What a fast update. Why? Because this was a tense scene to write and this is for everyone who left a review last chapter. Thank you, as always. Things kind of spiral in a direction I don't think anyone will expect, and I do hope you enjoy the ride this chapter. Always keep in mind: the characters have a reason for doing what they do. Enjoy!

Chapter 6 - Mine

Paige worked on her breathing as the men approached. As long as she could get her breathing back to normal, the rest of her brain would hopefully follow suit.

"This time, I don't think I'm going to be polite," Adley promised, scanning Paige up and down.

"I know you haven't had the chance to try her," Lawrence mentioned back. "But once she stops screaming, you'd be amazed at how good it feels."

Her breath hitched once more from the words, but Paige maintained reason and a tense tranquility. She didn't know in what form. Right now, her heart threatened to give out on her and the ability to speak seemed to be trapped beneath the burdensome weight of her tongue.

I am not defenseless. I am NOT defenseless. I have a gun and I have a knife and this time around, they are down two men. Think about this, and nothing else.

This confidence ascended from her fight or flight instinct, and eventually, her breathing returned to what could be considered relative normality.

"Where's Jason?" she suddenly asked, head flinging up to the two men.

Speaking the name alone made fear and fury tumble around in a passionate war within her tummy, but Paige only focused on breathing.

"Course you'd ask that, you little bitch," Lawrence spat, one hand reaching to his pocket and pulling out his hunting knife.

His anger was her answer.

"He died after you stabbed him," Adley confirmed, channeling how utterly -headed he could be despite the actions he was capable of. "Not a nice present considering zombies love the smell of fresh carcass. But it's only fair, isn't it? You took one of our men without proper cause, and now you'll face the consequences of your action."

"I took Matthews as well," came her soft reply.

Lawrence stepped forward, detecting the hints of triumph in her statement.

"Fuck you. Matthews is still back at camp."

Paige gave him a long stare, picking out the lie easily.

"No, he's actually sprawled out on the ground three miles east of here, enjoying the undead life of having my fucking bullet in his eye. You're welcome, by the way."

Adley had to grab on to one of Lawrence's shoulders so he could keep the man back.

"You little cunt," he growled instead. "He took you in. He offered you shelter when your body wouldn't have lasted another day without it. When I'm finally fucking you, I'm gonna make sure my knife is all the way in your socket."

Struggling not to scream at the words, Paige forced her body up, needing to stand so she could feel properly equal to them.

"Had I known what he would be leading me to, what he'd led countless of others to, I'd have never followed him," she insisted vehemently, eyes narrowed and filled with fire. "The tragedy is that you think what you did made you saviors, even though it was only-."

"Adley!" Lawrence interrupted, whipping his head to the man. "I'm not waiting another minute to shut her up. We've followed her for over a month. I want to do this now."

Paige watched the exchange, anxious of the response.

Stop staring at them! Remember, you have still got weapons on you. Not only that, but they only have their knives on them. That means once the shelter got overrun, they had to leave behind their guns. If I can get to Winston in time and-.

"It doesn't have to be so difficult," Adley offered, ignoring Lawrence's pleading look. "If you just come with us, we'll talk it out."

Startled at the proclamation, Paige shook her head mutinously.

"If you believed your own words, you would have never followed me this far," she pointed out. "I'm not sorry about killing Jason. He deserved everything that came to him. And I know saying this about your brother, may only heighten the chances of my death. I'm fine with that. But I do regret the path he chose to take. Because if there's anything I've learned in the months I've spent looking in on other groups, it's that there is always another way. Our first instinct as soon as the world goes to hell, does not need to be barbarism and insanity. Believe it or not, there are people out there who still retain goodness in them. And even if you preyed off it like you did with mine, they'd still be the survivors that they are."

She only received a blank stare from Adley and a fuming one from Lawrence.

Breathing, she continued, "Tonight, either I'm not leaving here alive, or you two aren't. I'd like to think I've picked up enough skills to where killing you both would be possible, but you're military trained. Whatever the outcome, I will die before I ever have to experience what pieces of shit like you want to put me through simply because you're too lazy to be a stronger man."

Lawrence lunged forward, but Adley kept his grip firm.

"You make a sound argument," the calm man admitted. "Especially since I thought Lawrence personally traumatized you-."

She knew he was referring to the near catatonic state she'd been in after he'd left. It remained one of the reasons why the others waited a while before trying what Lawrence did. They didn't know what was happening to her mentally.

