Savage World •••Daryl Dixon•••

Quarry Water

As Asher was gone bathing and changing her clothes, Daryl and Merle were standing together glaring at the others around them. He didn't like them, or the questions they asked, or the accusations they threw around lightly. When that man claimed him to be some sort of abuser to his Asher, he saw red and he wasn't going to stop until everyone else saw it too.

"Whatcha thinkin 'bout, baby brother? You look like yer about to string someone up like a puppet."

"I might, if they keep running their mouths like they know shit." Merle nodded and smirked, automatically knowing that he was still very upset about what T-Dog had said.

"This about that conversation on pain tolerance?" Daryl quietly snarled and glared at the sky.

"It wasn't their place. They didn't know shit and they ain't got no right to be talking about what happened to Asher." He angrily bit down on his hangnail, hissing at the pain and grumbled when he started to bead out blood.

"I agree with ya there, baby brother. So why don't we return the favor?" He lifted a brow and looked over at his brother in a silent demand that he share the plan. "Rob 'em blind and leave 'em for the walkers." Daryl scoffed and silently stared towards the quarry where Carol lead the teen girl.

As angry as these people make him, he knew he couldn't do that to them. They had kids here, no older than Asher herself. It would be wrong on every level. As they silently stood staring at the horizon, Shane shambles up to them, a gun in his hand.

"Hey, there's a group making a run into the city. Figured at least one of you could come with to help out. Pull your weight." Merle glanced over at his younger brother, he knew that Daryl wouldn't leave Asher not even a pack of those walkers could make him move an inch further than he wanted.

"I'll go, it's getting boring as fuck 'round here." He stepped away from his brother's side and headed for the small group of others planning to go to the city. They worked their way to a few extra cars and vanished into the distance towards the city. Daryl stood still as a statue and stared off into the quarry as the sun climbed across the sky. It wasn't long before he saw her climbing back out of the quarry with Carol. She spotted him standing alone by a few trees sprouting up behind the big RV. She was wearing flak green leggings and her own converse topped with a thick black knitted poncho and dripping wet hair.

"Look, they gave me a poncho!" She smiled and twirled to make the ends flare out.

"They gave you a dress more like it." Asher rolled her eyes and laughed. "Didn't they give ya a towel or somethin to dry that hair with? Or a brush?" She shrugged and brushed her fingers through her loose blonde hair to get out all the tangles as much as she could. Once she finished, Daryl handed her a dirty black bandana.

"What's this for?"

"To get your hair out of your face, if you can't see then you could get hurt." She nodded and slipped the bandana under her hair to tie on top of her head tightly. The others returned from the quarry to start a few small fires for the night and possibly make food when the other return. Carol and her husband came up the hill and the male recognized the poncho that Asher wore dropping down to her knees.

"Why does that little shit have something of ours?" Carol ducked her head but stayed silent as they got closer to the duo. That was when Ed started to yell.

"Oi! Why does your kid got somethin that belong to me?!" Asher whirled around, eyes wide and full of fear. Daryl stepped forward and slid between her and the charging man.

"What's it matter to you?" Ed growled and tottered faster at them, Asher whimpering at the stomping sounds his boots made over the dirt. They sounded just like Joshua's. Her body started to shiver and she wanted to find the closest corner and curl up in the tightest ball she could.

"It don't belong to you, asshole I want them back. Take 'em off!" Daryl swung his crossbow up and took aim at the man's head. Ed stopped cold in his tracks but continued to glare at them.

"That's close enough, jackass. They obviously ain't gonna fit your fat ass so what's the harm." Shane ran between them, the others congregating a bit behind him.

"What's going on here?"

"The bastard's kid got my shit and I want it back. Little bitchy thief." Daryl growled and cocked back his arm, ready to kill.

"You say another word about her and I will kill you without even batting an eye. And I won't feel bad about putting you on your back in front of yer kid neither." Shane caught Ed reaching for his gun and he knew that Daryl saw it too. But he also saw how absolutely terrorized Asher was behind him. She was froze in her skin, eyes wide and glued to the ground like a prone prisoner of war.

"Let her keep 'em."

"Fucking excuse me?!" Ed whirled to face Shane now, face beet red and sweaty with heat and rage. The burly man yanked a gun from his holster and held it to the man's head.

"Did I fucking stutter, Ed? She can keep them and you can keep your fucking mouth shut about it." Ed growled but let it be, grumbling and cursing his way back to his own car. Once Daryl decided he wasn't a threat he turned his attention to Asher behind him. She was frozen, head ducked and watery eyes locked on the ground as she waited for an imminent beating.

"Asher, can you hear me?" Her voice was shaky and faint.

"He walked like him, he sounded just like him." Daryl set his bow on the ground and shallowly dipped his head to shorten his height and seem less intimidating.

"Can I get closer?" Asher softly nodded and waited for him to step close. She felt his fingers skin over her cheek and she instinctively flinched away from his touch.

"It's okay, it's just me. It's alright, baby girl. He can't hurt you, he can't get to you. Not ever again." Asher nodded but couldn't seem to get herself to do much else. Daryl curled his arms around the girl and she returned the hug, burying her face in his chest and breathing in his scent. It wasn't a pleasant smell, sweat and dirt and rot and leather. But it was his scent and it was him.

"Thank you, Dixie." Daryl softly laughed and pressed his nose to her hair, the smell of dirt and quarry water filling his nose.

"Thought I told you not to call me that."