Chapter 5

Daryl and I stood just staring at the bodies for a few minutes before he finally turned to me. "Yer bleedin'."

I stared up at him, confused. "Huh?" Daryl rolled his eyes, exasperated. He grabbed my arm, turning it so I could see. I had a huge gash on my elbow that looked like it was still bleeding. I didn't even remember how I got it.

"Look at yer knees, too. Yer a mess, Lil; let's go to the tent and clean them cuts." I nodded and followed him, trying not to stare at all the bodies lying on the ground. He led me to our tent and I sat down on my cot and stared at him while he searched through his bag, probably looking for medical supplies.

"Look in the bag I brought back from Atlanta, I got some stuff." I muttered, putting my head in my hands. The adrenaline from the attack was wearing off and I was fuckin' tired. A couple seconds later Daryl stood in front of me with some alcohol, gauze pads and band aids.

"Gimme yer arm." He grunted. I put my arm out and he began cleaning the scrape. He moved on to my knees next. "You gotta start wearin' long pants, Lil. I'm so damn sick of seein' yer legs all cut up."

I scoffed, "Gee, thanks Daryl. How 'bout you let me know when you find some in my size." He just looked at me. "Sorry," I said, looking down, "You're right. I do gotta find some though…"

We sat in silence for a few minutes while Daryl patched me up. "So… Merle?" I asked while he worked, finally breaking the silence. I had to know.

Daryl shook his head. "We didn't find him. Ain't talkin' about it no more tonight." He stood up and threw the supplies down by my bag, not meeting my eyes.

"Look, Daryl –" I began, but he cut me off.

"I told ya not tonight!" He snapped, lifting his crossbow off his shoulder and throwing it on his cot. He took a deep breath and sat down. "I don't wanna fight with ya anymore about this shit. What's done is done."

Neither of us spoke after that. I lay down on my cot, turning my back on Daryl. Eventually I heard the sound of the tent being unzipped, and then he was gone, leaving me to my thoughts.

…

I was sitting in my room drawing on some newspaper with a couple crayons when I heard the knock on our door. Nobody ever came to our house, so I was instantly curious who would be wanting to talk to us. I stopped coloring and listened intently. I heard Daddy's footsteps walking towards the front door, and then the sound of it creaking open. "Yeah?"

"Mr. Dixon, I'm Officer Watson, I have some bad news about your son." I immediately shot up and ran to my door, opening it a crack so I could see the front door. There was a squad car sitting in our driveway and the Officer was standing on our porch.

Daddy scoffed. "Which one?"

"Merle, sir. I'm afraid we're gonna have to take him to juvenile detention. He was caught trying to rob the gas station and quite frankly sir, that was his last strike." The cop shifted his weight nervously, trying to gauge my father's reaction.

"That boy'll never learn. Go 'head, take him away." My dad grunted. Take him away where? I wasn't understanding what was happening. I opened my door and walked towards the front of the house, hoping someone could explain it to me. Merle was my brother, why was he being taken away?

I came up to the door, standing behind daddy's legs. "Daddy?" I whispered, tugging on his pants.

He ignored me and the cop kept talking. "Now, he'll have a court date in a few weeks, Mr. Dixon so I suggest you hire a lawyer –"

"We ain't got no money fer no lawyer," Daddy cut the cop off. "Boy's gonna have to learn the hard way."

The cop nodded. "Alright, Sir. You wanna say somethin' to him before we take him away?" I moved toward the door but Daddy pushed me back.

"We ain't got nothin' to say to him. Just take him away." He grunted and slammed the door in the cops face.

"Where's Merle goin'?" I asked, looking up at daddy. I still had my crayons in my hand and I clutched them tight.

Daddy rolled his eyes at me, heading to the kitchen. "You deaf, girl? They takin' him away. Probably won' see yer brother fer a long time."

I stared at daddy in shock, feelin' the tears coming on. "Why are they takin' him away?"

Daddy grabbed his whiskey and took a few drinks. "Cuz he's fuckin' worthless, jus' like you and yer good fer nothin' brother, girl. Now get outta my sight."

I ran towards the door and stared at the cop car backing out of our driveway. I could see Merle's head peeking out the top. "Wait!" I shouted, throwing open the door.

"Get back here or you gonna get it, girl!" I heard daddy shouting, but I ignored him. The car was halfway down the driveway, and I chased behind it.

"Merle!" I shouted, over and over again. Eventually the car got too far away and I stopped running, watching it disappear behind the trees. I was sobbing as I walked back to the front of our driveway. I sat down by our mailbox and hugged my knees to my chest. I wished the car would come and bring my brother back, but it never did. I don't know how long I sat there, still clutching my stupid crayons, before I saw Daryl walking up the street.

