****I changed Sawyer's name to Shaw and his new actor is Cam Gigandet because I am using that name and actor for another story I'm writing.****
~Rebel's POV~
"Rebel, wake up. There's a new group 'bout three miles west."
Maggie was shaking my arm and the fluorescent lights of the metro station.
I hadn't been 'assigned' another car by Daryl, so I was forced to sleep on the ridged tracks outside of the entrance.
I sighed and sat up in the scratchy, brown sleeping bag. My back was stiff and my tail bone felt sore, result of sleeping on the tracks.
It had been three weeks since the night on the wall and I hadn't seen Shaw since.
Sure, he left little signs to show me that he was still alive, but other than that, I had no indication of where he was.
I knew that he was watching over me when I was on wall duty and he was the reason I never had any walkers come within shooting distance of the camp, because he killed them all.
I sat absorbed in my thoughts until a looming shadow blocked my view.
"Ye' ready?" Daryl asked me, crossing his arms over his chest.
I looked up at him, daring to meet his stare.
"You're going too?" I smirked, he couldn't avoid me now.
Daryl nodded, "Bigger group, Glenn 's goin' an' so'm I."
I sighed and shoved my boots on, picking up my bow and arrows, opting to leave the sword here this time.
I stood up and cracked my back, hearing the satisfying pops of the bones moving into place.
"Let's go."
As soon as we climbed the stairs, Glenn joined us, wedging himself in-between Daryl and I.
I mentally thanked him, because his actions eased the thick tension around me and Daryl.
Glenn was carrying his small Colt 45 Pistol that looked ridiculous next to the larger, more agile stringed weapons.
"Ye' gon' take out a group with jus' that?" Daryl snickered.
"Can you even hit a squirrel with that?" I said, shoving him lightly.
Glenn huffed stomped ahead of us, leaving Daryl and me to walk together.
An awkward silence settled over us and I started to toy with the feathers that I had strung on my bow.
Daryl looked over at my newly covered sheath and bow, amusement glazing his eyes.
"Ye' do tha' yerself?" he asked me quietly.
It took me awhile to figure out he was talking to me, but when I did, I nodded.
"How was it ou' there?" he tried to continue the conversation.
I shrugged and continued fiddling with the raven feathers.
"Got pretty cold out. Ye' bring a blanket or summin'?" he asked.
I nodded my head and pulled an arrow out, stringing it into my bow for caution.
"Dammit, Rebel!" Daryl yelled, attracting unknown attention.
"Shut your mouth!" Glenn hissed from ahead of us, pointing an accusing finger towards Daryl and shooting me a glare.
I held in a laugh, my face turning a shade of red because of it.
Out of the corner of my vision, I saw Daryl glaring at me, but he didn't say anything more.
I was trying to play the Guilt Card.
I almost died because of him, he at least deserved to suffer a little bit.
Two hours.
We had been walking for two hours. Maggie had reported 'about three miles west', but we had gone far past 'about three miles'.
At some point, Glenn had retaken his position between Daryl and I, deciding it was better if he could see us in case we got attacked. ("Like tha's gon' happen," Daryl had said).
I knew his real reason was to make sure one of us didn't shoot the other.
The tension between Daryl and I was so thick, one of us would've done it eventually.
"Glenn, are you sure Maggie said west?" I asked, leaning against a tree.
"Yes! Unlike some people, I actually listen to my significant other." Glenn said, shooting a pointed glare at me.
I raised my eyebrows, "Sorry, is that an accusation?"
Daryl stalked towards me, "If it weren't fer ye', I coulda saved Kaylee."
I cringed at his words and anger started to bubbled in the recesses of my mind.
"If ye' had jus' stayed inside the damn metro station, I coulda shot the damn walker before it got to my sister."
Daryl spat at the ground next to my boots and stormed back to his original place beside Glenn.
"Is that why you kicked me out?" I asked quietly.
