Daryl Dixon x Reader One-shots

Requested: Daryl x Reader

Requested by Ao3 user Nova: Rick and the group are preparing for war with the Saviors, and they learn of a community hidden deep in the woods that hates men and sees them as lower beings. They finally have a meeting in which all the men must be handcuffed and have their weapons taken away. Once they are inside and meet the leader, Daryl sees someone he thought was long dead.

-Orphan!Sexist!Reader
-The community is entirely fem

***

Voices filled the room, strong and angry. Your single raised fist silenced the women, a display of the power you had over them. A power that had been chosen by them, presumably because they felt they owed you a debt. A hush fell over the large room.

"I know most of you won't like it," you started, eyeing the crowd of women in the room. some seated, some standing - all of them with a serious expression on their face. Their eyes seemed to be filled with worry and fear, but you knew they trusted you. After all, you had saved every single woman in this building. The silence lasted a good few minutes as tension filled up like water flooding a gutter.
"But we have to help them," you added finally. This final statement earned a few gasps and sighs, as each person looked around as if to survey the reactions of their friends.

"But they're men," Amy said, her short blonde hair messy from stress-induced tugging. Dark shadows lay under her eyes in a gentle curve, and your chest tightened slightly. She had been one of the first woman you'd saved, and one of the only original inhabitants of the place you now called home - an old women's shelter hidden deep in the woods called Forest Haven. Amy had fought by you since day one, and you never wanted to disappoint her. But this was different.

"I know," you sighed exasperatingly, "but the man seems genuine."

"Men are never genuine! You know that, y/n!" Another woman called out, and you nodded. You had saved each woman here not from walkers, but by men; men wanting to either rape, steal, or kill. So with a mutual disliking for men and a hunger to survive, you had built a community together. It may seem unreasonable, but the only men you'd ever encountered had always been toxic - before and after the apocalypse. Being an orphan meant that you didn't even have a father figure to look up to, so based on your experiences it was safe to assume that all males were not to be trusted. Everyone in your community agreed.

Scavenging for weapons and food had been successful, and you'd always managed to stay hidden from what was left of society. Forest Haven was like a well oiled machine consisting of women and willpower.
Up until a few days ago.

Everyone was on high alert one morning when a group had entered the perimeter and the guards had warned everyone. They'd been surrounded in no more than 2 minutes. The group had consisted of two women and two men. Hands raised in the air and desperation in their eyes had already displayed their lack of will to harm us, but we will still cautious.

The four had introduced themselves as Tara, Michonne, Aaron and Rick. They had come to ask for help to fight against a group called the Saviors, a group that plundered and terrorized and killed.

"How did you find us?" A small woman had asked, her gun pointed at the man - Rick's- face.

"We've been watching for a while," the other man interjected.
 "One of our men is an excellent tracker, and he came across your base here about a week ago. He saw your weapons, your stability. Thought we could use your help."

Looks of disbelief were exchanged. We'd been stalked and none of us had realized it.

"Will you help us or not?" The dark-skinned woman had asked impatiently, a long thick dreadlock hanging in front of her face.