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Chapter 2:

It wasn't long before Daryl caught up with Merle on his motor bike. It took a bit of convincing on Daryl's part (as they were riding alongside each other in dead-stop traffic) to allow him to put his bike in the trunk of Daryl's pick up and to ride with them. The only reason Daryl agreed was because his mother scolded him on letting his own brother suffer in the heat. Gayle sat in between her two sons and was happy as a bear with honey despite all that was going on in the world today. They had been in bumper to bumper traffic before they even hit the highway. They had seen people kill other innocent people out of frustration and panic, and nothing more. They had seen people get sick and come alive again on the road.

Finally there was word coming that whatever refugee center had been set up in Atlanta was either no longer there, or was no longer accepting people. It boggled Daryl's mind that the closest safe haven was closed or overrun after only two days. Some people were starting to go back to wherever they were coming from, turning their cars around. Some, like Merle and Daryl, decided that this was the beginning of the end. Whatever they had in their past life was no longer important and not worth going back to. All that mattered now was surviving, and in this world, surviving meant running.

When nightfall was near, Daryl turned off the car, took the keys out of the ignition, and shoved them into his pocket.

"What are you doing, Asswipe? Now we don't have air conditioning or the damn radio!"

"Merle...we're wasting fuel...and I think we have to abandon ship."

Merle thought for a bit and pursed his lips.

"Fine, but we ain't abandoning the car. We can take that exit over there...it will turn into Laker's St. Then there's a winding dirt road that will lead into a quarry. It should be good enough for camp."

"We should tell the others," replied Gayle after a few minutes.

"Right, Ma," Daryl said in response, thinking her remark was one of her random comments about whatever was going on in her lost mind.

"No, Daryl...we need to find whoever is willing to follow and set up camp until we decide what to do next."

Daryl and Merle just sat still in their seats for a minute, shocked by the incredibly lucidness comment.

"Plus, it'd be fun. It would be like going on a camping trip and meeting new friends!"

"Ok, Ma..." Daryl smirked, then cleared his throat, "Alright, I'll talk to someone and tell them to spread the word.

Wasting no time, Daryl hopped out of the truck and looked around. It was dusk and there were people sitting on top of their cars, eating sandwiches. He scanned the area, searching for someone who looked "leaderly"...someone who can take the take charge, because hell if Daryl was going to do it. He knew he wasn't the type to take charge of a group of people. Not that Daryl was much of a follower...he was more of a loner, or an "I'll-do-my-own-thing-how-I-want-to/when-I-want-to" type of guy. He didn't have to look very long before he spotted a dark-haired, police-type….Perfect. Policemen are natural born leaders, right? He headed over to said Policeman who was talking to a woman with very short hair. She was holding the hand of a little girl, and Police-guy had his arm around a small boy, who he could only guess was his son (Daryl would discover later that the kid was, in fact, not his son). There was another beautiful woman there. She had long brown hair, and was probably the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen...but very thin.

As Daryl hastily made his way over to the group he ran through a thousand ways to approach the subject of finding safe ground to these strangers. By the time he got there, he wasn't able to think of a smooth way to open, so he just cleared his throat and the group turned around to face him.

"My brother and I are going to set up camp near a quarry a little ways away. Come if you want," Daryl said, awkwardly. With that he turned to go, leaving the group dumbstruck by the odd way this man they had never seen before approached them. It was the cop-guy who called out after him.

"Wait! Where is this place?"

"Take the exit for Lakers St. Follow that to a dirt road. It will lead up to a clearing. Spread word if you want. It's a pretty big clearing."

Daryl turned again, but was stopped once more.

"What's your name, man?"

"Daryl Dixon."

"I'm Shane Walsh...we really appreciate this."

"We'll be leaving in 10 minutes. My brother is just going to find a way around the cars. We're not waitin for anyone, so if you're not following us...it's not that hard to find."

There ended up being about 25 people in camp, including Daryl, Merle, and Gayle. The Sheriff guy came with the pretty lady and her son, there was the short haired lady and her daughter, her husband that Daryl could already tell was quite the asshole, some old dude who drove a Winnebego, an overweight black guy, an exotic looking woman of African American descent, two blond sisters, a Spanish guy with his wife and two kids, an Asian kid, a scruffy, sad looking man that seemed to keep to himself, and a few other people still coming in.