"Lily?" He said, squinting at me as he came closer. "What you doin' out here?" I shrugged and rubbed some tears off my face. Daryl came and sat next to me, staring at me. "Look at yer feet, girl! Where yer shoes at?" He asked. He grabbed my feet and gently began rubbing the gravel off them.

"They took Merle away." I muttered. "The police were here, and they took him away. Daddy said he's gonna be gone fer a long time."

"The cops took him?" Daryl asked, staring down the street. I nodded, sniffling. "So I guess that means Merle's gonna be gone for a while. We'll be fine, don't you worry."

"He'll be back?" I asked, staring up at him.

Daryl nodded, ruffling my hair. "Course he will, he'd never leave us. Just gonna be the two of us fer a while, but we're gonna be just fine, you'll see." I nodded and Daryl stood up. He grabbed me under the armpits and lifted me. "No more leavin' the house with no shoes, ya hear? Don't want you to cut up yer feet, girly." I nodded and wrapped my legs around him as we walked towards the house, just the two of us.

...

I didn't sleep at all the rest of the night and Daryl never came back to the tent. Every time I started nodding off, I would snap back to awareness at the smallest noises. By the time the sun came up, I was beyond exhausted. Deciding sleep would never come, I dragged myself out of our tent and surveyed the damage.

There were bodies everywhere. Everywhere I looked, I saw them, both walkers and people from our camp. I spotted Daryl near the far side of camp, dragging the bodies and gathering them into a pile. As I made my way over to him, I tried to ignore the fact that Andrea was still leaning over her sister's dead body. She looked like she was in some kind of trance or something. Didn't she know her sister was gonna turn into a walker and fuckin' attack her? Not my problem, I told myself as I passed her.

"Hey." I said to Daryl as I came up behind him. He dropped the body he was dragging and turned around to stare at me.

"You look like shit." He commented, rubbing his dirty hands on his jeans.

I rolled my eyes. "You too, asshole." Daryl looked just as tired as I was; he had bags under his eyes and I could tell he was exhausted. I watched him work for a little while before I spoke again. "What's the plan?"

Daryl shrugged. "Jus' cleanin' up the bodies right now." He nodded towards the group of people who were huddled by the fire. "They wanna have a funeral or some shit."

"Andrea's sister's gonna turn soon." I said, pointing towards the RV.

Daryl stood up and scowled in their direction. "Officer Friendly don't wanna do the deed, say's we should give her space. I think it's bullshit, we gotta put a bullet in that girl 'fore she turns and kills someone else."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's dangerous. Not our problem though."

"Don't go near her, you got me?" Daryl said, staring at me.

"Yeah I got you," I said, nodding, "Need help?" Daryl shook his head.

"Naw, I got this. You should start packin' up the tent. We're gonna be gettin' outta here soon." I raised my eyebrows.

"Where we goin'?" I asked.

Daryl shrugged again. "Not sure yet, but we can't stay here. It ain't safe no more. The cop's talkin' bout goin' to that CDC place."

"CDC? That's a crock of shit, I bet that place is overrun with walkers." I scoffed. When all this shit started going down, all the talk was about the CDC and how they were finding some sort of cure. Bullshit in my opinion.

"We don't have to go with them." Daryl muttered, picking at his fingernails. I knew he was thinking about Merle.

So was I, but I was also thinking about myself. "Just me and you might be kinda dangerous though, without Merle…" I trailed off, thinking about how hard it would be to get by without the group. As much as I hated to admit it, I liked being around more people. Despite what happened last night, we were safer in numbers.

"We don't gotta decide now. Jus' go pack the tent." Daryl went back to work, clearly closing the book on our discussion. I could tell there was no way he was going to talk about what happened with Merle so I made my way back to the tent and began packing it up.

I was struggling to gather up all the tent poles when I saw Glenn walk by. I nodded at him and he paused. "Hey, need some help?" He asked, softly.

I shrugged, "Uh, I guess. Thanks." Glenn nodded and walked over. He knelt down next to me to gather some poles and I noticed he was all bruised up. His face definitely didn't look like that before they went back to Atlanta.

"You okay there?" I asked, gesturing to his face.

Glenn stopped what he was doing and ran his hand through his hair, embarrassed. "I'm good, yeah. It's nothing." He looked down again. "Suppose I should be asking you the same thing, huh?"

I shrugged. "I've been better." Glenn was trying not to catch my eye, he was definitely hiding something. Sneaky bastard. "So, what happened in Atlanta?" I asked, point blank.

Glenn scratched his head, not meeting my eyes. "He didn't tell you?" He cleared his throat, "I mean…Daryl didn't tell you?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, that's why I'm askin' you."

"Well… he wasn't –" Glenn was abruptly cut off.

