Summary: After the war, sixteen-year-old Danielle Hale left Britain, moving to live in the States with her Dad. She struggles to come to terms with what happened, what she had to do in the war, and hoped never to do again. But her hopes are shattered years later when the dead rises and society falls. On her own, Danielle searches for her Dad, not letting anything get in her way.
Disclaimer: I do not own Walking Dead or anything mentioned in this fic. None of it belongs to me besides my OC, Danielle. I created her with the image of Kiesha Castle-Hughes in mind, the actress that played Gaia in the show "The Almighty Johnsons", with dark hair and dark brown eyes. I wanted to say thank you to those who reviewed, always makes me want to write more. I'm sorry for updating a little late but I've been a bit busy. This chapter's a little short for my tastes but I'll make it up to you the next one. Enjoy!
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Chapter 5: Cowboy
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It was a short drive down to the Greene family farm. When they reached the gate, Glenn hopped out and opened it so the RV could drive through, closing it behind them. They drove up to a tree next to the house and parked underneath it. All of them piled out. Danielle winced but kept moving, stepping down from the RV and looking around. It was dark so it obscured her view slightly but she could see that the house was an old-fashioned farm house, very Southern.
The door opened and a woman strode out, her light brown hair bouncing around her shoulders. She eyed them all with a critical gaze, eyes lingering on the bloody Hawaiian shirt that was tied around Danielle's side and the bloody shirt wrapped around T-Dog's arm.
"You should come inside and we'll get that looked at," she told them, gesturing for them to join her inside the house.
T-Dog started off after her with Glenn supporting him as he swayed from blood loss. Danielle hesitated, not really wanting to do anything else to irritate her injury, and yelped embarrassingly as a thick arm wrapped around her shoulders. Merle dragged her up the steps, onto the porch, and into the house, ignoring how she stumbled next to him.
"Come on, sugar. Don't be stupid," he drawled in her ear, sending her a grin as she glared up at him.
Daryl followed behind them, his blue eyes glittering with amusement as he watched the interaction.
Merle dragged her over to the kitchen table, pushing her down into a chair across from the woman, who snickered at the glare Danielle was sending him.
"I'm Maggie, by the way," Maggie introduced herself as she opened the first aid kit next to her. "So, what happened?"
"Dani. I got shot leaving Atlanta," Danielle answered simply, letting Maggie reach forward and untie the shirt from around her side.
She winced, feeling her peel the shirt away to look at the stitched wound, and looked away, focusing her eyes on a picture frame hanging up in the hallway. It was a picture of the Green family, she assumed, with a white-haired older man, a grey-haired smiling woman, a brown-haired young guy, a pretty little blonde girl, and a younger Maggie. The family seemed happy.
"Looks good. Whoever did the stitches did em' nice and straight," Maggie commented, bandaging the wound with a piece of gauze and taping it there. When she was done, she lowered the shirt Danielle was wearing back over it gently.
"Thanks," Danielle nodded, glancing over at T-Dog, who had a blonde-haired woman helping him. He was grimacing and sweating bullets, grinding his teeth painfully as she stitched up his arm.
"Whoever gave you that pain medication saved your life, you know," the older woman commented to T-Dog, who grunted.
"Daryl?" Merle asked, the realization dawning on him as he turned towards his younger brother. "Ya gave him my pain pills?"
"Just the ones for clap," Daryl murmured, fidgeting nervously. "He needed em' more than you."
Merle's face twisted into an angry scowl from where he stood next to Danielle, who observed the interaction with interest. She could tell Daryl was genuinely nervous about what his brother was going to say. It confused her that Merle would be angry about losing a few pain pills when he wasn't injured himself. Unless he was using them for something else.
The oldest Dixon opened his mouth to shoot off at Daryl but stopped when a hand grabbed onto his arm. Looking down, he met the dark brown eyes of Danielle.
"Hey, it's okay, Merle. You don't need that anymore," she smiled up at him, genuine and honest. There was a deeper meaning behind her words that he caught instantly, judging by the slight widening of his eyes. He stared down at her for a long moment before relaxing, his scowl shifting into a smirk.
"Yer right, sugar. It's alright, Daryl," Merle dismissed, ruffling Danielle's hair with one hand. Daryl looked surprised, his eyes wide as he glanced between them. He was caught off guard by his older brother's reaction. He had expected a growl an insult, or something like that. Daryl eyed Danielle thoughtfully, wondering at the effect she had on his brother.
A man in a police uniform walked into the room and Danielle's attention shifted to him. Her eyebrows rose to her hairline in surprise, recognizing the guy instantly.
Well, well, cowboy did survive then.
Cowboy stopped in the doorway to the dining room, his blue eyes wide with surprise as he looked at Merle.
"How…?"
"Officer Friendly," Merle sneered at him. He was obviously still fuming over the fact that the man had left him back in Atlanta. His big hands curled into tight fists, barely restraining himself from beating the man's face in. The only reason he didn't was probably because Daryl had explained how the man's kid had been shot and he didn't need any more stress.
Danielle couldn't say she blamed him for it. The group had just left him there to fend for himself. He would have died from either heatstroke, with how hot the sun was beating down on him, or worse, he would have died from the walkers that were beating at the door to the roof, wanting to reach the nearest food source. It was unbelievably cruel, leaving him there to fend for himself. Any man would break under the pressure. Luckily, Merle didn't seem to have broken from it. If anything, it was added as fuel to make him stronger.
