Mercy on Me

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HotRanger69; Nine days, so excited!! But thanks, I love that you love this story! And even though I planned on writing my character having a good relationship with Lori, I just couldn't.. I just can't like Lori. It just won't happen.
RavenXGirlXLove; Good! I'm glad Shane hasn't come off as a douche yet, I don't want him to seem like one yet! And don't worry, Daryl's definitely worried when he finds out about the sleeping situation(:
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The next morning I woke up with a headache that I had been prepared for, but wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

"Fuck life. Fuck alcohol," I muttered to myself as I rolled over onto my back.

I laid there for a couple seconds before shivering, realizing that beside my tiny body, the bed was empty. I let out a deep breath, blowing random strands of hair; of course he wouldn't stay the whole night. Would he have even came over if he wasn't wasted beyond belief? Probably not.

I couldn't fight the smile that slowly made its way onto my face, but I didn't want to. I looked up at the ceiling and tried to process what happened last night. What was going on between us? Did he feel anything for me? Did I?

"No, I can't," I said out loud, trying to convince myself otherwise. I probably just liked having a man's presence around other than my brother's that I could really talk to. Then what about Merle?

"Enough questions," I whispered to myself.

My clock said it was about nine in the morning, so I stood up to take a shower. I made my way for the bathroom when something hit me. This place has electricity.

"Oh my God," I whispered as I ran over to my back, fingers shaking.

I whipped out my iPhone, its battery dying long ago. I found an empty outlet beside my bed and sat down as I plugged my charger into my phone, praying that this would work. Placing my phone on the bedside table, I stuck the end of the charger into the wall and sat in silence, waiting.

About thirty seconds later, when my iPhone's screen lit up, I almost passed out.

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I sprinted down the halls of the CDC searching for Shane; I needed to find him. When I finally came across his hallway, I skidded to a halt and searched for his door.

"Shane!" I shouted, banging on his door.

"What, what, what!" he yelled from the other side, yanking it open.

"Come on, you've got to see this!" I said to him, not even looking back as I pulled him back to my room.

"See what, the room we could've shared?" he joked, but I slapped him in the arm as I kept running. "Jesus, your room really is far away!".

When we finally got there, I pulled him over to my bed and made him sit down.

"Harper, normally I would like where this is going, but you are my sister, this is just fucked up...". I rolled my eyes before speaking.

"Don't be an asshole, Shane. This is serious,".

I sat down next to him and picked up my fully charged cell phone and handed it to him, which he looked at in shock. He turned it on and scrolled through at, is if he couldn't believe it was happening.

"Can you—," he went to ask me, but I knew his question.

"No. No service,".

He had wanted to know if I could make phone calls. If I could have, I would have already tried calling mom and dad, but who knows if they're still alive or not?

"But everything's still on here?" he asked me shock, still surprised. I rolled my eyes before taking the phone back and throwing it back on the charger.

"Yes, Shane. The phone ran out of battery, it didn't break.. I mean, think about it; we have car chargers. We could've charged them, but like idiots, we didn't!".

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"What's with all of the damn noise over here?" I heard a voice shout over my music.

I looked over to the door to see Daryl's head popping in to check on me. I smiled at him and ran over, pulling him into my room.

"I was able to charge my iPhone, which means music! Daryl, do you know what this means?" I asked him with a giant goofy grin on my face.

"I have to listen to your shit-ass music for the rest of our lives?" he answered me, flicking my waist with two fingers.

"Well, yes. But we can make CD's! It'll be like the 90s all over again! Well, it was the 90s, right? You're older than me, you'd know," I smirked as I heard the chorus of my favorite Cher Lloyd song start playing.

"Are you calling me an old man, midget?".

"I am not a midget! And I'm not calling you old, Daryl, I'm' just saying—you are a bit older than me, you would know better than me.." I winked at him.

I was only teasing him and he knew it, so I started to spin in circles to the music. I saw him cross his arms and watch me before speaking again.

"What is this terrible music anyway?".

