genre: twd fanfiction | daryl dixon x reader | enemies to lovers | angst | slow burn | canon divergence | contains blood/gore, sh, sexual themes |
timeline: season 1 → season 2
summary:
the world ended, and somehow, she still felt invisible.
y/n joined the quarry group with her family, but it didn’t take long for survival to turn into silence. too many voices talked over her, and the ones that mattered most, like shane, only saw her as dead weight. she stayed quiet. she played nice.
until the night the walkers came.
until she bled.
until daryl dixon nearly shot her in the woods, and didn't apologize.
(and she didn’t flinch.)
what starts as bitterness builds into something sharp and unspoken between them. hate, maybe. or something worse. something they both feel but refuse to name.
there’s blood.
there’s grief.
there’s firelight and silence, and a thousand chances to leave, but neither of them do.
when the world ends, some people survive.
some people get left behind.
and some bleed, just to feel something.
LINK :
daryl hates her. she hates him more.
she's better off bleeding than saved by him.
little do they know, that's all going to change.
lowerc
A/N: This was requested by an anon! Hopefully you’ll know who you are when I post this!! thank you the ask! it meant the world to me! sorry this is a little late, but I hope you like it!!!
Word Count: 786
-----------------------------------------
You couldn’t even imagine what Daryl had gone through being taken prisoner by Negan and held at the Sanctuary, but you were so thankful that he made it out alive and made it back to you.
You knew that something went down in the Sanctuary just by the bruises and cuts all over his body, but he wasn’t ready to tell you yet, and that was alright.
You and Daryl had been together for quite a while now, and even to this day, he had trouble being vulnerable. But that was okay, because you knew eventually, he would open up to you, when he was ready, all you had to do was be patient, and you had all the patience and time in the world for Daryl, and he appreciated that.
But you wanted to show him that he wasn’t alone without making him feel pressured into telling you what had happened, so you planned a little surprise for him.
So, you asked him to leave the trailer for a little while whilst you set it all up.
It ended up taking a bit longer than you initially thought it would, but you were so happy with the outcome, now all that was missing – was Daryl.
You did a sweep of Hilltop until you found him in his own little world, sitting on a bench making bolts for his crossbow.
You walked up to him and without saying a word you extended your hand out to him.
Raising his eyebrows slightly in confusion, all you offered was a warm smile – a smile you never knew melted his heart.
He placed his hand in yours and let you lead him back to the trailer.
Arriving at the trailer door you stepped aside to let him open the door, as he looked over to you with curiosity in his eyes.
Daryl wasn’t a fan of surprises, but he trusted you with his life.
“It's okay,” you reassured him with a gentle hand placed on his cheek and another warming smile directed at him.
Daryl gave one of his rare smiles – although less rare with you – and he entered the trailer.
Daryl opened the door only to stop right on the threshold of the trailer.
You came behind him slowly and gently wrapped your arms around him in a loving and protective embrace.
“Is this okay?” you asked, worried that this was too much too soon.
“It’s just that, while you were there, I’m sure you didn’t get anything to eat, and I wanted to make your favourite to welcome you home and to show that I’m here when and if you need me, to show you how much I love you,” you rambled.
For Daryl, this was too much but in a good way. Never in his life had he had someone so devoted and loving towards him. And as he stared at the steaming spaghetti in front of him, candle illuminating the trailer in a soft warm glow he realised – not for the first time – but this time it really resonated with him deeply that …
“I’ll always need ya (Y/N),” Daryl revealed, turning around in your arms.
Now standing face to face, the closest you had been to one another for what felt like a lifetime and far too long – you placed a loving hand on his cheek as you gazed into his beautiful blue eyes.
“I’ll always be here,” you assured him.
Without a second passing your lips met in a gentle, loving yet needy kiss.
You weren’t sure who initiated the kiss, just settled with the fact that you both naturally gravitate towards each other, and you relished it.
You sunk into his kiss taking all of him in. His touch, his smell, the love you felt emanating off him.
You drank each other’s presence up like a man dying of thirst.
The moment only ending what you heard Daryl's stomach start to grumble.
You broke away from the kiss - but still close enough that your noses touched – with a small giggle and a smile on your face.
“I think that spaghetti is calling you,” you said amused as you and Daryl made your way into the trailer, closing the door, creating a world with only you and Daryl in it, and enjoying the meal together.
Not many words were shared, but the moment was perfect. Stealing glances over the table, capturing each other’s hand, holding onto each other while you ate.
You knew Daryl would eventually tell you about his time in the Sanctuary, but for now, all you wanted to do was be with each other in the uninterrupted moment of bliss, happiness, and love, and have it last a lifetime.
We are almost at the end of the series, just two more chapters and we'll know the destiny of Daryl and Ixeia and the people of Woodbury.
What's going to happen with Merle too?
We'll see!!
Enjoy!!
Howl
Daryl Dixon x OFC.
Warnings(For the all series); AU. M, Smut, +18, hurt/comfrot, blood, violence, bad language, war plans, ABO references, Knot thing, a lot of references about werewolves mixed with my own imagination.
Warnings chapter: War. Blood. Toxic inffections. Merle being Merle. A lot action scenes.
Outside Narrator.
Words: 5050
N/A: Yes, I know, I use Woodbury a lot in my stories, but Seasons 2 and 3 are my favorites and they can’t live in a prison…. Woodbury is the closest thing… and yes, Rick and Michonne are together because I love them and I miss them a lot, sorry if someone is unhappy about this.
Daryl wastes time for a couple more days talking to Merle. He wastes time because his brother doesn't tell him anything new about the pack that accompanied him. He tries to make him see, to understand, that they have left him behind, that they aren’t coming back for him, but the man pays no attention, he seems determined that his people will come back for him at some point.
"When that happens, ya'll have to be prepared, little brother, ‘cause this little town will burn to the ground." He assures him with a smirk.
"Not if I can help it." He growls back walking out of the cell with a scowl.
It's been a rough few days in Woodbury, Negan's people have been tracking the scouting party that Merle showed up in town with. They've been confronted by several more groups throughout the week, small units of wolves trying to get through Daryl's territory encountering Negan's wolves ready to set their teeth on them. Daryl doesn't understand why they are sending small packs of wolves out there. If the purpose is to retrieve Merle it would be more effective with a much larger formation, on the other hand if they are just doing it to find out how many there are and prepare for a more powerful attack...
Daryl doesn't like to think about it, it means there are too many of them and they could be at a serious disadvantage.
The Alpha tries to bring his brother to his own side, get him on their side to get an extra set of hands to help them fight, but the trust he has in these people won't budge. It's really frustrating. On the other hand they continue without letting their guard down. The patrols are doing their job well, they have managed to capture some of the wolves that have reached the forest, but when they try to interrogate them the incoherent babbling shows that this so called "Governor" is looking for easy and fickle minds to manipulate them and use them as cannon fodder. That pisses them off even more. The packs are always strict and somewhat reserved with the pups born with difficulties and with the Metis, but within the pack itself there is always a balance of respect and care, they help those weaker wolves to move forward. There are cases where packs of very pure lineages disown all those who cannot be useful to their cause and the Governor is acting exactly the same with these werewolves.
So they know pretty much the same as they did from the first moment they started.
Nothing.
But the atmosphere is charged, heavy. In the air feels something wild, something dangerous, they're not far from Woodbury, Daryl knows they're getting closer, slowly but surely, that it won't be long before they're peeking through the gates of their territory trying to claim what they think belongs to them. It will be cruel and bloody. Everyone is aware of this. The Governor will seek out the best and try to put them at his mercy as well as those he believes he can manipulate, he will try to take as many females as possible to help him increase his herd, he will kill all the Alphas that are linked to his Omegas and he will also take care of the humans living in Woodbury.
Merle has repeated this to him ad nauseam.
"Stop worrying" Carol tells him that morning as the woman walks up to Ixeia's house, the two of them now sharing the nest the she-wolf had once made. Daryl's cabin was crowded, so it was a good excuse to stay close to his she-wolf.
"I can't stop worryin’, Carol... I feel like we're missin’ somethin’ important and it's gonna blow up in our faces..."
"You've covered all the flanks that could be vulnerable, the boys are still on their guards, we're all careful in town, you've managed to join forces with a pack that seems to be just as eager as we are to stop these individuals from doing harm... I think that's quite an accomplishment."
"What happens when it's all over? do ya think they'll just go away?" He looks sideways at her, rubbing his hands together nervously.
"You mean because of Negan? He does seem a little conflicted, but his wife has him on a tight leash." She can't help but laugh. "Sorry, I didn't mean to..." She mumbles but sees Daryl smirk in amusement as well.
"No, I get yer point, she seems to be the one wearing the pants in the pack... I guess as long as nothin’ happens to her..." He shrugs and Carol strokes his hair lovingly, the wolf lays his head against her touch and closes his eyes from the caresses.
"How are you doing? Out of all this, you know what I mean."
"Fine, I think..." He groans and bites the inside of his cheeks. "Adjustin’ to myself... My Alpha status is shot, there are too many people around me right now and I have this stupid need to be on my toes all the time..." He sighs because he doesn't like the role of controlling leader. Nor of leader. "I used to live more peacefully as a vulgar Metis." He jokes feeling Carol nudge him a little and smiles.
"You aren’t vulgar, don't say such things." He smiles knowing what the Ranger was referring to. "I'm glad you met all these wolves, I think... Your condition isn't well regarded, from what you told me, from how I see you move around them, and they don't seem to care. They even seem surprised by your true status as an Alpha, I think that's a positive thing for you."
"I guess..." He shrugs again, it's a customary gesture for him. He scratches his head, hesitating. "I have to admit, I'm surprised no one from the Council came lookin’ for me or to talk to Merle when Merle was out there wanderin’ around on his own... I guess we ain’t as important as he thinks we are."
"And there we are again." Carol rolls her eyes knowing she can't change her friend's personality and rises from her seat. "You may not be important to them, but you are to a lot of other people, Daryl Dixon, so stop making that face, you hear me?"
Daryl gives her a sidelong glance and a soft smile tugs at his mouth, shakes his head in a gesture that should be a nod and lowers his gaze again, fiddling nervously with his own hands. He's never been good at accepting compliments from anyone. Although Carol has always tried since they've known each other, but it's still difficult for the Metis. The pleasant conversation is nipped in the bud when a rumble makes them both flinch.
What is happening now?
Daryl gets up in a hurry, opens the door of the house and the two of them observe from afar that the police station is on fire. The breath catches in his throat as his eyes widen in horror, people are running in panic from one side to the other trying to save themselves from the flames, to find something to put out the fire. Carol puts one hand to her chest and the other to her mouth to quell the gasp of panic at what she is seeing. A huge wolf transformed into its hybrid form appears in the two's field of vision and knocks over several cars while hitting people passing by, knocking them out.
The Alpha roars in desperation rushing down the stairs, but stops when he senses Carol following him. He turns to her, hurriedly, his gesture serious, his brow tightly furrowed, his jaw clenched, his fangs growing out of the corners of his lips. The woman takes a step back at his gaze full of rage; lethal and dangerous. She nods her head stopping at the stairs and Daryl howls to gather his own as his body abruptly transforms into his hybrid form. To his surprise, his mind is still semi-conscious like last time, but his bones didn't hurt as much when he took his form. He shakes his head and flexes his hind legs running at full speed towards that wolf that is heading straight towards the flames of the police station.
Before he can get there and stop it, he sees his brother appear in his hybrid form among the fire. The other wolf stops and they shake hands, glad to see each other. Anger swirls in Daryl's chest and he feels his consciousness weaken a little more. He growls and clenches his fists, he has to calm down if he wants to remain able to control himself and not become a Berserker again. He howls with all his might, listening in the distance to his people answering his call. He leans his body forward, his long nails digging into the asphalt. The two wolves sense his presence and turn to face him, yet he sees a crooked smile in the grimace Merle makes in his hybrid form. The wolf that has gone in search of his brother lunges for him as the Metis moves off in another direction.
No, he isn’t going to let it hurt anyone else.
His body lunges in his direction, but the other hybrid gets in his way, its massive head slams into his side, pressing into his ribs, knocking the wind out of him as it throws him a few feet away. Daryl digs his nails into the ground to break his fall and turns towards it. He's a young wolf, his form smaller but perfect, a Hominid who hasn't long experienced his First Shift, which tells Daryl he's just a kid. He mentally mumbles. He doesn't want to kill a child. He roars and barks in threat, the little hair covering his form bristling warning that he's in danger, but the Hominid doesn't budge. It howls and runs towards him, leaps up several meters in the air ready to fall on the Metis. Daryl waits for it, but never manages to hit its body.
Another wolf throws itself on the young man, both fall several meters away from Daryl, roll on the ground, lifting the asphalt with them, collide with a car that sinks under the weight of the body of both wolves, but stops their advance. The wolf also incorporates into a hybrid form, black and gray fur, his huge paws holding a bat that he doesn't hesitate to unload against the other hybrid's jaw when it tries to move, knocking him unconscious against the car. He turns to Daryl, his blue eyes flashing for a second before nodding his head.
The Alpha doesn't hesitate, grunting in thanks before bolting after his brother. He doesn't know where he's gone, but it can't be good, if he's escaped it will be the best of news, but when he sees several wolves and hybrids appear through the forest he knows this has only just begun. He mentally curses running at full speed. He has to get his people to safety no matter what.
Negan meets Lucille, walking calmly on his two hind legs, the bat against his shoulder. The woman rips her nails from the body of a wolf she has stopped before it enters the town and shakes the blood over them. Her gaze connects with her husband's and he growls low.
"They're coming." He says in the woman's head, one of her Gifts is beast communication, allowing her to talk to wolves and any animal. "We must prepare."
"I will send our people to cover the wounded, we should gather them all at the Greene's farm." Replies the woman and the male wolf rolls his eyes.
"Why do we have to risk the lives of our own for some humans?"
"Because it was part of the deal when we allied with Dixon. It's not our territory, Negan, we have to adapt to their laws." He explains to her with weariness. "This is not the time for this, gather your men and explain the situation to them." Lucille orders him before howling, several wolves reach her and together they move away up the street to stop the wolves that have entered Woodbury.
