(1) Wolf in Me (D. Dixon)

Chapter Six

There is a new energy to the camp come morning. With the arrival of a new face, the reunion of a thought lost loved one, and a general relief that almost everyone made it back from the city in one piece. No grief for Merle, but Diana does feel bad because he is still a werewolf and it is a loss of one of her people, despite how much of a dick he was. Carl and Sophia are both in a better mood too. Brighter. Carl is obviously very happy that his dad is back in his life, and alive. It must be such a weight lifted from his small shoulders. Diana smiles listening to the two of them talking together behind her. It's the loudest that Sophia ever is, when she is with Carl or Diana. She very rarely talks when around the others, and more so if her father is lingering. They push through some bushes only for Diana to come to a sudden halt. A walker is busy devouring a dead deer on the trail ahead of them. Diana holds out her arm to stop Carl and Sophia behind her. The two children immediately react to her change in body language. They fall silent. Her eyes flicker around and through the trees trying to work out if this walker is alone or if there are more lingering around. But as far as she can sense, this is a stray wanderer.

"Back to camp. Now" She tells Carl and Sophia who hesitate for a moment before racing through the trees. Diana pulls her knife from the back of her jeans and takes a slow but deep breath. She steps carefully and quietly, slow and sure of her steps. One twig snaps and it will turn on her. It's just one, and she's strong and fast, but she still doesn't want to risk it.

"Mom!" She hears Carl yelling behind her as he and Sophia return to camp. Almost as soon as the alarm in Carl's voice registers with the rest of the camp, Diana can hear movement behind her, footsteps racing towards her location. They are going to disturb the walker before she can kill it. She reaches out and grabs it by the back of the head. Dale, Glenn, Shane, Jim, Morales and Rick appear through the trees behind Diana as she slides the blade into the head of the walker, pulling it back and away from the deer. She slides her blade back from it with a sickening gooey sound. She pulls a face as the walker drops to the ground. Dead and dealt with. She flicks her blade downward to get rid of the ick from it. Shane moves towards her to check on her, to make sure she wasn't bitten or scratched. But she's fine. She lets him take her arms and give her the once over just to ease his mind. If he sees she can take care of herself, maybe he might be more willing to loosen his new parental reigns a little.

"It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain" Dale comments as he stares down at the walker.

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what" Jim adds leaning on the shovel he carried with him to help. Close by a branch snaps, putting them all on edge again. Shane pushes Diana back behind him as he readies the gun in his hand. Diana rolls her eyes slightly. The footsteps are too heavy to be a walker. It's a living person. And considering that only one member of their group goes off into the trees, it is going to be Daryl. And only a few moments later, Daryl steps out from between the trees. Pausing when he sees almost every single male of the group with their weapons trained and ready and aimed towards him. He gives them all a dirty look as he slides his crossbow onto his back.

"Oh, Jesus" Dale comments, the first to lower his axe with a relieved sigh. Daryl's eyes find the dead deer and the dead walker.

"Son of a bitch" He complains and moves towards the dead bodies. "That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this... filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" He kicks the carcass of the walker.

"Calm down, son. That's not helping" Dale tries to defuse the situation. He's a soft and gentle man. The sort that will now be rather rare in this world. Diana feels that it is going to be those types of men that die first. Likely more by human hand than walker teeth.

"What do you know about it, old man?" Daryl asks, anger and annoyance rising in him. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'on Golden Pond'? I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison" Daryl moves back to the deer and crouches to look over the damage. He hums a little and motions at the bite wounds as he looks up at Shane. "What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed-up part right here?"

"I would not risk that" Shane answers. Daryl sighs and looks back at the deer before he pushes himself up to his feet.

"That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel... about a dozen or so. That'll have to do" He sighs and moves to head towards the camp, pausing at Diana. He does this and she knows why. His nostrils flare as if he's trying to figure out her scent. She's worked hard to cover up what she is to others of her kind. She's not had the best experience with meeting outsider werewolves over the last few years. And she can't read Daryl well enough to drop her guard yet. He's more interested in isolating himself from the group with his brother. She understands why they are that way, because of what they are, they are basically the same as her in that aspect. She puts herself on the outside too. A little so because of her connection to Shane, but still on the outside. He won't be able to sense what she is through scent. He huffs to himself and then walks away. She knows that this skill adapts her scent to one that is more closely resembling a human, but it is just off. Derek explained that it smells like an off-brand human, which would confuse someone with an enhanced sense of smell. She's working on that aspect of it. Because it obviously arouses suspicions that she smells almost human.