"It is NOT terrible! It's Cher Lloyd! Come on, it's almost at the best part, dance with me!" I offered my hand, but he brushed it away.

"Hell no, I ain't dancing with ya," he argued, rolling his eyes.

"So you won't dance with me, but you'll sleep with me, Daryl?" I asked him, crossing my arms in defiance.

His cheeks turned a bright red at my question which almost made me laugh. Almost.

"What you mean, 'sleepin' with ya, girlie'?" he asked me, rubbing the top of his head. I stared at him for a minute in confusion; did he not remember last night at all?

"You don't remember last night at all, do you? Merle must've brought you back to your room after.." I started to smile. Should I mess with him a little?

"Harper, I.. I'm sorry; I didn't take advantage of ya, did I? If I forced myself on ya, I—,".

Daryl stopped and glared at me when I bent over and started laughing hysterically. I made my way over to him to hug him, but stopped. He noticed and shook my hand.

"Fuck you shakin' my hand for, boy?" I reached under his strong arms and hugged him, and to my surprise, he didn't pull away.

"You slept in my bed, but not like that," I giggled, running a hand through my long hair. When my favorite Cher Lloyd song came on again, I made my way to the door.

"Dance with me, please? This song's my favorite," I smiled at him as I shook my hips to the beat of the song.

"Said no, I ain't a dancer," he mumbled, clearly unsure of his answer.

"Ugh, fine. Party pooper. Where's Merle, he'll dance with me.. Merle!".

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"What is it, princess?" Merle asked, popping his head in my doorway the same way as Daryl had. I stuck my hand out to him, which he gladly took.

"Your brother is being an ass, so come dance with me!".

I laughed as Merle's face crinkled up in disgust at the song.

"Da fuck is this shit?" he asked me, heading over to my phone.

I watched him in surprise. That was one of the things I loved about Merle: he didn't even care that I had just rediscovered the use of cell phones, no; he just cared about what kind of music we were listening to.

"It's Cher Lloyd, she's good, I promise!".

I couldn't say anything else since Merle grabbed my hand and spun me into his body, making me erupt into a fit of giggles. The room spun a little as he quickly spun me outward towards Daryl, but he didn't let me go. I could feel Daryl's eyes on me and his brother, but I ignored it; he had said he didn't want to dance with me, didn't he?

"There's no point in living if you ain't living life.. Soo, riot, riot! Put your fucking hands up!" I shouted the lyrics to Cher Lloyd's 'Riot!' as Merle happily twirled me around the room.

As the song ended and the next track began, I fell onto my bed in a happy daze.

"Thank you, Merle. That was fun and just what I needed," I shot him a smile.

I raised my eyebrows when he ran a finger up my shin, but nodded back when he said, "You're welcome, sweetheart,".

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"Good morning, everyone!" I greeted the hung-over group of survivors in the kitchen that morning.

T-Dog was face-down next to his cereal bowl, which looked somewhat amusing. Glenn was the only one beside me and Merle who was actually cheery.

"Morning, cutie," he said to me, waving from the table.

I heard noises from behind me to see Merle and Daryl fussing over something, but they stopped automatically once they caught me looking. Merle winked at me, so I assumed that that was my cue to move on.

When I walked part Carl, I ran my hand through his hair and messed it up, making him laugh.

"What's for breakfast?" I asked my boys, turning to face Daryl and Merle. Daryl shrugged while Merle rummaged through the stocked cabinets.

"Woo, I see pancakes!" he shouted, which led to the group of hung-over survivors at the table emitting a loud moan.

"Y'all should've drunk some damn water," I looked at them all before catching the box of pancake mix that Merle tossed to me.

"Oh no, I am not making your breakfast. Have Daryl make your damn food," I sneered at him before tossing the box to Daryl, which he caught.

"Fuck that shit, cook your own damn food," he growled, clearly just wanting food, and tossed the box back to Merle. I noticed Dale smiling at us, so I looked over to him.

"What?" I asked him.

"It's just good to see the three of you getting along," he said, still smiling.

