Stray // Daryl Dixon

Takin' in Strays

They seemed awfully trustworthy of someone they didn't know. I mean I'm a petite person who looked like someone that couldn't do any harm, but in the new world everyone was considered a threat now, I guess they just hadn't realized that yet. That sometimes, you were to be more scared of the living than the walking dead. For that reason, my guard remained up. But at the moment I was in no place to be questioning them, so I went along.

"Thank you," I smiled at Rick to show some gratitude. "Now can I get my weapons back?" I asked, which they reluctantly handed over.

"We should really be getting out of here guys," Glenn said, in a state of well deserved panic as we could hear the creeper's groans beginning to echo louder through the alleyway.

"How do you suggest we do that? My brother and I had been trying to get out of here for the last couple of days," I asked.

"You underestimate me," Glenn smiled which made me furrow my eyebrows slightly, but I continued to listen as he explained his plan. The kid was smart. He had thought through every possible situation that could happen and how to avoid them. Once he made sure we all knew where to go, we set out on our way, trying to get to the truck they said they parked just outside the city.

Following Glenn through the back alleyways which was how they got into town, there were only a few creepers here and there that between the five of us we were able to either avoid or takedown. After about a half-hour we finally made it to the outskirts of the city, jogging along a fence to where they said the truck would be.

"Oh my God," Glenn said as they collectively stopped dead in their tracks.

"Where the hell's our van?" Daryl spat out.

"What?" I questioned. "Who would have taken it?"

"Merle," Rick said, his tone holding a fair amount of disgust.

By the look on my face, they could tell I was confused by what they were talking about so Daryl spoke up. "Merle's ma brother," he punched the fence angrily, "We came into town to find him and them damn guns," he motioned toward the bag Rick was holding.

"We better get a move on," Rick cut in, "It'll be dark soon and we need to get back to camp." With that said we began walking and I took this as an opportunity to figure out what and who these guys actually were, or at least the best I could.

"So what'd you do before all this?" I jogged up beside Glenn, stepping in sync with him.

"Delivered pizzas," he smiled before furrowing his brows, "Why do people keep asking me that?"

"You're just clever," I paused, "quick on your feet I guess, wouldn't have figured that you'd be a delivery boy," I chuckled a bit.

"What about you?" He asked. "Were you in the army or something?" He nodded towards the dog tags I had hanging around my neck.

"Oh no, these are my fathers and brothers," I smiled as I held the chain around my neck, looking at them. Just then Glenn grabbed at them, pulling them as close to him as possible before reading the names.

"Lincoln and Royce?" He questioned as he read off my brothers.

"My dad had a thing for cars," I laughed, "Lincoln, Royce and Bentley. My mother named me though, she really wanted a girl."

He nodded his head chuckling a bit, "So what did you do before all this?" He asked again.   

"I didn't do much, just a farm girl who worked at the town's shooting range during the summers I was home from school," I answered.

"Explains the impeccable aim," he nudged my shoulder and I laughed. I liked Glenn he was easy to talk to and certain things that he did remind me of Ben.

Realizing the other guys were listening to us I tried to include them. "How 'bout you?" I asked as I nodded towards Daryl who only walked a few steps ahead of us, to my right. He turned his head slightly, side-eyeing me before ignoring me.

"Why we takin' in stays again?" Daryl looked at Rick.

"Be nice," Rick responded. "Besides you look more like the stray than her," Rick made a joke which caused Glenn to choke on the water he was drinking and for me to smile in satisfaction.

"Don't worry, he doesn't share much with anyone," Glenn reassured me, which actually caused me to become more intrigued by him.

The conversation went quiet after that, as exhaustion began to set in. It's been almost two days since I've had any sleep and only a little water along with a granola bar earlier today. At this point, I was running off of adrenaline and the thought of food and a makeshift bed that hopefully awaited me at this camp. We walked and walked as their camp was a bit away from the city, up in the mountains. 

It was beginning to get dark as we walked up the dirt road, and they confirmed that the camp was resting just at the top of the hill. From where we were I could see the faint glow of a fire in the distance, which caused a smile to creep up my face as I would be able to rest easy tonight, somewhere safe.

"Oh man, I can't wait to sleep," T-Dog exclaimed which cause everyone to smile and a few chuckles to come out of Rick. Although our happiness was short-lived as the sound of bloodcurdling screams came from the direction of the camp.

"Oh my God," Rick exhaled.

"Go! Go!" Glenn yelled pushing us all into a sprint toward the camp. The screams got louder as we approached, followed by a couple of gunshots going off.

Upon reaching the camp I was met with men, women and children scattering around, running and trying to fight off the herd of creepers that swarmed the grounds. Rick immediately took out the guns and tossed them to the men. I was in shock as I looked around at all the people who had already been killed. A woman then went running past me, screaming bloody murder before immediately being attacked by a creeper, which finally got me to snap back into myself and shove my crowbar into the creeper's head.

Looking around, I analyzed the camp to look for a high advantage point. Laying eyes on the RV to my left I sprinted towards it, climbing up the ladder as fast as possible. Throwing my backpack down I pulled out my AR-15 sniper rifle and set it up before beginning to take down the creepers one after another. 

A girl lay in front of the RV screaming as her arm and neck had been bit. What I assumed to be her sister cried over her as a creeper approached. That was the first one I took out, preventing it from getting any closer to them. A few more stumbled around the centre of the camp, and with Rick taking out one of them, I shot down the other four. Looking through my lens I came across a creeper that had Daryl pinned up against a tree on the other side of camp. Aligning up the lens with the side of the creeper's head, I fired, sending it to the ground within seconds. Jumping a little, Daryl looked over at me before nodding as thanks and went on to kill the next creeper. One after another I took down the creepers that swarmed the area until there was nothing left. Shooting down the last one, I took a breath not realizing that I had been holding it for so long.

Rick screamed the name Carl before a little kid ran into his arms. He scooped up the boy as a thin brunette woman joined them in the hug. People heaved in staggered breaths as tears pricked their eyes, looking around at all the people they just lost.

"Who killed all the walkers?" A floppy brunette-haired man spun around eyeing all the creepers that had gunshots straight through the middle of their heads.

Climbing down from the top of the RV I approached the group who all held their remaining loved ones in their arms. "That was me," I spoke up, causing them to all turn and look at where the unfamiliar voice came from. "You call them walkers?"