CALAMITY.

chapter three, daryl dixon.
[ season one, episode three ]

AIDEN WAKES UP AT SIX O'CLOCK THE NEXT MORNING. Thanks to waking up early every morning before the Fall, her body has remained used to rising early morning. Plus, she's always been an early bird. 

She eats breakfast, which isn't much. It's just some dehydrated deer jerky that Merle Dixon made. He doesn't share food but she didn't give him much of a choice. She made a deal with him. If she beat him in a fight, she kept a whole pack. Now she has to hide the deer jerky from Carl.

Then she cleans up a little around where the kids like to hang out. She pushes in all the chairs around their school table, she picks up two pieces of trash to throw away in the RV.

But now, Aiden stands beside Glenn with her arms crossed. She shakes her head solemnly as several of the men in camp strip the beautiful Dodge Charger of all necessary part. Glenn speaks up as Rick joins the young adults, "look at 'em. Vultures. Yeah, go on, strip it clean!"

"Generators need every drop of fuel they can get." Dale looks over at the young man with a sheepish expression, genuinely sorry. "Got no power without it. Sorry, Glenn."

Glenn's sadness and disappointment seeps into his friends bones as well.

"It's so sad," Aiden sighs sadly. "At least I still have my Jeep."

"Lucky." Glenn mutters to her. "Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days." Glenn then says to Rick.

"Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." Rick speaks up.

This causes Aiden's eyebrows to shoot towards the sky. She smirks as she looks over at him. "Wow, Mr. Grimes, never thought I'd hear those words leave your mouth."

Rick laughs quietly before he gently taps Aiden's arm. She smiles as he walks past the set of best friends.

After several seconds of silence, Aiden's brown eyes turn to look up at Glenn. "Aw, is my Glenny-Poo sad?" She reaches up and pinches his cheek.

"No." He huffs dramatically. Aiden's eyebrows shoot towards the sky.

"Okay, whatever you say, big boy." Aiden replies with a mischievous smirk. Glenn rolls his eyes and nudges Aiden but she sees the grin on his face.

"You're so childish." Glenn shakes his head.

Aiden feigns a wounded expression

"Glenn! How could—"

Aiden is cut off by a aiden scream.

"Mom!" Comes the terrified voice of Carl Grimes.

As soon as Aiden hears the boy's voice, she running. Glenn hurries behind her, still eating her dust.

Everyone shouts for the children. As she approaches the scene, Aiden sees Jacqui with Carl and Sophia. Their mothers reach them quickly, both worried sick. Aiden follows after Rick, Shane, and Glenn into the clearing the kids came from.

Aiden stops when she sees the walker gnawing on the dead dear. Her blood runs cold. The walkers don't come this far up.

Her Bowie knife is in hand, ready to kill the walker. But she has to hold that thought as her stomach churns. The walker turns towards the people and stands. The men begin to beat the walker into the ground. Aiden steps back, allowing the men to do this thing.

As soon as Dale cuts the walkers head off, it's over for Aiden. She spins around. The sound of gagging fills the air. All of the men turn to look at her. Aiden is doubled over, both hands on her knees. Someone quickly comes up behind her and grabs her hair. What little contents her stomach holds comes up.

After several seconds, she regains her composure. Her back straightens. She spits on the ground and wipes her mouth with the sleeve of her gray long sleeve.

She turns around to see Glenn standing behind her. "Thanks," she mutters quietly. Glenn nods in response.

"It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain." Dale finally speaks what everyone is thinking.

"Well, they're runnin' out of food in the city, that's what." Jim speaks up. Aiden's dark brown eyes look over at him.

A branch suddenly snaps. Shane reaches his little sister in a heart beat. He places himself between her and the rustling bushes. He brings his shotgun to his shoulder.

That's when Daryl Dixon steps out of the bushes. Shane sighs in relief, lowering his gun.

"Son of a bitch!" Daryl gruffly says. "That's mah dear!" The man walks into the clearing. He pays no attention to the people that stare at him. He just glares down at the deer and walker. "Look at it. All gnawed on by this. . . filthy, disease-bearin', motherless, poxy bastard!" Daryl kicks the walker's body with each insult.

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

"What do you know about it, old man?" Daryl walks up to Dale. Aiden's shoulder tense.  "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to On Golden Pond?"

Aiden swiftly moves away from her brother and plants herself in front of Dale. She shoves Daryl away. "Back the fuck up, dude."

"Don't touch me, girl!" The man roars, stepping closer to her. Aiden tries to not flinch but she does. Her shoulders jump, she draws back. Shane and Rick both see this and instinctively reach for her. Daryl stares at her for a moment before moving back to the deer. "I've been trackin' this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp. Cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?"

"I would not risk that." Shane firmly says with the shame of his head.

"That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel— 'bout a dozen or so. That'll have to do." Daryl says. As he moves to make his wake to camp, his foot hits the decapitated head of the walker. It's eyes open and it's jaw opens. Aiden gasps in horror.

"Come on, people. What the hell?" Daryl says. He raises his crossbow and releases a bolt into its brain. He reaches down and grabs his bolt. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothin'?"

Daryl turns and starts walking back to camp. He starts to call out for his brother. "Merle! Merle! Get yet ugly ass out 'ere! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up."

"Daryl." Aiden speaks up. Daryl send a glance at her over his shoulder.

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." Shane says this time.

This time Daryl stops and look between the two siblings. "About wha'?"

"Merle." Aiden replies. "There was a— there was a problem in Atlanta."

Daryl looks around at everyone in the camp. They gather around, watching the scene unfold. His blue eyes then dart back to Aiden. "He dead?" He asks.

"We're not sure." She shrugs slightly.