But how were we getting along? We were arguing about breakfast. It one way, it made sense, since Merle and I have been in situations that have been very worse.

"Yeah, you fucker. You owe me! You tried to kill me, remember?" I brought up, smirking.

"Language!" I heard Lori mutter from the table as she covered Carl's ear. I turned to her with a hand on my hip.

"Want me to get Shane so you can discuss it with him?" I asked her, smiling. Again, she didn't me, so I took that as a good sign.

"Fine, I'll make your damn breakfast. But after this we're even," Merle rolled his eyes dramatically before opening the box of pancake mix.

"What? You tried to kill me in front of your brother, and you think we're gonna be even by making me breakfast? No way, Merle!" I laughed as I pulled a plate out from a cabinet.

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"Good morning, everyone!" a voice greeted all of us from the doorway.

We all turned to see Dr. Jenner in the doorway with an envelope tucked under his arm. The group let out what sounded like a rehearsed 'good morning' before returning to our meals. I chewed happily on my pancakes; Merle made surprisingly awesome pancakes.

"I assume everyone had a good night, yes?" he asked us, which led to some heads shaking yes, while some faces groaned.

I noticed some looks between Shane and Lori, and for the first time that morning, I'd noticed scratch marks down the side of Shane's face.

"Shane.." I started, but he interrupted me.

"You know how much of a rough sleeper I am.. That mixed with all of that alcohol, well, you know me, sis," he chuckled lightly, but gave me a look as if to say that he would explain it to me later.

"How was your night, Doctor?" Rick asked the man from his respective spot at the head of the table. I watched Jenner think about his response before he answered.

"Calming,".

Once I tossed my plate in the dishwasher, I made my over to Doctor Jenner and pulled him over to the side.

"So, Doctor, I tried charging my phone, and it worked," I told him, biting my lip.

"As it should, there's electricity here," he answered me with a simple tone, as if that was a no-brainer.

"Well, I was wondering if you had any blank CD's.. You know, for me to burn some music on to for everyone. That way, we can play the CD's in the Rec Room!" I explained excitedly, folding my hands in front of my chest.

He smiled sadly at me, but I didn't really pay attention to it.

"Sure, why not? Next door to the lab, you'll find my personal study, use that computer to burn some CD's," he offered, craning his neck towards the door so he could show me the way. I placed my hand on his shoulder to thank him before heading back over to the kitchen table.

"I'm gonna go, I'll see you guys later?" I asked Merle and Daryl, who were still munching on their breakfasts.

"Where you goin'?" Daryl asked me curiously as he swallowed.

"Chew with your mouth shut, Daryl," I lifted his jaw shut before waving to Jenner and leaving the room, my phone in my back pocket just like old times.

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"Skinny love, just last the year.." I sang quietly to myself as I watched the computer burn my CD's.

I was on my fifth CD, since I was picking all of my favorite songs. Before the apocalypse had hit, my phone was my iPod as well, so it had all of my music, which meant hundreds of songs.

I leaned back in my chair and readjusted the giant headphones that were placed over my ears. If something were to ever happen to us and we had to leave the CDC, I would treasure these CDs with my life.

While the CD was burning, I picked up my phone and tapped the 'Camera' icon, and studied my face through the camera. Thinking back to the days when 'selfies' and apps were so important. I switched it to video and started recording.

"In case something ever happens to me, my name is Harper Walsh. I'm twenty-five years old, and I'm actually living in a zombie apocalypse.. I know, it must sound crazy. I remember when it had it first started, me and my brother Shane were on our way to my brother's company picnic; he's a cop. Well, he was. Now we're living with a bunch of people that we probably would've never met before, and I love them all so much.. I'm actually living in the CDC right now; the Center for Disease Control? It's the safest place we've ever had since the outbreak. Doctor Jenner let us in, it's amazing. We're just so incredibly lucky to have stumbled upon this place—," I rambled on, but stopped when the CD popped out of the computer. "Oh, my CD is done! I'm burning music CDs for everyone since it's been a long time since we've heard a lot of music. Now that we can actually listen to—," that was when the lights in Jenner's study went out.

