Savage World •••Daryl Dixon•••

Bigger and Stronger

Asher crouched low with Glenn, both in riot gear and waiting for the signal. The Asian man glanced over at the small girl beside him, he could see her sad eyes through the protective front mask. She's been that way since the news they got the day before.

"Daryl's back!" Asher shot to her feet and raced for the door he left through hours ago. After a few minutes, Rick opened the door and asked her to step outside with him. She did and saw the old tears on Daryl's face and the shake of his hands at his side.

"What's going on?"

"Asher, it's Merle..." A voice whispered in the back of her mind that the worst has happened and he was dead but she fought it away. Merle was an asshole, but he was a survivor too.

"What about him? Is he okay?" Daryl knelt down to her small size and gently held her hands.

"Baby girl, Merle's dead." She felt her tears sting the back of her eyes and clog her throat.

"But he was with Michonne. How-" A broken sob escaped from her chest, making Daryl gently pull her to him in a deep hug that enveloped her whole top half.

"He went after the Governor by himself. He let Michonne go. I found him, he had turned. I put him down and buried him. I'm so sorry."

Glenn reaches over and gently held one of her shaking hands, jolting her from her memories.

"You okay?" She swallowed hard and nodded to answer him. She had to be okay. She didn't have a choice.

"Let's get these assholes out of our home." Glenn smiled and they heard the thick metal door rattle open, that was their signal. As per the plan, Asher stepped out of the shadows and shouted over the fleeing soldiers of Woodbury.

"I am Blood Rogue! Get out of here or die!" Glenn and Maggie joined in on her last sentence before they started to fire their guns at the frozen people, sending them fleeing for their remaining trucks and driving away with little to no fight back. Last to leave was the governor himself, who glared up at her with his one eye. Asher drew her stolen gun and aimed for his chest.

"Tell Zero I said hello." She fired the gun, growling when the bullet ripped through a soldier instead of her target. Soon the dust of the Woodbury trucks was nothing but a puff on the horizon.

"We did it!" The three ran for the courtyard where the others were told to meet when it was over. Most of the fighters decided to follow them, to finish the job. Daryl turned to Asher with soft eyes and a hand to her skin.

"Stay here and protect them, okay? We'll be back soon." Asher nodded and pushed up on tiptoe to kiss his cheek.

"Give 'em hell." The group raced after the convoy, and she helped usher the rest of the group inside so they could clean out the walkers and prep for the return of the others. Asher sat by the main door with her crossbow in her lap and Meeko at her side. She felt tears stream down her face but she didn't bother wiping them away as her mind reeled with memories.

She jolted awake from another nightmare, a soft cry escaping her lips as she searched the darkness for an enemy. Or Joshua Whitman.

"Ya alright down there, sweetheart?" She jumped at the deep voice of Merle at the other end of the room.

"Bad dream. Sorry to wake you." He softly snorted and stood to move closer. He knew she would be afraid if he got too close without warning, so he stopped a little over halfway across the room.

"Yer all good, sweetheart. I wasn't sleepin anyways." Her bright eyes flicked through the moonlight looking for the shadow of Daryl but found only Merle.

"Where's Dixie?" The elder Dixon chuckled and asked if he could move closer, the small girl nodding. He sat a few inches from her head.

"Went out huntin, said he'd be back by sunset. Left this for ya." He draped the leather vest over her small frame, the girl happily curling up beneath the old leather.

"Thank you, Merle." She slipped her hand into his and drifted off to sleep again, her body forcing her to catch up on the rest she's been deprived of for probably years. He didn't mind, made keeping an eye on her easier. Plus she needed it. She was half asleep when she heard him speak, and if he ever knew she heard then he'd be furious.

"Anythin for you, sweetheart."

"Merle Dixon, you're such an idiot." She whispered to herself and sniffles to try and dry her tears before the others returned. She had to be strong today. Today, she had to be Blood Rogue. Asher heard the uneven pitter of Hershel on his crutches and she swiped at her tears before he could see.

"Asher? You down here?" His voice echoed through the hallway, making Meeko's ear flick in his direction lazily.

"Yeah, standing guard at the door. Did you need something?" He came hobbling through the sunlight and sat down on a chair she had brought to initially sit in while on guard.

"No, we're all fine. I came to check on you. I know this must be hard on you, losing family and not having the chance to mourn."

"I don't have time to mourn. Not yet." Hershel nodded and leaned down to pat her knee gently before pushing back up on his crutches.

"As long as you do at some point. Make a cross for him in the plot with the others we've lost. He may not have worked well with us, but he still cared about you and Daryl. And that's enough for me. He deserves a marker here." Asher smiled softly and nodded before watching the old man make his way back to the cell block.

"They're back!" Launching to her feet, she ran through the door with the others quick to follow her into the courtyard. Cars and a bus pulled through the gates, opening to spill out with the ones left behind at Woodbury. Carl ran up to his father, demanding an explanation.

"They're going to be with us now. It can't be just us anymore." Carl stormed off, and Asher understood why. But she also understood why Rick was letting them in. They didn't choose this, to be lied to and manipulated by the Governor into becoming an extermination force for a stupid vendetta.

She spotted Daryl amongst the group and pushed her way through until she slammed into his torso, arms wrapping around his body just beneath his ribcage. He chuckled and leaned down to hug her back.

"We're real, Dixie." He knelt down and pressed his forehead to hers with a gentle nod.

"We're real, baby girl." She nodded and told him about what Hershel said, that Merle should get a marker with the others. Daryl agreed and they made him one together, planning to put it out there when they got the fences back together. He soon left to help organize the new people into cell blocks and cells, Asher choosing to stay and work on the marker a little more. She carved his name into the wood, and set it beside an old shirt he left behind. Asher planned to keep the grimy thing, it was all she had left of the man. Besides the cross, Daryl, and herself.

"I'll keep an eye on Dixie for you, ya old bastard." Asher stood and leaned against the railings to watch the chaos below, a small smile on her face as Rick and Daryl worked to organize the mess and help the people they brought in. These strangers they were giving a shot, a chance to do the right thing and start over.

They were still the group that took in two wild brothers and a scared little girl who stabbed herself on an arrow. They were still the same people, just bigger and stronger.

They were still the ones who wouldn't let this savage world turn them cold.