AN: This is a little shorter than the other chapters, but I wanted to get it out to you all :)
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Chapter 3: First Sighting
Daryl closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. He hadn't realized the sun had already started to set, too distracted by the woman and her . . . husband? It didn't matter. What mattered now was that Merle had found him, and by the sound of his voice, he had a plan brewing as he gazed at the camp.
"You mighta just redeemed yourself, Darylina." Merle smirked, clapping his large hand down on Daryl's shoulder. "May not have to kick your ass for not being back at camp."
"What you talkin' about, Merle?" Daryl asked warily, not liking the tone of his brother's voice. He could practically hear the smirk on his brother's face, and knew that no good could come of it.
"Well," Merle started, coming to stand next to Daryl, his large arm now draped around his shoulders, "After your oh-so-manly escape last night, baby brother, seems to me we got no shelter, clothes, first aid . . . nothin' 'cept our weapons. Here we are, all alone, strugglin' in the woods, barely hangin' on by our hides, while these kindly, unsuspectin' folks got more than enough to share." Merle said, an evil glint in his eye.
Daryl hated that look, and he knew sharing was the last thing on Merle's mind. "No fuckin' way. I ain't goin' in there an' stealin' from these people, Merle. We'll make do. Got enough food in these woods, and I'll go and look for a place to stay, or get us new tents, but we ain't attackin' these people and takin' what's theirs. It ain't right."
Merle sneered, "Pft, fuckin' pussy you are, baby brother. There any balls attached to that thing you call a dick?" Daryl felt his chest tighten, silently defending himself from the insults his brother threw at him. "How you think you're gettin' there, huh? Got barely any gas left, and you ain't walkin' these streets alone at night, less you're out lookin' for a death wish," Merle said, turning towards his brother. "Time to man up, Darylina. This world ain't about bein' nice no more. 'S about survivin', and takin' from the weak." Daryl looked into his Merle's eyes, and felt himself caving to his brother's will, despite the knot forming in his stomach. "You with me?" Merle asked.
Daryl slowly nodded his head, never breaking eye contact. "Yeah," he said reluctantly. He hated the power his older brother had over him, but he wasn't willing to leave him, he was family, and disagreeing with Merle tended to end with bruises and broken bones. So Daryl kept his head down, mouth shut, and followed his brother's lead, hoping he didn't say or do anything to piss him off along the way.
"There's too many of them for us to just barge in and take what we want, even if they don't know jack shit about using a weapon." Merle started, surveying the area. "Plus, we don't know where they're keepin' the good supplies, weapons, ammo . . ." He trailed off, still deep in thought, talking mostly to himself than to Daryl. After a few more seconds of silence, Merle nodded his head. "We gotta get in there, play nice, find out where they keep their shit, and, hopefully, be out with the goods in a few days time."
Daryl looked at his brother out of the corner of his eye, going over the plan in his head. He didn't feel good about stealing from such a large group, especially one that had children, but Merle was right. They needed supplies and food of their own, and as long as they didn't take everything, they wouldn't cause too much damage.
"When do we head in?" Daryl asked, swinging his crossbow over his shoulder. He knew it had to be soon; neither of them wanted to sleep out in the open, especially after being attacked the previous night. They were both on edge, whether Merle was willing to admit it or not.
Merle looked at Daryl with a smile on his face and clapped him on the back one more time. "There's the brother I raised. Not that pussy-assed wimp that ain't worth shit. Might as well head in now. Tell 'em we're pretty much outta gas and need a place to stay. Long as we ain't set up by any niggers and fags, I'm fine." Merle finished, scratching his upper arm and spitting on the the ground. Daryl cringed; he always hated how fuckin' racist his family was. He just hoped Merle didn't cause too much trouble while they were there.
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Carol winced as she walked back into camp, trying to keep as much pressure off her ankle as she possibly could. She knew she looked worse for wear, judging by the eyes following her as she limped towards the yellow Cherokee to grab their equipment. She heard someone jogging up behind her and turned her head, making sure not to show the side of her face that was already swelling.
"Oh my God! Carol!" Lori Carol thought, hearing the tall woman stop behind her. "What happened to you? Are you alright?" Carol lowered her head, willing the tears to stop from pouring down her bruised cheeks.
"I'm fine," she rasped out, closing her eyes when she felt a few tears escape.
Lori put her hand on Carol's shoulder and turned the woman so she was facing her. Carol whimpered in pain at the unexpected movement in her ankle.
