Mercy on Me

"I can do it," Daryl growled as he brushed my hand away from his hair. He was covered in dirt from the scuffle with Rick and Shane, making him muddy, since we were both submerged in water.

"Daryl, just shut up," I replied, rolling my eyes.

I filled my hands with a puddle of water and dropped it over his head. He jumped back, flinging water out of his eyes.

"T'fuck! That ain't how ya clean hair!".

"Well you wouldn't cooperate with the normal way, so I'm doing what I can,".

I felt Daryl's body tense up as my fingers ran over his arms, scrubbing the dirt away, but he stopped fighting me eventually. I finished washing him off in silence, which I didn't mind. As usual, just being in his company was soothing enough.

"You're all done," I smiled at him, patting him on the cheek before spinning around in the water.

"Thanks," he muttered from behind me, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

Once out of the water, I faced my back to Daryl and pulled my shirt off over my head. I concentrated on squeezing the water out of my shirt, since I didn't want to have soaked clothes.

"Harper, get down!" I heard Daryl whisper harshly, but I hadn't understood him since he had spoken so fast.

"What?" I asked him loudly, but lost my breath when I was flung to the ground.

I looked around in a panic as Daryl had thrown my behind a large rock and covered me with his own body. He faced me and put a finger to his lips, calling for silence. I followed his gaze as his head snapped the right; that was when I heard the moaning. I panicked a little and tried wriggling myself out from underneath Daryl's body, but he was too strong.

He placed a large hand over my mouth to cover up my heavy breathing. For a moment I wondered why Daryl couldn't just shoot the walker with his crossbow, but that then I remembered: he had dropped it before confronting Rick about losing Merle in the city. We watched the walker slowly make its way up the hill to the Quarry in silence, only the walker's moaning echoing throughout the area. When the screaming started, I tried pushing Daryl off, wanting to help save whoever was in trouble, but Daryl still wouldn't let me.

"There might be more, and I ain't losing you to one of 'em," Daryl growled at me, his hand still on my mouth.

I debated licking his hand, making an attempt of getting him to release me, but I knew it wouldn't work.

Was Daryl concerned for my safety?

Would he care if I got bit?

A large amount of things were running through my mind when we heard the gunshot.

"Hell are they doin'?!" Daryl muttered, knowing the gunshot would only attract more walkers.

Once we heard the walker hit the ground, we remained attached for a couple more minutes, waiting for more walkers to appear; thankfully, that had been the only one. I let out a deep breath once Daryl removed his hand from my mouth, looking relieved. Daryl looked down at me and squinted, shooting me an uncomfortable look.

"What is—Oh," I stopped short, realizing that Daryl was lying on top of me while I was only in a bra.

"I didn't look, swear," Daryl stuttered, looking me directly in the eyes. I rolled my eyes, trying not to smile; ever the Southern gentleman.

"It's whatever; you were only trying to save me from walkers," I shrugged as I helped him off of me. I retrieved my wet shirt and pulled it back on over my head and ran up to the Quarry with Daryl.

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"Is everyone okay?" I asked Shane once I finally found him. He was leaning up against Dale's RV, chin in hand.

"Everyone's okay. Had ta shoot it, though; was getting too close to Amy," Shane explained, non-blinking.

"Is she okay?" I asked him, worried.

"Bit shaken up, but she'll be fine. Go get some rest, Rick and I'll take care of the body,".

I shook my head in agreement, still feeling incredibly weird at the mention of Rick's name—he's really alive? When I had first seen him, I swore that I had gone crazy; he couldn't be real!

"Where is Rick, anyway?" I smiled, changing the subject. Shane shrugged, his eyes dark.

"Probably off with Lori 'n Carl..".

I couldn't figure out the look in his eyes so I wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug.

"It'll be okay, Shane. You and Lori will work things out,". He looked off into the distance and ran his tongue over his bottom lip, crossing his arms around my body.

"We'll see,".

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The rest of the day had gone by pretty quietly. Not once person had an idea as to how the walker got past our defenses; it was almost impossible without hearing them from a mile away!

Once I woke up, Jim, Dale, and I spent the afternoon fixing up our perimeter. That night, we were all sprawled out around the fire. I was wedged between Rick and Shane, while Carl and Lori were wrapped tightly into Rick's other side. Carol, Ed, and Sophia had excused themselves from dinner a while earlier, but almost everyone else had stayed put.

