Detached [TWD Fanfiction]

Chapter 15

They walked quietly, Merle chuckling to himself occasionally, for quite some time. Lucy felt sick. Her chest had an empty feeling, like she was hollow inside. This was for the best, surely. She could have company and people around her without the troubles of a group. This was what she had wanted.

'Now, are you gonna introduce yourself to me or what?' Merle asked, grinning. Lucy looked at Daryl as if to ask if she really had to, but he replied for her instead.

'She's Lucy. We met a while back,' he told his brother, hoping Merle wouldn't ask much more. He knew she didn't like talking about herself.

'And are you two, you know,' he raised his eyebrows at Daryl.

'No,' Lucy answered for herself, plainly.

'If you say so, suppose you ain't really his usual type.' Daryl sighed, beginning to realise this wasn't going to be as smooth sailing as he'd hoped it would. Lucy being a closed book would only make Merle try to pry her open more, and if they weren't going to get along he would have to keep himself between them at all times.
Lucy was trying her best not to think negatively of Merle. She'd chosen to go with them and had appreciated the invitation to do so, and knew that if she allowed herself to be annoyed this soon there'd be no hope. Besides, Daryl seemed to think well enough of his brother, so she would too.

'Lets start looking for something to eat,' Daryl suggested, continuing to walk onwards.
The silence wasn't broken again until Merle demanded they stop for a bathroom break, for which he used a tree and barely bothered to distance himself from their small group.

'Man, ain't nothing out here but mosquitoes and ants.' Daryl pushed the dirt around with the toe of his boot while they waited, anxious about the lack of game. He knew there was food at the prison.

'Patience, little brother. Sooner or later a squirrels bound to scurry across your path.'

'Even so, that aint much food for three people.'

'I'm sure our archer here can find something, can't you?' Merle, finished, turned to Look at Lucy, who quietly blew air through her nose and kept her eyes on anything but his. She hadn't admitted to having several cereal bars in her bag, and decided to continue keeping it quiet until she could give one to Daryl alone. 'Does she even know how to hunt, or track?'

'Yeah, she does. Can you quit it?' Daryl told him firmly, hoping Merle would get bored and shut up soon. He glanced at Lucy. She was stood almost like she couldn't hear them, looking focussed on something far away. Her hands were loose by her side, bow on her back. He wouldn't have guessed someone was trying to piss her off. But then again, she looked distant, like she wasn't really paying attention anyway.

'We could try one of them houses we passed back on the turn off,' he suggested, hoping food would at least settle things.

'Is that what your new friends taught you? How to loot for booty?' Merle laughed.

'There's a stream near here. We can fish,' Lucy said, beginning to walk in a certain direction and still barely paying attention to either of the men, though Daryl started to follow her.

'She does talk!' Scratching his face, Merle laughed again. 'I think you two are leading me back to the road, get me to that prison.'

'We've got shelter. Food. A pot to piss in might not be a bad idea.' In truth he was hoping he could get Lucy there too, but with her seeming to lead them there wouldn't be much hope of that. Maybe if Merle wanted to go too she would have to follow them.

'For you maybe. Ain't gonna be no damn party for me,' he mumbled. 'Hell, I bet you she wouldn't be too welcome either. Didn't look like she was in on that little council meeting they were having.' Lucy was still listening to them, and was well aware she hadn't been included in the discussion on the road. You're not part of our group. Now she wasn't sure if Rick had meant that in a, 'free to do what you want' way, or something worse. She almost felt like it was a warning to stay away. It was ironic, now that she wanted to be with people.
She stopped paying attention to Daryl and Merle soon enough, struggling to focus on their voices from behind her. She was practically struggling to focus on anything. Her head still hurt and she was hungrier than ever. That, combined with the fact that she hadn't slept properly in god knows how long, was making her tired and concerned about herself. She knew she wouldn't sleep tonight after everything that had happened and she didn't really want to let her guard down around Merle until she knew him better. One foot in front of the other, she carried on, hiding any signs of there being something wrong as best she could.
Daryl caught up with her not much later, leaving Merle to walk by himself.