Everyone was setting up tents and some were starting to make fires. Daryl set up a tent for his brother while he went hunting...although Daryl was pretty sure that Merle only intended to get enough food for him and his mother, which was pretty selfish. To remedy this, Daryl decided that the next morning he would go out with his crossbow and try to find a deer for the group. He understood they were all in this together for now, and he didn't want to start any hostility within the group so soon. Basically, hunting for a big meal for the group may just prevent everyone from jumping on his back to be more involved. He figured as long as he did his part for the group, they could give him and his family some space in return.

However, his mother had other plans. Once he was finished with Merle's tent, he started on the tent him and his mother would share. While he was doing this, his mother started chatting up the whole group while they were busy trying to set up camp, and set up dinner. He turned to retrieve her while she was seemingly flirting with the old guy who owned the RV.

"C'mon, Ma. You can make friends at dinner," he mumbled, barely enough for the old guy to hear.

"She's alright, young man. The name's Dale," said "Ol' Gandolf", sticking out his hand for Daryl to shake. Daryl just ignored the gesture, not caring to make friends at the moment.

"Gayle and Dale! Maybe we're soul mates!" Gayle joked, eliciting a chuckle from Dale.

"Perhaps."

"I'm sorry my son is so rude. He's not around people much. Ever since his father died, though-"

"MA!" Daryl shouted, annoyed at the old woman, and pissed that she would even bring up his father or lack thereof, to a complete stranger.

"It's alright, son."

"C'mon!"

Dale was struck by Daryl's rude abruptness...something he didn't expect from someone kind enough to lead a mass group of panicked people to a safe haven of sorts. Daryl, in that moment, put Dale on edge the same way that Ed, Carol's husband, made him wary. On the days spent on the road, he could hear him screaming at his wife from five cars behind for most of the traffic jam.

Dale's nerves eased a bit as he saw the young man put an arm around the older woman and letting her lean on him in a lovable, protective way.

"You can't just go wanderin' off, Ma. You'll give me a heart attack!"

"That doctor Brinsky is such a charming man," Gayle said, referring to Daryl's pediatrician as a child. Apparently that's who she thought Dale was.

"Yes, he is, Ma."

"Don't tell your father, though. He'll beat the living shit out of me."

"I don't think you have to worry about Dad. He's never going to lay a hand on you again."

"Where is he, Daryl?"

Daryl paused for a minute. Should he tell her? Now? Would it hurt her?

"He's on vacation."

"Oh, I see….are we on vacation, too?"

"Yep. Yeah, we are."

Daryl led her back to the tent and set her on the cot with a bowl of canned fruit that he brought.

"Ma, promise me you won't leave. I gotta talk to 'the man in charge' about gettin' food for the group in the morning."

His mother was too interested in the food in front of her.

"You hear me, Ma?" he asked a bit louder. She looked up at him, smiled, and bowed her head back down and focused on her meal. Daryl took that as a sign of acknowledgment and walked out of the tent.

He scanned the group for that Shane-guy and found him with the pretty lady and the kid. He was setting up a tent for the lady and noticed that he had his own, separate tent. Hey, whatever floats your boat.

"Hey, Daryl! Dude, thanks again for leading us here," Shane said, with a smile. "I haven't introduced you, but this is my friend Lori Grimes and her son, Carl."

Daryl did not even look their way. He just kept his eyes trained on the cop. Again, no real interest in making friends.

"I'm gonna hunt in the morning for food for everyone. I can't guarantee that I'll find anything great. Ya'll better be satisfied with eating squirrel or rabbit."

"That be great! Thank you so much, Daryl!" exclaimed the Lori lady. Her son scowled at the thought of eating a squirrel. Daryl successfully hid a smirk at Carl's reaction. He reminded Daryl of himself when he was younger. "You've been really nice."

Lori touched his arm to show some appreciation, but the touch scared Daryl in a way he couldn't explain. He wasn't used to anyone besides his mother show any form of appreciation or affection toward him, so he…well, he kind of overreacted. He swung his arm out of the way and backed off.

"Watch it, lady!"

Later that night Daryl had rounded up some trout for everyone to eat. Some blonde, the older of a pair of sisters, offered to go with him.

"I sure could use some time out to fish. The women are going to start laundry, and personally…between you and me…I haaate laundry. Worst chore ever," she said. But Daryl showed no interest in sparing company.

"I rather do it alone if you don't mind," he mumbled, but turned back a few seconds later and said…, "Hey, would you mind looking after my mother until I get back? I don't know where my brother has gone off to."

However, Daryl knew very well what his brother had been doing for most of the day. He was sneaking off into the woods and taking whatever drugs he had in his stash.