Across the fire were Amy, Andrea, and Dale, while Glenn was sitting awkwardly between Jacqui and Lori. Morales' was already asleep in his tent.

"What was it like? Waking up in that hospital?" Amy asked Rick quietly, the rich flames enhancing the feel of the question.

"Confusing, terrifying.. When I managed to make my way out of the hospital, I found rows full of dead bodies, as if they were... Executed," Rick shivered, replaying the memories in his mind.

"You're safe now, though; that's all that matters," Lori smiled at him, placing a small hand against his chest.

"Not to ruin the moment, but none of us are safe. Between the walkers and new relationships people have made, who knows what'll happen?" I inquired, looking directly at Lori when I brought up new relationships.

A couple people exchanged confused glances, but I was glad to know that the people who needed to understand it did. Shane kicked me in the ankle but I ignored it. Lori stared right back at me, as if daring me to say more. I smiled sweetly before standing up and stretching.

"I'm going to bed. Big day tomorrow, right?".

The group nodded and a few other people stood up along with me, ready to turn in for the day. Glenn put out the fire and gave me a big hug.

"In case anything happens tomorrow, you know you I love you,". I smiled into his skinny shoulder.

"Love you too, Glenny,". He pushed me away lightly and smacked the side of my head.

"Glenny? Seriously, Glenny? You're twenty-five and the best you can come up with is Glenny?" he sighed sadly and shook his head, making me laugh.

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The next morning, I looked at myself in the mini-mirror I had brought along with me. The bruises on my neck were still black and blue, not even close to healing. I applied new bandages around my head, the giant gash in the back of my head still evident. As I was getting changed, I noticed a large cut that would definitely scar displayed across my back. I winced as I stared at it, wondering how anyone could look at me like they used to.

Shane had always told me that I was 'too pretty for my own good' and how he would 'kill any guy who so much as looked at me' because of it. I smiled to myself, thinking about how lucky I was to have such an amazing brother; though very cocky and high-strung, we were a perfect match. I jumped when someone rapped on my tent.

"Let's go, Barbie, we don't got time ta wait for you," I heard Daryl call out from outside of my tent.

I applied some make-up in my tiny mirror (luckily for me, whenever we found drug stores, Shane let me raid what was left of the cosmetics) and exited the tent. I almost wacked Daryl in the jaw as I raised my elbow to put my hair up into a high pony.

"Watch it," Daryl muttered through gritted teeth. I turned to face him and shoved him lightly.

"Sorry bout that, Ken,". Daryl shot me a bizarre look.

"The hell's Ken?" he asked me, offended. I smirked at him. Was he jealous?

"Daryl, you called me Barbie.. Barbie and Ken?". Daryl frowned when he realized that he had sounded pretty stupid.

"Oh,".

"Yup. Let's get going," I said, patting him in the shoulder as I went to walk away.

"Hey," Daryl called out as he pulled me back by the arm.

He had pulled me harder than expected, so I was pressed flush against him. I could feel his smoky breath on my face as a blush crept into mine. We were both frozen, as if completely uncomfortable with the current situation; neither of us let go, however.

"Daryl?" I choked out, raising an eyebrow. He obviously had had to tell me something.

"Just be careful out in the city, okay? I can't always be there to protect ya,"Daryl replied into my ear.

I shivered at his breath, but nodded. As quickly as the moment had begun, it ended. Daryl released me and headed over to the box truck, leaving me to follow suit.

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"Here. Take this," Shane said to me as he approached the truck.

"Shane, I don't know," I whispered to him as he placed a handgun into my palm.

"Shut up, Harper. You wanted to go, didn't you? Remember everything I taught you—it's not like you've never shot one before, you're actually a kick-ass shot. I have faith in you," Shane rambled on, clearly nervous for me. I smiled at him gratefully.

"Thanks. Love you,".

We all said our goodbyes and scrambled into the back of the truck. Rick took the driver's seat and Glenn sat beside him. T-Dog, Daryl, and I were lying in the back. T-Dog sat by the large back door of the truck, while Daryl sat behind the front seats. I stood in the middle of them, unsure of where to sit.