'Hey, thanks for coming with us,' he said to her, looking at her and then back at the ground.

'Best option,' Lucy replied, telling herself more than him. She was still getting to grips with everything.

'Listen, I'm sorry about him.' Daryl gestured behind them. 'He don't mean any harm, he's just a dick.'

'Don't apologise.' He looked at her again. Her face was plain and she kept looking forwards. 'I saw what he was like back there, still chose to come with you.'

'Thank you.' They turned to each other, forcing half smiles before awkwardly staring forwards again. The conversation had lasted all of thirty seconds and they had already run out of things to say. They had been able to enjoy each others' silence back at the farm and when they had hunted and it seemed to be what had strengthened their companionship. Neither of them were big talkers. Merle was still behind them, grumbling about something occasionally, usually complaining about being hungry or bitten by a bug. Daryl didn't feel much like walking with him again.

'About that house a couple weeks back,' Daryl began. Lucy sighed.

'I told you, no questions.' It was more to avoid feeling guilty or awkward than anything else. She just didn't want to talk about it. Before he could press further, Merle interrupted them.

'Smells to me like the Swahatchee creek.'

'We're not west enough. It's the Yellowjacket,' Lucy told him, continuing to walk.

'Don't blame me for not trusting your sense of direction, girlie, but we ain't never come close to the Yellowjacket,' replied Merle. He looked at Daryl, who had slowed to walk between them, waiting for him to agree.

'Well, we didn't go west. Just a little bit south, that's what I think.' Merle shook his head, disappointed that Daryl hadn't backed him up.

'Know what I think? I may have lost my hand, but you have lost your willpower. She wont give you anything for agreeing with her,' Merle mocked. Lucy resisted the urge to scoff, knowing full well it wouldn't help anything if she fed into his jokes.

'And you will?' Daryl looked at his brother, who shrugged. 'Besides, she's probably right.'

'What do you wanna bet?' Merle grinned again and Daryl stopped in his tracks, throwing his arms outwards and dropping them by his sides as if giving up completely. Lucy stopped too, turning around slowly. She wished they could just keep walking so she wouldn't have to focus on her fatigue.

'I don't wanna bet nothing. Its just a body of water. Why has everything gotta be a competition with you?' He sounded fed up with having to debate with his brother over everything.

'Whoa, take it easy little brother. Just trying to have a little fun here, no need to get your panties all in a bundle.' He seemed happy to be pissing people off, something Lucy couldn't quite understand. Why would you try so hard to annoy people when everyone held a gun these days? The man enjoyed creating more danger than was necessary. Despite that, Daryl wasn't paying attention to him. He was looking between the trees, slightly off from the direction they'd been heading in.

'You hear that?' He asked quietly. Lucy looked in the same direction, not sure if what she could hear was real or some kind of hallucination.

'Yeah. Wild animals getting wild,' Merle said with a hint of sarcasm. Daryl took a few steps in the direction of the sound.

'No, its a baby.' He began walking quickly in the direction he had been looking, adjusting his crossbow on his back.

