Chapter 3-The Camp

Shane parked the car near the entrance of the quarry camp and got out, followed by me and Glenn, headed towards the RV where Dale was keeping watch. The empty bags we'd taken; full and waiting to get moved from the car to the RV for me to go through.
"Hey, you're back!" Dale greeted us with a smile before asking "How did it go? We were starting to get worried."
"We got what we needed." Shane tells him with a nod in greeting before pausing, sending a 'leaderly' look at Glenn and I, before back at Dale with a "And more."
"More?" Dale questioned shifting on his feet and getting an uneasy look on his face.
Shane nods, opening his mouth to respond but gets cut off by Carl's voice calling "Shane! Auntie Cat!"
We look in the direction it came from just in time for Shane to catch Carl as he practically threw himself on him.
"Hey Bud." Shane laughed as he spins him around a bit before setting him back down. Shane ruffled Carl's hair a bit adding "Give us a minute bud."
Carl looks disappointed but nods and heads back over to where Lori was with the rest of the moms and kids. She now had a worried look on her face as she looked at us but stayed where she was.

"We met some people at the pharmacy. Two brothers. They have guns and knives and know how to use them. They're coming here. To join us." Shane tells Dale then.

"I see." Dale says looking between the three of us with that uneasy look still on his face.

"They're hunters and helped us get in and get what we needed." Shane adds before motioning to our small group adding "But I want us to keep an eye on them for a bit."

"Yeah. Yeah." I sigh waving him off.

"Okay." Glenn agrees, though his tone was obviously still a little uneasy.

"Alright." Dale says his uneasy look relaxing before adding "We're giving them a chance. They may be good people."

"Yeah." Shane sighs, still somewhat unconvinced about that, before looking out at me and ordering "I know I told you before but be careful around them."

"Yeah. Yeah." I sigh again and wave him off again.
Shane releases a sigh before saying "We should let everyone know and get their thoughts before they get here."

"You sure you want their thoughts?" Dale questions, his tone clearly worried.

"This isn't a dictatorship. We're all in this together." Shane says giving him a thankful look before turning his face to the leader one as he looks out at the camp before clearing his throat and raising his voice so that everyone could hear him "Listen up, everyone! I have an announcement to make!"
Those around camp stopped what they were doing and gathered around us, curious and anxious for what he was going to say. Lori came up holding Carl's hand with that worried look still on her face.
"We met some people at the pharmacy. Two brothers. They helped us get in and get what we needed. They're hunters. They have guns and knives and know how to use them." Shane tells the group before pausing, taking a deep breath, and then finishing "They're coming here. To join us."
Instantly we're hit with a handful of murmurs with the members of the camp a mix of uneasy, nervous, curious, and hopeful. Lori pulled Carl closer to her as the other mothers did similarly; Miranda pulling her two kids closer to herself as she moved a bit closer to her husband Morales and Carol pulling Sophia closer to herself as she moved a bit closer to her husband Ed.
"We don't need any more mouths to feed. We barely have enough for ourselves." Ed snaps angerly.
"How do we know we can trust them?" Jacqui agrees, but in a worried tone.
"We should give them a chance. They might be good people." Dale counters with similar to what he said earlier.
"Yeah, we can't just turn them away. We're all in this together." T-Dog agrees.
Shane raised his hands to calm them down and hush them before he announces "Look I know this is a big decision. And I know you're all scared and worried. But hear me out. These guys are not saints, I'll give you that. But they're not stupid either. They know we have numbers and resources. They know we can help each other. They're willing to share their skills and supplies with us. And they're not looking for trouble. They just want to survive, like us. Look, I'm not saying we should trust them blindly. We should be careful and watchful. But we should also be open and welcoming. We're all in this together, right? We need all the help we can get. And maybe, just maybe, they're not as bad as they seem." He pauses for a moment before finishing, "So, what do you say? Are we going to give them a chance?"
It was quiet then. Though, it looked like most of them agreed to let them join but didn't want to be the first to say so just in case. Just in case they end up actually going through with their plan to rob us. The one that they didn't end up going through with in the show before Merle got handcuffed to the roof by Rick. But they did surprisingly keep their word at the pharmacy so who knows.
"I say we welcome them." Dale says then, breaking the silence.
"I say yes too." Glenn agrees.
"Me too." T-Dog says.
There was then a chorus of the majority agreeing as well. Even some agreed with silent nods like Lori, Carol, and the kids.
Shane looked at the majority of the group who had voted in favor of welcoming the Dixons and smiled as he announced "Well, there you have it. The majority rules. We're going to welcome them into our camp." Before looking pointedly at Ed, who had an angry look on his face, and asked him sarcastically "And what about you, Ed? What do you think?"
Ed glared at him with contempt and spat out his answer "I think you're making a big mistake. I think you're putting us all in danger."
"Well, too bad for you then. Because you're outnumbered. And you don't get a say in this matter. Because you're not the leader here. I am." Shane tells him firmly while shrugging his shoulders before looking at the rest of the group then and announcing "So here's what we're going to do. We're going to wait for them to get here. We're going to greet them politely and show them around the camp. We're going to share our supplies and resources with them. And we're going to treat them with respect and kindness. Because that's what decent people do." Pausing to look pointedly at Ed before adding "And if anyone has a problem with that, or tries to cause any trouble, they'll have to deal with me." with a warning tone.
Ed clenched his fists and gritted his teeth but didn't say anything. He knew he was outnumbered and outmatched. He knew he had no choice but to go along with Shane's decision.
With that Shane nodded and smiled saying "Good. I'm glad we're all on the same page. Now let's get ready to welcome our new friends." Before looking at me and turning his 'business' smile into his 'cheeky brother' one asking "Right, Cat?"
I roll my eyes at him but nod with a small smile back.
Almost on cue, that's when the distinct sound of the loud rumble of a motorcycle could be heard. Shane instantly gets a slightly annoyed look on his face before we all look to see Merle, on the bike, and a truck, likely driven by Daryl, following him up the path.
We all watched as Merle and Daryl drove into the camp and parked their vehicles next to Shane's car and the RV. They got out/off and looked around, taking in the sight of the camp and the people.
Shane was the first one to speak, frowning and asking them "Why did you drive that loud bike? Don't you know that could attract walkers?"
Merle grinned and pointed at the back of the truck announcing "Because we got a dead deer in there. And I wasn't gonna let my bike get dirty."
I released a quiet huff of a laugh at that. It was such a Merle thing to do. Ride it on dirt road so it wouldn't get the wheels dirty with deer blood. Flawless logic there.
Unfortunately it didn't go unnoticed as I receive a smirk from Merle while the other's attention was on the deer.

