Chapter 3: Meet Daryl

Abby didn't sleep a wink and she was up before the sun had risen. They had unpacked most of the truck the night before but there were still a few of john's bags in there. She hadn't realised that they literally had no medical supplies in the camp and it was only a matter of time before someone really needed them. She rooted through john's bags and pulled out a few guns, it was the biggest stroke of luck that john had been the owner of the county's only gun shop and they'd been able to clear the shelves before the store got looted.

She carefully screwed silencers to the gun barrels and armed herself to the teeth before climbing into the truck with four empty bags in tow and driving away from the campsite.

' Well where is she, why would she leave us?' Carrie shouted at john her voice shaking,

' Calm down she wouldn't leave us'

' She was talking about a doctors surgery in town yesterday I think she wants supplies' Dale said rubbing his face

' She went alone!' Andrea said running a hand through her hair

' She's a tough cookie, she'll be alright' john said confidently as he comforted a shaking Carrie.

It was bright daylight as Abby drove into the town; Dale had given her a good idea where the surgery was so she drove slowly looking either side of the deserted road for the white building. After 5 minutes she found it and parked right outside the doors and prayed the place hadn't been ransacked. She remained hopeful as she approached the doors and saw they were chained together and locked with a padlock. She picked the lock with a small pocketknife and slowly pushed the door open, there was total silence so she threw the bags over her shoulder, drew her gun and walked through the darkened hallway.

She came to a waiting room and slowly crossed the room her eyes darting everywhere, her heart quickened as she tried to keep her breathing as quiet as possible. She came to the first consultation room and nudged the door open; she scanned her eyes over the room before entering.

Carrie clung to her mothers sweater around her and paced the campsite anxiously,

' Do you want me to wash that for you sweetheart?' carol said gesturing to her mother's sweater,

' No it's fine!' Carrie said sharply, she felt guilty as carol recoiled with a pained look on her face. Everyone's heads darted up as they heard a screech of tires on the dirt road, Abby pulled up; the four bags were tossed in the back of the truck. She climbed out her white vest was soaked with blood and she threw the guns she'd taken back on the car seat before she got out. She joined the others and they looked at her with concern,

' It's walker blood not mine and no I wasn't bitten feel free to inspect me if you want peace of mind' she said calmly

' We believe you honey just don't do that again, you cant just go off on your own like that you scared us all' john said his worry that he'd been hiding so confidently now apparent to everyone,

' Sorry I thought I'd be back sooner but I did get a damn good haul and - ' she stopped as they heard Carl and Carol's daughter Sophia yell and come running out of the woods, they quickly armed themselves and ran in the direction the children had just run from. They reached a small clearing not far from the camp to see a walker hunched over and gorging on a dead deer, three arrows were already stuck in the deer's flesh. Everyone was silent as they slowly edged forwards, the walker paused as he tore at a piece of the deer's muscle and turned to look at them. When they wanted to those walkers could move quickly, he was on his feet and moving towards them the deer long forgotten.

Abby raised her gun but quickly lowered it, it was fine shooting walkers if you had a silencer on the gun but to shoot one now when it would draw others was foolish. Rick, Shane and Morales began to lay into the walker, beating it with whatever they were carrying. Once they managed to beat him onto his knees Dale raised his axe and the thump of sharp metal delving into flesh echoed in the small clearing.

Everyone stood still for a moment; the sound of quick, deep breaths filled the air as them men observed the now beheaded walker in front of them,

' They've never come up this far into the hills before' Dale said his eyes darting to the other men around him, no one answered as a rustling in the bushes made them all alert and on edge. A man walked through, crossbow in hand and covered in dirt; Abby assumed this must be Daryl. She felt bad for him, in a matter of minutes someone would tell him his brother was handcuffed to a roof in the city, he already looked pissed off as he caught sight of the deer,

' God dammit, that was my deer I've been tracking this thing for days' he said walking around the deer's chewed carcass,

' Oh god!' Amy exclaimed as the walkers mouth opened despite it's head no longer being attached to it's body, Daryl didn't hesitate, he raised his crossbow and shot the walkers head through the eye,

' Come on people, the brain, you gotta get 'em through the brain everyone knows that' he pulled the arrow out with a gut churning, squelching sound,

' You think we could just cut around this part?' he said gesturing with a hunting knife to where the walker ad started to eat the carcass,

' No we can't risk it' Shane said in his most serious tone,

' What a waste…god damn fucking walker, son of a…' Daryl ranted and kicked the walker's body in anger.