'Oh, come on. Why don't you just piss in my ear and tell me its raining too? that there's the sound of a couple racoons making love, sweet love, you know what I mean.' Merle looked at Lucy as if expecting her to join him and laugh, but she barely rolled her eyes before following Daryl, trusting him to be onto something worth following.
It wasn't long before they arrived at the river, reaching the edge of the trees and slowing before they got too close to the water. The crying was much louder now, and all three of them could hear it clearly. The sound was coming from a bridge not far up the river, and before Daryl had a chance to say 'I told you so' to Merle, Lucy was jogging towards it. She could hear Merle shouting something about not wasting bullets. It didn't matter to her - the intrusive need to help was tugging at her again.
A woman was screaming in the car, clutching the baby to her chest and occasionally pleading to a god. Two men were surrounded by walkers, backed up with nowhere to run. One had high ground, stood on a trailer, but struggled desperately as a walker clutched his leg and brought it closer to its teeth. The man almost believed he had lost the battle until the dead thing was kicked away by someone from behind him. He whipped around, and Lucy was already jumping down from the trailer to kill the walker. Daryl began firing his crossbow as soon as he reached the bridge, clearing a path for them to advance through. He dumped his bag on the ground, making eye contact with Lucy and nodding towards the car. She nodded back, covering him as he headed towards it. She began firing her own arrows, swiftly thinning out the crowd of the dead. Merle had also joined the fight by now. He was doing the bare minimum necessary to keep his brother alive, still swearing under his breath about the inconvenience. As things began to die down they noticed one of the men repeatedly punching a walker and not making any progress in killing it. Whether or not the man knew how to kill it was unclear, and it was Daryl who jogged over to help while Lucy watched on.
They all seemed to rest in a moment of silence. Lucy leant against the wall of the bridge and dug her water bottle out of her backpack, hoping the others wouldn't notice how out of breath she'd gotten from only a few minutes of activity. Merle seemed to find his way over to the people's car, ignoring the cries of the woman and her baby. He dug through the belongings, tossing some things to the side, occasionally examining them for a moment first. One of the men began shouting at him in another language, only angering Merle, who aimed his gun at the man.

'Slow down. That aint no way to say thank you,' he advised, forcing the man to back up.

'Let him go,' Daryl told him, standing next to him. Lucy slowly walked over, not wanting to interrupt if Daryl had control of the situation.

'The least they can do is give us an enchilada or something, huh?' He leant back into the car, continuing to push various things aside in search of something worth stealing. 'Easy does it, senorita. Everything's gonna be fine.' The men began speaking to each other in hush voices, uncertain what to do about Merle. Lucy didn't enjoy seeing how uncomfortable they were, nor did she like the woman's frightened glances between the intruder and her baby. She'd had enough, and quickened her pace to the car. She stopped next to Daryl, grabbing a gun from his belt and aiming it at the back of Merle's neck, pushing it against his skin gently. She half expected Daryl to take it back from her and defend his brother, but he made no such movement.

'Out,' she said firmly, standing her ground.

'I know youre not talking to me,' Merle challenged, leaving the car and standing tall. She kept the gun trained on him, gripping it tightly in one hand, the other hovering over her knife in her belt. Daryl still held his crossbow, loaded, and while he didn't aim it at either of them he seemed ready to join the fight or diffuse the situation.

'Get in your car and get the hell out of here!' He called over to the men. 'Go, get in your car!' Lucy and Merle held eye contact, barely moving to make room for the car to drive away until he shoved the gun to point away from him. She held it out to Daryl without saying a word, and he returned it to its place. She began walking away almost immediately, Daryl next to her.

'What the shit you doing, letting her point that thing at me? Merle yelled after them as he followed, catching up to them as they reached the tree line.

'They was scared, man!'

'They were rude is what they were. Rude, and they owed us a token of gratitude.' Lucy scoffed and turned around

'They didn't owe us anything! Besides, you barely gave them a chance to thank us before you started robbing them.' Shaking her head she turned back to face the way she was walking, wishing Merle would just disappear.

'Yeah, you helped them people out of the goodness of your heart, even though you might die doing it. Is that something that sheriff rick taught you both?' He kept pushing.

'There was a baby!' Daryl snapped, bringing the group to a stop and getting in his brother's face.

'Oh, otherwise you would've just left them to the biters, then.' Chances are, yes, Lucy thought. They wouldn't have known they were there if the baby hadn't been crying.