I fain innocence and give him a questioning look as someone exclaims "It's a real deer!"

This only causes him to get a grin before turning his attention to the others exclaiming "Damn strait it's real! We're the best hunters ya ever did see. Ain't that right, little brother?" and slaps Daryl on the back harshly, causing him to stumble forward a bit at the impact.

"Yeah." Daryl mutters as he quickly turns to grab the deer.

"Let me help." Shane jumps in then stepping forward as he adds "I'll show you where you two can set up."

"Alright." Daryl mutters after a moment and motions to the opposite end of the deer.

Shane nods and grabs the deer before leading Daryl to an empty area of camp, a little distance away from the others, where they could set up.

The others took that as a cue to carry on with what they were doing before and dispersed. Though some were still eyeballing the deer, excited for the prospect of meat.

"Hold on a minute Girly." Merle says as his large calloused hand grabs my arm, albeit gently, and stops me from following Glenn and Dale to the car to start moving the bags.

I sigh and wave the two on before they could open their mouths.

They look concerned as they look at each other but do as I say and continue on. Though not without looking our way periodically.

"What do you want?" I question turning just my head to look at him.

"Oh, come on, Girly. I heard that earlier. Ya was amused by me." Merle says with a smirk.

"Flawless logic." I state then before looking down at where he still had a hold on me and added "Can you let go now?"

"I like ya Girly." Merle chuckles before he questions "What do ya say about explorin' just how much I could like ya?"

"Rather not have ya as my first." I sigh out shrugging my free arm's shoulder as I look back up at him.

"Whoa wait a sec Girly. Ya can't just tell someone that." Merle snaps in a hushed tone, the grip on my arm tightening a bit.

I can only look at him in confusion and surprise at the look on his face, slight concern and warning.
"Aren't ya supposed to be smart?" Merle growls lowly.
"Huh?" I breathe out still confused before it dawns on me what he's doing and say "Wait. I know that."
"Then why-"Merle starts but I cut him off with a scoffed "You're not a rapist Merle. Do you honestly think I'd be stupid enough to say that to someone who was?"
Merle stares at me, his mouth still open, his brain trying to process what the hell I just said, and even letting go of my arm, his arm just flopping down.

"Besides it ain't like I'm actually attractive right? I'm just the first living thing without a dick you two came across in a bit." I say then with a full shrug.
Merle shuts his mouth then and his face turns to one of clear amusement as he leans closer and whispers in my ear "Don't sell yerself short, girly. Ya might not be the prettiest girl around but ya sure are a sight for sore eyes like I said."
"Yeah sure and I'm gonna live." I say sarcastically stepping away from him in the direction of the RV where Dale and Glenn were now waiting at watching the interaction with confused faces.

And when he doesn't stop me again or respond I fully head over and ignore the two as I step inside the RV to do my job.

I probably shouldn't have said any of that to him but I've already done plum done it. I just hope it won't bite me in the ass.