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I hit the record button on my phone to end the recording, or so I thought, and stuck it into my back pocket. It stuck out, just enough, however to film everything.

"Hello?" I called out loud, but there was obviously no answer.

I scrambled around and grabbed all of my CDs and made my way for the door, which luckily had an emergency generator above it. I pushed the heavy door open and peered down the hallway, which only had backup lights lit down the hallway.

"Doctor Jenner? Rick?" I called out, but nobody answered me.

Where was everybody? I was starting to get nervous, especially since the CDC was so big. I made my way back to the kitchen by following the dim lights but stopped in front of the lab when I heard shouting and banging from the other side.

"Hello!" I shouted, banging on the steel door that was covering the normal, flimsy door that led into the lab.

"Harper?!" it was Shane.

"Shane, it's me! What's going on?" I asked him in a big rush when an alarm started to go off.

"It's Jenner, that bastard—he locked us in, we're trapped!". I took a step back to think.

We all agreed on the doors locking when we came in to the CDC yesterday, what was the big deal?

"Shane, we agreed on that, we knew that coming in here," I said back, but he wouldn't listen.

"No, Harper, no. This place has been a ticking fucking time bomb the whole time! In about fifteen minutes, this place is gonna fuckin' blow, and we're under the goddamn ground!".

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As soon as Shane told me that the CDC was going to blow up, I panicked. I rapped my knuckles up against the steel doors of the lab, trying to get to my brother, but my body would never get past two-ton steel doors.

"Shane, make him let you leave. Force him!" I tried, but it was no use.

"He thinks that suicide is the easier way, Harper. He won't have it. You listen to me, Harper. Go to your room, get your stuff and leave, hear me? Get back to Daryl's truck and drive, Harper. Don't stay here, you can't!" Shane yelled to me, banging against the door.

I felt the tears begin to fall. I couldn't just leave my brother. I had to leave me mother and father behind, and now my brother? And not just my brother, but Rick? Merle, and Daryl?

I wasn't going to do that.

"No, Shane. No. He's going to let you out, I know it," I cried, wiping tears away from my eyes. I ducked automatically when I heard a gun being fired, but it was on the other side of the door.

"Harper, go! I mean—shit! Just go! I love you Harper, please. Do it for me," Shane pleaded from the other side of the door.

I placed my hand against the door and at that moment, it was as if I could feel his hand pressed against mine.

"I'll see your bony ass in no time, Shane," I whimpered, leaning my head against the door.

"See ya in Hell, sis,".

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When I heard gunshots and screaming, I pushed myself away from the steel doors of the lab and booked towards my room all the damn way at the other end of the CDC. About halfway there, I tripped over something, and when I looked back, I saw it was my glass of water from the night before.

"Damn water," I spat before picking myself up and continuing towards my room.

Once there, I grabbed all of my belongings including some of the things that I had picked up there: the pack of razors, the hairdryer (even though I wasn't sure when I would be able to use it again), more shampoo and conditioner, stuff like that. When I was packed and ready to go, I checked the clock to see that I had about seven minutes left.

"Shit, that's not enough time," I muttered to myself, but I hiked everything over my shoulder and bolted for the entrance to the CDC. "Where is the entrance, anyway!" I shouted over the blaring alarm.

When I ran past the lab, I stopped and saw that the door was wide open. What? I ran in and noticed that the only people left inside were Doctor Jenner, Andrea, and a pleading Dale. When I looked around, I noticed random walkers scattered across the room, bullets shot through their brains.

"Where did these come from?" I asked cautiously, taking a step back.

"Jenner had them.. He's been experimenting on them, trying to bring to bring them back," Dale explained, pulling tightly on his bucket hat.

"Guys look, forget him. Come on! We have to leave!" I urged them, running up to Andrea.

"They already left.." Andrea looked up at me, confused.

"What?" I asked her, shocked.

They left me here?

