"Yeah, ya better run!"
The hell did he go? Daryl scanned the woods, searching for Merle. He placed his hand against a tree, his lungs burned, his body screamed for a rest, his mind wondering if he had truly saw his brother standing above him.
Exhausted, he flopped down against the tree. He checked his wound, watching the blood slowly ooze onto the bandage. Although he was used to being covered in dirt and grime, the constant bleeding wound raised a cause for concern. And it would only be a matter of time before a Walker would spot him and think of him as a boar.
"Come on."
Grunting loudly, he fought back the pain and pushed himself off from the tree, and began his way back to camp. With each step, his head grew very hot, his breathing labored, black spots appeared in his vision, his stomach burned and curled. He forced saliva out from under his tongue and swallowed, he focused on the bumpy surface of the trees, using it to guide him through the thick woodland area. Each small sound made him jump. Camp was still a good ways away and he couldn't afford to stop now. He shook the dizziness away, grabbed a long stick to use to pull himself along, and imagined Merle was still mocking him from the distance ahead. If he managed to bully Daryl out of the ravine, then maybe the same trick would work to get him back to the farm.
Merle was always that kind of a person; mock and jeer anyone of his choice until they snapped. It would, usually, end up in a fight and Merle would end up behind bars. Unless it was with a woman, which then Merle would disappear for a night or two. But that was just how Merle worked and Daryl was always his favorite victim. He always claimed it was for Daryl's own good, to help him grow up and become a man with balls, but sometimes Daryl wondered if he picked on him because he was the little brother.
Suddenly, Daryl's legs gave out from underneath him and vile leaped out of his mouth. His body slumped over against a tree, a loud ringing filled his ears and the earth around him faded to black.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Hot and stuffy.
Dimmed lighting.
Daryl realized he was laying down inside someplace. He kept his eyes shut, but cautiously moved his hand up and down, feeling a plastic like surface.
Realizing he was inside a tent, he risked opening his eyes, seeing the sun shine on to an orange plastic ceiling, the tree leaves providing a jig-saw puzzle like shade. He listened in to his surroundings, nothing but the sounds of rustling leaves could be heard.
Quiet, he advised himself as he slowly sat up.
"Ow!" Daryl shouted, dropping back down. A shot of red hot pain coursed through his body. He hoped that someone would have alcohol back at the farm, feeling it was well deserved.
"Well, don't sit up so fast and it wouldn't had to hurt." A female voice scolded.
Daryl looked to his left to see a young woman with dirt covered skin and light brown hair sitting cross legged against the wall of the orange tent. Her bright blue eyes examined his body. Her v-neck easter yellow shirt that dipped a little too low was torn around the edges, the left leg on her pants was missing, bandages covered her arms and her neck. Daryl studied her carefully, searching for any bite or scratch marks. The bandage's, he realized, were a few days old and she wasn't suffering from a fever, just the heat of the day. Relieved to find nothing of the like on her, he looked down at his half naked body laying in a navy blue sleeping bag, his chest was clean of mud from the ravine, the door was unzipped, shadows danced on the walls and the tent was small and cramped with clothes and food can's. Daryl guessed that the sun was starting to set. Even inside the tent, he could tell the sunlight was dim and orange, and a small breeze hit his clammy skin. All signs that pointed out the sun was close to setting.
Damn, Daryl cursed to himself, trying to sit back up.
The woman put her hand on his chest, and gently pushed him back down. He roughly shoved her hand away, she bit her lower lip, ignoring his gesture. She crawled over his body to her duffel bag, grabbed a blue cloth and an open bottle of water. With the cloth bundled around her finger, she stuck it into the bottle and tilted it slightly so the water would cover her entire finger. She turned back to him and started dabbing the sweat off his forehead.
"Who the hell are you?" He moaned, taking the cloth from her and wiping his forehead, then held it out to her, gesturing for more water. The woman smirked.
"Adi Garrison." She replied, taking the wash cloth back and dabbing it again. She glanced outside and sighed disappointingly. Daryl blinked, curious to why she was disappointed. She reached over and dabbed the cloth along Daryl's neck, then his chest. A chill slide down his spine as her fingers grazed against his skin with the cloth. She noticed what she had just done, and quickly pulled away. "Sorry. I found you unconscious in the middle of the woods. I thought you were dead, so I was gonna take your crossbow until I saw you were breathing. What happened to you?"
The injured survivor looked around, frantically searching for his crossbow.
"Relax, I'm cleaning it. I put it outside to dry, there was a lot of blood and dried guts on the arrow heads. Should work more effectively after it's dried." She replied, realizing he was searching for his weapon.
