52. claimed

QUINN

     WITH HER EYES WIDE OPEN SHE STARED AT the trees above her. She hadn't slept for one single second that night. The men hadn't tried to touch her or anything, not with Daryl always lingering so close. But that didn't stop them from eyeing her whenever they felt it like, smirking all the while. It made her feel sick.

She reached up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She was exhausted but refused to closed her eyes. Not even with Daryl laying next to her, awake. She could tell he wasn't sleeping by his breathing. Part of her wondered when she had started listening to the way he breathed and learned how to recognise it, but she pushed those thoughts away. She shifted on the small blanket she laying on, turning so she was facing Daryl. He was so close that she could feel the warmth from his body and she was thankful he at least pretended they were together. When they wouldn't touch or kiss each other the others might start to wonder if she truly was with him. Maybe sleeping so close together helped to keep up the illusion.

A small sigh left his lips, as though he could feel her accusing stare, and he turned his head to look at her. He was so close she could see specks of green in his blue eyes. A wave of warmth rolled through her stomach, pleasent and horrifying at the same time.

'What?' He muttered, softly to not wake any of the others.

She felt herself smile despite the situation. 'Shouldn't you put your arm around me?'

He scoffed, turning his head away again to stare up to the pale morning sky.

Her smile faded and her heart ached painfully. Teasing him reminded her of Beth. She didn't want to think about the teenager they lost. She was afraid she might cry if she did. Taking a deep breath she forced the lump in her throat away. Her eyes went back to Daryl, studying his face to distract herself from the pain. Just then her stomach growled in hunger and she winced in both shame and annoyance at the sound.

Daryl turned back to look at her, the corner of his mouth lifting up in a smirk. At the sight the feeling of her heart being set on fire returned. 'Let's go hunt,' he mumbled, his eyes lingering on her for a second before pushing himself to his feet.

Quinn got to her feet and followed him out of the camp. The sun hadn't even risen yet and she hated that she couldn't see more than a few feet in front of her. Sticking close to Daryl she followed him through the forest,trying to watch her step like he taught her.

'Why'd you take me with you? I'm a terrible hunter. If you wanted someone to help you out you should've brought-' she bit her tongue to stop herself from saying her name out loud. The teenager had been much better at tracking than Quinn but she didn't like saying it. Saying she was gone made it real and she refused to think about that right now.

Daryl turned to look at her and she realised he'd known what she had been about to say because his had turned to stone. 'Yeah, yer a terrible hunter,' he finally said, breaking the silence. 'But I wasn't just gonna leave ya with them assholes.'

She tilted her head. 'So you do know they are dangerous. Good, then let's leave.'

He studied her for a second before grunting something she couldn't hear. Then he turned around and starting to follow the tracks of whatever it was he'd found.

Shaking her head she frowned at him, wondering what the hell was going on inside that head of his, but knowing she'd never be able to figure it out. She hoped his days of grunting and ignoring questions were over as soon as he shared that story about Merle, but apparently opening up about his thoughts was still an impossibility for the man. Sighing deeply she bit her tongue and decided to shut up. If she wanted to eat something she'd have to be silent. She just wished she didn't need moonshine to get the redneck to talk.

She followed his footsteps as they walked, trying to be as silent as possible. Slowly they made their way through the forest and she honestly tried to keep her eyes open for tracks but she simply couldn't find any. At first she thought it was her lack of skills when Daryl let out a frustrated sigh. It seemed like there simply wasn't anything to hunt.

Meanwhile the sun had risen and Quinn hoped the light would provide them with at least something. Keeping her eyes focused on the ground she narrowed upon seeing a pattern in the leaves. She nudged Daryl, pointing to the ground.

He looked at it, nodding at her before gesturing for her to follow him.

Unable to hide a proud smile on her lips she walked after him, her dagger tightly in her hand as she tried to be as silent as possible. Suddenly he held up his hand and she stopped moving, her eyes falling on a small rabbit only a few feet away from them.

Daryl held up his crossbow, focusing it on the small animal before releasing the bolt. But just as it hit the rabbit, another arrow pierced through the rabbit as well.

