Well, here's a random idea that came to mind that I wrote up in a few hours. I'm not so sure about the ending, but it's one in the morning so I'm writing it while struggling to keep my eyes open.
I don't think I'll write anymore to this, I may also change then ending later on. If anyone is interested in more to this story, let me know.
You would think in a world like this, one erased of everything it once was, almost desolate, it wouldn't be hard to find yourself alone. But it would seem so as a lone archer stalks through the forest in order to get away, to be alone. At least for a little while.
It has been a few weeks since they brought all the people from Woodbury to the prison and it's felt crowded ever since. Daryl never was one to be around others, he didn't get along with them well. Hell, it took him this long to warm up the original group.
Being cooped up behind those fences and walls didn't help either, it made him feel closed in with nowhere to go, people surrounding him everywhere he turned. Hunting was a good escape and excuse.
Quietly standing on the forest floor, Daryl keeps his eyes on the unsuspecting squirrel wondering into his path, easily releasing an arrow when the time was right, pinning the now dead animal to a tree.
Squinting at the dog, Daryl slowly sets down the arrow with the squirrel still attached, reaching to reload another one. He didn't want to shoot the dog but he wasn't going to take any chances.
Lowering himself to the ground to try and show himself as less of a threat, Daryl doesn't remove his eyes from the dog as his bowstring snaps back into place, allowing him to load it with an arrow.
Licking its lips, the dog relaxes slightly as it studies him before barking and spinning in a circle, causing Daryl to furrow his brows in confusion. He guessed the dog once belonged to someone, it was a beautiful dog, a German Shepherd if he remembered correctly. He was a bit skinny, although not as bad as you would think for a lone dog in this world.
Making a kissing sound, Daryl slowly holds out his hand for the dog, hoping he could gain his trust and maybe bring him back to the prison. He's sure the others, especially the children would like to have a dog around. He would too, not that he'd tell anyone that.
"Hey, boy." He calls out to the dog in what he hopes was a soft calming voice, thinking of any way he could calm the dog as he spins in more circles, letting out a few more quite barks as if he knows he shouldn't be too loud.
Reaching behind him with the hand not held out to the dog, Daryl pulls out the small packet from his pocket Carol had forced on him when he was leaving, unwrapping it before pulling out the deer jerky as an offering to the dog.
Pausing his erratic actions, the dog sniffs the air and takes a few steps towards Daryl, reaching out his nose until it comes in contact with the meat.
Thinking he was going to take the offered food, Daryl again furrows his brows when the dog slowly takes his shirt sleeve between his teeth instead, tugging him forward.
Releasing the cloth from his hold, the dog lets out another quite bark and spins in another circle before trotting a few feet away, stopping to look back at the man now standing on his feet.
Retrieving his arrow and kill, Daryl keeps his eyes on the dog as he takes slow steps towards the him with the notion that he wanted to be followed, his thoughts being confirmed as the dog started walking again, occasionally looking back to make sure Daryl was still there.
Dodging between trees and ducking under low branches, Daryl follows close behind the dog, surprised he hadn't run into any walkers and hoping he still wouldn't. He had no idea where the dog was leading him, but as he followed him deeper into the forest he started having second thoughts about following him in the first place.
Slowing to a stop, the dog sniffs around the ground before starting again, slightly faster this time, causing Daryl to also pick up his pace. "Damn dog," Daryl mutters to himself when the dog takes off at a run, soon coming to a stop as Daryl wondered if chasing him was even worth it.
Squinting his eyes, Daryl slowly approaches the dog and notices a still figure lying on the ground below him as he used his nose to nudge its arm. Sliding his crossbow to his back, Daryl slips his hunting knife from its sheath, not wanting to risk the figure jumping out at him.
More growling catches his attention, causing him to shift his eyes from the body on the ground and onto the dog, seeing his eyes already on him as he bares his teeth, slowly stepping over the figure in a protective manner.
Understanding the dog, Daryl slips the knife back into its sheath before taking slow, calculated steps towards the figure with its back facing him, causing the dog to step back but not far as his own attention also returns to the small, unmoving figure.
Kneeling down, Daryl slowly scoots forward and places a hand on the figure's shoulder before slowly rolling it over to reveal the face of a young girl, fourteen to fifteen years old if he had to guess. Her pale face causing her dark brown hair to seem darker as the pieces escaping the ponytail stick to it with sweat.
Hearing a whine from the dog, Daryl spares him a glance to see him nudge the girls face with his nose before lying down next to her.
Looking back down at the girl, Daryl notices the slight rise and fall of her chest before his eyes travel further down, finally noticing the red seeping through the lower half of her shirt.