"We still have time, Harper," Dale told me, clearly relieved that I was there. I looked over to Jenner and glared at him.

"How could you do this to us? And on top of that, you set walkers loose on my friends?".

"I told you the doors wouldn't be opening again, Harper," he replied, his hands folded simply in his lap.

"Yeah, you forgot to mention the fact that we were signing up to be killed!" I yelled back, whipping my gun out of its holster.

"Harper, what are you doing?" Andrea asked me, jumping up to put my arm down.

"Andrea, he's basically trying to murder us, and you're okay with that?" I spat at her, turning the gun towards her. "If you agree with him, then.." I started, but couldn't finish. I knew I could never shoot Andrea; especially after what happened to Amy. She just looked so defeated.

"I know. That's why I'm still here. I'm choosing to stay behind," Andrea sighed, placing her hand over mine as she slid my hand back down to my side.

"Wait, what? And Dale, you're staying too?" I asked in shock. Now I was losing Dale and Andrea too?

"I don't want to, Harper! I'm not ready to die.. However, if Andrea is, well.. I guess I'm staying, then, too," Dale sighed, shrugging his shoulder. Andrea looked over at him in shock.

"What?".

"Umm, guys, we really need to hurry this up, we have like, five minutes.." I chuckled darkly, trying to hurry them up a little. I didn't want to die there!

"You are signing up to die by going back out there, Harper. You won't even feel death in here," I heard Jenner pipe up from his chair.

"Just shut up," I said, rolling my eyes.

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I led Andrea and Dale through the CD as the lights slowly faded, sending us into darkness. Shane and Rick had all of the flashlights, so we were slowly thrown into darkness.

"Where do we go!" Andrea shouted over the fading alarm.

"Stop moving, stop," I said quietly. I heard them stop behind me. "On the count of three, start screaming, got it?" I told them, even though I couldn't really see them.

"Seriously?" I heard Andrea ask me in disbelief.

"Two, three.. Help!".

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When I saw the flashlights, I could've cried.

"Who's there?" I heard Rick shout.

"Andrea, Dale, and Harper!" I shouted back.

"Thank God. Shane and Daryl are freaking out," Rick said to me as he pulled me into a hug as he ushered the three of us into the elevator.

"Daryl?" I asked him before hugging him back. Rick looked down at me and smiled warmly at me.

"Yes, Daryl,". We felt the elevator rise below our feet and I couldn't help but start bouncing on my toes.

"How much longer?" I asked Rick, not really feeling like getting blown to smithereens.

"Soon, we'll make it," he replied, but I could tell he wasn't sure.

"Thank you for coming back down here to get us. It means a lot," I thanked him and leaned into his side.

"Harper, you would've come back down to get Merle, right?" Rick asked me, clearly trying to make a point.

"Of course, why?".

"Merle tried to kill you and you would still save him. You're like a little sister to me; why wouldn't I try and save you?".

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As we sprinted out the CDC, I saw newly shot walkers everywhere. I was kind of relieved that the three of us had arrived late to the party; now I wouldn't have to kill anything or anyone. Rick's hand was on my back as we ran as fast as we could away from the seemingly safe building that just hours ago, I had been dancing in without a care in the world.

How Jenner had gotten them to open the doors, I don't know; do I really want to know? Rick's head snapped to the side and he pushed me behind an abandoned van.

"Duck!" he screamed before shielding my body with his.

The explosion of the CDC was almost deafening, so I covered my ears for the hell of it. As I felt the debris covering our bodies, I couldn't help but wonder if everybody made it out safely. After all, we were pretty deep underground. I was lucky enough to get all of my stuff out; was everyone else as fortunate?

Rick rested his body on top of mine for a couple seconds after the explosions stopped, making sure there wasn't going to be a second one.

"Are you okay?" he whispered in my ear, his hot breath making me jump.

When I was younger, being this close to Rick probably would've made me incredibly happy, but right now, I just needed to see my family. We stood up and brushed ourselves off. I automatically saw that Andrea and Dale were okay, but I had to look around for everyone else. People were flooding out of the RV so I knew that almost everyone had made it. I looked to Rick in a hurry.

