Surviving the Apocalypse

Episode 1

       The Dixon brothers have been with the quarry group for about a month now. It took some time for them to be welcomed, only allowed to stay because of their hunting skills and the fact that Daryl had just turned fifteen. It was mainly Merle's fault that no one likes them, he was loud and obnoxious. Daryl stayed off on the sidelines, not seeing the point of starting anything with people who are in the same boat as they are.

From what Daryl had seen, everyone at camp was friendly, besides Ed Peletier. No, Daryl would not be stepping within a five foot distance of that man, he was way too similar to Will Dixon. It made him feel bad for Mrs. Carol and Sophia, but he wasn't going to chance having to face that man. He couldn't say anything to Merle about it, because he would just call him a pansy for worrying about others.

Merle wanted to rob this camp, and Daryl disagreed but had no choice other than to follow his brother, he was the only family he had left. They had agreed that they would wait for the camp to gain more supplies, and then take off with everything during the night. Today, Glenn was going on a run into town, and even though Daryl knew the camp needed supplies, he hoped and prayed the young man didn't bring a lot back. If Merle knew they had plenty, they'd be gone tonight.

     Daryl is walking up to the young man now, with a small list of things he needs. Merle had kept him from writing any lists previously, not wanting to owe the camp anything. However, Daryl barely had anything before the world fell, and now he was down to two outfits, and three pairs of socks. That wouldn't be an issue if it weren't for the fact that he had run out of soap to wash them.

"Hey," Glenn acknowledges, watching the young boy walk up, "you need anything from the city?" The man had seen how Merle acted, when he overheard the younger brother ask if he could request some things.

"Yeah, if you don't mind," the boy spoke quietly, almost a whisper, "it ain't nothing serious, so like- if it's too much trouble don't worry." Daryl handed over the small note, hoping the conversation could be done, before Merle changed his mind on the matter.

Glenn took the paper with a nod, and watched Daryl walk back to the brother's camping area. Unfolding the slip, his heart broke when he saw that the only thing the boy had asked for was one set of clothes, and a bar of soap. There was a scribble under 'soap' that covered another word and Glenn could barely make out that it had once said 'comics'.

The man made a silent promise, looking back up to where Daryl now sat next to his tent, that he would get those damn comics, and allow the kid to be a kid. Everyone at camp noticed the way Merle pushed his brother to distance himself. Never allowing him to play with the kids by the water, or to sit around the main campfire for dinner.

Lori had mentioned once that while she and Carol washed clothes on the Dixon's first afternoon at camp, Daryl had hovered closely 'not' watching. That next day she had seen him clean his and Merle's clothes, using the same technique the women had. She offered to do it for him and he quietly declined, explaining his brother wanted him to do it. However, she managed to get him to accept some clothespins, so he could hang them to dry.

       Now that Daryl knew his list was delivered, he could breathe easier, hopefully the man could get everything without trouble. As much as his brother hated these people, Daryl didn't want Glenn to get hurt, definitely not for something like clothes. It took forever for him to get Merle to allow him to ask, but in return he now had to clean all the kills for a week.

Now this wasn't a problem for Daryl, he didn't mind doing the task, but it was kind of annoying that he had to do both their kills rather than just his own. Normally the rule was if you kill it, you clean it, but now that Merle was in charge of his brother he was turning into a lazy sack of shit. At least in Daryl's opinion, that's why he was cleaning his brother's gun, he was too lazy to do it himself. But Daryl knew better than to complain, or question the orders he was given.