The Places We Hide

Chapter 3

Pairing: Daryl x OC

Rating: M

Location: The Quarry

Someone was standing outside Harper's tent and attempting to knock or at least get her attention. She unzipped the flap and saw Daryl's boots. Looking up at him, Daryl jerked his head to the side, motioning towards the trees, keeping his eyes away from hers. He immediately started to walk away, not checking to see if Harper was coming or not.

Grinning, Harper scurried to pull her shoes on and follow him. They walked just out of the sight of camp before Daryl stopped and turned to face her.

"What're we doing out here?"

"Ya gotta know how ta use that knife." That was all he said to her, but it still brought a smile to her face. She was sure he saw her interaction with Shane the day before. Maybe this was his way of distracting her. In his gruff way, he was trying to look out for her, maybe even make her feel better.

Harper looked him over again like she usually did. He was dirty but so was everyone else in their camp. Daryl was different though; he was no stranger to hard work. The calluses on his hands were testament to his dedication to his bow and his hard life before this.

His eyes seemed to narrow, realizing she was sizing him up. Daryl wasn't an idiot like some thought; he actually seemed pretty insightful, but having a brother like Merle didn't encourage people to look past the surface to see what he was like.

"Ya done makin' yer googly eyes?" He snapped, but it didn't have much bite to it. Seeing that he was getting more uncomfortable the longer she stared at him, Harper had mercy and nodded.

Daryl spent the morning showing her how to use the knife, which positions she could hold it in, different ways to use it on walkers and other people.

"Why would I use it on someone still alive?"

"The world ended, Harper. Use yer head. Yer gonna have somethin' someone else wants." Harper hadn't thought about other survivors being a threat until now. She saw Shane as a threat but not anyone else. It was eye opening, but it reiterated to her how much she needed help in this new world. She was still naive to how people acted when their hand was forced and supplies were scarce. Daryl didn't seem to have a problem calling it like it was; people could be as much of an enemy as walkers were.

In her head, she'd thought that survivors would just band together whenever they found each other, all striving towards a common goal. But the more she thought about it, the more Daryl was right. Rotten people were around before; they probably were still here too, ready to take advantage of the next person to cross their path.

The two were at it for a couple of hours when Daryl finally called it quits.

"Ya did good," He said, walking back to the camp. He was so blunt. Harper held back a laugh and jogged after him, reholstering her knife along the way. When they got back, she went to grab her book and read a little bit of it while she still had the downtime. It seemed the camp was taking the day to relax instead of doing their usual chores. Daryl saw her choice of literature and snorted.

"Ain't that the book about the cannibal?"

"You've read Hannibal?" Harper asked, surprised.

"Nah, just heard of it. Don't think I'd like it much." Daryl dipped his head and went inside his tent.

With his abrupt departure, Harper turned and walked to the grove of trees by her tent. She sat down at the base of one and went to open the book to where she'd ear marked it, but she stopped when she saw a familiar face pacing behind her, wearing a new path in the dirt. Harper was surprised to still see Glenn at the camp.

"I thought you were leaving this morning," She called over to him, drawing his attention to her. Glenn looked pissed. He stopped what he was doing and threw himself down next to her on the ground, crossing his arms.

"I was but Shane stopped me. He said we needed to wait and send a bigger group on the run so we could bring more supplies back."

"Okay… What has you so upset?" Harper asked, not quite understanding why this was making Glenn so mad. He threw his hands up in the air like it should be obvious to her.

"I've never taken someone else with me out there, let alone a group. I don't know how to keep everyone safe!" He cried. The light bulb in Harper's head went off. She closed her book and let it rest in her lap. Placing a gentle hand on his knee, Harper gave it a soft squeeze.

"Glenn, you'll be fine and so will the others. You're a pro at going on runs; just tell everyone what's expected of them. Do you know who's going with you yet?" Glenn shook his head, taking a deep breath to try to calm back down. He flushed a little, seeing Harper's hand still on him. She let it fall back in her lap and waited for him to continue.

"Shane's going to get volunteers soon, and then we'll leave tomorrow morning."

Harper looked over to see if Daryl was still in his tent, but she just barely caught a glimpse of him disappearing into the trees again. She was curious to see if he would try to go on the run; he'd probably be a big asset to have. With Glenn's sense of direction and Daryl's reflexes and hunting skills, they could make a pretty successful team.

"Everybody! Can I get your attention?" Shane called to the camp. Scratch what she'd just thought; looks like Daryl would be missing the enlistment. Harper stood and moved to the front of the gathering group with Glenn beside her.

"Glenn is going on a run tomorrow, and we need a group of volunteers to go with him. We're running low on supplies, and Glenn has done great getting what we need, but we need more hands to go with him," Shane announced to everyone.