I got my answer when both Daryl and Glenn stayed silent.
"You think it's my fault Kaylee was killed?" I asked, louder than before.
I could feel blood heating up in my face and I knew I looked like a flustered chicken trying to fly over a fence.
Daryl was boring his eyes into mine and Glenn was staring at his shoes, hiding his face from me.
"Fine," I snapped, "Find the damn group yourself."
If they wanted to blame me for something I had no control over, they could take out a big group themselves.
I started to jog back into the forest, heading east this time.
"Wait!" Glenn yelled, "You're going to help us?"
I swiveled on my heels to face them again.
"You're big boys, you can handle yourselves." I sneered at Glenn's expression and continued back towards the metro station at full pace.
Arrow after arrow smacked into the defenseless tree. As soon as I had gotten back, I hadn't bothered going into the metro station.
Instead, I began shooting at the nearest tree or the occasional walker.
I was swearing heavily and at one point I had heard Glenn and Daryl coming back from their raid, with Glenn muttering about how unsuccessful it was.
That almost cheered me up. Even with Tracker-Daryl they hadn't found the group.
The gray skies of dusk were slowly consuming the sky and I continued shooting the tree, my anger slowly dissipating.
"Showin' that tree no mercy, ain't ya'?"
I lowered my bow and turned to see Shaw leaning against the brick wall that guarded the metro station.
I huffed and tugged multiple arrows out of the bark of the tree and shoved them back into my sheath.
I stepped back a few feet and began to shoot again.
I felt Shaw moving behind me, but I made no move to look at him again.
My muscles were tense and I still had a few more dozen shots left in me.
"Rebel," Shaw muttered.
Shaw slowly pulled the bow from my hands and placed it on the ground. He rested one of his large hands on my shoulder and pivoted me to face him.
"Tell me what's wrong, Princess." Shaw whispered, staring at me intently.
"Nothing," I said, pushing his hands off me and stepping back towards the metro station.
I started to walk back, but Shaw grabbed onto my hand and dragged me back to him.
"Don't tell me that bullshit." Shaw said, his words were threatening, but his voice was soft.
I looked up at him to see him doing the same to me.
"I don't want to talk about it right now." I muttered, kicking a stray rock on the ground.
Shaw sighed and dropped his hold on me, handing my feathered bow back to me.
Shaw stared at me as I side-stepped him, grabbing my arm and making me stop.
"What?" I asked, yanking my arm out of his hold, wanting to get inside.
Shaw placed a finger against my lips, silencing me in more ways than one.
He used his free hand to point behind my shoulder and then to his ear, signaling me to listen closely.
I turned slowly and focused my hearing deep into the trees, trying not to focus on any one thing.
My eyes widened to the size of saucers.
Way out in the distance where I could only see with strained vision was an abundant, bountiful herd.
The walkers without top clothing were fashioning sharp, pointy ribs that broke the surface of their skin.
Others had bones and branches sticking out at odd angles and leaves stuck in their ratty hair.
They hadn't spotted us yet, but any small sound would trigger one of their hearing and whatever one does, the rest follow.
They were like lemmings.
If one jumps off of a cliff, so does everyone else.
Shaw tapped me on the shoulder and I turned silently to face him, peering back over my shoulder to make sure we hadn't been seen.
He made a "What do we do now?" gesture and I chewed on my bottom lip, deciding to run or hide.
We stood there frozen for another minute or two, but then Carl came up.
"Trooper? Who's that?" Carl yelled at me.
Shaw's eyes widened dramatically and I looked back over my shoulder to see the herd turning in our directions, going a notch faster than before.
"In the metro station! Now!" I whisper-yelled, even if it wasn't necessary anymore.
Carl stumbled back down the stairs and I grabbed Shaw's hand, yanking him with me.
The walkers had started to run and right as I was pushing Carl and Shaw down the stairs, one grabbed my hair.
I yelped and fell back, my head hitting the concrete stairs and my vision going blurry.
