IN WHICH - The last thing that Hope Mikaelson expected when she came out of Malivore was to still be alive, the second last thing she expected was to be disowned by most of her living family, and the final last thing she expected was some ancient be...
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CHAPTER 4
THIRD PERSON POV
"So you're the assholes that left him handcuffed to a roof," Hope says, motioning to the buff dark-skinned man and Korean-looking kid, "And you're the dick's younger less of a dick brother? And you're the super nice old man that no one has complained about yet?"
Merle and Daryl stood to either side of her, both wearing identical scowls and standing the exact same way. Hips cocked, arms crossed and pretty much throwing a silent tantrum.
"Why are you calling me names? I didn't do anything!" Merle whines, looking over at Hope, forgetting that he was laser-visioning T-Dog with as much hate as he could muster.
"Because you tried to murder me fifteen fucking minutes ago so that you could suck the life out of asshole number one!"
Merle rears his head back, "I ain't try to murder you, you simply lack the knowledge to get out of a driverless speeding vehicle."
Hope blinks at the bald man, complete disbelief clouding her features, "Yes, because it's every day that the driver of said vehicle jumps out of the vehicle and attempts to suck the life out of someone!"
"Actually, do you think we could talk about that? Because I'm pretty sure that he had fangs." T-Dog asks, looking from the auburn-haired girl to the brooding Dixon brothers on either side of her.
Rolling her eyes, Hope juts her hip out to the side and crosses her arms, an exasperated look crossing her face, "No we will not be discussing anything that just conspired, because it's on a need-to-know basis, and I don't like you, so you don't need to know."
"But Hope! Imagine how terrified he would be if he knew at any given moment I could suck the life out of him. Considering that he did kill me."
"Merle, I love you like a brother, don't get me wrong. But I might actually kill you if you don't stop blaming others for you cutting off your own fucking hand!"
Pouting, the grown man crosses his arms again and kicks a lone pebble on the road, making both Daryl and Hope roll their eyes this time. Though T-Dog and Dale look shockingly unsettled at the duo, one is a completely new person that should be dead or at least injured, and the other is Merle. Merle with superpowers or something.
"You're always so mean to me, and to think I do everything you ask of me," Merle mumbles, cutting her a puppy dog expression, which made him look more like a pug than a normal dog. Which meant that Hope had to fight her hardest not to snicker at the grown baby.
"You look like a pug, Merle. Stop pouting like that and act your age." Daryl snaps out, glaring at his older brother as he crosses his arms and shifts his position so he's slightly closer to the auburn-haired girl, Hope.
"I don't like this. Y'all two need to separate. Y'all are sharing brain waves or some shit and have turned this into a hate-on-Merle party." And just like that normal Merle was back, flicking his eyes from Hope to Daryl and then back again.
Hope blinks at him, if she had the energy she would have definitely rolled her eyes, but she settled for letting out a long sigh. She needed coffee. Or tacos.
"Merle, we need to get going. Figure out what you want to do. We have to get back to Pedro and Rafael, and Mags is going to want her tampons."
T-Dog and Dale weren't completely certain how they were supposed to take the new girl. T-Dog is terrified of her, and Dale feels bad for her.
The older man could tell she had a horrible life so far, it was written in the nonexistent lines of her face, the crinkle of her eyes, and the curve of her smile. And the way she suspiciously watched everyone and everything around her.
T-Dog could feel the predator aura coming off of her. It made the hair on his arms stand up and his spine straighten to a degree that he had never experienced before.
Glenn thought she was cool and cute. Like super cute. But totally out of his league. And she was slightly scary, if the dark look in her eyes and scowl said anything. Which it did.
"Where are y'all going? We could..." Daryl pauses looking from Hope to Merle and back again, "We're gonna go with you, or I am at least."
"What about Lori and Carl? And Rick? That girl said that Carl was shot, we need to head that way to try and help them out, or at least see what's going on." Dale, ever the reason of voice, said in a no-nonsense tone.
Daryl's face got red, indicating that he was about to blow. Most likely about how this group had left his brother handcuffed on a roof to die and now they wanted his help even after his brother found them.
Of course he never got to that, as Hope tilted her head in confusion and analyzed the group, "What was the girl's name? And who is this Carl?"
Her tone was inquisitive, though there was an underlying threat. One that immediately had Merle, angling his body closer to her in a nearly defensive way. He was only slightly sired to her, but he refused to break it.
"Carl's our leader's kid, and the other leader's step son. They were out hunting for a little girl we lost and he somehow got shot. I don't know the girl's name or who she even is, she rode in on a horse and grabbed Lori, Carl's bio mom." Glenn said, successfully not stumbling over his words as he made eye contact with the cute terrifying woman.
"They told us to backtrack to Greene Farm a couple of miles down the road here," Daryl interjected, not liking the panicked look that Hope suddenly shot Merle, or how Merle froze up and looked like a deer caught in headlights.
Hope gave a nod, jerking her chin towards the woods, "I'm taking a shortcut. They'll likely need help. Hershel doesn't have the equipment to straight up perform surgery. And Pedro is too young to help with that."
"I don't think you should, I got a feeling, Witchy. It's best we go in together." Merle says, glancing at Daryl but quickly turning his attention back to Hope.
Daryl could clearly see the panic churning in her eyes, it was like a caged animal was rearing its head up inside of her, an anxious aggression emitted off of her in waves.
Her jaw clenched, her hands forming fists, her eyes promising retribution, but she gave a singular jerky nod of her head before spinning on her heels and stalking over to the wrecked truck.
Picking up their radio and a couple spare tampons sitting on the ground, she couldn't shove down the foreboding feeling that she herself had. It was a feeling that she knew well, one that promised death and destruction. And in a world of continual death with the destruction around her, she didn't like that feeling violently twisting in her gut.
