Chapter 5 - Introductions

Two Weeks Later

"Keep your aim nice and straight, don't keep your arms tensed."

The front of his body is lightly against mine, his fingers caressing my skin as he shows me what to do. I feel his breath tickle my neck and it takes everything in me to not shiver at his touch. Instead I keep my eyes focused and locked on my target. I take a deep breath before I pull my arm back and throw the knife forward. I watch it fly through the air and land in the tree, right next to the mark he made.

I groan in frustration, "Why can't I hit it?!" I exclaim angrily.

"You're doing a lot better than you were a week ago." He says and I smile, turning my head to the side to look at him.

His face is inches away from mine and I feel electricity run over my skin as I look at him. His intense eyes look into mine and my breath hitches. My eyes travel down to his soft plump lips and I long to lean forward and press my lips against his. To finally know what it feels like to kiss him.

"Why don't you two kiss already?"

We break apart immediately and turn to look at Daryl's vulgar older brother. He waggles his eyebrows and I roll my eyes, turning and making my way to grab the knife from the tree, "Shut up Merle." I hear Daryl murmur to his brother.

"Hey, I'm just making a simple observation, no need to get your panties in a twist." He says in an all knowing tone.

I pull the knife out of the tree and tuck it into its sheath before I turn and face the two men, "You two still planning on going hunting?" I ask, walking back over to them.

Merle nods his head, "Yeah, that's why I came over her. We better get going now before the sun goes down." He stares.

Daryl nods his head, "Alright." He says, picking up his crossbow from against the tree.

He turns and looks over at me, "We'll be gone a couple of hours or so. You head on back to the camp."

I nod my head and look between the two of them, "Be safe."

Merle gives me a smirk, "We always are sweetheart."

I nod my head and they turn, making their way into the forest. Daryl looks over his shoulder to me for a second and I give him a small smile. He nods his head in return and soon enough they're out of sight. I run my fingers through my hair and make my way back to camp, thinking about what just happened. We were so close and I can't help but think that if Merle hadn't of interrupted us, then something might have happened.

My heart skips excitedly in my chest as I step into our small camp, a bit of smoke rising from the ashes of the fire. I take a seat on the ground beside the fire and take a drink of water, feeling really parched. I keep an eye out for any dangers but I mostly just stare off into the distance, waiting until the guys come back from their hunt.

These past two weeks have been eye opening. They guys have been teaching me how to use weapons, guns and knives. Daryl also let me have a go at his crossbow, however once I nearly punctured one of the tires in the car he took it off of me. They've also been teaching me some traps to use when hunting. I haven't been with them on a major hunt yet, someone always having to remain close to the car, but they showed me how to set up some small traps to catch some wildlife.

We haven't heard anything from the region of Atlanta, meaning that the military haven't come searching for survivors yet. The radio's have also stopped working, the occasional emergency broadcast coming through. We've been in the dark for the better part of two weeks, waiting for any news to help us. We haven't encountered any other survivors either yet, which I think is both a blessing and a curse.

We have however encountered a few of those things, the guys calling them walkers. I haven't had to kill another one since that night, the guys taking care of it for me but I think I'm ready now. I am afraid of them, knowing how dangerous they can be but I think that if the opportunity arose where I would have to take one on, I think I could do it. Sure I would be scared, but I think that I've learned enough from the guys to take them on one at a time.

I hear the sound a twig snapping from behind me and I sit up properly, looking behind me. I don't see anything straight away but a weird feeling overcomes me. I pull my knife out of my belt and rise to my feet, my eyes locked towards where the noise came from. I hear another rustling and I focus my eyes towards the bush in front of me.

I hear a groaning and a walker pushes it's way into our little campsite. You can tell it was a human, someone who had turned not too long ago. It's eyes are yellow and dull, it's skin pale and sickly. Fear consumes me for a moment as I look at the creature, it's hungry dead eyes looking for its next meal. I take a deep breath and prepare myself as it stumbles towards me, it's growls growing louder at the prospect of food. I brace myself as it lunges towards me and I step out of its way, it stumbling past me.

It turns around and roars at me angrily before making another attempt to grab me. This time I am prepared and I throw my hand forward, the knife hitting into its neck. Blood spurts over me and grunt as it pushes against me again. I move my hand back and swing again, this time the knife plunging into the skull of the walker. It falls to a heap on the ground and I stare it, my shoulders heaving from my deep breaths.

I wipe my wrist on my face and look down at it for a moment, for some strange reason I'm proud of myself. However the longer I look at it, the sadder I get as I realise what it once was. I shake off the sadness and tuck my knife into the belt of my pants as I look down at it. I brush my hair out of my face before kneeling down and grabbing it around the ankles. I stand back up and drag out of the campsite and just into the tree line.

