Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Twilight and the Walking Dead. Those rights are reserved for Stephanie Myer and Robert Kirkman. I do own the original characters created for this storyline. Please support the official release.
Writer's Notes: Thank you for the reviews! Just to clarify this is a Daryl/Bella pairing for this story. There is a lot to get to that point. Bella and Daryl will end up together at some point in the story. This chapter has a slight trigger. There is a rape in the story at some point. It isn't graphic but I wanted to put the warning out there. As always I appreciate all of you. Don't forget to follow, favorite and review!
Bella woke as the sun started it's ascent in the orange sky. She shifted, opening her eyes and realizing she was laying against Daryl. His hand was dropped over her and he was sleeping. He must have got up in the truck to lay down at some point. She tried not to move again, not wanting to wake Daryl up but he woke up anyways. It took him a moment to realize that he was holding Bella. He fought the urge to kiss her in this moment. She looked up at him with her for Brown eyes, studying him.
"I'm awake." Daryl said quietly. He released her and shifted away from her. Tyrese was sleeping and so was Merle. Bella got to her feet silently and climbed out of the truck, careful not to disturb anyone. Daryl followed her. Rick was sleeping and so was Glenn it seemed. Michonne and Sasha were awake with Abraham for watch. The three were playing with a deck of cards on the hood of the van.
Daryl put a hand on Bella's shoulder and turned her to face him. "Are you good?"
Bella nodded, smiling at Daryl. "I'm good Dixon." She said and patted his face a little. "Lets hunt." She said and moved forwards the van signaling to the others that she and Daryl were going to hunt. Michonne waved at her and watched her leave with Daryl.
Bella was silent as she moved through the woods. She was tracking a deer. The tracks were fresh so it couldn't be far.
Daryl stayed with her, not willing to separate in woods they weren't familiar to him.
She held up a hand to force him to stop but the snapping of twigs startled the deer and it fled. Bella sighed and fired her bow, nailing the walker in the head. She walked over and grabbed her arrow and whipped the blood from the tip. She looked back at Daryl. "Lets follow it." She said and nodded in the direction the deer fled.
Daryl grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Yesterday. When you popped a stitch. You and Merle…"
Bella raised a brow. "Your brother and I blew off some steam. I crave sex sometimes Dixon. Sex is sex." She said and then faced him fully. "Are you worried about your brother?"
Daryl swallowed. "Yeah. I know he had cancer. He thinks I didn't know. I'm not stupid." He said and dropped his hand from her arm.
Bella was quiet a moment. "He doesn't want you to know."
Daryl was quiet. Bella went off with his brother to fuck him because his brother used cancer as an excuse to get in her pants. He sighed. "Is he okay?" he deflected his jealous frustration.
"Yes. He's okay. Merle… knows his limits. Don't worry too much." Bella said softly and then she turned and started back after the deer.
They were quiet again and Daryl welcomed that silence. He didn't know how to feel about Merle and Bella only that he felt this odd jealousy and he didn't want to. He developed some feelings for Bella but he knew that they had to be mild. He had never thought about a woman before seriously so this was an odd feeling to him.
They spotted the deer and Bella drew her bow up. She blew out a breath as she let fly her arrow. It pierced the deer in the carotid artery and the deer went down quick. Daryl moved fast towards the deer and took a knife to it's skull to make sure it was dead, dead.
Bella glanced around. "Gut it here so we don't bring that scent to the others." She said and then swung her bow around when she heard another quick movement. She shot, her area hitting a wild turkey.
Daryl grinned. "Two for one special today." He said as he gutted deer carefully.
Bella retrieved the turkey and then tied a rope around it's legs and tossed it over her shoulder. "Well it's more food than what we've had lately. We need to smoke this and get it jerked so it lasts a lot longer."
Daryl agreed. He worked quick, cutting away the flesh and piling it in his bag. It was a smaller deer but it would feed the group.
Bella and Daryl returned to the others, the sun in the sky fully now. Rick was up again. "Turkey and a deer. Let's get these smoked. Pull some of these older cars off the road and build a temporary camp so we can get this done properly before we move on."
Rick nodded. "I'll rally the others." He said and they started gathering to push the cars off the road to help create a blockage so it would be harder for walkers to sneak up on them.
After a few hours, they had the meat jerked the best they could. A few walkers filtered through but the group took care of them. Everyone was happy to eat more than they have been in the last few weeks. The filled their bellies and split the rest between the vehicles and loaded back up and started back on their journey to DC.