Harper watched a few people hesitantly raise their hands. Glenn groaned softly when he saw people actually volunteering to go with him.

"I'll go too," Harper said, lifting her hand. Shane's eyes shot over to her, glare in place.

"You're not going."

"Why not? You just said we needed people to go, and this way I can find the supplies we need for our first aid kit instead of making Glenn look."

"You're not going, end of story." Harper went to snap back, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Well if little Miss Nurse cain't go, I'll go in 'er place," Merle called, winking down at Harper. She shrugged his hand off, but Shane accepted him instead of her. Shocked, Harper spun on her heel and headed into the trees towards the quarry.

Fuck Shane and his stupid pride. He was keeping her from going just to punish her for standing up to him. She knew it was childish, but she felt the sudden desire to throw a tantrum, kick the dirt, something!

Harper slowed down when she got closer to the water. Maybe a quick swim would lighten her mood before she had to get back to the others. She went to step out from behind the trees but stopped when she noticed someone else already there.

Daryl.

Harper moved quietly like he taught her until she was close enough to make sure it was him. He had his shirt cast aside and was cupping water in his hands to splash over his arms and chest to clean up.

It wasn't his shirtless body that grabbed her attention, even though her eyes definitely took a minute to look him over, but it was his scarred back. She went to back away and let him have his privacy, but she stepped back right into a bush, stumbling to the ground next to it.

Daryl was quick to grab his bow and spin around, aim locked on her. Seeing her sprawled on the ground, made him lower it, but his face was tense and guarded. His eyes were like ice, chilling her to the bone.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude; I was leaving when I fell."

"How long ya been there?" He asked, tersely, pulling his sleeveless shirt on.

"I saw your back if that's what you're wanting to know." Daryl breathed heavily and turned to walk away from her.

"Daryl! Wait!" Harper called, scrambling to her feet to go after him. Daryl stopped and turned back to her slowly, his entire posture tense and angry.

"Go back ta camp, Princess."

"Don't call me that."

"I ain't gonna be yer next charity case, ya thinkin' I can be fixed or some shit. Get off yer high horse."

"What the hell, Daryl?! I'm not thinking that at all. Where did that come from?"

"Yer face says it all. I don't need yer sympathy."

"Fuck, Daryl! You're not even listening to me, but you probably don't care what I have to say anyway. I stuck up for you, stayed by your side when I got shit for it, and this is how you treat me?"

"I never asked ya ta do that!" Daryl snapped back, walls firmly in place. Harper saw their budding friendship crumbling around her.

"Screw you, Daryl. I don't care about your back. So what if Daddy got rough with his belt? You're not the only one who went through shit growing up. Some of us just don't have the scars to show it," Harper whispered and spun on her heel to leave him, angrier now than when she first left the camp.

Daryl clenched his fists, his knuckles white as bleach, and swung one into the tree trunk next to him. Throwing his crossbow over his shoulder, he walked further from the camp, not planning to go back for a few days.

Harper was fuming when she got back to the RV. Dale saw her coming but decided to give her some space. Unfortunately, Shane didn't have the same thoughts.

He grabbed her by the arm again to stop her from going to her tent. Harper froze, feeling her anger start to bubble over. Shane manhandled her to face him, his hand still holding her bicep.

"We need to talk about your attitude-"

"Get your hand off me," Her voice filled with quiet fury.

"Excuse me?"

"Get your hand off me," She shook him off and looked dead in his eyes, "Grab me again and you'll find my knife in your throat."

Harper went into her tent and zipped it closed, ignoring Shane's angry voice outside. She didn't leave her tent for the rest of the day and evening.

When she opened her eyes again, it was already the next day. She crawled out of her tent, checking Daryl's on the way. Both brothers were gone, meaning Merle already left to go on the run with the others and Glenn, and Daryl either never came back or left well before she woke up.

Harper spent the day ignoring everyone. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone, not after what happened with Shane and Daryl the previous day. The camp seemed to sense her mood because no one bothered her with little things. In fact, they seemed to stay a good ten feet away from her at all times.

She didn't really move until she heard a car alarm getting closer to their camp. Everyone stood up and looked to see where it was coming from. Shane ran to the road and waited for the red sports car to get close.

Once she saw it was Glenn, she calmed down, but no one else was with him. Amy was yelling her head off about Andrea, and Shane was trying to get the alarm to shut off. Everything was silent after that until Shane started ripping into Glenn.

Harper heard his comment about everyone being okay except for Merle and ran over to them, her first thought was Daryl losing his brother. She wanted to ask when he meant, but a truck pulled up the road behind them carrying all the other members of their group. Harper watched all the families be reunited and saw Carl start crying softly behind her.

