Mercy on Me

You all are probably thinking: What the hell has this bitch been doing that's taken her about a month to update?

I know; I'm so sorry.

Finals are this week and I've been going crazy with essays and projects.. Plus, I had major writers block for this thing.

I don't know why! But it made me quite mad.

On the plus side, remember that contest my story was entered in?

Mercy On Me won! *woot woot*

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my own contest.

I hope this chapter was worth the wait. Again, I apologize (as per usual) on how long it took me to get this done. I've been writing all day to get this done! It's been about 12 hours of on and off writing.. I had probably three or four paragraphs already written.

My problem is how I love to plan what's going to happen down the road. Hell, I've already got most of my endgames mapped out! It's just the process of getting there.

Sadly, I do not own the Walking Dead. I only own Harper*
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HotRanger69; I am beyond pissed right now. I had written your entire reply, and my internet stopped freakin responding. Beyond pissed-_- Anywho, I couldn't agree more. When I was editing this chapter the first time around, my computer pulled the stupid "Hey, I don't know where you going with the whole press the backspace key, but I figured you would want to go back five pages" thing. Tonight just has NOT been a good night. It's about 315AM here, so that's not too bad for me!! It's June by me, and it actually snowed somewhere in another part of the country. Like, for real snow? Go home, you're drunk. It's been raining nonstop by me, though, which doesn't bother me, unless I'm a pasty ghost while everyone else is miraculously tan. Then I'll care!! It's kind of crazy that what happened in your dream happened in my story; plus, you wrote that before you read the chapter! That's the crazy part.. But at least it didn't actually HAPPEN to you, thank goodness! I watched about the first ten minutes of I Am Legend, and when I found out about Will Smith's dog, I turned it off. I refuse to watch that scene or any scene from that movie now...Crazy, I know! haha, your next part made me laugh! I'm so sorry I made it sad! Gotta keep it interesting somehow, right? But I'm glad you didn't leave, who else could I rant to?! *here's me going to figure out my tumblr url* never mind, you found me! woohoo, I feel loved:D I haven't been on tumblr in a long while, which means my tumblr gets to go under major construction! can I get a *what,what*. anywho, you're amazing as always, thanks for your wonderful review/rant.(: P.s. I just copy and pasted my reply to you in case my computer decides to freak out. dedication!

Drifting Carnies; I couldn't resist keeping the Chupacabra bit in my story. It's a great episode, and does a wonderful job with Daryl's character. It took me FOREVER to figure out how I was going to write the story. I watched his scenes from that episode a billion times in the last few days; I basically have the words memorized! About the VIP, I had a blast! I hope you do too! Thanks for the awesome review(:

Just.Breathe.; It's like a breath of fresh air hearing that I do a good job at switching things up. It's what I love doing, adding my own twist! Although Daryl has basically found Harper, he won't be too happy with her when they're actually face to face... Thanks for the awesome review!(:

xxSad_Gurlxx; Looks like the Lord deems today a good as well! Glad you look forward to my story so much, it means a lot.. I hope it isn't too hot in Arizona today! It's rainy and miserable by me. #LivingInJerseyProblems): Thanks for the awesome review!(:

C.K.Dexter-Haven; Goodness, I'm so sorry!! I know, it's been FOREVER since I updated. I've been super swamped with work for school, so by the time I sit down to write, I'm basically falling asleep. Your review was what I needed though! I read it this (well, yesterday) morning and have been writing basically ever since! You're awesome, thanks for the great review!(:
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"What are you doing?!" my voice practically screeched as Shane held me back.

"You can't go down there, Harper," Shane told me, his grip on my arms tightening.

Snapping my head back to face him, I shot him a shocked look.

"And who are you to tell me what I can and can't do, Shane?".

"I'm your brother. You just have to trust me on this,".

I tried wrenching my arms out of his grasp, but it was no use.

"I left him for you. I left Daryl for you.. Now he's down there, probably dying, and you won't let me at least go see him?" I asked him, my voice shaking.

"Harper, you two weren't married; sure as Hell weren't in love either, just let him go," my brother scoffed, rolling his eyes.

Watching him with wide eyes, I matched his rolling eyes with a pair of my own.

"So tell me, big brother, what was the shit with Lori then, huh? You call that love?".

"Harper..." Shane began, but I was beyond pissed.

