Newly Revised
Forgive my language in this one...I promise...I meant nothing by it other than it's one of the only things I know would be absolutely insulting to Merle...
"The fuck you say to me, bitch?" Merle roared.
"Ya heard me ya dumbass, drugged-out bastard!" Tea replied, every bit the animal Merle was in that moment.
It had started off easy enough. They managed to get to the town and through two of the planned stops, another unplanned at a pharmacy, before anything of relevance happened. Daryl didn't know if it was the fact that nothing had happened or symptoms of whatever he'd taken wearing off, but Merle had been on edge since the pharmacy and it had set him on edge too. Soon enough, his brother was snorting his stuff and completely blitzed out. It didn't help when at the fourth planned stop they had encountered a group of almost thirty walkers that just poured out from around the building. As a result of his high, Merle had been absolutely no help whatsoever in the oncoming shit-show. Tea had damn near gotten bit three different times, and if it hadn't have been for her seemingly inhuman reaction time, he would have been forced to watch the little girl die right in front of him.
He'd been too busy keeping the majority of the walkers off himself and the China-man to help her when four had stumbled up to her while she was fighting off two others. She had managed to take down two before she really started to get overwhelmed. He damn near yelled at her when she left herself open to one walker to throw one of her knives behind her until he turned and saw the one coming up behind Merle fall. Merle had been oblivious to the incoming danger and he couldn't believe that even fighting off three walkers on her own she had caught that one. She barely had time to pull her hunting knife out of the head of the walker she'd already killed before the one she left herself open to was on her. How the hell she had managed to have another throwing knife in her other hand and in that walker's eye as soon as it touched her, he couldn't fathom. He just kept killing the walkers in front of him along with Glenn trying to get to her; he and Glenn had taken down eight, another ten between him and the girl.
When she had lost her footing with two walkers bearing down on her, he couldn't stop himself from yelling and cursing. It had surprised him when it had been Glenn, the one they all thought would falter, who ran past him pushing two of the remaining six walkers out of the way. He ran up and pulled one of the walkers off Tea right before it got too close for comfort. He had slammed the blade into the head of the walker before turning around and grabbing a hold of the remaining one. Tea had thrust her buck knife up into the thing's chin and allowed him to pull it completely off her before helping her up. The three of them quickly finished off the four remaining walkers before making sure no more walkers were in the area and reclaiming weapons before shit hit the fan. He hadn't even tried to stop her when she turned on Merle with venom in her voice, any control over her face lost as she laid into him. Daryl figured it served his brother right to be told off, even if her face was so ugly and dark in the moment it froze him in place. The little girl had put her trust in the old soldier only for him to break it a feeling he knew all too well.
"I fuckin' trusted ya, Merle!" she'd said, face contorted in fury. "Ya said Glenn couldn' be trusted not ta freeze and ya were fuckin' useless! Ya fuckin' stood there like walka chow! Ya ain' jus' gonna fuckin' kill yaself on that shite! Ya gonna get us all killed! Ya gonna get ya brotha killed! Ya fuckin' useless piece a shite! I went with ya fuckin' plan, ya fuckin' hick! Ya were supposed ta be out front with me! I almost died 'cause ya were too fuckin' doped ta the fuckin' wind ta fuckin' care 'bout what was happenin'! I wasn' even that stupid as ta smoke 'fore we came! Ya fuckin' brotha coulda fuckin' died and ya'd'a been too fuckin' stoned ta even notice! Useless fuckin' traila park trash! I should a fuckin' listened ta Shane about ya!"
Even though he didn't know what she meant by she hadn't smoked, Daryl agreed with a lot of what she had said. The bit about Shane was a little harsh, but he knew that her calling his brother out on getting him killed was the one thing that was not going to go over well. That was what was going to set him off, and sure enough, Merle looked livid as he asked what she had said to him. He had pushed himself up off his truck and stalked over to her, his shoulders rounded and looking like a dog just waiting to strike. She had rounded her own shoulders and squared up as if she knew she was in for a fight, refusing to back down. It looked quite comical as the girl stood looking up at his brother, both pictures of righteous rage as his brother towered over her, almost a foot's difference between the two.
