Bite The Bullet

Rick's first impression of Daryl Dixon left much to be desired. That was the easiest way to put it.

Daryl caught the attention of the entire camp as soon as he walked in, calling out to his brother to gain looks from everyone that knew about what had happened in Atlanta the previous day. They knew that hell was about to descend upon their camp, there was no avoiding it. Especially with someone like Daryl Dixon.

Rick followed after when Shane took the lead, depositing his gun into the front seat of his jeep as he was walking passed, waiting to allow Shane to start things off. He knew that he would have to take control of things after a while, since Shane hadn't even been in the city, and wasn't entirely looking forward to the moment.

"Hey, Daryl, hold on up a bit, I need to talk to you," Shane said, the tone of his voice nearly revealing what he had to say. Daryl paused in his stride as he turned to look at him, the look on his face telling them that he already had a basic idea that something was wrong.

"'bout what?" he asked finally, looking toward Shane as he approached him. The rest of the camp watched on, some discretely, some less than. The woman stood outside the RV, watching Shane step around Daryl to move between them in a discrete sign of protection.

He didn't look at Daryl as he spoke, instead staring off at the hills that surrounding them for miles. "About Merle. There was a problem in Atlanta," he explained carefully, finally looking over to where Daryl was beginning to pace.

"He dead?"

"Not sure," Shane answered simply, speaking the full truth. They didn't know whether T-Dog was right or not about the door being able to hold off the walkers, but they truly hoped that it did. Rick, Shane, and T-Dog all wished that they would say 'no, he's alive' but that might not be completely true.

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl yelled, his stance and stride changing from unsure and hesitant to angry and defiant. He walked quickly now, moving in a threatening circle around Shane, the other man never backing down.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it," Rick interrupted, moving up to stand alongside Shane, across from Daryl. He didn't look as threatening as Shane did, more like a friendly man that you wouldn't expect to know how to shoot a gun or to have killed people before.

"Who're you?" Daryl demanded, his irritation leaking into his own.

"Rick Grimes," Rick answered easily, but his tone had taken on the same as when he was speaking with grieving families, telling them that they had lost a loved one in a robbery, or an accident. Shane and Lori knew the tone, even though Lori knew because it was the one that Shane had used when he was telling her about Rick.

"Rick Grimes," Daryl repeated, spitting the name out as though it were venom on his tongue, "There something you want to tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all," Rick said quickly, the careful and easy tone of his voice gone and stronger now, holding power and demanding attention be on him. "So I handcuffed him on a roof and hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there," He explained to the man before him, watching the stony look that sat on Daryl face. He didn't give away his emotion right away as he listened to what the sheriff was saying, turning away when he was finished.

"Wait, let me process this," Daryl growled out as he wiped at the sweat on his face, "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof." He repeated, beginning to pace on the spot as his voice steadily great in volume until he was yelling, "And you left him there?" his voice echoed off the hills that surrounded them, causing several people inside the camp to flinch.

"Yea," Rick mumbled, the guilt beginning to set in again. He tried to shake off the sudden look of Jamie's bloodied face that flashed before his eyes. He didn't expect for Daryl to suddenly throw the rope full of squirrels at him, narrowly missing his head when he barely ducked in time. Shane took that moment to charge at the offending man, tackling him to the ground. Daryl lay on his back for only a second before he pulled free the hunting knife from the sheath on his belt, rolling onto his knees before Shane and Rick.

"Watch the knife," T-Dog called as he dropped the logs of wood he had been carrying for the fire that night. Daryl went for Rick first, swinging the knife out at him. Rick ducked back to dodge the first swing, catching Daryl's arm on the second one. The forward attacking motions were faintly familiar. Shane stepped in and took hold of Daryl to keep him still as Rick dislodged the knife from his grip, tucking it into the back of his belt.

"Best let me go!" Daryl yelled as Shane wrapped an arm around the other man's neck in a choke hold, lowering him to the ground slowly.

"I think it's better if I don't," Shane said back as he kept a tight grip on Daryl, even as the man continued to fight against him.

"Chokehold's illegal."

"You can file a complaint."