'Man, I went back for you. You weren't there.' This was clearly about something Lucy hadn't been a part of. She only knew a very brief version of Merle's history within the group. 'I didn't cut off your hand neither. You did that, way before they locked you up on that roof. You asked for it.' Things had been getting more and more tense since they'd left the group at the road and it felt like things were about to boil over.

'Hah, you know whats funny to me? Hm? You and sheriff rick, like this now,' he held up to crossed fingers, close to Daryl's face. 'I'll bet you a penny and a fiddle of gold, that you never told him that we were planning on robbing that camp blind.' Merle looked proud of himself, like he'd finally squashed an annoying bug. Lucy hadn't expected to hear anything like that, suddenly feeling slightly more awake. She looked to Daryl, who looked sheepish and embarrassed. Surely he wouldn't have done that to the group.

'It didn't happen,' he said to his brother, but his eyes were locked on hers.

'Yeah, it didn't. Because I wasn't there to help you.'

'Like when we were kids? He snapped back to his brother. 'Huh? Who left who then?'

'What? Is that why I lost my hand?' Merle looked even more mad than before to the point where Lucy felt the need to step back slightly, finding a tree to lean on with her hands behind her. Every conversation with the brothers made her regret joining them more and more. Even now, with her backing away, they continued yelling nonsense towards each other until whatever feelings they had boiled over, resulting in Merle grabbing and shoving Daryl to the ground. She almost rolled her eyes at them, believing it to be a typical 'boys will be boys' situation, until Daryl's shirt got ripped on his at down and a number of deep, thick scars became visible on his back. Some went from shoulder to shoulder or shoulder to waist, others marked the skin between them. Lucy stood straight, eyes on his face.

'I didn't know he was-' Merle began, stuttering and suddenly much quieter, retreating into himself.

'Yeah, you did. He did the same to you. That's why you left first.'

'I had to, man. I would have killed him otherwise.' Daryl stood up, pulling his shirt over his back as much as it would allow and covering the remaining skin by slinging his bag over his back. Without a word, and only a slight gesture with his head to Lucy, he began to walk away. She followed him like an obedient dog, not quite sure what else to do at this point. 'Where you going?' He shouted after them.

'Back where I belong,' Daryl replied in the same tone. It hadn't fully occurred to Lucy they might be heading to the prison. When she felt like she regretted being with the brothers she wasn't too sure being at the prison had been the better option.

'I cant go with you. I tried to kill that black bitch. Damn near killed the Chinese kid.' Merle didn't follow, but rather annoyingly his voice did.

'He's Korean.'

'Whatever. Doesn't matter man, I just cant go with you.' Lucy didn't think Daryl really card whether or not Merle was with them anymore. In a final attempt to get a reaction, he took a jab at his brother's new companion. 'Doubt they'll let her back either, you saw the way that Sheriff looked at her.' It almost confirmed to Lucy that she wasn't trusted, something she had felt from Shane before and now from Rick. Daryl stopped and turned to speak, but she held his arm before he could, walking forwards herself.

'It doesn't matter. I'll put in the effort to be trusted if I have to.' She paused. 'All you seem to want to do is piss people off, and this is a result of that. Follow us or don't, but for once in your life keep your mouth shut.' This time she walked ahead of Daryl, though he wasn't far behind, and neither of them bothered to look back to check if Merle had actually decided to follow them or not.
Lucy hadn't expected herself to lash out at Merle, but he had been doing her head in all day and after seeing how hurt Daryl was she really couldn't have dealt with him for much longer. They were all silent now, heading towards the prison without even looking for food. It was refreshing, she thought, to not be the only quiet one anymore, though she'd always felt her and Daryl had had that in common.
After an hour or two of walking they came to a small stream, deciding it would be a good place for a break. They hadn't been walking for particularly long but none of them had slept the night before, nor had they eaten or barely sat down. Lucy and Daryl set their bags down next to the base of a tree and watched cautiously as Merle stopped too, though slightly further up the stream, just out of ear shot. He didn't seem interested in talking to either of them and they had no intention of starting a conversation with him.
The stream was just shy of being knee deep. A few rocks lined the sides of it, some coated in moss and dead leaves. The water looked fresh enough for them to refill their bottles and clean up in, and they did so mostly quietly.

