༘⋆ lost
pairing daryl dixon x f!reader
summary in hopes of doing something kind, anxiety induced instead
w/c 1.3k
your dog was the only thing that was keeping you sane during this part of your life. from being by your side losing your family and closest friends. he kept you grounded, reminding you who you were still alive for.
when you first showed up in front of the gates, they didn’t wanna let you in.
scared that you’d set the dog crazy on them. they kept questioning you as if you were one of them walkers. after what felt like hours of interrogation, they finally let you in.
taking your appearance in, they studied you as well as your dog. treating him as if he was a human too.
but soon you found your place in the prison, so did goose. you took your trips and helped out as much as you could, you took runs out to get food, you kept watch, you helped kill. you two finally fit in somewhere.
you and goose lay in your cell, covered up under your blanket. still deep into sleep the sun peered through the window, gracing your skin with a golden glow.
the sun finally rose to the point where you were getting blinded. sputtering awake you stretched out. sighing to no one. reaching out to pet your comrade, you were left with an open hand. the space next to you left open.
shooting up in the bed you scanned the room for him. to no avail, you got up to search around the prison block. looking in every nook and cranny around. anxiety filled your body. buzzing as tears slowly slid down your face.
you passed carol’s cell multiple times and she must've noticed. dragging herself out of bed she came up to check on you.
”what wrong hun?” her gaze lingered on you.
”goose. dunno where he is.” you shot out harsher than you meant it to be. her hands fell onto your shoulders. “hey, we’ll find him.” you huffed in reply.
”have you asked maggie and glenn if they’ve seen him? they’re on watch”
you laughed. “like they’d notice anything. probably been fucking up there all night.”
“worth a shot, i guess.” you mumbled as you shortly thanked her before walking off. making your way out of the prison and to the watch towers, nervousness filled your stance.
you yelled up to the two in the tower. rustling and clattering emitted from the tower.
maggie slid her way out of the tower and met your view.
“ya’ll seen goose?” you shouted up to them. maggie turned to glance at glenn, maybe he had seen him.
after a few seconds she turned back to your gaze.
“nah, i’m sorry. maybe rick knows?” she said curtly.
another huff fell from your lips as you stormed away. anxiety fell way as anger bubbled inside you.
everyone knew that goose meant a lot to you. for them to not pay attention to where he might’ve gone, pissed you off.
you reached rick’s cell. clanging on the bars and gaining his attention.
“ya seen goose?”
his eyes turned to sorrow. “no, i haven’t.”
“any idea where he might be?” you shot out.
“i really don’t. i bet someone here knows though. i can help you look for her?” he offered.
a scowl filled your face. “nah, i’ll keep lookin’ for HIM by myself.”
majority of the day had passed as you questioned the group members. none of them having seen where your puppy may have gone. you sat out by the gate as the sun fell. night slowly taking over the day. small tears falling from your face as you throught about where goose may be.
he might be out there fending for himself? maybe a walker in the prison got him? maybe he was stuck in a cell somewhere, waiting for you to come and get him?
you thoughts were soon cut short as you heard rustling in the woods. a branch being thrown onto the ground and a short four-legged creature running to retrieve it.
the animal stayed where the branch was thrown, waiting for someone to catch up.
now that you truly thought about everyone you talked to today, you realized. daryl was no where to be found. he was the last person you thought of to go look for, the last person you thought of in general.
you watched the person emerge from the woods, crossbow thrown against their back.
you watched closely as both of them came closer to the gates. anger fueled inside of you as you watched them enter through the gate.
you stood up without thinking as they walked further into the yard.
“hey!” you shouted, gaining both of their attention. your dog hearing your voice and running over to you as fast as he could. tackling you down to the ground.
“ya never heard of telling someone when you take their fucking dog?” you shot to the man.
“not a big deal, girlie.” he chuckled. oh was he in for it now. you stood up harshly. gaining up on him quickly.
“not a big fucking deal? you must think you’re so funny, huh?”
“never said tha’.” he spoke as he kept walking.
“oh fuck you.” you shot at him. a chuckle fell from his lips. “you’d like tha’ huh?”
you were done with his shit at that point. turning back on your heel and back towards where you once were perched, goose trailing behind.
—
you had sat up in the watch tower for who knows how long. a tired goose laid at your feet. silently rubbing shapes into his spotted fur, you watched the stars. sleep overcoming the animal, soft snores falling from his snout.
silent tears fell onto your skin as you thought about the past day.
you thought you lost the closest being to you. the one who had been with you through it all. the one thing that could calm you down during your worst days. it pissed you off how daryl thought he could just take your dog right from your cell.
even through your thoughts you could hear the sounds of boots coming up the stairs of the tower. placing your leg over it, you silently wished he would give up and walk away.
he knocked on the top of the hatch, but to no avail.
“c’mon jus’ let me in.”
”why? you wanna grab my dog again?” you scoffed.
“jus’ let me in.” he huffed. your thigh slid away from the hatch, pulling back to your body.
hands connecting onto your dog in front of you again.
the hatch opened as daryl emerged from it, climbing up into the space. a silence fell over the two of you. neither of you wanting to speak first.
the silence edged on for quite a while. the only noise filling your ears were goose’s snores.
“look, i didn’t think it was a big deal.” he finally spoke.
“wasn’t a big deal.” you scoffed. “i woulda let you take ‘im if you’d asked.”
“well my bad.” he rolled his pretty blue eyes.
you hummed, not knowing how else to reply.
“though’ rick tol’ ya.” he spoke digging into his pocket. “i asked him. didn’t say shit.”
”why’d you ask rick to tell me but not tell me yourself.”
“was tryin’ to get somethin’ for ya.” he spoke softly, barely being able to be heard. your eyes glanced over to his, examining him.
“why would you get something for me?” you questioned. “carol gave me an idea.” he spoke as he fiddled with the object in his pocket.
you raised your eyebrow at him. silently questioning him.
“remember when we found you after we left the farm? you lost your necklace?”
“what about it?” your expression softened as you glanced up at him. ”tha’s why i brought goose. we went ‘n found it for ya.” he stared at the floor as he pulled the object out of his pocket.
the shiny silver chain glimmered in the moonlight, softly falling into your hands. a small smile filled your face as you examined the object.
”how’d you find it?” you gazed up at him. “goose did most of it, we were in the area and we were lookin’ around for it.”
“oh, thanks.” you held it in your hands. “no problem.”
”need some company?” he offered, a lopsided smile itched your face.
“sure.”
