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dixons-sunshine · 5 months ago

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More Than Meets The Eye | Quarters Of The Undead

(GIF isn’t mine)

Summary: After Shane demands mushrooms be included in the evening’s dinner, Georgie is sent to go searching for some, her first time ever drifting that far from the camp. But she soon discovers that there’s more than just mushrooms out in the woods.

Era: The Quarry

Part of the Quarters Of The Undead AU.

Warnings: Swearing, arguing, I think that’s it.

Word count: 4.7k

Pairings: Georgianna Hawkins x Daryl Dixon (unestablished/“platonic”); Lydia Vector x Scud Frohmeyer (established/romantic)

A/N: This took me forever to finish but here it is! I hope y’all like it. And massive thanks to @dixonsdarkelf for help with the summary.

Quarters Of The Undead Masterlist

Life as she knew it was over. Gone were the days of staying up late to work on grading assignments. Gone were the days of lounging around in the living room with Scud while waiting for Vec to come home from work. Gone were the days where deadlines and failed dates were Georgie’s biggest worries. Instead, now she had to worry about survival. She had to worry about food, safe drinking water. She had to worry about whether or not she would live to see the next day. Despite living in a camp that seemed safe, she knew that everything could change in a blink of an eye. She had seen it happen when the dead first started walking.

Georgie sighed as she worked on fixing a hole in Shane Walsh’s shirt. Or ‘Deputy Dick’, as she had so affectionately named him. A title Vec and Scud had picked up on and used more than even she did. She sat by the unlit campfire as she worked, dreading the nearly full laundry basket of clothes that all had tears or holes that needed fixing. Yes, she loved sewing, but her hand was beginning to cramp up. She needed a break, but she did not want Deputy Dick breathing down her neck for it.

“What the fuck does he do that makes new holes appear in his clothes every single day?” Georgie muttered under her breath, her brows furrowed together in frustration.

From beside her, her best friend, Vec, simply chuckled. “Roll around on the ground, probably,” she mused, leaning back in her chair. “At least then he would be doing something except sit on his ass and “guard the camp” all day.”

Georgie laughed at that and nodded in agreement. “So true.” Her laughter got replaced by a small hiss of pain when she accidentally pricked her finger with the needle. “Shit!”

“You alright, babe?” Vec asked in concern, her blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just pricked my finger,” she replied with a sigh, closing her eyes to will the stinging sensation away.

“You sure? If you think you need stitches, let me know. I’ll go get the kit right now.”

Georgie laughed at her best friend. She appreciated her attempt to lighten the mood. “I’m sure I’ll survive.” She finished closing the hole in the shirt and tossed it into the laundry basket, before getting up and stretching to get rid of the kinks that had formed in her back. “I think I need a break, though.”

Before Vec could speak up, a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders. “Hey, Vee,” Scud greeted her, having to lean down to press a kiss to the top of her head due to Vec being seated on the chair.

“Yup, now I definitely need a break,” Georgie joked, sending Scud a pointed look.

Scud rolled his eyes and flipped her off. “You’re just jealous.”

“Of you? Definitely not.” Georgie pretended to gag, before laughing and looking back to Vec. “I’ll be right back. I just wanna go get something from the tent.”

“Okay,” Vec replied, bringing her hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she peered at Georgie. “You think you could bring my notebook with you?”

“Of course.”

With that, she stalked off towards the tent she shared with Scud and Vec. It was set up near the outskirts, close enough to be a part of the camp, but far enough away that they still had some semblance of privacy. Well, some privacy. Another tent was set up not too far away from theirs. A gray, medium-sized tent that belonged to the Dixon brothers.