For the life of him, Daryl simply could not be angry at this little thing for what she was saying to his brother. He had watched her take point even without his brother's help and still throw her knife back towards Merle when a walker got too close to him and he hadn't seen it. She'd left herself open all for the sake of Merle and Daryl couldn't blame her for her anger in the slightest. He was surprised, however, not two seconds later when Merle's eyes widened ever so slightly as his fist connected to her face. The girl's face whipped to the left, an angry red mark spreading across her right jaw. The sweet smile that broke out across her face was only betrayed by the look in her eyes.
Merle didn't know what happened next, just that his sight was blurred as what felt like a brick collided diaphragm followed by his temple twice. Within seconds, he was flat on his back as a torrent of fists connected with his face, ribs, and chest. Every time he tried to raise his arms to push her off, one fist would hit his arm out to the side with such force that they bounced off the concrete. Merle had taken his fair share of beatings, but the beat down this little cunt was giving him was by far the worst. He'd been in the military, he'd been beat by his father and even then the treatment he'd gotten was nothing compared to the harshness of the tiny thing's fists. He had no idea where she got her strength let alone how she could be so accurate when clearly in a blind fury.
Her rage burned through her and it was like she was in the backseat. She could feel her arms moving, feel her knuckles pop and crack under the assault she was giving, but could do nothing about it. Every single blow landed on either a vital spot or a pressure point, rendering the man as helpless as she had been countless times before. This was not her intention. This was not what she wanted, but she could not stop herself. Just like watching a motion picture in the theater, she had no control over the events. It had simply been a fight or flight reaction to his anger to stand her ground. This? This was the rage she feared showing the most back at camp.
Time seemed to stand still for Daryl and Glenn as they watched Tea take down one of the biggest men in camp. Glenn was horrified to the point of being frozen while Daryl was in much the same state due to shock. Neither of them moved to get her off of Merle for a good few minutes, by which time Merle's left eye was bruised and swollen shut, nose was bleeding and possibly broken, mouth bloody, his arms couldn't move, and he was having a hard time catching his breath. The red mark on her cheek was already starting to discolor but it was the only other mark aside from her bloody knuckles that she had received.
When Daryl finally broke into action, enough of her rage had been spent that he was able to, albeit not without a fight, pull her off of his brother. He was pissed himself about how she had just beaten Merle down, but he had to admit he was surprised. Most women couldn't take a hit like that and stay standing, let alone retaliate how she had. Merle kind of had it coming, but she hadn't needed to rail on him so much. He wasn't sure how the man would be any kind of help for the rest of the trip, let alone if there was going to be a rest of the trip. He'd have to give it to the little girl as she fought against him, thrashing and kicking about, getting out of his grip twice before he was able to fully pull her away; she was strong. Stronger by far than any woman he'd ever met, and he and his brother had met quite a few. She had managed to clock him in the jaw with her elbow the first time she got out, and damn if that didn't smart like a son of a bitch. The third time he got a hold of her, he was sure she would keep struggling, but he was surprised that she instead just pulled against him with all her might instead of actually fighting. She let him keep her securely held within his arms as she let out a tirade of cusses and names, all meant for his brother.
"Ya eva fuckin' try somethin' like that again," she hollered out at the end, "and I won' let someone pull me away, ya fuckin' asshole! I'll beat ya 'til ya an inch away from death, ya stupid fuckin' hick!"
She had walked back into the fourth stop then, angrily tossing things where they needed to be and ripping things from packaging that was bigger than the item in question. Merle had groaned, slowly sitting up and putting his head in his hand. Everything hurt. Hell, even his old man's beatings weren't this bad. He hadn't meant to lash out at her; it'd been the first time in his life that he'd ever hit a woman, a fact he wasn't too proud of. But telling him he was going to get his brother killed had him boiling over and seeing red. It didn't even register to him until she was smiling that he had full on decked her in the jaw. How in the world she was that strong for being that small, he couldn't figure out. He'd been in his fair share of fights with men bigger than him and this little woman was even stronger than them! There had been no chance to retaliate, no chance to defend. All he could really do was lay there getting his ass handed to him by a woman a good foot shorter than him. His blood was boiling by how he had just let himself get beat on by a tiny little bitch.
