Daryl's POV
After Daryl fell down the hill the second time he managed to hit his head once more. He heard Ann give a small yelp of pain and then another splash. He just couldn't get his eyes open.
"Daryl?" He heard her worried voice calling to him. He then felt her press her fingers against his neck for a pulse.
'No shit Ah'm alive!' He thought to himself still unable to get his body to respond to his brain.
"Babe come on! Wake up!" Daryl felt her open one of his eyes but he still couldn't wake up.
'huh maybe Ah'm dead…' Daryl thought to himself in despair. 'Did she just call me Babe? If Ah wasn't practically dead right now I'd probably…'
"And of course you're concussed…" Ann sounded slightly worried and annoyed.
'Well after that knock to the head not surprised…why am I still talking to myself? Not like she can hear me…'
Daryl felt a light slap to his cheeks and finally was shocked out of his slump with a groan. He managed to open his eyes blearily and look up at Ann. She appeared to be relieved when he opened his eyes but she was still worried about him.
"Daryl can you walk?" Ann asked him but all he could focus on was why there were two Ann's in front of him. He did notice that Ann rubbed her face while looking around the creek in worry. "Daryl I hate ta do this, but I'm going to try and see if there's a spot that is less hard ta climb up for us. Ah'll be back as soon as Ah can…"
'NO! Please don't leave me here alone!' Daryl's mind cried out in terror but he still couldn't get his mouth to work properly.
"Ah'm going to put this in the wound on yer scalp. It's gonna hurt like hell and give ya a stinging sensation wheneva ya move. This way it keeps ya from falling asleep. Ya got a concussion can't have ya sleeping."
Daryl hissed in pain when he felt something touch the wound on his head. He couldn't help glaring up at her from the pain and she sighed.
"Glare all ya want, at least yer awake…" Ann then gave him a sad look and started off down the creek missing the panicked expression on his face.
'No Ann! Please come back!' Daryl bit his lip trying to call out but the words still wouldn't come until she was out of sight. "Come back…" He whispered hoarsely unfortunately she was too far away to hear it and he sighed in despair.
Daryl blinked his eyes open and saw his brother come into his line of sight. Merle looked down at him without any compassion, and even made it look like he thought he was an idiot.
'Why don't ya pull that arrow out dummy? Then ya can tend yer wound betta!' Merle snapped at him and Daryl grunted and moved slightly.
"Ann said ta keep it in. Stopping blood from flowing." Daryl grumbled in pain and Merle stood up with a sneer.
'Uh huh little brother's choosing ta listen ta his little bitch instead o his brotha!'
"She ain't a bitch…she's mah wife now…" Merle snorted in laughter.
'So what's going on with you? You taking a siesta?'
"I've seen betta days bro…" Daryl muttered out loud and Merle snickered again.
'You want me ta get ya pillow? Maybe rub yer feet fer ya?'
"Screw you…" Daryl groaned in pain again.
'Yer the one that's screwed from the looks of it…' Merle shook his head in mock concern. 'All those years trying ta make a man outta you. Look at ya lyin' in the dirt like a mutt. Yer going ta die out here little brother, and for what?' Merle teased the fallen man and Daryl nearly growled in anger.
"Ann's coming back fer me…" Daryl sighed in pain again. "Searching fer a little girl…"
'oh you got a thing fer little girls now?'
"Shut up…" Daryl glared at his brother in anger.
'That little bitch ain't coming back fer ya. Hell she's probably geek chow by now!'
"Ann's dealt with worst…" Daryl argued trying not to sound worried about what his brother said.
'Yeah yer right, she's probably back at the ranch house right now with that chink. Laughing behind yer back…' Merle glared down at him. 'So yer looking fer a girl and git injured like this and couldn't even ta bother looking fer yer own brother…'
"Ah looked fer ya…" Daryl argued back.
'Ya lit out first chance ya got…' Merle glared again at his little brother.
"So did you…all you had to do was wait…" Daryl snapped angrily back thinking about how he almost lost Ann because he was roaming the streets of Atlanta for this idiot above him.
'Yer a joke ta them. Nothing but redneck trash. Hell only reason that girl of yers is with ya is because lack of option…'
"Fuck you…Ah love her…" Daryl bit out acidly and Merle blinked almost in surprise.
'Love…? You think what you share with that girl is love?' Merle smirked vapidly at Daryl. 'What the hell do ya know about love little brother?' Merle asked with another snicker.
"More than you, asshole…"
'Hey…they ain't yer kin. I'm the only one that gives two shits about you…'
Daryl groaned in pain and blinked his eyes open some more realizing something. He married Ann, Rick was now his brother-in-law, Lori was his sister-in-law, and Carl was his nephew and seeing this information he glowered up at his brother and his eyes sparked up a bit.
"Yes they are…" Daryl growled and blinked in confusion as Merle stood up with a smirk and a nod of his head.
'Bout damn time kid, now let's get yer ass moving.'