"He either is or he ain't!" He harshly snaps. He inches closer to the woman, circling her. Aiden doesn't dare take her eyes off of the man. To the side, Shane tenses. He's fully prepared to step in if the redneck so much as makes a move against his sister. He'll kill him.

Except, Daryl would never lay a hand on Aiden, or any of the women at the camp. He hates people, he's anti-social. Sure. But he isn't abusive. Not like Ed, not like his own father.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick steps into the conversation.

Daryl's eyes cut from Aiden to Rick, "who are you?"

"Rick Grimes." Rick replies.

"Rick Grimes." Daryl swiftly mocks. "You got somethin' you wanna tell me?"

"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 says it as if it's nothing. Aiden's eyebrow shoot skywards.

"Hold on. Let me process this." Daryl turns his back on the former sheriff's deputy. "You're sayin' you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there!?"

"Yeah." Rick says with a small shrug.

Aiden watches Daryl carefully. She's the only one who sees the way his chin wobbles, like he's about to cry. But he refuses. So he turns it into anger. He whirls around a slings his squirrels at Rick with a loud grunt.

"Hey!" Aiden shouts. Daryl runs at Rick but Shane intercepts him, shoving him to the ground.  Daryl pulls his large buck knife from his sheath. He glares up at Rick, Shane, and Aiden.

"The knife!" T-Dog yells in warning. Daryl springs up and slices the knife at Rick. He quickly avoids the blade.

Aiden sneakily moves behind Daryl. Before Daryl even knows that she's behind him, she sends her foot into the back of his knee.

Daryl crumples to the ground, surprised and angry he'd been bested by a woman. Shane is there a moment later, his arms wrapped around Daryl's neck. He keeps him firmly in a chokehold.

"You'd best let me go!" Daryl thunders wildly.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't." Shane shakes his head.

"Chokehold's illegal!" Daryl strains.

"You can file a complaint." Shane sighs.

"Come one, dude, we can keep this up all day." Aiden tells him as Rick crouches down in front of him.

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asks. Daryl doesn't respond. He only glares daggers into Rick's skull. "Do you think we can manage that?"

"Hmm?" Shane hums. "Mm. Yeah."

She lets him go. Daryl grunts and springs to his feet.

"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." Rick tells him. Like Daryl doesn't already know this.

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key." T-Dog steps in. "I dropped it."

Daryl turns to look at him. "You couldn't pick it up?"

"Well, I dropped it down a drain." T-Dog informs the man. Aiden presses her lips together, fighting back a laugh.

Daryl glares at him. "If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"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 says.

"It's gotta count for somethin', Dixon," Aiden shakes her head sadly. Daryl's teary blue eyes turn to look at her.

"Hell with all y'all!" Daryl shouts. "Just tell me where he is, so's I can go get him."

"He'll show you. Isn't that right?" Lori speaks up from where she stands in the RV doorway. Rick looks at his wife.

"I'm going back." Rick declares with the nod of his head.

Aiden watches as Lori huffs and storms back into the RV. Aiden rolls her eyes, turning her back ok the rest of the group.

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"Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?" Shane's voice fills Aiden's ears. She looks up from the water she watches boil.

"Hey, choose your words more carefully." Daryl says gruffly as he walks past Shane.

"No, I did. Douchebag's what I meant. Merle Dixon— the guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst." Shane shakes his in disappointment.

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst— me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being." Rick speaks up.

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori pipes up.

Rick turns to look at Glenn. Aiden's heart falls to her stomach. Her eyes dart between Rick and Glenn. "Rick— come on. Don't make him go back out there."

"Oh, come on." Glenn whines.

"You know the way. You've been there before— in and out, no problem. You said do yourself. It's not fair for me to ask— I know that— but I'd feel a lot better with you along." Rick says. "I know she would too."

"I wouldn't!" Aiden speaks up angrily. Rick looks over at her. "Rick, he's my best friend! I already lost Payton, I'm not about to lose Glenn, too. Goin' to save someone who damn well could already be dead. A fuckin' piece of shit who's homophobic, racist, and sexist!"

Daryl's glare turns to her. His eyes pierces her's. "Watch it, Walsh." He grunts.

Aiden rolls her eyes. She laughs angrily. "Bullshit," she hisses. "This is all bullshit."

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Aiden sits on a large rock, she stares at the small waves that lap over the much smaller rocks. She keeps her arms wrapped firmly around her legs.

"Hey," a voice says.

Aiden turns to look over her shoulder. Glenn approaches from behind her. He joins her in sitting on the rock.

The duo sits in silence for a couple minutes. Then she decides to speak up, "y'all fixin' to leave?"

"Yeah." Glenn responds. "I'll be back, you know that, right?"

"I know. You come back every time you go out there. But this time it's not just you I'm worried about. It's Rick, T-Dog, Daryl, and you." Aiden sighs shakily.

"We'll come bask, Aiden. I promise."

It's the last time Glenn will be able to keep a promise like this.

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word count: 2,235

alright, here's another rewritten chapter!! i really didn't change much about it except for the start of the chapter and the scene where daryl is introduced.

speaking of, daryl dixon is finally here!! i can't waist to rewrite the start of aiden and daryl's relationship. they really are the blueprint of enemies to lovers. i love them so much, ugh. also, guys, their love story is not slowburn. i wrote this back in 2019 and i really don't want to change much about it because i'd have to change a lot more down the road. so i'm not changing that.

anyway, i'm sorry about the slow updates guys. i've been working on a lot of different works, like rewriting the damned, writing the final chapters for damnation, writing the first couple chapters for crooked heart, and working on new intro chapters for the entire wastelands series. so, yeah, i've been pretty busy with other works.

i don't have too terribly much to say about this chapter. i'm currently sitting in a loud ass gym waiting for a basketball game to start so my mind is kinda of blank right now.