"You alright there, Merle?" Daryl asked, rubbing his own jaw as it was starting to throb and slowly bruise.
"Fuck, man," Merle said, not really remembering anything before she ran her mouth. "That little bitch has some bite. Fuck I do to piss 'er off so bad she went and ran her mouth?"
"Seriously?" Glenn asked exasperated before walking away himself, rolling his eyes and calling out for Tea.
"Man, get your head in the game, bro," Daryl growled out angrily. "Girl was pissed at ya 'cause she nearly died. Big group a walkers came outta nowhere and she went with your plan. You told her you'd be there with her in the front, but you were too damn outta it ta help. Took point alone and damn near got bit three times thanks to your useless ass."
"Don't you dare talk to me like that, boy! Bitch has to learn 'er place and get the fuck over herself! She survived! Time to move the fuck on," Merle yelled, raising angrily to his feet. Bitch had already been giving eyes with his brother back at the camp, now he was defending her? He had to get the boy back in line.
"She fuckin' took out a walker comin' up on ya from behind, you ass!" Daryl shot back, noticing how Merle startled at that. He didn't know why he was defending the little girl, but she had saved Merle and the least he could do was make sure Merle knew what she did for him. "She had four of 'em on her and threw the knife in her hand behind her to take out the one about to get you! You didn't even notice it! Weren't for her, you'd be dead! Weren't for the Asian kid, she'd'a been killed!"
"Fuck ya gettin' at, man? I deserved what I got?"
"Ain't sayin' she had a right to mouth off like she did, but man, Merle, you had it comin'," Daryl stated, unable to deny the fact that she had saved his brother's sorry ass even though he had failed her.
"Fuck you, man!" Merle shot back, pushing Daryl roughly. "Fuck all a y'all! I'm done. Ya can finish this shit yourselves!"
He stormed off to the truck, slamming the passenger door shut behind him and grabbing out his stash. The others counted themselves lucky that he spent the rest of the afternoon passed out. With it just being the three of them working now, Tea decided to skip any unintended stops. By the time they were at the second to last stop they had managed to get about twelve tents, about twice as many sleeping bags, and a lot of supplies that were needed to make a functional camp. Daryl's truck had all the tents and sleeping bags in it, as well as several 24 packs of bottled water while her SUV had quite the haul of bedding, some baseball bats, and camping gear.
They had been disappointed by the hunting stores; they had already been picked clean of most of the guns leaving them only with four rifles and thirteen boxes of ammo. Tea managed to find a couple small blades that she could give to the kids after she gave them lessons on how to use them as well as several other hunting knives. She'd even handed Glenn a machete like hers. Daryl had surprised Tea again when he came back with a crossbow similar to his, but just a bit smaller, and a shoulder quiver of bolts for it. If the smile she had given Merle earlier was considered cold, this one was warm enough to make even the coldest of hearts melt, even with the angry shiner she was sporting. It reached all the way into her eyes, teeth showing, lips spread so wide her canines poked her bottom lip as she saw him walk up with it at his side.
"Ya rememba'd!" she exclaimed happily. "Thank ya, Mr. Dixon! Ya don' mind showin' me the ropes on how ta clean it, do ya?"
She looked like a kid in a candy shop practically bouncing as he handed it to her. "S'ppose I gotta," he grunted before walking back to the truck to head to the next store, trying hard to ignore the tightness in his chest at seeing her face like that.
She walked over to her SUV and showed Glenn her new crossbow, earning a smile from the Asian as he looked at her overjoyed face, "She's pretty, ain' she. Think I'm gonna call 'er Jewel. One last stop, most important one too. This is where we get provisions."
"Right, but if all the weapons were taken, how much food is there going to be?" Glenn asked.
"Ya'd be surprised. My guess is all these shops were looted durin' the panic. People took money and weapons, some a the food, sure. But most a these stores have been looted a valuables, not savivables. There won' be a great variety, but we should still be early 'nough ta get some fresh fruit for the next few days and quite the assortment a canned goods," she said.