Both Quinn and Daryl turned around only to see the man with the bow, who she learned was called Len, standing behind them.

'What the hell you doing?' Daryl spoke roughly, taking a step towards the man.

'Catching me some breakfast,' Len calmly replied.

'That's mine,' Daryl said, walking towards the rabbit and picking it off the ground.

'My arrow's the one that hit first,' Len spoke. 'Cottontail belongs the me.'

'Been out 'ere since before the sun came up,' Daryl mumbled, taking the arrows out of the animals body.

'You see the rules of the hunt don't mean jack out here. Now, that rabbit you're holding is claimed boy. Claimed whether you like it or not. So, if I was you I'd hand it over.'

Quinn watched as Daryl threw Len's arrow in the bushes and then she turned to look at the other bowman, wondering what the hell he it was he meant by that.

Daryl walked towards the man as this one gestured at the rabbit again. 'Now! Before you get to wishing you ain't never even got out of bed this morning.'

'It ain't yours,' Daryl said roughly.

'You know,' Len started, 'I'll bet this bitch,' and he pointed at Quinn who felt her stomach tighten at the thought of what he would say next, 'got you all messed up, mmm? Am I right?'

Quinn could see Daryl tense up, his entire body seeming to grow a few inches as his eyes turned stone cold.

'Don't,' she mumbled at him, slowly starting to walk away. She threw a glare over her shoulder, feeling relief flow through her when Daryl slowly followed, but not after throwing such a dirty look at Len that she felt suprised he didn't die right then and there. If looks could kill...

'Oh, she must be a good'un if you follow her 'round like that,' Len called after them. 'Tell me something...'

She bit her tongue upon realising Daryl had come to a halt. Turning to look at him, she took a step forwards, slightly shaking her head at the man as Len continued teasing.

'Does she scream your name when she gets scared? Does she let you take off her clothes when it's dark outside and you're all lonely?'

Len's words barely reached Quinn, she didn't bother with listening to the man. Her gaze was focused on Daryl, who seemed unable to drown out the mocking words. Her eyes widened when she saw him slowly reaching for his knife, taking it out of the sheath and suddenly turning around, ready to lash out at Len.

'Daryl,' she shouted his name, her voice sharp as she jumped forwards and pulled his arm back, her eyes narrowed at him.

'What's going on here?' Another voice suddenly called out. Quinn turned to see Joe heading their way, looking between Daryl and Len. 'Let's just put our weapons down. See if we can't figure out what's really the problem here, huh?'

He walked to stand between the two men, turning to look at Len. 'Did you claim it?' He asked.

'Hell, yeah,' this one responded.

Joe turned back to look at Daryl and Quinn. 'Well, there you go. That critter belongs to Len.'

'So, let's have it,' Len snapped, holding out his hand.

'I'm sorry,' Quinn spoke up, venom in her voice as she looked at Joe, 'we only came into your group yesterday and you clearly have some rules. Rules that we are unfamiliar with.' She wanted to play nice, play smart and then get the hell out of here before it would get really out of hand but she was unable to control the bitter tone in her voice.

Joe nodded at her. 'I see we got at least one set of good brains here. See, going it alone, that ain't an option, nowadays. Still, it is survival of the fittest. That's a paradox right there. So I laid out some rules of the road to keep things from going Darwin every couple hours. Keep our merry band together and stress-free. All you gotta do, is claim. That's how you mark your territory, your prey, your bed at night. One word, claimed.'

'I ain't claiming nothin',' Daryl mumbled.

'We're gonna teach him, right?' Len said roughly, taking a step forwards and looking at Joe. 'The rules say we gotta teach him.'

'That wouldn't be fair to punish you for violating a rule you never even knew existed,' Joe spoke making Len chuckle humorlessly before turning to walk away.

'There ain't no rules no more,' Daryl said, staring at Len as this one turned back to face him.

'Oh, there are. You know that,' Joe said, 'that's why I didn't kill you for the crossbow. And why I told my boys to stay away from your girl here.' Suddenly he reached out and took the rabbit from Daryl's hands.

