"What do we tell Daryl?" Jacque asked, crossing her arms. We stood in a circle, deciding someone else's fate.
Amy and Shane at my side, Taylor and Jason across from me. "Who's Daryl?" I asked, curious of the situation.
Shane let out a sigh and Lori looked me in the eyes nervously. "Daryl, is Merle Dixon's younger brother."
My eye's widened as I realized that a mini Merle would probably be coming back soon.
"We could lie?" Amy suggested.
Shane shook his head and looked at the ground. "No, it's family he needs to know the truth."
Rick nodded. "I'll tell him, it's my fault, I cuffed him to the roof."
I shook my head. "No it's my fault, I had the opportunity to unlock him and I didn't."
T-Dog let out a tired laugh. "I'm telling him. I dropped the key, it's my responsibility."
Rick shook his head again. "No offense T-Dog but this might sound better coming from a white man."
T-Dog sighed and crossed his arms. T-Dog nodded slightly, obviously not happy with Ricks decision.
Jason cleared his throat and sat back uncomfortably, making everyones heads turn in his direction. "So where do we sleep?"
Shane rubbed his forehead and glanced past the group towards the tents. "Well there's only one tent left. It's built for one person but two could fit in there."
I nodded and looked at Jason. "You two take the tent, you're blood. I'll room with someone else, no need to worry."
Jason clenched his jaw and shook his head. "That's not happening."
I rolled my eyes at his controlling personality. "It is Jason."
He scowled and Taylor grabbed his arm, giving him a tug closer to her. "Mariah's right. Just trust her okay?"
"All settled?" Shane asked, clearly unamused with the little. Jason glared at Shane but he ignored it. "Good, go set up in your tent."
Shane pointed towards a faded brown tent. Taylor nudged Jason's side but he continued to glare at Shane. Taylor rolled her eyes and yanked Jason away from the group and towards the tent.
"This it?" Jason yelled. Shane nodded and stuck his thumb up. Jason ducked inside, Taylor crawling in after him.
Shane turned to me "Um, the only other spot we have is in the orange tent with Daryl."
I froze. I had to share a tent with Daryl Dixon? I didn't even know the man and we'd be living together? I sighed, knowing I couldn't really protest. After all, I did volunteer. I sighed and strolled over to the bright orange tent. I threw my stuff down and looked around.
There was one sleeping bag, extremely messy and huge, along with it was a small table with a quiver of arrows and a picture frame.
I bent down to see a woman and two young boys. One unmistakably Merle, the other probably Daryl.
I got out and zipped the tent back up. I walked over to the group and noticed no Sophia, Carl or Morales's kids.
I assumed they were off playing tag or something. I stood near the group and crossed my arms awkwardly. I leaned against an old tree and that's when I heard a child scream. I ran to the source of the scream blindly.
The children came running at me, Carl panting and grabbing my arm. "What happened?" I asked.
He pointed behind him and I ran a head. It was getting dark out, making it harder to see but there was no way, you could mistake that for something else.
A walker chewed into a deer, one with arrows covering it's side. Rick, Dale, Jim and I circled the creature.
It stood up with a hungry moan and went after Rick, he quickly pushed it down and they started to beat it.
They abused the walker until finally, Dale brought an axe down on it's neck, making its head roll off to the side. I knew it wasn't dead yet, but I got distracted.
The bushes rustled for a moment and out popped a man, a crossbow in his hands and squirrels attached to his belt.
Daryl probably considering no one was alarmed by the presence of the man. Daryl scowled at us, his eyes quickly scanning us before they fell to the deer laying on the ground.
"Son of a bitch. That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this... filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" He yelled and kicked the lifeless body.
He squatted down and surveyed the dead animal. "What do you think? Cut round this part here?" He asked, circling the raw part of the deer with his finger.
Rick shook his head, and Shane shuffled uncomfortably back and fourth. "Can't risk it man." Shane muttered.
Daryl frowned and stood up. "Damn, I was gonna cook us up some venison too."
The walkers head started to gargle and moan from beside me. I glanced down, watching the jaws of the walker snap open and closed hungrily.
Amy, who I didn't even know was behind me, made a sound of disgust and Daryl quickly put the walker down.
"Don't you people know anythin'?" He mumbled before pulling the arrow from it's head and brushing past me as if I didn't exist.