Deciding not to waste time, Daryl carefully takes hold of the girls tiny wrist, moving it to the side so he could inspect her injuries, earning him another low growl from the dog that he was quick to calm as his attention was more on his owners face than what Daryl was doing.
Lifting the hem of the girl's shirt, Daryl grimaces when he sees the gaping hole in her left side. It was still bleeding, although it seemed to have slowed from how much it probably was when it first happened.
Removing his crossbow, Daryl slips off his plaid button up, leaving him in a simple T-shirt, he does his best to tie it around the girl's abdomen to help stop the bleeding until he could her back to the prison.
Securing it tightly, Daryl looks at the dog as he prepares to lift the girl, knowing he probably wouldn't like it. The dog seems to already trust him at this point but he was still protective of his owner and Daryl could understand that.
"It's alright," Daryl whispers as he slowly lifts the girl into his arms, supporting her with an arm under her knees and her back, keeping his eyes on the dog as he stands with them, ready to follow.
"C'mon." Daryl says, clicking his tongue before walking in the direction of the prison.
Leaning against a nearby tree, Daryl takes a deep breath before adjusting the girl in his arms. She was far from heavy, but it was a long walk back to the prison and the heat of the day wasn't helping with anything.
"Yeah, I'm c'mon." Daryl says to the dog as he lets out a bark, twisting in another circle.
Sighing at the small relief at seeing the prison gates bring him, Daryl looks down at the girl's pale face as it rests on his shoulder, relieved he could still feel her chest rising and falling with each breath she takes.
As he nears the gates he sees Glenn and another person from Woodbury rushing to open them.
"Daryl, wha-" Glenn starts saying with a confused face before Daryl quickly cuts him off.
"Go find Hershel." He tells him, knowing it would be faster if he was already up there waiting when he arrived in the cell block. Daryl also knew a doctor had come over from Woodbury, but he trusted Hershal more than he did the other guy. "Meet me in the cell block."
"Yeah." Glenn responds with a hurried nod. "You," He says to the guy who helped him open the gate. "Stay here, watch the gate."
Taking his eyes off Glenns receding form, Daryl looks over his shoulder to make sure the dog made it through the gates. Nodding to himself, he gives a low whistle for the dog to follow as he makes his way towards the prison building, ignoring everyone's stars as he goes by.
"Daryl." He hears the familiar voice of Rick call from behind him. "What happened?"
"Dunno. Found her out there." He quickly explained, not slowing in his steps as he approached the cell blocks door, squeezing through as Rick pulls it open.
"Bring her here." Hershel says once the enter as he and Glenn clear off a table, allowing Daryl to carefully place the small girl on top it.
"Should I go get Dr. S.?" Someone Daryl didn't recognize asked, causing Hershel to shake his head.
"Waiting would only make it worse, I need to do this now." The older man said as he moved around the table to the girl's side, earning a growl from the dog as he got close, alerting everyone to his presence as they hadn't noticed him before.
"S'fine." Daryl said as he cautiously approached the dog, laying a hand on his back to calm the dog and succeeding, allowing Hershal to continue.
"Looks like a through and through." He announces as Carol appears by his side with a bag of supplies. "That's good, but it caused her to lose more blood. Good thing you found her when you did, she wouldn't have lasted much longer." Hershel said with a look towards Daryl with that last sentence.
Letting Hershel continue helping the girl, Daryl turns his attention to the dog in order to keep him calm as he let out the occasional growl when he felt the life of his owner being threatened.
"Alright, that's as good as I can do for now. I've cleaned and stitched the wound but it'll be wise to keep an eye on her, can never be too careful when it comes to infection. But for now, I think it's best we make her comfortable and hope she wakes up soon." Hershel announces to the room after finishing the final touches on the bandages now wrapped around the girl.
"It's safe to move her?" Carol asks Hershel as she tries to clean the girl's face of all the sweat and dirt that's gathered on it.
"We'll need to be careful." Hershel says with a nod, cleaning his own hands from the blood that was now staining them. "I say we use the closest cell, that way we won't have to go far."
"Yeah, we'll fix it up." Maggie says, suddenly by Glenn's side.
Feeling the fur move from under his hand, Daryl looks down at the dog and watches as he slowly makes his way towards the table where his owner lies, using the seats to climb on top to smell her face before lying next to her, resting his head on her chest.
"It's ready." Maggie's voice calls, breaking through the silence that occurred as everyone watched the dogs actions.
"I got her." Daryl spoke up, standing from his crouch to approach the table, letting the dog smell his hand before he carefully slips an arm up the girl's shoulders and one under her knees in order to lift her.