"No, Shane, it's my turn to talk, and you're going to listen. Daryl and I may not have been an official couple or shit, but at least we had an understanding.. You know, that we wouldn't leave each other unless agreed upon, which, mind you, I broke in the literal sense. Did you really think that Lori would stay with you after Rick came back? If you do, you're delusional," I spat, finally forcing my body of my Shane's rough hands.

Shane's tongue jutted out over his bottom lip as he crossed his arms, staring at me with his eyebrows creased. I know that was all Shane wanted: to be a family with Lori and Carl.

"Shane, I love you—you know that," I continued, holding on to his hands. "But you need to realize that what you want with them, is never going to happen,".

Swatting my hands away, he turned his face to the side, long lashes covering his eyes.

"Don't know that," he muttered quietly.

"Shane, I do. Sure, they've been fighting lately, but Rick and Lori love each other, and that won't be changing anytime soon,".

Clearly thinking about what I had just said, Shane nodded a little while rubbing a hand over his chin.

"Go check if he's okay 'fore I change my mind,".

My smile grew from ear to ear as I planted a sloppy kiss on my brother's cheek.

"Thank you," I said gratefully before turning carefully and maneuvering my way down the steep hill.

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The hill was definitely steeper than I had though it would be; no wonder Daryl had fallen.

"Son of a bitch!" I muttered under my breath as my arm got cut open by a large branch protruding out of the Earthy soil.

"You okay down there, Harper?" I heard Shane call from up above me, his hand hovering around his gun with a sharp alertness coating his eyes.

"I'm fine, just keep watch,".

Looking down the little amount of hill I had left, I knew the moment I made it to Daryl's fallen form, I would cry.

"Can't cry," I whispered to myself.

If Daryl woke up and the first thing he saw was me crying, he would just tell me to suck it up.. Well, that is, if he's still alive. The hill was sloped in a way that it was incredibly steep, yet not steep enough to just fall straight down.

I was doing pretty well getting to Daryl's level when I tripped on a rock sticking out of the Earth. My mouth opened in shock but no voice came out as I began sliding down the hill. In the end, it worked in my favor, but it was still scary as shit.

As soon as my feet hit the ground, I sprinted over to Daryl's fallen form, where blood was slowly seeping through his already-grimy shirt.

"Daryl.." I whispered, running a finger down the arrow that had so violently pierced his soft flesh.

"He okay?" Shane's gruff voice called from up above us.

Not taking my eyes off of Daryl, I called back up to Shane.

"No, he's really bad. Gonna bleed out if we don't do something,".

At that moment, Daryl's eyelids fluttered open slightly, his baby blues barely showing through his haze-induced state.

"Thank God," I let out a sigh of relief as I ran my hands over his arms up to his shoulders.

"Wha—?" Daryl slurred, his eyes rolling shut quickly.

"Daryl? Daryl, it's me, Harper,".

I didn't want to rush things, but he was injured, and we were both at the bottom of a steep hill that was definitely laughing at us right now.

"Harper?" Daryl whispered, smacking his lips slightly at the feel of a dry mouth.

"Yes, Daryl, it's me," I smiled down at him as I brushed sweaty wisps of hair out of his face.

"How..?" he began, but I interrupted him.

"Daryl, I know you are probably exhausted and in pain, but we need to get this arrow out; you'll get an infection if we don't,".

Daryl stared up at me blankly.

"Okay, I can do this.." I told myself, wrapping my hands around the arrow.

"What are you—?" Daryl asked, as if he hadn't really heard me the first time.

"It's going to hurt, but try not to scream; we don't want unwanted attention," I told him, throwing a finger to his lips.

At this point, there was nothing sensual or passionate about the act; it was a sad and worried movement, for it pained me to hurt him.

Gripping the arrow under its quivers tightly, I grimaced as I began to pull up on the arrow. When I thought I was making progress, Daryl let out a shout of pain, his eyes shooting open.

"Sshhh, it's okay.." I tried hushing him, but it was as if I had awoken a beast, waiting to be unleashed.

"It ain't okay, you bitch!" he barked, gripping his side in pain.

Watching him with raised eyes, I pursed my lips and shot him a smile.

"Fine, we'll do it your way,".

Without giving him a chance to reply, he shot me a questioning look as I gripped the arrow as tight as I could and pulled, standing up with the arrow to force it out of his body.