I followed after him, keeping my distance but waiting for someone to break the bad news.
"Merle, get your ass out here. I got us some squirrel!" Daryl yelled. No one answered and Daryl grew more impatient. "MERLE!"
"Daryl, we need to talk to you." Shane said calmly.
Daryl looked around. He surveyed our faces and looked down at the ground. "He dead?"
Rick looked at him intently. "I don't know-"
Daryl stormed over to Rick, making him stop mid-sentence. "How can you not know? Who are you anyway?"
Rick frowned and stepped back a little bit. "I'm Rick Grimes."
Daryl stepped forward again, getting back into Rick's face. "Well Rick Grimes," Daryl spat. "Is Merle dead or alive?"
T-Dog walked over quickly, to help Rick out. "Your brother was a danger to himself and others, so I handcuffed him to a roof." Rick said firmly.
Daryl shook his head in disbelief before turning away from Rick. "You locked my brother up, then you LEFT 'EM THERE?" Daryl yelled.
T-Dog shook his head slightly, staring at Daryl with sadness. "It's my fault, I dropped the key."
Daryl scowled. "Pick it up."
T-Dog rolled his eyes. "I dropped it down a drain."
Daryl shook his head and pawed at his eyes angrily. Poor guy just learned his brother was abandoned, it's hard not to cry.
"I chained the door shut with a pad lock, no ones getting in, our out." T-Dog informed him and Daryl simply nodded.
"Let's go get 'em." Daryl shouted walking towards the trucks. Shane stopped him.
"We can't go now, it's too dark. You can go in the morning." Daryl scowled.
"Fine." With that he scoffed off somewhere. Typical redneck, doesn't get what he wants, pouts until he gets it.
After poor Daryl stomped away, Shane and Rick began to make a fire. The sky lost its light and the stars came out. It wasn't long after sunset that we sat around it, telling stories to each other. Everyone told their story, how they got here. But I couldn't shake my head of poor Merle being stuck up on that roof.
I got tired and started to drift off, leaning on Shane's shoulder. I didn't mean to, he just reminded me of Jason, how hard both their shoulders were. Shane didn't seem to mind it considering that he snaked his arm around me, earning a whistling noise from Rick and a coughing noise from Jason.
Amy got up quickly, springing to her feet. "Where are you going?" Andrea questioned.
"I'll be back in a second." Amy huffed. Andrea nodded and Amy bounced away quickly. Dale started talking about his watch and Amy came back.
She tossed me some clothes. "Here, go change and get some rest you had a long day."
I smiled and stood up. Shane sighed but then focused in on Dales story telling.
"Night everyone." I called over my shoulder. They all nodded and mumbled 'night'. I ran over to the tent, I quickly unzipped it and undressed.
I was almost fully clothed again when a voice startled me. "What the hell are you doin'?"
I let out a small shriek and turned, only wearing a bra and fabric shorts. I Quickly threw on the shirt and tossed my clothes to the side.
"I didn't know you were in here, I thought I was alone." I gasped as I stared into Daryl's eyes.
He chuckled. "Learn to check your surroundings before you strip."
I blushed and sat down on the sleeping bag. He sat up and looked me over. I frowned and he let out a laugh. "Did you know you had a mark on your ass?" He taunted.
I blushed instantly and tried to hide my face. Daryl howled with laughter. "Don't worry, your not my type. I like 'em feisty." I wasn't sure if that was suppose to be a complement or not so I let out a small laugh and searched around for another sleeping bag.
I let out a shiver as a cold breeze shook the tent. "Where's my sleeping bag?" Daryl patted the spot beside him.
"Are you kidding?" I sighed.
He shook his head. "It'll be warmer, and I won't try anythin'. Like I said, you ain't ma type."
I frowned but quickly got under the covers, his body heat warming me quickly.
"Damn girl, your colder than ice." He mumbled. I laughed and laid my head down on the ground.
He bent over and threw me a flannel shirt. "Thanks." I mumbled as I turned it into a makeshift pillow.
"So whats your name anyways?" He muttered.
"Mariah."
He nodded and looked up at the tent ceiling. "How old are you?"
I frowned and crossed my arms. "How old do I look?"
He shrugged. "Just curious." He rolled to his side so his back was to me. I looked down and realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. I rolled onto my other side and stared at the side of the tent.
I sighed and closed my eyes before muttering. "Twenty-two."