Glenn had been thoroughly surprised by Tea. In the SUV, she had mixed CDs playing, some bands he knew while others he didn't. When asked what kind of music they were listening to, he was surprised by the variety. Rock and pop were the only genres, but the number of branches in both that she listened to was astounding. In one CD there had been a Latino pop song followed by heavy metal followed by an Irish pub song. The next song that came out shocked Glenn because it was K-pop! It didn't stop there, as he found she had nearly every variety within both genre on her stash of CDs. When asked why she had so many songs, she said that she knew roughly seven hundred songs of various genres within rock and pop, and these CDs contained them all. She had reminded him that she had an eidetic memory when he was once again awed by her revelation. To him, it seemed as if anything that made her amazing was just nothing but dust in the wind to her. He wondered what kind of life she had to have lived to think nothing of herself when she could do so many things he couldn't even dream of.
Every time he asked her a question, she would answer honestly, but would not offer anything other than that to the conversation. He kept the topics flowing, however, by answering his own questions after listening to her answers before asking a new question. Every Irish Rock song by a band called Flogging Molly had her smiling and singing along, though, her accent coming in just as thick. He had gotten to see such a jovial side of her that he couldn't help but smile along too. Her face was almost always blank, only changing briefly throughout the conversation. He'd noticed that it was the same at camp, too, and you had to pay close attention to even see if she had registered what was being said. When she found something funny, she'd bark out a laugh or two, maybe smile for a minute softly, but that was the extent of the emotions she showed. His breath had completely been lost to him when she came up beaming with the crossbow. He had gotten flustered and simply smiled at her as she placed the bow behind her seat and climbed in. The fact that she had immediately given a weapon a name had also startled him.
In all honesty, she kind of reminded him of a friend he had had in school. Between how she talked and avoided contact and talking as much as possible, he found himself wondering if she possibly had a mental or learning disorder like his friend had. She was a hell of a lot smarter than his friend, but the way she acted was similar enough to make him wonder. That wasn't something you could just ask or force someone to tell, though. Even though he had his suspicions, it didn't change the fact that she was brilliant and actually quite pleasant company. He couldn't help but ask on the way to the next store if she was alright, but his only answer was a smile that didn't reach her eyes and her telling him she was fine. She simply went back to white-knuckling the steering wheel and looking like she was pissed off.
~x~
"Hey, uh, so, do you name all your weapons?" he asked nervously, starting up a conversation while they were loading carts full of food.
Daryl had scoffed at his question, but Tea had looked over to him before back to the shelf responding, "In all a history, neva has a weapon that is rememba'd been without a name."
"The fuck you name a weapon for?" Daryl quipped while grabbing jerky.
"Makes it mine," she stated simply. "My machete is Slice; stupid and simple, but I was young." She laughed then, "My papa thought I was stupid for namin' 'er, let alone callin' 'er a her. He laughed 'is ass off when 'e gave me my buck knife and I named 'im Bucky. My throwin' knives I jus' collectively call my Darts. Neva named my Glock. I dunno, guns are guns. Not really worth namin' 'less ya some famous gunslinga, like Doc Holiday. And thanks ta ya, Daryl, I now have the Jewel a my armory," she said, throwing a smirk and a wink towards the man, holding up her crossbow.
Taken slightly aback at her action, Daryl couldn't respond right away. His mind wandered back to that smile she had given him as his chest constricted again. He'd never seen a woman smile at him like that in his whole life and he wondered if he could see it again. Then he got frustrated with himself for even thinking about it. When he finally did respond, it was with a scoff and a shake of his head and a muttered, "Dumb bitch."
Not even his response could take her smile away, though. Instead, she simply snorted a laugh and returned to what she was doing. It didn't take them long to have three carts full of canned goods, protein and cereal bars, applesauce, powdered milk and eggs, fresh apples and oranges and even some kiwis and watermelon they could have over the next few days. Overall it was a good haul, though she had to move some of the blankets over to the bed of the truck to fit all the groceries into the SUV.
Even though she hadn't said anything or made any indication, she was wracked with guilt and had spent most of the time in the store going over what had happened in her head. She was trying to figure out how she could have gone about handling the situation better as well as coming up with an infinite number of scenarios for apologizing. She didn't expect an apology in return, that much she was certain of. She wasn't owed one anyway; she was the one who had spoken out of line in a fit of anger. She knew better than to talk when she was angry and honestly felt like she deserved worse than being decked in the face. Hell, the whole thing should have been the other way around, with her taking the beating and him sporting bloody knuckles. As she neared the truck, she watched Merle glaring daggers at her. Sucking in a breath she placed the blankets in the bed before coming up to Merle's door.
