Deacon was on his way to find some supplies in some of the cabins by O'Leary Mountain. He had told Boozer to stay in the safehouse and rest with his arm being in the condition that it is. He was getting ready to head back to the watchtower with the little that he had when he saw a cabin deep in the woods that he didn't see before.
He pulled his bike off the road and into the thick brush to get closer to the cabin to check for any enemies that may have already claimed the place. After hiding his bike behind some bushes, he checked around it to see if there were any freaks nests or ripper sigils he cautiously made his way inside.
The second he stepped foot inside the front door there was a gun pointed to his head.
"I don't know or care who you are but you need to leave" said the feminine voice on the other side of the gun.
"Look, I'm not here to hurt you but I was just looking for supplies to help my brother, Boozer. Rippers got to him and now he's got a serious burn on his arm and I need things to help it heal." At his words the woman's gun fell from his head and he was able to get a good look at her. She had (h/c) hair and (e/c) eyes that he could tell were only hardened by the outbreak. There was pain behind them but still a caring part of her.
"How bad is it?" Deacon was taken back by the question at first but if she was able to help them then he would answer any of the questions that were asked.
"I'm no doctor but I'm pretty sure it's 3rd degree burns."
"I might have some medical experience and supplies but I want something in return, I don't know what it is yet but I will call you if I do need it. The names (y/n) by the way."
"Deacon St. John"
"Well Deacon St. John, let me grab some supplies and then we can head out."
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Once they made it back to the watchtower, Deacon led (y/n) into the room with Boozer.
"Hey Boozeman, I need you to get up brother" The man put his hand on the others shoulder to wake him which resulted in Boozer pointing the shotgun at Deacon.
"Hey, hey, hey, it's just me Boozer. I uh, I brought help. This is (y/n). She might be able to help with your arm."
"Jesus, I could have blown your head off Deek. But you know that I didn't- thanks brother."
The woman walked across the room to Boozer and looked at his arm.
"It's not doing too great. The best that I can do with the tools I have is put some ointment on it, wrap it up and give you some pain killers."
"Uh, that would be nice, thanks (y/n)."
Once his arm was wrapped up she told him to rest up and not to do anything stupid or crazy. She looked around for Deacon and when he wasn't in the room, she checked outside and found him on the balcony looking out over the trees. She leaned on the rail next to him and they stayed silent like this for awhile.
"He's not going to be alright, is he." the man suddenly said with a hint of sadness in his voice.
(y/n) looked at the ground below them as she spoke her next words carefully. "I think that he might have to have it amputated. I've seen things like this before but that was before everything happened"
"What did you do before all this shit happened?"
"I was a field medic. I went to help in Afghanistan and I saw some things there that I will never be able to get out of my head. But I had been in the process of leaving the army when it all happened."
Deacon looked at her with understanding as she spoke, listening to every word she said. "I understand. I served a full tour in Afghanistan and, yeah, there was a lot of fucked up shit that happened that I wish I would have never witnessed."
(Y/n) looked at him after he finished speaking and they held eye contact for a long moment before the man looked away and cleared his throat. She just studied the way he moved and acted and was surprised when she didn't notice that he served before. The way he held himself and how he was always watching made it clear that it was something that he would have done before.
"It's getting dark and, well you know, it's probably best if you just stay here for the night. I can take you back in the morning. Oh and uh, thanks for, you know, helping Boozer. He's all I got left and he's my brother."
The woman nodded at him and walked back into the watchtower.
"Oh, Deek?"
"Yeah?"
"I think I might hang around you guys a little longer. Just so I can keep an eye on Boozer's arm. But there's more stuff at my cabin that I could use. If we could head back there tomorrow and get them it would help Boozer out more."
"Yeah of course."
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It's been 2 weeks since Deacon first encountered (y/n) and she has since proven that she could handle herself. She even saved Deacons ass a few times, which for some odd reason, made him have feelings for her. Boozers condition was only getting worse but Deacon was glad that he found (y/n) because without her, both of the men would be dead.
It was early morning one day and the woman had woken Deacon up and had asked him to go outside with him.
"Deek, we need to get Boozer somewhere. A place with the right medical supplies because if we don't, he won't make it through the week. And while he won't admit it, he's in an immense amount of pain and he's suffering."
