Janie's Got A Gun (A 'The Walking Dead' Fanfiction)

Chapter Four: Daryl's Story So Far

A year and a half earlier
Merle grunted as he climbed onto his motorbike and Daryl got on the back, he looked back at the house as they started to drive away.

They found themselves near a quarry, just outside of Atlanta and, after trudging through the forest, they came to a clearing. Merle crouched behind a tree before grabbing the sleeve of Daryls shirt and pulling him towards him. In the clearing was a small camp, there were kids running around, fresh fish being cooked on a small bonfire and an old man sat atop an RV twisting knobs on a radio.
"I'll bloody you up a bit." Merle whispered to his brother. "Act like you're injured."
"What?" Daryl whispered back.
"Then we'll ask them for help and rob them." Merle continued.
"I thought we were going home." Daryl said, his brow furrowed. "What about Eileen and Jane?"
"What about them?"

"Does that sting?" Carol asked as she dabbed at the blood around Daryl's nose.
"Nah, it's fine." He replied as he watched Glenn approach them.
"Some of us are taking a trip into the city." He said. "Do any of you want to come?"
"I'll come." Merle replied.
"So will I." Said Daryl but Carol shook her head.
"You're not going anywhere mister."

The leaves rustled and a deer darted passed Daryl. He clutched his crossbow and walked slowly in the direction it went. He came to the clearing back near camp to find his deer lay limp on the ground with a bite in its neck, a headless walker lay next to it. He looked up from the ground to see the men of the camp joined by a man he didn't recognise.
"Son of a bitch!" Daryl exclaimed as he walked closer to the animal. "That's my deer! Look at it, all gnawed on by this..." He kicked the walker hard. "Filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!"

"Merle!" Daryl called as he walked back through the camp, a dozen dead squirrels swung over his shoulder. "Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel!"
"Daryl." A man called Shane spoke. "Slow down a bit, I need to talk to you." Daryl stopped walking and turned around to face Shane. "It's about Merle."
Daryl's face dropped as he scratched his head and thought for a moment.
"Is he dead?" He asked.
"We're not sure." Shane replied.
"He either is or he ain't." Daryl yelled as the man he didn't recognise stepped forward. "Who are you?"
"Rick Grimes." The man spoke.
"Rick Grimes." Daryl repeated. "You got something you wanna tell me?"
"Your brother was a danger to us all." Rick said. "So I handcuffed him to a roof. He's still there."
Daryl wiped the sweat from his eyes before throwing his squirrel to the side and leaping towards Rick. Shane grabbed him and wrestled him to the ground.

Daryl jumped out of the car and Rick pointed to a building in front of them. It was a tall department store filled with walkers smashing against the glass store front.
"He's up there." Rick said. "We'll go round the back."

The group ran up five flights of stairs until they came to a door that a large, dark skinned man named T-Dog broke open.
"Merle! Merle!" Daryl yelled as he ran onto the roof. "Merle!" He yelled again as he looked around for his brother. "Mer-" he looked down at the floor in front of him. "NO!" There was a pair of handcuffed attached to a metal pole and a saw next to it in a pool of blood, inside one of the cuffs was a severed hand, sawed off at the wrist.

A year later
Rick's wife Lori soon fell pregnant and the group moved into an abandoned prison. After a breach in one of the prisons fences, Lori, Maggie, Carl and T-Dog went missing.

"T-Dog didn't make it." Daryl told the group. "I found him."
"That doesn't mean the others didn't." Rick said, sweat pouring down his face and his lip quivering. "We're going back. Daryl and Glenn, you come with-"
Rick was interrupted by the sound of a baby crying, everyone turned to see the gate opening. Carl and Maggie stepped out with a naked baby held close to her chest. Both of them were crying and Maggies hands were drenched in blood.