-Episode Summary:-
As the group receives some new arrivals, everyone begins settling into jobs. Daryl refusing to teach her how to hunt and defend herself, Taylor decides to pitch in by clearing out a large group of walkers out in the forest.
-Days since outbreak: 15-
-Year: 2010-
-Age: 13-
PAGE BREAK FOR TITLE
CHAPTER THREE
A DESIRE TO BE USEFUL
•••
TAYLOR
WITH A SOFT YAWN, TAYLOR
awoke in the Dixon's tent, the two brothers already gone as she sat up in the confined space.
It had to be around late morning, as she heard everyone else from the quarry camp outside starting their day.
Changing into a tanktop and jeans, the young teen slipped on the converses lent to her by Carol before she pulled her hair back into a ponytail.
Sighing, she glanced down at the kitchen knife laying on top of her other pair of clothes.
She hadn't needed to use it yet, but it always made her feel a bit better to carry it around with her, just in case.
She grabbed the knife and slid it in between her belt and jeans before heading out of the Dixon's tent, zipping up the tent flap behind her.
She looked over at Glenn, a young Korean man who arrived here at camp a few days back all by himself.
It looked like he was getting ready to go on a run into the city, as he was going around asking everyone what they needed.
She walked up to him, a smile on her face as she greeted the young Korean, "Morning, Glenn.".
He grinned down at her, readjusting his baseball cap to shield his face from the blazing Georgia sun, "Morning, Taylor. Do you need anything from the city?".
She shook her head, "Actually Glenn, I have a special request today.".
The young Korean cocked a brow as the young teen handed him a slip of paper, to which he unfolded, "An...address?".
She nodded, "Merle and Daryl's trailer. Before everything went down, I left my stuff at their place. It'd make me really happy to have my stuff back. If it's too much trouble, don't worry about it. I'll ask around and see if someone can drive me out there.".
Smirking, he slipped the paper into the pocket of his jeans, "I'll swing by there after Atlanta.".
A smile plastered onto her lips, "Thank you, Glenn. I appreciate it. Stay safe out there, alright? Walkers are everywhere.".
He replied with a tip of his baseball hat as the young teen giggled, making her way down to the quarry.
Walkers...it was a weird name for the dead...but it suited them well.
Apparently Glenn had came up with the term, as his first night at camp, he referred to the cannibals as walkers.
"Taylor, hey!" She heard Amy call out to her, and the young teen perked her head up, seeing the strawberry blonde waving her over down by the crystal clear water that made up the quarry lake.
"You wanna wash clothes with us!?" Andrea asked, holding up a balled—up shirt.
Amy was a young adult, the younger sister to Andrea, and the two had arrived at camp together around the same time that Glenn had.
"Morning you guys." Taylor smiled, sitting down between Amy and Jacqui.
Jacqui was a young woman who worked in the city, but as soon as the Governor called for evacuation, she fled the city, and arrived at the camp a few days later.
As Carol scrubbed a shirt on a
washing—board, she asked the young teen, "Have you gotten yourself some breakfast yet?".
"No," Taylor sighed, grabbing a shirt from the pile of laundry, "I will after laundry is done, though.".
Lori chuckled, folding up a shirt she had just finished scrubbing, "You sound like Carl. He says he'll eat breakfast, but he never does; he's too busy playing with Sophia and Morales's kids.".
Morales arrived at camp a week ago with his wife Miranda and their two kids, Eliza and Louis.
The young teen giggled at Lori's remark as she folded the shirt she cleaned, "Any of you seen Daryl and Merle this morning? They took of without letting me know again.".
Amy gestured off into the woods, "Dale said he saw them bright and early heading into the woods. My guess is another hunting trip.".
Taylor hummed with a nod, grabbing another shirt to wash, 'Why do they always run off without telling me. I know I'm only thirteen, but I'd still like to know, it worries me...'.
•••
DARYL
DARYL AND MERLE HAD BEEN OUT
in the woods since morning sunrise, and now the sun was nowhere to be seen in the sky.
Before shit went down, Daryl spent most of his days hunting in the woods from dawn until dark, especially when his old man was off sleeping with some girl, and Merle was locked up for some shit.
The only time he ever seemed to leave the woods was when some extra cash needed to be
made in order to pay the monthly bills, so the young Dixon would scan the newspaper ads for a part—time job that would pay him a decent little cash grab.
Sometimes Chris would pitch in to help the Dixon brothers with financial issues, but ever since Taylor came around, he couldn't afford to give away the spare money.
Daryl had half the mind to give Merle all the squirrels they killed that day and send his ass back to camp while the hotheaded Dixon spent the night in the woods, but he didn't.
To be honest, sleep sounded quite appealing right now the young Dixon.
The two Dixon brothers emerged from the forest line, not a single member of the camp paying them any mind.