Daryl felt something tugged at his leg and opened his eyes and saw a Walker gnawing on his hunting boot. Holy big ass wakeup call Batman! Daryl's instincts kicked into overdrive and he kicked the walker away in fear and adrenaline filled his body. He reached around and grabbed a sharp rock and slammed it into the walkers head until it was dead. Across the water Daryl saw another walker coming for him and he was out of weapons. He looked to his side and saw the arrow.
'Well that's going ta hurt like hell!' Daryl thought to himself as he quickly pulled the arrow through the wound and managed to arm the crossbow and he shot the walker dead. Daryl saw the walker fall less than five feet away from him and he felt the cold burn in his lungs and started to breath trying to calm down. Finally after catching his breath Daryl sat up more awake and alert than he had been in a while. He too off the outer shirt he was wearing and bunched it into a wad of cloth and put it against his wound. He then tied something around it securing it into place. He scoffed in disbelief and shook his head.
"The sumbitch was right…" Though Daryl wondered why Merle had looked down at him that last second with what appeared to be pride.
Daryl felt and heard his stomach growl needing attention and he grabbed up the squirrel he had caught earlier. He used his hunting knife to cut the thing open and he delved his fingers into the flesh and pulled out some and ate it like that. After eating Daryl grabbed the doll up again and secured it once more. He even decided to take some trophies from his recent kills and made a necklace with the walkers ears.
Daryl glared at the hill again and sighed determined to beat this bitch of a dirt clomp. He started to climb again and managed to get back up to where he and Ann had fallen the second time.
'Please don't feed the birds…'
Daryl looked back up and scowled seeing Merle up at the top of the hill again.
'Aw what's a matter Darlene?' Merle teased his brother again starting to get on his nerves. 'That all you got in you?' Merle snickered nastily. 'What the hell that little sweet thing sees in you is beyond me little brother…' Merle stood up straighter and shook his head. 'Hell you and I both know Ah could've made her squeal more times than either of us could count!'
Daryl felt his blood boiling at the thought of his brother even remotely touching Ann.
"Ya stay the fuck away from her…"
'Hmm…' Merle grinned sinisterly worrying Daryl. 'Ah wonder if she likes the concept of blood play?' Merle let out a laugh as Daryl's face paled in fear.
"YER NOT GOING TO FUCKING TOUCH HER!"
'Yeah and what're ya going to do ta stop me? Yer down there and Ah'm up here…'
Daryl's eyes started to bleach white in fury and he felt anger course through his veins. He propelled himself up the rest of the hill with unnatural speed.
"You'd betta hope Ah don't git up there!" Daryl bit out angrily and saw merle smirk at him.
'Hold on little brother. Let me give ya hand…' And Daryl reached up snatching the hand in front of him.
"Daryl?" Ann's worried voice moved through his brain. "Dang idiot Ah told ya Ah was coming back!" She scolded him but he couldn't be bothered with it right now. Instead of hugging her, or kissing her he passed her up and looked around for somebody. "Uhm Daryl?" He heard her ask worriedly but he still looked for Merle.
"Yeah you betta run!" He hollered acidly and Ann 's eyes widened in worry.
"Hon, who're ya talking to?" She asked quietly and he looked back at her.
"Merle!" He answered plainly and Ann pursed her lips together and just nodded in acceptance.
"Okay then…now where is the arrow?" She asked seeing that the arrow was no longer in his side. All he did was point down the hill. Ann looked and paled seeing two dead walkers one with the arrow in its head. "Oh that makes sense…" She offered quietly and looked back at Daryl again. "And uhm, whose blood is on yer face?" She asked worriedly.
"Ah got hungry and ate the squirrel…" He saw the look of disgust on her face. "What? You think it's disgusting Ah ate it raw?"
"No, here Ah am risking life and limb to git back ta you and ya don't even save me any!" Ann pouted sadly then. "Ah'm hungry too." Daryl scoffed, shook his head and walked past her. He stopped and sent her an animalistic grin.
"Ah can give ya something betta to eat…" Ann raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged. "Of course Ah need ta heal up first. Woke up to a damn walker gnawing on my boot like a damn dog!" Ann put Daryl's arm around her shoulders again as she helped move down the trail again. She snickered lightly and he glared at her.
"Hey at least he didn't gnaw on mah favorite parts…" Ann offered and Daryl blushed before he kissed her cheek getting some of the squirrel blood on her face.
They moved farther down path and Ann finally noticed something else.
"Uhm, Daryl is that an Ear Necklace?" She asked awkwardly and he gave her a grimace.
"Yeah so?" He really didn't want to say anything that would make her think he was more of a freak than the believed.
"Ah've seen weirder shit…" Ann admitted and Daryl looked at her oddly.
"Yeah? Like what?" He asked before Ann pointed to the brambles that still had the walker head hissing in it. Daryl looked at it and back to Ann. "You do that?" He asked and she nodded before pointing some more. He had to admit that was pretty fucking hilarious that the walkers head got caught in the brush and was snarling and hissing at them.
"And that." She showed him the two walkers that were still stuck in a grotesque fashion. "Oh and that…" Ann pointed again to the walkers bodies down the hill and Daryl smirked wolfishly at her.