After a few seconds, I decided to get a little risky and sit next to Daryl. As I sat down, T-Dog shot me surprised look, but I just smiled back. Daryl was giving me a surprised look as well.

"Ready to find your brother?" I asked him, nudging his shoulder with mine. Daryl nodded silently and curled his legs up to chest.

"More than ready,".

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"This is where you guys were hiding out?" I asked in surprise as we stood in front of the large building.

It looked like an old clothing store. The glass doors were shattered, but the corners of the doors hadn't fully broken off. Dried blood was smeared against the glass, no doubt being evidence of what had happened here with Rick and the group. Rick nodded silently before turning to us.

"We'll talk inside, don't want to attract any attention," he suggested, before nodded towards the end of the street where three walkers were walking about aimlessly.

T-Dog led the pack and pushed the glass doors open as quietly as he could. I went to walk in, but was pushed to the side.

"Watch where you're fuckin' goin, idiot," Daryl spat as he kicked glass out of the way.

"Didn't see it," I snapped back, rolling my eyes.

"Obv'usly,' Daryl muttered to himself.

"Thanks, though," I replied, thanking him for pushing the glass out of the way so I wouldn't step on the glass.

I had packed plenty pairs of shoes when Shane and I had left; not the right ones, however. My blue-and-white-striped Toms shoes wouldn't last forever, especially not with all of the running around we've been doing.

Daryl looked behind me, craning his neck to get a better look. He pulled me closer to his body as he shut the door.

"Stay close ta me,". I savored his warm touch, feeling safer than I have in a while under his watch.

"10-4 Captain,". He shot me a weird look but had to try hard not to smile. I winked back.

"Knew I'd make ya laugh eventually!".

"C'mon, guys, let's go," Rick urged from the stairs, clearly watching the exchange.

I blushed a little at being caught before pushing ahead of Daryl who was busy easing the store doors shut. We walked quietly through the main floor of the store where there was clothes and women's jewelry galore. I ran my hands over a black racer-back tank top with the word 'love' scribbled in white cursive letters.

"If you like it, take it," I jumped at T-Dog's voice at my back.

"You sure?" I asked the group of men who were all staring at me with smiles on their faces.

"Take anything you like! We'll wash them up when we get back and they'll be good as new.. I mean, it's not like Rick can arrest you," Glenn snickered from behind a rack full of winter coats.

"Haha, very funny," Rick rolled his eyes but made his way to the stairs.

"Can we hurry this shopping spree up a little? My brother might be dyin' up there!" Daryl growled from the stairs.

"Calm down, Daryl. If he's alive right now, he'll be alive in ten minutes," I sighed as I folded up the cute top into my bag.

I scanned the racks and found at least ten new tops, a sweatshirt, two pairs of shorts, and some jeans. I smiled at myself before heading back over to Rick.

"The best thing about the apocalypse? Money don't matter,".

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"Can you cut that damn thing off any fucking slower?" Daryl muttered from a step below me. We all turned to glare at him.

"T's trying his best," I fought back, stepping up for my friend. Daryl should be thankful that we were even going to help him look for Merle!

"Whatever. Just hurry the hell'up," I heard Daryl growl from below me.

I only shook my head in annoyance as we waited patiently for T-Dog to cut the lock that was placed on the rooftop door open. Once it finally popped off, Daryl pushed through all of us and kicked the door open, not even bothering to look back at the group. I felt Glenn's hand on my shoulder as he led me up the last few stairs and out into the cloudy sky.

Although it looked as if rain was on the way, the heat was sweltering. Georgia weather was weird in the summer; super-hot during the day, but chilly at night. I could only imagine how it would be this winter.

"No!" we heard Daryl shout from across the rooftop. I ran over to where he was to see a red box of tools and a pair of police cuffs that were linked to a drainpipe.

"He's gone?" T-Dog gaped in shock as he rubbed his hand over his jaw. There were a few drops of blood on the pavement that led to the edge of the roof, but that was it. Rick walked over and began to survey the scene.

"How'd he get out of the cuffs?" I heard him say to himself. Daryl stalked over to the edge of the building and looked down into the streets of Atlanta.

"He didn't.." I started, but the redneck cut me off.

"No way in hell he'd jump; he may be an idiot, but he ain't that fuckin' stupid," he snarled at me.