Bella sat in the bed of the truck while Merle drove. They were taking turns driving, everyone so she was in the back with Daryl, Tyrese, Abraham, Rosita and Eugene.
"Where are you from originally?" Rosita asked, breaking the silence.
"Washington State. But I traveled around a lot as a girl. My mom and my dad divorced and she got custody. I spent my time traveling the world with her and whatever boyfriend she had at the time." Bella said, not looking over at Rosita.
"Only child?" Abraham asked.
Bella was quiet a moment. "Used to be. My mom got married briefly when I was 12. I had an older stepbrother. He was 16."
"I take it that didn't end well?"
Bella was quiet. Daryl noticed her demeanor changed so he interrupted. "Do you think your friend in DC is alive?"
Bella was thankful that Daryl changed the subject but she shook her head. "I don't know. Possibly. We'll see." She said with a shrug. She felt herself try to go to a dark place so she got quiet, closing her eyes to try and pretend she was tired so no one would talk to her again. She tricked herself in the process, falling asleep when she didn't mean to.
"Bella it's just a game." The icy stare of blue looked at her. His soft features were starting to harden with puberty.
Bella looked at her new brother with bright doe brown eyes. "A game?"
"Yeah. It's just a game. None of it is real. We're playing pretend."
Bella bit her lip a little but she nodded. She closed her eyes and she felt the brush of her stepbrothers' lips against hers. She leaned back and looked at him. "What are we pretending?"
"To be mommy and daddy."
Bella nodded and closed her eyes again.
Darkness swirled her dream morphing. She was 17 now her 'brother' 22.
"Bella. Want to play our game?"
Bella sighed. "Caius I'm not a naïve little girl anymore. What you did was wrong. Leave me alone."
Caius snorted. His brilliant blonde hair was slick back on his head. "Those were kissing games. I'm talking about a better game."
"They weren't just kissing games."
"Come on little sister. Our parents are getting a divorce. We can do what we want now." He pressured.
"I said no." Bella said sternly. She tried to turn away but she couldn't.
Her dream morphed again she was 19 now. College. It was everything it was supposed to be. She was having fun. She made friends. She was happy. She didn't have to deal with her mother anymore. She went home to Washington State to stay with her dad her senior year and it was the best decision. She loved her dad.
"Yo Bella! I got your drink!" Mike, a sophomore, walked over and handing Bella a hard lemonade unopened.
Bella took it and drunk it. She drunk more and more until she was a little unsteady on her feet. But she was happy. She left the party to head back to her apartment. She didn't like the dorms on campus. She bumped into someone and she giggled. "I'm sorry." She apologized.
"Ljttle sister." The cool tone of Caius Voltaire filtered the air.
Bella felt her blood run cold as she got tense. She was incredibly drunk. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to study." Caius said and then he grabbed her, not giving her a chance to get away. He pulled her into the shadows of the alleyway. "Its been a long time little sister." He said and crushed his mouth to hers. She struggled against him but he was stronger than she was. Usually she was able to get away from him. She managed to protect her virtue this long. But not now. She felt the sting and pain as he pinned her to the rough wall. His pants were down and her skirt was hiked up. She felt the world spin as the alcohol made her dizzy. She felt him enter her and it hurt. She cried out as tears rushed down her face. She couldn't break free. He wouldn't let her go. He finally got what he wanted after all these years. He groaned in her ear as he spurt everything he had inside her. His mouth crushed hers again but she bit his tongue causing him to stumble back. She then kicked as hard as she could, catching him in his cock and she ran. She ran as far as she could with her drunken legs.
Her dream morphed again, the hospital she was in was warm. Her dad was by her side as she gave birth to what Caius helped create. A son. His dark hair matched Bella's but his eyes were his eyes. The icy throws of his blue eyes.
"He's perfect." Charlie said and kissed the top of his daughter's head.
Bella felt tears well up as she cradled her new son. Nothing mattered more than him now.
Gage Charles Swan.
Her dream morphed again. She was back in Georgia. She missed her son. Gage was seven now, and in second grade. He was smart and bright and honest.
"Mommy, you don't have to go back to the desert?"
"Nope. It's gonna be me and you kiddo."
"What about the people that need your help? They need you right?"
Bella smiled and ruffled Gage's dark hair. "You need me too."
"Yeah but I'll be okay. What about the other kids without a mommy?"
Bella loved that about her son. He was caring and kind. "Well how about I wait to go back for a while. I want to stick around here and train others to be like me. So we can help more and more people."
