AN: Had this little idea buzzing around in my head for a while, so I decided to write it. Could potentially turn into Daryl x OC, but as of now just a friendship. Reviews are welcomed. :)

Warning: Dixon language and a racial slur.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead, It solely belongs to AMC and Robert Kirkman. I only own my own my character Shadow.

The Neighbor

I had to move in to my grandparent's trailer after my parents died in a freak car accident. The trailer park was a drastic change from my apartment building. I wasn't even in the same city or state. I went from living in south Florida to living in Atlanta Georgia. The trailer park was flooded with woods and shady people. I really didn't like it here, but there was nowhere else to go and for some reason my grandparents liked it here.

I was sitting on my bed, in my new room, and I heard the neighbors across the way. They were sure something, they've been going at it almost all day. My gramps says that there's a guy who lives there with his two sons. His one son's apparently a senior at the local high school and the oldest son recently went to the the military. Word is, the oldest has a history of going to juvie and jail. I had a feeling the whole family next door were bad news.

I heard another string of yells coming from the rundown trailer and then a door slamming shut. I looked out my window and saw a young guy, pacing back and forth in front of the trailer. He must be the youngest son from the trailer next door. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and then pulled one out by his teeth. He lit it up with a zippo and puffs of smoke came out his mouth. He had shaggy brown hair and it hung slightly in his face. He looked up and saw me through the window. He looked like he was glaring at me, at least from what I can tell from the dim light outside.

I quickly closed my shades and turned out my light. I didn't want to get on the neighbors bad side, who knows if he's dangerous. The way my grandparents speak about them, they seem like people to steer clear of or you'll wind up regretting it in the end. I quickly fell asleep, thinking about the new road ahead of me.

I woke up the next day and got ready for the first day at my new school. I went out to the small kitchen and made myself a bowl of cereal. As I sat at the small circular dining table, my grandmother came out and started to make some oatmeal.

"Good morning grandma," I said.

"Morning Shadow," she said.

"Why do we call the girl Shadow, Eleanor? It's the stupidest nickname. Chloe is much suitable," my grandpa said as he came into the kitchen.

"It's a sweet nickname, Henry. Kevin came up with it when she was just a toddler, because she was always playing in the shadows. I just like to keep it around, for our son and Sherri," my grandma said.

"Eh, I guess so, but I'm going to call her what she has written on her birth certificate," he said.

"Whatever floats your boat, but she'll always be my little shadow."

"I'm going to get ready for work."

He grabbed a muffin from the small tin on the kitchen counter and walked off to their bedroom.

"Don't mind him. He always likes to be traditional. Between you and me, he ain't as much fun as he used to be," she said.

"It's okay, I don't mind it. I like both of the names," I said with a simple shrug.

"I know you do sweet pea. But if he gives you any hard times, just let me know and I'll put him in his place," she said with a soft smile.

"Why would he do that?"

"He's been kind of cranky since Kevin died. He loved him, especially since he's our only child. It's hard on him, sure I miss Kev too, but I know he's in a better place along with your mama."

"Yeah, thanks grandma. Truth is I miss them too."

"I know you do shadow, but they'd want you to be happy and keep them in a special place in your heart."

"Yeah…"

"Okay, go brush your teeth. I want you to wait down by the road, so you don't miss the school bus."

"Yes, ma'am."

I put my bowl in the sink and ran to my bathroom to brush my teeth. After I was done, I grabbed my school bag and went out to the living room.

"Bye grandma," I said as I gave her a hug.

She hugged me back and said, "Have a good day at school. You know where your class is, right?"

"Yep, Mrs. Mackenzie's class, room 101."

"Good. Be well and try to learn something."

"I promise I will."

"Bye Chloe, stay safe, all right?" my grandpa said.

"I will, you to grandpa" I said.

He gave me a soft hug and said, "I sure will."

I left after my goodbyes and headed down the gravel path of our drive way.

"Get back here boy! I ain't through with ya yet," I heard someone yell.

I looked behind me and saw the young guy from last night, walking out of the trailer from next door and slamming the screen door behind him.

"Yeah, well I'm through with ya!" he yelled back.

"Don't ya dare sass me boy! Ya sure as hell have another thing comin' when your ass gets back from school!"

The guy just shook his head as he walked past me and mumbled, "Asshole."

I followed the guy down the now dirt path which led to the road. He kept mumbling words under his breath and scratching the back of his neck. He looked awfully angry and depressed, but I guess he would be if his father treated him like that. I figured he didn't want to be bothered, but I couldn't help myself, something drew me to him and I wanted to talk to him.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

He stopped and turned to face me with a cold glare. He had light blue eyes and on the right side he had a pretty nasty shiner that was black and blue.

"What the hell do ya think!?" he growled at me.

"I'm sorry… I just… I wanted to help," I said.

"Yeah, well don't. This doesn't concern you. Ya just a little kid."

"I'm not little."

"Ya a fuckin' eight year old."

"Well, I'm ten, but that's cool, I look younger and I'm kind of smaller then the other kids."

"Whatever! Just leave me alone."

"Um… Okay. Can I at least know your name?"

He walked away without a word and continued on his journey, which was probably to the high school. I stopped by the road and watched him disappear into the distance. I knew we had a large age difference between us, but I would like to be his friend.

School was boring and tough. It didn't help that all the kids in my class were kind of mean and didn't let me join any of their groups. I didn't mind it too much, but I still would have liked to make one friend. I've never been good at making friends, but I thought here would be different. Guess I thought wrong.

I went into the trailer and threw my back pack in my room. My grandma left me a note and said that she went shopping and should be back soon. I looked through our fridge and found some yogurt, so I decided to eat that as a light snack before dinner. I looked out our kitchen and saw the young guy from next door walking towards the woods with a bow thingy in his hands. I studied the guy and decided to follow him.