Shane kept a hold on Daryl as Rick kneeled before for him, "Now, I'd like to have a nice, calm discussion on this topic. You think we can manage that?" Rick's voice sounded more mocking than many in the camp had ever heard since he had showed up the previous afternoon. Daryl didn't answer him, breathing heavily as he glared at him with such a look of hatred, wanting to see him drop dead. "You think we can manage that?" Rick demanded with a more stern voice, leaning in closer to Daryl's face.

Daryl still didn't answer the man before him, but he seemed well enough that Shane and Rick passed a look of agreement between them and released him, letting him drop fully to the ground. Daryl looked over to Shane in rage, pointing to him in challenge before Rick drew his attention again.

"What I did was not on a whim, your brother does not work and play well with others," Rick started, only hearing Daryl's huffing and puffing as he tried to regain himself.

"It's not Rick's fault," T-Dog interrupted. "I had the key. I dropped it."

Daryl turned his glare away from Rick to the large black man across the camp. "You couldn't pick it up!"

"I dropped it down a drain."

The situation having finally calmed down, T-Dog told Daryl enough about the padlock on the door that it was clear what there was a strong chance Merle Dixon was still alive. Rick stood back as T-Dog spoke, knowing that T-Dog would be torn apart with the guilt if he didn't get his point across to Daryl.

"It's got to count for something," Rick said from behind Daryl. The upset was clear on the youngest Dixon's face, his eyes squinting and his face frowning. Rick could see that he was close to tears at the thought of his brother probably getting eaten by a city of walkers. He refused to look at either of them, swinging his arm around his angry dismissal as he yelled out.

"Screw all 'a y'all!" he finally yelled, "Just tell me where he is, so's I can go get him."

"I'll show you," Rick said immediately, looking over to where Lori was standing outside the RV with a look of resignation. "I have to go back-"

"Rick," Shane started, but Rick held up his hand, stopping the other man before he could finish his sentence.

"It wasn't only your brother that was left behind. A friend of mine got separated from me and I promised to go back for her," Rick explained simply, looking to Daryl. The man didn't react much but instead stormed over to where his things were located, his entire posture rigid with anger and rage. Rick looked over to Lori, seeing the look on her face and already knowing that she was disappointed in him for leaving again so soon. "Lori, I have to go. I can't just leave Jamie there to die-"

"Who, what'd you say?" Daryl demanded loudly, turning back around so fast that the camp members were surprised he didn't get whiplash. Rick opened his mouth to speak, shocked at the sudden tone in Daryl's voice. Why had it taken this long to react to what Rick had said before? "You said Jamie! Jamie who? Who?"

Shane stepped forward when Daryl moved up threateningly, the entire camp paralyzed in surprise and shock. What could have drawn such a reaction from Daryl Dixon? Only a woman's name?

"I don't know, she never told me," Rick said carefully, treating the situation delicately. Daryl turned back to his things, moving over to the bag that was located beside the fire. Rick looked over to Lori quickly, seeing that she was watching Daryl's movements with a strange look on her face. She was unsure or what was happening exactly, but Jamie's name was a very important trigger.

Rick watched as Daryl pulled something from the front pocket of his bag before marching back over to Rick and shoving a picture into his hand. "Is this her?" He demanded with a harsh frown on his features, but Rick could see a spark of hope in his gaze. Rick looked down at the photo that had been pushing into his palm.

Imagine his shock when he saw a more innocent looking Jamie smiled back at him. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and her cheeks weren't as thin as they were when he met her, the dimple on her left cheek extremely prominent. Her left hand was tucked under her chin, her elbow resting on her knee as she looked toward whoever was taking the picture. The background was all trees and her halter top was the same as he remembered her tan line to be.

"Yea," Rick rasped out as he looked back up at Daryl, who had stood before him, waiting. "This is her." He held the picture out to Daryl, letting the younger man snatch it back from him and turn away to replace it in his bag. The camp watched his every move, unsure of how to take the newest information.

"Who is she?" Amy asked from outside the RV, voicing the question that everyone was thinking. Daryl zipped his bag closed, his back to nearly all the camp.

"My fiancé," he finally said in a low voice, the word catching even Rick by surprise. Jamie had never once spoken of having a fiancé, she had always referred to Daryl by the term 'boyfriend'. "We better be leaving here soon, I ain't leaving her in the city with only your word that she's alright, got it?" Daryl snapped as he faced Rick, who simply nodded his head in understanding.