The sound of arrow ripping through newly-torn skin made both of us grimace, but it practically forced Daryl to scream out in pain. The smell of blood and damaged skin made me gag, so I swallowed down the bile in my throat as well as I could. I went to apologize, but decided against it.

"The hell's going on down there, shut your damn mouths!" Shane's voice reverberated through the trees before it reached us.

Shooting Shane a look telling him that I was doing the best I could do, my hand flew to Daryl's mouth, muffling his cries of pain.

"The fuck's yer problem?!" Daryl's voice spat against my hand.

"You asked for it," I glared back, running my hand over his shirt.

Between his blood and spit, I looked like I had gotten impaled with an arrow myself.

"How are you even here?" Daryl growled through gritted teeth, attempting to sit up.

I pushed him back down onto his back lightly; he had lost enough blood already, sitting up could do some damage to his body.

"Shane and I heard you fall; you're looking at your knight in shining armor," I replied cheekily, to which he rolled his eyes.

"I ain't no damsel bitch,".

Ignoring the new attitude Daryl was sporting, I ran a hand over his cheek lightly, shocked at how white his skin was.

"You're so pale; you're losing way too much blood. I don't want you standing up yet, but we need to get you back to the farm,".

Daryl snorted as much as he could without feeling more pain.

"I don' need anyone's help, 'specially yers. Can do it m'self,".

I couldn't help but laugh as I pushed off of my thighs to stand.

"I bet you can. All I'm doing is try to help, but okay. Good luck, Daryl,".

Nodding to him with a frown, I turned to make my way back up the hill until his voice stopped me.

"Yer leavin' again?".

My gaze turned to the forest floor as I sighed, running a hand through my hair.

"I can't go back to the farm, Daryl. You know that,".

"You didn't have to leave; you're prick of a brother did!" he growled, trying to stand up.

"Daryl, just stop," I told him, my voice shaky.

"Why'd ya leave, huh? You gave me your word, Harper,".

Despite everything, I couldn't find the guts to face him.

"I couldn't let Shane go on his own knowing that I could've done something about it. Knowing that Shane could be alive somewhere but I couldn't do anything to help him? That would be unbearable! He's my brother," I tried to explain to Daryl, a stutter in my words.

"It don' matter what you can or can do, girl! You fucking promised me you would stay. How do ya think it felt to wake up and find out that ya just up an' left?".

The venom in his voice surprised me, but I deserved it. If I woke up and saw that Daryl had left me when he promised that he wouldn't, I'd be pretty damn upset myself.

"You fuckin' left. And me, being the asshole that I.. Ah, Shit.. I am 'cided to come lookin' for ya..." he muttered, shaking his head back and forth between his short gasps of pain.

"You what?" I asked in surprise, feeling my heart race a little.

"Tha's right. I came lookin' for ya and ended up in this shit hole,".

Glued to my spot, I watched Daryl silently as he began to take deep, heaving breaths, as if he just realized that there was a gaping hole in his side.

"We've got to get you out of here," I sighed, leaning over to take his hand.

Swatting my hand away, Daryl looked the other way while trying to stand still.

"Don't want yer help, told ya that,".

"Harper!".

My head shot up towards Shane who was standing atop the hill, his gun raised. I spun around quickly, pulling out my gun as well.

"Where?!" I called up, scanning over the area quickly.

"Right in front of you, fuckin' blind?" Daryl snarled from below me.

When I finally saw the walker, I realized how stupid I had been. The walker wasn't walking towards me—it was crawling toward Daryl!

"Shit," I muttered, throwing the safety off on my tiny gun.

"Feel like helpin' out here?" Daryl tried telling me through muffled grunts.

Leaning back on my heel, I brought my left leg forward and slammed my foot into the walker's ribcage, throwing it to the side as Daryl struggled to pull his crossbow's string back so he could shoot the zombie.

"Taking too long!" I called out, raising my gun.

Before I could pull back on the trigger, my feet were swiped out from under me, my body crashing into the ground. I would've cursed Daryl off for that, but the wind had been knocked out of me.

"Don't shoot, ye'll attract more; jus' keep 'em busy!" Daryl instructed me as he fumbled with the string, cocking the bow.