"Shane?".

He nodded over to Shane's Hyundai, so I didn't event wait to see him emerge from the car. I think I ran even faster if that's possible once I saw his curly locks pop out of the car.

"Shane!".

When he turned to face me, a huge grin appeared on his face. He opened his arms to hug me but I jumped instead, jumping into his loving arms. I wrapped my legs tightly around his waist, not wanting to let go.

"Christ, Harper.." Shane muffled into my shoulder as he ran a hand through my dark hair.

"I was so worried that you guys had left me.. When I got back to the lab and you guys were gone!" I rambled, tears flowing freely.

I closed my eyes and smiled lightly when Shane smacked me lightly on the cheek.

"You think I'd leave ya in that hell hole? Dixon's said that you weren't in your room, but when we got up here and all of the cars were still here, we panicked," Shane explained, adjusting his grip on me.

"I was in the lab! I almost.." I continued, but stopped.

"Don't tell me you almost stayed behind," Shane threatened me darkly, pointing a long finger at my face.

"No, no.. I almost killed Jenner. I almost killed a living person, Shane,".

He gently placed me onto the ground as he looked into my eyes sincerely.

"Harper, we live in a new world, now. Jenner was fucked up in the head; you had every right to shoot that prick, just like Daryl had the right to shoot the guy who tried attackin' ya," Shane explained, trying to soothe me.

"Oh my goodness, Daryl.. I never asked him how was he after that.. You know, after killing a living, breathing person,". I looked at Shane in worry, but he only shrugged.

"He's a big kid, he can handle himself,". He clinked his forehead against mine, which hurt a little, but it still made me giggle despite my tears.

"I'm so glad you're okay, Harper," Shane said, closing his eyes, taking everything in.

"Looks like our meeting in Hell is going to have to be delayed,".

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"Merle! You're okay," I smiled at him, rushing over to give him a hug.

"Ooh, we've moved on to hugs now? Ain't I a lucky bastard," Merle chuckled, hugging me tightly.

"What happened in that lab with Jenner? I was only on the other side of the door and it sounded crazy," I asked the redneck, cutting straight to the chase. Merle just shrugged and started to whistle.

"Why don't'cha ask Rick or your dang brotha? I am emotionally traumertized by the events of today.." Merle sighed dramatically, leaning against my shoulder.

"Traumertized? It's traumatized, Merle," I rolled my eyes, and nudged him off of my shoulder.

"Shut it, Barbie," he chuckled, waving me off.

"It's Harper to you, Merle," I winked before shoving my hands in my pockets and walking away.

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"Daryl?" I found him sitting in the bed of his truck checking something with his crossbow.

His head snapped up at my voice and once he saw me standing there, he dropped what he doing to stand up and meet me.

"You okay?" he asked me shortly, so I nodded. "Sorry I wasn't there to protect ya," he apologized, looking down at the ground, shoving his hands in his pockets to match mine.

"You aren't always going to get to be there Daryl, it's okay," I said, way past forgiving him.

He didn't do anything wrong. I almost fell over, however, when I looked up and felt his strong arms wrap around my body in a hug.

"Daryl..?" I asked him in confusion, frozen to my spot. He jumped back from my body and hopped back into the bed of the truck, fiddling with his crossbow again.

"Jus' felt necessary," he muttered under his breath. I let out a breath before sitting down next to him.

"You don't have to touch me just 'because it's necessary'," I quoted him as I laid my head on top of his shoulder.

He turned his head to look at me, so his stubbly cheek tickled my nose. I started to giggle, and to my surprise, he smiled.

"Can ya just fuck her already?" Merle's voice asked out of nowhere, our bodies snapping apart.

Merle's body erupted in laughing at Daryl's embarrassment, so I leaned back into the truck bed; I didn't feel like watching Merle laugh at the poor guy.

"Fuck you, Merle," Daryl growled, glaring at his older brother.