I drop its legs to the forest floor and look at it for a moment longer before turning and making my way back to the campsite. I dust off my hands before I walk and take a seat at the door of the tent. I grab the rag from the ground and wipe the blood off of me, annoyed that another set of clothes is ruined. I wipe at my face, using a bit of water to help before I hang it out of the rope of the tent.

My stomach grumbles and I reach for the bag, grabbing out a packet of dried meat. I open it up and take out a slice before re-sealing it back up. I put the packet away and push the bag back to the corner, taking a bite of my food in the process. It's very salty but it has more flavour than the squirrels we've been eating these past few weeks. I prop my knees up and rest my arms on them as I eat, keeping an eye out once again.

After awhile I feel my eyes begin to droop as my head slowly falls towards my chest when I hear the sound of a twig snapping. I sit up startled and get up, pulling my knife out of my belt. I slowly walk towards the noise when a figure walks out. I pull my arm back getting ready to attack when the figure call sout, "Bree! It's us!"

I let out a sigh of relief when I notice that it's Merle, "Jesus, you scared me half to death." I breath.

Another figure walks out of the bush and I freeze at the sight of them, "Who the hell is that?" I ask, raising my knife once more.

Daryl walks out from behind them and he holds his hand up, "Easy, easy."

I look at the man and take in his features. He looks to be between his thirties and forties, Hispanic in origin. His clothes are dirty like the rest of us, the wear and tear of surviving in this new world. His eyes go between the guys and me, a look in his eyes that I can't quite explain. I cock my eyebrow up in confusion and look between the three of them, "Who is this?"

"His name is..." Merle trails off before turning to the guy, "What's your name again?"

"Morales." He states, his eyes on me.

Merle turns back to look at me, "Morales here says he has a camp we can come to. There's more people, offers better protection." He states.

I look over at the guy with a questioning glance, "Why would you just bring us into your camp?"

"Because now more than ever we need people. Those things haven't reached us where our camp is, we're set up by the quarry so we have a substantial view all around. Plus, if or when the military does come looking for survivors, we're close enough to the city that we will be one of the first to be found. You can be safe there." He says, looking me right in the eye.

I wonder why he's being so intense with me, trying to emphasise my safety. I between Merle and Daryl, "So, are we gonna go?" I ask.

Daryl shrugs his shoulders, "I don't see why not."

Merle nods in agreement, "It's probably safer to go there than stay here. Looks like you've had a run since we've been away." He states, nodding towards my clothing.

I look down and notice the bloodstains and I nod my head, "Yeah, it was just one. I took it down easy." I say with a smirk.

"We'll look who's getting cocky. Maybe we leave you here and you take care of yourself from now on." He says jokingly.

I smile and shake my head, "No, I could never leave my boys." I say, smiling over at Daryl.

A small smirk plays on his lips and I turn to Morales, "How far away is your camp?" I ask, tucking my hands into my back pockets.

"About a half a mile back down the road. We wanted to be close enough to the city incase help came." He explains and I nod my head, "Great minds think alike."

I turn to the guys, "Should we pack up?" I ask and Merle nods his head, "If we wanna get there by sundown then yeah."

I nod my head and turn to walk to the tent, grabbing out the backpack. I step inside and grab one of the sleeping bags, beginning to fold and roll it up to put away. I hear footsteps coming towards me as well as talking a little ways away and a person steps into the tent. I turn and see a pair of boots and I look up to see Daryl, "Mind helping me with this?" I ask, nodding towards the bag.

He kneels down and grabs the bag and opens it for me as I push it inside, "You okay?" He asks, looking up at me.

I nod my head, "I'm fine, I made sure it wouldn't get me." I say, pulling the ties on the bag.

We move to the next one and repeat the same process, "How did you end up finding this guy?" I whisper, so he doesn't hear me.

He starts to roll up the bag as he speaks, "Merle and I were tracking this squirrel when heard this guy grunting. We walked forward and saw him taking on two walkers, I took one down as he took down the other."

"Then what did he do?" I ask as we put the sleeping bag in it's bag.

"He was really grateful. He told us about his camp, how safe it is and how many people they have. They've got a hell of a lot of food too." He states and I give him a confused look, "Do you trust this guy?"

He pauses from what he is doing and looks up at me, "This guy ain't a threat and it sounds like the people back at their camp aren't either. It's just a bunch of families and stragglers, people just looking to survive just like us." 

I nod my head, trusting his instincts, "If you're sure. I trust the both of you, if you say this is the right call I'll follow you."

He looks me deep in the eyes for a long moment before nodding his head, "This is the right call."