As Daryl whipped the bloody arrow out from between his teeth, the walker had had time to turn and lunge for me, throwing its weight on top of my body. I threw my gun up in between us, forcing the walker to bite down on the cold metal.

My arms were completely locked out, so there was no way to push the dead woman off of me. Her clothes hung off of her body in tatters, which was giving me a hard time.

"Hurry up!" I shouted through clenched teeth.

I didn't get an answer (for all I know, Daryl could've passed out). Hooking my leg around the walker's hip, I threw us over so I was now straddling the walker.

"This is disgusting.." I grimaced while trying to keep my arms away from the zombie, praying that Daryl would be able to step in sometime soon.

"Get offa 'em!" I heard the redneck shout.

"What, why?" I asked loudly, as the walker suddenly lunged up and forward, clawing at my shirt sleeve.

The sleeve tore easily against the woman's sharp nails. As soon as the material left my arm, the walker's arm dropped limply as an arrow pierced the girl's temple. Rolling off of the dead girl's body had me lying next to Daryl, both of us breathing heavily.

"Way to take your time, Dixon," I spat, shaking my head.

"Shouldn'ta rolled it over, could've gotten 'im easier," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"It was a woman, for your information," I snickered, pointing my finger at his nose.

Daryl went cross-eyed for a moment as he stared at my finger, but his pupils jolted over to the other side of the creek that slowly flowing beside us.

"Grab an arrow, I can't reach behind me," Daryl instructed, waving his hands as he spoke.

Glancing in his direction, I saw that another walker had heard us take down the other zombie. Scoffing, I stood up quickly.

"If the asshole heard us, plenty of them heard us,".

"Come on Harper, just get me a damn arrow!".

"Fuck that!" I shot him a smile before pulling my gun.

I pulled the trigger and released a bullet; its loud bang echoing through the air until the bullet pierced the walker's forehead, killing it instantly.

"Now let's go. No time," I told him, grabbing him under the shoulder and lifting him to a standing position.

I was kind of offended when Daryl, yet again, slapped my arm away, but I guess I deserved it. Looking back at Daryl, I could feel the blush creeping up my cheeks as he examined me.

"What?" I asked more rudely than I probably should have.

"Fuck you do to yer arm?" he asked me, jutting his chin out towards my bleeding arm.

"I cut it on the way down, no big deal," I said quietly before turning away quickly.

"Ya need to cover that shit up, Harper! Haven't I taught you anythin'?" he snarled.

I took hold of the newly-torn sleeve and ripped it off, tying it around the cut.

"There, happy?" I growled as I shoved my wrapped arm into his face.

"No, that ain't gonna do shit,".

Ignoring him, I looked up to Shane's post from atop the hill.

"We're coming, Shane!" I called up.

I glanced over at Daryl when I didn't get a reply.

"Shane?".

We both stood in silence, listening for steady breathing or footsteps.

Nothing.

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"Come on, just reach up a little more! If Shane really did leave me, I can't lose you too," my voice said in an urgent squeak.

Not only would I have to take care of Daryl, but if Shane just up and left? Daryl snorted in annoyance as he tried to reach up and wrap his large hand around a branch that was sticking out of the hillside.

"Startin' ta think you forget that I stabbed m'self with an arrow,".

Sighing, I climbed a little farther so Daryl had some room to move.

"Let's keep going," I told him, shaking my head.

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"Jus' shut up!" Daryl muttered to himself lightly, shaking his head.

"Excuse me?" I replied, surprised. "I didn't even say anything!".

He didn't answer me, just concentrated on his climb. Letting out a deep breath, I continued my climb from above him.

"Watch out for this rock, it's really sharp," I told him, but he still didn't answer.

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We had been climbing for a few minutes when Daryl began to speak again.

"Dammit, Merle, I mean it! Shut up!".

Glancing down at him, my eyebrows were widened with curiosity.

"Last time I checked, Daryl, I don't look like Merle,".

"Not you," Daryl replied harshly.

Taken back by his tone, I wasn't paying attention when my hand tried to take hold of a branch but slipped, sending me cascading back down into the hole that Daryl had fallen into.

Daryl's hand shot out in an attempt to grab me, but that only made him lose his grip, sending us both down the hill. Sure, the hill wasn't that high, but if we were both to fall like Daryl had before, we would seriously hurt ourselves.

