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chapter three
IT'S A SERENE, MOONLIT NIGHT,
in the deep woods. The only sounds coming from the rustling of leaves, and the loud snores from the men Vega had ended up with. The snores was only being one more reason for why she should leave, before they all woke from their deep sleep.
Vega hadn't got any sleep yet. She couldn't even think about the thought resting, when she didn't know if her daughter was safe or not. So in silence, she started packing her bag, securing supplies, and making sure she's at least got some food and water left.
Just as she was about to finish checking up on her bag, Daryl woke up from his sleep, confusion washing over his face as he squints in the dark, after taking notice of the woman from a little distance, he raised himself up from the ground, taking his crossbow with him
in his hands, not daring to leave it behind him. "What the hell are you doing?" Daryl asked in a hushed voice.
Vega's hand instantly landed on her chest, taking a deep breath. "I'm leaving." She mumbled, zipping her bag that's stuffed with supplies she's got left.
"In the middle of the night?" Daryl questioned.
She nodded, tying her curly thick hair into a ponytail. "You think i'd rather waste my time with these idiots, when my daughter and Beth is out— God knows where?" She snapped, glancing over to Daryl, who's approached her.
"Good luck with that." He responded, making Vega roll her eyes. The two had tried their best to keep the conversation as quiet as possible, which wasn't any help, because suddenly a figure appeared. Vega instantly raised her handgun, not knowing who or what was reaching closer to them.
Just as she was about to pull the trigger, thinking it was a walker, the voice spoke. "Hey! Hey.. Put down the gun sweetheart, will ya?" The gray haired man chuckled out, lifting his hands in the air. It was joe.
She slowly lowered her gun, still keeping a grip on it, she sighed at the sight of the man. "It's not very smart to go out alone in the woods at this time, you know?" Joe stated, raising his brows. "And now that you and Daryl are one of us, we'll help you find your daughter."
Vega scoffed the second she heard the last sentence. "You think—?" She only managed to say, before Daryl had grabbed her arm, dragging her back to him, to prevent her from saying anything stupid.
A sinister grin appeared on Joe's face, and then he headed back to the others, who were still sleeping. Vega realised that Daryl still had a hold on her arm, her eyes narrowed as they met his. He then let go off the not too tight grip he had on the woman, and ended up following Joe back to the camp.
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It was now morning, and when yelling was heard nearby, Vega Collins had never more regretted that she didn't leave Joe and his pack of dogs when she had the chance. Each minute, they got even more on her nerves.
Letting out a groan, she stood up from the massive rock she had been sitting on, placing the knife that she had sharpened to get the time to pass on the sturdy surface. Vega then jogged over to where the shouting had came from, ending up with seeing Daryl and Len.
"What the hell is going on?" She asked, getting eye contact with Daryl, who seemed to be pissed off, as much as Vega herself did.
"Catching me some breakfast." Len answered before Daryl could, a smirk appearing on his face.
"Well it's mine." Daryl remarked, making his way to the now dead rabbit.
Len's eyes moved to Daryl. "My arrows the one that hit first. Cottontail belongs to me." Meanwhile, Vega kept in silence observing the two men start to argue about the animal.
"I've been out here since before the sun came up." Daryl argued, crouching down to pull out the two different arrows that had hit the rabbit's body.
"You see, the rules of the hunt don't mean jack out here," Len explained, his gaze focused on Daryl. "Now that rabbit you holding, it's claimed, boy."
No reply back.
"Claimed, whether you like it or not, so if i was you i'd hand it over." Len then continued, and Daryl slowly made his way to the man, where Vega leaned her back onto a tree behind her. "Now. Before you get to wishing you ain't ever get out of bed this morning."
"Then how about i make you wish you never got born, huh?" Vega answered back, having enough of Len.
He let out a laugh, walking closer to Vega. "You're feisty, mhm. I like that!" He responded, pointing at the woman in front of him, a manically smile entering his face.
