The McManus' - Ch.1: Meeting the Sheriff
Fandom: Walking Dead
Genre: Horror/Tragedy
Rated: R
Words: 2,494
Pairing(s): Daryl/OC, Rick/OC
Warning(s): gore, dead bodies, blood
Tyler fidgeted with her backpack strap, biting her lip as she walked along the road, eyes darting along the edge of the forest, hand resting lightly on her Glock. She really hoped her sister was still alive, somewhere out there - she knew that if Dylan was alive and well, she'd take refuge in the woods and Tyler would've as well but she knew she couldn't do it alone. She knew the woods like the back of her hand but she had always been with her sister when they lived in the trees, she couldn't do it on her own.
Sighing, she unclipped the walkie talkie from her belt, figuring she'd try to contact her sister again when she snuck a glance over her shoulder and saw movement coming towards her. Cautiously, she stepped off the road and into the gravel, crouching down low when a car came up the road; she became even more weary when she saw that it was a cop car. She cursed under her breath when it slowed to a stop not too far from where she was, the door opening to reveal a man in his mid-thirties.
He wasn't too bad looking, if she was honest with herself - the sheriff's uniform looked amazing on him; she mentally shook away those thoughts, he probably had a wife or something, she shouldn't be thinking of shit like that in the middle of the apocalypse.
"Ma'am? Are you alright?" If the uniform did things to her, his southern drawl was something else and she already knew she was in deep shit. Cursing again, she slowly stood up, hands raised to show she meant no harm and that she was fine.
"I'm fine, not bitten or scratched, nor injured. Just - just trying to find my sister," She called back, shifting her weight on her feet - although she was attracted to him, she was still weary of him, good-looking or not, the end of the world did stupid shit to the survivors.
"My name's Rick Grimes, I'm trying to find my family. Would you like a ride? I'm heading to Atlanta," Suspicious guy or not, she eagerly nodded her head and started towards him - Dylan had told her that she was being stationed in Atlanta before the radio connection cut out.
"I'm Tyler McManus and I was actually heading to Atlanta on foot before you came up but boy, you just saved me about a day's worth of walking," She joked, sliding into the passenger seat; thankfully, he chuckled at her lame attempt, making her smile, grateful for another person's company after being alone for a while
"Does your sister live in Atlanta?" Rick asked, glancing at her before darting his eyes back on the road.
"Nah, she got stationed at the CDC when the outbreak happened, been trying to contact her on the radio but nothing so far," She explained, frowning down at the walkie talkie still in her hand.
"Your sister's military?" She nodded, pulling out her dog tags and jiggled them.
"So am I. It's a family thing," He raised an eyebrow at that, glancing down at her dog tags before biting his lip. She looked away, avoiding direct contact with him in such close corners.
"What branch?" She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Marines. Both of us. Again, family thing. But our brother was in the Navy Seals," She took a deep breath - it still hurt to talk about her brother, even after ten years.
"Was?" She closed her eyes and breathed slowly, reminding herself that he doesn't know and is merely curious.
"Died in action; ten years ago. Body never recovered," She bit her lip as she felt a lump form in her throat, forcing herself to put a look of indifference on that boot camp taught her - it actually works a lot of the time whenever she felt her walls weakening.
"I'm so sorry," She waved off his sympathy, although she secretly melted that he actually cared.
"It was ten years ago, I had time to grieve," She tried to reason with him but she could tell he was still deeply upset about it, for reasons she couldn't phantom. Instead, she decided to change the topic.
"Tell me about your family," Mentally cringing, she wanted to slap herself - yes, let's talk about the guy you're attracted to and his family, bloody brilliant, Tyler. The bright ass smile that appeared on his face at her words weren't helping anything either.
"My wife, Lori, she's my high school sweetheart and my son, Carl, he's only ten..." He trailed off, eyes dimming a tad while sneaking a glance at her; she glared at him.
"Don't," She growled at him, making him swallow nervously. Clearing her throat, she fidgeted with a stray string from her utility uniform.
"They sound like good people, I'm sure you'll find them soon and safe, I can feel it," She smiled reassuringly at him before looking out the window, not really in the mood to chat anymore.
It was quiet for a while, the trees a green blur out her window, when he blurted out a question, "How old are you?" She snickered quietly at how red his face got.
"I'm 30, how old are you?" She teased, taking great pleasuring in his red face.
"Old," He grumbled, shifting in his seat uncomfortably under her stare, "Alright, alright! I'm 36," He grumbled more, making her chuckle.
"Aye, you're around my sister's age, she's 33 but I bet anything that she's older than you," Tyler teased, shifting in her seat.