Georgie did not know how she felt about the Dixon brothers. When her and Vec had been brought back by Shane, they had already been there. Merle Dixon had wasted no time in being crude to her and Vec. Sexual comments, rude gestures, everything. Georgie had met quite a few guys that needed a reality check in her life, but none of them had been quite as bad as the oldest Dixon brother. And Daryl…

Truth be told, Georgie did not know what to make of the younger Dixon brother. All she knew about him was that he could be quite the sass mouth when he wanted to be. However, he tended to keep more to himself, slinking away into the woods more often than not, sometimes only returning days later with squirrels or other game. From what she could gather, he was a bit of a hothead at times, but he seemed to be nothing like his brother. At least, as far as Georgie could tell.

Georgie heard them before she saw them. Looking up from the ground, she stopped in her tracks and had to witness the same men she had been thinking about only moments prior argue for what seemed like the millionth time. She tended to ignore them when they got into their debacles, but she would not be able to now. For some reason, the two brothers had decided that the front of her tent would be the perfect spot for their battleground.

“What the fuck were you thinkin’?! We could’a used that, Merle!” Daryl exclaimed, angrily motioning towards the tent, towards something that Georgie couldn’t see.

Merle simply scoffed and rolled his eyes, absentmindedly wiping at his nose. “Well boohoo. If ya ask me, you oughta shut your mouth before I break your teeth, Darylina.”

Georgie could see that Daryl was getting angrier by the second. He was practically seething at that point. If someone didn’t intervene, the front of her tent would definitely turn into a war ground, and not only metaphorically. She knew she would not be able to stop them, but if they truly were about to start throwing punches, she wanted to at least get what she had came for before they began.

Forcing herself to brave the situation, she walked on and brushed past them, turning their attention to her. She suddenly felt small under their gazes, but she attempted to remain calm.

“Sorry. I’m sorry. You two can go on in a moment,” she mumbled, ducking into her tent. Working at lightning speed, she grabbed Vec’s notebook and pen from beside her sleeping bag, as well as her own sketchbook and pencil. Shane Walsh’s clothes be damned, she wanted to unwind. While doing so, she was rather shocked that she didn’t hear anymore arguing. Seems like her interruption had managed to prevent the fight from escalating, she figured.

Making her way out of the tent in record time—it had to have been less than a minute—she was surprised to see Daryl still standing right where she had last seen him. Merle had already walked off, her prior interruption having stopped their argument long enough for him to have been the one to get the final say before disappearing. Daryl, however, was still rooted in his spot, for reasons even he himself was unaware.

His piercing cerulean-coloured eyes bored down into her chocolate-coloured ones. He was silent, unmoving, his eyebrows furrowed together in a thoughtful look. His gaze made Georgie shift her weight from one foot to the other, feeling a touch unsettled by it.

“Do you need something?” she asked after a few more beats of silence. Merle was gone, so what could Daryl still be doing in front of her tent? She did not know what to expect. She had never even spoken to him before. She had to learn his name from Scud, so she was unsure what he was about to do. Apologize? Yell at her for butting into their argument? She did not know.

After a few moments of contemplation, Daryl simply turned around and walked off. No apology, no yelling, nothing. Just silence as he disappeared into his own tent. Georgie raised her eyebrows as she watched him close the tent flap, not knowing how to feel about what had just happened.

“Okay, then,” she mused aloud to herself. She shook her head and made her way back to the campsite, back to the unlit campfire where Vec and Scud were.

When Vec saw Georgie, she nudged her head in the direction of their tent. “What was that all about?”

Georgie collapsed into the chair, reaching over to hand Vec her notebook and pen. “You saw that?”

“I heard it.” She opened her notebook, before adjusting her glasses on the bridge of her nose.

Georgie sighed and shook her head. “I don’t even know. Daryl was pissed at Merle for something. Said “they could have used it”,” Georgie repeated what she had heard. “I wanted to get our things, though, so I pushed past them. That seemed to end their argument.”

“Wait, seriously?” Scud voiced, a little bit impressed. “You usually hate butting into people’s arguments.”

“I do, but they were in front of our tent. I wanted to get our things,” Georgie shrugged nonchalantly. Truth be told, even she was surprised by how bold she had been. Despite not having said much or told them to go argue somewhere else, that was still something new for her. Usually, she would have shrunk away, let them be and hoped that they would go away soon enough. It seemed like the apocalypse was beginning to strengthen her resolve, little by little.

