonna check the next floor," Glenn said with a raise of his brow. "There should be windows up there and I'll be able to see if we can get to the cafe from here or if we are gonna have to find somewhere else to hit for food."
Frowning, Morales looked at Andrea and then back to Glenn but he nodded, "Alright. Just watch yourself though, Glenn, and radio me if you need help. And watch for Merle...I don't trust him."
"None of use do," Andrea frowned and then pulled her gun from the back of her pants. "Should have left his ass back at camp."
"We need him," Glenn said with a shrug. "Shane said he's got military training...would be good incase we ran into trouble."
"Dixon is nothing but trouble...same as his brother. Shane shouldn't have ever let them into camp," Andrea replied and then stood up, looking towards the front doors of the store. Seeing there was more geeks, her eyes grew wide, "Shit..."
Both men stood up, looking to the front of the store and backed up some. Morales was the first to speak up, keep his voice low, "Best hurry up and get the hell out of here. Those doors ain't gonna hold them out too long if they get sight of us."
Glenn nodded to both of them and took off in the direction Merle had gone, leaving them to check out the rest of the store. Taping Andrea's arm with the back of his hand to get her attention, Morales silently motioned for them to moved to the other side of the building to see what they might be able to find.
Kneeling down and putting his knife back in it's sheath, Daryl eyed the plants in front of him and then looked off around the wooded area. He had been out most of the day, following the tracks of animals and even bagging a good many rabbits and squirrels to take back to camp. He was still at least an hour away when he came to the small stream and refilled his water bottle. The day was hot, sweat covering his body and causing his clothes to stick to him. One thing he didn't ever think would change about living in Georgia was the heat.
Checking the area once more, he began pulling a few leaves and brought them up to his nose, smelling them. Satisfied, he took more, gathering all he could. Once he had a good handful, he pulled a plastic bag he had brought with him from his pocket and put the leaves in.
Daryl was a man of the woods, having spent most of his life there, he had learned to live off the land. As a young boy, he had spent long summers with his grandfather and Merle out hunting for their dinner and learning all he could from the man. He was taught the old ways, how to make your own medicines from the plants that grew around you. He had never trusted the chemical drugs doctors and hospital seemed to want to shove down your throats. His brother though was the exact opposite. Merle craved his pills. Daryl had also leaned to hunt and track his food during that same time, a skill he perfected as he got older.
Daryl had a code he stuck to and seldom changed. He trusted no one, including his own brother at times, didn't take shit off anyone and would defend himself if he felt threatened or if someone he cared about was being threatened. He was blunt, sometimes to the point of making people think he was an asshole when all he was doing was being upfront with them. He didn't beat around the bush, that was what he called the pussy way out of things. But one thing only his brother knew about him was at times he had a soft heart like their own mother had.
Being the younger of the two brothers had it's advantages when they were younger and their mother was alive. Most of the shit he got into he got away with or it had been blamed on Merle. But when she died, that had changed. Merle had protected Daryl from their abusive father for a few years after her death until Merle couldn't take the beatings any longer and joined the army.
Richard Dixon had been a drunk most of Daryl's life. Daryl couldn't remember a time when he hadn't seen the man without a drink of some sort in his hand. He had worked in a saw mill until a year before his wife. Merle and Daryl's mother, died. But it was the closing of the mill that had brought hard times down on the family and Richard blamed his wife and children for it. He ignored the boys most of the time, not caring that they were his own flesh and blood. He would drink all day and at night would go out and find some whore to take care of his needs. When he would come home though, all hell would break loose.
On many occasions Daryl and Merle would be woken up late at night by their parents yelling at one another. Daryl being ten years younger then Merle would climb into his brothers bed, scared. Merle would tuck him behind him, against the wall and form a human shield to protect his little brother. But as they got older, the boys took to leaving out the window and heading into the woods until the yelling had stopped and the light's went out.
But once Merle and his mother were both gone, Daryl took the brunt of his fathers anger. Many night's Daryl avoided Richard, keeping to his room and hiding out until he passed out on the floor or in his room. Daryl would then sneak out to the kitchen to find something to eat and quietly head back to his room. Other times, Richard would kick in his door, causing Daryl to startle. It only served to egg on Richard's aggressive behavior. Several night's though, the beating were so bad Daryl passed out from the pain, only to wake up the next morning on the floor with several open gashes to his back, leg's or chest from his father's belt. The last time though, Daryl had been beaten so bad both eyes were swollen shut, his lip busted wide open, two of his ribs were cracked and he had two burn marks on his left thigh from his fathers cigarette's.
Clenching his jaw, Daryl starred at the plants, his grandfather's voice coming back to him like it tended to when shit seemed to bother Daryl:
"These leaves, they're good for alotta stuff, Daryl...ya hear me boy?" his grandfather's thick accented voice would tell him. "See, whatcha do is ya pick these here leaves then dry 'em out. Then ya make a tea with 'em."
"Why, gramps?" Daryl asked, looking wide eyed up at the old man.
"Well, so's ya can make ya a tea wit 'em. Ya see here, say ya get ya self sick...ya know, pukin' and shit...well, this hear will settle ya stomach. The women folk like it when they gonna have a pup...keeps the sickness away when they wake up." Looking around him, the old man smirked, "The woods is ya doctor, boy...ain't nothin' here that ya can't use ta make ya'self better or ta survive wit. Ya respect her...and she'll take care of ya ass. Now, let's go make us a fire and I'll show ya how ta make this here tea up."
Remembering his grandfather's word's, Daryl took in a deep breath and looked down, remembering the old man. It had hurt deeply when he had died, but Daryl had carried everything his gramps had ever taught him with him. Collecting all the leaves from the plants that he could, he tied the bag onto the string of small animals he'd killed and began his track up the hill towards the quarry.