'Hey!' Daryl snapped.

'Easy there partner,' Joe said calmly as he held the rabbit against a tree and put his axe into the small body, cutting it in half. He threw one half at Len, letting Daryl keep the other one. 'Claimed, that's all you gotta say. Hey, ass end is still an end.'

'So, what's the plan, Daryl?' Joe questioned.

Quinn looked up from the ground, her gaze focusing on the two men that walked before her. She had chosen to walk behind the group for a reason, tired of looking over her shoulder to see if those men kept their distance. She had placed her daggers back in their sheath but her hand was never far away from them.

The only reason these men were staying away from her was because Joe told them she had been claimed by Daryl, eventhough he had said she wasn't his girlfriend. So, Quinn wasn't entirely sure what had pushed Joe to do so, maybe just because they wouldn't start fighting over who could have her first. The thought made her sick, made her entire body shake feverishly. It felt like being back in Marcus his presence, not comfortable in the slightest. Which was why she always kept her weapons close.

'How so?' Daryl asked Joe, his voice pulling her out of her thoughts.

'Oh, you and your girl are with us now but you ain't soon?'

'Yep,' Daryl simply said, throwing a look over his shoulder at Quinn who simply nodded at him. She wouldn't leave without him even though every part of her wanted to go.

'So, what's the plan?' Joe asked.

Daryl gave a small shake of his head, not answering right away, making Joe look over his shoulder at Quinn, gesturing for her to come walk next to them. Sighing she quickened her pace and came walking next to Daryl, feeling Joe's eyes still on her.

'We're just...' she started, searching for words, 'looking for the right place.'

'Oh, we ain't good enough for you, huh?' Joe asked, putting a cigarette in his mouth.

'Some of you ain't exactly friendly,' Daryl said before Quinn could say something.

'You ain't so friendly yourself,' Joe replied. 'You know you need a group out here. You should be with us.'

Quinn bit her tongue but didn't get an opportunity to respond when the snarls of a walker reached her ears. She turned to look at the side of the train tracks they'd been following, noticing an abandoned garage from which a walker came stumbling behind.

'People don't gotta be friendly,' Joe said. 'We don't have to be nice. We don't have to be brothers in arms.'

Quinn watched as three of the men circled around the walker, pushing it around, toying with it before one finally pushed his knife through the thing its skull.

'We just gotta follow the rules,' Joe continued. 'You claim. If you steal, you keel. I know that sounds a little funny but nobody laughs when something goes missing. And you don't lie. 'Cause that's a slippery slope indeed.'

'What happens if you break 'em?' Daryl asked.

'Oh, you catch a beatin',' Joe spoke lightly, as if talking about the weather, 'the severity of which depends upon the offense and the general attitude of the day. But that don't happen much 'cause when men like us,' he gestured at Quinn, 'or in your case woman, follow the rules and cooperate a little bit, well, the world becomes ours.'

Suddenly he whistled and pointed to the car garage. 'Right there. It's our abode for the evening.'

'Hey,' Daryl said as Joe was about to walk to the front door. 'There ain't no us.'

'You leaving right now?' Joe asked. 'No? Then it sure seems like there's an us.' He turned to walk away but looked back at Daryl at the very last second. 'You a cat person, Daryl? I am. Loved 'em since I was three years old. Vicious creatures. Anyway, I'll tell ya, and this is true, ain't nothing sadder than an outdoor cat that thinks he's an indoor cat.' Then he turned around and walked up to the garage where the rest of the men were already waiting.

Quinn threw a quick look at Daryl, once again wanting to tell him that they should just leave but he ignored her and headed after Joe towards the garage. She watched as they opened the door and stormed inside, sweeping through the room, checking for walkers. But it appeared to be safe as they all headed inside.

Sighing she took her daggers in her hands and followed, closing the door behind her back. Looking around she noticed there were a few cars scattered around the place. They might be comfortable for sleeping in but she didn't get a chance to pick one as the men ran up to them, shouting "claimed" as they went.