"Well damn, baby brother! If you don't, I'm gonna try; I told ya yesterday, she's a keeper!" Merle hooted, so I shot him a thumb's up to show him that I was still there, still a part of the conversation, only to make him laugh more.

"Okay everyone, let's get going!" we heard Rick shout from atop the RV, so I sat up and groaned.

"I don't want to go anywhere, I'm exhausted,".

"Can't just stay here, Barbie," Daryl pointed out, nudging me in the shoulder.

I nudged him back, "Don't rub it in,".

I watched Merle calm down and start to walk away.

"Merle, wait!" I called to him, so he spun around and gave me an exaggerated eye roll.

"Oh no, he just called ya Barbie. Thought that wasn't allowed!?" he drawled, putting his hands dramatically on his hips. Daryl snorted at Merle's posture, only to be given the bird.

"Just help me up, I'm too lazy. Please?" I threw my hands out to him, making him chuckle.

"You're lucky I love ya, princess. Where to?" he asked me looking around.

"The passenger seat of your brother's truck; he gets to listen to Cher Lloyd the whole ride!" I winked, shimmying my shoulders as I spoke.

Daryl rolled his eyes and dropped the crossbow into his lap.

"You ain't ridin' with me with that shit playing," he argued with me, arguing with me.

I pushed off of the truck and hopped onto Merle's back, laughing as he gave me a piggy-back ride to the front of Daryl's truck.

"Too late!".

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"Turn the shit off. Now," Daryl demanded in a rough tone, keeping his eyes on the road.

"Oh come on, it's only the second time we've listened to the album!" I pouted, flicking him on the shoulder, making him cringe.

"I will pull over and kick your ass out of my truck. Turn it off," he threatened me, but I didn't really care.

"Remember all the things that you and I did first? You got me, got me, like this—Ugh!" I sang out loud, swaying my arms back and forth.

I heard a horn honking behind us, so I checked the rearview mirror to see Merle giving me a thumb's up. I shot him one back as Daryl rolled the window down and flipped him the finger.

I calmed down a little and looked out of the large windshield ahead of me at all of the abandoned cars down the highway.

"It's crazy, you know? Thinking about all of the people that have died?" I spoke out loud, not really speaking to Daryl, and thankfully, he didn't answer.

We had been driving for at least three or four hours now, and I think everybody was exhausted because we saw Shane's Hyundai at the front of the pack slow down.

"Think we're stopping for the night?" I asked Daryl, looking at his strong face.

"Don' know," he answered me.

I watched him for a couple more seconds before looking back at the road. Ever since we had started driving, he had more distant than usual.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him.

"M'fine, stop asking me shit like that," he answered in a rush. I put my arm up in defense.

"Sorry,".

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That night we sat around a very small campfire on the side of the highway munching on what we could manage to take from the CDC. We were able to grab a lot, but it wouldn't be enough. It would last us maybe two, three weeks, if rationed correctly?

I could hear Carol comforting Sophia and it broke my heart. Andrea wasn't with the group; she was sleeping in the RV. She still blamed Dale for making her leave the CDC. It shocked me though how you couldn't treasure something as precious as life.

After dinner, it was getting awkward since I was wedged between Shane and Lori, so I excused myself.

Once I excused myself, though I realized that I didn't know where I was sleeping.

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"Hey, dickhead," I called out to Daryl as I rapped my knuckles on his truck's window.

He ignored me at first and pretended to be asleep, so I sighed and spoke a little louder.

"Fine, I'll go hang out with Merle,".

"Barbie," I heard him call as his door clicked open.

"Yes, Ken?" I asked him, playing dumb.

"Come on, git your ass in the truck," he sighed, running a hand through his somewhat clean hair. I got settled in and waited for him to slam the door shut before speaking.

"So what was up with you today?".

"Go to sleep," he told me, shutting his eyes.

"Don't ignore me, Daryl. Nothing good will come out of you pushing me away," I shook my head.

"What makes you think I want ta let you in, girl?" he growled, pulling his feet up onto the seat.

