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Juliana and Daryl didn't say much else as they trudged after the group. Her feet ached; the skin on the back of her foot had rubbed raw against the leather of her boots, even with a pair of socks in between. Her muscles tighten painfully at each step, but she was hesitant to rest, not only because she did not trust this group, but because she worried that she would never want to get up again.

The sun began to settle down on the horizon, sliding back behind a few dark clouds as darkness started to encroach on them from the opposite direction. They must have finally decided that enough was enough for today and veered off into the woods and off the main road. Daryl stuck close by her side the entire time, their shoulders brushing up against one another as if they were silently reminding each other that they were still there.

"How's your eye?" Daryl muttered, looking out of the corner of his eye for a moment as they both stepped over a tree that had fallen over.

Gingerly, Juliana reached up to touch the corner of her eye and winced. Her shoulders shrugged in reply, "It'll be fine," she assured him. He nodded, though it was obvious to Juliana that something still lingered on his mind. Reaching out, Juliana touched the sleeve of his shirt. "We'll find her," she told him, her voice almost as a whisper. His lips parted, about to speak when the group came to a stop.

"We'll stop here for the night," Joe exclaimed and began barking out a few orders to the men to get their area secured for the night. He came wandering over to Daryl and Juliana, a grin plastered on his face that made Juliana's skin crawl. "You may want to keep an eye on your girl. The boys here have been..pretty..lonely lately." Daryl's jaw clenched and an almost primal growl rolled out of her throat.

"Sure thing."

**

While the rest of the group chattered among themselves, Daryl and Juliana tried their best to distance themselves from them. He had sat down with his back against a broad oak tree, eyes on the small group of men that was in front of him. Every time they had offered him to come over, he would shake his head and decline. Juliana sat off to his side, her back against the other side of the tree. Her stomach rumbled and twisted uncomfortably from hunger, but she didn't dare try to find something to eat.

The sounds of the forest surrounded them, causing Juliana's head to bop and her eyes to fall shut for a moment. Daryl must have felt her jump back and looked over his shoulder at her.

"Sleep," he murmured, "I'll watch out for ya."

Her hand reached up, rubbing at the corners of her eyes to try and keep herself awake. Her lips parted, about to speak before he cut her off, "They ain't gonna mess with me."

Placing a hand on his shoulder, she gave it a squeeze before letting it drop back down to her side. Shuffling downwards, Juliana wrapped her arms around her waist and leaned her head back against the tree. It wasn't long before the distant sounds of insects and hooting of faraway owls lulled her into sleep, though the anxiety and uneasiness of the group she and Daryl had found still lingered in the pit of her stomach.

**

A hand on her shoulder shaking her awake quickly brought Juliana back to reality. Her eyes snapped open and she jolted forward, her fingers wrapping around the wrist of her would-be attacker. She was lucky, once her sleep-filled eyes focused onto Daryl's face. Her heart, which had been ready to jump out of her chest, began to slow. Releasing her fingers from around his wrist, she mumbled an apology to him, running her hands down her face.

Daryl apologized as well, mumbling something about how he shouldn't have woken her like that. Juliana glanced over to the group, noticing that they were still asleep, and looked back to Daryl who had stood, crossbow in hand.

"Come on. I heard your stomach last night. We both need to eat."

Nodding, she braced herself against the tree and pushed herself up. Her legs ached and her muscles her tight. She regretted falling asleep the way she had now. Wincing she forced herself forward, meeting up with Daryl who had already walked a few paces ahead of her.

He motioned to her to slow down and be quiet, after they had walked a little way away from the makeshift camp. Juliana glanced over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of what he was looking at: a rabbit. She watched as he steadied the crossbow against his shoulder, finger on the trigger, waiting for the right moment. He kneeled slowly, pulled the trigger-and another arrow whisked by his ear. Juliana must have been too involved in watching Daryl to be more aware of her surroundings. She cursed herself internally as Daryl stood.