Ultimately, this distance worked in her favor.

The next time someone came down, she managed to stab them into unconsciousness with a led pipe she'd bloodied her fingers up after pulling from the furnace area.

"-but if it's possible, I'd like to avoid the bloodshed tonight."

"Christ, fuck you both," Lawrence argued. "We tracked her so we could fuck and kill her. For God's sake, she stabbed your own brother to death and put a bullet in Matthews. I'm not keeping my knife out of this encounter."

Adley thought over this for a moment, hand releasing the fabric of Lawrence's uniform.

"Perhaps you are right," he shrugged, retracting his own knife from his pants. "Maybe I'm just trying to channel some of that goodness Paige is speaking so fondly of."

They shared a laugh at this, but Paige ignored it, eyes finding Winston in the grass. If she could muster up the energy she thought herself to be capable of, at least one of the men could be severely injured.

The other one she'd have to fight off, and in that, she knew her death might result.

Adley would take his time, trying not to kill her. He had this terrible ability to be vicious and calculating at the same time.

Lawrence...well, he'd probably prefer stabbing her repeatedly. They both knew that she'd never make it as easy for him as it had been the last time.

The prospect of killing either of these men, no longer bothered her.

For a long while after she'd escaped from the basement, Paige grew terrified at the thought of having to kill them. She knew they'd be hot on her tail, and she knew eventually, even though she'd convinced herself otherwise, that a confrontation would occur.

Back then, she retained guilt over what happened and fear at the thought of having to kill living people just to survive. It was inhumane.

But if stabbing Jason had taught her anything, it was that no matter how peaceful by nature she'd been originally, in the end, either she survived, or she didn't.

Right now, she was choosing a life of no captivity or constant fear and pain. It might end up killing her, but she was willing to die for that life because the one the men had in mind for her...well, that was worse than death itself.

DPDDPDDPDDPD

Daryl watched the entire exchange from the safety of a wide oak, eyes glued to the Grass Fox's figure.

Guess she goes by Paige.

But he had no time to think over her name. Right now, the situation was goin' to get bad. And from what he could make out, the woman wouldn't be goin' down without a fight.

Which was somethin' he felt a bit of pride in. It meant the woman didn't just say tough shit to make herself appear better. She'd go to her grave, kickin' and fightin'.

From his angle, he couldn't get a good shot of either man with his crossbow. Tryin' could lead to a mess or to the woman's death, even if she could get to her sniper in time.

For one of the first time's in his life, Daryl had to lower his weapon and actually think out a plan that didn't involve killin' someone. Goin' in with his crossbow, tryin' to shoot at them, left open a whole lotta bad outcomes in his head.

But stayin' in the dark, watchin' the situation escalate, was not a solution either.

He fought back the urge to be sympathetic while listenin' in. From what he'd observed, the men were the ones she'd probably been warnin' his group about. And he knew now, even though not all the details were clear, that she hadn't watched them do anythin' to someone else.

She'd been the recipient of their actions.

An indescribable anger bubbled in him at what these actions could be, and Daryl raised his crossbow once more, wantin' to put an arrow through both of the cadets' heads.

At the last second, he dropped his hands, jaw clenched.

Don't be thinkin' 'bout what happened to her now. C'mon, need a plan. Somethin' t'a let 'em know she ain't as defenseless as she seems. Somethin' that would immediately get them away from her, let 'em see she was protected.

The exact second one of the cadets moved to walk forward, inspiration hit.

It wasn't the best idea he'd ever had. Certainly would require some participation from the Grass Fox's part (again, nickname just stuck).

But at this moment, the pros of the plan far outweighed the consequences of keepin' himself hidden.

And so with a final run through of the idea, Daryl stepped out from behind the tree trunk, eyes set on the group.

DPDDPDDPDDPD

"You really think you can take both of us on, don't you?" Lawrence laughed, shaking his knife back and forth. "You've got nothing to save you this time."

"Considering I've killed two of your men, I should think you'd be a little less cocky," came Paige's defiant retort, eyes flying to the weapons on the ground.

"Matthews doesn't count. Bastard never shuts up. His fault entirely he didn't see the zombie until it was too late."

"What happened to the others?"

This time, Adley stepped forward, a scowl marring his features.

"Quit stalling. I wasn't lying when I said this didn't have to be difficult. We can still talk it out."

Lawrence snorted and Paige almost rolled her eyes.