"Careful, son." Hershel said as they made their way into the cell where Daryl slowly placed the girl onto the thin mattress, adjusting her legs and arms before taking the blanket maggie offered and laying it over her legs.
"Someone needs to stay with her." Carol said as she looked around at the others.
"I'll do it." Daryl states after a moment, watching the dog take his place at his owner's side, carefully lying next to her.
"Alright, you need rest anyway, and water." Hershel tells him.
Shrugging his shoulders, Daryl sits in the chair someone had moved into the cell at one point as everyone else clears out, Carol going to get him some water.
"Here you go." Carol says as she enters the cell, offering the water to Daryl, looking towards the unmoving girl. "Where'd you find her?"
"Just out there. Dog found me, led me to her." Daryl answered, taking the offered water without looking away from the girl and her dog.
"He's protective of her, that's for sure." Carol says, a smile playing at her lips.
"Yeah, thought he bite my hand off at one point."
"You should get some rest like Hershal says, I can watch her if you want." Carol offers, moving her eyes from the girl and towards Daryl.
"I am restin'." He states stubbornly, causing Carol to nod with a smile.
"Alright, just holler if you need anything, okay." Hearing his hummed reply, Carol turns on her heels and leaves the cell, staying close in case anything happens.
After sitting in the cell all day, Hershel came and convinced him to get some real rest with the promise to watch over the girl himself, Glenn coming to replace him later that night until he could return in the morning.
"How's she doin'?" Daryl asks Hershel while leaning against the cell's entrance, watching as Hershal checks the girl over, noticing the dog is now on her other side, closest to the wall.
"Still hasn't moved, showed no sign of waking up, but no fever, which is good." Hershel told him, taking a step back from the girl. "But I'm afraid if she doesn't wake up soon, she'll slip away."
Biting his lip, Daryl nods his head and looks towards the ground. "I'll watch her." He tells the older man as he makes room for Hershel to walk past him and out of the cell.
"I'm afraid that's all we can do now." He says with a sad glance towards the girl before making his exit.
I small whine causes Daryl to look up and see the dog lightly nudging his owners face.
Sighing Daryl leaves the cell for a few short minutes, soon returning with some water in a bowl and more deer jerky. Setting them on the floor, he turns to the dog and whistles, catching his attention.
"C'mon." He calls him over unsuccessfully as he just lays his head back down. "She ain't goin' nowhere." Daryl says, whistling one last time.
Looking down at his owner, the dog slowly stands and moves down the bed to her legs, jumping off onto the floor and stretching before finally making his way over to Daryl and the offered food and water, quickly eating so he could return to his owners side, now lying on the outside of the bed.
He was a big dog, Daryl was surprised he didn't fall off the bed as his body blocked almost his entire view of the small girl.
"Just checking in." Hershel says a while later, limping into the cell.
"Still nothin'." Daryl mumbles, sparing the old man and girl a glance before looking back down at the arrow he was cleaning.
"Don't lose hope just yet, her bodies been through a lot, it just needs time to recover." He tells Deryl as he makes his way over to the girl, feeling her forehead for fever, causing the dog to lift his head and smell his hand, licking it when he deems him to be of no threat to the girl.
"I'll take over for a bit, let you get some food, stretch your legs." Hershel says as he turns away from the girl.
"Nah, I'm good."
"I think Carol just finished cooking something up for lunch." Hershel states like he didn't even hear Daryl's statement, causing Daryl to sigh before lifting himself from the chair and leaving without a word, knowing it was no point to argue with the older man.
Taking the seat Daryl just vacated, Hershel leans back, happy to be off his leg and watches over the girl.
A few moments pass as Hershel sits in silence, occasionally rubbing his leg. It may be completely healed but that doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt sometimes.
Eyes trained on the cell door, Hershel turns his head when a small movement catches his eye.
Feeling his lips turn up slightly, Hershel watches as the girl slowly lifts her arm to wrap around her dog, lightly grabbing onto his fur, alerting him to the fact that his owner was awake, causing his tail to move as he licked her face in relief.
Mumbling something, the girl lifts her other arm to block the slobbery kisses her dog was giving her, momentarily forgetting everything that had happened, but when she did, her eyes shot wide open as she tried to sit up, hissing in pain.
"Taking it easy there, little lady." A voice says from her right, causing her to look over and see an older man with white hair and a beard. "You've been through quite the ordeal, but you're safe now."
Not fully trusting the man, she watches him closely. The last time she encountered people, she got shot, but if this man meant harm than why would he have fixed her up? And let her keep her dog? Who seemed to trust the man, which was not an easy thing for either of them. But she trusted her dog to keep her safe, so she let herself lie back, but still kept her guard up, tightening her grip on her dogs fur.
