Chapter Four

Merle could only let out a chuckle as he let his younger brother yank his crossbow out of his hands. He was no doubt sore that he used his 'baby' but an arrow to the head was a lot quieter than a bullet and despite what everyone thought of him he wasn't that stupid.

One bullet in such a small confined place would attract a hell of a lot more of those things. As it was a small gathering of them rattled on the iron wrought fence trying to walk through it to get to them.

They were already gaining far too much attention.

"Look, I did what I had to, don't like it then get out." With that he turned his back on them and moved to grab a beer from the fridge. God he loved pharmacies not only did they carry drugs but booze to boot!

Ayumi sensing the tension quickly moved over to Kagome and explained what he had said. "Kagome, she was bitten by one of those things and once you're bit you're infected and you'll turn into one of them. He was just trying to keep us safe."

Kagome could only begrudgingly agree, he had done what was best but he didn't have to be such a freaking ass about it! These girls had never seen anything like this. Hell they refused to go to a rated R horror movie for God's sake! So for them to see a woman get her head caved in by an arrow at close range would no doubt make them freak the fuck out.

Yuka was the first one to snap out of her stupor and began to screech in hysterics. "He killed her, he killed her!"

Merle glared at the whaling girl and spit to the side in annoyance. "Hey shut up you'll only attract more of those things!" His warning was a low hiss and Kagome while not understanding his words understood his meaning and it was with a sigh that she kneeled before Yuka and grabbed her face, making her look at her in the eyes. Mentally wincing as the blood on her hands tainted her face red.

The sight made her sick.

"Yuka calm down, you'll attract more of those things." Yuka paled at the thought and quickly shut her mouth, small hiccups escaping her as she tried to get a handle on her breathing. Kagome smiled encouragingly as she rubbed her back in soothing motions. "There, there, calm down it's going to be okay." Eri, with silent tears streaming down her face, latched onto Kagome as well and Kagome could only smile as she rubbed their backs and whispered words of encouragement to both of them hoping to calm them down.

Merle scoffed at the sight, "It's a regular vag fest in here." He cursed into his beer as he took a sip, turning to glance as his glaring younger brother, crossbow slung over his back, as he wiped his wet face on his arm having washed the blood off in the bathroom. "Well you didn't have to be so fucking dramatic about it Merely, they're just girls." The disapproval in his voice was clear to those who were listening in on the conversation.

Merele snorted. "You gonna get your period on me Daryl?" Daryl merely flipped him the bird and turned to the pale looking Asian with semi curly hair, he wasn't stupid he knew she could understand him and it was with a sigh that he mentioned her to come over to him. "Come here."

Ayumi didn't move a muscle, instead she froze fear flooding her veins.

Kagome sensing the sudden shift in her friends' aura glanced up and frowned as the younger male, Darly if she picked up enough of the conversation, stared at her. Her protective instincts came surging to the surface and in an instant she was on her feet standing in front of Ayumi looking like a mother bear protecting her cubs.

Merle let out a bark of laughter as she glared up at them looking like she was ready to brawl with his younger brother. "Oh I'm going to like this one I can tell it!"

Daryl sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration before tearing his eyes from the glaring young woman to look at the one cowering behind her. "Look, I know you understand us, I need you to be our translator, unless you really want the shit to hit the fan, in case you hadn't noticed this is life or fucking death and I really don't fancy dying in this shitty ass store."

While her blue eyes did not leave the man in front of her Kagome tilted her head in question to what he was saying towards Ayumi. She picked up a few of the words, mostly the word 'fucking', 'shitty', 'ass' and 'die' thanks to Soutas obsession with American action movies. "What did he say?" Her voice was low and calming. Hoping to sooth her worried friend, her aura wrapping around the other female in comfort.

Ayumi swallowed thickly yet moved to stand next to Kagome. "He wants me to translate...that way things don't get too confusing and hysterical. We have to work together to stay safe until help comes." Her voice was loud enough for the other two girls to hear despite their small sniffles and hiccups.

Kagome nodded, shifting her weight on her feet. "Understandable. Ayumi ask them what their names are and if they know what's going on."

Eri and Yuka shook their heads, confused as to why Kagome wanted to stay there. "No, we can't stay here, you saw what he did! We have to get back to the hotel!" Kagome tore her gaze from the male and faced her friends, her face grim.

She understood the fear and doubt they were no doubt experiencing, having felt it her first time down the well, but they had to understand he merely done what needed to be done. She herself would have done it in a heartbeat to save them. That thing was already dead and it wanted nothing more than to hurt them.

While she knew they were dead she did not understand how they were still moving and...eating. She felt no dark magic, nothing magical at all just...nothing. They felt like dark cold voids...like a spot of cold water in an otherwise warm lake. As it was she didn't even know if her powers would work on them if given enough push. She would have to try later, if they even made it that far.

God she could feel the headache forming already.

Even though he couldn't understand a damn word they were saying he could see the distrust and fear in all their eyes save for the one with blue eyes. She, oddly enough, looked semi annoyed and frustrated. Normally he wouldn't give a rats ass about what people thought of him and his brother, but this was not a normal circumstance. They needed to work together if they wanted to get through whatever the hell this was.

At the very least they needed to keep that door shut and wait for the government to show up and do their damn job. Lazy sons of bitches, this was what their tax money was supposed to go towards. Shifting his weight on his feet he cleared his throat to gain their attention.

"Name's Daryl Dixion." He jabbed his thumb at himself before jabbing over at the older male leaning on the counter table half a six pack already downed. "That's my brother Merle. Look we're not going to hurt you. We all just need to calm down." He stared at the one with curly hair imploring her to translate.

Gulping she nodded, understanding. "He says his name is Daryl and that's his brother Merle. They won't hurt us. We need to all calm down-" Yuka gave a sharp mocking laugh. "Calm down?! He just killed a lady! She needed help, we need help! How do we know he won't try to kill us to?!"

"Yuka." The sharp call of her name made her turn her blurry gaze to Kagome. She was gazing down at her a small strained smile on her face as she shook her head at her. "We all know she was going to turn into one of those things. We've seen it." She paused to let that sink in. "We need to stay calm and collected or we'll attract more of those things." She tossed a pointed gaze to the gate surrounding the door, rattling as more and more walking dead were attracted by the noise.

"I'm sure they mean us no harm, if they did they would have done something by now and even if they try you know I won't let them." After the well had closed she had taken up archery and martial arts, winning many medals for her feats. In fact all three girls had been there with her, encouraging her to keep up with her recovery after her years of sickness.

"Our best bet is to just stay here, we can stay off to one side of the store and once it's morning we can try to figure out what to do next. There's no way we can make it back to the hotel before the sun's down. We don't want to be out there with those things at night. So please just calm down and bear with me at least for tonight." Her voice was low and stern, yet soft and comforting. Almost like a mother scolding her child and it was odd to hear it from someone who looked so young.

Merle let out a loud burp, ruining the moment, as he rolled his eyes at the blue eyed woman's glare. "Look, we're stuck here. Get over it. In the morning we can all part ways, now I don't know about you but I'm gonna get some rest while I can." With that he stalked towards the back room and kicked the door shut behind him, having had more than enough of the teen drama show folding.

Kagome frowned but gave her friend an encouraging smile before turning back to Daryl. "Kagome." She pointed at herself before pointing at the others.

"Yuka, Eri, Ayumi." Nodding at them Daryl could only grunt as he gestured to the stockroom his brother had disappeared into. "Let's all try to get some rest, lord knows what tomorrow will bring."

Kage AN: It's been a while but zombies are timeless! Hope you enjoy!

Yuki Note: I hope you like it!