
Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/753852.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Rape/Non-Con,
      Underage
  Category:
      F/M
  Fandom:
      Walking_Dead_(comic), Walking_Dead_(TV), Walking_Dead, Watchmen_(Comic),
      Watchmen_(2009), Batman_(Comics), Catwoman_(Comics)
  Relationship:
      Carol_Peletier/Ed_Peletier, Lori_Grimes/Shane_Walsh, Lori_Grimes/Rick
      Grimes, Glenn/Maggie_Greene, Daryl_Dixon/Helena_Kyle, Merle_Dixon/Helena
      Kyle, Shane_Walsh/Helena_Kyle, Edward_Blake/Selina_Kyle
  Character:
      Helena_Kyle, Selina_Kyle, Edward_Blake, Merle_Dixon, Daryl_Dixon, Shane
      Walsh, Rick_Grimes, Lori_Grimes, Carl_Grimes, Sophia_Peletier, Carol
      Peletier, Ed_Peletier, Glenn_(Walking_Dead), Maggie_Greene, Hershel
      Greene, Philip_Blake, Brian_Blake, Penny_Blake
  Stats:
      Published: 2013-04-10 Updated: 2013-04-16 Chapters: 1/? Words: 2163
****** Gunpowder and Lead ******
by Technicolor
Summary
     The end of the world is here and Helena Kyle is still being faced
     with demons, it's only a wonder if she'll survive if it.
     "I'm gonna show him what a little girl's made of: gunpowder and
     lead."
It was like a nightmare, something out of a horror movie- the dead rising and
eating the living. Helena Kyle had only been in Central City for two days
before the broadcasts started, screams about how the dead had begun to feast on
the living and that the government was working their best to control the issue.
Her step-father, Eddie Blake, had gone into survival mode, telling Helena that
they had to get to the CDC in Atlanta until the bullshit had blown over and
grabbing all the guns and ammo that he could find from his years as The
Comedian.  
They had been ten miles out of town when their truck blew a tire, causing Eddie
to cuss and set up a camp for them in the clearing of the woods. 
"Kitten," he bellowed his pet name to her, driving one of the tent stakes into
the ground with a hammer. "Wanna see if you can find the creek for some water?
Take one of the shotguns with ya."
Helena scowled at the man, not wanting to leave his side. He was all that she
had left and even though he had raised her to be tough as nails, she feared to
be alone since her mom had died eight years ago. Everyone in their town had
become one of those... things, she couldn't bear for him to become one too. 
Sighing, she reached into his gun bag and scanned the area. "Alright, but I'll
only be gone for twenty minutes tops." Kissing him on the top of his head, she
headed west towards where the creek should be. 
Five minutes into her walk, Helena noticed some geeks across the ways and
furrowed her eyebrows at them. She may have been training her whole life to be
just like Eddie, but she hadn't gotten used to this part yet. He killed 'em
like they were nothing, taking his flame thrower to them when they first began
to wander into his yard. It reminded her off all the stories that he had told
her about his time in Vietnam and that's how Eddie told her to think of it - as
war. "You kill them before they kill you, kitten." is what he told her when one
of them tried to come at her on the highway.  
Cocking her gun, she closed one eye to get a good shot. There were only three
of them, but if she missed... well, that wasn't going to fucking happen. All
those years of shooting lessons at the range weren't going to be put off by
some damn nerves. Breathing in, she steadied her hand on the trigger and began
to pull it back slightly. 
Out of nowhere, what she assumed was a human run out of the brush and start
tackling them, stabbing them in the skulls. Her mouth dropped in horror, who
the fuck was this lunatic?
Dropping the gun, she almost turned to run away and get Eddie; she had to warn
him about what was going on. That's when she made eye contact with it, she
froze in her spot. 
She had heard all about how the dead had changed, but what about the living?
Would they attack one another, leave their fellow neighbors for dead? This was
a time of disaster- normal rules didn't apply anymore. 