Reaching down, I was somehow able to pull the sharp knife out of my boot. Plunging it into the dirt, our slide began to slow down until we came to a complete stop, the only thing holding us against the earth being my trusty knife.

My head fell to rest on his shoulder, but he pulled away, already in search for something to grab on to.

"I may be pissed at you right now, but that was really fuckin' sexy,".

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"Come on, you're almost there!" I said encouragingly to Daryl, who was struggling to pull himself over the side of the hill.

I had reached the top first and was not stuck with the job to keep watch for walkers and encourage Daryl to keep climbing.

"I ain't no pussy, I can do this," Daryl said to no one in particular, his teeth grinding in pain.

"That's right!" I replied with a smile.

Daryl shot me a look that seemed as if he wanted to punch me in the face, but I kept smiling.

"If I could give you tha finger, I would," Daryl grimaced as he threw his hand up to take hold of another branch sticking out of the ground.

Ignoring his rude comments, I took his large hand in mine and pulled, digging my feet into the ground so he wouldn't pull me back down over the hill. After climbing up a steep hill, I was enjoying my time on even land.

While grunts and groans escaped from the backs of our throats, we were able to successfully pull Daryl up onto the even piece of earth, both of us rolling over to our backs to take deep breaths.

"Well, shit," I whispered between breaths.

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If Daryl could've gotten any more paler than he had been at the bottom of the ravine, he was. His skin was a sickly white, throwing off the even tan he had gained over the last month or so.

"We need to get you back to the farm ASAP so Hershel can take a look at you," I examined him while running the back of my hand across his cheek.

"Stop touchin' me!" Daryl growled, smacking my hand away.

I wanted to yell back, but we both had bigger problems on our hands: Could we get Daryl back to the farm safely, and where the hell was my brother?

"Did ya'll have supplies with you when you found me?" Daryl finally asked, breaking the tense silence.

My head nodded as Daryl let out a low whistle.

"Looks like yer big bro picked up and left,".

Looking around, I didn't want to agree with him, but it seemed to be true. Everything Shane and I had collected was gone.

The water, food, clothing—everything.

"No. Shane wouldn't leave me; not after everything we've been through," I sniffled, running a hand through my long hair.

"Harper, yer brother left,".

"No, he didn't leave! He can't just leave me! I'm his sister!".

My words were now coming out at sobs. I noticed Daryl's fingers flinch at my tears, but he made no move to comfort me.

"Despite what ya may think, he's gone. Get over it and move on," he sighed, waving his hands around animatedly as he spoke.

"Don't you dare say that! Who was the one who had half of our camp go looking for your brother? God, you're an asshole..." I lunged at him, but my flurry of tears didn't do much to help my vision.

"Don't start this right now, Harper. We need to get back ta camp, tha's it. We can both be assholes later," Daryl muttered, kicking at the ground before looking around to gain his bearings.

"Please, you're always an asshole," I laughed rudely, wiping away some tears.

Daryl let out a low growl, spinning around as fast as he could.

"I'm done with this petty drama, Harper! I came out to find you, I found ya. Now let's go back to the damn farm before either of us bleeds the fuck out—sound good?".

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up at his anger, but I nodded mutely and Daryl collect his surroundings before telling me which way to go.

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It was as if every walker that was roaming about the Georgia woods had figured out where Daryl and I were. As soon as we would kill off one or two walkers, more would show up.

"I'm getting sick and fucking tired of this shit," Daryl growled, gripping his injured side.

"What, you think I'm excited to be killing all of these damn geeks?" I threw back.

Our backs were pressed against each other in tight formation as walkers slowly discovered us. Daryl let out a small chuckle before growling in pain.

"Never used ta say geeks,".

I shrugged my shoulders, grabbing an arrow out of the sheath strapped to Daryl's back.

"Redneck starts to rub off on you after a while, you know?".

I made my way over to an unsuspecting walker and jammed the tip of the arrow into the back of its head, kicking it to the ground.

"Watch my back, will you?" I heard Daryl call over to me.

Pulling the arrow out of the walker's skull quickly, I wiped the blood and pieces of muscle and tissue off of the arrow before jogging over to Daryl's side. Grabbing on to two arrows, Daryl threw one into his mouth while he threw the arrow into place against his crossbow. Killing one zombie, he quickly went to work setting up his next arrow.