Negan growls once again in disagreement with his wife, but does not disobey. He looks to his best men for this mission, he knows he must or Daryl and Lucille could give him trouble, even though she is his wife she has more power than he does, he knows she can overpower him with a simple look and he is too proud a man for everyone to witness something like that.
"Dwight, Simon, Laura." He calls to his wolves and they come up to him in their hybrid form. "Help the wounded, find the humans and take them to Hershel's farm." The wolves growl and nod, but Simon doesn't seem very cooperative. "These are fucking orders from your Alpha, from Lucille, so take that fucking face off and do as you're ordered. Protect them, don't let any of those fucking wolves get close."
"Yes, Negan." They bark at the same time before speeding away from there.
"Alright, the rest of you, let's teach those fucking dogs some manners!" He barks loudly and his people howl in agreement running through the various streets of Woodbury in search of the intruders.
Jesus is helping Rick get the car ready with the baby and Judith's things when they see a huge wolf run past followed by another that is almost devoid of fur. He freezes for a second when he detects Daryl's scent on one of them.
"Shit, Rick!" He calls out to the Sheriff who has entered the house in search of the children.
"I saw him, go!"
"We need to get to Hershel's farm first!"
"I'll take care of that, come on, Daryl needs you!" shouts the Sheriff again, but Jesus shakes his head.
"No! We all have our mission!"
"We got this!" appears Laura in her Hybrid form, she as a hominid can talk to humans and beasts in either form. "We're helping people get to Hershel's farm, you take care of your own!" The young woman says to Jesus who looks hesitant, but she gingerly picks Judith up and hoists her onto her massive shoulder. Rick also looks frightened, but the girl laughs and clings tightly to the young girl's fur.
Laura falls onto her front legs taking a curved stance, protecting with her body the car where they were storing everything they needed. Michonne stands frozen in the doorway of the house with RJ in her arms, not knowing whether or not to leave, that wolf doesn't know him. Carl behind her pats her shoulders wanting to relax her and gestures for her to be calm. Dwight then appears in his wolf form, when everyone is inside the car, the wolf gets in front to lead the way. Laura barks gratefully and walks away to help at another house. Jesus walks up to Rick's window and Rick nods.
"Go, Daryl is using that form a lot, we don't know how long he'll be able to control it." Rick asks him and Jesus nods in understanding.
"Be very careful." He asks them and Dwight attacks several wolves approaching down the same street. Rick puts the car in gear and they drive away being escorted by several wolves.
Abraham and Aaron reach Jesus at that moment, the black wolf transforms into his hybrid form being mimicked by his companions, they howl to know Daryl's position and when he responds, they run after him.
Daryl crushes the body of his brother when he intercepts him between two streets, pushes his body violently making him lose his balance and falls on the facade of one of the houses knocking it down. The Metis wishes there was no one inside. He clenches his fists tightly and bares his teeth at Merle, in a mute threat not to try to get up. But the Dixons have a particular characteristic, and that is that they are stubborn as hell, so the man does not intend to give up without a fight. He joins in and roars against his brother, raising his shoulders, squaring his body to make himself bigger, but Daryl is not intimidated, he knows his brother, they fought together when they were puppies to develop their skills. True, the better Dixon has never managed to beat his brother, but that's not going to stop his desire to try.
Their bodies collide again, the clash is brutal, the sound of their bones echoes in the deserted street, Merle surrounds his neck with his deformed arm and with his left fist hits him in the face repeatedly making Daryl dizzy. Daryl manages to break free of his grip by grabbing him by the back of the neck and throws him to the ground, he tries to hold him back, but Merle is quicker and hits him again to get him off his body. He grunts and shakes his head, they are not going to get him as easily as last time. One of the hybrids in his pack appears giving him what looks like a metal arm that fits perfectly on his deformed stump. It's not an arm, it's the edge of a sword that whistles through the air as he waves both arms and gestures for Daryl to come closer.
He's screwed.
Ixeia makes sure that the people are safe, all those that they have been able to save until they get there, heals the wounds of some of them, tries to calm the fear that is reflected in their eyes and in their trembling bodies, many of them are confused and disoriented. You don't understand what is happening. You discover with relief that Derek is alive, but the man does not allow her to approach him. She is hurt by his rejection, but she understands.
She suddenly feels a sharp stab in her chest that leaves her breathless. The pain that increases, churns in her stomach and spreads throughout her body to her head. She gasps in pain, holding her head with both hands. Her heart beats a mile a minute. Something is not right. Something bad is happening to Daryl.
"Ixeia? What's wrong?" Maggie asks her as she sees her writhing in pain.
"I have to get back to town; Daryl needs me." She looks at her with her eyes full of fear and her voice cracking. Maggie looks at her just as scared and nods her head.
"Go, we'll take care of helping people."
"Thank you, Negan's people won't be long in coming to help." She promises her and hurriedly runs out of the barn.
As she walks away she sees several wolves appear, transforming into people, grabbing their weapons, clothes Beth hands them and positioning themselves around the barn and farm to make sure nothing and no one gets through the perimeter, others stay in their hybrid form to make the defense more powerful. She mentally thanks the help everyone is displaying and transforming as she runs she heads towards where his Alpha is, she can smell him, but he is getting weaker and weaker and it makes her chest tighten.
The image before her eyes shakes her. She stands frozen in her position not knowing what she can do. Daryl and Merle are locked in a brutal fight. The older brother has the little against the ground, one of his powerful, strong knees pressing his body into the asphalt as his fist is raised in the air, his teeth clenched tightly, a growl of menace clawing at his throat every time Daryl tries to get up. Merle doesn't want to keep hitting his brother, but next to them, observing the situation, are two more werewolves, waiting for Merle to finish what he has started.
Ixeia at once understands that this is the leader of the pack Merle has joined to overthrow the Council and next to him, there is a woman who lacks hair on her head, deep gaze, marked by huge black circles under her eyes, there is a sinister smile on her mouth and her fists are clenched, wishing Merle to continue with the fight. The "Governor" also doesn’t have a much warmer look than the woman, there is a crooked smile on his face, he oozes superiority and arrogance, he is an Alpha of the old school, of those who believe they are above everything and everyone, those who still think that Gaia chose them for a much more ambitious destiny than the others. Ixeia understands now why they are doing all that.
It is only pride of a clan that is dying out and they cannot accept it.
Rage begins to take hold of her, she growls low and stirs in her seat. Merle punches Daryl again and she lunges for the Metis. She's not going to let them continue to harm her Alpha. She lunges at the one-armed wolf, jaws open, her mouth snaps against the metal arm, digs her nails into the ground and using all her strength throws Merle several meters away from where he is. His huge body impacts against the trees at the beginning of the forest, he howls in pain, but she doesn't care. She stands over Daryl protecting him, she hears him moaning low as he slowly tries to get up. Ixeya steps aside as she feels Daryl's human hand on her fur, she looks at him for a moment before shifting her form herself and with a mute question on her face, he smiles and nods.
"I've been worse." He assures in a hoarse voice.
"So you two are Gaia's chosen ones." The woman speaks, in a soft, whispery voice, with a tone of madness tinging her words that gets goosebumps on both of them.
"We were eager to meet you, all this would not have been necessary if you had come with us from the first moment." Speaks the "Governor" still with his crooked smile on his mouth.
"We don't have to go anywhere with anyone. This is our territory, our home." Speaks Daryl taking a step forward. "Ya people have come here eager to fight and spill blood. Ya ain’t welcome."
"Not welcome? Do you really think we care about laws? No, we are here to change our whole world, to make it better." The woman speaks again, smiling, showing a row of black, rotten teeth.
"We've tried to be nice to you, to make you understand the situation nicely, but you clearly need punishment." The two advance towards the pair and they instinctively back away. "That Omega will be mine and you and your brother will be left as a failed mistake." Spits the roaring man, slowly transforming.
Daryl growls as well, but grabs Ixeia by the arm and pulls her behind his body. There is something not right about those two wolves. Their transformation into wolves is mindless, misshapen, incomplete, but they are not Metis, Daryl can sense that they are both descended from a pure lineage, but there is something not right with them. The woman's eyes are completely black, thick black saliva drips from her mouth, the Governor oozes a viscous reddish liquid from his fur, his nails drip the same black liquid that falls from the werewolf woman's mouth. They are both cursed, something dark and corrupt runs through their blood. Daryl shudders harder as he smells it.
"Stay away." He says to Ixeia. "They’re consumed by Darkness, they have been overcome by Dark forces."
"I can purify them, Daryl, maybe..." She tries to help, but he shakes his head.
"It won't do any good, they have chosen...!" But he can't finish the sentence, the woman grabs him with her huge paw and throws him several meters away, Daryl's body impacts against a lamppost, bending it in half.
"Daryl!" Omega howls and glares at the other she-wolf with hatred.
She transforms to face the woman, her teeth clench around the consumed woman's neck and throws her against the ground in several blows. She barks in pain as she feels her nails dig into her skin, the dark venom burning her skin. She quickly releases her and rests her hands on the ground feeling suddenly weak. She shakes her head hard trying to recover to attack again, but this time it is the Governor that lunges at her. His jaws tighten on her back, he lifts her up in the air and throws her back against the ground, her whole body suffers from the pain, she tries to let go, but the man's strength is far superior, the Dark magic is giving her an uncontrollable strength, which doesn't mean it's good for the bearer either.
Daryl tries to go to his she-wolf's aid, but the wolf-woman intervenes by punching him in the stomach, Daryl is left breathless for a few seconds before receiving the cut of a dagger in his arm. He needs to take several steps back, holding the wound, which burns, it stings, gnawing the skin where the blade has touched. The corrosive poison given off by his weapons and his own body is extremely dangerous, if they are exposed to them for too long they could die, or worse, be consumed by it and become servants of the Darkness like the Governor and the other she-wolf.
"Found you motherfucker!" They hear a war cry coming from a female voice.
The two see falling on the cursed werewolf woman another she-wolf, who hits her snout with a bat with all her might. The bat flies being picked up by Negan who uses it to deliver a hard blow to the ribs to the Governor and get him to release Ixeia. Lucille unloads her fists on the she-wolf who tries to get loose. She grabs one of his arms and twists it, breaking it. The woman screams in pain and the black liquid that was oozing becomes much thicker. Her eyes are devoid of any life and all her hair stands on end.
"Lucille!" Negan shouts as he feels the dark wave coming from the woman.
"You're crazy, Alpha!" She yells at the she-wolf who won't stop convulsing, falling prey to the toxin enveloping her and taking over more and more of her body.
"Stay away from them, don't fucking let them touch you!" shouts Negan once again warning his people who quickly take a step back.
Daryl runs to Ixeya to help her up, they are both injured from the poison, but their bodies are slowly recovering. The Omega tries to heal him with her power, but the hunter gives her a strong look to stop, they are both exhausted from the fight, he doesn't want her to overdo it. He holds her very carefully, returning to his human form once more and leads her away from the battlefield by sitting her down on the steps of one of the houses on the street where they meet. Ixeia resists, she wants to keep fighting, but Daryl stops her once again.
"It's dangerous!"
"I don't care! When are you going to understand that they are my people too! I have the right to protect them too!"
"Yer my Omega, I ain’t gonna let ya die!"
"And you're my Alpha and I have to accept you sacrificing yourself?!" She shoves him angrily. "I can fight, damn it! You all are doing your part to help! We should be with them!"
"Ya dun know how this is gonna end! Those two lunatics are consumed by Darkness!"
"You think I didn't see that!?" She roars fed up with Daryl's denials.
"Hey, couple! This isn't the best time for this!" Negan calls out to them and walks up to them, he has put barbed wire around the bat and hands it to Ixeia. "Use your fucking Gift, I'll hit them with this, the bullets, the knives, go back to strengthening them, now we need you to use all your power on them."
"Yes... I need you to distract them during the ritual." She asks Negan who hands her the bat and smiles broadly, that mischief shining in his eyes.
"Come on, Alpha, let's go play with them a little." He tells Daryl, Daryl hesitates for a moment but transforms back.
"Be careful." Ixeia asks him before he shakes it off and runs after Negan back into the fray.
Lucille and Aaron appear in Ixeia's field of vision as she continues to look worriedly at where Daryl is walking away, the two of them drop several chargers full of silver bullets, knives and the bolts from Daryl's crossbow at her feet. She startles at the metallic sound as an orthopedic arm with a sword blade as a hand falls on top of the rest of the weapons. She looks up to find Merle staring at her with bated breath, sweating profusely and returning to his human form, a trickle of black liquid slips from the corners of his lips and Ixeia is startled. She tries to get up to help him, but he stops her.
"Take care of that, my brother needs everythin’ ya've got to save this fuckin’ town." He snarls and spits angrily, then reverts back to his hybrid form and goes to Daryl and Negan's aid. She hesitates for a moment, she wants to help Merle, it is clear that the wolf had fallen for a lie, like many of those who had followed the Governor and Alpha, surely, who had cursed them with the toxin in order to control them, she was still in time to be able to cure him. Lucille gestures to her grabbing her shoulder.
"He has chosen, you must take care of this, then there will be time to heal the wounds." The Alpha tells her and the she-wolf nods, it hurts, but she has to take her own path in this war.
She kneels in front of all the weapons and lets a greenish aura envelop her before placing her hands and beginning the ritual, it would strengthen and give them the ability to purify, thus making them more effective against those most consumed by the Darkness.
Summary: Daryl saves Paul from certain death and some truths are revealed
Warnings: Mentions of blood, death, canon-typical violence
When mothers lift cars off their children it is not because their love or fear make them super strong. It is because adrenaline will make a person immune to the sensation of pain. Their muscles and tendons are often irreparably damaged. Human beings will tear themselves apart for the people they love. Daryl Dixon was no different.
He couldn’t recall how he was able to get to Michonne’s horse, nor how he hauled the limp form of his friend onto the horse with him. He was vaguely aware that he could hear Dog whimpering somewhere behind him, punctuating the sound of another horse beside him. In his arms, Paul Rovia, wrapped in a saddle blanket, armor long forgotten, slumped forward. Every few minutes Daryl could feel the man tense beneath his arm, locked as if it was welded across Paul’s chest. The man in his arms was in pain, barely breathing, but thankfully alive. Daryl couldn’t think beyond getting Paul back to Hilltop, to Enid, to safety.