I let out a sigh and leaned my head back against the opposite window. There was a gap between our feet so big a person could sit between us, something that wasn't normal for us.

"If you want me to leave, just say so, Daryl, because I will," I told him, looking him straight in the eye.

I didn't break eye contact, but I reached out for the door handle.

"Don't," he started, so I let go.

"I'll stay if you tell me what was wrong with you today," I bargained, wrapping my arms around my legs. He sighed, clearly uncomfortable.

"You like my brother?". My head shot back in surprise.

"What?" I asked him, taken aback.

"You heard me, Barbie; you like my brother?" He rolled his eyes, squinting at me in the darkness. I couldn't help but laugh at the question.

"No, Daryl! Definitely not. Why would you think that?".

His eyes dropped to the floor of his truck and even in the dark I could see his embarrassment.

"Well, he tried ta kill ya, yet there you two are dancin' and he's givin' ya piggy-back rides, making ya breakfast.. Seems sketchy, s'all,".

My eyebrows were raised in the darkness, and I couldn't but grin. He was totally jealous.

"That's exactly it, Daryl. Merle tried to kill me, and the only way I'm going to get over that is by moving on; I'm not going to hold a grudge against him for the rest of my life, especially not if we can be friends. Why would you even care if I did like him, Daryl?" I asked him, just wanting him to admit that he was jealous.

"I don't! I just didn't want'cha hurtin' my brother," he stuttered, which I obviously knew was a lie.

"Okay. So you weren't jealous when we were dancing or anything?".

"Fuck no, I don't dance," Daryl growled; the idea of jealousy would make him weak. I scooted a bit closer to him before continuing.

"So you weren't jealous when he carried me to your truck?".

"I said it before, girl. No," he answer, leaning forward. I smirked, knowing that he thought that I was going to kiss him.

"Okay," I smiled at him, slapping him lightly on the cheek.

I leaned back to my original position and closed my eyes, ready to go to sleep. His light chuckle in the darkness made my left eye pop open.

"Damn, Barbie...".

"What's wrong, Ken?".

"Merle was right; you are a tease," he said roughly, clearing his throat. I didn't answer him for a while, since it kind of creeped me out that the two of them talked about me like that.

"Merle has to be wrong once and a while," I finally chirped up, somewhat waking him up.

"Hmm?" he moaned, half asleep, so I leaned in and kissed him.

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

I felt his body tense up under mine, so I pulled back after a while; I wasn't going to push it. I wasn't going to look like an idiot.

"Goodnight," I whispered, running a hand through my hair.

"Hey," I heard him mutter.

I looked up to answer him, but was cut off when his mouth covered mine. When we finally pulled apart, I slid underneath him and planted small kisses along his jawline.

"And you doing this was to.. Prove that you ain't a tease?" Daryl managed roughly, running his hands down my body to meet my hips. I smiled against his lips, placing my hands on his shoulders.

"I didn't think you were going to just jump on top of me..".

"Thought wrong," he chuckled, reaching for the buttons on my shirt. I stopped him, though.

"No, no. Merle is right outside of this truck,".

I sighed as he placed a kiss against my collarbone and lifted me upwards into his lap.

"So? I'll be quiet if you will..." he whispered as I threw my arms over his shoulders.

My eyes rolled back when his tongue hit the back of my ear, but I stopped him by pushing my hands against his chiseled chest.

"We'll wake him up and never hear the end of it, Daryl,".

He took my fingers into his and looked into my eyes for a couple of seconds before kissing me deeply. I kissed him back and held his face in my hands, savoring the moment; how did this happen in the world we live in?

"Go to sleep, loser," I told him when we pulled apart.

"You cold?" he asked me as he ran his hands up and down my bare legs.

"Not at the moment.." I shrugged, but I knew I would be when he stopped. I watched him dig around in the back of his truck until he pulled out a blanket, which he draped over me.

"Goodnight, Dixon," I bid him goodnight, enjoying the feeling of my toes just grazing his.

"Night, Walsh,".