"I want it back." He demanded.
"You'll get it back when you're back on your feet." She sat back down, placing the cloth on a sunny spot.
"I said I want it back."
"What are you? Five?" Her tone was firm and her face grew hard and firm, like a mother scolding her child. "I told you, you will get it back when you are well enough to walk again."
"Yeah and what are you going to do with it?" He asked as he tried to lean in closer to her, trying to sound more intimidating.
"Nothing." Adi replied, pulling the corner of the opening over so Daryl could see his crossbow." Once I get the blood and guts off, and you are back to ship shape, I will give it back and send you on your way. Until then, I don't have the arm strength to hold the arrow in place, so you don't need to worry about me using it."
Daryl growled in frustration, staring hard at her. Adi matched his dagger-like stare with her own, showing she was not intimidated by him. Although it annoyed him that he didn't have his only weapon that has saved his life on more than one occasion, she did have a point. If he couldn't even stand on his own feet, he didn't stand a chance of carrying a heavy crossbow and getting back to camp in one piece. He held himself up on his elbows, the muscles around his wound screaming and burning.
"Now that that's settled; care to tell me what happened to you?" Adi asked with a triumphant smile.
"Damn horse knocked me off." He grunted, glancing down at his newly bandaged wound, remembering the arrow puncturing through his side as easy as it could have pierced an apple. "Went down a ravine, climbed my way out. Must've blacked out after." He stopped suddenly, realizing he was just about to say he was on his way back to camp.
"Why were you out here alone?"
"Lookin' for someone." Daryl replied, wondering if she would have an answer to Sophia's whereabouts."A kid."
"A kid? Your kid?"
"No, the kid belongs to a woman I know." He chose his words carefully, trying not to give off too much information about his group.
"Your friend?" Adi asked slowly, raising a thin eyebrow.
"No."
"I see." Adi bit her lip again, struggling to fight back a knowing smirk. Daryl shook his head, knowing what was running through her mind. But he was too tired and hungry to argue. "How did the kid get separated from you?"
"Walkers." He responded, remembering the herd of Walker's as if it were moments ago. Cars filled the highway, blocking their path. The group weaved in and out in between the cars, taking out any supplies and driving the cars into the ditch's. He didn't see when Sophia took off, all he heard was Carol shouting for Sophia and for someone to help her. Next thing he knew, he was using his tracking skills to hunt her down. That was days ago, and now everyone was sent on a wild goose chase for her. Why he kept lookin' was something he was starting to ponder. "A herd of 'em were comin' at us on a packed highway, one went after her and she took off."
"Was her name Sophia?" Daryl's eyes shot over to Adi, shocked that she knew the girl's name. "I found a little girl wandering around the woods, and she sounds just like the girl you're looking for."
Daryl's blue eyes turned to the second sleeping bag Adi was sitting on, but he didn't hear anyone else around. Let alone a child.
"Unfortunately, she's not with me anymore."
"Wha-why?" Daryl asked, heavily suspicious, wondering how he could fight her off in his condition. Although he had never hit a woman, the post-apocalyptic world would make an exception.
"I don't know." Her bright blue eyes slowly went down to the ground, sadness washed over her face. "I woke, and she was gone. Although, I vaguely remember hearing someone shout 'mom' before I woke-"
"Ya mean you lost her?!"
Adi's eyes stared hard into him, her nostril's flared, hearing the hint of anger in his voice. Something she was all too familiar with amongst men. "She disappeared yesterday morning, out of the blue just as she appeared. I don't know why, but I woke up and she was gone."
Daryl groaned, putting his head in his hands. Suddenly not well, if anything, he was starting to feel overwhelmed with frustration and exhaustion.
"I am sorry, she must've thought she heard her mother somewhere."
"Did ya bother lookin' for her?"
"Of course I did. What kind of woman do you think I am?" Adi stated, highly offended by his words. It was easy to see Daryl didn't trust everyone he met, so she tried to not take it personally. She inhaled deeply before she continued. "How is her mother holdin' up?"
"I don't know, haven't seen much of her." He answered, honestly. He had been too busy borrowing horses and trying to find a lost child to exactly spend time with the grieving mother. To be honest, he really didn't want to. He just wanted the child to be found, ease everyone in the group's nerves, and move on to figuring out how to better their survival.
"This must be killing her." Adi stated, looking out the opening of the tent." I imagine losing her child during these times is a pain worse than being stabbed."
Daryl turned sharply to glare at her, cringing at the slight pain."It's not like she forced Sophia out there."