"Hurry up, we're about to get surrounded," I warned the man, bouncing on the balls of my feet.

"Then help me do somethin' about it!".

Sighing, I gently placed the used arrow back into Daryl's sheath and whipped out my gun, taking aim at the first walker I saw. Releasing a surprising shot, Daryl jumped in shock.

"I said help out, not ring the fuckin' dinner bell!".

Pulling the trigger once more, the bullet grazed the edge of a walker's brain. The bullet was close enough to pierce its brain however, for it fell to the ground, a permanent form of death grazing over its eyes.

"You were right about being done with drama, Daryl. No more games, with the living or the dead,".

The whiz of an arrow passing past my cheek broke through the deep concentration I had on a specific walker that seemed to actually be able to walk with some sort of finesse; until it spotted me, however.

Once the older man locked on to me, he began to shuffle forward, tripping over a fallen body that Daryl had taken down. Goosebumps peppered my arms at the sight of the old man, bloody strips of chewed skin hanging precariously from his rotting mouth.

Seeing the elderly or little children become flesh-eating monsters always rattles me to the core; although that type of fate is deserved by no one, anyone who has accomplished so much or too little in life shouldn't be promised such a horrible way to face the world.

When an arrow pierced the old man's brain I felt tears prick at my eyes, but I pushed them away.

"What's up with you freezin' up all tha time?" Daryl asked me, curiosity feigning over his searching eyes.

"Don't get deep on me, Dixon, now is not the time,".

We both listened for more of the undead to hear low moans escaping the shadows of the forest.

"Come on," I whispered, tugging on Daryl's collar.

"Did ya really think they wouldn't hear us?" Daryl snorted, falling me slowly with a limp to favor his injured side.

"I know, I know, dinner bell and shit,".

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"Stop, Daryl. You're going to hurt yourself,".

Making our way through the woods, we had gotten into yet another fight, which had led to more yelling and more walkers.

"Maybe if ya wouldn't act like I'm some damn pity party, I wouldn't be yellin'! Stop guilt trippin' me, I'm a big boy," Daryl spat, kicking at a dead walker's head.

An ear fell off the walker's head at the force of his foot. Pointing at the rotting ear, I looked to Daryl with wide eyes.

"See what you did? That poor guy's ear never knew what hit him,".

Daryl's eyes rolled in frustration before kicking the walker's head once again, purposefully detaching its other ear. Blood began to pool around the dead man's head, so I tried to look away.

"There ya go, now you got another one ta match. Would make a good pair of earrings, don'cha think?" Daryl kicked the ears towards me, making me jump back and squeal. With hesitation, I studied the set of ears.

"No.. I think they would make a good necklace; but you can't just have two, you need more than that," I replied, forming an idea in my head.

"Whatever yer thinkin', no. It's sick, I can tell," Daryl tried telling me no, but my knife was already out.

I quickly found the closer dead walker and cut both of its ears off, squeezing my eyes shut as I did. Daryl continued to complain about how reckless I am and how I could cut a finger or two off, but I ignored him. Once we had the four ears, I looked up into his squinted gaze.

"Got any string?".

Daryl shot me a look to show that he clearly thought I was crazy, but searched around in his pockets until he finally produced a length piece of string.

"You rednecks always amaze me," I sighed, taking the dirty rope from him.

Getting to work, I carefully made holes in the ears and pulled the string through, tying the string tight.

"Tha's fuckin' sick," Daryl gagged, leaning over in pain and nausea.

"A sorry present from me to you!" I giggled, standing on my tiptoes to place the gross necklace around his neck.

Daryl practically threw up on me as I released the necklace against his collarbone, watching it bounce against his skin.

"This is great, but can I take it off now?" he muttered.

Daryl's eyes were shut in disgust, which only made me giggled more.

"No, you have to keep it on! The guys at the farm will love it!"

"Oh yeah, they'll fuckin' love it alright; love it enough to kick me out right along with ya," Daryl sputtered, making me bend over in laughter.

"It ain't funny!" Daryl growled, but I could hear the tension drift away from his voice.

"You can be mad at me all you want, Dixon, but you have to admit, that shit's funny,".

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"Daryl!" I screeched when I accidentally dropped my knife.

"Forreal?" Daryl groaned from where he was.

