4Terror raced through Darcy's body as the sound of twigs snapping echoed through the woods. Darcy desperately dug her Taser out of her bag as she tried to recall the differences between the living and the dead's footsteps. Trembles racked her body as she slowly twisted in a circle to get a sense of where the sounds where coming from but the noises jumbled together to much for her to pinpoint any one direction.
"Jane? Erik?" Darcy called out, silently hoping that she had been found. Her hope was diminished, however, when a man with short dirty brown hair stepped out from behind a tree. A scream tore out from Darcy's throat as the stranger aimed his crossbow at her and pulled the trigger before she had a chance to even think about tazing him.
"Shut up! Do you want even more of them to come down on us?" the man hissed and Darcy obediently closed her mouth once she noticed that she wasn't dead. However, her eyes never left the man as he stepped around her to fetch what she believed to be an arrow out of a walker's head.
"So I'm Darcy, who are you?" she questioned as she watched him reload his crossbow.
"Daryl," he grunted while his eyes flickered to the weapon she held loosely in her right hand. "Is that the only thing you've got?"
"No, I also have a knife," Darcy told him and pulled a small pocket knife out of her pocket. Daryl shook his head at her pitiful excuse for weapons before he undid one of his extra hunting knives from his belt and handed it to her. Darcy smiled her thanks before she untied the knot in her bag to put her new knife in it. Daryl shook his head at her again and was about to tell her to attach it to her belt before he caught site of what was in her pack.
"Don't you have any food or water?" Daryl cried out incredulously, efficiently startling Darcy and caused her to drop her bag filled with clothes and pictures.
"No, I dropped my main pack while I was running from a horde." Darcy stated quietly as tears began to prick her eyes as she thought of her two friends, but she quickly swiped them away and put on a smile.
"When's the last time you ate or drank?" Daryl asked her while he reached for the bottle of water and small cooked squirrel he had brought with him. Darcy held up two fingers as she chugged the water that was just handed to her before she tentatively nibbled on the squirrel before she gobbled it down in desperation. Daryl raised an eyebrow as he watched her consume the small morsel entirely to fast but he decided against saying anything about it.
"That was amazing did you cook it?"
"Nah, Carol did, "Darcy said bluntly and a large smile stretched across Darcy's face.
"Ooh is Carol your girly-friend?" Darcy teased while she waggled her eyebrows.
"No, she's not... I don't... she's just a woman in the group I'm with." he stammered out as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I could take you back to my group if you want."
"Sounds awesome," Darcy responded and the two stood in awkward silence until Darcy decided to open her mouth to make it even worse. "So how do you not have a girlfriend? I mean you're mega hot, in a strange apocalyptic way."
Red flushed Daryl's face while he racked his brain for an escape from her words. "I'm actually supposed to be hunting right now, so unless you can keep quiet you'll have to hole up somewhere and I'll getcha later."
"I can be quiet."
Daryl gave her a look that clearly said 'yeah-right' and so with a little pout Darcy climbed up the closest tree. Without another word Daryl headed back the way he came to hopefully pick up the deer's track again.
Darcy sighed quietly as she rested her head against the rough bark of the tree. The minutes ticked by slowly and just when she was about to fall asleep a rather large doe lept out into the opening. A smirk played on Darcy's lips as she silently lined up her Taser with the deer. A cry of surprise left her mouth as the deer fell to the ground and began to spasm while she hastily un-treed herself . With her newly acquired knife in her hand she hesitated only for a moment before she plunged its blade into the deer's skull.
"Woo Hoo I am the Taser queen." Darcy softly sang out as she did a victory hip wiggle.
"That may be because nobody else uses one."
Darcy twisted around to find a smirking Daryl staring at her. She stuck her tongue out at him while he shook his head at her actions before he crouched down next to her kill.
"Meh I'm still a queen." she shrugged. "Besides my Taser and I kick butt!"
"Don't yell," Daryl hissed at her while he began to clean out the deer, which left Darcy gagging.
Darcy hummed softly as she followed Daryl up the embankment that he said his group was just over.
"Daryl's back," Amy announced rather loudly once Daryl stepped through the line of trees that surrounded the campsite.
"Nice kill baby brother," Merle grinned while Daryl rolled his eyes as his brother once again let it be known that he was older.
"She killed it," Daryl amended as he jerked his thumb at the panting woman behind him. Darcy immediately smiled broadly at those who had gathered around while she attempted to steal her breath back. After a few seconds filled only with the sound of her breathing evening out she introduced herself. "Sup, I'm Darcy."
"Uh hi I'm Lori and well thanks for the deer," Lori told the newcomer while she held out her hand.
"No problemo. Oh hey before I forget do you guys have like a radio or something that I could use real quick?" Darcy asked after she had shook the hand of nearly every person that made up the camp family.
Lori nodded her head rather quickly before she wrapped her arm around Darcy's shoulders and led her further into the camp. Once the two females reached the CB a man on the older side of life poked his head over the side of an RV to smile at both of them before he climbed off the top of it.
"Hello I'm Dale," the man stated once he was back on solid rock.
"Darcy."
"We need to use the CB, Dale," Lori declared with an air of superiority and caused Darcy to raise an eyebrow at her. Dale merely nodded and began to reach for the finicky electronic but a hand shot out and covered the mic.