"Hey!" Daryl called from across camp. "Get over here, Short Round, these bodies ain't pickin' themselves up!"

"Oh…uh ok!" Glenn shouted back, awkwardly. He turned back to me, "See you around…I'm sorry about your brother. Uh, Merle, I mean."

I just nodded, watching him walk away. What the fuck happened in Atlanta?

…

I heaved the last of our shit into the back of the truck, then heavily leaned against the tail gate. I was gripping my side, each breath I took in searing through my ribs when I heard the commotion. I watched as everyone gathered around Jim. I stood up and took a couple steps forward, trying to get a better look. "…Jim's bit!" was all I needed to hear. Fuck. I kept watching from a distance as the panic unfolded. Before I knew it, Daryl went after Jim with his axe raised and Rick had his gun out seconds later, pointed right at Daryl's head. I took off running.

I skidded to a stop between Daryl and Rick. I faced Daryl, "Put it down, Daryl." I said, as quietly as possible. Daryl barely moved and I grabbed the axe handle, pushing it down to his side. I put my hand on his chest and pushed him away from Rick. He never took his eyes off the cop, but I could tell when Rick put his gun down when the tension cleared from Daryl's face.

As soon as we were out of earshot, I said, "Daryl you're actin' like a fuckin' crazy person, ya know that?"

Daryl glared at me, "Those people are gonna get us all killed! They got that dead girl just layin' there like a time bomb, now they wanna keep that walkin' corpse around? No fuckin' way!"

I shook my head, "They don't think like you, Daryl. Maybe it's weak, but they jus' don't. Yer gonna get yerself killed if you can't get that, ok?"

"I ain't gonna wait around for one of them to come back and bite me!" He huffed, "Or worse, you!"

"I can take care of myself, Daryl." I said, then added, "You can too. We're gonna be fine. You don't always gotta protect me, you know?" I said looking down at my feet.

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure." I could tell he was done talking so I just walked away. Sooner or later we were gonna have to sort out the shit that was going on between us. Now wasn't the time.

…

"You sure you don't want to ride in the RV, sweetie?" Jacqui asked me, putting her hand on my arm.

I mentally grimaced at the thought of sitting in a hot car, smelling the stench of Jim's dying body. "Uh, no. I'm good, but thanks." I said, trying to sound polite.

Jacqui nodded, "See you there. Be safe." I nodded back, putting on a small smile.

I met Daryl in the truck and we were on our way. We drove in silence for a while and I stared out the window. My stomach groaned loudly and I put my hand over it, wishing I had something to eat. "Hey," I said, looking over at Daryl, "You got any food or water?"

Daryl scoffed, "Nah. Wish I did though, I'm hungry as hell."

"Fuck." I said, looking out the window again.

"We'll stop off at the next Mcdonald's, how 'bout that?" Daryl asked, grinning at me, "Get somethin' from the drive through, huh?"

I couldn't help but laugh as I shoved him, "Shut up, asshole." I started rummaging around the car, looking for a distraction from the thirst and hunger. "Here we go," I muttered to myself, snatching up the cassette I found in the back of the glove box. I popped it in the cassette player.

I cranked up the volume and Garth Brooks blasted out of the speakers. I smiled to myself, looking out the window. After a couple tracks, a familiar song started to play. I looked over at Daryl, instantly remembering something. "Hey, remember that guy Dan?"

Daryl smiled just a little, "That little shit you used to date in high school?"

I smiled, "Yeah, that guy. He used to play this song for me, thought it was romantic or somethin'. I always thought it was a little sappy."

Daryl scoffed, "Yeah, just goes to show. That guy was a fuckin' pussy."

I shoved Daryl's shoulder again, "He wasn't that bad, you jerk."

Daryl just laughed. "Yeah, he 'wasn't that bad' til I caught you two –"

I cut him off, "Yeah, I got it, I was there. It was embarrassing enough the first time, don't need you bringin' it up now." I put up my hand. "'Sides, you did some stupid shit when we were younger too, just sayin'." I added, turning the tables.

Daryl just nodded, "Yeah, not denyin' that shit. Merle used to get us in all sorts of trouble…" Daryl just trailed off, his expression turning hard. I chose not to respond, knowing he was done talking for now.

…

We were about halfway to the CDC when the RV suddenly pulled off to the side of the road. "What the fuck…" Daryl muttered, pulling over like the rest of the cars.

I hopped out of the truck, grabbing my knife and putting it in my pocket. I turned back to Daryl when I saw smoke billowing out of the front of the RV. "Looks like it's busted again." Daryl nodded and opened his door.

While Daryl leaned against the side of the truck cleaning his arrows, I caught Shane's eye and walked over towards the group. I could tell they were talking about Jim when I walked up, so I just stood back and listened. Apparently Jim was ready to get off the RV and be left behind. "Look, if it's what he wants, then I think we outta honor his wish." Dale chimed in.

