Mercy on Me

"Ah, shit. I quit, this it too fucking difficult," I swore after my arrow bolt hit a tree instead of the deer that Daryl had had me aiming for.

"It's not my fault that you just ain't cut out for huntin'," Daryl sighed, making me roll my eyes and walk away.

"Maybe I am and I just need practice; I mean, Shane won't let me do anything else, how would we know if I was meant for it or not?".

I could feel Daryl burning holes into the back of my head, but I remained still. In seconds, I felt him at my back, his callused fingers making their way towards my hands. I allowed him to pull the bow up and set me into the proper hunter's stance: legs shoulder width apart, elbows out. He took my arms and slowly helped me aim at a small rabbit.

"Daryl.." I whined, wanting to bring big game back to camp.

"If you wanna get good, you gotta start small," he replied gruffly, running his hard fingers over my hands. "Relax your body and concentrate; ya won't hit it if you aren't relaxed," I heard him say into my ear.

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before opening my eyes and looking for my game. The rabbit was eating a few leaves, completely unaware of what was going to happen in a matter of seconds.

"Good. Now raise your arms, pull back, and concentrate. When you feel certain you'll hit the bastard, let go," he instructed me.

I nodded quietly and zoned in on the rabbit. After a few seconds, I felt the arrow slip from my fingers as it swiftly whizzed through the air. I grimaced at the sight of the arrow bolt piercing the rabbit's stomach, but I calmed down a little at the pressure of Daryl's hand on my shoulder.

"Good for your first hit. It'll bleed out since you missed the head, but that there takes practice,". I glanced at him over my shoulder.

"You never said that I was supposed to be aiming for its head, Dixon,".

"A good hunter knows to aim for the head, Walsh,".

"Shut your damn mouth,".

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I watched Daryl take powerful strides towards our camp, me a few steps behind him. My rabbit was strung over his left shoulder, its life long gone. By the looks of the sun, nighttime was vastly approaching, so we had to cook the game before dinner.

I shielded my face from the setting sun as we finally approached the Quarry.

"Wooo, would you look t'that? Baby bro's gotta shadow!" Merle cheered from his truck.

"Fuck you, Merle," Daryl sneered, never breaking his strides.

"Wish I had myself a shadow that looked like that; bet I'd know how ta show you how to become a good hunter; could practice on me!" Merle hooted, clapping his hands together.

"Merle," Daryl warned him.

Merle put his hands up in surrender but didn't stop laughing. I allowed Daryl to grab me by the wrist and pull me closer to the fire.

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'That's just disgusting," I gagged, turning my head away. Daryl was still trying to attempt to show me how to gut game, but I just couldn't stomach it.

"You're tellin' me you can stab a damn geek through the brain but can't gut an itty bitty rabbit?" Daryl chuckled as he wiped his dirty hands on his pants.

"That's totally different! The poor, cute rabbit wasn't doing anything wrong; a walker will try to eat me," I argued.

I watched the redneck spit at the ground before standing up. Andrea was shooting looks from across camp, like she was surprised. I guess she was right; neither of the Dixons spend time with anyone but themselves. Daryl doesn't seem so bad, though.

"Thanks for at least trying to help me out. Hunting may be my thing, but if I have to gut shit then I think I'll pass," I thanked him and went to head over to the other people in camp when I heard his voice through the air.

"Never said ya had to gut 'em. I can do that,". I turned around and crossed my arms.

"Is that an invitation to go hunting with you again?" I asked him, raising a brow. Daryl shrugged and looked at the ground.

"Never said that either,". I rolled my eyes and smiled.

"Whatever, Dixon,".

"Whatever, Walsh,".

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"Tag, you're it!" Sophia giggled as she tapped me on the back and ran away in a hurry. I was playing tag with Sophia and Carl when I heard heavy footsteps.

"Look who finally decided to show up at camp,".

If I hadn't lived with that voice for about 25 years, I probably would've been worried about confronting it. Lucky for me, I wasn't.