Gathering her bearings, she pushed herself to move. Staying in this spot wasn't
an option and she picked up her legs and ran as fast as she could. Turning
behind her to look, to make sure that she had lost them, she never saw the tree
in front of her. 
Tumbling to the ground, she cursed herself as she rubbed her forehead. "Shit."
she breathed out through her teeth, trying to remember exactly what was going
on. A shadow loomed over her out of nowhere, blocking the sunlight from her
face.  
All she heard was a "holy fuck" before she lunged up, ready to fight for her
life. Looking at the man up close, she finally realized that she knew that
Cheshire grin. It was Merle Dixon, the scum of the Earth that was her best
friend's brother. Well, he wasn't total scum of the Earth; Helena had even once
had a crush on him when she was fourteen. He'd drive her home from hanging out
at the Dixon property, making small talk with her and smiling with his cheeky
grin when Helena would cross her arms across her chest. 
More than once, he'd pull over on a side road and kiss her, rubbing his rough
hands on her body. But he always made her promise not to tell, knowing that
Eddie and her mom would kill him if they ever found out. Merle was ten years
older, making what he called "courting" illegal.
Taking a step towards her, Helena pressed her body against the tree. She wasn't
sure where this was going and she wasn't even sure if Merle would recognize
her. 
"Well, well, Helena Kyle. What brings you out into my neck of the woods?" He
licked his lips and rested his hands on his belt buckle. 
Glaring at him, she knew that he was trying to play a game with her. He always
did and the end of the world had shown no change in his personality. 
"I'm searching for water." Helena finally answered, crossing her arms.
Smirking, she decided to tease him. "It's good to see that you finally moved
out of the house."
Rolling his eyes and closing the distance between them, he looked down at her
before placing a hand on the tree behind her. "You always were the comedian,
sweetheart. Shame ta think that you're out here alone in these scary woods."
Before he could say more, Helena heard a twig snap behind them. Turning away
from her current reunion with the Dixon, she sighed at the sight of Eddie. 
"What in the hell is going on?!" Eddie growled, prepared to shoot. The mean
demeanor falling away when he saw Merle peek out from behind Helena. "Merle
Dixon, you son of a bitch! I knew that you'd survive this shitfest!"
Merle chuckled, placing a hand on Helena's shoulder. "Good to see ya too, Mr.
Blake. Jus' saved ya girl here, though. She ran inta tree, runnin' from them
geeks."
He pointed back to the clearing and Helena shivered at his touch, it was too
personal; like Merle wasn't exactly sure how this situation could pan out for
him. 
Helena shrugged away and stood beside Eddie while him and Merle chitchatted
some bullshit to each other. 
"Where ya staying at, boy?" Eddie questioned, lighting one of his cigars. "We
got a camp just on the other side of them trees, if you need someplace." 
Helena rolled her eyes at him, groaning at the idea. 
"Actually, I'mma stayin' with a group in a field on the other side. There's
'bout ten of 'em. Always room for more, 'specially for the likes of you two."
He chuckled, winking at Helena. 
Eddie looked down at his daughter, trying to discuss it with her mentally. They
both nodded at each other simultaneously, before Blake crossed his arms and
began to discuss getting their possessions and supplies to the other camp.
Merle finally agreed to help them get it all there, as long as Eddie would
share some of his arsenal. 
It seemed like hours before they got everything packed at were on their way to
this camp that Merle had promised, but she couldn't help but feel uneasy. She
was constantly looking over her shoulder and the dread began to eat at her
stomach. Sitting in between Merle and her dad was tense, especially because
Eddie had been the most feared man in Central City; men like Merle Dixon feared
to be on the wrong side of him, now they were in cohorts together. 
As they pulled into the camp, everyone froze at the sight of a new vehicle. She
didn't recognize a single soul and her heart dropped at the thought of Daryl
not surviving, wouldn't Merle had mentioned it before? Stepping out of the
vehicle, her thoughts were put on hold as she noticed the scowl of everyone
when Merle greeted them. 