"Tell me about her," He requested softly, watching as her face settled into a gentle smile and a faraway look appeared in her eyes.
"I can tell you right now that we look nothing alike, we had different mothers but that never bothered us, we were like two peas in a pod. Hell, we even got deployed together into the same platoon and they don't normally do that with siblings - something about clouded judgement and whatnot. Anyway, she's a total tomboy, she's not afraid to get down and dirty with the best of them - I'm not either but I swear to god, I'm pretty sure she was meant to be born a guy," Tyler giggled, remembering one summer when they came home covered head to toe in mud after taking the four-wheelers out for a spin after a heavy storm. Their parents were none too happy with the mud tracks in the house.
"She's every definition of what a Marine should be: fierce, loyal, deadly..."She trailed off, eyes looking off into the trees, "I know she's alive, out there," She nodded to the forest, "Surviving, like always. She said that the woods were her home, that she'd rather live in the forest then in a house. Would just up and leave for weeks at a time, used to worry my parents sick but after the fifth time, they just stopped trying," She laughed, Rick letting out a chuckle himself. It was silent again for a bit, Tyler closing her eyes as she enjoyed the ride, thinking back to her childhood in Ireland.
"So," Rick started, clearing his throat. Tyler grunted, letting him know that she was listening, "McManus, huh?" Tyler chuckled, nodding her head before squinting at him and smirked.
"Ye want ta know if 'm Irish or not, aye?" She teased him, letting her Irish brogue slip through after hiding it for years. She learned that most people don't take kindly to foreigners, even though she was born in the U.S.; she snorted at his amazed expression and an idea popped into her head, an evil sort of smirk stretching her lips.
"You really are handsome, you know that?" She muttered in Gaelic, snickering quietly when he narrowed his eyes are her. "You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?" His frustrated huff told her everything and she chuckled, delighted, rolling her sleeves up absentmindedly. Rick snuck a glance down and raised an eyebrow at the multiple tattoos decorating her arm, one standing out more than the rest because of it's boldness.
"Veritas?" Rick asked, furrowing his eyebrows, "That means truth in Latin, right?" Tyler raised an eyebrow in return before letting out a pleased hum.
"That is correct. At least you know some Latin, I'll have to watch that when I'm around you," She winked at him before turning back to her window, missing the blush that spread across his face. Rick was cursing himself mentally, had to keep reminding himself that he's looking for his family - his main priority - but he had to admit that Tyler was attractive, more so than the average attractiveness. She had a sort of quality to her that just made you want to be friends with her and get to know her better; maybe it was her deep green eyes or bright-ass red hair that caught your attention but once you're past that, her personality is what draws people in, Rick assumed - especially now that she reveal that she can speak more than one language and is of Irish descent, Rick was finding it difficult to not bombard her with questions.
The sputtering of the car brought him out of his thoughts and he cursed, noticing that the gas needle was way past 'empty'. Sighing, he stopped and shut the car off, sitting there for a moment to think of a plan, rubbing his lips as he thought. Tyler rolled her eyes before leaning across him to pop the trunk and got out, grabbing her bag as she went; just as she expected, a gas can was sitting next to his duffel bag and a sheriff's bag of guns. She grabbed his duffel and the bag of guns, leaving him to carry the gas can, before walking over to his door and knocked on the glass, snickering when he jumped; leaning on the car, she rummaged through her pants pockets for her pack of smokes while she waited for him. She just lit a cigarette when he stepped out and went to the trunk, only to lean back around to see her holding his bags.
"I can carry my own bags, you know," He stated, remembering to grab the gas can before he approached her, staying clear of the smoke; she snorted and took a deep drag.
"Never said you couldn't," She raised an eyebrow at him before pushing off the car and started walking, cigarette hanging her lips as she shouldered the bag of guns over her pack strap. The street was a straight shot and after taking a glance at the sun, Tyler would've guessed it was a little before noon - they had plenty of time before night fell and she was hoping to get to the city by then. When she didn't hear him anymore, she looked behind her to see him still standing by the car, watching her go with a look of disbelieve.
She shook her head in exasperation and called out, "C'mon, Sheriff, we're losing daylight!" She blew smoke rings while she waited for him to catch up and tossed him his duffel, chuckling when he huffed in irritation. Continuing their walk, they talked about anything and everything they could think of - sometimes they agreed on something and laugh, sometimes they'll find a clash and argue over it until they went onto a different topic.