"For once, I'll actually agree with the cunt on this one," Lawrence remarked. "Let's get this started."

Just as Paige readied herself to bend over and reach for Winston, a branch snapped. Loudly. And if she didn't know any better, purposefully.

Both men immediately threw their gazes behind her.

Paige wearily turned as well, watching the figure throw off the darkness around them.

When she saw Daryl standing there, crossbow angled down, she nearly fainted on the spot.

Sweet. Baby. Jesus.

She watched him with an open mouth, hoping to warn him with her eyes of the danger he just stepped into.

But Daryl wasn't watching her. Instead, he met the gazes of each man above her.

"Who the fuck are you?" Lawrence cried.

Daryl calmly walked forward, finally making eye contact with Paige. Then, the corner of one lip turned up and in that action, she straightened up, turning to the men as well.

Whatever was about to transpire, even if she wished differently, Daryl would have her back.

"Paige," the hunter gruffly spoke, stopping directly beside her, "where you been? Thought you'd have y'er stuff packed up an' ready to move by now."

It didn't take much for her to produce embarrassment.

"Sorry, Daryl. I was packing up when these two men stopped me," she explained gingerly.

"We were just passing by," Adley informed. "Thought this young lady might need some help."

Paige physically restrained the urge to grind her teeth together, instead, keeping part of her gaze on Daryl. Right now, he was radiating courage like no other. She could practically see it glowing around him.

"Well...," Daryl elongated, draping an arm over Paige's shoulder and unexpectedly pulling her to him, "she don't."

The heat from his body tamed the fear in hers.

Lawrence's features had been getting progressively angrier, and rather than follow Adley's retreat, the cadet took a march forward.

"How the hell do we know you two are together?" he voiced, unconvinced. "Far as I'm concerned, a man wouldn't just leave a girl by herself to get all her supplies and then expect her to find him in the dark"

"I told him I could handle myself," she defended, wrapping her right arm around Daryl's back.

Adley watched the exchange and Paige could detect his disbelief rising as well the longer Lawrence picked at the situation.

"I don't see your name on her," Lawrence continued to argue, throwing Daryl a dirty stare. "What's to stop me from coming on over there and saying she's with us?"

For a moment, all the oxygen seemed to have been sucked out of the air. No one breathed. Wind made no sound. Not even any animals in the near area, dared make themselves known.

Cautiously, she spun her head to her right, watching Daryl's facial expressions bounce around.

Eventually, he turned to her, eyes finding her own.

This time, she had no idea what sort of plan existed in his head. Lawrence was being frighteningly persistent, and she was sure this threw a wrench in whatever plans he'd made.

However, she severely underestimated the hunter's ability to think quick.

One minute, Paige was curiously observing the indigo pulsing around Daryl's irises, and the next, their mouths were crushed together, one of Daryl's hands having snarled itself into the strawberry blonde of her hair, making sure she couldn't move back even if she tried.

Her naked surprise caused her mouth to drop open, and with this, Daryl invaded the space, tasting everything from teeth to tongue, leaving nothing unmarked.

Half of Paige understood he was acting, which allowed her to lean forward and meet his insistent kissing with open mouthed ones of her own, but the other part, a part she didn't even think she had in her, wrapped her own hands around the man's shoulders, fingers tugging playfully at the hair, nearly forgetting the cadets were there altogether.

The kiss began blind, but ever so leisurely, it transformed into an animated passion, his lips becoming rougher and more intimate the more she reacted. A woodsy, fire pit scent, one she'd noted but never really inhaled while sleeping in his blankets, suddenly overwhelmed her senses, forcing her closer until she could practically taste the fire on his tongue. She didn't know who's heart beat slammed back and forth erratically, but this rhythm dominated her very being, offering peace and contentment.

A hunger stirred inside Paige like a beast does from a cage, and the hotter the friction from their bodies grew, the closer to a strangled moan she got.

The scariest aspect of this embrace existed in the fact that Paige could have happily kissed the man for the rest of her life, the fluency of his tongue and heat of his mouth, spreading sensations from the crown of her head to the tips of her toes.

And considering she'd suffered through a point in her life where she didn't think she'd ever want a man's touch on her ever again, this was pretty impressive.

But it scared her just as much. The desire this man suddenly pulled out from her. She hadn't even known him a full week, but his lips managed to reorganize every single emotion and instinct inside her.