In fact, Merle didn't come back until the survivors were sitting around the campfire telling stories. He came in singing loudly and swinging a bottle of whiskey in his hands.

Great, so now he was drunk and high.

Daryl just ignored him because he didn't seem to be causing any trouble for now. He just went straight into the tent.

"Oh, Merle," Gayle sighed, "Such a beautiful voice."

"Ma, Merle never could carry a note in his life," Daryl whispered. Apparently those around the campfire heard and laughed. Daryl cleared his throat and blushed at the little attention his mother had brought to their direction. Daryl looked around and noticed a little girl staring at him. She was the daughter of that abusive drunk, Ed who reminded Daryl of his own father (which only made him want to kick Ed's teeth in even more). The kid was looking at Daryl and smiling, but when she noticed him looking back, she averted his gaze. Daryl felt bad, knowing he and his brother kind of scared children away. Not to mention, Daryl was awkward enough around adults. Kids just scared the shit out of him.

"So, Daryl, it's your turn. Tell us a story," said a girl named Amy.

"I don't have no stories."

"Yes you do, honey. What about the time you went hunting and saw a chupacabra?"

With that the whole camp burst out laughing. Daryl felt the blood boil in his head and up to his ears.

"Ma, no one wants to hear that story."

"No, Darlina…why don't you tell our new friends about your chupacabra. How you ran your pansy ass out of the woods, screaming like a little girl afterwards," said a voice from behind him…He turned to see Merle, joining him on a log.

"It ain't nothing, ya hear?" shouted Daryl, violently tossing a twig into the fire and getting up to stomp in the other direction. However, Merle was quick to grab him by the back of the neck. Daryl could have fought him, but not wanting to start anything in front of their mother and the new group, he let his brother force him back into a sitting position.

"You tell that story, now," said Merle. "Mama wants you, too."

The whole camp was too shocked to say anything as they watched the exchange, except Ed who was drunk and laughing, whispering to Carol (inaudible from most of the group), "He treats him like a little bitch! He just takes it! What a fucking Moron!"

"Maybe he just doesn't want to start a scene with anyone," Carol whispered back. Her husband shot her a glare and she shut up afterwards and averted her gaze from Daryl. Sophia, however, kept her eyes glued on the man.

"He really doesn't have to say anything," said Andrea, always one to stand up for those in need (fitting, 'cause of being a lawyer and all), but Daryl didn't need anyone to stand up for him. He was not going to let the camp think of him as a pussy, but he was struggling to keep down his temper for his mother's sake.

"No, no, no! I'm sure he'd be glad to tell the story, Princess!"

Shane didn't like where this was going so he spoke up, "Merle, I think it's about time you go in your tent. Get some rest."

"I'll go to bed when I want to, Pops."

"There's no need to start anything," he replied, calmly. Merle just laughed.

"Who makes you, boss-man?"

"Merle, I'm warning you…"

"You're warning me, what?" Merle shouted standing up, suddenly. Daryl stood up with him and grabbed the man across the chest and began to lead the man away from the group.

"Whatchu tryin' to do, Darlina?"

"Merle, now's not the time or place. You wanna start something, you start it with me, 'kay? Away from the camp!" he said sternly. He was leading Merle back, and for a while he let Daryl do it because he was in such a high/drunken haze that he couldn't really tell what was going on. Finally, he realized where he was being led to and he pushed Daryl off him and then threw a punch at him in the face. Daryl stumbled backwards and fell on his ass, but was aiming to get right up. Merle would have none of that, however, and he kicked him in the ribcage.

Shane, who had been watching with the rest of the group, got up just before Merle was winding his leg back to kick his brother. By the time he made his way over, Daryl was trying to catch his breath and make his way back onto his feet. Shane looked at Daryl and could tell that the man could probably hold his own in most cases, but Merle was an exceptionally big guy and highly intoxicated. Luckily, with his police training, he was able to sneak up on the man and force him into a chokehold.

Daryl walked up to Shane and got close enough to whisper in his ear.

"I can handle my own brother. You ain't gotta get involved."

"Sure, man. I'm just trying to prevent things from gettin' out of hand."

"Tell you what…I'll take care of my brother, keep him under control, you go and play follow the leader with the rest of the group," Daryl spat, bending down to take his brother by the arm as Shane released him from the chokehold and dragged him back to the tent. Shane just stood there watching him in astonishment.

"Yeah, ok man. Whatever you say."