Gage smiled brightly. "I want to be an Army Ranger when I grow up!"
Bella smiled and ruffled his hair again. His laughter filled the air.
Her dream morphed again. The apocalypse was in full swing. People panicked the Army couldn't do anything so Bella took Gage from the base. She left to keep him safe. For months it was just him and her. He was resourceful for being only seven. They were in a cabin, one that an old ranger buddy of hers had before he died in Kuwait. It was peaceful there. She had a goat and a few chickens. Gage foraged within the perimeter that Bella made to keep them safe from the walkers.
The sky was dark and a thunder storm was moving it. Bella didn't like the sound of the thunder and she called for Gage. She waited frowning when he didn't come to her immediately. She went searching for him. The fence was still up. None of her alarms tripped. She spotted movement and she pulled her bow from her back and strung it, confused where the movement came from.
"Put it down or your boy loses his head." A mans voice called out.
Fear ran through Bella as she lowered her bow. The man appeared, his hand gripping the back of Gage's neck roughly. The man had dark hair and green eyes. His mouth turned in a sick grin.
"What do you want?"
"You've got a nice setup here. A fence for… stopping the dead. Did you forget about the living?"
"What. Do. You. Want." Bella said again.
The man smiled. "I'm Edward. Gage here says you're Bella."
Bella narrowed her eyes at him. "Let him go. You can take what you want. I'm not going to fight you for it."
Edward kept his cool smile. "Good. Let's go inside, have a chat." He said and walked forward, pushing Gage along with him.
Bella went inside. She watched Edward like a hawk. She was calculating how to get Gage to safety without him getting hurt or worse.
Edward looked around the cabinbut his eyes didn't leave Bella's area. "Its homey. I'm a weary traveler. I seek food and the comfort of a woman."
"I have food. Water. But I can't help you with comfort." Bella said curtly.
Edward poked a knife in Gage's back. Gage whined a little.
Bella put a hand up. "Wait. Let him go. I'll… do as you ask. Anything."
Tears streamed down Gage's face. "Mommy."
"Shhh. Gage, it's okay. Mommy is going to help Mr. Edward outside. You stay here. Color for a while. I'll be back." Bella said.
Edward smiled and kept his hold on Gage. "Go on outside. I'm right behind you."
Bella swallowed and walked towards the door. She left against her better judgement but she didn't want the man to hurt Gage.
Edward came outside, shutting the door. "Here is fine." He said and he unfastened his belt. He pulled a pistol, aiming it at her. "Take your pants off. The storm is nearing."
Bella swallowed and she unfastened her pants. She blew out a breath and she yielded to Edward. She only thought of Gage and how she needed Edward to leave. Needed him to leave her and her son alone. She let Edward get close to her his hands running over her before she threw her elbow into his chest knocking him back. He managed to shoot his gun and she felt the bullet pierce her chest on the right side. She screamed in pain. It caused Gage to run outside.
"Mommy!"
Edward caught Gage around the waist. He looked at Bella, anger and rage filling him. "It was simple. Do as I ask. This is your fault." He said and he aimed the gun at Gage's head and pulled the trigger.
"Noooooooo!" Bella screamed out. Her eyes were wide and her entire body shook. She watched the life leave her son's eyes as he fell to the ground.
Daryl's hands pinned Bella as she kicked out in her sleep. Abraham was trying to help Daryl by holding her legs. Merle was pulling over stopping the entire convoy now.
"Bella!" Daryl called to her over and over. He shook her lightly.
Bella thrashed a little more before she gasped and shot up her eyes open. "Gage!" she was disoriented and sweating as she panted.
Daryl's hands forced her to look at him. "Hey, it was a bad dream. You're still here."
Bella looked at everyone that was concerned for her. Even Merle looked concerned. Maggie got out of the van up ahead to check on her too. "Sorry. Um. Let's keep moving."
"You sure sugar we can rest for a bit." Merle said.
Bella nodded. "Yeah, I'm good. Just wish I had a cigarette now."
Daryl obliged pulling the pack from his pocket. He handed her one and lit it. He nodded to Maggie and Maggie went back to the van. They got settled back in and Merle started driving again.
Everyone was quiet in the bed of the truck. Even Eugene.
Bella finished the cigarette and put it out on the rough metal of the truck before flicking it to the wind. She blew out the smoke and looked towards the neverending trees that lined the road as they drove.
Abraham exchanged a look with Daryl. That was not a bad dream. It was a PTSD fueled nightmare. But he kept quiet letting Daryl handle Bella since they knew each other longer.