I put my hands up in surrender and walked over to stand between Rick and Glenn. I shot Rick a look as if asking 'what should we do now?', but he only shook his head.

"Wait! Look over to that rooftop!" T-Dog shouted, running over to the edge of the building. I jogged over to meet him and saw what he saw; the buildings were so close that they were almost touching, and there was blood on the other building.

"Think he went that way?" Daryl asked us, turning to face us. I shrugged and shielded my eyes from the sun.

"Maybe. But why would he be bleeding?".

Daryl shrugged back before adjusting his crossbow on his shoulder and jumped over to the opposite building.

"Comin' or what, Barbie?" I heard him shout from the building ahead. I let a smirk emerge on my face before turning to the other guys.

"You losers comin', or what?"

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We followed the tiny blood trail that trickled over the roof to the stairs that led into the building. Rick went first, clicking a flashlight on and tucking it into his elbow. I watched him place his left hand (being the left that he always has been) onto the butt of his gun as he nodded toward the stairwell.

"Be quiet and remember: don't use guns unless necessary,".

T-Dog followed behind Rick, while Glenn followed T. I fell into step with my best friend but felt that warm hand grip my shoulder.

"Don't be stupid, Barbie; I'm goin' first,". I raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Thought you weren't 'always gon' be there to protect me', Ken," I replied while mocking his statement from camp. Daryl grunted before giving me a squinted look.

"I'm here now, ain't I?". I sighed in defeat and let him lead the way.

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I held my breath once we hit the main floor of the building at the moaning coming from all around us. I scanned the area to see about five or six walkers throughout the building. Rick turned to face us all and started pointing out directions in silence; there were five of us and six of them. If we all took one out quietly, there would only be one walker left, and that wouldn't be a problem by then.

We all stalked quietly over to our chosen walkers, weapons in hand. I whipped my knife out of the sheath that Shane had attached to my pant leg.

"I don't want to hear it, you're wearing it," he had said earlier today, making me roll my eyes.

I was so concentrated on the memory that I hadn't noticed the walker catching my scent, and turning to face me. I heard something like a tongue clicking and turned to see Daryl snapping his head quickly toward my quickly-approaching walker as he jammed a knife into an unsuspecting walker an aisle over.

I gave him a quick smile of appreciation before turning to my walker, whose arms were outstretched towards my body. I stepped forward slowly, planning out my next move. All around me, I heard zombie bodies hitting the floor, but besides that, there was no commotion. It was as if I could feel Daryl's eyes boring into me from the next aisle over, ready to step in if I needed it. He's saved me too many times, however; I needed to prove I could take care of myself.

I took a step closer to the walker and aimed for its head, but my hand was knocked out of the way by the walker's own. I didn't lose my grip on the knife, though, for my grip was too strong. I felt the dead city liver latch onto my arm, and I almost panicked, not wanting to get bit or scratched. I could hear heavy footsteps shuffling quickly across the floor, so I knew that Daryl was on his way. Would he even make it, though? Probably not.

I kicked my foot out and knocked the walker onto its ass, but it didn't let go of me; no, it took me right to the floor with him. I heard the dead man growling right in my ear, and turned to see that our faces were almost pressed right up against each other's. I gasped, holding back a scream, and wrapped my hand around my body to pierce the walker's skull with my knife.

On contact, the body froze, its hand releasing me from its grip. For safe measure, I pulled my knife out and stabbed it through the brain again, blood smearing over the knife and my face. I couldn't look at its face anymore; it had been distorted enough before I stabbed it to death.

"You okay?" I heard from above.

Rick and Daryl were standing above me, panting. I took a deep breath and nodded, even though I was still shook up. I could kill as many walkers as I wanted, but I had a feeling that it would always bother me; no matter what kind of being or creature they were in the present, they were living human beings once upon a time.

They both stuck their hands out towards me to help me up, so I grabbed Ricks. Rick pulled me up into his body and I let a shaky breath out against his chest.

"No bites or scratches, right?" he asked from above the peak of my head where his chin rested.

"No, I don't think so; I would've felt it," I shook my head no before lightly pushing myself out of Rick's brotherly embrace.

I turned to face Daryl who was glaring at me. I shot him a look before brushing off my pants and stuck my knife back in its sheath.