"My name is Hershel, how about yours?" The man, Hershel, said in a smooth calm voice, his eyes meeting her own blue ones.
"Rylie." The young girl finally whispers out, not seeing the harm in telling the man.
"Well Rylie, it's nice to meet you. Would you like some water?" Nodding her head at his question, Rylie only then realizes how dry and scratchy her throat really was, too busy thinking about her new surroundings. She also doubted Hershel was the only one here if the noises she could hear from outside was anything to go by.
"Alright, I'm going to help you sit up. Is that okay?" The man asks her, moving closer when she nods her head, letting him help her up and shift the pillow behind her, making it easier for her to drink the water he offered.
"Thank you." Rylie says after she catches her breath, handing the now empty cup back to the man that oddly reminded her of Santa, not that she was young enough to still believe in that stuff.
"Of course." Hershel tells her with a smile, looking down at the dog as he moves back up the bed. "Your friend there got a name?"
"Apollo." The girl tells him with a smile, running her hand through his fur.
"Well, Apollo seems very loyal, protective," Hershel tells the girl, noticing her lips turn up when he mentioned the dog.
"Yeah, he is. He's like my family." Rylie says, earning her another lick in the face, causing her to turn her head away from the sudden attack. "What happened? How did I get here?"
"Apollo here, he found one of our people, led him too you. Saved your life." Hershel informed the girl, smiling at their interactions with each other.
Nodding her head, Rylie takes in the information as she runs both her hands through Apollo's fur, trying her best to ignore the pain radiating from her side when the sound of approaching footsteps catches her attention.
Still wary about her new surroundings and people, Rylie sinks behind Apollo when a tall figure makes an appearance in the doorway.
"Daryl, I would like you to meet, Rylie and Apollo." The older man speaks, motioning to them as he says there names. "Rylie, this is Daryl, the one who brought you back."
Before either could say anything, Apollo lets out a bark before jumping off the bed and walking over to Daryl, surprising Rylie. Apollo isn't the friendliest dog, his trust being hard to earn, so seeing him like this around these strangers was odd. Although they're not as much as strangers to him than to her she guesses.
Carefully pushing herself up further and biting her lip to hide her wince, Rylie shyly meets the new stranger's eyes, saying the only thing her tired mind could come up with. "Thank you."
"Mhm." Daryl hums as he chews his right thumb while his left-hand runs through Apollo's fur. "How ya feelin'?"
"Tired." Rylies says without hesitation, her limbs feeling like jelly with the added pain from her abdomen.
"Yes, well that's to be expected, you've lost quite a lot of blood." Hershel speaks up, drawing all eyes to him. "You'll need to eat and get plenty of rest before you start feeling better." Standing from the chair, Hershel slowly leaves the cell with the promise to come back soon with something for the young girl to eat.
"Apollo," Rylie called to him when he started pawing Daryl's leg, wanting more attention.
"He's a good dog." Daryl commented when Apollo immediately went to Rylie's side.
"Yeah, he's the best." She said with a smile as she looked at Apollo, giving him the attention he wanted.
"Had 'em long?" Daryl asked as he sat down in the chair, the words seeming to fall from his mouth before he could stop them.
"Since he was a puppy. Dad got him for me on my eighth birthday, mom had a fit, but once she held him, she was hooked. I think she held him more that day than I did." The girl said with a sad smile as she scratched behind the dog's ears.
"Your parents," Daryl started hesitantly, wondering if she was alone or if she still had people out there. "They're..."
"Dead?" The girl finished his question, glancing his way. "Yeah." The smile now gone from her face.
Before either could say another word, Hershel wondered back into the cell, carrying a bowl of food and some more water with him. "Here we go, young lady." He said as he passed it to her.
"Thank you." She said with a smile as she gratefully took the food, eating what she could before a yawn suddenly interrupted her.
"Alrighty, it's time for you to get some more rest. We'll be nearby if you need anything, alright?" Hershel asked, earning a sleepy nod from Rylie as he took the bowl from her hands.
"Has Apollo had anything?" She asked while trying to keep her eyes from closing.
"Yeah," She heard Daryl's raspy voice answer as Hershel helped her lie back down.
"Okay, good." Rylie softly says before sleep easily overtakes her tired body, her arm still wrapped around Apollo.
"She gonna be okay?" Daryl asked Hershel as he stood from the chair.
"Yeah," Hershel said as he looked down at the girl, "Yeah, I think she's gonna be just fine."
Thanks so much for reading! Sorry for the ending, I'm not the happiest with it and may end up changing it at another time. Sorry for any mistakes I'm sure you ran into along the way. I would love to hear what you guys think of this story in the reviews.
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