RE-WRITING! Guardian Angel. (A Walking Dead/Daryl Dixon Fan Fiction)

RE-WRITTEN - Chapter 4.

"Water's here, y'all. Just a reminder to boil before use." Shane called as he exited his car he opened the trunk revealing the containers of water. Piper walked over, grabbed one of the containers and took it over to her tent. Her eyes looked around the camp, noticing the uneasy faces of some of the people. It was more than likely that Daryl would be returning from his hunt today and most were not excited about him learning the news of his brother. She didn't know how to feel about the situation herself, she knew what Merle could be like and understood why Rick did what he did. 

Piper was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of Carl's voice. "Mom!" He called. Piper quickly exited her tent, watching Rick and Shane entered the trees, she quickly followed them. "Dad!" Carl's voice sounded again, as Lori and Piper rushed through the trees behind Rick. Carl appeared, running into his mother's arms; Piper continued through the tree, finding Rick and Shane in a small clearing. There lay a dead dear, a walker lurking over it, chewing on its flesh. Daryl's crossbow arrows stuck out from the deer, Piper's eyes instantly began searching for him, but nothing. She began to panic. The walker, now noticing the group, hissed at them, Piper quickly drew her gun, but Shane pushed her arms down. 

"It's too loud." He spoke, Piper nodded and stepped back, Glenn and Morales had arrived now and Piper watched as they began to beat the walker down with Dale finishing the walker off but chopping off its head. 

"It's the first one we've had up here." Dale spoke with a sigh. 

"They never come this far up the mountain." Piper added. 

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what." Jim informed but the group had little time to reply as a twig snapped in the trees. The group raised their weapons and the footsteps grew closer. Piper's grip tightened on her gun but was only quick to relax when Daryl stepped out into the clearing. 

She quickly holstered her gun. "Daryl!" She exclaimed, rushing over to him, grabbing his arms and checking them for bites. His hand raised to her holding the back of her neck and he smiled down at her. Pipe smiled and pulled back from him.  

"Son of a bitch." Daryl cursed, as his eyes fell on the deer. "That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this... filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" He snapped, and with each insult, he kicked the headless walker. 

"Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale spoke.

Daryl stepped towards him. "What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "on golden pond"?" Daryl snapped, Piper peaked up at Rick who shared a knowing glance with her. She swallowed the lump in her throat as Daryl continued.  "I've been tracking this deer for ages, was gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. Do you think we can cut around this chewed-up part right here?" He asked, looking up at Shane as he pulled his arrows from the carcass of the carcass.  

"I would not risk that." Shane responded, shaking his head. 

Daryl sighed as he stood beside Piper. "That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel... about a dozen or so. That'll have to do." He spoke before placing a kiss on Piper's temple she sent him a shaky smile. Suddenly, the walker's head reanimated, clashing its teeth at the group; Andrea and Amy left, both looking disgusted. "Come on, people. What the hell?" Daryl snapped before shooting the head. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?" He took the arrow back and walked back up to camp. Piper shared another frown with Rick before quickly following Daryl. "Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up." Daryl yelled for his brother, Piper shook her head as she caught up to him. Her gaze meeting Lori who gestured for her to come over, she shook her head but walked over, leaning against the RV, watching Shane jog out of trees. 

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." He called, Daryl stopped and looked back at Shane. 

"About what?" He asked. 

"About Merle. There was a... There was a problem in Atlanta." Shane started. 

"He dead?" Daryl asked, Piper looked down, shaking her head once more. 

"We're not sure." Shane sighed. 

"He either is or he's not!" Daryl yelled. 

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick started, now stepping towards Daryl. 

"Who are you?" Daryl snapped. 

"Rick Grimes." Rick replied. 

"Rick Grimes." Daryl mocked. "You got something you want to tell me?" He asked. 

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." Rick explained. Daryl looked away, wiping his eyes. 

"Hold on. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" Daryl yelled loudly, Piper caught Rick's glance and began slowly walking towards Daryl. 

"Yeah." Rick sighed, looking back at Daryl whose face had now twisted in anger. He threw the squirrel at Rick before lunging for him only to be tackled to the ground by Shane. 

"Hey!" Piper snapped, stepping closer to the three. Daryl pulled out his knife, holding a defensive stance, this causing Lori to grab Piper's arm who threw a glare Lori's way. 

"Watch the knife!" T-Dog warned, but Rick had already taken control of the situation, grabbing the arm which held the knife, while Shane put the angry brother in a chokehold. 

"You'd best let me go!" Daryl yelled, struggling in Shane's grip. 

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't." Shane retorted. 

"Choke holding's illegal." Daryl snapped. 

"You can file a complaint. Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day." Shane said as Daryl continued to struggle. 

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asked, lowering himself to Daryl's level. The brother only glared, not uttering a word.  "Do you think we can manage that?" Rick repeated, a grunt fell from Daryl's lips and Rick nodded to his friend who dropped his hold. Piper wrestled her arm from Lori's grip and walked to her boyfriend's side. She crouched beside him and glance up at Rick.  

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." Rick explained. 

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it." T-Dog butted in. Piper placed her hand on Daryl's should as he hung his head. 

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl questioned, glaring at T-Dog. 

"Well, I dropped it in a drain." T-Dog spoke, Daryl rolled his eyes and stood up, shrugging Piper's arm off his shoulder. 

"If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." He snapped, walking away from Piper, she let a sigh escape her lips. 

"Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof... So the geeks couldn't get at him... With a padlock." T-Dog explained. Daryl looked down. 

"It's gotta count for something." Rick said, raising his eyebrows. 

Tears filled Daryl's eyes and he quickly tried to wipe them away. "Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is so that I can go get him." Daryl sighed. 

"He'll show you. Isn't that right?" Lori asked, looking up at Rick. 

"I'm going back." Rick agreed, but Daryl only huffed, with his glare still strong, he stormed away.  Piper watched him enter the tent before turning to Rick. 

"For what it's worth, that went better than you think." She spoke, sending him a half smile. Rick only nodded, placing a hand on Piper's shoulder, and patting it lightly as she walked away. She entered the tent, her eyes find Daryl, he was sitting on their bed, his head between his hands. Piper sat beside him, placing a hand on his back. 

"We're gonna get him back." She whispered.