RE-WRITING! Guardian Angel. (A Walking Dead/Daryl Dixon Fan Fiction)

RE-WRITTEN - Chapter 5.

Piper sat beside the fire with Daryl, though it was not lit, the two did not mind, they were prepping for their expedition to Atlanta. Piper was anxious about the trip, she was afraid they'd find Merle dead, as a walker, and Daryl would have to take him out. She knew it would destroy him. Piper glance up at Daryl, he was wiping down his arrow, and a frown planted firmly on his face. She placed a hand on his shoulder and he turned to her. She sent him a warm smile but only a ghost of one appeared on his lips as he turned back to his arrows.

"Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?" Shane's voice sounded as he and Rick walked towards the two, stopping beside Piper and Daryl.

Daryl glared at the two. "Hey, choose your words more carefully." He snapped, now standing.

"I did. Douchebag's what I meant." Shane retorted, Piper rolled her eyes as she stood. She understood both sides of this, she of all people, knew how much of a dick Merle Dixon could be, she'd spent the longest time with them and wasn't always the biggest fan of the older Dixon brother. "Merle Dixon...The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst." Shane tried to convince Rick.

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst... me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being." Rick explained, Piper smiled at Rick, she appreciated his want to help.

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori asked.

"And me." Piper added, Daryl frowned at her, still not a fan of the fact she wanted to join them but Piper only sent him a stern look. Rick nodded at Piper before turning to Glenn.

Glenn groaned. "Oh, come on."

"You know the way. You've been there before... In and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask... I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." Rick told him, looking back at Lori.

"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk four people, huh?" Shane asked.

"Five." T-Dog said.

Daryl scoffed. "My day just gets better and better, don't it?" He said.

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog snapped.

"Why you?" Daryl asked.

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language." Dog scoffed.

"That's five." Dale confirmed.

"It's not just five. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that Walker. It was here, in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here, to protect the camp." Shane argued.

"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns." Rick suggested, grabbing the attention of the small group that had gathered by the fire.

Glenn's eyes lit up. "Right, the guns." He exclaimed.

"Wait. What guns?" Shane asked.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up." Rick explained.

"Ammo?" Piper questioned, walking over to them.

"700 rounds, assorted." Rick replied.

"You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?" Lori piped in.