Riding in the fog made a trip that would have taken eons stretch even further. There was no sense of distance, nothing to mark the passing of the miles. The trip, longer still holding his friend’s life in his hands, seemed like a dream: the ubiquitous nightmare where you try to reach someone at the end of a long path and the faster you run, the further away they become. With each gallop, Daryl could feel Paul’s life spilling out onto his chest, his arms, soaking the blanket he was wrapped in. He could feel the labored breath, deep pulls of air that went nowhere. At first Paul held on to Daryl’s arm as they rode, though they eventually fell away, too weak to hold on.
Through the fog, Daryl heard Aaron yelling for the sentries to open the gate at Hilltop before Daryl even saw the walls. Aaron kicked his horse into a sprint and easily passed Daryl’s horse. Seeing the end in sight, Daryl pressed his own heels into the flanks of the beast on which he rode and urged the animal to go faster. He followed Aaron straight to the medical trailer, where Enid and Alden were already helping him off his horse.
“No!” Aaron kept the wiggly bundle in his arms from slipping and motioned to Enid and Alden to help Daryl. “Get Jesus!” Without waiting for them to acknowledge him, Aaron rushed into the medical trailer.
Daryl brought his horse up short next to Aarons, and then there were too many hands, too many faces below him, pushing and pulling at Paul. At Enid’s insistence, her eyes full of dread and sympathy, Daryl broke the iron grip he had around Paul and let him slip gently into the waiting arms of Alden and Siddiq, who wasted no time making room for Henry and Kal to help carry his pale body into the trailer. He dismounted Michonne’s horse, letting someone with gentle hands take the reigns from him. He stood staring at the door, behind which two of the people he cared for most in the world could be dying, or worse, turning… Along with his beloved Dog.
He felt familiar hands on his arms, attempting to turn him aware from the trailer, and distantly heard soft words filter through the fog filling his mind, urging him to come away. Hot, angry tears spilled over and silently marked his blood-stained face and suddenly he was unable to catch his breath. He wanted to rush in and pull Paul back into his arms and never let go. If he died… If Paul turned… he needed to be there for that. But Aaron was in there, and he wanted to keep his friend from suffering that end alone.
“Daryl, come get cleaned up.” Carol’s voice was a solid mass he could anchor himself to, as his grief threatened to let him float away like ashes. He started to let her lead him into Barrington House, when Aaron came through the trailer door.
Eyes red, brows pulled in to etch lines of worry into his forehead, Aaron quickly made his way to Daryl.
“Dog’s gonna be OK. Paul…” Aaron’s voice wavered, but he swallowed and carried on. “Paul’s fighting. His lung collapsed and he lost a lot of blood.” Without warning Daryl pulled his friend into his arms, and with a sob he had been holding in the entire journey, Aaron hugged him back, fingers fisting in the worn leather of his vest. Watching them, the lump in Carol’s throat grew, and she had to cover her mouth with both hands to keep her cry from tearing a hole in the comforting bubble the men had made.
***
The sun burned away the fog that had settled over Hilltop, and the morning promised a beautiful day ahead. At a picnic table near the medical trailer, Aaron and Daryl sat vigil, their backs against the edge of the table top. Aaron absently cleaned his prosthetic arm with a rusty can of WD40 and a ragged bandana he kept for the express purpose. Like the Tin Man. Daryl thought. They were both clean, in clothes that didn’t smell like gore. Carol had not been able to coax either man into eating or trying to sleep.
“We’ve wasted so much time.” Aaron sighed and set the rag he’d been using aside. “This is a big damned wake-up call.” He was used to companionable silence with Daryl, used to holding up both ends of a conversation, so when Daryl didn’t respond, he just kept talking. “We’ve been lucky. To make it this long. But this world is still just as dangerous as it ever was. I feel so stupid…”
Daryl chewed his bottom lip, listening. He had been there when Aaron dove head first into being a father to Gracie, burying Eric’s death deep beneath the needs of a tiny, new being. It occupied his mind, it gave him an outlet for his affection and focused his energy. It did not, however, fill the gaping love-shaped void left when Eric’s corpse walked off into the woods. It was one of the many ways Daryl felt he had failed everyone in his life; it was one of the many reasons he walked off into the woods That Day, and didn’t look back. The seams holding his family together tore open That Day, and try as he might, he alone didn’t have the strength to stitch it back together. Neither did anyone else, apparently.
“I did it for you, you know.” Daryl said, his voice gravel in his throat.
Aaron turned his expressive blue eyes to Daryl’s, not having expected a two-way conversation. “Did what?”
Daryl looked away, unsure of himself. “Saved him. I know you two… I know he means a lot to you. I saw Dog attack that walker, and heard you yell, and I just, I don’t know man, I just couldn’t let him die…” Meeting Aaron’s eyes he said, “I didn’t want you to hurt no more.”
Something sparked in Aaron’s chest. Affection, love, gratitude… he didn’t know what or how many of those things he was feeling. He stared at Daryl for a long moment. There was only one thing he could think to say. “Thank you.” Aaron pressed infinitesimally closer into Daryl’s warm shoulder with his own.
Daryl nodded, glad he could make his friend smile, even if things didn’t turn out as well as they hoped. It had been hours, and except for Alden leaving to give Enid and Siddiq room to work, and getting Alex to come in to better assist, there had been little news of Paul’s welfare.
“I know you’ve been coming here to see him.” Daryl shifted nervously. “He make you happy?”
A man of few words, Daryl could say so much with so little effort. It took Aaron a moment to understand what Daryl was asking, and when the implication of the question hit him, he felt like he had been slapped. He scooted away from Daryl on the bench of the picnic table, so he could fully turn to face Daryl.
“You do know we’re just friends, right?” Aaron’s frown returned, and Daryl didn’t know how to respond. “We’re not… we’ve never… Jesus and I are good friends, that’s all.” Aaron watched confusion slide over the hunter’s face. If Paul weren’t dying behind the door of the medical trailer, Aaron may have laughed. “You know Jesus is… he’s in love with you!”
“No.” Daryl sat up taller, and Aaron could nearly see the walls being built around the other man.
“Yeah. He’s been in love with you since he brought you home from the Sanctuary! Daryl, how could you not know?”
The hunter stood, defiantly staring his friend down. “He don’t.” He tried to turn away, but Aaron was right there.
“He does. That’s what I meant! We all have to stop wasting time we might not have, Daryl!” Aaron grabbed Daryl’s bicep and swung around to face the stoic man. “I know you. I know you both. And if there’s anything I’m sure of, its that you two belong together. Even if I was interested, that man’s heart belongs to you!”
It was if the last brick fit into place in the fortress of Daryl’s heart. The realization that not only did Aaron see how he felt for Paul, but that Paul felt the same for him, and had made it a known fact. Overwhelmed with the severity of this revelation, Daryl’s dread swelled, and he felt as though all the oxygen had been sucked out of the world. The truth Aaron spoke filled his eyes with hot tears, of shame and joy and sickening worry. Seeing all this take shape in his friend, Aaron pulled him in for an awkward hug.
The harsh slap of the trailer door snapping closed brought the men up for air. Standing on the steps to the trailer was an exhausted Enid, covered in blood. Neither could move, holding their breath.
A smile bloomed on the woman’s face as she said simply, “He’ll be OK.”
***
In his own bed inside Barrington House, Paul Rovia looked smaller than Tara had ever seen him. The trip up the stairs and into the bed had worn him out, and he fell asleep almost immediately. He didn’t even flinch as she started a new IV in his hand. She watched him, his breath shallow and lips twisted in a pained expression. He was pale, his eyes sunken. Laying in his bed with only a bandage across his chest, his strong body laid bare and vulnerable, Tara took stock of all the things they would have lost if the man in front of her hadn’t made it home. Despite his reluctance, Paul was a good leader, and she tried every day to convince him of it. People loved and respected him because he was willing to go outside the walls and risk it all to strengthen them.
“How is he?” Daryl’s low rasp shook Tara from her reverie.
“Exhausted. He’s got some pain killers, so he’s comfortable enough to sleep.” Tara covered Paul in a thin blanket. “Come in. Sit. I’ll be back in a bit to check on him.” Sheepishly, Daryl entered the room, letting Tara give his arm and affectionate squeeze as she went past.
It had been several days since the cemetery, and Daryl had barely slept. Seeing Paul gravely injured had shifted something inside him, something Aaron had nudged to hang just the right way.
“Gonna keep watch on me?” Paul’s voice was just a whisper on his lips. He turned his palm up on the bed, an invitation.
Daryl sat on the edge of the bed, slipping his big hand into Paul’s smaller one. “Feelin OK?” He let his thumb caress the top of Paul’s hand.
Paul nodded, then winced, which Daryl caught even though he tried to hide it. “As long as I don’t move. Or breathe.” He gave a Daryl a thin smile. “You’re too far away.”
Daryl slipped off his boots and lay down beside Paul, mindful of the bandage across his chest. “This OK?”
Paul hummed affirmatively. His limbs were heavy, though he positioned himself close enough to lay he head on Daryl’s shoulder. He laced his fingers together with Daryl’s between their bodies. He could feel the other man relax against him, and if he hadn’t been so exhausted, Paul may have quipped at Daryl to make him blush.
“I’m sorry.” Daryl placed a firm, confident kiss on Paul’s forehead. “Wasted too many years. We have a chance now and I ain’t gonna fuck it up.” He reached over and felt the smooth skin of Paul’s temple with the back of his hand, reveling in the new-found ability to show his affection.
Paul took his hand, kissing the palm and then holding it to his chest, just above his bandage. “You better not. I love you, Daryl Dixon, but you know I will kick your ass.” Paul’s lips quirked up on one side and he peered at Daryl through heavy eyelids.
Daryl huffed a laugh and kissed Paul’s head again, snuggling into the warmth of the other man’s presence. They fell asleep, Paul holding Daryl’s hand to himself, so the hunter could feel every beat of his heart. That is where Dog found them, limping on a bandaged leg, letting Aaron help him into the bed to curl up at their feet, content.
Chapter Title: Settling in. Pairing: Daryl/oc. Setting: The Prison. Wordcount: 4,837. Warning: None that I can thing of.
After Rick, Daryl and Merle got safely inside the gates we all gathered in the cell block. Daryl, Carol and Beth stood on the perch and catwalk above while Michonne, Glenn, Rick, Maggie, Carl and I stood on the ground below. Hershel sat on the stairs. Merle was locked in the holding room. “We're not leaving.” Rick spoke with finality.
“We can't stay here.” Hershel argued the same case he had been arguing.
“What if there's another sniper?” Maggie asked. “A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds.”
“We can't even go outside.” Beth spoke up as if what she said wasn't already understood by everyone.
“Not in the daylight.” Carol added.
“Rick says we're not running. We're not running.” Glenn spoke up still playing the part of leader even though Rick was back.
“No, better to live like rats.” Merle spoke up through the bar door holding him back from the rest of us.
“You got a better idea?” Rick asked him.
“Yeah, we should have slid out of here last night and lived to fight another day. But we lost that window, didn't we?” Merle asked. “I'm sure he's got scouts on every road out of this place by now.”
“We ain't scared of that prick.” Daryl spoke up from the catwalk, but I didn't even bother looking at him.
“Y'all should be. That truck through the fence thing? That was just him ringing the dinner bell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers. And if he takes the high ground around this place, shoot, he could just starve us out if he wanted to.” As much as I hated to admit it, Merle had a point.
“Let's put him in the other cell block.” Maggie said ringing a rag in her hands.
“No. He's got a point.” Daryl said.
“This is all you. You started this!” Maggie yelled at Merle who wasn't affected by it.
“What's the difference whose fault it is?” Beth spoke up loudly. “What do we do?”
“I said we should leave. Now Axel's dead. We can't just sit here.” Hershel said for the millionth time and Rick started to walk off. “Get back here!” he yelled at the ex-cop who stopped, but didn't turn to look at the old man. “You're slipping Rick. We've all seen it. We understand why. But now is not the time. You once said this is not a democracy. Now you have to own up to that. I put my family's life in your hands. So get your head clear and do something.”
After Hershel yelled at Rick he just stared at him for a second then walked off. With him gone, people scattered. Most went to their cell's so that's what I did as well. I wiped the dust off of the metal mirror and looked at myself for the first time in months. Dark circles shadowed my eyes, my skin was darker than it used to be from the amount of sun I'd gotten during the winter and my hair had grown two inches, now touching my shoulders. I didn't look like the me I remembered. I was still studying myself when I heard someone clear their throat and looked over to see Daryl standing with his arm propped up on the door frame.
A pain shot through my chest at the way he was looking at me. With hard eyes and straight lips that gave nothing away. He was different than I remembered, everyone was. I guess we'd all changed over the winter. “Whatever you're selling I don't want any.” I told him emotionlessly and crossed my arms over my chest.
“That your way of tellin' me to go away?” he asked quietly.
“If you're going to call me more names...yeah. That's exactly what I'm telling you.” I said as I sat down on my bed, pulled my legs up and hugged my knees to my chest.
“I ain't good at sayin' sorry.” he said quietly looking more like his old self.
“Good then don't say it. 'Cause I don't want to hear it.” I practically growled at him still hugging my knees to my chest.
“Joanna, I really am-”
“No.” I interrupted him letting go of my knees to scoot to the edge of the bed. “You don't get it. I dreamed about you. Every night that we weren't together was another dream that had you in it.” His face flushed at my words and it was cute, but it didn't put a damper on my anger. “At first they were nightmares. I blamed you for me getting left behind and stuck with that bitch Andrea. But then I realized that you told me to stay behind because you wanted me to be safe and I stopped being mad at you. The nightmares turned to good dreams. I would be hunkered down in a house somewhere and you would find me or vice versa.” my voice was shaking holding back tears. “We would find each other, you would wrap those amazing arms of yours around me and give me the best kiss of my life.” a tear slid down my cheek as I watched him cross his arms over his chest and lean back against the wall.
