The world was now over. People began eating each other. They would get shot in the chest and still try and eat you. Daryl had just found a group of people they had set up camp with. It wasn't ideal for them him and Merle to do since they usually kept to themselves but they knew they would have supplies which is why Merle planned to steal from them soon.
"We need some more supplies. We have to go into the city." Shane told the group of survivors.
"I'm going hunting." Daryl told him as it was his way of getting out of going with them.
"That's good. We need some more meat." Shane nodded.
After a few more moments of talking about who should go, the group came to a decision.
Daryl went back to where him and Merle was staying to collect his hunting equipment when Merle came over to him.
"Why you going with them?" Daryl asked his older brother.
"We need to build their trust before we rob them blind." Merle told him mysteriously.
"I guess. Don't die." Daryl told his brother before walking away.
"Trust me. I am not dying any time soon," With that, Merle went over to the other survivors who were going into the city with him.
Daryl went out into the woods and began to track down any animals he could find. It didn't take long before he found a few rabbits and squirrels. In the begin, everyone would complain about eating these animals but they had no time for their whining, they had to grow up.
Daryl was used to eating these animals. His father rarely fed him so instead of trying to find money to buy some food, him and Merle learned how to hunt animals. It didn't take long before they perfected hunting, skinning and cooking these meats. One of the people most against eating these animals were Lori but Daryl had to harshly remind her that what's happening in the world right now is fucking inhuman, since then she has kept quiet.
It has been nearly two hours since Daryl went out hunting and he decided it was time for him to go back. He had collected a good number of animals that would last them a few days, hopefully the others come back with good enough supplies. He seemed to be the only usefully one in the group. They didn't deserve hi-
Daryl's thoughts were cut short as he heard rustling in the bushes. He ducked down low and grabbed his cross bow, ready to shoot if needed. He peered through the grass and bushes to see a deer who was minding its own business.
'Too bad I have to kill it.' Daryl thought as he expertly raised his cross bow and shot the animal dead.
As he went to retrieve it, there was already them dead things chewing away at his kill and this pissed Daryl off. He had spent the past few hours hunting for food and this deer would have been amazing to eat right now but no. They had to sink their dirty little teeth into his prize.
He looked around to see the people he was at camp with crowded around the deer and looking disgusted. Daryl wasn't. He still didn't know why him and Merle stayed here with these weak people. They were scared of everything around them. Growing up the way he did, he was scared of little to nothing. He has been attacked by animals, slept outside, killed animals. Something these city folks wouldn't understand.
As he made his way back to the main camp, he began to look for his brother.
"Merle! Merle! Get your ass out here!" He called out but Shane began to stop him.
"Daryl... there was a problem back in Atlanta." Shane told him, avoiding eye contact.
"...He dead?"
"Not sure." Before Daryl could say anything else, another man jumped in.
"There's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it." He said as they stepped up to Daryl.
"Who are you?" Daryl asked and you can hear his frustration growing in his voice.
"Rick Grimms."
"Rick Grimms?" Daryl mocked. He really didn't care who he was just, he just wanted to know where his brother was. "You got something you wanna tell me?"
"Your brother was a danger to us all. So I handcuffed him to the roof, hooked up to a piece of metal. He's still there."
Everyone around them was silent. No one dared to step in. They were waiting for Daryl to explode.
"Hm, let me process this. So you handcuff my brother to the roof? And you left him there?!"
Rick felt bad when he saw the way Daryl was acting. He thought he lost his family and that tore him apart, he understood what Daryl was feeling.
Daryl began to pace up and down, not knowing what to do. How they going to go out with his brother and come back with some other guy? Not being able to stand there any longer, he threw the dead animals at the new comer but was instantly tackled by Shane. The three began to wrestle until Rick and Shane managed to restrict his movements after Daryl pulled out a knife.
After a while and more emotions, the group agreed to go back to get Merle as well as Rick's bag of guns. Daryl knew his brother was a handful but at the end of the day that's what he was, his brother. He's the only person who understood his pain. He knew that the only reason they agreed to go was for the guns but he didn't care. He was going to get his brother.
It didn't take long for them to get back into the city. Daryl just kept thinking to himself how he hoped his brother was fine. That the walkers hadn't gotten him. Once he got his brother, he didn't care if he wanted to rob them blind, he would do it as long as they did it together.
The raced up to the roof, Daryl calling out his brother's name desperately waiting for a response. Everyone paused when they saw all was left was a bloody saw, the handcuffs and one lone hand. Putting the pieces together Daryl let out an angry cry.
"Nooo! Noo!" Daryl couldn't believe it. His brother was gone. The only family he had left was gone. T-Dog, Rick and Glenn just watch the man cry out into nothing and you can see the guilt in their faces. They never meant for this to happen.
The blood made Daryl's sadness turn to anger and he swung around and pointed his cross bow at T-Dog but instantly a gun was at his own head.
"I won't hesitate. I don't care if every walker in this city hears it." Rick threated the emotionally damaged man but they all eventually lowered their weapons.
Daryl decided it was a good idea to carry the severed hand with him much to Glenn's disgust. They followed the bloody trail from Merle's lost limb which lead them to a kitchen. Inside was the smell of burnt flesh and blood.
Despite the odds being against him, Daryl believed that Merle Dixon was still alive.
"I'm going after him." Daryl tried to leave but he was pushed back by the sheriff.
"I know how you feel but he can't have gotten that far. We can check around a few blocks but that's only if you keep a level head." Rick said.
"I can do that." Daryl nodded.
Hearing this made T-Dog feel uneasy. "Only if we get them guns first. I am not strolling through the streets of Atlanta with just my good intention."
All of a sudden, they heard a gun.
"Who are you?"
Rick looked ahead and saw a young woman standing in front of him with a gun pointed at them. He could see the nervousness in her face as her eyes darted back and forth between the men.
"Why don't you lower the gun for a second. Let's talk it out, we don't need to be pulling weapons on each other." Rick told the woman, using his police work to get the woman to lower her weapon.
"Tell me who you are first." She told them firmly.
'Forget this.' Daryl thought and he spun around and pointed his crossbow at her. He was not going to let someone threaten them when he needed to go find his brother.
"Wait... Daryl?" The woman said. Everyone looked between the two, wondering how they knew each other. For what Merle said to T-Dog, they though Daryl was the same so this was a shock.
"Ebony?"
The men stared at the two who couldn't turn their gaze away from each other making them wonder what past they shared. Rick decided to break the intense staring.
"Do you know each other?" Rick asked, his blue eyes darting back and forth between them.
The girl, now who's name they guessed was Ebony, turned her hazel eyes to look at the man in sheriff uniform.
"You can say that."
I know this seems a bit rushed but I wanted to set the tone also I had to go back and watch the first few episodes since I forgot the things that happened in the beginning. Next chapter will be better.
Until next time
-TBG