"Can I talk?" she said while looking him in the eye.
"Best get the fuck outta here, bitch, lest we be goin' round two," he growled.
"Look, I jus' wanna say I'm sorry. I was way out a line talkin' ta ya like that and I sure as hell deserved more'n a shina for sayin' what I said. I had no right. And I sure as shite didn' have any right wailin' on ya like that even if I was angry. I had no right, and I'm sorry. If ya'd let me, I can try and make it up ta ya by makin' a poultice with some a the herbs I got last night. It'll help with the swellin', keep the cuts from gettin' infected, and help the bruisin' go away fasta. Jus' let me know," she said, her shaking body betraying her steady voice.
She was holding back the tears that wanted to form and holding her eyes steady and her face tight. Her fists were clenched tight and her jaw set as she walked away. Merle just sat in the truck next to his brother who had climbed in just as she had originally walked up. The two of them were astonished. Looking at each other as if to make sure that that conversation had just in fact transpired, they looked back over at the girl as she climbed into her vehicle and radioed them to head out. Glenn sat silently in the passenger seat noticing the troubled look in her eyes when he asked once again if she was okay. He decided to play it like he would his old friend and just gave her a small smile before remaining silent. It occurred to him that she didn't even know she had tears running down her face from how she was acting and letting them fall. Looking in the side-view mirror at the truck behind him, he wondered just what had taken place in the two minutes she had been at the truck to have her crying without knowing and shaking so badly she had both hands on the steering wheel when she'd driven the entire time with only one hand. Whatever it was, he only hoped that her music and silence from him would help her regain her composure before they got back to camp. Her and Daryl's bruised jaws and Merle's overall state of being weren't going to be easily explained to the camp and he told her as much as they approached the quarry. She told him to let her handle it and to back up whatever she said; the Dixons would know what to do as soon as she spoke.
Sure enough, as soon as they got back to camp and exited their vehicles, all hell broke loose when Shane saw her face. He'd stormed over like a raging bull, others following close behind but going for the supplies and not straight towards her like he was. His hands immediately went to grab her face only for her to push them away. He'd insisted that she let him look at it and made the move to grab her face yet again. This time, she didn't just push his hands away, she used a kind of strike to his chest that sent him stumbling a full five paces backwards, earning an audience. He looked at her incredulously then and yelled at her that he was just trying to make sure she was okay. As the Dixons walked up and they saw Merle's battered face, and both the girl's and Daryl's shiners, many jumped to a conclusion not far from the truth.
"Go check on Merle then, Shane! He's in ten times worse condition than me," she stated. "I took a fuckin' hit ta the face. Ain' the first one and sure as hell won' be the last in this shite show a a world. I went ape shite on 'im in a fit a rage. So ya wanna worry 'bout someone, worry 'bout 'im."
"Dammit girl, I told you not to go with the Dixons!" he stated before rounding on the aforementioned men. "Knew you were a redneck son of a bitch, didn't know you were scum enough to hit a woman."
"He didn' fuckin' hit me!" she shot at him with such conviction it sounded like the truth, startling all three men. "I laid inta Merle 'cause a how I got this, not 'cause 'e gave it ta me! Got surrounded by walkas and fell and hit the damn curb! Damn near got bit 'cause my head was all fuzzy! And 'e was jus' standin' 'round like the idiot 'e is, high off 'is ass on coke or whateva the hell 'e snorted! Didn' get a chance ta hit me 'cause as soon as 'e lost 'is control, I lost mine! Had 'im pinned ta the ground layin' inta him so hard 'e couldn' even fight back if 'e wanted ta! Fuck, Daryl's got a shina from me too for tryin' a get me off 'is brotha! So lay the fuck off, Shane!"
Looking at Glenn, Shane asked, "It true? What she said?"