“Then imagine my surprise when my wildest dream came true. You found me, hugged me and kissed me and...” I closed my eyes and smiled sadly at the memory of his arms around me and his lips on mine. “Damn it that felt heavenly.” I opened my eyes and let the smile fade as I glared at him again. “So stupid me, I think that means you actually missed me as much as I missed you, that you wanted me back. But then your brother comes in the picture and you no longer give a damn about me. I'm just some weak, uppity, booty call. And you leave.” my eyes glared at his hand to his mouth, chewing on his cuticles. “That hurt.” I glared at him with tears slipping down my cheeks. “I never thought you would hurt me. So don't expect me to jump into your arms at the first “I'm sorry.” because it ain't gonna happen.”
He just stared at me for a second as if he were trying to think of something to say before he nodded and walked out. A few minutes later I heard people talking down stairs, practically under my cell so I walked out on the catwalk to see what was going on. “I didn't see any snipers out there, but we'll keep Maggie on watch.” Rick said to everyone.
“I'll get up in the guard tower, take out half them walkers, give these guys a chance to fix the fence.” Daryl suggested.
“Or use some of the cars to put the bus in place.” Michonne suggested.
“We can't access the field without burning through out bullets.” Hershel added.
“So we're trapped in here. There's barely any food or ammo. Glenn added not helping one bit. Honestly his negativity was grating to everyone.
“We've been here before. We'll be all right.” Daryl tried.
“That's when it was just us. Before there was a snake in the nest.” Glenn directed at Daryl.
“Man, we gonna go through this again?” Daryl asked, getting in Glenn's face. ?Look, Merle's staying here. He's with us now. Get used to it.” he looked up at me then at the rest of the group. “All y'all.”
“Seriously, Rick, I don't think Merle-” Glenn started, but I interrupted him.
“Just stop it Glenn.” I spoke up from the cat walk as Daryl came up the stairs. “No one likes him being here, but as much as I hate to admit it, we need him. He knows The Governors tactics and he has military training. So just get off your high horse and deal with it.”
Glenn looked from me to Rick. “I can't kick him out.” Rick said with a shake of his head.
Rick's words seemed to piss Glenn off even worse than mine did. “I wouldn't ask you to live with Shane after he tried to kill you.” Glenn's words pulled a look out of Rick and I tilted my head at Glenn's words. Shane tried to kill Rick?
“He may be erratic, but don't underestimate his loyalty to his brother.” Hershel defended.
“What if we solve two problems at once?” Glenn asked. “Deliver Merle to the Governor. Bargaining chip. Give him his traitor, maybe declare a truce.”
“No.” I said as I walked down the stairs to be a better part of the conversation. “We're sacrificing people now?” I asked with a twisted faced look at Glenn. “Delivering him to The Governor will be no different than leaving him on that roof to die. We couldn't do that back then and we can't do this now.”
“Who put you in charge?” Glenn asked.
I leaned back and raised my brows. “I could ask you the same question mister high and mighty.”
“Guys, cut it out.” Hershel cut off our building argument. “Look, Glenn, Joanna's right. That's not who we are.”
“We're not gonna figure this out now. Let's take a break.” Rick suggested and Glenn and Hershel walked off. Rick jerked his head for me to follow him to his cell so I did. “What all happened out there over the winter? I know you said Michonne found you two while you were running from the farm, but I don't know much more than that.” he asked as he sat down on his bed.
I sat down in the chair in the room with a sigh. “Not a whole lot up until Woodbury. I answered vaguely. Just a lot of running, scavenging and hunkering down for as long as we could. Michonne and I are pretty good friends, we don't communicate a lot, but we work well together. She and Andrea got closer though.” I said with a shrug.
“What about you and Andrea?” he asked looking curious.
“Oh we still hate each other as much as we always did, if not more now.” I said with a small laugh before it faded. “Bitches can't befriend bitches I guess.”
“You're not a bitch.” he said with a shake of his head.
“Really? Because I feel like one after the things I just said to Daryl.” I said looking up from the floor to his blue eyes. I had forgotten how blue they were and the fact that I was apparently a sucker for them. His and Daryl's... the same color yet so different. “But that doesn't matter. What about you and the rest of the group? There's some things I've been wondering since I got here.”
“Like what?” he asked and I sat up straighter.
“Like I hear Shane tried to kill you?” I asked and he nodded with a sigh.
“The night the walkers came through and we all got separated, he killed Randall to lure me into the woods and kill me.” he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I killed him first.” he said before his dropped his hand and looked at me. I didn't know what to say so I didn't say anything. “He wanted Lori, thought killing me was the only way to get her and Carl.”
“I'm sorry you had to do that.” I said and he waved me off. “So... I have to ask based off the way Beth spoke to me, did you and Lori ever work things out?”
He shook his head no. “What did Beth say to you?”
“She blames me for Lori's death.” he just tilted his head in confusion. “I guess she thinks that if I had never...been, with you that you and Lori would have been happier. I guess in her mind if you two were happier then you would have been there to save her or something.”
Rick sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Those aren't only her thoughts...” when he lifted his head to look at me I tilted my head to the side in a questioning manner. “She's just copying what I've heard Carl say.”
“Wait, Carl's mad at me too?” I asked getting tired of being everyone's whipping post.
“Yeah.” Rick sighed and dropped his hand from his face. “He didn't put two and two together until recently...after Lori...”
“I don't know how to handle this... Should we talk to him, try to explain things?” I asked as I shook my head in confusion.
“No, I'll talk to him and Beth. You don't deserve all that hate.” he said as he stood up.
“No, I think it's totally justified.” I sighed as I stood up as well. “I'm a home wrecker.”
“You know that's not true. Lori and I had our problems long before you even came along.” he said taking a step closer to grab my hand.
“I know, but...” I said giving his hand a small squeeze. When I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye I looked out of the cell to see Daryl walk by and glance in our direction. His stopped when he saw Rick's hand in mine and shook his head. I could hear a scoff as he walked off.
I dropped Ricks hand and scratched the back of my head. “What else have you been wondering about since you got back?”
“Daryl and Carol.” I said crossing my arms over my chest
“What about them?” he asked.
“She seemed really upset to hear that he didn't come back and then she blamed me for him leaving like I pushed him into it or something.” I said and he just looked at me. “Are they...together?” I cautiously asked.
“Honestly, I don't know. It's hard to tell with him.” Rick answered with a shoulder shrug. “You'll have to ask one of them.” I sighed and placed my head in my hands. He placed his hand on my back. “Hey,” I looked up at him and he gave me a small smile, “If I hadn't said it yet I'm glad you're alive.”
I gave him a small smile in return and he engulfed in a hug. “I'm glad you're alive too.” I said with a small laugh then pulled out of the hug. His hands lingered on my neck and mine on his sides. In a split second every tender intimate moment we'd ever had flooded my mind. Then came the bad memories and all the arguments. That made me remember why I chose Daryl, why I love Daryl more than anything or anyone. So I let him go and gave him a sad smile. “Thanks for filling me in. I'm gonna go to my cell and try to process things.” he let me go without a word.
Daryl's cell was on the way to mine and Carol's voice made me stop just outside of it. “This is a tomb.” I heard Daryl say as I made sure I couldn't be seen by them.
“That's what T-dog called it. I thought he was right till you found me.” Carol said and it got quiet for a few seconds. “He's your brother, but he's not good for you. Don't let him bring you down. After all, look how far you've come.” she said making him laugh. God how I'd missed that sound. It got quiet and I was about to go to my cell when Carol's words stopped me. “I've never thought Joanna was good for you either. She's too weak, those panic attacks of hers...they'll only slow you down and make you weak.” I felt my teeth grind together as I bit down, forcing back more tears and made myself walk by as if I hadn't heard a thing.
About an hour later I heard some one approach my cell and I thought it would be Daryl or Rick, but instead, it was Merle. “What do you want?” I asked sitting up to pull my knees to my chest.
“Just thought that if we're gonna be under the same roof, we should clear the air.” he stated and I just stared at him. “The whole hunting you two down thing... that was just business. Carrying out orders.”
“Sure, whatever, just don't hurt my people.” I said and he just smirked at me. “What?”
“Good taste.” he answered making me immediately think of what he said back at Woodbury. How his brother had good taste. He just smirked again as he walked away.
I was still in my cell when I heard Rick yell for Daryl, Merle and some others to join him outside because Andrea had been spotted. So I ran out behind Michonne and watched as Rick let her in a treated her like the traitor she was. He pushed her to her knees and took her things before she confirmed that she was alone and she was eventually let into the prison, but just the holding room. Andrea greeted Carol first. “Hershel, oh my god.” she sighed, spotting the old man's lack of a limb. “I can't believe this.” she said as she looked around the room and let go of Carol. “Where's Shane?” he asked still looking around the room before she looked at Rick.
“Why should you care? You're sleeping with The Governor now right?” I asked earning a glare from her before she looked at Rick who simply shook his head and looked away from her.
“And Lori?” she asked and Rick just gave her a hard look.
“She had a girl. Lori didn't survive.” Hershel spoke up.
“Neither did T-Dog.” Maggie added and I made a mental note to find out exactly how he died.
“I'm so sorry.” she said before her eyes landed on Carl. “Carl...” the boy just glared at her sympathy. Then she turned to Rick. “Rick I-” she started to walk over to Rick but he backed away from her. So she looked around the room at other people. “You all live here?”
“Here and the cell block.” Glenn answered.
“There?” she asked pointing to the door to the cell block. “Well, can I go in?” she asked.
Rick stepped in her way. “I won't allow that.”
“I'm not the enemy here, Rick.” Andrea defended.
“No you're just sleeping with the enemy.” I said and this time she didn't even look at me.
“We had that field and courtyard until your boyfriend tore down the fence with a truck and shot us up.” Rick said still standing in her way.
“He said you fired first.” Andrea defended.
I wanted to point out that he was a liar, but I knew I wasn't the person to point that out. She wouldn't listen to me. She never did. “Well, he's lying.” Rick answered and she just stared at him.
“He killed an inmate who survived in here.” Hershel spoke up.
“We liked him. He was one of us.” Daryl said making her attention turn to him.
“I didn't know anything about that.” Andrea said with a head shake. “As soon as I found out I came. I didn't even know you were in Woodbury until after the shoot-out.” she said looking around at everyone.
“That was days ago.” Glenn said and now I agreed with his angry tone.
“I told you I came as soon as I could.” Andrea defended herself and looked around at everyone just to be met with glares and looks of mistrust. She turned to me “What have you told them?” she asked angrily.
“I didn't have to tell them anything.” I said from where I sat at the metal picnic table.
“You poisoned them with lies about me.” she yelled.
“She hasn't bad mouthed ya.” Daryl of all people defended me from where he sat at the table across the room from me.
“I don't get it. I left Atlanta with you people and now I'm the odd man out?” she asked getting mad at everyone.
“He almost killed Michonne and he would have killed us.” Glenn started.
“With his finger on the trigger.” Andrea yelled with a point at Merle. “Isn't he the one who kidnapped you? Who beat you?” she asked then sighed and placed her head in her hands for a second. “I cannot excuse or explain what Philip has done. But I am trying to bring us together. We have to work this out.”
“There's nothing to work out.” Rick said cutting her off. “We're gonna kill him. I don't know how or when, but we will.”
“We can settle this.” she said taking a step closer to Rick.
“God, Andrea!” I yelled at her. “When are you going to open those ignorant eyes of yours and realize that there is no settling this. He will not stop until we are dead, that is just the kid of man he is. Merle kidnapped us, but it was under the orders of your boy toy. He is sick and twisted.” I said walking over to get in her face.
“There is room at Woodbury for you.” she said not giving up on the idea of peace.
“You're blind as a freaking bat.” I scoffed and walked back to the table.
“There's room for all of you.” she said looking around at everyone now.
Merle laughed at her. “You know better than that.”
“What makes you think this man wants to negotiate?” Hershel asked. “Did he say that?”
“No.” Andrea answered.
“Then why did you come here?” Rick asked.
“Because he's gearing up for war. The people are terrified. They see you as killers. They're training to attack.” Andrea warned.
“I'll tell you what. Next time you see Philip, you tell him I'm gonna take his other eye.” Daryl warned back.
“We've taken too much shit for too long.” Glenn spoke up. “He wants a war? He's got one.”
Andrea turned to Rick. “Rick? If you don't sit down and try to work this out, I don't know what's gonna happen. He has a whole town.” she heaved out a breath as she turned toward us. “Look at you. You've lost so much already. You can't stand alone anymore.”
“You want to make this right, get us inside.” Rick said walking around her to be in her line of sight.
“No.” Andrea said shaking her head rapidly.
“Then we got nothing to talk about.” Rick walked around her.
“There are innocent people.” she yelled after him trying to get him to stop.
With Rick gone Michonne and Andrea went outside to talk. So with her out of the way I went back to my cell.
I don't know when she left, I didn't go see her off like everyone else did. I didn't even leave my cell until I heard everyone getting together down stairs and the smell of warm food hit my nose. It turned out to just be rice, cooked with a chicken bullion cube for flavor. It wasn't much, but I sat on the floor next to Michonne to eat it. Not long after I finished my bowl Beth started singing. After listening to the song enough to recognize a pattern and pick up the chorus I started to sing along. “You gotta hold on, hold on. You gotta hold on. Take my hand I'm standin' right here. You gotta hold on.” I sang back up catching a few people's attention, but I didn't look at them. Beth glared at me, but I ignored her too. She wasn't going to put a damper on my fun.
When the song was over most people turned in for the night. So I followed suit. As I passed Daryl's cell he spoke up, stopping me. “So it's you and Rick again, huh?”
I stopped and leaned my back against the frame of his door. "Maybe." I replied with a shoulder shrug.
"I ain't interested in none of your games." He practically growled as he sat up on the side of his bunk.
"Are you and Carol together?" I finally asked and he looked at me like I was crazy. "She was more broken up about you leaving the group than everyone else and people around here seem to put your names together a lot. On top of that you two were close at the farm, so what am I supposed to expect when I find you." I explained deciding to leave out the fact that I heard her badmouthing me and Daryl didn't defend me. He just stared at me, biting his nails. “Was I supposed to expect you to just wait around for me to show up out of the blue? I mean as much as I missed you and longed to be with you I supposed you would move on at some point.”