I wavered slightly as I stood up and drew the makhaira out, not being able to use my bow in close combat.
I swung the sword blindly and felt it come into contact with the walker's head, making it release my hair.
Another walker charged at me and I shoved the makhaira into its eye, twisting the sword before pulling it out.
I looked out of my corner vision quickly, seeing Shaw fighting off multiple walkers at once.
I stepped in and sliced the head off of a walker that had been close to ripping Shaw's neck out.
"Get behind the gates!" Carl screamed over the hungry roars of walkers.
I walked backwards, fending off oncoming threats. Shaw had already ducked into the safety of the gate.
"Trooper! We don't have time!" Carl cried.
I decapitated the closest walker and ran the rest of the way into the metro station.
Shaw and Carl forced the gates closed, securing the safety locks in place.
Carl began to weave wooden boards through the crevices, blocking any outreached hands that hoped to catch a portion of flesh.
As soon as the majority of the gate was blocked, any leftover boards were jammed in the crack where the skinniest walkers could manage to squeeze through.
Daryl, Glenn, and Stefan ran around the corner, resembling headless chickens.
"Are you guys okay?" Stefan asked.
Carl nodded and Shaw made no move, except looking over at me.
"Rebel?" Stefan questioned, "You seem a bit out of it."
I scratched the back of my head, feeling a slight itch.
"Yeah," I said, waving my hand absentmindedly, "I'm good."
I heard gasps and I looked around, trying to figure out what was so shocking.
"You're bleeding," Glenn said, "You've been infected!"
I scrunched my eyebrows and looked at my hand.
It was coated in blood, but I didn't see a scratch and there was certainly no bite mark.
I reached to the back of my head and felt around, looking for a scratch or something else that could damage me.
Shaw moved behind me and pushed my hair aside.
"Don't fuckin' touch her!" Daryl shouted, roughly shoving Shaw aside.
Anger rose inside of me, that was not fair.
"What the hell is your problem?" I snapped, pushing Daryl's shoulders.
"He was touchin' ye'!" Daryl spat at Shaw.
"So? If I'm correct, you broke up with me!" I yelled.
The term 'broke up' seemed so unnatural in this world, like 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend'. They just weren't really necessary anymore. No one really had time for love.
Daryl's face went red and he stepped back towards me, his voice softer than before, "Jus' lemme see yer head."
I huffed, crossing my arms and turning around to give him access to the back of my head.
Daryl moved my hair aside gently and I felt him searching around for the cause of my blood.
He searched for a few moments before grunting. His fingers prodded the top of my neck and I hissed in pain.
I slapped his arm away and stepped away, placing a hand over the cut.
"Well?" Glenn pressed at Daryl.
"Ain't a bite. Jus' a gash. We need Carol to check 'er ou'." He reported.
Daryl turned away from Glenn and looked towards Shaw and then at me.
"Ye' wanna introduce him? He's gon' be here awhile." Daryl muttered the last part.
Shaw stepped up to Daryl and held out one of his large hands in what looked like a peace offering.
"My name is Shaw, I presume you're the leader?" Shaw said formally.
Daryl ignored Shaw's hand, "Ye'. Ye' gotta group?"
Shaw shook his head, "Not for a long time."
Daryl nodded and turned back towards Glenn, "Get him a car, he ain't sleepin' on the tracks."
I narrowed my eyes at Daryl.
So Shaw got a car, but I had to sleep on the tracks?
Daryl looked at me and caught onto my expression, "Rebel, yer movin' back in with me."
"Excuse me? I don't think so." I said, making him stare at me blankly.
"What are ye' gon' do? Sleep on the tracks 'gain? No, yer comin' back where ye' belong---," Daryl took a deep breath before finishing his statement.
"With me."
_______________________________________________________
Damn it, Carl. You just have to go and ruin everything, don't you?
Thanks for reading and staying with me!
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