It's My Life

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for Charlene. (I'm guessing now y'all got how to pronounce her name;) )

Chapter inspired with Black Betty by Spiderbait, look it up y'all, it's a fun song :)

Chapter 4: Black Betty


"Anyone up for some poker?" Charlene held up a deck of cards to the campsite, a sly grin on her tanned face.

Glenn piped up, "How do you play?"

T-dog gave him a look, "Man, you don't know how to play poker?"

The woman huffed impatiently, "I'm volunteering you for the game, let's teach this chinaman how to play the game of the Gods."

"Korean!" Glenn replied in exasperation.

A grin split across Charlene's face as she sat down at the wooden bench. T-dog sat beside her and Glenn opposite. Slapping the worn cards into her hand, she shuffled them deftly while T-dog explained the dynamics of the game.

Daryl sat outside his tent. He glanced towards the table near the RV. He grumbled as Charlene gave a joyful laugh and shoved T-dog playfully. His eyes squinted in the harsh sunlight. Daryl picked up one of Charlene's throwing knives and examined the blade with interest.

He grumbled to himself at the dull blade. Fuckin' wonder she's survived this long. He took the blade to his sharpening block, growling to himself and looking up every now and then at the loud trio at the table.


Daryl tossed the sixth throwing knife on his towel. Their blades gleamed in the sunlight sharply. He grabbed Merle's Bowie and examined the edge of it. He hissed in pain as it nicked his finger. Daryl sucked the stream of blood and sheathed the knife.

His eyes caught sight of Charlene's Kabar on her hip. He chewed on his lip in thought, knowing it was probably duller than a fucking spoon. He jumped in slight surprise as the woman leapt to her feet, fearful she caught him staring at her.

She pointed an accusing finger at the chinaman as he laughed tearfully. "You fucking cheater!"

T-dog grinned up at her and chuckled deeply as he gathered the cards up. Charlene whipped her head at him, "You knew?" Her voice was incredulous and her cerulean eyes wide. The large man laughed harder as he and Glenn shared a high five.

"Knew? I helped him."

Charlene's jaw dropped, "Aw, fuck you guys."

Dale peered down from his spot on top of the RV. A large smile crossed his face. "What'd he take you on a ride with?"

"Royal fucking flush." Charlene replied with a shake of her head. She still eyed Glenn with a look of disbelief.

The old man chuckled kindly, "Ah. He took me with a straight flush."

The woman stared at him with bewilderment. "You were one of those card counter bastards before this shit storm, weren't you?"

Glenn wiped his eyes as his body trembled with laughter. "No, actually, I delivered pizzas."

She threw her hands up in the air. "Un-fucking-believable."

Andrea approached the trio with a large amount of fish. Her pretty face creased into a smile, "Hey, sorry to interrupt- are you about ready, Glenn?"

Glenn nodded his head, "Yeah, I'm just gonna grab the keys first."

The blonde woman pierced her lips, "Hey, Char, you think you could prepare these fish for me? Glenn and I are going to go scavenge the highway." She gave a slight pause. "I would've asked Daryl, but he seems to be in a mood today."

Charlene rolled her eyes, "Isn't he always? Yeah, I'll take care of the fish for you."

The woman called out, "Hey, Daryl!"

The rugged man looked up from his sharpening block, his eyes squinted against the sunlight. Charlene shook the string of fish as if beckoning him. His lips upturned into a snarl, he gave her the finger before returning to his tools.

Charlene's lips curled into an amused grin as she set the fish on the table. Andrea called back, "Thanks, Char!"

The woman nodded her head and waved her off when Merle's raspy voice spoke loudly. "Whooo-wee. Is that fish I smell? Andrea must have her legs open."

"FUCK you, Merle." Andrea replied as her face flushed in anger.

Charlene gave a grin to the man sauntering towards her. "You know Merle, you might have a bigger dick if you didn't shove three fourths of it into your personality."

He responded with a finger causing the woman to laugh loudly. "You Dixon boys are in a mood today."

Charlene pulled her hatchet out and began to hack into the fish. Shane passed by and slapped her on the shoulders. "Try to avoid eating any hearts today- you were freaking some people out."

The small woman gave a devious grin and extended the fish heart to him. "Aw. Does this make you squeamish big brother?" Shane's face scowled as he pushed her hand away.

"God. Fuck. Cut that the fuck out."

She grinned and tossed the heart with the other guts of the fish obediently. Charlene began picking bones out of the body and spoke up again, "So, last night I saw some deer tracks while I was on watch."

Her brother nodded his head. His eyes squinted at her as he drug his hand through his hair. "I thought maybe I'd go out tomorrow morning and get us a nice tasty meal."

"The fuck you ain't." Daryl's voice spoke suddenly. His face was contorted in a withering glare. Her words took to a competitive tone, "Yeah? You gonna make me?"