"Did you move on?" He answered flatly.
“Oh, yeah, didn't you hear? Andrea, Michonne and I got real cozy on the road together.” I popped off and he rolled his eyes at me with a scoff. “No, I didn't.” I answered truthfully. “Have you?”
“Na. She's just a friend.” he answered quietly.
“Good.” I told him with a nod and pushed off of the door frame to walk away.
“You gonna give me a straight answer 'bout you and Rick?” he asked stopping me and I turned to see that he had stood up.
“He's just a friend.” I answered with a sigh. “Now if you don't mind I'd like to get some sleep.” I started once again to walk off but he grabbed my hand pulling me to a stop.
“Sleep here.” he suggested, not dropping my hand.
“Why, so I can be your booty call?” I asked sarcastically.
He bit his lip and shook his head. “Cause I love ya, Woman.”
“W-what?” I asked too shocked for his words to fully sink in.
“Come on, I ain't good at this shit, don't make me say it again.” he practically begged.
What he had done and what he had called me...it was all washed away by those three little words. Three little words that when said separately or with other words between them meant nothing. But when one sentence was composed of just these words they seemed to heal the worst of wounds and mend broken hearts. So what did I do when they finally sank in?
Laughter burst from my lips and I fell back to lean against the door frame again. When I managed to stop laughing I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. “Even in my best dreams you never said that.” I whispered then looked at him to see him looking at me like if I rejected him he would crack. “I love you too.”
A smile spread across his lips as he closed the space between us grabbed the back of my head and pulled me into him. The kiss was hard and passionate. A moan escaped my lips when his tongue found mine starting a battle with no winner. His hand moved from the back of my head to grip my sides and lift me up and pin me to that wall. My legs wrapped around his waist and my fingers embedded themselves into his soft hair.
Thirty minutes later we lay on his bed sweaty and breathless, but still tangled together like an unkempt line of string. “How do you do that?” I asked, not looking at him, but comparing the size of our hands instead.
“Do what?” he asked quietly.
“Make me lose my mind but stay perfectly grounded at the same time.” I said and he scoffed at me.
“Ya ain't makin' since.” he grumbled sleepily.
“Yeah, I guess my minds still a little lost.” I chuckled as I dropped his hand and rolled over to look at him. “It has to be, because I feel crazy for giving you a second chance.” I explained, resting my hand on his taunt chest. “I felt something for you before, I wasn't sure what it was, if it was love or lust or if it was just simply trust, and companionship. So when you told me I was nothing to you and chose to leave me, it hurt but I lived. Barely, but I did. And now, after tonight, after we said what we said? You have my heart, you're capable of destroying me.”
“Ain't gonna do that.” he promised, low and gruff as he placed his hand on my cheek and ran his thumb over my cheekbone. “Can't make the same mistake twice.” from my face his hand slid down to my neck where he touched the mark his brother had left on me. “Let's get some sleep, missed havin' ya by my side.”
I smiled to myself as I tuned my back to him and he tossed his arm over my side. “Goodnight, Daryl.”
Daryl was snoring. Not too loud, I could probably go back to sleep if I tried, but the contrast with the deep silence of the shared room and the corridor woke me up with a start. For a second I couldn’t picture where I was, the shriek cry of a baby that had been only in my dreams fading to nothing as I looked around trying to understand the singing crickets and cicadas’ absence. On the couch by the cot, now not reeking any sort of smell, Daryl didn’t even more a muscle, his low, constant snoring lulling my heart back to a normal beat.
A clock on the wall above the door showed it was early morning. At camp, the group would be up and about by now, woken up by the growing heat inside the tents. The silence showed it was not the case this morning. I thought it was good; these people deserved a lie in to get some rest.
I got up, though, and padded silently to the tiny adjoining toilet, where I found a small pack with disposable toothbrush and paste. Making a mental note to put it in my bag later if we ever had to leave this place, because the toothpaste I had brought from home was being scrapped out of the package already, I brushed my teeth, drank water from the faucet and washed my face before tying back my headful of dreads. Daryl was still snoring when I quietly left the room.
Jenner was in the cafeteria, the same we all had had dinner the previous night, behind the counters filling a mug of fresh coffee.
“Good morning,” he told me with a small, forced smile. “I think I probably shouldn’t offer you coffee.”
“Oh,” I said as I stood on the other side of the counter. “’Cause pregnant women shouldn’t drink coffee?”
“Well, yeah, people say. I wouldn’t know, I’ve always focused on other areas of medicine.”
“Right. Yeah, it’s – so you got the result then.”
“Yep,” he popped after a sip of coffee.
“Right. Yeah…” Ilooked down with both hands on the counter.
“Mazel Tov,” he said saluting with his mug and I looked at him again, snorting a laugh.
“Yeah, thanks. Fuck…”
Jenner went silent, staring at me with his brows creased. I didn’t know him at all, but it seemed to me that he was worried and thoughtful, maybe.
“Hey, I’m the girl in trouble here having to give birth and raise a child during the end of the world. Why’d ya look like that?”
“Well... it’s, uh… That’s it, isn’t it? A child, the dead…”
“Yeah, I’m a bit more positive now that we’ve found shelter,” I crossed my arms and stared up at him. “Right? We didn’t talk about this, I know, but I was wondering how this works. I got a big group, an elder man, a child, these women who are just now learning how to defend themselves… And now I got a bun in the oven confirmed, so I’d be kinda worried if we got to go back out there. This place might’ve saved our lives,” I paused and looked at Jenner for a moment. He had rested his mug down, still staring at me. “If we don’t stay, well... Gotta be prepared for this, anyway, you know, women’ve had babies for hundreds of thousands of years in nature, living in caves, defending helpless kids from animals and whatever…”
I then took a deep breath, suddenly nervous about the prospect, contrary to my words. Having it confirmed and my otherwise flat stomach showing turned everything even more real, scarier, and the timing of the unfortunate accident this pregnancy was just stunned me.
“I must say,” Jenner started after a few seconds of silence. “I’m impressed by your positivity. Really,” he looked down, nodding to himself, lips tight.
“Okay, what is it, Doc?” I lost it, but tried not to be rude. “I ain’t blind, alright? You ain’t just worried about some random pregnant person who you met. What is it? What you worried about? You ain’t gonna let us stay here, is that it?”
He looked up quickly holding out a hand to me, “Hey, it’s – it’s nothing, ok? Just –” he started walking backwards, away from me. “Don’t worry about it now. I just – I have work to do. Excuse me.”
I tried to say something but he was gone before I could think of how to persuade him to tell me that the hell was happening in his mind. Something was seriously wrong and, with an icy feeling on my stomach – maybe the child had felt it too – I was certain this shelter was not what we had dreamed of. Entering it had been a miracle, and there were no more miracles these days.
And holy fuck, I really was fucking pregnant!
“Hey, you alright over there?”
Startling out of my reverie, I saw T-Dog having just arrived, standing by the counter. I smiled, giving some poor excuse and greeting him with a smile, not mentioning any worries. Together, T-Dog and I started fumbling in the cafeteria cabinets as to find something to make the group breakfast. The man was by the stove doing his best to prepare powdered eggs and I was mixing some artificial juice when the others began to flow into the space, most of them quietly. Glenn looked the worst, eventual groans demonstrating just how bad he felt. Dale, Andrea, Lori and Carl were also sitting with bowls of old but still good cereal.
“Dude, did you puke yet?” I asked Glenn as I stood behind him, a hand on his shoulder. He groans louder and hangs his head. Carl, a mouthful of cereal, laughs at him. “If ya haven’t you should, trust me, you’ll feel better.”
Rick joined us just as T was serving scrambled eggs that surprisingly seem to be good and Lori was handing Glenn some aspirins. As they all started to eat, I leaned against the counter, sipping on my glass of juice. I was quiet with a smile so it would seem like I was following the conversations and quiet teasing going on by the table, but my mind is only half there.
I knew I was pregnant, I was sure ‘bout it, why was I feeling this now? I needed to tell them. They had to know, life was about to get shittier for everyone with a knocked-up woman and then a screaming baby. Where was Daryl, still sleeping? The eggs kinda smelled good, I wished there was bacon. Damnit, bacon.
Interrupting my thoughts, Shane passed in front of me like a storm, walking fast and hunched, quickly dismissing the good morning wishes. At the table Lori flinched, looking down at her eggs, and seemed to shrink unbeknownst to anybody other than me, the only quiet and observing one.
“Fell as bad as I do?” Rick, at the head of the table, asked his friend.
“Worse,” is all he said before turning around and heading to the table.
“What the hell happened to you?” T-Dog asked as he met Shane on his way. “Your neck?”
Shane sits nearly across from the Lori, who purposefully busied herself with her food. “Must’ve done it in my sleep.”
“Never seen you do that before,” Rick questioned as I was slowly abandoning my position at the counter and stepping around the table to stand close to Lori without having planned to do so.
Standing there I could see what T-Dog had asked about. Shane had scratch marks on his neck, as perfect as nails. The rest of the table was silent and I was glad I wasn’t the center of attention. Blood had risen to my face and my throat was tight. I was sure Lori had made the marks, simply by her reaction to Shane’s arrival. She’d had to defend herself from him, and that certainty burned on my chest like a physical blow. I remembered Ed slapping Carol – where are Carol and Sophia? Gotta go find them, see if they’re okay – and the desire to do to Shane the same I did to Ed was almost stronger than me.
“Me neither,” Shane answered and stared directly at Lori. “Not like me at all.”
I then took a step closer to Lori’s back, staring at Shane, whose eyes slid up from Lori straight to me. I stopped there and held his eyes hard, my own narrowed and head turning slightly to the left, daring him to say or do anything else or, I don’t know, breathe.
Jenner returned to the cafeteria just then, finishing the subject. I held Shane under my gaze for seconds longer, though. I wanted him to know that, if no one else did, I had noticed and that I’d keep an eye on him. His look going even harder than before told me he got the message.
***
Seeing the image of the brain dying, and then returning to life, though only in few parts, was not exactly news to anybody. It was impressive to see the transformation occurring on the inside, though. Extraordinary brain or not, it was how happened to everybody. It had happened to Amy, it had happened to Jim by now. But we had seen it in real life, we had shot freshly transformed people in the brain to put them to rest. Andrea had done it to her own sister. The mood in the room was now densely gloomy, verging hopelessness. Though he explained the procedure in detail, Dr. Jenner never mentioned a cause.
“You have no idea what it is, do you?” Andrea voices what was everybody’s impression.
“It could be microbial…” he started, vaguely, his answer to the question very clear. “Viral, parasitic, fungal.”
“Ain’t there nobody who’d know that?” I asked from where I was perched on a desk by Daryl. “Other centers, wherever, nobody could take the – the thing and analyze it to know what it is?”
“And how to stop it – kill it, more importantly?” Rick completed my question standing closer to Jenner
“There are others, right?” Carol also added her question. “Other facilities?”
“There may be some. People like me. There’s no way to be sure, though. Everything went down, communications, directives, all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month.”
“So, it's not just here,” Andrea’s chin trembled as she spoke. “There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?”
The doctor didn’t answer. Instead, he lowered his head as he nodded, and for long seconds nobody spoke a word.
“Well, fuck,” I whispered making the others come out of their shock. Daryl stood up pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes, mumbling to himself that he intended to get drunk again.
Behind the group, among the next row of desks and computers, Dale’s voice came changing the subject and alerting the others for something that hadn’t been noticed yet. “Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but... That clock,” he pointed to a wall further away and the whole group looked at its direction. A red digital clock had just marked one hour. “It's counting down. What happens at zero?”
Once again, like it was beginning to be customary for the doctor, he took seconds to answer, looked around as if in doubt of how to phrase something. “The basement generators... they run out of fuel.”
“And then?” Rick asked him, his voice grave, but it had no effect on Jenner. He just lowered his head again and started walking away, completely ignoring the question. Rick looked up at nothing, as if talking to God, “Vi, what happens when the power runs out?”
“When the power runs out,” the robotic voice started. “Facility-wide decontamination will occur.”
* * *
When Daryl entered the room we had shared the previous night, I was already shoving whatever personal belongings I had back inside my backpack.
“Hey, what ya doing?” he asked as he leaned against the doorframe, a bottle of whiskey in hand.
“Just making sure, leaving the bags ready to take and go,” and I entered the touled, collecting the toothpaste. “I don’t like this no-generator-power-fuel thing. The way the guy didn’t even answer what’ll happen – I don’t know. I told the others to have their packs ready too.
“’Kay, I’ll just –”
“Yours’ done already,” I cut him and pointed to his bag on the floor. “Didn’t have much out.”
“What you figure is gonna happen?”
“No fuckin’ clue,” I zipped the bag forcefully and rested my hands on my hips. “But just think ‘bout it, we’re underground, not a single window, if there’s no power at all how’re we gonna have air? You know?” I pointed up and Daryl looked at the vent on the ceiling.
“No lights, no fridge for the food, no air circulating…” he completed my though.
“Nope, don’t seem to me like a place we can be for long. ‘S why I told the others to get ready, Jenner’s gonna have to explain what the fuck we’re gonna do if when the guys come back they say there really ain’t no more fuel.”
Just as the last words filled the tense air of the room, the light went off, leaving only a faint emergency glow coming from the corridor, and the silent place became even more silent as the air from the vents stopped flowing. Everybody was out in the corridor at once, asking questions at Jenner, who had just appeared and was walking resolutely along the hallway. In seconds, the whole group was back in the control room, Rick, Shane, Glenn and T-Dog back from the lower levels informing there really wasn’t any more fuel in the barrels. With his already infamous half-words, Jenner explained shallowly that the system of the building made the decisions, not him, and that air and light were not as important as keeping the computers running until the very last second.
“Alright, that’s it!” I raised my voice above all the others. “Back to the rooms now, everybody, grab your things and we’ll get the fuck outta here!”
For one or two seconds, everybody was following my orders, running towards the door, but everyone froze in place again at the loud, deafening alarm sound and blaring red light that took hold of our senses.