Over the past fifteen days, the brothers had begun to show their true colors, and the others seemed to be quite distasteful of this.
Well, all except Taylor; the kid didn't seem to give two shits.
Merle waved Daryl off before walking away, saying how he was going to have a smoke while Daryl tossed down the rope of squirrels in his usual spot, which was by Merle's motorcycle.
Glancing around the quarry, Daryl saw no sign of Taylor anywhere, leaving the redneck slightly confused.
The young teen was always out and about doing some shit as she put it, 'to help out'.
Scoffing at her words, he decided to check the RV, stepping inside the confined space, he found Amy and Andrea, the two strawberry blondes getting the dishes ready for dinner.
"Y'all seen Taylor?" He muttered, shoving his hands in the pockets of his cargos.
Amy looked up at him with a small smile, "Glenn brought back Taylor's sneakers and backpack today. She was estatic. She rushed off to your guys's tent, saying something about she was going to read. She hasn't come out since.".
Daryl waved them off as a half—assed thanks before making his way over to their tent, pushing back the flap as he stepped inside, seeing Taylor sitting in the corner with a book in her lap and her headphones to her Walkman over her ears.
Rolling his eyes, he walked up to her and flicked her on the head and she cried out in response, clasping her hands over the spot where he had flicked her, "Ow! What was that for!?".
"Te get yer attention. Ye got a shitty ass sense o' yer surroundin's, huh?" He grumbled.
"...I—I'm sorry..." She apologized, rubbing her hand over the spot he had flicked her one last time, "Um...how did your hunt go with Merle?".
He shrugged, "Got a few squirrels is all...".
She nodded, "Do you think you guys can teach me how to hunt—" before she could finished, Daryl interrupted her.
"Nah. It's too dangerous out there, jus' keep yer ass in camp." He brushed her off, turning to leave.
"Wait!" Her voice stopped him, "...Do you...do you think my parents will find us? It's been fifteen days...and I'm really starting to miss them...".
Daryl looked over the young teens face, seeing worry and sadness all over it, causing him to bite the inside of his cheek, "...Yeah...I do...".
She nodded, looking up at him with a smile, "Guess I should keep hope then.".
"I'ma...I'm gonna go harvest 'em squirrels..." He mumbled.
She sat down her Walkman and book before standing up, "I'll walk with you. I need to help Amy and Andrea get dishes out for dinner anyway.".
He walked out of the tent, her following out behind him as she walked alongside him, gazing up at the starry night as a smile plastered on her lips, "Look at all the stars...I've never seen them so clearly before...".
He ran a calloused hand over his stubble, "That's 'cause all the city lights. Now that they're out, ye can see the stars clearly.".
"It's pretty cool out tonight, too." She commented, pulling her hair out of its ponytail, "Aren't you cold?".
She gestured to Daryl's sleeveless flannel as they walked up to the rope of squirrels and Merle's bike, "Nah, I'm fine. Ye run along now, I got work te do.".
She nodded with a smile, "Bye, Daryl.".
She then walked off and disappeared into the RV, and the young redneck let a scoff come past his lips as he began untying the squirrels from the rope, "Such a fuckin' hassle...".
•••
TAYLOR
EVERYONE WAS NOW
surrounded by the campfire for dinner, and Taylor sat in between Amy and Carl as she picked at her serving of squirrel.
It wasn't the most appetizing meal ever...
"Shane, mind if I borrow yer gun? Me an' Merle gonna kill a group o' walkers out in the woods tomorrow; I wanna have it jus' in case." Daryl asked.
Shane nodded in response "Sure thing. You two be careful; we keep seein' more an' more of them out there.".
This peaked Taylor's interest as she sat down her cleaned plate, 'This could be my chance to finally prove myself that I can actually help out more than just doing stupid laundry...'.
"Thank you for the meal." She thanked before rushing off to her, Merle, and Daryl's tent for bed.
She needed to get some sleep for tomorrow...
•••
MERLE AND DARYL WERE HEAVY
sleepers, so it wasn't too difficult for the young teen to sneak out.
She holstered her knife in between her belt and jeans and tied up her laces before cautiously stepping out of the tent.
She glanced up to the roof of the RV, seeing that Dale wasn't even on guard duty yet.
Good, she'd be there and back before he, Merle, and Daryl were up.
All she had to do was pick up the walker tracks, track them down and kill them, and get back to camp before anyone noticed she was gone.
It would be that simple...right...?
Pushing the negative thoughts out of her head, she headed into the woods, trying to picture the regular route Merle and Daryl took everyday.
With every step she took deeper into the forest she began to forget the way back as the moans and groans of the group of walkers Merle and Daryl had found grew stronger and louder.
With a shaky breath, the young teen pulled out the kitchen knife, seeing the group of walkers all gathered around what looked like a demolished deer, the rotting corpses feasting on the fresh meat.