"The walker blood must've screwed up Merle's blood trail.. How are we going to tell whose blood is who?" I asked everyone, biting my thumbnail.

"We won't. We'll have to just take a guess and look somewhere," Rick stated from behind me.

I turned to face Daryl again, who was staring at the ground. I could tell he was upset but didn't want to show it.

"It's okay, Daryl. We'll find him," I said to only him as the group disbanded through the store.

"I don't need you're symp'thy," Daryl spat before pushing past me and out into the streets of Atlanta.

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, not really wanting to follow him. I know he's upset, but he shouldn't be taking it out on me.

"Seems like you've got your hands full with Dixon," Rick noticed from behind me, making me jump.

"What'cha mean, Rick?" I asked him, putting a hand over my heart. Rick shrugged his shoulders as he tried to hide a smile.

"Don't worry about it, Harper,".

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"Guys, the sun's starting to set.. This search is hopeless!" Glenn sighed as we walked quickly down an alleyway.

"Quit it, Chinaman, we'll find him," Daryl spat from the back of the pack, making Glenn frown.

"I'm Korean, Daryl,".

"Who gives a fuck?" Daryl grunted back as we all stopped to take a break.

"Daryl, you aren't really helping. We should go get the guns Rick was talking about back at camp, and if we still have time, then we'll keep looking," I groaned from the head of the group.

I didn't want to get stuck in the city at night, and I doubted anyone else in the group did, either. Daryl glanced over to me and stared at me through squinted eyes, daring me to back down. Instead, I placed my small hands on my hips and stared back.

"We're getting the guns, Daryl. If Merle's made it this far, he can make it a bit longer," I continued, hoping that I would convince him to go with the plan; it worked.

"Fine. But if we don't find him, I'm blamin' you, Barbie,".

"What's that about? You two get 'Ken' and 'Barbie' and I get 'Glenny'? What the hell, Harper..." Glenn whined as he stood against the brick wall building. I laughed out loud before stopping myself.

"Sorry.. I guess Daryl's more creative with nicknames than I am,".

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"Glenn, you were right. This is the street with our guns. Now we just need a plan," Rick whispered as we all huddled behind a trash can in yet another darkened alleyway.

The sun was almost setting, and we needed to hurry if we wanted to get out of the city in time. We all sat in silence as we looked at one another, as if wondering who was going to risk their lives by running out in the open to get the guns.

"I guess I'll go.. I mean, I'm pretty quick," Glenn offered, curling up into a ball.

I looked into Glenn's eyes and saw pure sadness. Of course, Glenn wouldn't want to run out to a street surrounded by walkers just for a bag of guns; it wasn't really fair.

"No, Glenn. I'll go," I cut in, pushing off of my knees to stand. Glenn bounced up as well before putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you sure? It's not safe!".

"I know, Glenn. But you've already done so much for the group today. You're getting the easy job," I smiled at him as he let out a relieved breath. Glenn drew me in for a hug as everyone else rushed to stand up.

"You can't go out there alone, Harper. I don't want you getting too close to the walkers; you can't go," Rick objected before pulling his gun out of his waistband, clicking the 'safety' to 'Off'. I opened my mouth to speak but a man's voice came out.

"I'll go with 'er,". We all spun around to face Daryl, his mouth a grim line.

"You'll what?" T-Dog asked in surprise.

"I said I'll go with her, asshole. Now give us this damn plan before the sun fucking sets,".

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The plan was simple: Daryl and I would run out to the bag of guns, while we each covered the other. On top of that, Rick, Glenn, and T-Dog would be back in the alley watching both of our backs. I thought about how much we had all become a tight-knit group. Although it had maybe been only a month since our group came together, we were slowly becoming quite the dysfunctional family. The three men took their respective places in the alleyway as Daryl and I prepared out weapons.

"Want me to back you with a knife or a gun?" I asked Daryl as he fiddled with an arrow bolt.

"Gun," Daryl responded simply, not bothering to look up from his work. My eyebrows raised in question.

"One shot from this Glock, and those geeks'll come runnin'. You sure?". Daryl finally looked up and locked onto my own eye-contact.

"I'm sure. Don't worry, Barbie; I've got ya,". I smiled weakly before continuing.

