Savage World •••Daryl Dixon•••

All This Sugar

"Aight, you gotta hold real still, okay?" Rick held a massive pair of bolt cutters that finally fit around the thickness of the padlock clamping the spiked collar around her neck. She was sitting on the floor, her neck leaned as far forward as she dared and Rick standing behind her with Glenn in case another pair of hands was needed to break off the padlock.

"Let's just get this damn thing off." The cop nodded and took a firm grip of the handles.

"Ready? One, two, three." He pushed the two handles together, the blades biting into the metal slowly. "Glenn." The two took their own halves of the cutter and pushed harder on them. The force of the bolt cutters started to twist the padlock and ultimately the collar. Spikes jabbing into her throat and she instinctively yelped in pain and tried to flinch away from it, only earning more stabs by the other side of the collar. Daryl was sitting on the concrete with her and instantly lurched forward to hold her jaw and help her keep from hurting herself more.

"You alright?" She held both his wrists and slowly let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"Fucking hate this thing." They shared a laugh and Daryl nodded for Rick to keep cutting into the padlock. He nodded back and they returned to pushing the handles together inch by inch until the sharp sound of blades slamming together rang through the air. Rick and Glenn dropped the bolt cutters and the cop quickly removes the massive padlock, the heavy metal slamming down on the concrete beside her leg.

"We got it!" Rick and Daryl nodded to each other and the Dixon man reached back to find the protruding bit of lock metal so he could pry the collar apart. Loud clicks sounded just before the metal gave way and the collar opened up like a clamshell. The skin beneath was almost stomach churning. Holes of varying sizes and depths ringed her throat in wild stages of healing. The back of her neck was by far the ugliest, the deepest wounds with some ripped to the side.

"Never thought I'd get that damn thing off." Hershel hobbled into the cell with a roll of bandages and gauze. After a few minutes he stepped away after taping down the edges and checking on her other bruises and the scabbed-over cut on her forehead.

"May hurt to turn your head for a good few days, but you shouldn't have any scars. Except the deep ruts on the back of your neck, those will." Asher softly nodded and they cleared out the cell, leaving just her, Daryl, and Merle.

"What happened to you out there, sweetheart?" The blonde dropped her gaze and swallowed almost audibly. "Baby girl, it's okay. You can tell me."

"When I got pulled off, I thought that was it. But I got out of it, found the town and hid out for a few days. Jumped around, found a bike, survived. I was leaving another town when the wheels got spiked, I crashed. That's how I ended up with that freak who collared me. He put me in a cage, put that thing around my neck, asked questions and made those big rips on my neck because I didn't answer him.

He left, looking for more girls to take. I decided that while he was gone I would get out. A guy came in to get the food I wouldn't eat and I attacked him. That was the one I stole the bat from. And the one I opened up. Almost got out clean too, but he came back and saw me. The house got surrounded so I opened the front door, waited for the house to fill up, and jumped out a window. Forced my way to a bike, and got away.

Didn't get far, ran out of gas at Keg Creek. That's where Zero caught up. Him and his goons got the jump on me and then left me at the edge of a herd to be bait so they could get away. I managed to stay out in front until I hit a cul de sac and holed up in the first house I could get to. Cleaned up, spent almost a month fighting off an infection until I could get moving again. That's where I found Meeko.

I got halfway to the that town down the road before Zero and his dumbasses crossed me again. I killed them all, but Zero got away. Got to Woodbury I guess. That's where I met Michonne. Said that she saw Merle take Maggie and Glenn prisoner and so we headed north. That's how we got here." Daryl growled angrily and deeply sighed. All those months alone. Without him. He gently skimmed down the length of her nose.

"Well you're here now, and that collar's finally off, so yer gonna be just fine." Asher smiled and nodded shallowly so she wouldn't hurt herself.

"You two are makin me sick with all this sugar." The two rolled their eyes before turning to look at the smirking Merle leaning against the cell doors. Asher smirked back and pushed to her feet to move towards the older brother. She stood in front of him for a second before leaning forward and wrapping her thin arms around his stomach.

"You're just jealous, ya old bastard." She tilted her head up to her chin pressed against his sternum and she looked up at him with a smile. It hurt to stretch the skin of her neck, but she didn't mind.

"You know we love ya, Merle." He rolled his eyes at the girl before gently patting her hair and hugging her back. Her smile brightened and she moved her head back down so she wouldn't tear skin.

"Love ya too, sweetheart." Asher let him go and stepped back, knowing he didn't like being touchy feely or soft on people. She looked between Merle and Daryl as they stood quietly in the cell. The three of them, back again. Family again. Battered and tired and probably have more bruises than skin. Asher started to lightly laugh, and it grew until she was almost on the floor in tears.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Merle asks as him and Daryl cross their arms over their chests. She held up a finger to tell them to give her a second and she took a few deep breaths to help her calm down long enough to tell them what had her in stitches.

"We look like utter shit."