'Sorry, 'bout all that,' Daryl said, facing her with his back turned away. Lucy shrugged, knowing full well it wasn't his fault. She offered him a weak smile. He seemed more nervous now, moving cautiously and constantly readjusting his shredded shirt. She didn't like him being uncomfortable around her. In the back of her mind she knew she could share something with him to ease the tension, to show him he wasn't alone, but she was too aware of oversharing and getting too familiar with people. Though at this point it didn't seem like she'd be splitting up from him anytime soon, and in a way it was only fair to share since she now knew something vulnerable about him.
She sat by the edge of the stream and took her shoes off, setting them down neatly and taking her socks off to put inside them. Daryl tried not to watch, wondering what she was doing, but almost couldn't help it. She rolled the left leg of her jeans up as far as they would go before stopping and looking to see if he was watching her - he was. He looked at her as if to ask what on earth she was doing. If walkers approached them now she would barely be able to run. She had good intentions though, and as she rolled up the right leg Daryl realised exactly what she was doing. There was a long dark scar above her foot. It must have been at least five inches long, maybe more, and an inch thick at its widest parts. It curved around her leg slightly s that it wasn't fully visible from any angle, but Daryl was ale to see the whole thing as she stood and stepped into the stream.

'I went fishing on a lake with my dad when I was seven,' she told him, swishing her feet back and forth in the cold water. 'Accidentally dropped our only good hook in the water, so he pushed me off the back of the boat.' She almost laughed as if she thought of it as a fond memory, but she could've been laughing at the stupidity of the situation. Daryl didn't say anything, still watching her. 'Caught my leg on the side of the boat, it bled like hell and he kept driving, told me I could get back on when I had the hook.' She sat down on the bank, shaking her feet dry and putting her socks and shoes back on, covering the scar back up.

'Asshole, no way you could've got it back,' scoffed Daryl. This time Lucy did laugh. It was the first time he had heard her properly laugh, not just out of sarcasm. Her eyes lit up as she grabbed her back, digging into a pocket on the front of it. After several seconds she pulled out a rusty hook, holding it up to him proudly. He looked surprised and chuckled with her out of disbelief. 'How?' He asked.

'I wanted to get on the damn boat!' She laughed, putting the hook back in its pocket. 'Swam until I thought I'd drown, but I got it. It's no use anymore, I kind of keep it as a 'fuck you' to him.' Daryl couldn't think of anything worth saying and they went back to silence for a moment. Lucy felt strange after opening up something personal to a man who was basically still a stranger to her, but knew it would settle his own feelings after the fight with Merle. He already seemed more relaxed, not fully turning but less eager to hide his back. It didn't feel like something to be ashamed of so much.

'Thanks,' he said to her, both of them knowing exactly what he meant. She smiled at him, going back to her bag while he filled his water bottle. She rummaged through it, finding what she was looking for. 'Hey,' she called to Daryl. He turned to her. She threw a cereal bar to him, keeping one for herself. 'Don't tell him,' she said, gesturing to Merle.

'I wouldn't dream of it,' he replied, opening the packet and eating it immediately. She zipped her bag up again and slung it over her shoulder and Daryl did the same with his, setting off again and following the stream. They weren't far from the prison now - they could be there well before dark. In a way, Lucy was looking forward to seeing the group and knowing if they were okay. No matter how hard she'd tried she'd never been able to forget the group. She was only nervous that Rick wouldn't let her in


~~~

took longer than it meant to, ended up longer than it meant to

Kind of dropped out of uni again and I'm doing online school instead so I may end up stopping or just having way less time for this in October, but I am studying writing so maybe it'll just get really good