Daryl's icy stare flicked to her lips as she swiped her tongue across them. He growled in irritation, "You ain't fucking goin'."

Charlene's eyebrows rose up, "And who said I was going with you."

The man glowered before her- at a loss for words. He hissed in anger, "You ain't goin'." Daryl turned away from her in finality. Irritation seeped from his body. "Try and stop me, Dixon."

He snarled in response before ripping his tent open. Shane raised an eyebrow at her. "Thought you and the Dixons were all buddy buddy."

His sister gave a small shrug. "As close as the Dixons will get to anyone I suppose. I just like to push that one's buttons." Her finger jerked in the direction of Daryl. Shane cut the head off a fish and nodded. "Look, about Lori-"

"Ain't none of my business, brother."

Shane gave a breathy chuckle. "Right."

Charlene tossed another head to the side. "I hope your partner was truly dead though, elsewise this makes for quite the awkward situation."

Her brother cringed and she mumbled a 'sorry'. "I didn't mean it like I wanted him to be dead. Obviously, you don't want him that way, but now that you and his wife are all up on each other, it's probably best that he is that way."

Shane grunted in somewhat of an agreement and distaste for the subject. She dropped it promptly and shared a small smile of understanding with him.


Charlene silently slid her black combat boots on. Her breaths were quiet and gentle in the dark of the night. She tucked her black jeans inside them before lacing up. The small woman glanced around herself as she stood slowly. Her hands tapped her throwing knives, hatchet, and Kabar mindlessly.

Her hand fell on the gun in the back of her jeans waistband. She pulled her hair up into a ponytail before grabbing her silver glimmering bow and arrows. The cool metal familiar against her skin set her body at ease as she headed into the forest. A voice stopped her in her tracks. "And jus' where are you headed, sweetheart?"

Her cerulean eyes sparkled in the small of the fire. "Goin' after my deer. Had ta' get out fore' Daryl." She replied sleepily.

Merle's cigarette's embers glowed in the dark. He stamped it out in the dirt and approached her slowly. His eyes narrowed, "Daryl, ain't gonna be happy with ya'."

Charlene waved her hand dismissively. "I'm not here to please, Daryl, now am I?"

She could see him roll his eyes; he turned his body towards his tent before muttering. "Do us all a favor and wake the fuck up. You ain't no good to us as geek chow."

She gave him a snarky grin, "Aw. Is little ol' Merley starting to care about me?"

The older man gave her a frightening glare. "I don't wan' your body attracting geeks to the camp." He stepped inside his tent and left her in the sticky night air. Charlene huffed, "Whatever."


Daryl snarled in anger. "Wha' ya' mean she already left?"

His brother shrugged carelessly. "Jus' what I said. She left about an hour ago after tha' deer."

"And ya' didn't think to stop her?"

Merle suddenly gave a sly grin. "Does lil Darylina wanna fuck Char?"

His little brother's face soured angrily. "No! I wouldn't touch that bitch if my life depended on it."

The older man laughed and slapped his knee with a broad grin. "Careful callin' her a bitch. As I recall she don't respon' real well to it."

Daryl grunted before stalking off. "Where are you going?" Shane said suddenly as the younger Dixon brushed past him. "I'm going after my deer that your dumb bitch sister went after." Shane growled in response.

"You better choose your words more carefully."

"Dumb bitch is wha' I meant. I ain't sugar coatin' it." He slung his crossbow over his shoulder and gave Shane one last glare before heading into the forest. He grumbled to himself as he easily located her footprints and set out tracking her. His steps were silent while he hurried along.

Why did he care so much that she was out in the forest? Daryl supposed it angered him that she was treading on his territory. He and Merle hunted for the camp- that was how they earned their keep and respect- and here she was taking that away from them- making them expendable.

This simple fact enraged Daryl beyond belief. It wasn't any secret that the Dixon boys weren't popular- and now that they have a new hunter no one would be rushing to keep the two safe. Fuck them. He'd keep him and Merle safe just fine. They weren't expendable and if any of those fuckers tried anything, he'd stomp their ass.

He smirked to himself. Daryl would protect his brother just as his brother had protected him from their father. It didn't get any simpler than that. He moved through the forest quickly as his thoughts drifted to Charlene herself. She really wasn't a dumb bitch, but she was infuriating at times. Not even at times, it was actually very rare that Daryl became angry with her.

She was hard headed. Stubborn. She didn't ever fucking listen. He grumbled to himself. Charlene was somewhat tough. She knew what she was fucking doing. Daryl didn't have to worry about her getting dropped by a few geeks and that was a fucking relief. He wasn't here to take care of all those women and children, and seeing them walk around in the forest blindly irked him to no end.