Deacon knew that Boozer wasn't doing good but there was few places that he could go. But there was one, Lost Lake. They always had supplies and if he made his way in there and got out before anybody saw him, he could take the supplies to (y/n) to have her do it.
"Deek, I can't do it here. We are just targets here and we need to be at a camp. Not only that but there is no way in hell that the two of us could amputate that arm alone."
"Alright, alright, let's head out before it gets dark."
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(y/n) took Boozers bike alone while Deacon and Boozer rode together. Once they got to Lost Lake, Deacon said that he would go in alone and try and talk to somebody he knew to see if they could help Boozer. (y/n) stayed with the other man to make sure he didn't get killed by any freaks or anything else that could want to take the man out of the equation.
After about an hour Deacon came back. "I talked to somebody in the camp, Addy, she's willing to help Boozer as long as I go on some runs for Iron Mike."
"You know I can help right? Boozer's my friend now too. I think I can be of some use for the camp."
He shook his head denying her offer to help. "No I need you here with Boozer just in case something happens. I also just, I just don't want you getting hurt out there. You're part of our little group now and one of you is in critical condition as it is, I don't need you getting killed out there."
The woman sighed and as she was going to say something back to him to defend herself, she heard the cry of both runners and freaks. "We need to get Boozer into that camp. We'll talk about this later."
They all got back on the bikes and headed into the camp. Deacon led the way while (y/n) followed close behind. Everyone in the camp had stopped to stare at the trio. Luckily it wasn't a long ride to their destination.
A woman walked over to help them walk Boozer into the building.
"Thanks Addy. Uh, I don't know how much help I will be but (y/n) here has some experience with these kinds of things and she can help you. If you need anything, anything at all just let me know."
"Don't worry about what I'm doing. You two should head up to see what Iron Mike needs you to do."
With that Deacon and (y/n) left Boozer alone. Once they walked outside she turned to look at Deacon while they walked.
"I'm going to help you whether you like it or not. I'm not going to sit around be be worthless when I can help you."
He sighed before speaking."I know it's just that, I don't want to lose you. I know that we haven't been around each other for long but if anything were to happen to you..." the mans voice trailed off. (y/n) walked in front of him and put her hands on his shoulders to stop him from walking and to look into his eyes.
"Hey," she said softly, "I'm not leaving anytime soon. I don't want to lose you either, that's why I want to be there for you if you need me. And it's a good thing you did meet me because if you didn't both of you idiots would be dead."
The two of them chuckled as they continued to walk towards the main building.
Once they made it in they went to the man in charge, Iron Mike himself. He talked about an old saw mill not too far away that he needed cleared out before anything got out of control and that if Deacon and (y/n) did it, Boozer's treatment would be paid.
After they agreed to it they walked out the door and Mike showed them the cabin that the three of them would have to share. They decided that they would bring their things into the place and walk over to check on Boozer. Deacon didn't say much while bringing in their things but (y/n) broke the silence between them once they were back in the infirmary with Boozer.
"At least it's only one horde we will have to clear Deek. It could be worse."
"From the way that Mike made it sound, it's not going to be easy. If all of his men turned it down because they were afraid of it then it's going to be hell getting it taken out."
She knew he was right but with how bad things had been for him lately, she just wanted to bring some positive energy to the situation. Deacon had been pacing around since they made it back in here. There was something on his mind that he wouldn't let out. She noticed it when they were talking on their way to talk to Mike and she could sense it now.
(Y/n) walked over to the man and put her hand on his arm. "Are you okay? I know this is a lot with Boozer and the saw mill but I've been around you enough to know that there is something else bothering you. Whatever it is, you know you can tell me right?"
He turned around and looked her in the eyes as he carefully selected his words. "It's just that what I said before was true but it's deeper than that. I can't lose you because I uh, I have feelings for you and I was too afraid to tell you sooner but I guess now seems like a good time to say it." He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck and turned around after what he said.
The woman grabbed his arm once again and turned him around to bring her lips up to his. Her hands moving to the back of his neck while one hand moved to cup her cheek and the other to the small of her back to bring her closer.
Once they pulled away they heard clapping. They turned to see Boozer sitting up in bed watching the two of them. "You guys have no idea how long I've been waiting for that one to happen. I'm just glad I woke up in time to see the show."
Deacon walked over to lightly punch the other man in the arm that was still healthy. "How much of that conversation did you hear?"
"Oh just the important part about you confessing your love to this beautiful woman and that's when I sat up and saw you two sucking each others face."