“30 minutes to decontamination,” the robotic, cold voice informed.
“Everybody, you heard Sam!” Rick shouted at the top of his lungs, “Let’s get out of here, now!”
A metal door rose from within the ground just as he spoke, closing the only way out of the room. It had looked like there wasn’t any door there at all, but now it seemed like it was a solid, metal wall. Fear on the verge of despair washed the group like an ice-cold waterfall, screaming and cries and Daryl trying to attack the doctor, who now was calmly sitting down on his fancy chair.
“Jenner, open that door now,” Rick tried, sweat rolling down his face.
“There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed.”
“Well, open the damn things!” Daryl yelled from where he was being held away by Shane.
“That's not something I control. The computers do,” Jenner spoke firmly, but still carrying and annoying calm on his words. “I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that.”
“We heard you say they’d stay closed, not that we’d be locked in even if we wanted out!” I yelled, despising how my voice trembled. “You were not very clear ‘bout that, doc!”
“It's better this way.”
“What is better?” Rick asked. “What happens in 28 minutes?”
He didn’t answer, once again, turning away and trying to type something on his computer. There was yelling once again, the men around Jenner trying to get him to talk clearly for once. He finally did, getting up from his chair and screaming and spitting that the whole place had been designed to protect the public from horrible deceases, to keep viruses, bacteria and parasite inside and to just destroy everything in case any of it could ever get out. Calming himself down like what he was about to say was the most calming and reassuring thing, he explained how the system did that.
“It sets the air on fire,” he practically smiled. “No pain. An end to sorrow, grief... Regret. Everything.”
“You mean an end to your sorrow,” I shouldered though the men and got closer to Jenner. “You’re sitting there accepting your fate, the end to your grief, but making us stay when we want to go?”
“Open the damn door!”, Daryl yelled from the door, where he’d started kicking it. Shane approached the door with an axe he had found somewhere and they both attacked it, grunting and making sparks come out of the metal.
“You should've left well enough alone. It would've been so much easier,” Jenner said from his chair, watching us like he’d watch a movie. “You know what's out there... A short, brutal life and an agonizing death!”, he tried to convince us. Looking at Andrea, he proceeded. “Your sister, you know what this does. You've seen it,” and he looked back at Rick. “Is that really what you want for your wife and son?
“I don't want this!”
“There is no hope. There never was…”
“There's always hope!” Rick was nearly crying in anger. “Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but somebody somewhere –”
“What part of ‘everything is gone’ do you not understand?” Andrea cried from her spot on the floor.
“Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event,” Jenner said with a final tone, like the end of a discussion.
“This isn't right,” Carol was openly crying with Sofia on her arms. “You can't just keep us here!”
“One tiny moment... a millisecond. No pain,” the doctor carried on.
“What the fuck are you trying to convince us about, doctor?” I spoke again. “You want us to sit and accept the air around us will blow up and we’ll die?”
“Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?”
“Wanna hear what’d be kinder? Cause I don’t think you know much ‘bout it,” I bent a little to look at him. “Compassionate would be to let us choose our fate for ourselves. Lock people in and tell them they’ll die ain’t compassionate, it ain’t kind!”
“You may not see it, but I know what I’m talking about. There is nothing else out there other than dead people walking and ready to eat your flesh! Nothing!”
“You’re a fuckin’ liar, you know that?” I angrily whispered, but loud enough for everyone around to hear. “You didn’t kill yourself like the others. You stayed and you were still trying, weren’t you? Why is that, huh?”
“I didn’t stay alive because I wanted to!” he stood up making me straighten my back. Jenner pointed at the screen where he’d shown the image of the transforming brain before. “I made a promise... To her. My wife.”
“Test subject 19 was your wife?” Lori asked him.
“She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no? She was dying. It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein. Me? I'm just... Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me.”
I snorted a bitter laugh. “Good. You kept your promise to her right to the end. And then you fucked it all up. Bravo!”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Jenner took a step towards me just as Daryl restarted banging his axe on the door.
“You promised, you stayed, you researched, you did all of that. And then right at the end, in the very last minutes of your fuckin’ miserable life, you go and turn yourself into a fuckin murderer. Poor 19… Poor woman who’ll have a murderer for a husband.”
“Murder? Is that what – That’s not what I’m trying to do here!” he screamed and looked around trying to defend himself. “I’m helping you! You all came to me begging for help, and I’ve given it to you! You’re all going to die out there, a suffering, painful death, I’m being compassionate here –”
“Bullshit!” I yelled at his face. “You’re killing us! You’re lockin’ us in and giving us no choice! This is murder, plain and simple. Our lives are not yours to decide. If we wanna go back out there and die fighting to our last breaths, so we should be able to! These children’s lives are their mothers’ to decide about!” I cried out pointing at the direction where Lori and Carol held their kids. Then I pointed to my own stomach. “This child! My child! This life here is mine and I will fight like hell to save it. If we’re gonna die, we’re gonna die fighting. You don’t make this decision for us!”
Nobody seemed to be breathing now. Daryl’s banging on the door had ceased. Jenner stared down at me, eyes on mine for long seconds. Then he shook his head and walked towards the other side of his desk again.
“I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those,” and with a simple card and password, the metal door loudly slid open.
“Come on!” Daryl shouted from the threshold.
“This is the right thing to do,” I pointed at him. “Goodbye, doc!”
“Come on, Sam, let’s go!” Daryl called again as everybody else ran towards the exit.
“We have less than four minutes!” Glenn informed as he reached it.
On my way, I grabbed Jackie, who’d been standing motionless on her spot, and dragged the woman with me. On the rise that led to the door, Jackie stopped.
“No, no, I'm staying. I'm staying, sweetie.”
“What?! No, Jackie!”
“No, it's okay, I know. For the first time in a long time I’m sure about something. I'm not ending up like Jim and Amy.”
“You’re not, Jackie, we’re fighting for –”
“There's no time to argue and no point, not if you want to get out!”
“But Jackie –”
“Just get out, please Sam, you have a baby there! Just please, go!”
“Sam!”, Daryl returned from the hallway where he’d already reached. “Come on, Sam,” he said urgently, though in a muffled voice. “We gotta go now, come on!”
With a last look at Jackie, who nodded and smiled at me, I turned around and let Daryl drag me away.
* * *
Carol had a grenade.
Yep. Carol had a fucking grenade.
When the doors upstairs didn’t bolt even at gun shots, she suddenly took a grenade off her pack and handed it to Rick. He placed it by where the glass had been slightly cracked and everybody fell to the floor waiting for the explosion, Daryl right on top of me covering my whole body with his. The whole world shook as the glass broke at the explosion, the group climbing through the hole and out of the condemned building. Walkers outside fell like leaves at our shots, just not as scary as they had been just hours before. With seconds to spare everybody was inside the cars, ready to get out of there even before the explosion. Daryl pushed shoved me in before him into the truck through the driver’s door and just as he closed it we saw Andrea and Dale leaving the building, climbing out and running away, though not fast enough.
“Dale!!” I all but climbed over Daryl to be able to scream through the window. “Andrea! Get cover! It’ll blow – get cover!!”
There was still a moment to see them run and dive behind the sandbags before I was shoved down to the floor of the truck, Daryl over me and the deafening explosion, the heat on our skins threatening to burn everything around, an earthquake destroying anything that was still standing. For minutes we stayed like that, shaking, fearing the cars would not be enough to protect us, until it all started to fade, sound slowly lowering, heat cooling down degree by degree, faint cries coming from the other cars slowly reaching my ears.
“It’s over,” Daryl whispered from somewhere above me. “You okay?”
“Yeah! Yeah, you?”
He sat up on the driver’s seat, still bent down to look at me on the floor, curved into a ball. “Fine! Come on, get up,” he reached for my hand and pulled me up. “You fine. It’s okay.”
“Good, good, we’re fine… They’re all fine?”
“All cars whole, Dale and Andrea just entered the RV. Everybody’s fine.”
Being pulled up by Daryl, I didn’t stop moving until I was all but over him, clutching to his shirt and sobbing into his shoulder. I didn’t plan to do it, my body acting on its own volition. I didn’t pay attention to him starting the truck and it moving away from the burning building, my emotions completely out of my control. Daryl didn’t say a word; he held me against him with one arm as he awkwardly drove away following the other cars, only Shane’s jeep behind us.
Summary: Since the apocalypse began, shaving was a thing of the past for the reader. Who needed to shave when there were more pressing matters to attend to? Not her, so she never bothered until it seemed like everyone else was hair free and her feelings for the hunter came into play.
Warnings: Insecurity, not shaving? and possible typos.
Author’s Note: This is my first one-shot, oh boy! @twdeadfanfic had made a good point on who in the heck would shave in the apocalypse ‘cause I know I sure wouldn’t! I wanted to contribute my little own fic to the no shave club, so here it is! I got a little carried away and I have no idea how long a one-shot should be, but um... I have a feeling this won’t be the first time a one-shot of mine will be this long hehe.
If you want to be tagged/removed for my Daryl Dixon fics, then don’t hesitate to send me an ask, message, or leave a comment! The same goes for any other fics! I’m in no way, shape, or form a writer, so um don’t attack pls. Any feedback is much appreciated! Thank you and I hope you enjoy!
The gifs I use aren’t mind, so all credit goes to their respective owners.
MASTERLIST
A place to call home seemed impossible after the farm, but then the prison became your safe haven until the Governor came along and took it away from you.
After that, you didn’t think you’d find another home or even your family when you were left all alone after the fall of the prison. You were trudging through the woods, feeling hopeless and lost without knowing whether or not you’d find them before you stumbled upon a set of railroad tracks. Seeing green for two days was driving you insane, so you chose to follow the tracks even if you were in plain sight. At that point, you didn’t care what would happen to you.
A sign had came into your view after about an hour of walking and there was a place called ‘Terminus’ that stated the place was safe, to keep following the tracks and you’d find it. The thought of your family going there crossed your mind and you had nothing else to lose, so you had decided to try your chances.
Oh boy, were you wrong. Once you arrived, they seemed like nice people … up until they asked, then demanded for your belongings and threw you in a cargo container by yourself. They’d throw in scraps every now and then, but you refused to eat anything they gave knowing they were only giving you it for their own purposes. If they wanted you dead, they would’ve done it already.
You were tiredly sitting up against the wall of the container in the dark fumbling with your fingers when you heard shots ring out. The noises made you perk up and race to the door of your prison and try to somehow pry it open, but you knew it was useless so you began banging until the gunfire suddenly stopped.
Nothing had happened for hours, maybe even a day, you wouldn’t know the difference when all you could see was the darkness. That was until shots were fired once again, but you chose to do nothing knowing no one was coming for you, knowing you’d die of starvation or maybe they’d just finally kill you.
The hopeless thought dissipated when the door opened, causing you to slowly stand and back up with the back of your hand shielding your eyes as the bright day flooded the container. Once your eyes had adjusted, Rick, Glenn and Daryl stood there before you, guns in hand making your tearful eyes widen in shock.
After you had reunited with your family and the new additions, you all had been invited to a community known as Alexandria after you terminated the remaining people of Terminus. It seemed surreal to you, a place where it felt the dead weren’t among you all … that was why you didn’t trust the place.
You wanted a place to call home so bad and Alexandria could be it, but you were unsure about it all. It could be so simple to just do so, but it wasn’t. The people here walked the streets and waved to each other like it was normal, like there weren’t monsters outside of the walls and it surprised you. What also surprised you was that Deanna was hosting a welcoming party for you and your family, so here you were, getting ready for something you thought you’d never have to do ever again.
“You want me to wear that?” you asked in disbelief, arms folded, gawking at a dress Maggie was holding. The tight fitting red fabric was off shoulder and looked like it would stop at your mid thigh.
“What’s wrong with this?” she frowned, glancing at the dress before peering back at you.
Maggie was already wearing her attire for the evening and she looked amazing. Her flowy blue dress came to her knees and she wore nude heels which stunned you, all you ever knew was tennis shoes. That was when you noticed her legs, they didn’t have hair on them … did she really shave?
When the dead occupied the world, shaving was long forgotten for you, it was all about surviving, not personal hygiene, you couldn’t even pinpoint the last time you were hairless. Showers were scarce, the only time you got to was when you were back at the prison, but now you could more at Alexandria. You’d definitely use them to your advantage, but shaving didn’t really gain your interest. There was no point in keeping up with it, especially when there was more important matters to intend to. Instead of spending more time in the shower because of shaving, you could already be out and dressed to go and hunt or tend to other things.
“It’s just- I’d rather go with pants,” you lied, not wanting to confess you didn’t want and wouldn't shave. You didn’t think Maggie would judge you, not that you’d care, but you didn’t want to risk it. She could never really keep up with the routine, so what if since she finally had the chance, she was one of those people who kept herself smooth. Maybe she just had to suck it up and deal with the hair.
Maggie eyed you, but nodded her head and rummaged through the options she had laid out across your bed. She held out a long sleeve off the shoulder black jumpsuit before chucking it at you, urging you to hurry and shower and get yourself together to head to the party. You playfully rolled your eyes and waved her off, striding over to the bathroom to wash up.
While you were washing your body, you contemplated on whether or not to shave your legs. It would be nice to be smooth for once and it’d just be a one time thing, but what was the point? It wouldn’t be for yourself, it’d be for other people and you weren’t about to shave just to please strangers or anyone for that matter. It was your body.
After you slipped on your strapless bra and panties that matched your jumpsuit, you climbed into your outfit, added a dark blue belt and threw your hair up in a high ponytail before strapping on your dark blue heels to match the belt. Once you were done getting ready, you stared at the mirror not believing the person in the reflection was actually you, that you could dress up and look formal for once. Before you headed out, you gave yourself a pep talk, you killed walkers for crying out loud … you could get through tonight.
The walk over to Deanna’s house was atrocious because you constantly had to catch yourself from tripping over your own feet in those god forsaken heels. Once you reached the front porch, you huffed and wanted to turn right back around, to forget about trying, but before you could, the door swung open and you were greeted by Spencer. He offered a smile and complimented on how good you looked to which you thanked with a tight lipped smile before he widened the door for you to enter.