They had no fucking clue. They just walked into the forest like it was the world from before. Like there was nothing to worry about. Dumb bitches. Daryl wouldn't ever admit to it, but he always made sure to keep an eye on them. He didn't really care and firmly believed that stupid people deserve what ever they got- but for the peace he made sure no geeks got to them.

It was moore than any of those people deserved. He caught sight of a shred of paper fluttering from a tree. His eyes narrowed as he approached it slowly. At first it was rage, but then pure annoyance that raced through him as he read the swooping handwriting. Holding the paper to the tree was one of Charlene's throwing knives. He couldn't resist the small upturn of his lips. Black Betty.

Stop following me, Dixon.

Thanks for sharpening my knives by the way, sweetheart.

He pulled the knife from the bark of the tree and slid it between his belt and waistband. He pocketed the shred of paper whilst shaking his head. Stupid woman.

His blood boiled at the word sweetheart as it taunted him. Daryl growled to himself. Stupid bitch. Where does she get off messing with his head like this? That and always brushing up against him or smiling at him and shit. She just needed to keep her hands and eyes to her fucking self. He wasn't looking for a friend.

He trudged along, his eyes never leaving her footprints. He was slightly impressed with the care she took in each step. Her print wasn't visible to the untrained eye- too bad for her he was a trained eye. Daryl smirked to himself when he caught something in the corner of his line of sight.

Slowly and cautiously he moved the branches gently to see a wide clearing. Standing near the opposite edge was the buck he had seen a few days earlier. Charlene hadn't gotten it yet. Daryl grinned as he raised his crossbow to his sights. That deer was fucking his.

He released the bolt and watched as it drove straight through the deer's heart. To his shock and annoyance, just as his bolt made contact, a silver metallic arrow drove in from the other side. The two arrows stuck in the creature's body from opposite sides. Daryl watched as Charlene appeared from the opposite side, her finger was held high, "Fuck you Dixon!"

The man chuckled to himself- at least the deer wasn't all her kill. Without his bolt, it would've torn off for a few miles before dying. He entered the clearing towards Charlene where she was hunched over the deer's body. He stopped cold as he saw the familiar greying, flaky skin close in on her from behind. Charlene sat completely unaware as she tugged on her arrow.

Daryl shot another bolt before he said anything. The geek dropped beside her causing her to yelp in surprise. She leapt away and withdrew her hatchet. "Hurry up and get your ass over here! I'll protect the deer!"

Three more walkers entered the clearing, stumbling blindly for the deer. Charlene chucked her hatchet into one's skull. Their attention was captured and they began tumbling after her. The woman began to back up quickly as Daryl sprinted towards her. He hadn't realized he was holding his breath.

She released a knife and Daryl watched as her body bended with the power of the throw. He could appreciate the lean speed of the weapon as it dug into the walker's skull. The other grabbed her shirt and she whipped around and drove the second knife into its eye socket with her hand.

The dead man immediately crumpled to the ground. Charlene stepped back with the bloody knife in her hand. Their eyes connected and she gave him a small nod, her lips upturned in a thankful smile. "Ya' saved my life. Thank you."

Daryl grunted and pulled his bolt out of the walker's head. "Don't get any of that shit on the deer."

Charlene looked down at her gore-covered body. She pulled her shirt from her body, and Daryl's head snapped up at the movement. His eyes took in the lean muscular curve of her womanly body. She kept herself well fed while on her own and retained much of her shape. She was wearing a simple black sports bra that contrasted with the dark of her hair and cerulean glimmer in her eyes.

Charlene looked up as she wiped the gore from her body and stuffed a corner of the shirt in her back pocket. She retrieved her hatchet and sheathed it. "So, how are we gonna carry this thing?"

Daryl grumbled, "What the hell were ya' gonna do with a 200 pound deer on your own?"

The small woman glared with irritation. "I was gonna carry it."

Amused by her answer, he laughed mockingly. "Don't kid yourself woman."

Charlene stared at him angrily. "You don't think I can do it." It was more of a statement, than any sort of question. Daryl rolled his eyes as he grabbed the rack of the animal.

She pushed him back away from the deer, her body brushed against his as she looked up into his eyes. The cerulean blue flashed angrily in front of him as he stared down at her with amusement. Her hands went to her hips as her face flushed with embarrassment of his mocking attitude. "I can carry it." She mumbled, her voice losing power as she looked away.

Daryl rolled his eyes impatiently, "Quit tryin' to be some tough shit and grab the rack."

She grabbed the rack obediently and silently. Once again, she was rendered completely speechless. Stupid bastard.


Haha, poor Charlene getting knocked down a notch by Daryl again and again:) I'm loving y'alls feedback! Thank you for reviewing, I really appreciate it! I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter, thanks for reading!