They walked back to camp and Abby started unloading the bags from the truck, they were a lot heavier and trying to carry four of them while shooting at the random walkers that crossed her path hadn't been easy,

' Dale, does the fridge still work in the RV?'

' Yeah why's that?'

' I need to keep some of this stuff cool have you got space?'

' Yeah the things pretty much empty go ahead' she smiled and sat down with the bags,

' Who are they?' Daryl said his eyes darting from a terrified looking Carrie, to john and finally lingering on Abby,

' Carrie, john and Abby, they're joining us' Shane said, Daryl eyed Abby up and down in her blood soaked vest,

' How many you kill?' he said never taking his eyes off her,

' Bout twelve' she said unzipping a bag and pulling out a handful of pre-sterilized syringes, Daryl nodded as if to give his approval and turned away,

' Merle, hey merle I got some squirrels…. where is he?' he said looking around

' Daryl we need to talk' Shane said calmly, Daryl flicked his finger across his nose as everyone in camp stopped to watch,

' Is he dead?'

' No he's still in the city though' Rick said coming forwards

' And who the hell are you?' Daryl said, Abby could already tell he was quick tempered,

' Rick Grimes'

' Well Rick Grimes why the hell don't you tell me what happened to my brother?'

' I handcuffed him to a rooftop in the city…his recklessness was a danger to us all'

' It's my fault…I dropped the keys' T-Dog chipped in guiltily

' Hang on…let me process this, you're telling me you left my brother handcuffed to a roof in the city for the walkers' Daryl's temper got the better of him and he lunged, T-Dog restrained him but he pulled a knife. Rick and Shane did their best to restrain him and calm him down but Daryl was wounded by their actions,

' They can't get him' T-Dog said breathlessly

' What the fuck you mean they cant get him?' Daryl all but shouted at him, rage flaring in his eyes,

' I chained and padlocked the door to the roof, no walker can get to him'

' So he's still there…well I'm going after him, someone tell me where he is and I'll go' Daryl said grabbing his crossbow,

' He'll do one better than that…he'll show you' Lori said, her tone was thoroughly unimpressed as she looked at Rick,

' What the fuck you mean…you're planning on going back, you just made it out the first time' Shane said angrily,

' It's my fault Merle's still there plus I left my bag behind' Rick said calmly

' You going back for a bag fuck that Rick!' Shane said loosing his cool more and more,

' It's a bag packed with every gun and all the ammunition I could get from the sheriffs office back home, you telling me we couldn't use more weapons to defend ourselves with?'

' I think you're crazy, your gonna get yourself killed for a dumb hick like Merle Dixon?' Shane spat angrily.

They argued for a while, Abby tried to concentrate on sorting out the four bags full of medical supplies, Daryl sat in front of her and rubbed his neck, he was growing more and more impatient as Rick tried to negotiate with the others,

' Come on people let's go!' he said standing up and pacing in frustration, Abby rubbed her face in exasperation; she didn't have half the things she would need if the walkers attacked them,

' I'm going' she said standing up

' Are you fucking crazy?' Shane said angrily

' Nope'

' What the fuck are you going for then?'

' To loot the hospital'

' I don't think that's a good idea' john said standing up

' Doesn't matter if it's a good idea or not, if you wanna stay alive I need to raid hospital supplies' she said grabbing two of the empty bags,

' Fine by me now can we go!' Daryl said impatiently

' You can't go you wont come back from there' Carrie said shakily

' Look they're starting to move into the hills which means their food supply in the city is running out, there wont be anymore corpses in the morgue for them to eat, they'll have cleaned out the hospital by now…I'm going'

' I know a way in but I don't know how to get you to the places you need' Glenn said

' That's fine…thanks Glenn'

' Well you're not going in there alone, we need a plan, any ideas? Glenn you know the layout best'

' Hospital first, then merle and then the bag'

' No merle first!' Daryl shouted

' No point if we go to him first we'll have to double back plus if he needs help Abby will have hospital supplies'

' Fine…fuck it lets go then' he shouted.

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