"That's not what I said. I don't even know how you came up with that notion." Adi said defensively, keeping her attention to the woods. " But the fact is, she must feel that she could have done more to protect her child."
"How the hell would you know?"
Just then, a small boy with light blond hair and dirty clothes jumped into the tent and crawled into Adi's lap. His bright blue eyes looked at Daryl with curiosity which surprised Daryl, usually kids would be afraid of strangers during this time.
"I would know just as much as any other mother." Adi replied softly, rubbing the child's hair in a motherly way. With a small smile, she looked down at him. "Gabriel, say hello to our guest."
"Hello." The boy greeted, snuggling up under Adi's chin. "Momma calls me 'Gabriel' but you can call me 'Gabe'. What's your name?"
Daryl hesitated for a moment, feeling stupid after.
What the hell you scared for? Daryl thought to himself. He's a kid.
"Daryl."
"Look what I found, Momma." He reached outside and pulled in a small red bucket.
"Now, hold on just a minute." She snapped, stopping Gabe. "Didn't I tell you no worms in this tent?They have to be kept outside."
"But I caught a lot."
"And I can look at them with amazement outside the tent where you won't risk spillin' them over our supplies. Go on, place it back outside."
"Oh, ok. Oh, hey, Momma," Gabe said, climbing over Daryl to the duffel bag and began digging through it. "Whose doll is this?"
Daryl recognized the raggedy doll right as Gabe brought it out.
"Give it here, that belongs to Sophia." Daryl demanded, yanking the doll out of Gabe's hands. Adi gasped and whacked Daryl's arm. "Ow! The hell!?"
Serves you right, she thought.
"Sophia?" Gabe asked, looking at Adi who gestured that the conversation will wait.
"Where is this group of yours anyway?" Adi asked, uncrossing her legs and setting herself on her knees. "Why are they not looking for you?"
Daryl swallowed down his first response, quickly thought of a lie and shrugged, "I ain't part of no group."
"I doubt that." Adi stated, knowingly. "You were mumbling 'Merle' in your sleep. Also, Sophia told me she came from a group stranded on a highway. She told me about the members; a sheriff appeared out of nowhere and took over as the leader reuniting with his child and his wife, she and her mother bumped into the other two previously, a redneck archer and his missing brother amongst others. So, why is no one looking for you?"
Daryl growled softly, forgetting how nosy women tend to be. "Don't know, don't really care."
"Now why is that?" Adi asked, tilting her head to the side. Daryl couldn't help but look at her when she asked. For some reason, hearing the concern in her voice was soothing. Quickly, he put the feeling out of his mind. " I mean, you are part of their group, right? And you need people to survive, people matter now. Not to mention you could have died out there. Shouldn't you care whether or not they find you?"
Daryl remained silent. Her words were a more gentle, not exactly condescending version of Merle's words he spoke to Daryl when they joined the Atlanta group.
"None of y'er business." Daryl snapped.
This time, it was her turn to growl. Daryl glared at her in a challenging way. Her light eyes glaring icy stares into Daryl's skull. The disturbance was so strong that Daryl had to look away.
"Yeah well... I need to get-ow!" Daryl shouted as he fell back onto the pillow, his hand automatically went to his side. He tried taking deep breath's, but each one felt like another stab to his side. Cringing and hissing in pain almost like the time he fell off a precipice and landed hard on a rock, only he landed on his shoulder and dislocated it. It took both Merle and a neighborhood friend to put it back into place.
"You are not going anywhere until that wound has healed enough to where you're not grunting, and hissing every time you move an inch." Adi told Daryl as she set her hand on his chest and, gently, pushed him on to his back.
"I've dealt with worse." Daryl insisted, as he tried to find the strength to sit back up.
"I'm not giving you a choice." Adi kept her hand on his chest, Daryl would have fought her off, if he wasn't practically paralyzed and exhausted from the pain." Either you sit here or I knock your lights out."
"Like hell you-ow!" He shouted as Adi added slightly more pressure onto his chest. Despite it being as light as a small bag of pebbles, the amount of pressure she put on his chest felt like a sharp and heavy rock. He flopped back down on the sleeping bag, his heart racing in his chest, his arms and legs heavy as boulders, his mouth dry as cotton and sweat streamed down his face. Realizing it useless, he laid still. "Fine."
Daryl relaxed and stared out the opening of the tent, his thoughts echoed Merle's last words. Anxiety and uncertainty plagued his heart, he did feel slightly guilty for not looking harder for his brother. But where could he look? Atlanta was the last place Merle was last seen and if he was still there...
Naw, Daryl thought to himself, if I know Merle, he probably drove the van outta there. But, where the hell had he gone?