She grabbed the clusters attention with a whistle, the walkers looking back at her before they sludged up and began shambling on over to her.
'You've got this...you're gonna make Merle and Daryl proud and prove that you're useful...'.
•••
DARYL
WHEN DARYL WOKE UP, TAYLOR
was already gone, her empty sleeping bag evidence of that.
That was a first; the kid normally slept in until the last second.
"Whatever. Maybe she's bein' fuckin' useful' 'or once..." The young redneck muttered, scratching the back of his neck as he grabbed his weathered boots.
After tying them on, he grabbed his crossbow before heading out of the tent, scoffing at his ape—of—a—brother who was still sleeping.
After taking a morning piss, Daryl still hadn't seen Taylor, and he walked over to Dale who had just gotten up, nestling himself in his fold—out chair under his umbrella on the roof of his RV, his hunting rifle resting in his lap, "Hey, Dale. Ye know where Taylor is? Haven't seen her all mornin'.".
"Haven't seen her either. Thought she was still sleeping with you and Merle." The old man replied, "Maybe she went out into the woods for a morning stroll.".
Grumbling a few cuss words, Daryl took off into the woods to find the young teen, "God fuckin' damnit Taylor...".
•••
TAYLOR
GASPING FOR AIR, TAYLOR KICKED
the last walker in the knee as it collapsed to the ground, and she drove the blade of the kitchen knife into its skull before yanking the blade back out.
A sigh of relief escaped past her parted lips as she holstered the kitchen knife; all the walkers laid dead on the ground...
Wiping her forehead with the back of her hand to rid it of sweat, she looked down and saw blood had smeared, "Oh god...I'm covered in blood...".
"TAYLOR FUCKIN' THOMPSON!" A voice boomed from behind her, and she spun around, seeing a very pissed off Daryl.
Trying to clear the air, she smiled brightly, gesturing behind her at her work, "Daryl, look! I took out all the walkers! I can take care of myself! I finally helped out the camp!".
That didn't seem to change his mind as he pointed a finger at her right in her face, "Ye fuckin' ran off, Taylor! Ye fuckin' know how stupid that was!? Ye could be dead right now!".
She bowed her head down at his harsh words, "I—I'm sorry Daryl. I—I just wanted to prove to you and Merle that I can take care of myself...".
He scoffed at her words, roughly grabbing her hand, "Whatever. C'mon, we're fuckin' goin' back to camp.".
The young teen silently followed the angry redneck back to the quarry camp, an embarrassed blush coating her face as by the time they got back, everyone was up and staring at the return.
He pointed up to Dale on top of his RV, "Go sit up there wit' him an' don' move an' inch. 'Parently gonna have te keep a fuckin' leash on ye now.".
"But, Daryl—" She went to say, but he interrupted her.
He snapped, "Fuckin' sit yer ass down by Dale. Yer fuckin' lucky I ain't yer daddy, 'cause I woulda wooped her ass...".
She sniffled, quickly wiping away the tears that fell from her baby blues, "Y—Yes sir...".
She quickly scurried off over to Dale's RV, climbing up the ladder to the roof where she silently sat down beside him and burried her face in her hands and silently cried.
She just wanted to prove to the two Dixon brothers that she was useful; worth to keep around...
Dale supportingly patted her shoulder, "It'll be alright, kiddo. He'll come around eventually...".
The young teen hoped the old man was right...
•••
To Be Continued...
Word Count: 2715
Edited: ✔️
@Taylor_Frickin_Dixon,2022
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A/n:
Quite an interesting chapter between Taylor and Daryl, as the two have some good moments, but also have some of their lowest. It'll all be worked out in the next chapter. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and let me know your thoughts and feelings in the comments! Bye!
-Taylor_Frickin_Dixon
Cast List:
KRISTINE FROSETH AS TAYLOR THOMPSON
NORMAN REEDUS AS DARYL DIXON
SARAH WAYNE CALLIES AS LORI GRIMES
MELISSA MCBRIDE AS CAROL PELETIER
EMMA BELL AS AMY HARRISON
LAURIE HOLDEN AS ANDREA HARRISON
JEFFERY DEMUNN AS DALE HORVATH
JON BERNTHAL AS SHANE WALSH
MICHEAL ROOKER AS MERLE DIXON
STEVEN YEUN AS GLENN RHEE
AND JERYL PRESCOTT AS JACQUI
Mentioned Characters:
CHANDLER RIGGS AS CARL GRIMES
MADISON LINTZ AS SOPHIA PELETIER
VIVIANA CHAVEZ AS MIRANDA MORALES
JUAN GABRIEL PAREJIA AS MORALES
MADDIE LOMAX AS ELIZA MORALES
AND NOAH LOMAX AS LOUIS MORALES