After, what she was assuming by the sun, an hour of walking, they came across a lone farm house. Tyler knew that no one would be here and if they did, they probably weren't willing to give away a bit of their gas - if they even had any - but Rick still wanted to see, so she indulged him and walked up the porch steps. She walked around to the windows while he tried knocking on the door and instantly wished she ignored her curiosity when she looked inside; a man sat on a couch with a woman - his wife, she assumed - laid on the floor by his feet, blood and gore covered them both, flies buzzing happily around them. From her angle, she could see the back of the man's head blown off, blood and brain matter splattered on the wall behind them, right next to a bloody "God Bless Us".
Crossing herself, she sent them a prayer while fingering her rosary that was hidden underneath her shirt, next to her dog tags. Letting out a shaky breath, she made her way back over to Rick, who looked at her shaken form with confusion; she merely just shook her head and snuck a glance back at the window over her shoulder, brushing past him to look behind the house to see if they had a working car or something. She raised an eyebrow at what she found - she was expecting a beat-up old truck, she certainly wasn't expecting to see a surprisingly healthy horse staring at her behind a wooden fence but she welcomed the surprise all the same.
Setting her things down, she approached the horse cautiously, with her hand out in front of her to show the horse that she meant it no harm. Tyler grinned when the horse bowed it's head and walked forward a bit to nudge her hand, inviting her to pet it. Being able to pet the horse, let alone being able to see one again, made her thoughts drift towards her childhood in Ireland. She smiled sadly, missing her home terribly and made her wonder if any of her family was still alive - if the infection hit their small village and if they actually had a safety shelter.
The crunching of dirt and grass brought her out of her thoughts, making her look over her shoulder at Rick, who was starring at the horse warily.
"There's a truck on the other side of the house - no keys, not enough gas," He stated, coming closer to her as he still stared at the horse. Tyler couldn't help but snicker at his reaction with the horse.
"Ya ever ridden a horse there, Sheriff?" She teased him, scratching underneath the horse's jaw. Rick just looked at her sheepishly before shrugging.
"It's been years," He simply answered, going back to looking at the horse with veiled wariness. Tyler smirked at him before snatching his hand and pulled him forward, making him stumble a bit as he got closer to the horse. She put his hand on the horses' neck and squeezed his wrist, silently telling him to stay there while she went to get a rope, so she could lead the horse to the stable and get saddled up.
"Well, boy-o here is our only transportation now, so make friends - unless you want to chance it with the dead-beat truck that won't make it half a mile," Raising an eyebrow in question, Tyler snickered when Rick reluctantly nodded; she patted his shoulder in mock companionship as she left.
Genre: Horror/Tragedy
Rated: R
Words: 2,494
Pairing(s): Daryl/OC, Rick/OC
Warning(s): gore, dead bodies, blood
Tyler fidgeted with her backpack strap, biting her lip as she walked along the road, eyes darting along the edge of the forest, hand resting lightly on her Glock. She really hoped her sister was still alive, somewhere out there - she knew that if Dylan was alive and well, she'd take refuge in the woods and Tyler would've as well but she knew she couldn't do it alone. She knew the woods like the back of her hand but she had always been with her sister when they lived in the trees, she couldn't do it on her own.
Sighing, she unclipped the walkie talkie from her belt, figuring she'd try to contact her sister again when she snuck a glance over her shoulder and saw movement coming towards her. Cautiously, she stepped off the road and into the gravel, crouching down low when a car came up the road; she became even more weary when she saw that it was a cop car. She cursed under her breath when it slowed to a stop not too far from where she was, the door opening to reveal a man in his mid-thirties.
He wasn't too bad looking, if she was honest with herself - the sheriff's uniform looked amazing on him; she mentally shook away those thoughts, he probably had a wife or something, she shouldn't be thinking of shit like that in the middle of the apocalypse.
"Ma'am? Are you alright?" If the uniform did things to her, his southern drawl was something else and she already knew she was in deep shit. Cursing again, she slowly stood up, hands raised to show she meant no harm and that she was fine.
"I'm fine, not bitten or scratched, nor injured. Just - just trying to find my sister," She called back, shifting her weight on her feet - although she was attracted to him, she was still weary of him, good-looking or not, the end of the world did stupid shit to the survivors.
"My name's Rick Grimes, I'm trying to find my family. Would you like a ride? I'm heading to Atlanta," Suspicious guy or not, she eagerly nodded her head and started towards him - Dylan had told her that she was being stationed in Atlanta before the radio connection cut out.
"I'm Tyler McManus and I was actually heading to Atlanta on foot before you came up but boy, you just saved me about a day's worth of walking," She joked, sliding into the passenger seat; thankfully, he chuckled at her lame attempt, making her smile, grateful for another person's company after being alone for a while
"Does your sister live in Atlanta?" Rick asked, glancing at her before darting his eyes back on the road.