"Hi to you too, Shane. How was your day?" I spun on my heel to face him and looked him in his brown eyes, not backing down.

"It wouldn't have been that bad if I wasn't stuck worrying about my irresponsible younger sister, like always," Shane shrugged, crossing his arms. I bit my tongue at being called irresponsible. I had been trying to feed the group!

"Well you know, when my overprotective older brother won't let me do shit for the group, I have to do what I have to do,". Shane glanced over towards Carl and Sophia who were silently watching the argument.

"Kids, can you excuse us for a couple minutes?" he asked them. We watched them silently run off towards their respective parents before continuing. "Cursing in front of the kids? Really?" Shane turned back towards me, rubbing his face. I scoffed and took a step closer.

"Oh, please; like you don't do it all of the time,".

"Look, Harper. I'm not going to tell you how to speak. But I swear to God, if you disappear like that ever again, I will feed you to the walkers myself. Got me?" Shane growled, cracking his knuckles. I let out a laugh which made him frown. "This isn't funny, Harper. I had no idea where you went—nobody did!" he yelled, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Daryl did! He would've protected me,".

"Oh would he have, now? He's probably complaining to that redneck brother of his about you right now, Harper!" Shane spat.

I grimaced but didn't say anything. I didn't want to make the fight about Daryl.

"Don't blame Daryl, Shane. He didn't make me go; in fact, he didn't want me to go. I basically invited myself," I explained, wringing my fingers together.

I watched him struggle with what to say as he sighed deeply. I held in a laugh as he crossed his arms and fixed his posture.

"Did you at least learn something out there?" he asked me. I smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, tons,".

"Fine. As long as Daryl's okay with it, you've got my permission to go hunting," Shane nodded back and smiled slightly. I finally chuckled and punched him in the shoulder.

"Like your permission matters, Shane,". I leaned into his chest as he engulfed me into a bear hug that reminded me of the picture of us at the police station.

"Love you, Shane,".

"I love you too, sis,".

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Two days after Daryl and I had gone hunting (the Atlanta trip had been delayed due to Morales having second thoughts about going), I stood in front of Glenn's sad face.

"Good luck, Pizza Boy,".

"Thanks a lot, Waitress Babe," Glenn chuckled as I gave him a tight hug.

Glenn, T-Dog, Andrea, Merle, Jacqui, and Morales were leaving for the city, and it was definitely bittersweet. Everyone was worried for someone.

"I'll see your sexy ass when I get back, ya hear?" I heard Merle call out towards me, so I just flipped him off. "I like 'em with attitude! Makes the game more fun," he slurred.

I smiled at T-Dog and gave him a quick hug before kissing Jacqui on the cheek goodbye; I had wished Morales 'good luck' earlier.

I screamed lightly when a body attacked me, almost knocking me to the ground. I had assumed it was a walker that got past our Quarry limits, but I heard a girlish giggle from behind me. I whipped my head around to see Andrea resting on my back, a goofy grin plastered to her mature face.

"Way to scare the shit outta me," I growled as she hopped off of my back.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist. I'm gonna miss you out there; don't let Shane get too crazy while we're gone," Andrea joked, making me roll my eyes.

"Like that'll ever happen,".

"Alright guys, if you're going today, you should probably head out now," I heard Shane call from the other side of the box truck our group had found a couple miles back. It was the vehicle that the group always took into the city since it was so big.

"If we aren't back in two days—," T-Dog started.

"We'll come lookin'. Stay safe, man," Shane nodded and clapped T-Dog on the back before turning and heading back into camp.

I heard Dale come up by my side as the box truck slowly pulled onto the highway that lead into the city. I placed my hand on his shoulder when I noticed his forehead creasing in concern.

"They'll be okay, Dale,".

"I hope so.. I'm just worried about Andrea. She's never gone into the city before," Dale sighed, shaking his head. He tipped his bucket hat—yes, his bucket hat—farther down onto his head before I continued.