"What the hell you doin'?"

The greasy creep was back. He grinned in Juliana's direction before looking back to Daryl, "Catching me some breakfast."

"That's Daryl's," Juliana spoke up, crossing her arms over her chest. Daryl scoffed and stormed over to the deceased rabbit to pull out his arrow.

"My arrow's the one that hit it first," he explained to Juliana, "Cottontail belongs to me."

Daryl kneeled, yanking out the arrows from the rabbit, "We've been out here since before the sun came up."

The creep stepped closer to Daryl, and Juliana's hands had dropped down to her sides, her hands balling up into fists so tight that he knuckles were beginning to turn white. She dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands; reminding herself quietly to not to anything stupid.

"See, the rules of the hunt don't mean jack out here. Now, that rabbit you're holdin'," he motioned to the rabbit that Daryl had now picked up and was starting to make his way back to Juliana, "Is claimed, boy."

Daryl tossed the other man's arrow off to the side. Looking between the two, Juliana could almost compare them to some old western; two cowboys about to have a shootout between the two of them. She moved towards Daryl's direction, coming to stand next to him in solidarity.

"Claimed," he continued, "Whether you like it or not. So if I was you I'd hand if over."

Daryl started to move closer to the other man, and when Juliana followed, he held out his arm to stop her from moving any further with him.

"Now." He ordered, "Before you get to wishin' you ain't never even got out of bed this morning."

"It ain't yours!" Juliana called out, storming up from behind Daryl. Daryl shot her a glance, a flicker of annoyance and anger sparking behind his eyes.

The man grinned at her again, but turned his attention back to Daryl, "You know," he started, his voice low, "I'll bet, this bitch," he pointed a finger at Juliana, "got you all messed up, huh? Am I right?" The two of them remained silent as he continued, "Or someone else? Yeah," he grinned as Daryl nudged at Juliana to walk with him. The man kept on, though, continuing on his assault of Daryl, "Got you walkin' around here like a dead man! Who just lost himself another piece of tail." He let out a laugh.
Juliana and Daryl had come to a stop, the anger between them could light a fire.

"Must have been a good one. Better than what ya' got now." He paused, waiting for a reaction before he kept one, "Tell me somethin', was it one of the little ones?" at those words Juliana watched as Daryl wrapped his hand around the handle of his knife. She was ready to beat the living shit out of this creep. "They don't last too long out here."

Before Daryl could manage to turn around with his knife in hand, Juliana whipped around, fist clenched tightly and ready to sock the man right in his jaw. "You fuckin' son of a bitch!" she hissed, storming his way.

"Easy fellas! Daryl, get your girl!" Joe's voice called out suddenly. Daryl's arm snaked around Juliana's waist, dragging her back against him as the man laughed in their faces.

"I'll fuckin' kill you," she swore at him.

"Now, now," Joe had placed a hand on Daryl's shoulder, "Let's just see what's really the problem here, huh? Calm your girl down and let's figure it out."

Lowering his head down to Juliana's ear, the scruff of his bread pressed up roughly against her skin. His breath was warm in her ear as he whispered to her, "Jules, relax." Juliana swallowed hard, forcing her anger down deeper into her soul. Her throat was hot with the threat of tears from being so frustrated. She tore away from him, pushing Daryl away. She was angry, frustrated, and not over the fact that Beth had been taken from them. Now they were with a group neither one of them trusted, and not only was the issue of Beth missing a problem, but the hope that Beth had instilled in them that the rest of the group may still be alive still stayed with her.

Daryl looked hurt as she pushed herself away from him, but his mask was quickly replaced when he and Joe and the creep discussed who would get the rabbit. They mentioned that it had to be called as 'claimed', and those were the rules. Joe had ended up cutting the rabbit in half, leaving Daryl with the ass-end while Juliana looked on.

"Oh, and Daryl," Joe said just as he passed Juliana, "May want to make sure everyone knows your girl is claimed too."

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