Unexpected (A Daryl Dixon Fanfiction)

4 - Company

At the break of light, I was up and changing clothes to a long sleeve shirt, jeans, and my combat boots. I laced my gun holster through my jeans and left the building. I did a perimeter check and was ready to leave. The men only brought one car so, Shane and Morales rode in theirs while Daryl, Glenn and I rode in my Escalade. This car was my baby, I was never one to drive and honestly, I never got my license. I followed the Jeep to the freeway. It was a quiet ride minus a few questions from Glenn. Daryl was riding shotgun and didn’t say much but a casual grunt here and there. Not to mention he did this thing where he would rub his face a lot. It probably wasn’t healthy, since he was dealing with walker blood.

We reached their camp in no time. Everyone got out of the cars quickly and walked into the camp. The people stood up and walked over to them. I slowly slid out of the car, slinging my gun on my back, and closing the door. I crossed my arms and awkwardly walked behind Glenn. Shane started talking and he immediately had everyone’s attention. I listened intently.

“What no supplies?” A woman with brown hair asked.

“Nope we found something better,” Glenn replied.

“Everyone, this is Aaron,” Shane started as he looked back and put his hand on my back motioning me forward.

The people around greeted me in a choir. I shifted my weight feeling uncomfortable as I gave them a small wave.

“Isn’t that a boys’ name?” I heard a small voice say from the group. I looked down and noticed a little boy standing next to whom I assumed was his mother. I inwardly groaned. Ugh, god, kids in a zombie apocalypse? Nothing was good about that. The woman leaned down and whispered to the boy and he nodded.

“Great so you found a girl but no supplies?” A gruffy older looking man said.

“We found her on a run and she secured a living area in some apartments.”

“I have supplies and weapons and there’s a ‘nuff space for everyone, there’s cars and a playground for the kids. We can secure it with a perimeter, and it should be stable for a while,” I added quietly.

I guess my attempt at persuading the group was actually working. They started talking amongst themselves, how well it sounded and things of that nature.

“So what do you say?” Shane asked.

There were simultaneous cheers and I grinned slightly.

“Good so we should leave and start setting things up before it gets dark,” Glenn chimed.

“Alright, everyone get to it,” Shane announced.

Everyone started bustling, tearing down tents, the fireplace, packing supplies, and whatever they had. I leaned against the hood of my truck as I watched. I didn’t know what to do so I just stood there. There were families and I guess Daryl had a brother, because they were goofing off a bit as they were packing. Most families rode in the RV and others in the couple other cars they had. I drove with T-Dog, Glenn, Jaqui, and Jim. They talked amongst themselves as I drove. An hour later, we arrived at the apartments. Still there was no sign of walkers, as the group called them, which was probably due to the brick walls surrounding the place. The only thing that wasn’t blocked off was one entrance that cars could go through. I hopped out quickly with my gun in hand. The other cars barely coming to a stop behind mine. I gave them a signal to wait, as I made sure nothing had slipped into the barrier. I opened it and scanned the area with my trained eyes. I did a quick perimeter search before opening the gate signaling everyone to drive in. Glenn was at the steering wheel of my Escalade and drove through the gate. I kept watch as the numerous cars drove through the gated area. I caught movement in the corner of my eye and noticed a little girl walker. She looked to be the age of three.  I made sure everyone was in the gate before I shot her. I looked back to check if anyone heard, but thank god for silencers. I closed the gate and padlocked it shut. The cars barely fit into the small space, but they placed them around the perimeter of the area. I walked up to my apartment and the some of the men walked in behind me. I stopped and turned to them seeing as we were going to make a plan for surviving here.  I leaned my gun against the wall and they all looked at me.

“Damn Girlie, You’ve got a shit ton of guns in here,” The southern hick who was Daryl’s brother was going through my bag of guns.

“Hey… Hey, sir, I don’t know you well enough to be going through my things or taking weapons from me,” I said sternly. Now I wish I had a louder voice, but it was naturally small and quiet.

The man looked up at me and stood up, sizing me up and down, I took a step back as I glared at him.

“You know sugar tits, you’re kind of cute.”

I backed away more and bumped into Glenn. There was a strong arm placed in front of me and I noticed Daryl standing between his brother and me.

“Step off Merle, we just got here and you’re already screwing shit up,” Daryl sneered.

Glenn placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it slightly. I nodded at him and moved forward.

“I’d prefer you to keep your distance and I think instead of worrying about guns for a bit we should get started on the barrier. We need to expand to the buildings that are in this triangle. There are a ‘nuff apartments for everyone, plus a playground for the kids. At least one top floor apartment needs to have a look out at all times. I’ll show you ways that I’ve done that. That’s about it, any questions?”

“Why do I need to take orders from a prissy lil girl anyway?” Merle asked, being a smart ass.

I crossed my arms and I heard Daryl let out a grunt.

“What choice do you have? You can go back out there with the geeks or you can shut up and do some work.”

I heard some snickers from the men and grinned.

“Let’s get to it then!”