Who Am I To Judge? **Daryl Dixon//Pre-Apocalyptic**

1

Shay Fletcher ain't the usual hick you'd find in the Georgian lands yet there she sat, sipping at a glass of Jack, straight up with no ice, forcing herself to swallow the sharp, crisp drink. She kicked at the bag at her feet and sighed as two books fell out and landed on the floor.

You see, Shay didn't belong there. She didn't want to be there nor did she have any particular reason to after finding out her brother, Caleb, was no where to be found. She found no plausible reason of staying there other than to have a damn drink and to try and make the pain go away, a little at a time. She never could get drunk enough to forget home and the life she lead but she was going to try hard to tonight.

The 'pain' isn't as dramatic as it sounds. Others probably had is worse and Shay wasn't disputing this. Shay was good in school; she stayed out of trouble and kept her head down when needed to. She was never bullied or teased overly and actually had several acquaintances that didn't give two shits at the bad reputation they received by hanging out with her. Same couldn't be said about her home life though. No matter how well she behaved, how many narky comments she kept to herself...it wasn't enough to keep her mum happy. But then again, neither was the smokes or alcohol Shay constantly had to for her. Nothing made the woman happy other than other's misery and discomfort. 

Shay was here because of her brother, Caleb Fletcher. Cal was her brother, older by 12 years yet mentally younger by 10. He owned a small house-that looked a lot like a shack, in Shay's opinion-but it was empty after Shay had banged on the door. None of her brother's 'friends' had been around and she was just hoping she would bump into one of them before going to tell them to give him a piece of their mind when they next see him, directly from her, of course.

 "You sure you're over 21?" a harsh voice ripped me out of my thoughts and I immediately glanced up with a fake smile on my face. 

"Yeah! 22 last summer!" I smiled widely and watched as the bartender turned around after giving me the once over. My face fell back down to the frown in which it was before acting fake and sighed, kicking the chair leg with my boot over and over, bored out of my mind and just waiting for the drink to settle in my stomach before reaching for more.

"Beer," a voice sounded from right behind me and I rolled my eyes as a hand landed on my shoulder, "and...a..." he paused before leaning over me, pressing me against the bar awkwardly and leaning on me while he eyed my glass. "Jack?" he asked, the strong sound of surprise prominent in his voice. "Yeah...a...Jack for this chick." he quickly tried to recover before breathing heavily in my ear, getting ready to say his next chat up line. I froze before swiftly sliding myself to the right so I was sat in the chair next to me, leaving the man having to suddenly support himself against the bar. He must have thought this was an invitation for him to sit down so he did so, much to my disgust.

"Hey, baby." the man's voice sounded again and I kept my face blank as he sat down on the chair that I had just vacated. "Did it hurt when you fell from down from heaven? Cos if not, I can make you hurt tonight..." he trailed off and I smirked.

"No. But it sure as hell hurt when I clawed my way up from hell. And," I threw a glance at the man and my eyes widened when I saw who it was. "...wouldn't want ya to throw your back trying, old man..." I trailed off then glanced away before looking back at him.

"Merle Dixon, right?"

He narrowed his eyes before grabbing my wrist and yanking me towards him. He put his lips to my ear then chuckled softly and slowly.

"Word travels fast then, huh? You must know how good I am then. And how..."

"For fucks sake, piss off, Merle!" I pushed him back and chuckled briefly at the look of shock on his face. He stared at me blankly while I stood there in annoyance. I pointed to my face.