"Now wait just a second, "Shane demanded. "Who are you planing on radio'ing?"
"The two people I was with. We got separated two days ago and I dropped my radio."
Shane scoffed in Darcy's face and was about to make another remark but upon receiving a stren look from Lori he backed off. Darcy sent him one of her signature 'you're a jerk' glares but when it went completely unnoticed she gave up and focused on finding the right channel.
"Jane? Erik? Can either of you hear me?" Darcy cried into the mic, despair laced into her voice.
"Darcy is that you?" Jane's voice cut through the static and a large grin broke out on Darcy's face.
"Yeah it's me, how's Erik?"
"He's fine. Were are you? Are you safe?" Jane questioned but this time static garbled her voice.
"I'm not entirely sure where I am, but yeah I'm safe... I think." Darcy replied as she glanced around at the people around her.
"Wh~~~~~Dar~~~~ hold on." were the only comprehensible vocal sounds within the static and so with a sigh Darcy let the mic drop.
"I'm sure you'll find them again." Amy -who had come up unnoticed- consoled as she wrapped Darcy up into a hug. "Come on lunch was over a little while ago but I'm sure I can scrounge up something."
Darcy smiled at the girl beside her but before Darcy could say anything Daryl came up and grabbed Darcy by her upper arm and pulled her along as he walked back through the camp. Darcy's eyes widened once they stopped in front of a tent.
"I got some extra food in my tent. I'll getcha somethin' ta eat."
"Oh, yeah thanks," Darcy sighed in some-what relief as she waited for Daryl to re-appear from the depths of the tent. Without warning his hand shot out the flap and pushed yet another water bottle and and cooked squirrel into Darcy's arms.
"Get some baby brother!" Merle shouted out as he glanced over and saw where the two of them were at. The entire camp seemed to turn silent and everybody close to them stared at them.
"Shut up Merle," Daryl growled as red rushed to his face while Darcy just threw her head back and laughed.
"Thanks for the food Dar-bear," Darcy chirped as she threw him a wink before she sauntered out to hangout with Amy, leaving Daryl left in shock while Merle snickered.
"Want to listen to music?" Darcy asked out of the blue while she and Amy washed clothes in the lake.
"How does your IPod still work?" Amy questioned as Darcy pulled the item out of her pocket.
"I know a scientist and she made it solar powered a little while before the world ended."
"Aw sweet, I've literally been craving music," Amy stated excitedly once Darcy pressed play on a low volume song. Both girls fell silent as they let the music wash over them while they themselves washed the laundry.
"So Daryl," Amy said and Darcy's brow furrowed as the words seemed to come from nowhere.
"What about him?"
"Well I heard that your first day here he took you to his tent," Amy grinned wolfishly while she waggled her eyebrows.
"Ooh is little Amy jealous?" Darcy smirked at her new friend. Amy choked on laughter. "Don't worry everybody is jealous of the Taser Queen."
"Oh please we both know that I am the real queen."
Darcy scoffed playfully while she rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Go away Merle," Darcy and Amy snapped at the same time, with a glare aimed at the troublesome and annoying man.
"Aw why you got to be like that?" Merle laughed and reached for Amy, who sidestepped his outstretched arm and backed up till she was behind Darcy. Darcy peered carefully at the man in front of her as she pulled her Taser from the waistband of her pants.
"Walk away now Merle and don't come back until you're back on the ground with the rest of us," Darcy demanded while she pointed her weapon at the high man. The two locked eyes, each one trying to scare the other into submission but with another chuckle Merle rushed forward just as Darcy pulled the trigger on her Taser. Within seconds Merle crashed to the ground withering in pain and Amy jumped from surprise.
"Whoa you really are the queen," Amy stated with wide eyes while Darcy just nodded her head and smirked at the groaning idiot at her feet. "We should probably go get one of the guys."
"Yeah, you go I'll stay here and watch him."
Amy nodded her head quickly before she turned on her heel and raced back up the small hill toward their group.
"What the heck happened?" Daryl questioned as he walked along the edge of the lake with a string of dead squirrels draped over his shoulder.
"Well Dar-bear, I Tased Merle." Darcy practically shouted as she jumped in the air and pumped her arms. Daryl chuckled along with her while Merle shook his head, still in his position in the ground at her feet.
"The only reason you're not dead yet darling is because you have a nice-"
"Shut up Merle," Daryl snarled before Merle could finish his sentence. Darcy raised her eyebrows at the display of male instinct but a smile crept up on her lips without her realizing it.
"Whatever you say baby brother," Merle snorted before he slowly picked himself up off the ground and began to walk away. "You'd better keep your woman away from me though."
Darcy glanced at Daryl from the corner of her eyes, the small smile still on her face. Daryl dropped his own eyes to the ground as he cleared his throat. Without saying a word Darcy wrapped her arms around Daryl's waist for only the briefest of moments before she was roughly pushed off and Daryl marched off with red coloring his face the entire time. With a sigh Darcy shook her head at the difficult man but couldn't stop her heart from skipping a beat at the thought of seeing him again later. Maybe if Jane and Erik ever did find her those two could join the group with her.