This fear rose so quickly that both of her hands dropped from Daryl's body and instead, worked to push at his shoulders, needing oxygen just as much as time to collect herself.

Getting the hint, Daryl tugged back his lips, and just in the hooded stare he shot her, she knew his reluctance matched hers.

So I'm not the only one affected by it. Well that's just fantastic.

Narrowing his eyes, Daryl quietly turned to Lawrence and Adley, lips set in a tight scowl as a few quick intakes of breath flew from his nostrils.

"Tha girl's mine," he roughly indicated, arm once more tightly wound around her. "So back off 'fore I send an arrow through each of y'er asses."

Adley stepped back at the proclamation, finally convinced, but Lawrence's anger could not be held back this time.

With a grunt, he stomped forward, knife extended.

Ever so fluently, Daryl's right hand swiped the crossbow from his side, aiming it at the cadet with a clear threat.

"You aren't going to do shit," Lawrence taunted, leer spreading back over his face.

A second later and Lawrence let out an animalistic howl of pain as his hands worked at digging out the arrow stuck in his thigh, tip of the metal having nearly protruded through the back end of his thigh.

"Holy shit, you crazy, redneck mother fucker! Fuck!" he screamed, hands working at containing the blood ready to gush out.

Adley moved to help, but Lawrence swore at him, instead, stumbling backwards.

Paige only watched the scene in a stunned amusement, involuntarily leaning into the hunter.

"Get the hell out of here or next one'll be through the skull," Daryl promised, aiming the threat at Adley.

The cadet nodded firmly, following Lawrence's hobbles as he stormed angrily back into the woods.

Minutes ticked by, and when Paige could no longer hear either of the cadets' yells, she detangled herself from Daryl's side and moved down to pick up her sniper.

That's it. From now on, I'm sleeping with you. And going to the bathroom with you. In fact, the only time you'll ever be parted from my hands is if someone's trying to take you from me.

Of course Winston said nothing, but this internal promise calmed Paige down a bit. Never again, she promised, would she be that defenseless. Especially when she needed help the most.

Once the knife was successfully swept up and maneuvered into her front pocket, Paige stood.

"I don't know why this world is so insistent on making me grateful to you. Whatever the reason, thank you, again," Paige smiled tiredly, catching Daryl's blue gaze. "I've been so convinced that I could handle myself just because...I've already gone through the worst pain in my life. I guess this was a bit of a wake up call."

She then blinked, staring down at Winston.

"Thank you," she repeated, swallowing past the burning tingle so often responsible for tears.

I cannot afford to break down right now. Not here, and not with him watching me.

Strapping the sniper over her shoulder, Paige moved to her book bag, working on stuffing the rest of her sleeping bag back inside.

Once she stood, Daryl spoke.

"You knew them."

"I don't really want to talk about it," she insisted quietly.

"Hate to say this, but we're gonna have t'a. Rick's gonna wanna know everythin'."

At her confused look, Daryl nearly snorted.

"You really think I'm gonna let ya go off on y'er own tonight?"

His humor at the situation made her frown.

"And you really think I'm going to let myself be responsible for whatever harm befalls your camp because of Lawrence and Adley? No fucking way. The stupidest thing I could do right now is to stay in your presence. Because I know this - they will come back for me. If I lead them to you and someone gets hurt-."

"We out number 'em easily," Daryl pointed out, sobering up.

"They are smarter and stronger than you think."

"One of 'em's gonna have a limp for th'a rest o' his life. Think the odds are in our favor."

"You think I didn't have your mindset when I first met them? I had both my sniper and my knife on me. Even when I found out what they planned on doing, I still thought I had a chance," she sputtered, a hardness seeping into her voice. "They aren't just cadets in the military. If this apocalypse had been pushed back another week, Jason and Lawrence would have become first class privates, Matthews would have been a specialist, and Adley was well on his way to being a corporal. They may act dumb, but they are a lot cleverer then you've given them credit for."

Daryl waited a few seconds before responding.

"You said the same thin' 'bout walkers and we're still alive."

"This is different," she defended, less assured. "I don't understand why you're being so stubborn about this. This is my problem. Walk away and let me handle this."

"So you can keep on runnin', settle down, then encounter them again?" he argued, moving toward her. "You gotta a chance to finally throw 'em off. To get 'em to leave you alone forever."

"I am not going to place that guilt of killing a living being on you or anyone else in your camp. Considering they left your brother to die, I'd have thought you'd understand where I'm coming from."