"Shut the hell up." Daryl interrupted, raising his voice at Len. The rabbit he had caught, held tight in his hand. "Vega, let's go." He said, looking back to her, motioning for her to follow along, which she gladly did, rather than having to keep hearing Len spit nonsense out of his mouth.
As they were on their way back to where everyone else was, Len started talking again. "You know, i bet this bitch, got you all messed up.." He pointed his finger at his head, spinning it around in a circular movement "Hmm? Am i right?"
Daryl and Vega had both stopped walking.
"Got you walking all around here like a dead man just lost himself a piece of tail. Must've been a good one." He went on, making Vega turn around, facing Len who was only a few meters away from her. "Tell me something.. Was it one of the little ones?" He grinned.
Daryl's hand slowly reached for the knife in the holster he had attached in his pocket. "Cause they don't last too long out here." Len added. And with that, Vega looked up again, and in a quick movement she reached right in front of Len, her fist colliding with his cheek, making him stumble back.
"Ever say anything like that again, and i will fucking kill you, you asshole." She whispered out in anger, pointing her pistol at his forehead.
With just a groan from Len, another deep voice spoke, "Easy there Vega." The brown haired woman immediately knew it was Joe. She turned around, and there the grey haired man was.
Daryl's blue eyes stayed focused on Len's, and when Joe noticed, he pulled Len away from Vega, standing between them. "Let's just put our weapons down, see if we can't figure out what's really the problem here, huh?" Joe explained, making Vega scoff.
"You claim it?" Joe asked, his gaze turning to Len, who's right next to him. Len nodded along, swinging his crossbow over his shoulder.
"Well, there you go with that critter belongs to Len." Joe calmly states, looking towards Vega and Daryl.
Len pointed at Daryl, and the dead rabbit he held, leaning his hands on his hips. "So, let's have it." He agreed.
Vega's eyes then again met Daryl's, neither of them understanding the point of what this 'claimed' thing was. "Looks like you maybe want an explanation." Joe announced.
She furrowed her eyes. "I'm sorry but—" Vega chuckled out. "What's there exactly to explain about? Daryl has been out here ever since the morning, i saw him myself. Daryl shot the Rabbit first, and Daryl picked it up first." She argued back before Joe could talk any further.
"I get your point there Vega, but going it alone that ain't an option nowadays. Still, it is to fittest. That's a paradox right there. So, i laid out some rules of the road to keep things from going Darwin every couple hours. Keep our merry band together and stress free." Joe replied.
"Well, how's that going." She whispered to herself, which wasn't as quiet as she'd thought. Vega immediately raised her hands after seeing the face expression Joe had.
"All we gotta do is claim. That's how you mark your territory, your prey, your bed at night. One word, Claimed." Joe went on.
Daryl shook his head. "I ain't claiming nothing." The second the woman saw Len take a step closer to her and Daryl, she tightened her grip on her pistol, her knuckles turning.
"We gonna teach him right? The rules say we got to teach him." Len quickly remarked back, his eyes glued onto Joe's coloured ones.
"Now it wouldn't be fair to punish you for violating the rule you never even knew existed." Joe defended Daryl.
"There aren't no rules no more. "
Joe scoffed the second as he heard the sentence come out from Daryl. "Oh there are, you know that," Joe disagreed. "That's why i didn't kill you for the crossbow." He reasoned, pulling out a machete from his pocket, then reaching for the dead rabbit in Daryl's hands. "Easy there partner." Joe said as he took a harsher grip on the animals other side, cutting it in half. One half for Daryl, and the other for Len who instantly walked away when he got what he wanted.
"Claimed. That's all you gotta say." Joe lastly told and then followed Len back to the camp they had set up with the others, leaving Daryl and Vega alone.
AUTHORS NOTE !!
this chapter is sooo short, but I haven't updated this book for very long time and i'm very sorry about that</3
i'll probably rewrite this chapter later when i have more motivation, because i honestly can't bother to rn😭