It's My Life

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for Charlene.

Chapter 6: Instincts


Charlene couldn't quite place it, but something in the camp was wrong. For the life of her she couldn't figure out what the problem was, but at every moment of every hour she felt as if they weren't alone. It sounded completely fucking insane and maybe this was just the beginning of her mind leaving her finally- but she wasn't so sure. Her gut clenched every time she realized she didn't properly know who was where and who was with whom.

The young woman settled herself outside the Dixon's tents. Earlier that day Daryl had ripped her a new one on her lack of ability to sharpen knives. Stupid, dumb, and worthless were all jumbled up in the mess of grumbles that came from the annoyed man. Charlene knew not to take to heart all that he said and instead focused on what he had been showing her. Surprisingly enough, Daryl was quite the teacher. She got it on the first try and he was able to leave and help out with the RV.

While she cleaned and sharpened each of the knives, her eyes scanned the surroundings. Her gut tightening as she realized all the children weren't in eyesight. None of the women seemed to be particularly worried either. Charlene sucked in a shaky, worried breath. What the fuck was up?

Her work was shadowed by a tall figure. The woman shot a glance and muttered, "I'm almost done, Daryl- Ya' don't need to check up on me- I made sure to treat your knives with extra care." She flashed a sly grin at the man. He snarled in response before wiping the back of his hand over his face. His body was covered with oil and grease. She watched his hand extend for one of the knives she had just cleaned- Charlene scowled and smacked his hand away.

The look of surprise that crossed Daryl's face was nearly enough to cause the young woman to start laughing. It quickly contorted into an annoyed scowl. He started warningly, "Woman-"

"No, you listen to me Daryl Dixon- I've been sitting here obediently cleaning and sharpening all these knives like your bitch. You go clean your fucking hands before you lay a hand on any one of these."

Charlene had been prepared for any number of swears and snarls and maybe even a jumbled combination of them. What she hadn't been prepared for was the slow smirk that crossed the Daryl's face. She half expected it to disappear like it normally did, but it didn't. Instead he was leaning forward and Charlene felt her heart thud in her throat wildly. Panic raced through her body in confusion of his actions. She was tempted to lean away from the closing hot breath but at the same time tempted to just completely close that distance between them.

There was an unresolved air of tension between the two hunters that was completely unidentifiable. Competitors? Enemies? Hell, if she knew, but at that very moment she had the strongest urge in mind and heart to just close that distance and feel the roughness and warmth of his lips against hers. Something held her back though, that nagging gut feeling that told her to stay put.

Her instincts were very rarely ever wrong and more times than not, Charlene ignored all other impulses except the will of her gut. That maddening smirk was still planted on the rugged and dirtied hunter before her. Suddenly his hand snapped out and before she knew it, he had snatched her freshly cleaned kabar and was strolling away towards the RV. Fucking bastard.

Her eyes narrowed in irritation as a feeling of pure idiocy crossed her mind and heart- the sole perpetrators of the warring feelings in her body. They were fucking dumb and childish and completely unsafe. Charlene didn't need to add another person to her list of people that would completely destroy her to lose. She was just fine having Shane the lone person on that list. It made her life simple and easy and lessened the chances of her world being torn down around her.

What was worse that those stupid urges to get down and dirty and complicate things with her friend was that he fucking knew. A filthy scowl crossed her face as she began scrubbing at Merle's bowie in irritation. Mother fucker. Her furious thoughts were cut off as she soon realized the complete and utter foreboding silence of the forest. A bone-chilling scream of a little girl had Charlene on her feet immediately.

She didn't waste another second before grabbing her hatchet and plunging into the shade of the forest. There were yells behind her, but she couldn't quite make them out. Her only thoughts were to find the children and save them from whatever harm there may be. She saw three figures furiously sprinting towards her. Carl, Sophia, and Eliza. Their bodies smacked into her legs as they breathlessly pointed from the direction they came.

It wasn't even seconds later before the plundering bodies of the dead appeared in her view. Charlene stilled and handed Carl the one throwing knife she was carrying. "Carl- take them and run back to camp now. You know what to do if either of y'all are attacked, correct?"

Her eyes stayed with the ones of the undead trudging towards her. His moans reverberated against her body and eardrums sickeningly. Carl's meek voice cut in quietly, "Kill the brain."

Charlene nodded her head in affirmation, "Through the eye if possible. Don't hesitate, now run, NOW!"

The woman charged the dead man and slammed the blade of her hatchet through his skull. It split like a tree down the middle and his moans were forever quieted. She had counted at least four of the beasties trampling through their camp. One down. Three more.

Charlene's body bent rapidly into the power of her throw- the weapon rocketed through the tree line and buried itself deep into the beast's forehead. Her body was doused with the chilling feeling of the grip of a ragged hand on her shoulder. The monster pushed into her, his jaw snapping wide at her face.

Charlene stumbled backwards- the fear coursed through her body violently. The prattling and shuddering moan of the desperate creature on top of her increased the intense desire to survive and avoid an eternity roaming the world as a flesh-eating mindless lump of skin. Her legs wrapped around the frail, ravenous body and pinned his arms to his sides.

She arched her back and landed on top of beast- he snapped at her in futility as she twisted her body, looking for an object to kill it with. The rumbling growl of another walker echoed behind her- she twisted violently to see another reaching for her. Before Charlene could initiate any attempt to escape a bolt lodged itself far into the fucker's face.

Daryl leapt down the small decline and wrenched her hatchet out of the skull of the dead "Char!" The hatchet let his hands as he whipped around and booted a walker in the face. Her hand grasped the handle and she wrenched it down with all the power she could muster. The monster's head exploded on impact and drenched her in its gore.