'Damn not only is that hot, but Merle's dead wrong she's perfect fer me.'
"Oh yeah, yer a Dixon all right." He snorted in laughter then groaned in pain. Together they helped support each other back to the damn ranch house.
Regular POV
When they finally saw the damn ranch house through the final part of the woods Ann looked over and saw something that made her growl in annoyance.
"What's up?" Daryl asked and she pointed to the horse that she had been riding.
"That damn thing still has mah weapons! Hold on Ah'll be right back!" Ann moved closer to the animal and grabbed her weapons off of the animal who looked apologetic that it had left her and bucked her off. "Don't do it again…" She warned the horse who nodded almost understanding her words. She smirked and pet the animal on its nose again. Both she and the horse jumped at a random sound that exploded from nowhere. "That sound like a gunshot to you?" She asked the horse who nodded again. "Okay yer a weird horse…" Ann turned around and saw Daryl wasn't where she had left him and dread filled her body. "Daryl?" She hollered worriedly and ran through the brush with the horse behind her.
Ann skidded to a halt after yelling for Daryl and saw Rick pale faced staring back at her in horror. Shane, and T-Dog were equally white with fright at seeing her. Ann looked down at Rick's feet and saw Daryl lying with a gunshot wound to the side of his head. That was the last thing she saw before the color red entered her vision. The demonic look she shot her brother made him back up in fear.
"Who took the shot?" She snarled venomously making Shane's eyes widen in terror as they heard thudding feet coming from the direction of the ranch house. Ann was pulled away from her anger seeing Hershel Green approaching and noticed Dale and Andrea running towards them also. Ann's eyes narrowed dangerously the only one that could have taken such a shot was whoever was holding something with a decent scope system. And she was looking at the only one holding that kind of weapon. Ann's eyes blazed with fury as she went running towards Andrea with murderous intent. Rick paled in fear.
"Shane, T-Dog stop her!" He yelled urgently. Both T-Dog and Shane stood shoulder to shoulder ready to stop Ann from getting to Andrea who had skidded to a stop from her run.
Ann was way too fucking pissed off to let those two stop her from getting to her target. And with a blast of angered adrenaline Ann barreled through Shane and T-Dog knocking them over and proceeded to tackle Andrea from the waist up with a roar of a guaranteed and bloody ass kicking. Ann landed blow after blow with her fist into Andrea's body and then she gripped the girl around her throat.
"HERSHEL SEDATE HER! SHE AIN'T STOPPING TIL ANDREA'S DEAD!" Shane yelled at the older man who took out a syringe and stuck it into Ann's neck. Ann started to tip back so Rick took her shoulders. He lifted her up after T-Dog managed to pry her fingers from Andrea's throat. Andrea sat up with the help of Dale and she rubbed her sore throat and coughed.
Daryl woke up with a grimace but at least he felt better than he had. He looked over and saw Ann's body beside him on the bed he was on. He sat up and grimaced in pain when his stitches pulled slightly.
"Ann…?" He questioned carefully.
"She's going to be out for a while…"
Daryl looked over worriedly at Rick who was sitting in the chair near the window.
"What the hell happened to her?" Daryl asked angrily and Rick smirked at the younger man.
"She just about killed Andrea for you kid."
"What?" Daryl asked confused and Rick shook his head.
"Ann saw you on the ground with the gunshot wound. She figured out who took the shot and she did an impressive rendition of the last play done by the linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons." Rick stood up and mussed up his little sisters hair. "We had to sedate her because she wasn't letting Andrea go without taking her down with her." Rick let out a small huff of laughter when Daryl looked over at Ann silently and lightly touched her cheek in love. "Okay listen kid, watch the public displays of affection around me and Ah'll leave ya alone…what'd you say?"
"I say yer not as much as an idiot as Ah thought…" Daryl admitted with a groan of pain. Rick nodded in agreement.
"And I say she could've done a helluva lot worse than you…"
"Like it or not Sheriff Idiot, it's her fault we're brothers now…" Daryl smirked vapidly at Rick who rolled his eyes with a smirk and exited the room.
After Kim took the two of them some of the food they had made for the dinner and kissed Daryl on his forehead in a motherly fashion she exited hearing Ann groan indicating she was waking up.
"Ugh what the hell hit me?" Ann grumbled blinking her eyes open.
"That would be the sedative they gave ya ta stop ye from killing the blond bitch…"
Ann's eyes widened and looked over in surprise. Tears filled her eyes when she saw Daryl alive and awake.
"Daryl…?" She asked quietly and he brushed her hair and she kissed him heatedly. "Ah thought Ah lost you…" She felt tears falling down her cheeks. "Ah thought she killed you…" Ann let out a small sob. "Ah didn't want to live anymore…" She kissed him again Daryl sighed into the kiss in realization.
"Ya ain't getting rid of me that easily darlin'. Though it might be a while before we can have that damn crossbow 'lesson'." Daryl started to feel bad because Ann had been scared thinking he was gone. She even tried to take out the blond psycho bitch for him.