I tried to pay attention to the conversation, but my mind kept straying. I was so thirsty and hungry that it seemed to be all I could think about. I wanted to ask Shane or someone for water, but now seemed to be the wrong time. When I tuned into the conversation again, the decision seemed to be made. We would fix the RV up and leave Jim behind to die in peace.

While the rest of the group fussed over Jim, I went back to the truck and hung around, watching everyone. "Think we'll make it to the CDC today?" I asked Daryl. He shrugged and walked around the truck to stand next to me.

"Might make it just before dark if we get outta here quick." I nodded and continued to stare at the rest of the group.

Eventually the RV was repaired and we were ready to head out. Daryl and I made our way towards the edge of the forest to say goodbye to Jim. I wouldn't bother giving the guy a hug or anything, but it felt wrong not to acknowledge him at all. Daryl stayed by my side the whole time, and when everyone was done saying goodbye, we walked back towards the road.

I stopped Shane right before he was about to get in his Jeep. "Hey, you got any water?" I asked. I couldn't hold out any longer.

Shane nodded, rummaging around in his bag. "Got about half a bottle. You can have it." He tossed me the plastic bottle and I caught it, shooting him a small smile.

"Thanks, I could really use it…" I trailed off. Shane rolled his eyes and laughed while he got into his Jeep. I ran towards the truck, trying to ignore the pain in my ribs and slid in. Daryl's eyes shot towards the water bottle.

"Where'd you get that?" He asked, staring at me while I drank.

"Got it from Shane. Don't worry though, I don't mind if you'd rather stop at the next drive thru." I grinned at him and put the cap on the bottle, tossing what was left at him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" He muttered while he unscrewed the cap.

Once we got going again, it wasn't long before my eyes started to get heavy. It was easy to feel safe in a moving car, especially with Daryl right beside me. I couldn't remember the last time I really just slept. No thinking, no danger, just sleep. I leaned my head back on the seat and was out like a light.

…

"…Shit this place is crawlin' with walkers," I woke to Daryl's voice. He turned towards me as soon as he put the truck in park. "Hey, you awake?" He asked, shaking my shoulder roughly.

"Jesus!" I snapped, "My eyes are open, ain't they? Quit it." I said, pushing his hand away.

Daryl acted like he didn't hear me. "Listen up," he said, "you stick close to my side, ya hear?" I nodded, I could tell he was worried about making it through the crowd of walkers. "Take this," he said, passing me his gun. "Only use it if you have to, you got the knife too."

"I got it, Daryl." I said. He was acting like I didn't know this stuff, but I let him.

Daryl swiftly got out of the truck, moving to follow the others, and I did the same, keeping a tight grip on my knife and checking to make sure I had the gun handy. We stayed in a tight formation, keeping the moms and kids in the center and made our way towards the entrance to the huge building.

The walkers were everywhere, and pretty soon they started to get closer to us. As we walked, I spotted a woman in a tattered dress making her way over towards me, her grimy hands clawing at me. "Look out!" Rick shouted, just as I slammed my knife into the walker woman's skull. She fell to the ground and I pulled my knife out of her head, continuing on with the group. We were getting closer to the main entrance now and I felt Daryl grab me by the back of my shirt, pulling me closer to the group.

Another wave of walkers was stumbling towards us, and Daryl raised his crossbow, firing at the closest walker. He fell to the ground and I ran over to grab the arrow, bringing it up and slamming it into another walker's skull when it came up behind me. By then, we were close enough to the doors to realize they were locked and barricaded. I handed the arrow back to Daryl and pulled my gun out, ready to fire at any walkers that got too close while Rick pounded on the door.

"Let us in!" He shouted, over and over again. The walkers continued to get closer and I shifted my feet uneasily. Pretty soon we would be swarmed.

"Gotta go soon, these walkers are gettin' closer!" Daryl yelled, firing his crossbow again.

"Rick! Let's go man! Ain't nobody here!" Shane shouted.

"The camera! It moved!" Rick pointed up at the camera and began pounding on the metal doors.

"Daryl…" I muttered, grabbing at his shirt. We needed to get the hell outta there, and fast. I turned back towards Rick.

"Please! Let us in! You can't leave us out here! You're killing us!" Rick shouted over and over again.

Shane grabbed him and pushed him back towards the cars. "We gotta go NOW man!"

Before any of us could make another move, the doors burst open, illuminating the rapidly darkening area around us with light.

TBC

…

A/N: Hello readers! I'm loving the Daryl and Merle interaction in season 3! It really gives me a lot of inspiration for where this story is going. I would love to hear what you think too, reviews are greatly appreciated!