”Damn, Gin. I’m so proud right now,” Vec spoke up, playfully wiping away a nonexistent tear. “I knew you had it in you.”

Georgie chuckled and threw her pencil at Vec, which only elicited a laugh from her. “I hate you both.”

Vec’s laughter died down, and she leaned back in her seat. “Those brothers really are something.”

“Yes, they are.”

Georgie couldn’t seem to get that look Daryl had given her out of her mind. Despite it not being friendly, it had not been hostile, either. For a moment, it had looked like he had been… intrigued?

No, she thought to herself, opening her sketchbook and gratefully accepting the pencil from Vec. She was overthinking it. She needed to forget about it.

However, that was easier said than done.

Georgie sighed as she walked up to Dale. She glanced back towards the cliff, in the direction where the most of the women in the camp had disappeared down to wash the laundry. The Hawkins woman would have followed behind them like usual, but she had been stopped by the Horvath man. For what reason, she was unaware.

“Georgianna,” Dale said in greeting, sending her a friendly smile as he moved to meet her halfway, a small bag in his grasp.

Georgie smiled at him. “How many times do I have to say that just ‘Georgie’ is fine?” she asked him light-heartedly.

“Well, I think Georgianna is a beautiful name and it should be said more often,” Dale countered playfully.

Georgie simply shook her head. “What can I do for you, Dale?”

“How much do you know about mushrooms?”

That took her off guard. “Oh,” she began, frowning slightly. “Enough to know what the poisonous ones look like, but I’m not super confident in my skills. You’d probably have better luck asking Lori.”

Dale pursed his lips. “I would, but I have no idea where she is.” He adjusted the strap of his shotgun over his shoulder. “Shane wants there to be mushrooms with tonight’s dinner.”

Georgie scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Of course he does,” she muttered under her breath. “So you want me to go look for some?”

“If it isn’t too much trouble,” he confirmed, holding the bag he had in his hands out towards her.

She smiled at him reassuringly. “It’s not.” Georgie took the bag from him and stepped back. “Believe me, this is a blessing. I’ve been waiting for a reason to explore the woods a bit.” She stopped for a moment and frowned a little. “Am I gonna be alone?”

Dale thought for a moment. “Yes and no? I think Daryl is out hunting, so you might run into him. But you can take someone else with you if you’d like.”

“No, it’s okay,” Georgie said. “I got it.”

Dale smiled at her. “Don’t go too far, though. Stay within shouting distance,” he repeated what he always told anyone that went into the woods. He moved towards the ladder that lead up to the roof of the RV. “And be back before sundown.”

“Could you maybe tell Vec where I’m going if she asks?”

“Of course.”

With that, Dale made his way up the ladder, leaving Georgie alone with her thoughts. She smiled to herself and walked off, stopping only for a brief moment to pick up one of the knives that laid on the chair next to the campfire. It wasn’t exactly the type of knife a person would use when hunting or defending themselves, but it would do. She would not go into the woods without some way to defend herself.

With one final glance at the campsite, she disappeared into the trees, making sure to keep her senses on high alert as she stalked further and further away from the safety of the camp. Despite nothing having happened thus far, she did not feel like testing her luck. She definitely did not feel like getting eaten alive.

“Mushrooms,” Georgie muttered to herself as she looked down at the forest floor, slowing her pace down. “Look for mushrooms.” She bent down and picked up what she thought was a mushroom, quickly discovered it wasn’t, and threw it to the side. “Much easier said than done, but it’s fine. At least I don’t have to do laundry for a change.”

Georgie didn’t know how long she was in the woods, scouring the ground for mushrooms and cutting her hands on a twig once or twice. It could have been minutes or it could have been hours. She had a tendency to have no grasp on time or reality when she busied her mind with a task. However, she quickly got brought back to reality when she heard a twig snap behind her. She spun around and gripped the knife in her hand, fully prepared to see a walker stumbling towards her. However, she was surprised to be met with a crossbow raised towards her, piercing blue eyes peering at her over the weapon. The same blue eyes of the man she had spoken to at her tent a few days before.