I look at him for a long moment before nodding my head, "Okay."

I turn and grab the last sleeping bag and with his help we quickly put everything away. I grab the sleeping bags and the backpack before walking over to the truck while the guys begin to take down the tent. Morales stands by the car and I walk past him to place the bags in the back of the truck. He turns to look at me as I do so, "So, how did you get here?" He asks, something behind his tone.

I make sure everything is secure before turning to him, "I got attacked at work by one of those things. We followed the President's instructions to go to our nearest refugee centre and... Well you know how that turned out." I say and he nods his head, "So we've just been camping out here, waiting for any news about what's happening."

He looks at me for a moment before glancing over at the guys, "And how long have you known them?" He asks, his tone weary.

I give him a look before answering, "My whole life, we grew up together. Why?" I ask, wondering why he is acting so weird.

"So they haven't... You know..." He trails off and it's like a light switch goes off in my head and I look at him appalled, "Are you serious?" I spit.

He gives me an apologetic look, "I'm sorry but two men and one woman alone in the woods, it..."

I shake my head disgusted, "You've known them what for five minutes and you think they're rapists? They would never do anything like that. They're good guys." I say in a quiet tone to not draw their attention.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to be sure." He states, holding his hands up defensively.

I shake my head, "Those two men have done more for me than any person has in my life. Don't make assumptions about people before you even get to know them." I state before walking away from him toward the guys.

"Everything alright?" Daryl asks, looking up from the tent.

I nod my head, "I just wanna get out of here."

"Well..." Merle says, tying up the string on the bag, "We're done now."

I nod my head and he turns to Morelas, "You ready?" Merle asks and the guy nods his head, "Yeah."

We walk over and Merle tosses the tent in the back of the truck, "I'll sit in the back." Daryl says.

I shake my head, "No you sit in the truck, I'm smaller and will fit easier beside the bike." I state.

He goes to protest but I walk past him and begin to climb into the back. He gives me a glare and I smirk at him before he rolls his eyes and climbs into the truck. I sit up against the window of the truck and settling in right beside the bike. The truck starts up and soon we speed down the dirt road back towards the highway.

I fidget with my hands nervously as we go and I wonder what this new camp will be like. How many people are there? How safe is the camp? Are they good or bad people? Is this a trap? Though that last thought keeps running through my mind I trust Daryl and Merle's judgement, they haven't let me down so far.

The ride really is quick as we take a turn off and soon the bitchumen becomes gravel once more as we make our way up the mountain beside the quarry. I take in the scenery and it's actually quite beautiful, an amazing expanse of forest surround the location. I turn my head and see a flash of beautiful clear water and I wonder how they came across such an amazing spot.

"Wow." I whisper in awe.

Soon we turn a corner and we slow right down, coming to a stop by some other parked cars. I hear the sounds of people's voices as the truck's doors open up. I get up from my spot and Daryl comes and stands in front of me down below. I take a step down and his hands wrap around my waist as he lowers me to the ground. His hands are warm and firm, causing my heart rate to pick up. We lock eyes for a moment before I take in voices.

"Morales, what the hell is this?" A deep southern accent asks.

I turn and see a group of people standing at the end of their truck, the man who spoke having an assault shotgun aimed at us. He is fairly tall and has brown hair and a hard jawline. Daryl and I walk forward and Morales speaks to the man, "It's okay, they're cool."

"Who are they?" A woman asks from beside the man, with long brown hair and a slender figure.

"They saved my life. They were living out in the woods alone, the girl was attacked while the guys were away. I had to help them." Morales explains.

The guy with the shotgun looks at him, "You can't just be brining people back here. We don't know who they are." He argues.

"Well we ain't murderers if that's what you're asking." Merle says, speaking up from his spot by Morales.

"Then who are you?" A blonde woman asks, her eyes taking us all in.

"Merle Dixon, ex-military. And those two over there are Daryl and Bree." He says, nodding over towards us.

The others eyes linger on us for a moment and I take them all in. There certainly is an array of people, coming from all different backgrounds. There are two blonde woman, one of them being the blonde who spoke. There's the guy with the shot gun, the brunette woman who has her arms protectively around a young boy. There's an Asian kid standing towards the back beside a slender black haired middle aged man and a black woman. I see others sprinkled around the camp, watching us from a distance.

Up on top of the RV parked in the middle is an older man with a rifle in his hands, his eyes scanning over the situation below him. I tune back into the conversation, seeing that Morales is still trying to plead our innocence, "They can hunt."

"They can?" The Asian kid asks and Merle nods his head, "My baby brother and I have been hunting off the animals in the forest, we're pretty good at it too."

"How good?" The young kid asks and his mother scolds him.