"Daryl, I just want to apologize. For everything. The arguing, the accusations.. I know you were only trying to help with Ed, I know. And today, especially. If we don't find Merle—,".

"I won't blame you; I don't. I was just.." Daryl cut in, trying to find the right word.

Before either of us knew it, my hand shot up to take hold of arm.

"I know,".

We stood in that same position until Rick's voice snapped us both out of it. I missed the warmth of his body when he ripped his arm out from under my grasp.

"You guys should probably get going if we want to get out of here before the sun goes down,". I glanced quickly at Daryl's eyes, his glance meeting mine. We made a signal to prove that we were ready and I pushed the alleyway's gate open, Daryl leading the way.

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Getting to the bag of guns had been easy; not one walker had noticed us. I thought it was actually going to be pretty easy, but of course, I thought wrong.

"Shit," Daryl muttered under his breath when a walker stood up from behind a car with no doors.

I gripped onto the bag of guns for dear life as Daryl took out the walker with an arrow. Once we passed the car, he grabbed the bolt. As he was putting the bolt back, another walker appeared from a building, walking straight for me. I was forced to drop the bag and take out of my gun.

"Am I shooting? It'll attract more!" I whispered harshly towards Daryl, who was squinting at me.

"Shoot the fucker,".

I placed my finger on the trigger and squeezed, holding up against the rebuttal of the big gun. Even though I didn't get thrown back, Daryl's hand was on my back, prepared to help me if I had been.

"Thanks," I muttered, a blush creeping up onto my face, even in the current situation. As we headed back to the alley, more and more walkers came from every other direction. We had almost made it when we heard a noise.

"Daryl, is that.. An engine?". Sure enough, both of us spun around in time to see a white box truck that looked similar to ours speeding towards us.

"Git' down!" Daryl shouted, forcing me behind a beat-up car.

My worst fear came true when the truck skidded to a halt. We heard someone leave the truck in a hurry, God knows why. I started to get worried when I realized that I couldn't see Rick or the guys in their alleyway from where we were. If we can't see them, they can't see us.

"Just don't move," Daryl whispered in my ear, making me jump.

I grabbed his hand in fear, but he didn't make me let go.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" a manly voice drawled out from the street.

That was when it hit me, however: that voice sounded awfully familiar.

"Is that?" I looked to Daryl, but couldn't continue when I felt a rough hand grab me by the hair and yank me out from behind the car.

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I couldn't see the man, but I felt a blade being pressed against my throat.

"Stop, Merle! It's me, Harper!" I screamed, begging him to let me go.

"Don't play with me, girl. You left me to die," Merle laughed, pressing the blade into my neck farther. I gagged against it, sucking in air.

"Merle, you know that wasn't me. I wouldn't! We came back for you; we came BACK,".

"Did ya bring that pig?" he asked me darkly, clearly referring to Rick.

"We did. It's me, Rick, Glenn, T, and Daryl.. Merle, Daryl and I fought to come back for you. We want you back at camp," I rambled on, hoping he would let me go. Through all of this, Merle has had a knife to my neck; where the hell was Daryl?

"Woo, never thought I'd hear that 'chu want me back at camp. Maybe I'll reconsider," Merle sighed, not letting force on his knife go.

"Please, Merle. We'll make it work," I promised him, grabbing on to his bloody wrist. That must've been where the blood had come from.

"Make it work? Make what work; you and me? Hell, girl, I'll drop this knife right now if you promise me a good ride back at camp!" Merle hooted from behind me.

"All right, Merle, let her go! You're being fuckin' ridiculous!" Daryl shouted, standing up from behind the car.

"Thank fuck.." I let out, making Merle laugh.

"You think he's gonna save you over me? See all these walkers getting their hungry asses over here? I'm actually being nice by not throwing you to 'em! Just promise me a go at'cha, s'all I want," Merle snorted, grinning from ear to ear.

"Merle, cut the shit. I'm not letting ya' hurt her. We came back for you! Just let 'er go, and you can come back with us," Daryl cut in, trying to reason with his older brother.

Merle whistled right by ear, making me grimace, something Daryl noticed. I saw his teeth start to grind at the sound.

"Why can't I have a go at her? Wait.. You already fucking her or somethin'? Finally, Darylena's got some balls!" Merle shouted as he shoved me out of his grip and into Daryl's welcoming arms. I held my face in his chest as he ran the three of us back to the group in the alley.