All night you tried your best to conversate with everyone and let people get to know a little about you, but it was difficult. The Alexandrians questioned you about what it was like to be out there and when you asked about themselves to keep the conversation going, all they talked about was their domestic life. It had gotten so bad, you chugged a few drinks in a corner before being approached by Spencer. He was totally flirting with you and it wasn’t helping with how awkward and out of place you felt, so you excused yourself and made a beeline for the exit.
Glenn and Maggie were already outside, standing on the porch as you escaped the house. Glenn questioned if you were leaving to which you nodded at.
“Not really my cup of tea,” you blatantly shrugged before you gripped onto the railing for support as you stepped down the stairs.
“Yeah. We were just leaving, it’s getting pretty late for us,” Maggie smiled as she followed with Glenn by her side.
The three of you were casually walking in the street to go home when your favorite person was approaching you.
“Hey stranger,” you joked with a grin, but it left your face once you stumbled making Daryl hurriedly grab onto you.
“You okay there, Y/N?” Glenn chuckled.
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah,” you grumbled, feeling your cheeks warm up as you could still feel Daryl’s hands on your waist. Glenn knew the crush you harboured for the hunter, practically everyone did, except for Daryl himself. He was a smart man, it surprised you he was still clueless or maybe he did know and ignored it. Either way it seemed he didn’t have the same feelings you had for him, but it was okay. Even though it hurt to not have him in the way that you wanted, you’d rather have him as a friend than nothing at all.
Your friendship with Daryl didn’t develop until the farm even though you’d known him since the quarry, but your feelings for him surfaced when you were at the prison. It was when he left with his brother when you realized you liked the archer. His departure left you in tears, he was your best friend and he knew you better than anyone ever could, so it broke you in more ways than one. When he came back during the Governor’s attack, you were still hurt, but relieved. You kept going back and forth on whether or not to confess your feelings for him, but you thought it’d be too much for him to handle at the moment. The Governor was more important than your little crush and you convinced yourself into telling him after … but obviously that didn’t happen since you all were separated.
Daryl’s warmth left your body and brought you back to reality. His eyes widened at your form as they wandered over your figure once he got a better look at you, making you frantically look down for anything out of the ordinary before Glenn laughed even harder.
“Like what you see, Dixon?” Maggie teased, making you quirk a brow at her before peering at Daryl who shyly averted his gaze off of your form, his face getting redder by the second and yours was too. Did he really just check you out?
You harshly cleared your throat, eyeing the couple who had humongous grins plastered on their faces as they stared at the two of you because you knew Daryl was feeling extremely uncomfortable. He wasn’t very keen on all the attention on him or teasing, so you wanted Maggie and Glenn to control their thoughts.
They caught the memo and said goodnight before they walked off and you could still hear them giggling as they did so. You rolled your eyes and brought your eyes up to Daryl who had his hands stuffed in his front pockets as he was staring at the ground.
“Thanks, Daryl,” you spoke up, making the hunter’s face contort into confusion as he tore his gaze off the ground to your orbs. “For catching me before I landed on my face,” you reminded to which the corner of his mouth slightly twitched up as he nodded, his crystal blues going back to the asphalt.
That was when you finally realized how cleaned up he was. He was wearing a black collared shirt with his signature vest, black jeans that weren’t ripped up, and his hair wasn’t the usual unkempt style you knew all too well. He was heading somewhere before you ran into each other, so you questionably turned your head to see where exactly.
“Were you headed to Deanna’s party?” you inquired.
He shrugged his shoulders and yanked his hand out of his pocket to chew on his thumb before he looked at you with a few strands of hair in his vision. “I was … don’t think I can,” he said as he focused his attention on the house behind you.
“Well, maybe running into me happened for a reason, but do you still wanna try? Those types of things aren’t really my thing either, so I left … but I’ll go in there again. It’ll be bearable with you by my side,” you offered with a smile, lifting your hand for him to take.
Daryl looked at your hand and hesitantly took it like he was contemplating on going before interlacing your fingers together, summoning butterflies to fill your stomach. You glanced up at the archer and your smile grew once he made eye contact with you and mimicked your expression as you two walked the street. Once you two approached closer to the house, you were abruptly tugged back by Daryl who stopped walking, visibly not wanting to go in there.
“Hey, it’s okay if you’re having second thoughts, at least you tried,” you shrugged, rubbing your thumb against his hand, trying to give him some comfort and assure him that it was okay. It didn’t matter if he didn’t go, it wasn’t that big of a deal.
“Hey, Y/N!” you heard someone excitedly call from behind you. You whipped your head around to see Spencer smiling from his mother’s porch as he stepped outside with the door slightly ajar. “You coming back inside?”
“No thanks, I’m going back home with Daryl,” you smiled, squeezing the hunter’s hand as you hugged his arm with yours. It wasn’t like you disliked Spencer, you just weren’t interested in him like he was with you or how you were with Daryl.
Spencer looked between the two of you and his joyful state faltered as realization hit him, he gave a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes as he waved an okay, bidding the two of you a goodnight. Once he was inside, you sighed of relief and lifted your head off of Daryl’s arm to look up at him. Daryl continued to stare at the door with an emotion you couldn’t tell, but once you whispered his name and tugged on his arm for him to follow, his orbs softened when they landed on you.
“Come on. I meant it when I said I was going home with you,” you smirked, not knowing his reaction since you weren’t facing him. You didn’t want him to think you used him to get out of going back inside, you genuinely wanted to spend time with Daryl and you hoped he felt the same way.
Once you met the front of the house you were occupying with some of your other family members, you hurriedly stepped onto the stairs and tripped once again, slightly catching yourself as you cursed, but Daryl’s hold on your hand was the main reason why you didn’t tumble down the stairs.
“These stupid heels. I hate them,” you huffed, lifting your leg up over the other to unbuckle the heel as an amused Daryl supported you.
You threw the heel onto the porch and began to take off the other one while you eyed the archer as he tried to contain his laughter, but he was failing miserably. “I hate you,” you grumbled as you struggled even more with the buckle. His light chuckles got louder and his shoulders were shaking making his grip on your hand vanish. You almost lost your balance, frantically hopping to steady yourself, but seeing Daryl smile and happy made the situation better. It was a rare sight and knowing you did that made you feel on top of the world.
“Do you really think this is funny?” you joked with a hint of anger lacing your voice as you tore off the heel and chucked it at the archer who easily caught it, still laughing.
After the fits of laughter died down, somewhat, you went to your room and changed to a pair of shorts and a graphic tee before joining Daryl on the couch, propping your legs onto his, wiggling your toes and stretching your feet since they were sore. Daryl must’ve noticed because he started to massage your feet, making you close your eyes and let his hands to wanders.
“Never will I ever wear heels ever again, I had the ultimate struggle,” you groaned.
“I could tell, ya were trippin’ up the street to the party,” he said, the sly smirk on his face evident in his voice, making you lift your head up to shockedly eye him with embarrassment.
“You saw that?!” you sheepishly inquired with your hands over your face, peeking through your fingers to see him nod his head. “As if seeing me trip into you or up the stairs wasn’t enough.”
Daryl chuckled as he stopped soothing your aching feet to rest his palm on your kneecap and the other on your calf. “Don’t worry, I’ll only tease ya every once n’ a while.”
You playfully rolled your eyes and after a couple minutes of silence, you felt him rub your knee with his thumb. The action made you peek at the hunter to see him staring off in space, absentmindedly rubbing your skin. At first you didn’t mind it, but then you realized he wasn’t just feeling skin… he was feeling hair. The thought caused you to quickly retract your legs and stand up to head to the fireplace as a cover.
“Damn girl, ya that cold?” Daryl joked, but you ignored him, placing the chopped wood into the fireplace before igniting it. You didn’t care about what others thought about your unshaven form, but his contact on your skin, feeling your hair, made you insecure. Women were supposed to be groomed and you weren’t one of them. It felt stupid to think that you weren’t good enough for him because you chose not to shave, but you did and you couldn’t help it.
“Y/N, ya okay over there?” Daryl questioned causing you to zone back into reality, realizing you had been staring into the flames the entire time. You turned around before standing up and nodded, heading to sit back down beside the hunter, crossed legged to resume your staring contest with the fire. The feeling of Daryl’s gaze on you made you squirm on the inside, he wanted to know what was on your mind, but you didn’t want him to know how dumb it was. The battle in his head stopped since you saw in the corner of your eye that he tore his orbs off of you to join the game.
You must’ve fallen asleep last night when you were with Daryl because you had woken up in your bed underneath your cozy covers. The sun was beating down on you with a slight breeze as you trekked along the streets of Alexandria with a loose t-shirt and jeans with a pair of tennis shoes. You wanted to have a look around the town with a nice walk before whipping up something in the kitchen to eat since you were going to watch Judith later.
As you made your way back to the house, you spotted Daryl on the steps, casually smoking a cigarette. He noticed your presence once you approached closer, so you smiled and waved and in return he offered you a smoke. You accepted, joining him on the steps before placing the cig between your lips, drawing and releasing the contents. The silence between the two of you was comfortable and it felt nice to relax, to not worry and look over your shoulder all the time.
“Y’know ya can always talk ta me.”
You paused on taking another puff to look over at Daryl who was gazing at you softly and you could’ve sworn you saw a hint of hurt mixed in his features, the comfortable silence was just you then. “I know, Daryl,” you assured with a slight smile and that didn’t seem to ease his worries, so you grabbed his hand and placed it in your lap before interlocking your fingers.
“Then why don’t ya? Ya do a good job of hidin’ it, but I know ya. There’s somethin’ bothering ya, Y/N,” he gloomily said as you pulled the cigarette away from your lips and let the smoke escape. He didn’t know why you couldn’t just speak to him and that was the problem… you couldn’t because it was stupid and it was about him. “Is it the place? ‘Cause I’m not feelin’ it either, but-”
You roughly let go of his hand and stood up, tossing the half-used cigarette on to the sidewalk. “I have nothing to talk about and especially not to you,” you harshly retorted before stepping inside the house with the archer on your tail. You didn’t mean to lash out, but you were getting frustrated that he wouldn’t stop pressing. He cared, you knew that, but you just wished he’d drop it since you weren’t showing any interest in discussing it.
“What’s that supposed ta mean?” He sounded offended and you hated that you made him feel that way, that it seemed you wouldn’t go to him when there was something on your mind. You just wanted to push him away so you could ignore your feelings altogether, but at this point it was impossible.
You chose to continue your task and reach into the cabinets for a pot to warm up soup. Before you could reach in and grab the dishware, Daryl slammed the door shut with a grunt. “Nah, yer gonna talk ta me whether ya want ta or not.”
“Daryl, please, I don’t want to argue,” you pleaded in a sigh, reaching for the cabinet’s handle once more, but he grabbed your hand to prevent you in doing so. “Let go!” you raised your voice, trying to yank your wrist free, but his hold was too strong.
“Not until ya tell me what’s botherin’ ya! S’like someone’s flickin’ a switch in ya brain! One minute yer wantin’ ta spend time with me, then the next ya don’t want me around!”
“It’s because I love you dammit!” you shouted in frustration, boring your orbs into his. His grasp loosened and you took the opportunity to bring your wrist back to your side, averting your gaze to the stove. You couldn’t believe you just confessed your feeling to him, you were embarrassed and not ready to handle rejection, not ready to lose him. “What?” he mumbled in disbelief, trying to comprehend your confession.
You sadly sighed, squeezing your eyes shut with your arms folded against your torso. “I love you and I’m not good enough for you, so there. I’m conflicted when I’m around you because I care about you, but at the same time you’re better off without me.” Your voice cracked towards the end, the feeling of not being good enough for him coursing through your mind, making you tear up.
“Yer good enough, Y/N,” he softly spoke, making you jolt your head up to look in his eyes and within them was sadness, a loving sadness. You shook your head and roughly wiped a tear that streaked down your cheek with the back of your hand. “No, I’m not. Daryl, I don’t even shave like a woman should! I don’t care what other people think about it because it’s my body, my choice, but they aren’t you!” you retaliated, ashamed of such a stupid insecurity.
“S’that why ya also started wearin’ jeans instead of shorts? Because of ya legs not bein’ shaved and thinkin’ I’d care? Y/N, I don’ care about that, I never have. Don’ matter ta me and it shouldn’ matter ta ya.” Daryl slowly lifted your chin towards his gaze with his index finger and thumb, you didn’t notice how close he had gotten, barely an inch away from having your bodies pushed together.
“Really?” you questioned in bewilderment. You never really cared about the issue before Alexandria because you didn’t have razors, so it was out of your control. Once you settled here though, you had thought he would expect you to shave, but you were wrong.
He smiled and nodded, sending your stomach to do flips. “Yer perfect just the way ya are.” You noticed how his irises flickered to your lips and back to your eyes nervously, so you closed the gap and brought your lips to his with your new found confidence. The both of you moved in sync, molding perfectly together and it took your breath away. One of his hands were around your waist while the other was behind your neck, deepening the kiss as your tongues danced together. The desperate need for air made you break away and rest your forehead against his while your hands caressed his cheeks.
“I love ya,” Daryl whispered out of breath causing you to chuckle breathlessly. The Daryl Dixon said it, he loved you back.
“Even if I’m hairier than Bigfoot?”
It was his turn to laugh. “Even if yer hairier than Bigfoot.”
_____________________________________
Thank you for reading! Any feedback is much appreciated! If you’d like to be tagged or removed, don’t hesitate to let me know! If you’d like to request something from me, please go to the link in my bio ‘Request Guide’ before doing so!
*Summary: The reader is new and alone at the quarry’s camp, the only one she has is her dog, who seems to be best friends with Daryl Dixon, a not so friendly man, but that friendship will bring the reader closer to Daryl, finding that there’s more to Daryl than what you can see at first glance…besides, he’s pretty hot at first glance, isn’t him?
*Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader
*Tags/Warnings: Slow burn, violence and language twd style, both reader and Daryl’s pov. Follows the events of season 1 and 2.
Chapters: 1/14
Link to my masterlist with my other works can be found on the description of this blog. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but tumblr doesn’t show posts with links in the tags.