Lori leaned down to talk to him, and Harper turned away, not wanting to invade their moment. She heard Glenn mention a new guy that helped them, but Harper was focused on looking for Merle. He was nowhere to be seen, and she dreaded Daryl coming back and finding his brother gone.

"Dad!" Carl screamed and ran past her. Harper jerked her head up and saw the small boy running into the new guy's arms. Harper's heart stopped, watching the man start crying as he fell to his knees, holding onto Carl for dear life. She looked over and saw Lori's face; it looked like she was seeing a ghost.

Harper slyly looked over to Shane; he didn't seem too pleased to see his supposedly dead partner alive. That was a can of worms Harper didn't want to be around when someone opened.

"Glenn, where's Merle?" Harper finally asked. Glenn just looked at her and shook his head as he walked away. She wanted to question him more, but she could tell everyone was tired from the trip.

Harper waited. She'd get her answers; she just hoped Daryl came back after she knew what happened so she could be between him and the rest of the camp. Even after their fight, she felt the need to protect him.

Once everyone was changed and fed, they piled around the fire and listened to the new guy, Rick, and how he ended up in Atlanta to begin with. Harper was interested to know how he was alive when Shane seemed adamant that he was dead before, but she cared most about what happened to Merle. She didn't like the guy, but he was Daryl's brother, and it would crush him if he was dead.

"Where's Merle?" She finally voiced once they got through Rick's story. The group grew somber around the fire and finally told everyone what happened. How he was cuffed to the roof and the keys were lost, but he was alive.

"Daryl's not going to be happy to hear his brother got left behind," Dale voiced the obvious. Harper listened to the men fight over who would be the one to tell him, but Harper started to drown them out. Merle was an insensitive dick, but leaving him behind? That was cut throat. She actually felt bad for the man.

"...nobody's fault but Merle's." Harper perked up when she heard Andrea.

"Shut up, Andrea. No one is going to say that to Daryl; it'll only make things worse. I'll tell him when he gets back; it'll be best if it comes from me," Harper told everyone. Andrea glared at her and went to say something else but was interrupted.

"Harper's right. Daryl will listen to her more than he would any of us," Glenn agreed.

"Who are you to Daryl?" Rick asked, wanting to know how everyone knew each other.

"A friend." Shane scoffed at her answer. "You have something you want to say to me, Shane?" Shane met her eyes and frowned.

"Nah, there are little ears around," He said, eyes shooting over to Carl who was laying on Rick's lap. Rick noticed the tension between them but left that conversation for later.

Harper paused but moved on from Shane's comment. "When Daryl comes back, I'll tell him about Merle. He's not going to be happy, but it's better than it coming from someone who left Merle there."

The camp was silent after that, and everyone ended up slowly breaking off to go to their tents for the night. Harper laid in her sleeping bag, dreading having to tell Daryl the news.

Harper was hanging around the RV the next morning when she heard the screams from the kids. The entire camp took off to find them, but they'd already made it back into the perimeter when the adults found them.

Carl was babbling about a walker, and they went to investigate. Harper stayed back with Carl and Sophia to make sure they didn't have any injuries. A couple of scrapes but nothing that needed medical attention.

Harper could see the walker eating a deer just downhill from them. Shane and Rick led the men to surround it and started attacking it once it noticed them there. Lori covered Carl's eyes when Dale decapitated it.

She watched the group relax only to tense up again when there was rustling in the trees ahead of them. Harper caught a glimpse of a crossbow and felt her stomach drop.

"Put your gun down, Shane. It's Daryl," She called, walking towards them. Shane glanced back at her and lowered his weapon when Daryl popped up from behind a rock, slowing when he saw everyone there.

"Sonuvabitch," He groaned, seeing a walker got to the deer before him. He kicked the walker's body for emphasis and turned to the head, seeing its head still snapping his jaw at them.

He put a bolt in its skull to kill it. "Gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothin'?" Daryl moved past everyone, avoiding Harper especially, to head to the camp.

"Merle!" He yelled, taking his string of squirrels off his shoulder. Harper ran over to him, stepping in front of him to get his attention. Daryl looked away, trying to side step her.

"Daryl, I need to tell you something. It's important, please," She whispered. Daryl stopped and looked around them, seeing the growing crowd. He did not have a good feeling about this. Harper gently grabbed his wrist and pulled him over to the RV, slightly out of the way of everyone else.

"Daryl, Merle volunteered with a group to go on a run to Atlanta and something happened to him." Daryl jerked, wanting to turn to the group, but Harper grabbed his arms and made him face her. "He's alive, Daryl. Listen to me. He was being a danger to the group, shooting his gun into all the walkers and getting them riled up. The group handcuffed him to the roof, but they lost the keys and had to leave him behind. They locked the door to keep any walkers from getting to him," Harper trailed off, feeling Daryl's body shaking under her hands.