Merle chuckles and turns to Daryl, "Show them baby brother."

Daryl eyes him for a moment before walking to the back of the truck. He grabs the pelt of squirrels and walks forward, showing them their hunt. On the pelt in a dozen or so squirrels, enough to last us for a few days. They eye it in appreciation and Merle turns to them, "You let us stay, we can hunt enough for everybody."

The man with the shotgun eyes us for a long minute and everyone looks at him to guidance. Soon enough I hear a voice in the distance, "Let them in! The more people there are protecting this place, the better."

Everyone turns and looks up at the older man on the RV before turning back to their leader. The man eyes us for a moment more before lowering the gun and nodding his head, "Alright."

"Thank you." I say, nodding appreciatively.

He nods his head in return before turning to Merle, "There's a spare spot down the end past the washing lines, that should be enough for the three of you."

Merle nods his head before turning to Daryl, "Let's go you two."

I look over the group for a second before turning and walking towards the back of the truck. Daryl stands up on the foot ledge and pulls out a few bags, passing them to me. I sling one on my shoulder as Daryl grabs a few other things. We step down and Merle meets us at the head of the truck where Morales waits, "It's this way." He says, nodding towards the camp.

He leads us through the camp to our spot and we get a better view of everything. There's a lot more people than I expected, each of them scattered around doing different jobs. Their eyes are locked on us as we walk through, eyeing us apprehensively. Up ahead I see two rows of tents where Morales leads us. We walk through the set up until we see a spare spot, "This is where you can set up. It's not much but it'll do."

He turns and points towards the group of people, "Shane, the man with the shotgun drives down to get water everyday. You have to boil it before using it, which you probably already know to do. We do have some canned food but your hunting will be very appreciated."

He stops talking and it kind of becomes awkward. He looks at the ground for a moment before turning to us, "Well, I'll let you guys settle in. Dinner will be ready in an hour or so."

"Thank you." Merle says politely, a tone I don't hear from him very often.

Morales nods and turns, making his way back towards the other people in the camp. They all look at us apprehensively, not even hiding their stares as they do their 'chores'. I ignore them and I sling the bags off my shoulders to the ground, "Who's got the tent?" I ask, looking between the two men.

Merle holds up the bag and I nod, "Let's get it set up then."

He kneels down and pulls out the tent and we set to work setting it up. It doesn't take that long and soon enough it is standing and we're setting everything up inside. I lay out the sleeping bags as I hear the guys talk behind me.

"Did you get a look at all the stuff they have here?" Daryl asks.

Merle grunts, "Yeah, I see an awful lot of supplies and not a lot of strong people to look after it. There's that leader guy Shane, Morales and I saw maybe one or two more guys. Other than that this camp looks pretty weak." He states as I turn and sit on my sleeping bag.

"Then why are we staying here man. The three of us where better off on our own." Daryl says.

"You don't think too much do you little brother?" Merle asks.

He looks between the two of us and I look at him confused. He shakes his head, "See, this why I'm the smart one. You two ain't got much sense in you."

"Alright then Merle," I say, folding my arms over my chest and giving him a look, "What's the big plan then?"

He gives me a look with a big smirk on his face, "We're gonna rob them."

"What?" Daryl and I both ask at the same time.

"These people are naive, hell they just let us in without so much as a blink in our direction. We play along for a couple of weeks, settle in. Get them to trust us and then we rob them during the night and go off on our own." He explains as if it's the most simple thing in the world.

"Are you serious?" Daryl asks as I just stare at Merle in shock.

"You just said so yourself that these people are weak. How long do you think they're gonna last in a world like this?" Merle asks the two of us.

"The military are gonna sort this out, the CDC said they were working on something." I say.

Merle sighs, "Bree you and I both know that the military ain't coming. They bombed Atlanta, they ain't looking out for no one but themselves darling."

"Well then what about the kids huh?" I argue, "You just gonna let them starve?"

He shakes his head frustratedly, "Look, I don't give a crap about anyone out in that camp. My only priority is the three of us. If robbing this camp blind is what it takes for us to be safe then I will not hesitate. It's the three of us, like it always has been. Now I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep us safe alright? It's us or them." He says, looking me right in the eye.

I look him in the eye for a long moment before I look over at Daryl and I see the same confliction he has in his eyes. I look to him for guidance, knowing that he has never put me in danger in all my life. He glances at Merle for a moment before looking at me and nodding his head. I close my eyes for a brief moment before turning back to Merle, "Fine."

"Good, now we better go out there and mingle. Don't want anyone thinking we ain't friendly?" He smirks.

I roll my eyes and get up from the sleeping bag as we make our way out of the tent, the first part of Merle's plan coming to order.