She didn't know the group personally, had said only a few words to each of them. But the fact that they were willing to do that to a human being, just abandon someone like that, made her hackles go up. If they were willing to do that to Merle, then they would be willing to do that to her too. She didn't know these people, didn't share any bonds with them. There was nothing stopping them from abandoning her in a tight spot just like Merle.
Danielle was unsure about the group. She didn't know if she wanted to join them. For now, she resolved to just keep her guard up around them. Merle was the only one she'd come to trust.
"Who are you?" Cowboy asked, interrupting her train of thought. Realizing his sharp blue eyes were focused on her, Danielle nodded to him with a smirk.
"Dani," she introduced herself simply. "Glad to see you made it out of the city, cowboy. I thought you'd be a goner, shooting down the street like that and hiding in the tank."
He smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "It wasn't one of my brightest moments, I'll admit. Nice to meet you, Dani. I'm Rick, Rick Grimes."
"Rick Grimes, I'd say it's nice to meet you as well but that'd be lying," she replied honestly, her smirk widening at his surprised expression. "You left Merle behind on that roof, handcuffed and alone. I wouldn't even to that to an animal, let alone a member of my group. I have to say, the fact that you did that doesn't give me high expectations for this group."
Rick frowned and immediately moved to defend himself. "We went back for him the next day. It wasn't our fault he was gone by then. All he had to do was wait for us to get back."
"Why would he do that?" Danielle scoffed with a shake of her head. "You left him so as far as he was concerned, he was on his own. A lot can happen in one night, cowboy."
Before the argument could continue, a tall, willowy brunette woman and a man with a shaved head came into the room. The woman immediately went to Rick, leaning into him as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She was most likely his wife since the two didn't share any family features.
"Lori, this is Dani. Dani, this is Lori, my wife," Rick introduced, seeing the questioning look the woman was throwing him.
Lori looked drained and she barely had the energy to nod at the other woman, giving her a weak smile.
The man with the shaved head, however, is who drew Danielle's attention. He was staring at her. The look in his eyes made alarms blare in her head. There was a hint of lust in his eyes, just a sliver among the darkness that lurked there. It was obvious to Danielle that he was not sane. That made him unpredictable and more dangerous.
"That's Shane, my partner," Rick introduced, seeing the way his best friend's eyes were trained on her.
With a small nod, Danielle felt a chill creep down her spine as he kept staring at her. She leaned back in the chair, trying not to show how unsettled she was by his gaze. Merle seemed to pick up on her discomfort as he leaned against her, slinging an arm around her shoulders. Grateful for the small gesture that spoke volumes, she reached up to wrap her arm around his waist loosely in return.
Danielle absently wondered when she'd started trusting him enough to be so attuned to one another.
"Well, I think that's a wrap for tonight. I don't know about anyone else but I'm beat," Merle smirked, helping Danielle up from the chair and keeping his arm wrapped around her shoulders casually. "It's time for us to hit the hay. Come on, sugar."
She followed willingly as he led her out of the house, Daryl following behind them. Merle moved into the RV and she waited outside while he rummaged inside for something. When he came back out, he was carrying a folded tent and a blanket. He led them further out, a safe distance from the rest of the group, and set up the tent with Daryl helping.
"There was only one so we're gonna have to share. That okay with ya, sugar?" Merle asked her, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. The look made her snort in amusement, her dark brown eyes lightening.
"That's perfectly fine with me, Dixon," she reassured him, her voice light with amusement.
Once the tent was set up, the three of them slipped inside. She settled down between the two brothers, all three laying on their backs. It was a tight fit with three occupying a tent meant for two people. To her left, Daryl was as stiff as a board, clearly uncomfortable with the close quarters. To her right, Merle was situated comfortably on his back with his arms crossed behind his head.
"If ya get cold in the night, sugar, ya can always move closer to me. I don't bite."
"I'll keep that in mind, old man," Danielle snickered softly, smiling as Merle rolled his head to give her the stink eye for calling him an old man. He was a bit older than her, she knew, but he wasn't really old.
"Watch it, lil girl."
Stupid little girl Bellatrix's voice hissed in her mind and Danielle's body tensed, her eyes closing as she breathed in deeply. Panic crawled up her spine but she ignored it, forcefully calming her down.
Calm down, idiot. She's not here. You're safe. Well as safe as you can be during an apocalypse.
When she opened her eyes, she saw both Dixons staring at her, having noticed her reaction.
"Ya okay, sugar?" Merle asked, a concerned glint in his blue eyes.
"Yeah, I'm good," Danielle nodded with a sigh, clearing her throat of the lump that seemed to have sprung up while she was panicking. "I just... don't like being called a little girl. Sorry for the freak out."
"It's alright, sugar. Jus' relax," the older Dixon murmured quietly, shifting his gaze back up to the top of the tent.
She nodded and turned her head to send Daryl an apologetic look. He looked back at her for a minute before shaking his head, dismissing her little freak out, turning his back to her to get some sleep. A sigh left her lips as she shifted to lay on her right side, facing Merle, and folded her arm to prop her head on it. His gaze was focused on the top of the tent still, not paying any attention to her.
Danielle prayed she was too tired to have any nightmares for the night. It wouldn't be good to bother the Dixons with her night terrors. In hindsight, maybe it would have been a better idea to sleep in a tree or something. At least then she could put up a silencing spell so no one could hear her while she dreamed.
Merle's breathing evened out and slowed before loud snores echoed. It made her smile, laughing quietly, before she drifted off to sleep herself, hoping for a peaceful sleep.
