Day 248

Stuffing the last of the cans of food into the box in front of him, Daryl looked around. This was a small camp. So small that the people that lived in it had not even bothered to put up any resistance. Neegan had beaten one of it's members half to death in front of the others anyway. The man lay wheezing on the ground with his head in his daugter's lap.

The days of robbing a camp and having the women that lived there volunteer to go with them were long over. Now women huddled together in fear and stared with wide frightened eyes, watching and wondering if they were going to be hauled off with the supplies that were being taken.

Daryl walked off with the heavy box under his arm. He stuffed it into the bed of the truck. Then he leaned against the side of the truck and lit up a smoke. Carson waked over and shoved another box in behind the one that Daryl loaded. Daryl tapped another smoke out of his pack and handed it to the man. He took it gratefully, leaning down to light it and then pushing his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose.

"We don't even need this shit," Daryl said, turning to look at the boxes stuffed in the back of the truck. Carson shrugged.

"Goin' to be a long winter, colder than Georgia. Might need it later," he countered. Daryl nodded. He guessed the man was right. But it had just felt different, stealing food when they were starving. Now they were stealing the shit just to pack it away in a storage closet somewhere. It didn't feel right. And the group they were robbing today was a particularly pathetic bunch. Old people and women mostly. The only fighters they had were teenage boys trying to protect their mothers and sisters. If Daryl had his way, he would have taken the whole lot of them and driven them over to Hilltop.

Carson kicked his leg up, resting his foot on the rim of the tire behind him. Daryl didn't stare at the man, but he did look at him. He looked like he had aged ten years in the last few months. Missing his brother was taking a toll on him. It was taking a toll on all of them. Harlan had not just been the doctor of the group, he had been the heart and soul of it as well. He would have spoken up for the people they were robbing today. He had always been the one that was willing to speak up when he thought Neegan was taking things too far. Now that he was gone, no one else bothered.

"Miss your brother?," Daryl asked. Carson took another drag off the cigarette he was holding between his fingers. Then he nodded.

"Is it that obvious?," he asked.

"Nah, I just know how you feel," Daryl said. Except my brother's dead, yours just isn't here because hates us. Carson held out his fist for Daryl to bump his into. This gesture was really the only form of affection the man ever offered. Carson opened his mouth to say something else, but he was interuppted by a loud scream coming from inside the small camp they were robbing. The two men tossed their smokes and ran back in the direction they had come from.

By the time Daryl covered the short distance back from the truck, shit was already going to hell. David, that fucking perve, had one of the younger women from the camp on the ground. Her shirt was ripped open and she was crying. Tara had her baton out, yelling for him to get off the girl. Mike was yelling for Neegan, who apparently had conveniently wandered off in the middle of the raid to take a shit. Carson got between Tara and the man on the ground before the situation got really ugly.

"You know that shit's against the rules man," Carson reminded the man, "no raping."

"Neegan said no raping the girls back at camp," David insisted, "he never said anything about random bitches out on the road." All Neegan had told him was to keep his fucking hands off his wives. And this wasn't one of his wives. This whore was fair fucking game as far as David was concerned. She wasn't bad looking either, he was ready to have himself a good time with her.

"Get the fuck off her now," Tara hollered. She brandished her baton in her hand and stepped around Carson, who moved, figuring at this point the fucker had been warned. He was going either going to let the girl go or get what he deserved. Daryl watched all this, pointing his bow at the man in case he decided to pull his gun on Tara. If he made that move, it was going to be his last. "This is your last warning," Tara said, "let her go."

"Fuck you," David told the woman. Then he used one hand to start unzipping his pants. The girl under him lay still while the argument was happening, but now she was thrashing around, trying to get away. Tara darted towards him the man like a damn anaconda. No matter how many times Daryl saw her move that fast, it never failed to impress him. She hit David across the face with her baton. And since all his teeth didn't fly out of his mouth, Daryl knew she had checked herself. She had not hit him as hard as she could. Just given him a little love tap really.

"Want to try hitting a woman that hits back for a change?," she asked him. David let go of the girl, who backed away quickly, trying to put her ripped up shirt back together. Then he got to his feet, moving like he was really going to try and hit Tara. She darted in, smacking him hard in the back of one of his knees and then dancing out of his reach. He swore, grabbing at the spot where she hit him and almost falling flat on his face. That's when he got his gun out. He pointed the gun at Tara.

"You bitch," he swore.

"Put it down," Mike said. Now he had his gun pointed at the man. David looked around and saw that Daryl and Carson also had their sights set on him.

"This is some bullshit," David complained. Daryl was considering just shooting the man. Most people at camp didn't like him. He was lazy. The only reason he had made it this far was that he sucked up to Neegan every chance he got.

"What in the holy fucking hell is going on!," Neegan boomed out. His voice echoed through the woods, making flocks of birds flap off into the air.

"This fucker grabbed one of those women and started trying to rape her," Tara announced, pointing at David. Neegan walked into the camp and strode over to David. They all lowered their weapons without having to be told. No one pointed a gun at Neegan. He put his arm around the man's shoulders, friendly at first. Then he punched him hard in the gut. David hunched forward, the air whistling out of him in a whoosh.

"Go sit in the fucking truck," Neegan told him. David looked like he was thinking about arguing with the big man for a moment, but then he thought better of it and limped off towards the truck. Tara watched him go, mumbling curses under her breath. Neegan ignored her and grabbed another box, heading for the truck with it. This was the cue for everyone to finish loading up and stop horsing around. Tara leaned down to pick up a box. The girl David had on the ground caught hold of her wrist.

"Thank you," she said. Tara nodded. Daryl was watching. He glanced back towards the path, making sure Neegan was out of sight. Then he knelt down and spoke quietly to the girl.

"Start walking southeast. There's a town there. They take people in." He didn't wait for a response from the girl. He just picked up the box he was reaching for and picked it up like he had never said anything at all. But Tara heard him. A small smile waas playing at the corners of her mouth. He could hear it now in her teasing voice. She's a pretty one, going soft Dixon? He ignored her and headed for the truck. The last thing he was doing was going soft.