"Howdy everyone, I brought along some new campers!" He almost cheered, placing
his arm around Helena. "This here is people from my town, Eddie Blake and his
little girl, Helena."
They all smiled nervously, one of the little girls coming out the crowd to get
a good look. 
Being pushed in the direction of the women, Helena scowled at Eddie while he
walked off with Merle towards the men. 
"That's a pretty name that you have." The little girl from earlier offered to
Helena, along with a pleasant smile. "I'm Sophia."
Staring at her for a few moments, Helena finally smiled back. "Nice to meet
you, Sophia."
"You know the likes of Merle Dixon?" A blonde woman spoke from behind her,
causing Helena to turn in her direction with furrowed eyebrows. 
"I did, a long time ago. He was a family friend." She answered, studying the
other women. 
"Oh great, she's probably just like his small-minded ass." The woman mumbled
and Helena took a step back. 
"What in the hell is that supposed to mean?" She spat, glaring at them all. 
"It means they don' like me, sweetheart." Merle's gruff voice chimed in from
behind Helena, causing all of their eyes to widen. 
"Can't say I blame them." Helena shot back, rolling her eyes at them. “Never
were a charmer, Merle.”
"Helena, let's go show you the camper." A lanky brunette offered, grabbing
Helena's arm and leading her in a direction away from Merle, the rest of the
women following. "You have to be crazy to talk to him that way." She finally
scolded, opening the RV door. "I'm Lori, by the way. That's Andrea and Carol,
we'll introduce you to the rest later." She pointed around. 
Scoffing, Helena stepped inside. "If you only knew half the shit he's said to
me, you wouldn't think so."
"Just wait until the rest get back, it'll be a great time with him then.
Pillaging through the supplies, like Glenn would be dumb enough to bring him
drugs."
All of them breaking into a giggle, Helena shook her head, knowing all too well
how Merle worked.Leaning against the counter, she looked at the other women
again. They all looked so lost, like the laughed that they had shared was
supposed to be secret.
"How about we start dinner? Get to know you better, you get to know us?" Lori
opened the door, allowing all the women to exit before her and Helena did.
Shrugging at the idea, she tried to think of the last time that her and Eddie
had ate. Looking around for him, she saw him perched on top of the RV with
another man that looked like he was in his 60's. They nodded at one another and
he pointed Helena out to the other man, both of them smiling at her. Scanning
the area, she was mindlessly listening to the other women, when she noticed
something walking out of the woods. Automatically assuming it was a walker, she
placed a hand on Lori's shoulder and pointed. While it came closer, she froze
in place when she recognized the strut of the person, a crossbow thrown over
his shoulder and squirrels in the other hand.
"Daryl?!" She cried out, ignoring everything else and running towards him.
Jumping into his arms, he pulled her into a one-armed warm hug of sheer
amazement.
"You-you're alive. I can't fucking believe it." was all he kept whispering to
her. Pulling away, he pressed his forehead against her's and smiled at her. His
cheeks turned a bright shade of red and he dropped his hands as he noticed
everyone's stares.
Eddie jumped off the RV ladder, an impressed look plastered on him. Her father
was always a fan of Daryl, teasing Helena about her friendship with the
youngest Dixon. He didn't seem anything like the rest, Daryl always did
everything in Helena's best interest and for that, Eddie was loyal to him.
Turning to face her father, Helena ignored everyone and just smiled. She was so
happy to be reunited with him, she couldn't even remember the last time that
she had seen him. It had to have been when her mother died, all those dreadful
years ago.
Slowly placing his hands back around her, he dropped the crossbow and Helena
could feel his smile. Closing her eyes, she let out a sigh of content. It
wasn't until she reopened them that she saw Merle, a pissed off look across his
mug. Her stomach dropped and she pulled away from Daryl, still trying to keep
her smile. When she looked back the next time, she saw that the eldest Dixon
had left and she feared for the next time that they would be alone together.
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