This silenced the hunter for a few good seconds, and without meaning to, Paige's eyes traveled to his lips.

Stop it, damn you!

Inhaling slowly, Paige closed her eyes. But the kiss existed just as vividly in her head.

"Okay, I'm going to talk about this without being so hostile. Daryl," she expressed levelly, opening her eyes, "I understand you want to help me so I don't have to worry about them anymore. But, they are my problem. And if I stay at your camp, I will be putting everyone there at risk. That is not something I am prepared to have on my conscience. I am grateful, very, very grateful for you intervening when you did. However, this is my business, not yours. Let me take care of it."

Daryl listened, his lips still set in a thin line.

"Why do you want to help me?" she questioned. "You've long ago repaid your debt."

The man didn't answer, but he did throw out a request.

"Tell me 'bout what happened."

"Will you leave me alone if I do?"

Again, he didn't say anything.

"Truth's too humiliating any way," she replied, readying herself to step around him.

Daryl blocked her path with an extended arm, releasing a disgruntled exhale.

"Part o' me still feels like I owe ya. And considerin' y'er ease at gettin' into bad situations, I feel...responsible for y'er safety."

She could tell the words were difficult for Daryl to release, and that even he didn't quite understand the full meaning of them.

"The last time someone promised me safety, I was-."

Pausing, Paige shook away the poisonous thoughts.

"I need to do this alone."

"Used to think the same thin'," he agreed. "Hunted alone. Ate alone. Talked to no one."

She studied him inquiringly. "What changed?"

"You puttin' a bullet into the walker that woulda killed me," Daryl answered sharply. "Once in a while, it ain't bad to accept someone's help."

Paige allowed herself to wonder for just the briefest of moments, what kind of life she'd have if she did follow Daryl.

But she had to stop or else the idea would actually become a consideration.

"I'm quite sure Lori would kill me first," she noted with a half-hearted chuckle.

"Lori don't know shit," he bit back, causing her to jump. "Rick was gonna come with me t'a find you, but as always, she can't stand the thought of not havin' both Shane and Rick's attention on her. But Rick made me promise him I'd find ya and brin' you back if you were in trouble. He's not the only one concerned for ya."

"Then I guess you're going to have to break that promise," Paige sighed, forcing back the tiredness wanting to settle inside.

Ever so slowly, Daryl nodded, eyes falling to his feet.

"'Least let me see y'er bag," he declared. "I can cut a space for you t'a slip y'er sniper in so you can have easier access gettin' it out."

Shrugging, Paige slipped the bag off her shoulder, extending her arm.

She didn't expect Daryl to suddenly crouch down, grab her around the midsection, lift her up in the air, and throw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. All in one swift movement that he had to have planned out in his head before attempting.

"You son of a bitch!" she squeaked, attempting to claw her way down his back.

Daryl only shifted his weight, successfully trapping her legs beneath his arm. Her book bag hung in a strange angle, half off her shoulder while Daryl held on to Winston in his right hand.

"Calm down," he scolded, beginning a walk.

"Calm down?" she growled. "Like hell, you stubborn asshole."

She tried to twist and turn from her position, ground steadily moving by below her, but Daryl held her pinned well enough to where she broke more of a sweat than he did.

"You had better be on the other side of these woods when you finally let me down," she threatened, continuing her disruptive movements. "Or at least not leave your arrows by me. Because I can guarantee one of them will be going straight up your ass."

"Considerin' I have a stubborn asshole, I don't think it'd fit."

Paige would have laughed if she wasn't so vexed.

But that didn't keep her from more threats.

"Will you hush up, woman?" Daryl demanded, kneeling down to get through a thick tangle of bent branches. "You're gonna attract every walker in the area."

"Walkers are going to be the least of your problems by the end of the night."

This comment, however, lacked her fury.

"Daryl...you've got to understand what you're doing by bringing me to your camp."

"'Course I understand," came the gruff assurance.

"Then why-."

"Hush."

Paige just barely restrained the urge to elbow him in the back of the head.

Barely.

Yeah, so this swung into an unexpected direction. But what can I say...Daryl's feeling like his debt isn't repaid yet. That and he recognizes that if Paige remains alone and constantly distances herself from help, she will eventually die, just like he nearly did. Plus, there's a whole lot of conflicting feelings inside both of our characters that are just so much fun! Anyway, hope you enjoyed that. Let me know your thoughts in a review!