She bit her tongue,fighting the urge to roll her eyes at the weird rule and instead watched as all the cars got taken. Turning away she choose a spot on the ground, right next to the door. She wanted an escape route if that turned out to be necessary.

Throwing his bag on the ground Daryl came sitting down next to her. She didn't look at him as she lay down on the ground, staring at the ceiling as she held her dagger tightly in her hand.

Tired as she was, sleep didn't come to her, not even as the sun went down and the snores of the men filled the small garage. Her body refused to rest, however much she needed it. The black car with the white cross kept on appearing before her eyes and her heart stung as the song Beth had played on the piano kept on replaying itself inside her head.

Finally she took a deep breath, stood up from the ground and walked towards the door. Opening it she stepped outside, breathing in the cold night air as she stared up at the stars in the dark sky above. The moon shone so bright it provided enough light for her to see clearly. And she was grateful for it.

Sitting down on the ground, she leaned her back against the wall behind her, narrowing her eyes at the sky. The thought that wherever Beth was, she would be looking at the same stars and the same moon, somehow comforted her. Enough for the lingering pain in her heart to numb a little.

Footsteps sounded from behind her and she pulled her dagger free, raising it but exhaling slowly when her eyes fell on Daryl.

'You startled me,' she mumbled, lowering her weapon.

He didn't reply and instead took place on the ground next to her, leaning his arms on his knees as he stared into the darkness. She couldn't stop herself from staring at him. The concentrated look that appeared on his face whenever he'd look at the dangerous world around him somehow intrigued her. It had his features sharp and even more handsome.
But as he turned to look at her, she quickly averted her eyes, even though she was pretty sure he knew she'd been staring. He was perceptive like that.

'It ain't your fault,' he suddenly said, his voice breaking the peaceful silence of the night. He didn't need to say more for her to know what he meant.

She took a shaky breath, that night replaying itself before her eyes like a movie. 'We were running towards the road, just like you said. But there was a-a walker right behind us, pulling me back.' She pushed her hair behind her ears as she chewed on her lip, desperately trying to keep herself from crying. 'I turned my back on her for one second and she was...gone.'

Turning to look at him again she found he was already staring at her. 'Are you really planning on staying with these guys?' She mumbled, having to ask him.

He nodded slowly. 'For now.'

'Why?' She whispered, wanting to understand what would make him want to stay with these assholes.

His eyes scanned her face as he seemed to be searching for the right words. Finally he looked away, his gaze turning to the stars as he mumbled something under his breath.

Quinn looked at him, patiently waiting for him to say it again, only louder this time. She had never realised before how truly hard it was for him to show even the smallest bit of emotion. The thought of opening up to someone seemed to scare him more than a herd of walkers. And before the night at the shed with the moonshine burning in their throats, she just thought he simply didn't care, like his brother. But it had turned out to be the very opposite of that, he cared too much, which was why he kept it all inside. She had learned he cared more than any human being she ever met before, but he was scared and so would never show it to anyone.

And while those thoughts raced around in her head she suddenly realised why he wanted to stay, and why he couldn't admit to her what the reason was. He had failed to protect Beth, was forced to watch her disappear before his very eyes and even though they weren't safe with these people, at least they would fight with them when the dead attacked. Safety in numbers.

Inhaling sharply her chest tightened. Her heart hurt upon realising he actually thought he wasn't capable of protecting her, that he needed other people to help him doing so.

'You're wrong,' she whispered, nudging him so he'd turn his gaze to her. 'You don't need them, neither do I.' 

For a second she thought to see honest surprise on his features but it was gone before she could be sure of it. Instead he watched her cautiously, as if scared for what she would say next.

She forced herself to keep looking at him as she added softly, 'we can make it together.'

He bit his lip as a silence fell between them, stretching out until she was convinced he wasn't going to reply to her any more. ''til we find a safe place,' he finally mumbled.

Taking a deep breath she turned away from him, knowing that since nowhere was really safe, that statement was nothing more than a false promise but it was all he was going to give her. 'Fine,' she sighed, not wanting to start an argument with the last friend she'd left. For now, this was going to have to be enough.