Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Over there!"

A body drops in the trees. A boy, young and weary, concealing himself quickly behind shrubbery and under the shade of the leaves. Footfall follows the voices that don't belong to him, moving down a path he aborted just seconds prior to hiding.

Lucas remains as still as possible.

The rushed footsteps slow, then stop altogether.

If he could breathe through the panic, he would've sighed in relief.

Instead, he strains his ears past the sudden silence and creeps closer, shoes nudging past dry leaves and broken branches to rest upon vacant ground.

It's a group of several that settle in the clearing past the bushes, circling two bodies ominously. Only one of them moves. A mangled corpse chowing down on a dead deer like it was the last meal it'd ever get. Lucas supposes it would be, now, after watching the axe slice through the air, tearing its head off in one simple move. Their attempt isn't as successful as the group would have liked to believe, and while the corpse's severed head rolls uselessly across the dirt, its jaw remains free to snap at open air.

Lucas ducks behind the cover of a large oak tree, using it to study the individuals he's considering revealing himself to.

The two men at the front ooze an air of authority, even with the garden tools being the only weapons at their disposal - or maybe that's just the similar way they dress. Small-town cops on a mission. 

Keeping up a few steps beside them is an older man with a bright shirt and a slanted bucket hat atop his head. Lucas's eyes pass over him without stopping and fasten on the two girls hiding behind the group instead, relieved to see them comfortable in the excess of male company.

He flips the pocket knife in his hand, warring between two decidedly diverse options. One could profit his stability and the other, his survival odds.

To leave without a glance back, or risk intruding into the dynamic that was this group, despite the pit sitting in his stomach at the thought. 

The former appeals to Lucas the most. Could he really promise safety when he'd failed to offer the same before?

He doesn't get a chance to think more about it.

A foot slams into Lucas's spine, knocking him out of cover and into the open.

It takes the air out of him in one fell swoop when he drops, limbs knocking into jagged rocks and hands scraping uselessly against the ground for purchase. He comes to an end with his back against the ground and his weapon strewn across the dirt.

As soon as the shock dies out, he lunges to the side in a desperate attempt to find his knife-

His arm freezes mid-reach, fingers trembling, eyes coming to focus on the crossbow loaded and aimed above his nose. The hands threatening him are steady and strong around the trigger.

"Jesus." Lucas huffs, dropping his arm. He presses his back to the ground.

"Kid was hidin' in the bushes," the man says, unwavering, voice heavy with an accent.

Lucas shifts under the sudden attention, "I wasn't hiding," He swallows, caught on the half-lie, "No way was I gonna come out while you guys were beating down on that thing."

"You alone?"

"Does it look like I'm with anybody?" Lucas snaps at the cap-wearing brunette, dressed in a plaid shirt.

"Son of a bitch." 

He flinches, and twists, expecting the words to be directed at him. However, it's the heap on the bloodied grass that takes the brunt of Daryl's swearing, stepping over Lucas's body like he's nothing but a lump of trash.

"That's my deer!"

Lucas follows the movement with his eyes, waiting until Daryl is gone to lift himself onto his elbows.

"Look at it. All gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" The headless corpse is rewarded a crazed kick after every insult.

"Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale holds out a placating hand, looking to the others for help.

Standing slowly, hands pushing up from the dirt, Lucas grasps for his weapon. His eyes dart from the group to the trees.

"What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take tha' stupid hat and go back to On Golden Pond?" Daryl jabs a finger in his face, unbothered by the shotgun used to separate them.

Lucas can almost feel the collective sigh the group gives off, accepting the interruption to stand fully and brush off his shirt. 

Daryl shifts his eyes to the corpse they'd failed to kill and huffs, stepping up beside it to lift his crossbow. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't you all know nothin'?" He fires.

Lucas takes a step back, and another, and then another-

"Hey."

He jerks away from the voice, alarmed, but the small-town cop - the cleaner-looking of the two - doesn't grab him. His hands rest on his hips, and he smiles, a tight one, but something nonetheless. "What's your name, kid?"

". . .Lucas. Why?" He narrows his eyes.

Nodding, Rick glances at him from top to bottom. Lucas rights his footing as he does, attempting to stand taller.

"You alone out there?"

"Pretty sure I just answered that a minute ago." Lucas snarks at him, already on the defensive. "You deaf?"

The guy just tilts his head, eyes crinkling, and puts his hands up in a placating sort of surrender. "Okay, Lucas. How 'bout you come back with us, then, alright?" His hands fall to his sides.

"What?"

Years worth of back-chat goes right down the drain. He watches as it leaves him, stunned, and struggles to add something logical to his one-worded question. 

The offer sounds so simple coming from Rick's mouth, so much so that Lucas wants to accept before it's withdrawn and stroll off into the sunset because maybe this is finally his chance. But when in the flying fuck had it ever been so easy?

"Rick." Shane hisses, interrupting him. He grabs the man by the arm and tugs him away. "We don't know 'im."

"Kid can't be any older than Glenn and he's got no one to watch his back out there."

"People aren't what they used to be, brother. Trust is a hard thing to come by." Shane glances at the boy.

Who, in his defense, was attacked and then offered a peace treaty seconds later, is standing stiff still and glaring at everyone who looks his way.

Shane sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, "If he's not who he looks to be, it's on you."

Rick nods, turning to see Lucas already watching. The kid takes a few steps closer when Shane waves him in.

"We have a camp." The man starts, crossing his arms. "You show us you can be trusted, and we'll get along jus' fine." Shane nods his head towards the others, already starting to head off through the underbrush, in the same direction Lucas would have stumbled upon if not for the madness that occurred.

He chews on the insides of his cheeks, searching for the right words, but the questions are still there, nudging harshly to the forefront, "You don't even know me."

"I know that if you try anythin' against us." Shane lowers his voice, stepping closer. "We won't hesitate to take you down."

Lucas lifts his chin and swallows thickly.

He looks away.