"Andrea's a smart woman, Dale. She can take care of herself,".

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"Come on Carl, you've got this: what battle occurred in 1775?" I asked him, tapping my fingers against my chin.

"Harper, I don't know! It's too hard," Carl whined, throwing his small hands up into the air.

"No. You know this," I reassured him, shaking his shoulders lightly, making him smile.

"Is it the Battle of that Hill place?" he asked me, raising his eyebrows in question.

"Yes! What hill?" I laughed, urging him forward.

"Was it.. Bunker Hill?".

"Ding ding ding! We have a winner!" I cheered and jumped up, giving Carl a high five. "I told you could do it, silly," I grinned. Carl smiled back at me as I pretended to punch him lightly.

"Can we eat dinner now? You promised that if I got that one right we could be done for the day!" Carl asked me, clasping his hands together.

"Sure, let's go; I'm starving anyway,". We headed over to the fire where Carol was finishing up dinner.

"This smells great, Carol," I told the older woman, who smiled.

"Yeah.. As good as squirrel can smell, I guess,". I tilted my head in confusion.

"Squirrel?". Carol looked up at me like I was crazy as I asked her.

"Yes, squirrel.. Daryl went hunting this morning; you know, when we were all saying goodbye to everyone?". I could feel myself getting angry; didn't Daryl say I could hunt with him again?

"What a bastard," I muttered under my breath.

"What was that?" Carol asked from the fire, thinking that I had been speaking to her.

"Oh, nothing. Excuse me, I'll be back later. Get in line for dinner, Carl; you don't want the food getting cold," I lightly pushed him forward before spinning on my heel and started to head over to where everyone's tents were set up.

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"What the hell?" I shouted, unzipping Daryl's tent flap in a hurry.

"T'fuck you want?" Daryl asked me in surprise.

"Guess I'll repeat myself: What. The. Hell, Dixon?" I growled, crossing my arms.

"What the hell are YOU talking 'bout, Walsh?" Daryl spat, rolling his eyes.

He ran his hands down his face, clearly agitated by me barging into his tent.

"I thought I was allowed to go hunting with you from now on," I continued, lowering my voice.

"And?" Daryl rolled over onto his stomach, making me even angrier. Now he was trying to ignore me!

"You went hunting this morning?" I replied, taking a couple steps closer to his sleeping bag.

"What's the friggen problem? God, can't a guy get some sleep around here? I go and hunt for y'all and now I have ta put up with you screaming at me," Daryl groaned into his arm.

"Daryl, you said I could go and didn't even think about letting me know that you were going out," I said, but didn't get an answer. "You're really going to ignore me right now?" I groaned, slapping my arms against my sides.

I walked over to his body and lightly tapped my foot against his rib cage.

"Daryl,". As I went to kick him again, his hand shot out and grabbed my leg, pulling me to the floor. I let out a squeal as my butt hit the hard ground. "What the fuck!" I yelled out, trying to make him release my leg.

I went silent as he popped his eyes open to look at me, my cheeks growing hot as I watched him look me up and down before he spoke.

"Don't do that again," Daryl whispered, his rough voice an octave lower.

"Don't pull me like that again," I countered back.

I was surprised when Daryl actually smiled.

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"So what did you do before?" I asked as I played with my hair.

I don't know how long I'd been in his tent, but I must've missed dinner. I was lying on a blanket that Daryl had found in one of his bags.

"You mean before the world went to shit? What's it ta you?" Daryl quipped, making me roll my eyes.

"A girl can't be curious?" I scoffed. We sat in silence for a while, so I rolled over onto my side so that my back was facing Daryl.

"I did some construction jobs, helped Merle out; yanno, same old shit," I heard Daryl explain from behind me. I smiled, but didn't let him see.

"I was a waitress,".

"A waitress? You've gotta be shitting me," Daryl laughed, making me roll over so I could face him.

"What's so bad about that? I made a lot of money," I argued, sticking my tongue out.