"Finally, are you guys—Merle?" Glenn asked, before noticing the redneck.

"Don't start with me right now, yellow-man. I ain't too happy with y'all. I was able to reach the box of tools you idiots left behind and cut the cuff off before getting chewed on! Now get what'cha need, the box truck is out in the street," Merle explained, nodding over to the empty truck.

"How'd you get the truck?" Daryl asked, my body still cradled in his welcoming arms.

"I was gonna steal it from ya!" Merle smiled cheekily.

Rick checked the streets for any close walkers before leading the group to the truck. Daryl helped lift me in to the back of the truck before following behind, shutting the back door on a walker.

"What about me!" Merle asked from outside, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Oh no. You're up front with me," Rick ordered from the driver's seat.

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Even though the drive from the city wasn't very far from the Quarry, it was far enough. It was at least a half hour, forty-five minute drive with all of the walkers attacking the car. T-Dog was sprawled on his side snoring, while Glenn was sitting up against the wall sleeping with his mouth open. I sat curled up in a ball next to Daryl, who was trying to sleep. When he knew that he wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon. He turned to face me.

"You okay?" I heard him ask in the dark.

"I will be. It's just a bit much lately. First Ed, now.. Him," I whispered back, not wanting Merle to hear, even though he was probably sleeping, too.

"M'sorry I couldn't do more. Merle would've freaked if I had jumped up and scared him. I didn't want him hurtin' ya,". I looked at him through the darkness with a curious look on my face.

"You did everything you could. I'm sitting here right now, aren't I?". I heard him grunt in the darkness, as I was only able to see his bright eyes.

"I'm serious, Daryl. Thank you," I sighed, running a hand up and down his arm.

I could feel him freeze up under my touch, but he didn't stop me. I yawned but eventually clapped a hand over my mouth since I didn't want to wake up the boys. I heard Daryl chuckle from beside me.

"You yawn like a fuckin' lion but look like a damn midget,". I laughed as the truck when over a slight bump in the road.

"Sorry I'm not perfect enough for you,".

"You're just fine," Daryl said to my surprise. I looked down and reached around until I found his hand, wrapping it through mine.

"What are you doing?" he asked me quickly, trying to pull away, so I let him.

"Fine. Be that way, Dixon,".

"Whatever, Walsh,".

As the ride continued, I tried to keep my eyes open, but I was always a sucker for falling asleep in the car. As I began to fall asleep, I rested my head against Daryl shoulder.

I pretended I had fallen asleep when I felt him scoot my body closer to his to make sure I was comfortable, and eventually let darkness and happiness take me away from the horrible world that we lived in.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Barbie, wake up," I heard someone say, slightly nudging my slim body.

I blinked a couple of times and stretched, hitting something. I looked up to see that my hand had hit Daryl's chest. Hadn't I fallen asleep against his shoulder? He noticed my look of confusion as he chuckled.

"We hit a bump and you fell into my lap. Didn't move you, or you would've woken up,". I smiled at him in my sleep state.

"Thank you,".

I could sense his unease since he didn't answer me, so I didn't push anything. After all, there were two other grown men sitting near us.

"You know.. Barbie is starting to grow on me; I mean, I guess anyone would prefer it over 'bitch', though," I rambled on, falling back into Daryl's lap.

"What? I never called you a bitch," he lied, smirking. My mouth fell open in shock.

"What?! Don't lie, you so have!" I let out, punching him lightly in the arm.

"I ain't called you a bitch; I called ya midget. So stop being a bitch," Daryl ordered me, smirking even more.

"You're such a dick, Dixon,".

"I know,".

"Even though I'm kind of weirded out with the flirting that's going on with you guys, I have to break it up. We're home," Glenn said from the back door of the truck.

I was pushed off of Daryl's lap in embarrassment, as Daryl started to blush. We were all heading out of the truck when we heard the screams of our group. I went to run after T-Dog and Glenn to help, but felt Daryl's hand grab my arm.

"You're stayin' with me. Keep up and don't lose me, got it?" he asked me, looking straight into me.

I nodded and let him take me by the hand, leading me into the chaos that was quickly destroying our dysfunctional family.