He was forced to watch helplessly as a grimy walker plowed me to the ground, eager to get a taste of the wonderful dinner that is Harper Walsh. Without a weapon to defend myself, for I couldn't reach my gun, I bent my knees and thrusted my hips up, jamming my kneecaps into the walker's heavy body. It didn't do much, but it gave Daryl a few seconds to figure out his plan of attack.

"Shoot him!" I screamed as I attempted to roll us over as I had already done once before today.

"Want me to shoot you? Hell no, I ain't risking it!" Daryl called back before fending off his own walker.

A snarl escaped the dead man's mouth as he bared his teeth at me.

"We're all meant to die sometime, Daryl! Let it be now or later, but I need your help!".

When I thought I heard what sounded like a prayer, blood began to flow slowly out of the man's mouth onto my neck, an arrow smoothly hitting his brain. My head flew back onto the ground, for the arrow had just missed my own brain.

"Well, at least you wouldn't have had to do kill me twice," I gulped, taking deep breaths of air.

"Not funny," Daryl rolled his eyes before taking my hand to slowly pull me to my feet. "Shit, you're covered.." he muttered as he checked me over for bites or scratches.

Looking down, I gasped at how much blood I was covered in. Between new blood and old blood that caked my body in thick coats, I was a mess. The dirt and grime didn't help, either.

"You look just as shitty, if not worse," I replied, taking in his staggering pale form. "We need to get you to Hershel, fast,".

"Farm's right through the trees, we'll make it," Daryl told me as he pointed toward the large farmhouse that was looking more and more like home by the second.

Side by side, we limped toward the farm in much need of a doctor.

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"Come on, we're almost there," I managed to say, gulping loudly.

My mouth felt bone dry; how long had it taken to get back to the farm?

"I ain't stupid.. Can see the damn house," Daryl snarled, but there wasn't much fight to his voice—he was just as drained as I was.

"Fight later, yeah?".

"Whatever," Daryl mumbled, stumbling a little.

Reaching out to steady him, I fell back a little when Daryl shoved me away.

"How many times do I have to tell you? I don't need yer goddamn help!".

I stopped in my tracks and watched him limp towards the farm. We were away from the tree line by now, but it would still take a while to actually reach the house. The RV and tents were in sight.

"Then why am I still here, huh?" I asked him harshly, wincing as I crossed my arms.

"Ye'll hurt yerself," he mumbled, nodding towards my cut arm.

"Cut the crap, Daryl, you can't go from bitching me out to caring,".

"Don't act like no bitch, then," he muttered, shaking his head.

"Maybe if you wouldn't have been such a dick, it wouldn't have taken this long to get back!" I growled, throwing my arms up in the arm.

Whether it was from mental or physical exhaustion, the world started to spin, making me blink hard.

"Maybe if you wouldn't have left like a scared little punk-ass bitch, we wouldn't be in this situation right now!" Daryl snapped, practically nose to nose with me.

Fighting back every urge I had to spit in his face in that moment, I shoved him away lightly.

"Fuck off, Dixon,".

Turning to face the farm, I began to limp towards the pristine white building, Daryl hot on my tracks. I would've laughed at our appearances, but now was clearly not the time.

Leaving Daryl behind clearly sparked something inside of him, something I would have to work hard to fix.

It was only seconds later when five figures emerged from our tents, sprinting over to us.

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The first figure I saw was Rick; I had to do all I could not to run over and leap into his arms. Yes, I missed him, but we needed help.

"Thank God you guys are here, we—," I started to say, but stopped when Rick and Merle pointed guns at our faces.

"Wait—is that Daryl?" Glenn asked from behind the tall cop.

"Well, looky here! Darlena found lil' miss Harper!" Merle whistled, shoving his gun back into his waistband.

Rick didn't falter with his gun, though, clearly unsure of what was going on.

"'Bout time you start pointing that thing in ma face," Daryl sneered from beside me.

"Gonna shoot me or what?".

My head snapped to face Daryl in shock and confusion.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked him, but Rick's voice only confused me more.

"Shane, I thought you said they were overrun,".

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The rage I felt bubbling inside of me was indescribable when Shane stepped out from behind Rick Grimes.

"What. The fuck. Is going on?".

Glenn's eyebrows rose when he heard the anger in my voice, and T-Dog even took a step back.