"I'm sorry!" Lori said. Carol felt the other woman's eyes roaming her face and torso, taking in her battered face, ripped shirt, scraped arms, torn pants, and the way she kept her wait off her right ankle.
"I, I fell . . . in the woods, I fell. I, uh, I thought I saw something, but I was just being stupid, I guess. It was my fault. It only ended up being a squirrel." Carol lied, spitting the words out quickly in hope that Lori would leave and let her get back to her job before Ed saw her slacking off once again.
"Are you sure you're-" Lori started, but Carol cut her off.
"I'm fine, Lori," Carol repeated, more firmly this time, giving the other woman a pleading look to leave her be.
Lori looked her up and down once more before nodding her head. "Alright then, if you're sure you're okay." She started to turn around, but stopped herself. "If you need anything, we're set up by Morales' tent." Carol gave her a weak smile, before she went back to the Jeep.
As she went through all of the equipment, she realized how relieved she was that Ed didn't tell her to set up the tent, as she had no idea how to do it. She gingerly started taking out different sized poles and tarps, placing them gently on the ground, all the while minding her ankle. She was taking out a few pots and pans she had gathered when she heard a ruffling in the woods behind her. Carol went dead still, fear pulsing through her as she turned towards the noise, hoping against hope that it wasn't a walker. She brought her hand up to her neck and started playing with the small gold cross that hung there.
Please God, don't let it be one of those things. I can't run and escape, and there's no way anyone would come and help me! Please, Lord, don't...
But out of the brush came not a walker, but a man with short brown hair, piercing blue eyes, and the most delicious arms she had ever seen, which were holding the strap of, what appeared to be, a crossbow. Carol's widened her eyes, disbelief brewing at her own thoughts. They are amazing arms, though said the little devil on her shoulder. STOP IT! That's hardly appropriate. Imagine the beating Ed would give you for such sluttish- But her mind went blank when those piercing blues fell on her, a frown forming as he surveyed her swollen face. She felt her breath catch as she stared dumbly back before realizing why he was looking at her face. She lowered her gaze instantly to the trunk she was unpacking, trying to stop the blush that was flooding her cheeks.
"Stop your gawkin', baby brother." Carol heard a raspy voice whisper by the arm God. She looked up and saw an older man step out from behind him, taking the lead to the center of the campsite. Carol turned to look at the direction the men were headed, and saw she wasn't the only one whose eyes were fixed on them. Just like when she and Lori's family had entered, all eyes were on the men, focused on their every move. She saw Shane quickly look at Morales, who stepped forward once again, though with a little more caution this time around.
"How can I help you, gentlemen?" He asked, trying to stay as polite as possible, while still keeping his guard up.
"Names Merle, and this here's my brother, Daryl. We just about run outta gas and were huntin' in the woods when we stumbled onto your camp. We're wonderin' if we could set up by those woods back there," Merle finished, pointing not too far from where Carol was standing. Carol felt her heart beat a little faster when Ed turned towards her, jerking his head at the trunk to tell her to get back to work. She moving dejectedly, pulling out more items from the back, all the while listening in on the conversation going on behind her.
Silence had fallen over the group as they contemplated the men's request. Finally, Morales' voice was heard once again. "We don't have any trouble with you setting up with us, but we don't want any trouble in return. We've got kids and families to look after. If there are any problems, we're going to have to ask you to leave, understand."
"Alright then," the man named Merle exclaimed. "We'll just go 'n get our stuff." Carol turned her head in time to see the other man, Daryl, nod in agreement before the two of them disappeared once again in the woods, out of sight.
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AN: I wanted to address Merle, quickly. Some of you may view the way he entered the campsite as OOC, and I wanted to explain my reasoning. I always felt that Merle was a lot smarter, just like Daryl, than people gave them credit for. I always felt that if Merle entered the campsite as the racist ass we were introduced to, there was no way they would have let him and Daryl join the group. I think that when they first entered, they kept more to themselves, Merle occasionally making comments, but nothing too outright, especially when they first arrived. If there were children there, there's no way that they would let some dangerous redneck waving a gun anywhere new their site, let alone in their group. I've also never thought Merle was really that much of a bad person, but one that grew up really rough around the edges due to the environment he grew up in. I'll explain how he developed more within the story, but I just wanted to get that out there. :) Hope you're enjoying it! Press that pretty review button and make me the happiest girl in the world ;)