"Nah, she got stationed at the CDC when the outbreak happened, been trying to contact her on the radio but nothing so far," She explained, frowning down at the walkie talkie still in her hand.
"Your sister's military?" She nodded, pulling out her dog tags and jiggled them.
"So am I. It's a family thing," He raised an eyebrow at that, glancing down at her dog tags before biting his lip. She looked away, avoiding direct contact with him in such close corners.
"What branch?" She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Marines. Both of us. Again, family thing. But our brother was in the Navy Seals," She took a deep breath - it still hurt to talk about her brother, even after ten years.
"Was?" She closed her eyes and breathed slowly, reminding herself that he doesn't know and is merely curious.
"Died in action; ten years ago. Body never recovered," She bit her lip as she felt a lump form in her throat, forcing herself to put a look of indifference on that boot camp taught her - it actually works a lot of the time whenever she felt her walls weakening.
"I'm so sorry," She waved off his sympathy, although she secretly melted that he actually cared.
"It was ten years ago, I had time to grieve," She tried to reason with him but she could tell he was still deeply upset about it, for reasons she couldn't phantom. Instead, she decided to change the topic.
"Tell me about your family," Mentally cringing, she wanted to slap herself - yes, let's talk about the guy you're attracted to and his family, bloody brilliant, Tyler. The bright ass smile that appeared on his face at her words weren't helping anything either.
"My wife, Lori, she's my high school sweetheart and my son, Carl, he's only ten..." He trailed off, eyes dimming a tad while sneaking a glance at her; she glared at him.
"Don't," She growled at him, making him swallow nervously. Clearing her throat, she fidgeted with a stray string from her utility uniform.
"They sound like good people, I'm sure you'll find them soon and safe, I can feel it," She smiled reassuringly at him before looking out the window, not really in the mood to chat anymore.
It was quiet for a while, the trees a green blur out her window, when he blurted out a question, "How old are you?" She snickered quietly at how red his face got.
"I'm 30, how old are you?" She teased, taking great pleasuring in his red face.
"Old," He grumbled, shifting in his seat uncomfortably under her stare, "Alright, alright! I'm 36," He grumbled more, making her chuckle.
"Aye, you're around my sister's age, she's 33 but I bet anything that she's older than you," Tyler teased, shifting in her seat.
"Tell me about her," He requested softly, watching as her face settled into a gentle smile and a faraway look appeared in her eyes.
"I can tell you right now that we look nothing alike, we had different mothers but that never bothered us, we were like two peas in a pod. Hell, we even got deployed together into the same platoon and they don't normally do that with siblings - something about clouded judgement and whatnot. Anyway, she's a total tomboy, she's not afraid to get down and dirty with the best of them - I'm not either but I swear to god, I'm pretty sure she was meant to be born a guy," Tyler giggled, remembering one summer when they came home covered head to toe in mud after taking the four-wheelers out for a spin after a heavy storm. Their parents were none too happy with the mud tracks in the house.
"She's every definition of what a Marine should be: fierce, loyal, deadly..."She trailed off, eyes looking off into the trees, "I know she's alive, out there," She nodded to the forest, "Surviving, like always. She said that the woods were her home, that she'd rather live in the forest then in a house. Would just up and leave for weeks at a time, used to worry my parents sick but after the fifth time, they just stopped trying," She laughed, Rick letting out a chuckle himself. It was silent again for a bit, Tyler closing her eyes as she enjoyed the ride, thinking back to her childhood in Ireland.
"So," Rick started, clearing his throat. Tyler grunted, letting him know that she was listening, "McManus, huh?" Tyler chuckled, nodding her head before squinting at him and smirked.
"Ye want ta know if 'm Irish or not, aye?" She teased him, letting her Irish brogue slip through after hiding it for years. She learned that most people don't take kindly to foreigners, even though she was born in the U.S.; she snorted at his amazed expression and an idea popped into her head, an evil sort of smirk stretching her lips.
"You really are handsome, you know that?" She muttered in Gaelic, snickering quietly when he narrowed his eyes are her. "You don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?" His frustrated huff told her everything and she chuckled, delighted, rolling her sleeves up absentmindedly. Rick snuck a glance down and raised an eyebrow at the multiple tattoos decorating her arm, one standing out more than the rest because of it's boldness.
"Veritas?" Rick asked, furrowing his eyebrows, "That means truth in Latin, right?" Tyler raised an eyebrow in return before letting out a pleased hum.