The air was thick, the silence palpable. For what felt like forever, Georgie and the crossbow-wielding archer just stared at each other, their respective weapons still raised in front of them. However, surprisingly, the younger Dixon was the one to back off first.

Daryl lowered his crossbow and simply looked at Georgie for another few seconds, before speaking up. “The hell’re you doin’ out here?”

Georgie’s eyebrows raised in surprise. She lowered the knife in her hand and simply raised the bag she held in her other one. “Scouring for mushrooms.”

The huntsman hummed in acknowledgement. However, he still looked tense. “Y’shouldn’t be out here,” he replied curtly, his tone cold and lacking any friendliness. “S’too dangerous.”

The Hawkins woman let out a scoff and rolled her eyes. “Typical,” she mumbled, shaking her head, before raising her voice again. “I’m fine.” With that, she turned around and walked on, continuing her search for the damned mushrooms.

Georgie barely got a few feet away before Daryl’s voice rung through the air once more. “S’gettin’ dark. Pretty sure s’hard to find things when ya can’t even see.”

She couldn’t figure out if he was being condescending or not. His tone didn’t waver, nor did his stance, Georgie noted when she turned back around. He was rooted in the same spot, a few squirrels strung over his shoulder and his face betrayed nothing. He managed to upkeep his stoic stature.

Glancing up, Georgie realized that he was right. The sun was beginning to disappear from the sky, its rays painting the sky in hues of orange and yellow. Time had flown by. How long had she been in the woods?

Daryl shifted his weight from one foot to the other, silently observing her. He waited for her to say something, to tell him to get lost or to leave her alone. He expected it, honestly, and after what she had witnessed between him and Merle, he couldn’t blame her. He would tell himself to go away after that.

“Jesus,” Georgie began after a few moments, turning back to him. “How long have I been out here?” She knew it was futile to ask him. Unless he had been following her since she left the camp, she seriously doubted he would be able to answer her question.

Daryl shrugged and cleared his throat. “The hell’re ya askin’ me for?”

“Sorry.” Georgie raised her hands in mock-surrender. “It was a rhetorical question. No need to bite my head off.”

He simply hummed again, his eyes flickering over her face for a few moments, before looking behind her at something. “Behind ya.”

Georgie spun around, her heart pounding against her ribcage, fully prepared to find someone—or something—but she was met with nothing except trees. Was he doing this for laughs? Did he do that as some sort of payback for interrupting him and Merle the other day?

“Why the fuck would you do that, Daryl?” she asked in exasperation, turning back to him. “You want me to have a heart attack?”

Daryl said nothing. He merely looked at her for a second, before stalking over to her. Or, well, behind her. He bent down, picked something up and extended it towards her. A mushroom.

Georgie felt rather stupid in that moment. She’d snapped at him for nothing. He was just helping her out. However, he definitely could have pointed it out in a better way, she thought to herself as she accepted it from his grasp.

“Thanks.”

Daryl stood up and adjusted his hold on his beloved crossbow, slightly towering over her. He wasn’t that much taller than her—only about four inches, if she had to guess—but it was enough to make her have to look up at him. The sun caught in his hair, giving it a golden hue, and upon closer inspection, Georgie could see little specks of green in his eyes. And the—

“Don’t mention it.”

That snapped Georgie back to reality. She frowned at herself and took a step back from the archer. What was that about?

Daryl glanced up at the sky. “I’d head back if I were you. It ain’t safe out here.”

“Why do you care?” She knew she was being harsh. She knew it was uncalled for. She instantly felt bad about it. “Sorry. I’m sorry, that was rude. I don’t know why I said that.”

“Ain’t nothin’. Heard worse.” Daryl wiped his hand off on his jeans. “Jus’ don’t feel like havin’ your death on my conscience if somethin’ happens.”