My new series! I loved writing it, the reader is a bit diferent from what I wrote in my previous two series and I had so much fun, I had a great time writing this and I hope you’ll enjoy it too. Let me know your thoughts!
------
You yawned as you looked around at the camp, people going about with their morning activities. Carol was collecting clothes to do some laundry, Andrea and Amy were getting ready to go fishing, Dale was scouting the horizon on top of his RV, Shane and Glenn were talking as they looked at a map of what you guessed was Atlanta…
You, though, had just woken up. You should be getting ready and rush to help Carol or do anything that needed to be done, but your growling stomach reminded you to better have breakfast first, you barely had dinner yesterday. You were in need of a run for more supplies, that was probably the reason why Shane and Glenn were studying the map.
You took an almost empty can of peaches and sat down at the outside of your tent, busying yourself with your not so healthy breakfast. Your dog, Cole, began munching on the leftovers of his dinner, some squirrel’s innards.
When you heard footsteps approaching, you didn’t need to look up to see who was coming, the way in which your dog sat up like a flash, tail waggling like crazy, told you enough. Besides the kids, there was only one person he was so excited about seeing.
Daryl Dixon.
Cole had always been a friendly dog so it was no surprise he got along with almost everyone in the camp, but you still couldn’t make sense of his unrestrained love for Daryl. He wasn’t the friendliest one to be around, after all, but Cole adored him.
What surprised you even more was how Daryl seemed to reciprocate the feelings. You wouldn’t say he adored your dog, but he was always asking you to lend him Cole whenever he went to the woods, sneaking him food and snuggling him when he thought none was looking. Considering how Daryl was with the humans that lived in the camp, it was quite surprising.
With a bark, Cole launched himself at Daryl, his mouth open with his tongue out, almost looking like he was smiling.
“Hey, dog.” There it was, you wouldn’t catch Daryl smiling at anyone in the camp, yet he was grinning as he scratched Cole behind the ears.
Honestly, it was kind of cute, and more often than not you found yourself smiling at the sight of them. You had been confused at first and it had taken you a little bit to actually develop a friendship with Daryl. Although you weren’t sure if Daryl saw you as a friend or just a woman with a dog he liked, and certainly he didn’t seem to like you as much as he seemed to like your dog, but you couldn’t complain, he was nicer to you than to anyone else in that camp.
“Good morning to you, Daryl.” You greeted, it wasn’t the first time Daryl said hello to Cole and ignored you.
“Yeah, morning.” Daryl didn’t even look at you. “I’m going hunting, can I take the dog?”
“Sure…I’ve told you a thousand times he’s not a hunting dog, though.”
You hadn’t let him take your dog at first, and the first times Cole had actually gone hunting with Daryl, you had gone with them too, until you saw how skillful Daryl was and you trusted he wouldn’t let anything happen to the dog. He’d promised you he’d keep Cole safe of walkers and any other threats.
Besides, just in a few days after meeting Daryl it was evident how much Daryl and Cole liked each other, it was obvious Daryl would never hurt your dog and wouldn’t let anything bad happen to him, so you trusted him. And Cole loved to be with Daryl.
“Yeah I know, he’s shit at hunting,” Daryl replied, his words at odds with the way in which he was looking at your dog.
“So why do you take him with you then?” You asked, and Daryl just shrugged, making you smirk. You knew he would never admit he loved your dog and his company.
“He tells me if there are walkers close.”
“And how exactly does he do that? By barking and bringing every walker around to you?”
“Yeah, I have to teach him another way…” Daryl replied, biting his thumbnail and frowning.
“Good luck with that.” You joked, Cole had never been fond of learning tricks or things like that…but by now you were sure if someone could teach him, that was Daryl. “Anyway, you told me you wouldn’t let Cole get close to walkers…”
“I don’t.” Daryl rushed to assure you. “I shoot them before they can get close or we leave, I ain’t letting them get your dog, told you I wouldn’t.”
You weren’t sure if he was telling you that to reassure you and calm you down, or just because he was afraid you might not lend him Cole anymore if you thought he was putting him in danger. Which you wouldn’t, but you believed Daryl, if he told you he’d keep your dog safe, then he would. And honestly, if Daryl asked Cole to go with him, you weren’t sure you’d be able to stop your dog from following him, considering how he adored Daryl. You always joked saying he was stealing Cole’s love from you, but sometimes you got actually jealous. Not that you’d ever say it aloud, though.
“Alright, come on, go hunt us dinner,” you said. “But if something were to happen to my dog-”
“You put one of my arrows up my ass and tie me to a tree to be walker’s food, yeah, I know, you told me plenty of times,” Daryl smirked. “Like you could do it anyway…”
“You’re saying I can’t beat your ass?” You teased. “Don’t make me do it.”
“Yeah, sure. Come on, dog.” Daryl began walking to the woods, Cole behind him, happily wagging his tail. “Ain’t letting nothing hurt your dog,” Daryl told you without looking back.
You knew he wouldn’t, Daryl was the most skillful person that you knew, the best at surviving. Your dog wasn’t safer with anyone else, not even you.
If you thought about it, you had kind of trusted Daryl since the beginning, after all, he was the one who had found you and Cole in the woods, starving.
He had been hunting nearby but you hadn't noticed him until Cole had begun barking like crazy. You had turned around expecting to see one of those monsters but found yourself face to face with Daryl and his crossbow.
“Hush, you'll bring every dead asshole to us!" It was kind of fun that the first sentence you had heard from Daryl was to your dog. Quite fitting.
Daryl had seemed almost as surprised as you to find someone else but he had taken you to his camp at the quarry, telling you he and his brother hadn't been there for long but that the people weren't too bad and you'd be safe enough from the monsters.
You had been taken in and introduced to everyone, it had been a bit overwhelming but you had been grateful nonetheless and the kids of the camp had been exultant to find you had a dog.
That night you had dined at the fire in the middle of the camp, stew made from rabbits Daryl had hunted. Daryl wasn't there, though, he was making dinner for him and his brother at his own fire in front of their tents, which were slightly away from the others.
There had been another small fire next to an also separated tent. It was from a man neither you nor your dog liked and his lovely wife, the mother of one of the kids. You had noticed Daryl giving her some of the rabbit meat so she could have dinner even if his husband didn't want to join the others.
You had shared your dinner with Cole, he had been starving as much as you but you felt bad about asking those people to give you a bit more of stew for your dog, they were already feeding you their scarce food and they didn't know you.
However, your dog had his way of finding his own dinner...
Then...
You'd finished getting a spare tent that Dale had lent you ready for the night when you realized your dog was missing. You panicked slightly, Cole was usually never far from you, what if something had happened to him? What if for some reason he had decided to go back to the woods and a monster had gotten him?
“Cole?" you called quietly, not wanting to bother anyone. "Where are you?"
To your relief, there were a couple barks that you followed until you found Cole, though that relief was short lived when you saw he was munching on something.
"What I told you about eating anything you find on the ground?!" It wasn’t like someone there might want to poison him, but still you didn't like your dog eating something he had found and you didn't know what was.
"He didn't find it on the ground."
You were startled to hear a voice close but when you looked around in the dark you noticed you were next to the Dixon's tents, their fire already dead. You made the silhouette of Daryl sat down on a log outside his tent.
“It's rabbit, I gave it to him, it ain't poisoned or nothing."
“Thank you." You were taken aback. “You didn't have to.”
"He gotta eat too."
"I gave him half my dinner already...seems he didn't think about sharing his with me..."
Since that day, Daryl gave you and Cole part of whatever he cooked for his brother and himself. He always said it was for the dog, but you knew he made sure there was always enough for Cole and you.
His brother didn’t like it at first, claiming he was wasting food. Then he suggested some ways in which you could pay back for the food they gave to Cole and for Daryl rescuing you. Both Daryl and your growling dog put an end to that, though.
And since then, Daryl and Cole's big friendship began.
A few days later, Daryl asked you if he could take your dog hunting with him. You didn’t agree until a week later, and only if you could go with them.
Daryl had been complaining all the time...
“You are just gonna be slowing me down all the time” He grumbled. “If you trip on a root or something and break an ankle I ain’t carrying you ass back to camp.”
“It’s not my first time in the woods you know?!” You spat back. “I worked in it, I know what I’m doing, so shut up!”
“You shut up, you’re scaring the game.”
You decided not to reply to that, just rolling your eyes at him, and followed him in silence for hours, watching as he managed to hunt a couple of squirrels, until he decided to stop to eat something. You had been tired and were grateful to stop for a bit, but in no way you were going to tell that to Daryl. He got some dried meat out of his bag, passing you some. As he began to eat his portion, he also started giving little pieces to Cole.
“You’re buying my dog with food.”
“I ain’t buying anyone.”
Truth be told, for some reason Cole loved Daryl no matter if he sneaked him food or not, always looking for him when he was on the camp or going to happily greet him when he came back from hunting. And there was no doubt Cole had been all excited about going hunting with Daryl for once. You wondered if you were starting to feel jealous…
“You said you worked in the forest,” Daryl said, taking you out of your thoughts. “Wasn’t a bluff?”
“Of course it wasn’t!” It was a bit of lie…but you didn’t want to back down now. “I worked in my parent’s business and I did most of my job in the woods.” You were stretching the truth a bit, but you wanted Daryl to respect you.
“Yeah? And what business was that?” Daryl arched an eyebrow at you.
“Are you gonna tell me what was your family’s business too?” You retorted, evasively.
It made Daryl go dead silent, his expression changing, making you wonder briefly if you had said something wrong.
“Come on,” He said as he got up. “I have to keep hunting, can’t feed everyone with just a couple squirrels.”
By the time you made your way back to the camp, he had hunted a couple more of squirrels and a rabbit too and was complaining about how he could have hunted more if he hadn’t had to take you along with him but you were ignoring him.
“Hey, can I ask you something?” You asked after a while of silence.
“You’re gonna ask anyway, aren’t you?” He replied, making you smirk.
“Yep. Can you let me try your crossbow?”
Daryl turned to look at you like if you were crazy or had insulted him.
“You wanna strain a muscle, shoot yourself, or what?”
“I’m not shooting myself!” You rolled your eyes. “I can shoot a bow, so it can’t be much different.”
“You can shoot a bow? Really?” Daryl frowned at you, he didn’t seem to believe you, but it was true. “For your family business too?”
“Kind of…”
“Now you’ll tell me you hunted too.” He snorted.
“No, no I didn’t.”
“That was pretty obvious after today.”
“Are you letting me try the crossbow or what?”
“No.”
“Okay, fine, great, I bet it’s a thousand times easier than the bow anyway.” You huffed. “I bet you couldn’t shoot a bow even if you tried.”
Daryl glared at you at that, taking off his crossbow to throw it to you. It was heavier than you had expected, heavier than a bow.
“Fine, sunshine, come on, shot us another squirrel.” He growled at you.
“Can’t see any squirrel.”
You began charging the crossbow, it took a lot of your strength to tense the string but you tried not to show it. Once it was ready, you aimed at a tree, finding a darker point in the bark that you decided was your target. You shoot at it, the crossbow shifting unexpectedly in your hands, different than a bow, and you failed miserably.
“Shit…” You grumbled, glaring at Daryl when he snorted.
“Come on, it’ll be dark before you can hit the nearest tree.” He said, taking the crossbow and shouldering it again.
“Shut up.”
Now…
As always, Daryl came back before the sunset. He made his way to his tent and Cole turned to ran to you.
"At least you have the decency to come to greet me after begin all day away." You had no shame about talking with your dog. "Thought that by now you'd have moved with Daryl, uh?"
Cole barked and you wished you knew what it meant.
You looked towards Daryl's tent and saw him sitting down outside, skinning a rabbit. You decided to go help him, you weren't too good at helping him get his kills ready yet, and sometimes it still turned your stomach, but you were learning.
You sat down beside him and he tossed you another rabbit. Cole soon grew bored of watching you two working and he went to play with the kids.
Daryl was silent and surly, even more than usual, and you knew something was bothering him but you weren't going to push him or he would snap. If he wanted to then he would tell you. If not, then he could be angry by himself.
“Two rabbits ain't gonna feed all of us for shit." He grumbled when you were finished.
“We still have some of those cans of tomato soup that Glenn brought from Atlanta." You said matter of factly. "We’ll make a stew with them and the rabbits."
“There gotta be more deer around."
A few days after you joined the camp, Daryl had come back from hunting with a deer over his shoulders but since then it seemed he hadn't found any other. You guessed the deer had run away scared by the smells and sounds coming from your camp and by the walkers around.
"I think I'm going to go further into the woods, stay the night maybe, see if I can find something."
"Are you sure?" You frowned, staying the night in the woods didn't sound that safe.
“I'm used to, and there's barely any walkers around, I told you."
"Alright."
Suddenly you thought on something.
"And are you going to want to take Cole with you?" You didn't like the idea of getting separated from your dog for so long and him getting further into the woods and staying the night.
Daryl shrugged, biting his thumbnail.
"Maybe... But I know you don't want your dog to be out of here for two days."
You didn't, you knew you would be all the time worried sick about him. Neither did you want Daryl to be gone for that long, and alone... Maybe Merle could go with him or something.
"I was thinking..." Daryl began again, shifting awkwardly. "That maybe you could come. If you want to, with the dog..."
You hadn't expected that and you blinked at Daryl, taken aback. He never asked anyone to go hunting with him and the couple of times you had gone with him, back at the beginning, he hadn't seemed too happy about it.
"Or don't, I don't need your dog or nothing..." He began to backtrack.
"You really want me to go?" You asked and Daryl just shrugged without looking at you. "Okay, okay, I'd really like to."
"Alright."
"Are you going to be complaining all the time again about me slowing you or scaring the game again?" You teased.
“If you do it..." You noticed a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
You didn't know why you were so excited about going to the woods for almost two days, you ought to be scared, you should have said no, but you were happy Daryl had asked you, no matter it probably was because he wanted your dog's company, not yours, but still, he didn't ask everyone to go hunting with him.
"Deal, then." You grinned and whistled at Cole so he'd come. "You know what, boy?" You said, scratching your dog behind the ears. "I'm going hunting with you and Daryl! Are you happy I’m going with you two? You better are."
