Chapter Text
Using her foot to open the door, Y/N kept her bow at the ready as she entered the abandoned building. It appeared to be empty, but she knew that one or more of the undead could be somewhere inside. Not wanting to be surprised by one, Y/N kicked the reception desk a few times to see if the noise brought any walking corpses out to her. While she hoped not it was empty, she also knew that the undead could be good deterrents from people coming in, which meant that the clinic was mostly untouched, and they really needed the supplies that should still be inside.
After a couple of minutes of quiet, Y/N deemed it safe to move deeper inside, past the desk, and towards the offices and exam rooms. The first office she found was in a similar state as the entrance, with papers and such thrown around, but nothing that she or Christopher could use. Before she could move to search the other rooms, a faint noise alerted her that they were not alone. Bow at the ready, Y/N moved as quickly and quietly as she could, not wanting to be trapped in the office with no other exit, to the door, and back out into the hall. This time finding a crossbow aimed at her, and a rough-looking man behind it.
“I don’t want any trouble.” Y/N declared as her eyes looked him over. His tanned skin had the look of someone who spent a lot of time outside, his clothes looked worn but clean, and he had a large hunting knife and a gun on his belt. Facial hair covered his chin, and his hair was on the longish side, not reaching his shoulders but falling over a pair of blue eyes. Blue eyes that were focused on her. They didn’t look red or bloodshot but that didn’t mean he wasn’t here looking a hit or dangerous.
“Me neither.” He replied gruffly.
“The drug closet is usually in the nurses’ area.” She said with a jerk of her chin in that direction, so that she continued to hold her bow at the ready, the arrow pointed at him.
“Ya think I’m lookin’ for drugs?” The man asked, his voice rising in both volume and irritation. “What ya see a redneck with a crossbow and think I am some druggie?”
Before Y/N could reply, the sound of a small cry filled the room, obviously startled by the sound of raised voices. She could feel the material wrapped around her moving as its occupant shifted. Keeping her eyes on the man in front of her, she murmured some comforting words.
It surprised Daryl when he saw a small dark head of hair pop out from the layers of clothing that the woman wore. The baby was older than Judith, but he couldn’t tell if it was a boy or a girl. The baby’s cries quieted quickly as the woman whispered something softly. He felt a bit like a dick for obviously scaring the kid, but how the hell was he supposed to know she had a kid? Deciding the woman wasn’t the threat he’d assumed she was Daryl lowered his bow and swung his pack around to reach inside. “Here.”
Y/N’s brows shot up in surprise when she saw the pack of baby food being offered. Not only was that not what she expected him to have in his bag, nor had she expected him to lower his weapon. Reaching out tentatively, she accepted it. “Thanks.”
“There’s more.” Daryl declared. It was true. He had planned on taking as much as he could carry now for little ass kicker then come back with the others to get the rest, but he would not let another child go hungry either. “Formula, diapers, and shit, all in the back.”
Y/N could see from his expression and slightly relaxed posture that he meant them no harm, instead offering the opposite. Trusting her gut that she was right, she released the tension on her bow and shouldered it. With her hands now free, she could reach for Christopher and soothe him further as she moved past the man toward the back where he said there were more supplies, maintaining a wide berth just in case.
Feeling guilty about her earlier assumption, Y/N said, “I didn’t think you were a druggie because of the way you look. I just couldn’t think of another reason one guy would be in a women’s clinic.”
“I get it,” Daryl said with a nod to Christopher. “Ya gotta be careful.”
Y/N nodded once more before turning and moving away. It only took her a minute to find what looked like a supply closet, just off the break room. The stranger had been right, while not bursting at the seams, it was quite full. Diapers of various sizes, cans of formula, bottles, baby food, and so forth. It was a treasure trove for them. Seeing a nearby empty diaper bag, Y/N started loading it up, while keeping an ear out for any danger. Which is why when she looked up, she was surprised to see the man watching her from the doorway; she didn’t know a person could be so quiet.
Worrying for a minute that she had fallen for a trap, Y/N reached for the knife at her waist, but the man put up his hands in surrender. “Hey hey, not goin’ hurt ya.”
“Then what do you want?” Y/N demanded. “If your pack is full, why did you follow us back here?”
“Wanted to ask ya somethin’.”
“Yeah? What?”
“Do ya have a safe place? To stay I mean,” He asked.
“Of course, we do,” Y/N replied, trying not to show that she was lying. “Our group is waiting for us back at our camp, and a bunch of us are out scouting for supplies. I came here for baby stuff but they’re waiting for us.”
The blue-eyed man looked at her for a minute, as he chewed on his lip. “No, they ain’t.”
“Are you calling me a liar?” Y/N asked.
“Not callin’ ya anythin’, but I know ya dun have anyone waitin’ for ya, and ya dun have a group.” He stated. “If ya did, ya wouldn’t be by yerself and ya wouldn’t have yer kid with ya. You’d have them safe away with them, not here.”
Internally cursing his observation skills, Y/N just shrugged. “Fine, you’re right. What of it?”
“I’m got a group, a big one, men, women, other kids. We’ve got food, a doctor, walls, and fences to keep the walkers out.”
“And babies?” Y/N asked, nodding towards his bag. If he was telling the truth, and he really had this camp, it would explain why he is hunting for baby supplies. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Thought ya and the little one might be lookin’ for a place.” He explained. Daryl didn’t like the idea of leaving the two of them out here alone and not without a safe place to stay.
“You offering?” Y/N asked.
“Maybe.” Daryl said before asking, “How many walkers ya killed?”
“Walkers? You mean the undead?” She asked, realizing it was the second time he had used that word. At his nod, she replied. “I don’t know, I haven’t kept count.”
“How many people have ya killed?”
“2.”
“Why?”
“Because they tried to hurt my son,” Y/N said firmly.
The man nodded, a look of respect in his eyes at her answer. “What’s ya name?”
“Y/N.”
“Daryl.” The man, Daryl, replied. “Do ya want to come with me? I promise nothin’ will happen to ya or yer boy from us.”
Y/N’s first instinct was to say no, thinking it was safer if it was just her and Christopher. It was tough, but they’d been doing okay on their own. But the lure of a safe place, where she might sleep for longer than a couple of hours, and not have to worry about what might come from the shadows to hurt Christopher, was too tempting. Hesitating for another minute, she nodded her head. “Yes. I think we do.”