Daryl pulled away from Harper's hands and walked away from the RV a bit, wiping his face with both hands.

"I need ta process this. Yer sayin' they handcuffed my brother ta the roof and they left him there?" He yelled, facing the others.

"Daryl-"

"Yeah, we did."

"Who're you?" Daryl snapped, facing Rick who stepped forward.

"Rick Grimes. I had to stop your brother from getting us all killed." Harper saw how tense Daryl's body was, like he was about to strike. She ran over to him and stood between him and Rick.

"Daryl, don't. This isn't going to help get Merle back." Daryl's eyes flashed down to hers before looking back up at Rick. He clenched his teeth and turned away to spit on the ground.

"Hell with all y'all," Daryl yelled over Harper's head. "I'm goin' ta get him." Daryl threw the squirrels to the side as Rick told him he was going back to get Merle with him and something about a bag of guns. Harper was more focused on making sure Daryl was okay. T-Dog and Glenn volunteered with a few others, but Daryl wasn't paying much attention to them. He was too busy getting his stuff together to leave.

Harper sat down next to Daryl and watched him count his bolts.

"I want to come with you."

"No."

"Why not? Daryl, I can hold my own out there. I can help get Merle back." Daryl was going to say something, but Shane showed his face again at the worst possible time.

"I already told you you're not leaving the camp, Harper!" Shane stopped what he was doing by the truck to address her. Luckily the only people around were her and Daryl, and Rick and Shane.

"Hey, watch what ya fuckin' say ta her," Daryl snapped, standing to face Shane.

"What're you gonna do, Daryl. Smack me with one of your arrows?" Shane taunted. Harper jumped between the two and shoved them apart, Rick standing just beside her in case he was needed.

"What the hell is your problem, Shane? If they find Merle, I can help them. He's probably going to be dehydrated and delirious from being in the sun for so long. What if he goes into hypovolemic shock out there?" Harper questioned.

"We're not risking our one medic for the life of a hick who was too busy getting high to think about the safety of the group!" Harper's mouth clicked shut.

"You're not going to keep me chained to the camp, Shane."

"Shane, let's all keep a level head here. Harper, why don't you tell us what we need to take incase Merle does need medical attention? That way we can be prepared. But I also think that it's a good idea for you to stay here in case they need you," Rick mediated.

Harper wanted to fight Rick too, but she felt a firm hand on her elbow and saw Daryl looking down at her. She looked into his eyes and for a minute felt like they were able to communicate without speaking, all the tension from their fight at the quarry gone. She took a deep breath and backed down.

"I'll get you a list," She told Rick. She heard Shane laugh and look at Daryl.

"Good for you, Man. Keep them barefoot and pregnant so they can't have a say in anything, right?" Harper spun and punched him in the face before she could think about it. Daryl was quick to grab her like Rick grabbed Shane, keeping the two apart.

"Fucking bitch," Shane snarled, his lower lip bleeding.

"You had it coming, Shane. Say something like that again and see what else I'll do to you," Harper threatened. Daryl practically carried Harper away from Shane, Rick shoving the man towards the truck.

"What ya think yer doin'?" Daryl asked firmly, letting her go once they were further away.

"He's been picking at me since this whole thing started. I'm sick of letting him get away with all his comments towards me," Harper snapped. Daryl frowned and glanced back at Shane. Rick was grilling him.

"Pick yer battles, Princess." Harper went to snap at him again for the poor nickname, but she saw his lips twitch at her reaction. He didn't seem upset with her anymore, and she was relieved. Harper sighed and looked away, letting herself calm back down.

"I hate being stuck in this camp." Daryl hummed in agreement and shoved his hands in his pockets. Seeing that she wasn't going to get a verbal response, Harper shoved one of his shoulders.

"Keep your head out there. If you don't come back, I'm going to commit murder," Harper warned, nodding towards Shane. Daryl huffed a laugh.

"I don't think that'd be a bad thing."

"Harper, I'm sorry for what Shane said to you. It was out of line," Rick told her, walking over to the pair. Harper nodded and crossed her arms.

"I don't know you, Rick, but I hope you're nothing like him. He may have been your partner before shit hit the fan, but things have changed now. Watch your back," She warned. Harper squeezed Daryl's arm one last time and walked away from the men to head back to the others.

Note: Sorry for the delay! I was trying to update faster, but I ended up picking up extra shifts at the hospital. Girl's gotta make a living! Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Also, I'm sorry if you message me and it takes forever to get a reply. I'm absolutely terrible at replying or even checking my messages. You will eventually get a reply! Love you all!

~LL