Georgie nodded and slung the bag over her shoulder. Choosing to be civil as long as he was, she sheathed the knife through the space between her belt and her jeans and crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s fair,” she replied. “Lead the way, I guess.”

Daryl’s eyebrows raised in mild surprise, but he made no comment on her compliance. Instead, he nodded and began walking, making his way back. Georgie followed behind him silently, knowing that there was a time and place to be stubborn, and that was neither the or place. With a quick glance around as she moved, she realized that she had no idea where she was anyway, so Daryl choosing to be somewhat persistent about her following him back was a blessing.

Maybe he knew she was lost. He seemed like an observant guy, so she wouldn’t put it past him.

The minutes ticked by in relative silence. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of leaves crunching under their shoes, the distant sounds of birds’ chirps being replaced by those of crickets, and the whooshing of the late afternoon breeze. It was calm, peaceful, serene. It reminded her of the camping trips her dad used to take her on as a kid.

“Sorry.”

Daryl’s voice rang through the air, taking Georgie by surprise. “What?”

“Sorry,” he repeated himself, keeping his eyes trained in front of him. “For the other day, I mean. The argument. It was ugly and ya didn’t deserve to see it.”

“Oh.” Realization dawned on her. She was shocked to hear him apologize for that. She definitely didn’t expect it. “It’s fine. Shit happens.”

“Mhm.” He glanced at Georgie, finding himself slightly admiring her, even against his better judgement. He wasn’t blind. From the moment he had laid eyes on her, he thought she was beautiful. A few days of observing her from afar showed him that she was a good person. And now their earlier encounter showed him that she had a fire in her, too. So how could he not be a little blown away by her?

After a few more seconds of silence, Georgie found herself speaking up again. “So how hard is it to handle that thing anyway?” She knew her attempt at conversation could have been futile. However, if she had to walk in that tense silence a minute longer, she would lose her mind.

Daryl raised his eyebrows in question. “This?” he inquired, raising his crossbow and continuing when she nodded. “Ain’t that hard if ya know what you’re doin’.”

“It can’t be that hard if you’re asking me,” Georgie scoffed, continuing the conversation now that she knew the archer wouldn’t bite her head off for talking.

“Good thing I ain’t askin’ you, then,” he retorted, stepping over a fallen log. “Think you could do it?”

“I mean, I probably could. I can use a compound bow.”

It was Daryl’s turn to scoff. “S’two very different weapons.”

“Still can’t be that difficult. I think I could use it,” Georgie joked, a smile spreading across her face. “In fact, I’m confident that I can.”

To his surprise, Daryl felt his lips quirk up into a small smile. However, he quickly wiped it from his face. “Whatever ya say. M’willin’a bet that you can’t.”

“Okay,” she mused, nodding her head. “Challenge accepted, Robin Hood.”

The archer snorted at that, but he quickly covered it up with a fake cough. To his shock, he found himself enjoying her company. He couldn’t say that about a lot of people, especially not most of the people at the camp, but there he was. He didn’t know how to feel about that fact. He was conflicted.

“Guess we’ll see—”

The sounds of groans reached his ears. Daryl signalled for Georgie to stop, slowly raising his crossbow in front of him as he stalked forward, his footsteps much quieter than they were only seconds before. Georgie followed behind him, her hand hovering close to the knife that rested against her hip. It took her a little bit longer to hear what he did, but when she did, she realized why he was acting so on edge.

“Is it a walker?” she whispered softly, staying close behind him.

Daryl shushed her. “Be quiet, woman,” he warned her.

Georgie nodded. He was the hunter, after all. If there was anyone that knew about the dangers in these woods, it would be him. He practically lived there, anyway. Despite not knowing him well at all, Georgie knew that she had to trust his judgement. So she shut her mouth and observed as he pulled a few leaf-covered branches back to see what danger lurked there.