Rick was quick to get changed into his uniform, freshly cleaned by Carol, and make his way up toward the RV. Shane was waiting for him along the path, already having what he was going to say ready. But Rick could not be moved, he had left two people in that city two die, one of which was an innocent life that still had loved ones looking for her.

"Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?" Shane asked as he followed up after Rick, standing right next to the fire that Daryl was occupying.

"Hey," Daryl interrupted, pointing at Shane with the arrows he was holding in his hand. "Choose your words more carefully."

"I know, I did," Shane said quickly as he turned his attention to Daryl for a quick moment, "Douchebag's what I meant." Rick stood before Shane with a resigned look, his mind unwavering. "Merle Dixon. The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me," Rick countered. "I can't let a man die of thirst. Me. And you seem to forget that it's not just Merle Dixon that was left behind, Shane, Jay's still in that city, too."

"Someone that hangs out with the Dixon's? Someone that wants to marry a Dixon?" Shane asked in exasperation, looking at Rick like he had completely lost his mind. Rick was becoming accustomed to that look, knowing that he would probably continue to receive it. "She's probably just as bad." Daryl made to lunge at Shane but Rick stopped him, pushing him back with a firm hand on his collar.

"That's enough, Shane. You are going too far, and you know it. She has done nothing but good for me; I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her. So that's enough."

"That's bullshit, Rick, and you know it. She didn't do anything! She ran away, she took off as soon as she had the chance and it's her fault that she was left behind," Shane said, motioning toward the direction of the city as he spoke.

"You shit!" Daryl yelled, trying to move past Rick to get at Shane again.

"Actually," Glenn said as he stepped toward the feuding men carefully, "Rick probably wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for her. When he was under the tank, she took out a lot of walkers that would have otherwise been trying to kill him," he threw in, looking to Shane as he spoke. This was news to Daryl's ears, though.

"Yea?" He asked as he took a step away from Rick, allowing the cop to relax slightly now that Daryl wasn't trying to take out Shane.

"Yea," Glenn confirmed. "She kicked the head off a walker when they were trying to run, before she got cut off from Rick. I think she was pretty pissed off." Daryl actually laughed when he heard this, a smirk touching his features as he turned around to finish cleaning and loading the arrows into his crossbow.

"Hey, Glenn," Rick called when Glenn turned to leave, pausing at the sound of his name. "I need to ask you for a favour."

Yay! So many reviews! At this rate I'm going to be updating before I'm finished the other chapters! Anyway, I hope you all liked this, a lot of people were telling me how much they were looking forward to seeing what happened. Dropped a bit of a bomb there, huh? Daryl's engaged!

The term Bite the Bullet comes from the times of war, meaning to accept the inevitable impending hardship and endure the resulting pain with fortitude.

Chapter 8 – Damn Good Reason

Daryl moved with a fast pace, reaching the top of the building before Glenn had made it over the top of the one next to it. The dark tanned male pushed himself up onto the roof of the building, looking around for any sign of Jamie still being there. But the roof was empty; the only sign that she had been there was mussed gravel. He moved over to the corner that he had heard Rick and Glenn talking about, seeing the stones from the roof had been far more shifted there than anywhere else.

His hands lifted to grip at his hair, feeling the anger roll through him at the thought of having Jamie slip through his fingers after he had only just found that she was still alive. He had already lost Merle, but if Jamie was hurt as well, he might lose his mind. Crouching to the ground as his hands continued to drip his hair, he did his best to calm the tension of his body, the want to rip something apart.

"Fuck this bullshit," he growled out, turning back around the way that he had come. Glenn had stopped on the escape, looking over to the other roof. As soon as he heard Daryl above him, he point over to draw the man's attention. Daryl squinted as he tried to see what he was pointing at through the sun, noticing right away the body of something on floor. Throwing his crossbow strap onto his back, he quickly began to descend the fire escape until he was nearly the same level as Glenn before he lifted his foot onto the railing and jumped to the next building over. T-Dog tried to get Glenn's attention quietly, wondering why Daryl had just launched himself to another building.