Charlene stood to her feet lithely as her chest heaved. Her cerulean eyes located the icy stare and she gave a quick nod before wiping the back of her hand across her face aggressively. Daryl gave her a shove before sprinting up the incline back towards camp. The tiny woman followed behind closely- they crashed through the trees towards the yells of a battle of survival.

Charlene leapt into the clearing- walker bodies littered the area. A final scream directed her attention to little Eliza being drug towards the gaping maw of another creature. "No you fucking don't." Her words were rushed through gritted teeth as she put all her remaining power behind the throw.

Everything seemed to be in slow motion- Morales rushing to try and save his daughter and the quick approach of the sharp bladed weapon. All that could be heard was the sickening collapse of a skull from her throw's impact and a whimpering child scrambling away from the silenced walker- safe and bite free.

Her eyes took in the bedraggled and battered survivors around the camp. Rage suddenly took hold as she wrenched her hatchet up. "What the fuck?" She paced angrily in a circle, making a point to make eye contact with each person standing helplessly on the sidelines.

"Did none of you think to join in? If you haven't noticed our survival depends on each one of you. In order for us to be successful we need to know that y'all have our backs- so where the fuck were you guys?"

The silence was thick and heavy. Charlene threw her weapon into the dirt violently. "FUCK!" She turned again, her chest heaving with the sudden impact of fatigue from the fight. Shane's voice suddenly spoke over the miserable quiet.

"We don't have enough weapons." His eyes were down cast as his hands gripped his slim hips. The man's teeth dug into his lower lip. Charlene narrowed her eyes in disbelief at her brother and his total lack of preparedness.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Jesus Christ, Shane." She ran a bloodied hand through her hair as she sucked in a shaky breath. "This is a fucking tragedy waiting to happen." Her words cut through the air like the blade of a machete. Her words were met with silence once more.

Charlene's enraged pacing came to a sudden halt. "How many did we lose?"

"No one. Everyone's good." Shane replied bitingly as he realized the gravity of his decision to ignore their lack of weapons. His younger sister nodded her head as she returned to her pacing. "Alright- I want everyone to do a fucking search of their bodies. Any scratches and most definitely bites need to be reported or else you're endangering every person's life here in camp."

Shane turned to Lori and Jacqui. He dragged his hand through his hair wearily. "You two are in charge of checking everyone for bites and scratches. Dale and Jim- check the men."

The camp bustled as people began to get to drag themselves out of their fearful stupor. Charlene stopped in front of Shane. Her hands went to her hips as she pursed her lips tightly. There was a long silence between the two of them as her eyes took in the carnage of the dead. They were goddamn lucky no one had been injured. This time.

Charlene shifted her feet as her brows furrowed in thought. "Shane." His dark eyes looked to his sister's cerulean colored ones. He watched as her body turned and her eyes shifted furiously. She finally faced him and crossed her arms with a sense of finality of a decision. "We need more weapons."

Shane laughed, "Yeah, well if you haven't noticed Char- weapons aren't exactly easy pickings."

She was quiet for a moment. "I know where we can get some. Good guns, melee weapons, and good amount of ammunition." Shane's face paled in realization. He looked at her and shook his head, "No. No way are you heading to Atlanta."

"Not alone, I'm not." Charlene replied bitterly. Her fingers rested against her lips as she watched each of the survivors carefully. Her hazel blue eyes landed on Daryl finally. She nodded her head gently, "You and Daryl are coming with me."

Her brother's brow furrowed and he shook his head again. "No way, Char. These people need me-"

"They need weapons more- a way to defend themselves. You and I both know they'd be fine for a night or two under the watch of Dale, Jim, Morales, T-Dog, and even Merle." Shane snorted in disagreement to the latter. She sighed heavily. "We really don't have a choice, brother. And I know you know that Merle wouldn't ever do anything to jeopardize the safety of his little brother."

"What makes you think Daryl will agree to coming along?" She hadn't much thought of that. Charlene bit the inside of her cheek before muttering softly, "Let me talk to him. We leave tomorrow at first daylight."

Shane growled in annoyance, he adjusted his ball cap aggressively. Daryl was wiping down his arrows as Charlene approached him slowly. He immediately knew something was up by the way her teeth dug into her lower lip and her fingers fiddled with each other. His cold, blue eyes narrowed, "Fuck you waitin' for? Spit it out."

"You're comin' with me and Shane to Atlanta."

He had not been expecting that. His eyebrows raised daringly, his voice snarled in response. "Oh is tha' so? Are ya' gonna fuckin' make me?" Charlene had to resist the urge to smile at the man. She licked her lips and ignored his goading. "I ran into a bad group of guys before I met y'all." She paused and tilted her head towards him.

Daryl had returned to wiping down his crossbow. His body was tense and jerked with each move he made. "They shot a kid and left him in the street as bait. While I was inside their little compound I noticed they had quite the stash of ammunition and guns as well as melee weapons. They musta' raided a gun store or somethin'."

Daryl snarled more to himself than Charlene. He knew where she was planning on heading and knew that sort of operation was going to take the best. Fuck. The tenseness of his body relaxed and he returned his squinting gaze to her. "I know wha' group you're talkin' 'bout. Wha's the plan?"

A flood of relief washed through the woman's body. Charlene stepped closer to the rugged hunter and smiled deviously. "Ever infiltrated and attacked an armed enemy base, Dixon?"


Sooooo here we go- next chapter will be up soon I promise. It'll be a fun one I think. I really hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! Thank you so, so, so much for all the favorites and reviews!

Let me know what y'all think! Thanks for reading!