"You just don't seem like the type of girl who would waiter for people, s'all," Daryl finally said after he calmed down.

"What do I seem like then?". He shrugged, closing his eyes.

"Dunno. Like a rich girl, I guess. Gets whatever you want.. Kinda bratty,". My mouth fell open in disbelief.

"Me? Bratty? No, not me!" I pretended to act shocked and shoved him lightly..

"Fine, bitchy it is. Whatever floats your damn boat," Daryl said, rolling his eyes.

I yawned and sat up so I could stretch, ignoring his previous comment. I noticed that it kind of hurt to stretch; how long had we just been sitting there?

"It's late, I should go," I yawned again. I heard him grunt in response, so I stood up. "Thanks for keeping me company, Daryl.. It was refreshing, I guess," I sighed, crossing my arms. Had it just gotten really cold?

"Okay..." Daryl replied awkwardly.

We bathed in silence for a few minutes before I gave him a quick wave goodbye and headed out.

"Hey, Walsh," I heard him call from his tent, so I poked my head back in.

"Yeah, Dixon?".

"Need someone to walk you to your tent? It's late, never know if there's geeks out," Daryl rambled on, but I shook my head no.

"I'm not thirteen, Daryl; I can take care of myself,".

"I'm aware of that; I was just offerin, no need to get an attitude" Daryl glared at me, so I whipped a knife out of my boot. His eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"See? I'll be fine. Sleep tight, Dixon,". I did the man a favor and zipped his tent shut, even though I could hear him mutter something like: "stupid woman,".

I smiled to myself when I entered my own tent, which was basically like a portable home. I slide into my sleeping bag, pulled my sweatshirt's hood over my head, and fell asleep.

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"Morning," I yawned, pulling myself up onto the roof of the RV. Dale turned to face me and smiled, placing his binoculars down onto his lap.

"Morning, Harper. How'd you sleep?" Dale asked me, smoothing his shirt down.

I made my way over towards the man and sat down next to him, enjoying the hot sun on my skin. I figured that I should enjoy the sun now since in a couple of hours, it'll be too hot to do anything.

"Pretty good, actually.. Probably better than I have in a while; why?".

"Well, Carol said that she saw you before dinner, but you said you had to go. Shane said that you mustn't have felt well," Dale explained. I shook my head no and relaxed, closing my eyes.

"Nope. I was just really tired, I guess,". I assumed that Daryl wouldn't want people knowing that we had spent hours together just talking, so I didn't bring it up.

"Sophia said that she thought she saw you going into Daryl's tent.. That true?" Dale asked me, raising an eyebrow. I looked at him out of the corner of my eyes; this man had great hunches.

"Yeah, but it wasn't to sit around and sing songs; I was actually really pissed at him," I explained folding my hands together in my lap.

"Oh? Why's that?" Dale asked me before picking up his binoculars again.

"Long story.. All I know is that now that I think about it, my reasons for being upset sound pretty silly compared to everything else going on in the world," I chuckled, rolling my eyes. It was true; I had sounded pretty immature.

"So, who's up next for Walker Watch?" I joked, earning a laugh out of Dale.

"Jim, I believe. Thank goodness for Jim, though, because I am starving!" Dale whined, and as if on cue, his stomach growled.

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After breakfast, I made my way over to Lori's tent to help Carl with some more history work.

"Knock, knock!" I called out, rapping on the tent. I heard someone shush someone else before the tent's zipper was unzipped. I rolled my eyes when only Lori's head popped out of the tent. Relief washed over her face when she saw me.

"Thank goodness, it's only you Harper," Lori said, releasing her death grip on the tent flap.

"Shit!" I heard Shane curse from inside, grabbing a blanket to cover his body; Lori was somewhat clothed.

"Can't you guys keep your hands off of each other until everyone else is sleeping? Goodness," I complained, looking the other way. Lori and Shane eyed me nervously, clearly embarrassed.