"That is correct. At least you know some Latin, I'll have to watch that when I'm around you," She winked at him before turning back to her window, missing the blush that spread across his face. Rick was cursing himself mentally, had to keep reminding himself that he's looking for his family - his main priority - but he had to admit that Tyler was attractive, more so than the average attractiveness. She had a sort of quality to her that just made you want to be friends with her and get to know her better; maybe it was her deep green eyes or bright-ass red hair that caught your attention but once you're past that, her personality is what draws people in, Rick assumed - especially now that she reveal that she can speak more than one language and is of Irish descent, Rick was finding it difficult to not bombard her with questions.
The sputtering of the car brought him out of his thoughts and he cursed, noticing that the gas needle was way past 'empty'. Sighing, he stopped and shut the car off, sitting there for a moment to think of a plan, rubbing his lips as he thought. Tyler rolled her eyes before leaning across him to pop the trunk and got out, grabbing her bag as she went; just as she expected, a gas can was sitting next to his duffel bag and a sheriff's bag of guns. She grabbed his duffel and the bag of guns, leaving him to carry the gas can, before walking over to his door and knocked on the glass, snickering when he jumped; leaning on the car, she rummaged through her pants pockets for her pack of smokes while she waited for him. She just lit a cigarette when he stepped out and went to the trunk, only to lean back around to see her holding his bags.
"I can carry my own bags, you know," He stated, remembering to grab the gas can before he approached her, staying clear of the smoke; she snorted and took a deep drag.
"Never said you couldn't," She raised an eyebrow at him before pushing off the car and started walking, cigarette hanging her lips as she shouldered the bag of guns over her pack strap. The street was a straight shot and after taking a glance at the sun, Tyler would've guessed it was a little before noon - they had plenty of time before night fell and she was hoping to get to the city by then. When she didn't hear him anymore, she looked behind her to see him still standing by the car, watching her go with a look of disbelieve.
She shook her head in exasperation and called out, "C'mon, Sheriff, we're losing daylight!" She blew smoke rings while she waited for him to catch up and tossed him his duffel, chuckling when he huffed in irritation. Continuing their walk, they talked about anything and everything they could think of - sometimes they agreed on something and laugh, sometimes they'll find a clash and argue over it until they went onto a different topic.
After, what she was assuming by the sun, an hour of walking, they came across a lone farm house. Tyler knew that no one would be here and if they did, they probably weren't willing to give away a bit of their gas - if they even had any - but Rick still wanted to see, so she indulged him and walked up the porch steps. She walked around to the windows while he tried knocking on the door and instantly wished she ignored her curiosity when she looked inside; a man sat on a couch with a woman - his wife, she assumed - laid on the floor by his feet, blood and gore covered them both, flies buzzing happily around them. From her angle, she could see the back of the man's head blown off, blood and brain matter splattered on the wall behind them, right next to a bloody "God Bless Us".
Crossing herself, she sent them a prayer while fingering her rosary that was hidden underneath her shirt, next to her dog tags. Letting out a shaky breath, she made her way back over to Rick, who looked at her shaken form with confusion; she merely just shook her head and snuck a glance back at the window over her shoulder, brushing past him to look behind the house to see if they had a working car or something. She raised an eyebrow at what she found - she was expecting a beat-up old truck, she certainly wasn't expecting to see a surprisingly healthy horse staring at her behind a wooden fence but she welcomed the surprise all the same.
Setting her things down, she approached the horse cautiously, with her hand out in front of her to show the horse that she meant it no harm. Tyler grinned when the horse bowed it's head and walked forward a bit to nudge her hand, inviting her to pet it. Being able to pet the horse, let alone being able to see one again, made her thoughts drift towards her childhood in Ireland. She smiled sadly, missing her home terribly and made her wonder if any of her family was still alive - if the infection hit their small village and if they actually had a safety shelter.
The crunching of dirt and grass brought her out of her thoughts, making her look over her shoulder at Rick, who was starring at the horse warily.
"There's a truck on the other side of the house - no keys, not enough gas," He stated, coming closer to her as he still stared at the horse. Tyler couldn't help but snicker at his reaction with the horse.
"Ya ever ridden a horse there, Sheriff?" She teased him, scratching underneath the horse's jaw. Rick just looked at her sheepishly before shrugging.
"It's been years," He simply answered, going back to looking at the horse with veiled wariness. Tyler smirked at him before snatching his hand and pulled him forward, making him stumble a bit as he got closer to the horse. She put his hand on the horses' neck and squeezed his wrist, silently telling him to stay there while she went to get a rope, so she could lead the horse to the stable and get saddled up.
"Well, boy-o here is our only transportation now, so make friends - unless you want to chance it with the dead-beat truck that won't make it half a mile," Raising an eyebrow in question, Tyler snickered when Rick reluctantly nodded; she patted his shoulder in mock companionship as she left.