"Uh, yeah," Glenn cleared his throat, not expecting to be asked to lie on account of a Dixon. But she had told him to follow her lead, so he did. "Yeah, it's all true," he said before he walked to the back of her SUV and started pulling stuff out, keeping himself busy so he couldn't be further questioned, even though anyone who looked close enough could tell something was off.
While Shane looked between the Dixons and Glenn and asked if what she said was true, she stormed away. Grabbing the same small bag she had taken the night before, she walked right back into the woods. Only difference was this time she had taken the crossbow and quiver Daryl had gotten her. She had had enough human interaction for the time being and figuring out her Jewel would be a perfect distraction until she could settle her nerves. It wasn't until the sky was starting to darken that she returned, a small doe slumped across her shoulders while pride and joy shown in her eyes. Not only had she been able to smoke enough to calm down from the day's events, but she had also figured out how to knock, draw, and take aim properly with Jewel resulting in a successful hunt. Her face was ever so stoically unreadable, but it was plain as day to anyone who paid attention to her eyes how happy she was feeling. A chorus rang out throughout the group upon seeing her coming back with fresh meat. She didn't have the heart to tell them that she wasn't sure she could process her kill properly for it to mean anything. The only other people in camp who could show her how were the people she wasn't exactly on good terms with, so she wasn't entirely sure what she should do. Telling herself to quit being such a wimp, she walked straight up to the Dixons who looked up at her stupefied when she sat the deer down in front of her.
"Hate ta ask, but could one a ya help me process 'er? I've only seen it done a handful a times and it's been a while," she asked, hoping they could put aside what happened earlier in the day for the good of the camp.
"Thought you had that photographic memory shit," Merle asked with a huff, still clearly pissed off about earlier.
"Recallin' the steps necessary ta process a kill is not the same as bein' able ta propaly perform said steps. And I've neva actually done it, jus' helped. It's jus' this one time so I can see it be done again, maybe be walked through the process and do it myself, and then I should be able ta do it myself from now on. I jus' don' wanna waste any meat gettin' it wrong. I won' ask for ya help again. I don' deserve it anyways," she admitted while looking down.
The fact that she said that shocked Daryl, who couldn't help but ask, "What'd you lie for?"
"Pardon?"
"Why'd you lie to Shane 'bout how you got that shiner, bitch?" Merle elaborated, giving the little woman a hard stare.
He was still pissed off at the beat down she gave him. Daryl knew Merle would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed with her for keeping the truth to herself. He just wasn't sure why she'd lied about his brother but told the truth about herself. It made no sense to either that the little girl was keeping quiet. Merle wasn't even sorry he had decked the little bitch because he had been so badly beaten. Daryl was hoping that she would leave the two of them alone before Merle made good on his promises of retaliation against the girl.
"He gives ya two 'nough shite jus' 'cause ya cut from a different cloth. He don' need ta be givin' ya shite for somethin' I had comin' for openin' my mouth," she replied while looking Merle straight in the eye. "I'm the one who stepped out a line, not ya. Ya were puttin' me back in my place," she said honestly.
"Least ya know your damn place. Now git the fuck outta here, bitch. Ain't findin' me helpin' ya no more," Merle said before heading into his tent and reclining on his sleeping bag, his mood becoming even more sour as he listened to the bitch flirt with his brother.
"Well, Mr. Dixon? Will ya be so kind as ta help me this one time?" she asked the younger brother with nothing but good intentions in mind. "Look, there's kids in camp, and this will be 'nough ta feed 'em for a good few days, at least. Adults be damned, but I ain' lettin' no kid starve even if I have ta butcha this thing ta clean it."
"Alright. I'll help ya, but don't expect me to be doin' it all. Gotta get your hands dirty too," Daryl replied after a moment of thinking. He agreed that kids shouldn't go hungry; he'd done enough of that growing up. He heard Merle scoff in the tent. Damn fool's fallen for the honey trap, Merle thought to himself.
"I figured," was all she said.
"Got a skinnin' knife?"
"I got Bucky."
"You and your goddamn namin' your weapons. Fine, bring Bucky and follow me," he said standing up and hauling the deer onto his shoulder.
Again, I don't own TWD. That's it for today. I'll be trying to post a chapter every day, but I make no promises. Thanks for reading! Please let me know how you like it!
Updated 8/26/21