"What do ya need, Harper?" Shane asked, rubbing his eyes.

"I was looking for Carl, but he's obviously not here," I shrugged my shoulders, getting ready to walk away.

"Oh Harper, I forgot to tell you! Carol offered to help teach him a few things; this way, you won't have to spend all of your time with a twelve year old," Lori smiled at me.

I smiled back, but I was still annoyed with the sight in front of me. It just isn't right; Rick hasn't even been gone for two months, and she's already shacking up with my brother?

"Thanks. I guess I'll let you two have fun, then," I ignored Lori's words and zipped the tent back up.

With nothing to do, I headed back to my tent.

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I was in my sleeping bag lying on my side, looking around the decently sized tent. My bags of clothing were laid out neatly in the corner, along with the framed photo of me and Shane resting on a crate.

As soon as I shut my eyes to get some sleep, the zipper on my tent was unzipped loudly.

"What do you want?" I groaned, my eyes shut.

"Goin' huntin', wanted to know if ya wanted to come,".

I opened one eye to see Daryl leaning into the tent, his crossbow lightly tapping his side. I got out of the sleeping bag and took my hair out of its bun, enjoying the feel of my long locks hitting my shoulders.

I could feel him watching me, but I fought off the urge to blush.

"Yeah, let's go,".

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"Dammit.." I growled as the rabbit that I had been pursuing scampered away. One of my steps had been too heavy and had scared the rabbit away.

"Wow,". I spun around to see Daryl staring at me with his arms crossed.

"What?" I asked him, confused.

"You really do suck at hunting,". I shot him a glare before scoping out the area.

"Don't be such a dick,".

"But I am a dick," Daryl replied, brushing against my shoulder as he walked past me to pick up a squirrel that he had successfully shot.

"I don't think so; not really," I said, watching him.

He bent down and grabbed the squirrel by its tail, throwing it over his shoulder, the muscles in his back contorting with each movement.

"Well, tough shit. I am,". I shook my head and dropped my hands to my sides.

"You know, Daryl.. Maybe if you tried to let people in, you wouldn't think of yourself that way," I tried explaining, he didn't look at me, though; he kept going on with that damn squirrel.

"I didn't bring your ass out here to talk about feelings, Walsh. We're here to hunt," he snapped, finally turning around.

"Fine. I'll go hunt, then," I turned and walked away.

I ignored his calls and zoned in on a squirrel, my annoyance taken into count. I took my stance and released an arrow, happy to see that I hit the squirrel, killing it on impact.

I walked over to the squirrel and bent over to pick it up. I couldn't wait to rub that shit in Daryl's face. As I was standing up, groaning from behind me took me by surprise.

I dropped the lifeless squirrel body and spun around to see a walker making its way straight towards me.

"Shit," I muttered to myself as I reached for the knife in my boot. By the time I pulled it out, it was too late. The walker had latched onto my wrist, and the only thing I could do was panic.

I started to scream and attempted to yank my arm out of the walker's grip, but it wouldn't let go. I started to run, dragging the walker along with me. My running was making it unstable, so it couldn't bite me; that last for long, of course, since I ran directly into a tree.

I slid to the forest floor and brought the dead person with me. I squeezed the knife in my hand and attacked the walker, cutting its hand off at the wrist. Blood splattered everywhere, covering my arm.

The walker growled as black gunk oozed out of its mouth. I kicked at its stomach as the dead male lunged for my body, pushing it back a few feet. Before I could get up, the zombie lunged forward and landed on top of me.

I fought back by pushing at its shoulders, but I knew that it was the end; this zombie was going to bite me. When I was about to give up, the walker's head snapped back.

Blood coated my stomach as blood emerged from the walker's forehead, where an arrow was resting. I sat there in shock as the now-dead walker collapsed against my chest, its body weighing down my own.

"Harper," Daryl whispered as he bent down by my side.