"Hey Deek? I'm going to go to cabin and get some rest. Boozer you need to take it easy, get some rest."
With that she left the infirmary.
"I'm glad it was her. Not only is she gorgeous but she cares about you but she can also kick ass and that is the best thing for you brother" With that Boozer laid back down on the bed.
Deacon decided that there was no use for him to be in here so he went to the cabin as well. Once he got there he found (y/n) curled up on the bed sound asleep.
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After Deacon and (y/n) stocked up on supplies they would need and a quick check on Boozer, they left Lost Lake to find the saw mill.
Once they got there they found a vantage point to make a plan. Since it was in the middle of the day, the freaks would be weaker but with so many in one place, it was still dangerous. (Y/n) came up with a plan to stay on top of the single train car and have Deacon lure them out with the bike. Once they were out she would throw molotovs at the group of them and shoot the strays.
"Are you sure you still want to go through with this? It's not too late for you to head back."
"I'll be alright," she gave the man a small kiss which seemed to calm him down a bit, "Now go get on that bike. I'll radio you when I'm ready."
The man jumped off the train car and headed towards the bike. (Y/n) got out the molotovs and her gun. The pistol strapped to her hip, along with the knife that Deacon had given her a week or so ago.
"Lets go!"
With that Deacon drove by the large freak nest and hundreds of them followed the sound of his bike. (Y/n) was worried about him but she knew that if she didn't do anything on her end then he would die. She lit the molotovs and threw them into the crowd as they ran by.
They both could see that there weren't many left. Deacon went into the mill where most of them were hiding and threw a molotov of his own and came back out.
"They're all gone. Looks like we can head back and check on Boozer."
Just as (y/n) was going to radio back to him, she was pushed off the train car. She fell and rolled down the small hill and landed on a piece of metal that went through her leg. She looked back at the car and saw a Ripper on top laughing and jumping around.
"Fucking Rippers" she muttered. Then she saw more of them coming after her. She reached for her gun on her hip and when she realized that it wasn't there she saw that it was higher up on the hill. All she had was the knife.
A few moments later one of them was on top of her. With her good leg she kicked it off and stabbed him in the neck then another one grabbed her arm and soon there were too many on her for her to handle.
As (y/n) was accepting her fate, she heard 4 gunshots and all but one of the Rippers fell off of her. Now she was able to stab him in the temple.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah we just need to get the hell out of here. Having scrap comes in handy unless it's in your leg."
Deacon helped her walk to the bike. It was a challenge for her to get on but with his help she eventually was able to steady herself on the bike.
(Y/n) didn't even notice that she had passed out until she was in the infirmary. She was awake but couldn't open her eyes yet but she could hear Boozer and Deacon talking.
"I almost lost her. I can't lose her and I can't lose you either."
"Don't worry about losing me brother, you just need to focus on your girl. Abby said she lost a lot of blood but she will be alright."
There were footsteps moving closer to the bed somebody sitting in a chair next to her.
"Hey baby girl," he whispered just loud enough for her to hear, "I know you would punch me if you heard me say that. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you right away today. If you would have been killed, I uh," the man choked up but covered it up with a small cough, "I wouldn't have been able to live with myself. I'm not going to leave your side ever again. I love you goddammit. You told me you weren't leaving anytime soon and neither will I."
He kissed the top of her head then stood up. "I'll be back I need to get some air. Let me know if she wakes up."
The woman thought about his words once the door closed. While she would have punched him if she were able to, it was nice hearing him call her that.
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It wasn't until the next day that she was able to wake up entirely. When she did she saw Deacon asleep in the chair next to her. Once she started moving around he woke up.
"Hey how are you doing?"
"I think I will be alright."
"I sure hope so I didn't carry you in here for nothing. I really did think I lost you there for a minute." She put her hand on his cheek and he leaned into her touch. He looked at her with love before she moved over in the bed.
"It's hard for me to be close to you with you on that chair so hop on up here."
He took off his hat and set it on the table next to the bed and climbed into the bed next to her. With him next to her she put her hand back on his cheek and kissed him. It was slower than any of the previous ones but it was the two of them savoring the moment. Just happy to have the other and grateful to have the other alive.
It was hard for (y/n) to move in the bed with the leg but they settled with his arm wrapped around her waist and his head on her shoulder. Soon the two of them fell asleep together.