"Now Harper, let me explain," Shane began to say, throwing his hands up in the air.

"We were overrun? There was one goddamn walker!" I screeched, balling my hands up into fists.

Rick, as well as everyone else, was clearly speechless, so he let the argument continue.

"I knew that we would need help, so I came back here to get it," Shane tried telling me, his voice irritatingly calm.

"Help? You went to get help? Why didn't you say 'Hey Harper, I'm gonna go get us some help!'? Daryl is dying on the side of a ravine, and you just leave?! What the hell is wrong with you?" I growled, throwing myself at him.

"Harper, stop!" Rick shouted, pulling me off of my brother.

"You left me! After everything we've been through, you left!".

I forced myself to calm down when something finally clicked in my brain.

"You didn't go for help. You were never planning on coming back to get me, were you?".

The anger that had once filled me was now being replaced with sadness and shock, forcing tears to my eyes.

"Harper, stop, you're just exhausted," Shane tried to comfort me, but he was my brother.

I know when he's lying.

"'You are nothing but a liar, Shane. A sick, twisted, bastard," I whispered, my voice barely audible.

It was enough for Merle to hear, however, since he began to clap on my back roughly.

"Atta girl!".

When Rick asked me what happened, I started telling him everything.

"Now we're bleeding out, but he needs to be looked at first," I told the group, pointing towards Daryl.

"Don't need lookin' at, m'fine. Just take care of Harper, she—,".

My body hit the ground with a loud thud, producing a loud ringing in my ears. The world continued to spin, only faster now.

"No!" a voice from above my shouted out.

Looking up through squinted eyes, I saw Rick screaming and waving his arms.

What had just happened?

Sitting up, I saw the aftermath of what had just happened. Someone had just tried to shoot me. My hand touched my cheek gently, relishing in the fact that I wasn't dead.

So why was Rick yelling? And why the hell is the ground so wet? The suns out! Looking at my hand, I saw fresh blood.

"No," I whispered, sitting up straight. "No, no, no!" I cried, throwing myself at Daryl's unconscious form.

Blood slowly began to trickle around his head from the bullet he had obviously taken for me.

"Gettup, girl," Merle instructed, but since he knew I would refuse, he grabbed me from under the shoulders and hoisted me up.

"No! Merle, stop it, let me GO!" I screamed, kicking and scratching against Merle's strong frame.

I just wanted to get back to Daryl.

"Let me go!" I continued to scream.

Just the sight of a bullet hitting Daryl made me panic.

He can't be dead.

Daryl Dixon can't die, he can't.

"Let me go," I demanded through gritted teeth.

When Merle saw the fire in my eyes, he let me go quickly, my body's momentum throwing me to the ground.

"I'm sorry, Daryl, I'm so sorry..." I cried, holding on to his shirt tightly.

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"When can I see him?" I asked Hershel hours later.

I had been pacing the Greene's living room for the last hour, turning down any offers of food or drinks.

"Soon, but we need to get some food in you first. You're probably malnourished by now," Hershel explained, putting a fatherly hand on my shoulder, which I politely shook away.

"I want to see Daryl,".

Hershel understood that I was set on my decision and that I had no plans of moving from the living room until I was given the 'okay' to see Daryl.

After all, him getting shot was my fault.

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"Have you seen him yet?".

"No," I replied simply, knowing by the man's voice that it was Shane.

"Can we talk while you wait? I'll even wait with ya," Shane smiled warmly.

I wanted nothing more than to just hug him and cry, trust him with everything. But I couldn't.

He wasn't Shane anymore.

He wasn't my brother.

"No," I repeated myself, refusing to face him.

Keeping my eyes trained on Daryl's door, I heard Shane sigh in frustration.

"Look, Harper, I'm makin' an effort here. Let me explain,".

Pursing my lips, I spun around and walked straight over to my brother, who looked relieved. As soon as he opened his mouth to speak, I raised my hand and slapped him across the face, feeling my frustration leave with the hit.

His head flew to the side, sporting a new reddened cheek. There was no anger in Shane's eyes; they were blank orbs.

"Stop trying," I told him, my voice void of emotion. "Focus your petty effort on someone who cares,".

Wiping a tear away from my face, which didn't go unnoticed by Shane, I turned around and threw myself into a small chair, preparing to sit there until I was able to check on Daryl.
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