I didn't answer him; I couldn't. Death had been right there. If Daryl hadn't made it, would I have died? I couldn't move, even after Daryl shoved the dead body off of my lap. I barely felt his strong hand wrap around my chin and lightly bring my face to face his.

"Hey," he whispered, checking my eyes. I felt a tear slide down my cheek, but Daryl wiped it away. "Don't do that; I ain't good with sappy shit," he mumbled quickly.

"Daryl," I whispered back, my voice suddenly hoarse.

"You okay, Walsh?" Daryl joked, smirking.

I didn't know what else to do, so I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and hugged him.

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"I don't know why, I just froze; I panicked," I sighed as Daryl and I walked back to camp. His hand was at my back, but I didn't say anything.

"Just because I saved your skinny ass doesn't mean I'm your new therapist," Daryl replied, shoving me lightly. I cringed at the touch, which he noticed. "That walker shook you up pretty bad, huh?" he asked me, retracting his arm.

I shrugged; I didn't really know why it had bothered me so much.

"I don't know. I mean, it's not like I haven't killed a walker before. It normally doesn't bother me,". We walked the rest of the way back in silence, but I didn't mind.

I don't think Daryl minded that much either.

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"How'd it go? Any walkers?" Shane asked us as soon as we approached the Quarry.

When Daryl and I had arrived he was telling Carl about frog legs, which made me roll my eyes. Shane and his fricken frog legs.

"Jus' one," Daryl replied.

I smiled graciously at him when Shane wasn't looking so I could thank him for not bringing up the almost death of his sister. If Shane knew that had happened, I probably wouldn't be allowed to leave the Quarry.

Ever.

"Daryl was helping me kill a squirrel when we heard it across the river. Daryl got him, but my clothes still didn't stand a chance" I lied, but Shane clearly bought it.

He nodded and turned back to Lori and Carl, clearly still absorbed in their conversation. I awkwardly turned around and headed for the group's lake to wash up.

Once I hit the water, I turned around to see that Daryl hadn't followed me; for that, I was relieved. I needed some alone time after today. I stripped my shirt and pants off and stepped into the cool water, dunking my head under the water.

I decided to swim a couple of laps before wringing out my bloody shirt. The blood had stained the shirt, but I was glad that it did. It would remind me of today's close call. I sat in the water, mesmerized at the shirt. I just couldn't stop staring at the shirt.

"Okay down there?" a voice called from the hill that led up to the Quarry.

I looked up to see Daryl, crossbow still slung over his shoulder. My lips parted as they searched for words, but I couldn't say anything. Daryl's eyes were squinted and his face was creased in concern as he headed down towards me, but I put my hand up to stop him.

"I'm fine," I managed, pulling the tank top over my head. I smirked as Daryl turned around to give me privacy as I stepped out of the water; it reminded me of the time that we had first gone hunting.

"Water's all yours," I said as I pulled my pants on.

"Thanks," Daryl said awkwardly as he slipped his crossbow off of his shoulder.

I couldn't help but stare as he crossed his arms and pulled his sleeveless shirt over his head before throwing it to the ground. I looked down at the ground and rubbed my forehead, not wanting to stare.

The muscles in his arms bulged as he walked into the water. I sat down in the dirt and waited for his head to resurface from the chilly depths. A small smile appeared on my face when I saw his wet hair mop over his face, water dripping down his chest.

"What?" Daryl asked, thinking that I was laughing at him.

"Nothing,".

I leaned back and stared up into the sky making figures out of the clouds. I could hear Daryl splashing around in the water, but it didn't bother me. We didn't have to talk to be satisfied; just having each other's company was fine.

"Heading back up?" he asked me as he floated around on his back.

"Yeah, guess so," I replied, running a hand through my dark hair. I started my way up the tall hill the reach the Quarry, but something stopped me. I spun around and jogged down the hill.

"Hey, Daryl?".

"W'sup?" he asked, turning to face me in the water.

"Thank you; for today," I said, shoving my hands in my back pockets. Daryl nodded, blinking a couple of times.

"You're welcome,".