Of everything that the two of them could have stumbled across, nothing could have prepared them for that. Just as quickly as Daryl lifted the branches, he just as quickly dropped them, too. His face scrunched up in disgust as he practically jumped back, that visual forever ingrained into his mind.

The visual of Shane and Lori going at it in the middle of the forest floor.

Georgie shared his sentiment. Her eyes were widened in horror, her stomach churning as she fought against the urge to throw up. She definitely could have gone her whole life without seeing that. She never wanted to see that.

“Jesus,” she muttered. “I didn’t want to see that.”

Daryl agreed with that statement. “Yeah.”

“Could have gone my whole life without seeing that and I would have been happy.”

“Mhm.”

The Hawkins woman groaned as she walked as far away from the scene of the crime as she could, reassured she was going the right way when Daryl followed behind her instead of correcting her. “At least now I know why Shane keeps getting holes in his shirt. And Lori…”

“Best if ya try not to think about it,” he advised her, although he knew it would be easier said than done.

“Yeah,” Georgie mumbled. She’d had her suspicions about Shane and Lori—they weren’t as subtle as they thought they were—but she never thought she’d confirm them by seeing them in the act.

The rest of the trek was spent in silence, the previous unexpected camaraderie nowhere to be found. The campsite came into view after about another five minutes of walking, and Georgie could see people gathering around the fire pit. Nobody had spotted them yet, but she was sure they would soon. It’s not like Georgie and Daryl were exactly friends, so them coming back together would probably raise some suspicions.

“Thanks,” she began, turning back to Daryl. “For bringing me back. I know I was a bit of a bitch earlier. You could have left me.”

Daryl shrugged. “Nah. Like I said, don’t need your death on my conscience.”

“Well, thanks anyway,” she said, turning away. However, before she could walk off, his voice reached her ears once more.

“What’s your name?”

Georgie turned back to him. “What?”

Daryl hesitated for a moment. Even he was surprised by the fact that he had asked that. He could easily have let her walk off and be done with her. That would have been easy. He didn’t need friends. But despite that, he found himself repeating the question, the same question he had wanted an answer to for longer than he wanted to admit.

“What’s your name?” he asked again. “I mean, y’know mine. You said it earlier. Now I wanna know yours. Ain’t it considered the good mannered thing to do when exchangin’ names with a stranger?”

Georgie’s lips quirked up into a small smile. “You could always just ask my best friend what my name is. Or Scud or Glenn or somebody,” she replied.

Daryl scoffed. “Yeah, but I don’t wanna do that. I wanna hear it from you.”

The Hawkins woman nodded and sent him a small smile. “Georgianna,” she told him after a few beats of silence. “But just about everyone calls me Georgie. It’s your pick, really. I respond to either.” With that, Georgie turned back around and finally left to head back into the campsite, leaving Daryl alone with his own racing thoughts, ones that confused him immensely, ones that he didn’t understand. Ones he needed to figure out. And Georgie left with the thought that there was definitely more to the archer than meets the eye.

After stopping to drop off the bag with the mushrooms, and telling Dale to sort through them just to be sure none of them are poisonous, Georgie stalked over to her tent at record speed, having piping hot tea to spill to her best friend. Outside, Vec was already waiting with her arms crossed over her chest, a smirk on her face as she peered at Georgie.

“D—”

“Well, well, well. Look who finally decided to show her face again,” Vec cut her off, the smirk on her face not wavering, even just for a second. “Don’t worry, by the way. It looks like you’ve got all your clothes on the right side out.”

Georgie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “What?”

“I’m a little surprised. A few days ago you weren’t even speaking to each other, and now you’re already getting down and dirty? Even Josh and I didn’t move that fast.”

Realization dawned on her. “Dia, no, we—”

The doctor cut her off again, her excitement getting the better of her. “Tell me everything. How was it?”

“I—”

“Is he a good kisser?”

“He—”

“Did he actually make you finish?”

“No, listen—”

“How many times?”

“Wait—”

“You gonna do it again?”

“Lydia!”

That finally seemed to get Vec’s attention. “What?”