I put the yogurt back and went outside to follow him. I stayed fairly far from him because I didn't want him catching me as I practically stalked him through the woods. He came to a stop at a small creek and sat on top of a large rock. He placed the bow thingy in his lap and looked at the slow flowing water in front of him.

"Ya know, ya ain't that good at sneakin' around," he said.

"You knew I was following you?" I asked.

"Yeah, I knew since ya left the damn trailer."

I went over to him and said, "Oh, why didn't you say anything."

He shrugged as he picked at his nails and said, "If ya wanted to follow, then fine. Don't care if anythin' happens to ya out in these damn woods."

"So, why are you out here?" I asked.

"Why the hell do ya think?"

"Your dad."

He looked away and grunted, his hand bawling into a tight fist. I knew he probably came out here to get away from that drama, so I decided to change the topic.

"What's that?" I asked, pointing to the weapon in his hand.

"Ya don't know what this is?" he asked.

I shook my head.

"This is a crossbow, I use it to hunt," he said.

"Oh… Are you a good hunter?"

"I'd like to think so. I'm better than my brother and my… father."

"Is it hard?"

"Nah ain't hard once ya get used to it."

"How long have you had it?"

"A few years now. Saved up some money for it, but I fell a little short. Thankfully my dumb-ass brother was in a decent mood and chipped in for the rest. This hasn't left my sight since."

"That's cool."

"Ya ever been huntin' before?"

"No, I've lived in Florida my whole life. There isn't any woods where I lived. I was only thirty minutes from the beach."

"Hmm… How comes ya live here?"

"My parent died."

"Sorry to hear that…"

"It's okay. Your mom?"

"Dead."

"Sorry."

He shrugged and said, "Ain't nothin' to be sorry for."

I nodded and he said, "Ya make any friends?"

I looked at him funny and he followed up, "Just wonderin'."

"I didn't. They were all pretty mean to me."

"Don't listen to those assholes. They don't matter. Got that?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

"Are you my friend?"

"Believe me kid, ya don't want to be my friend."

"You seem all right to me."

"I'm eight years older than ya and my life's a pile of shit. Ya don't want to be my friend."

"I live next door to you and eight years is not a large difference. It will be nice to have an older boy on my side."

"Ya want me to be like ya big brother or some shit?"

"I guess, but as of now all I have is my grandparents to talk to. It would be nice to have someone on the outside to talk to."

He bit as his thumb and said, "Tell ya what. I'll be ya friend, but ya better keep whatever shit ya got goin' on to a minimum."'

"That seems fair. This is so cool," I said.

"Knock it off before I change my mind," he said with a slight smirk forming on his face.

He was a fairly cute guy, if you take away the anger and dirtiness. His light blue eyes sparkled in the late afternoon sun and he had a small mole by the side of his mouth.

"You know if we're going to be friend, we need to know each other's names," I said.

"Guess ya right," he said.

"I'm Chloe Fabian, but my nickname is Shadow."

"Shadow? How the hell ya get that name?"

"My dad came up with it when I was about two, because I always seemed to be playing in the shadows and stuff. I also followed him around a lot, like I was his little shadow."

"Hmm… interesting. Names Daryl, Daryl Dixon."

"Nice to meet you Daryl."

"You too, Shadow. Can't believe I'm fuckin' friends with a ten year old."

"It could be worse."

He raised his brow and said, "How?"

"I could be eight."

He shook his head with a small smirk and said, "Pfft… Guess so."

"So do you always come here?"

"Pretty much, if I just wanna think. Most of the times I just wander through the woods and try to catch some game."

"That's pretty cool."

"Yeah… You should probably get back before ya folks get worried about ya."

I looked behind me at the large wooded area and said, "Um…"

"I'll take ya back, but learn the way. I can't help ya all the time."

"Okay."

He got up from the walk and headed back to the trailer park. It was quiet between us, but I didn't care, I had a new friend and he was pretty awesome. We reached our trailer park and an older male was standing outside of Daryl's trailer.

"Where the hell were ya boy!? Ya know I don't like when ya off god knows where. I wanted to take care of ya, ya little piece of shit for what ya did this mornin'," his dad said.

His dad looked over at me and a sneer grew on his face, "Ya hangin' with the damn mudpuppy. Ya turnin' into a damn child molester now?"

"I didn't fuckin' touch 'er," Daryl sneered.

"I don't fuckin' believe ya for a second. I knew there was always somethin' wrong with ya. Now get in the damn house," his dad said.

Daryl mumbled a quick sorry to me before he went into his dad's trailer. His father gave me a quick glance before he went in after his son. Not long after did I hear yelling and screaming coming from the small place. I felt bad for Daryl, but I figured he'd get up and leave once he's able to. I went into my trailer to find it still empty inside. I thought for sure my grandma would be back by now. A few minutes later her car pulled up in the drive way and I went out to help her bring in the groceries. We finished brining all the bags in and she said, "Thanks for your help."

"You're welcome… What's a mudpuppy?" I asked.

"What?"

"Daryl's dad called me that."

"Uh, don't listen to him dear. He's just a very angry and hateful man."

"But what is it?"

"It's a racial slur because you're mixed."

"Oh…"

"Just don't talk to those Dixon fellows. They are no good."

"Daryl seems okay."

"He is, but he could always turn into his father. And that brother of his isn't that great either. Merle's been in and out of juvie since he was about ten or eleven. Glad he went to the military, but who knows how long that'll last until he's back in jail."

"They really that bad?"

"I think the whole family's bad news. Just stay away from them."

"Okay."

I looked through the kitchen window and looked at the trailer that occupied my new friend. I wasn't going to listen to my grandmother, Daryl was going to stay my friend whether anyone else liked it or not.