A/N: I do not own nor claim to own The Walking Dead! ;v; This is simply a fanfiction for fun!
Chapter One – Run
Two figures ran through the woods, the shorter and younger breathing heavily while the taller and older one was continuously looking behind them as if something followed them.
And something was: Four silhouettes were chasing them at a slower pace. They weren't alive at all. They were snarling with hunger. Darci Kellers and her sister, Lilly, were trying to escape their chasers. Lilly then gave another heave, "I'm getting tired!"
It wasn't her fault, only being seven. Darci, thirty-five, paused for a second to pick Lilly up. She put her on her shoulder and continued running. She had a close encounter with one of the undead creatures as it came from her left. Dodging it, she almost tripped over a bush trying to get ahead of them.
Darci began to realize the hungry creatures were only growing in numbers and she was getting slower with the extra weight. So she finally stopped at a thick-trunked tree. She put Lilly down and told her, "I need you to climb up in the tree! I'm going to get rid of some of these Walking Nightmares."
She watched her sister get higher in the tree and finally settling on a branch a few feet off the ground. Darci then turned her attention to the coming 'Nightmares. She pulled out a dagger from a belt around her waist and readied her arm. The closest one began to reach out groaning. After grabbing its shoulder, she stuck the blade through its skull. She quickly pulled the knife back out as it fell to the ground.
"Behind you!" Lilly called out from above.
Darci turned around fast and plunged her knife into the eyeball of one. She looked up and grinned her thanks. Quite a few minutes passed as Darci continued to slay the 'Nightmares. Though, to her, it felt like an infinity of time. "Lilly, you stay up there no matter what."
Lilly's voice was shaky, "Got it."
To her disadvantage of lack of sleep, Darci was growing weaker. Her vision was becoming wavy and it was beginning to take a lot more strength just to kill another Walking Nightmare. An idea occurred to her, "Try calling for help! There might be people nearby!"
She spun around and accidentally sliced the head off of a 'Nightmare that was gaping his mouth open to bite her. Well, it's the head. She shuddered before stepping on it to make sure it was dead. "Help! Please someone help!" Darci almost had a heart attack before remembering she was the one who told her sister to yell out.
She then began to count the ones left, "One, two... Three, four, five…" she counted all the way up to fourteen and mentally cursed to herself.
Darci stabbed a couple more, throwing her knife at one that was starting to dash at her. "Four down, ten to go!" As she went to grab her blade, her vision began to blur more, "Gahh! Come on, you can do this!"
She began to shake her head as if it would clear her vision. It only worked for a second, "I have to stay awake…"
Darci squinted her eyes when she saw two figures coming toward them from afar. "Those aren't 'Nightmares… They're running too fast," Darci turned to Lilly, "Don't come down unless they…" she gasped for air, suddenly feeling light-headed, "Unless they show they won't hurt you…"
Another two 'Nightmares growled at her as they reached to grab Darci. She stuck her knife through the first one's eye but before she could pull it back out an arrow went straight through the other's skull. "What the…?"
As Darci turned around to see the two figures closing in on the tree she fell backward, sapped of any energy she had left. The strangers killed the remaining eight Walking Nightmares before turning to her. Her vision was beginning to fade when Lilly yelled, "No! Don't hurt her! She wasn't bitten or scratched!"
"I don't see anythin' wrong with her… Why did she collapse?" One of them, carrying a crossbow, looked up where Lilly hid in the tree.
"She hasn't slept in days! N-neither of us have!" Darci could barely hear the sound of panic in her sister's voice, "Please, you have to help us!"
"We just did."
The second one spoke this time, "Well, your friend looks like she could use some food, so do you."
"Y-You won't hurt us, will you?"
Darci's vision was completely blank now, "Why the hell would we save you and then hurt you? Get down from there, you can come with us." She felt someone putting their hands under the back of her neck and knees, lifting her from the ground.
Then everything went dark.
"She's only exhausted, she'll be fine." Darci heard an old man speaking.
"What were you doin' down in the forest screaming about anyway?" She recognized the voice of one of the men who saved her sister and her.
The sound of a shoe scuffing the ground reached her ears, "We were running from bad people… Then we were surrounded by all those 'Nightmares." Lilly said.
A new voice spoke, female, "is that what you call 'em? The Walkers?"
Darci guessed her sister nodded, as there was a silence that followed the question. Sighing, she sat up slowly and opened her eyes. "I think she's up," she heard the older man speak before he appeared in the doorway.
He was missing his right leg and was holding crutches to hold him upright. She couldn't tell where her sister went, only to guess she wasn't outside the room anymore. That's when she realized the room door. A cell? Am I in a cell? She almost hit her head trying to get up. "Careful, I don't think you should be moving around too much." He said, sitting down in a chair next to a table.
Darci looked around for a moment. "Thanks for helping us." It was the only thing she could think to say.
"Lilly was quite concerned about you. You've been out for quite a few hours…" He nodded, "If you don't mind, could you tell me how you got those bruises on the back of your head?"
She self-consciously touched the wound with her hand at the mention of it, "Well… During a fight someone hit me over the back of my head with the handle of a gun."
"Well, it caused a bit of sleep deprivation, another reason why you've been unable to rest in the past few days; which lead to your fainting. It's probably going to take a while for it to heal completely but it's a good thing we found you when we did. It's starting to get a bit swollen now, if it hasn't already."
"Oh… I'm guessing that's not a very good thing." She scratched her forehead for a moment.
He shook his head, "Not to worry though, we have a bit of medicine for that. Your daughter, Lilly, tells us your name is Darci?"
"What— Oh, my name is Darci, but Lilly isn't my daughter," She laughed slightly, "She's my sister."
"My apologies, you both looked a bit similar but you looked much older than her. I'm Hershel, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Hershel," she nodded.
He smiled, "Nice to meet you too. Just rest here while I go find some medicine and food for you." Hershel then left the room.
Darci leaned backward against the wall. She closed her eyes for a moment.
"As soon as they're healed and fit enough, they're going to have to hit the road." Hershel's voice was somewhat muted through the wall.
"But she has a kid with her… That would be a bit cruel." The one female voice from before spoke again.
They must have moved on as Darci could no longer hear them. She suddenly heard Lilly's voice come into earshot, "And she told me to call from help. Then we saw Mr. Dixon and Glenn coming. That's when Darci collapsed."
"Oh…" A woman spoke, "Well, I'm glad you both are alright. You said she's your sister right?"
"Yup." Lilly paused, "A lot of people asked this a lot… But I was born around twenty-eight years after her. How about you Mrs. Peletier? Do you have any sisters?"
"No, I don't… I had a daughter, though."
Curiosity sparked in Lilly's voice, "Oh, really? How old is she?"
"… She was twelve; but she died a long time ago." She said sadly.
"Oh… I'm sorry." Lilly's voice dropped, "I didn't mean…"
There as a gentleness in the woman's voice, "It's not your fault, no need to be sorry."
Their voices were practically right outside Darci's door now as Lilly asked "Can I ask you something, miss?"
"Sure."
"That Mr. Dixon guy, is he always a grumpy-gus?" Lilly had lowered her voice.
"Well, not always," Mrs. Peletier gave a short, quiet laugh, "He can be nice when he wants."
"Really? Every time I see him go by he never even smiles."
"He just doesn't trust strangers too quickly, that's all," her laugh grew slightly louder.
Darci heard Lilly's shoe scuff the ground, "if that's true, why even bother save us?"
Their voices began to fade away, Darci seeing them walk by the door. The last thing she heard the other woman—who had white, short hair—say was, "I'm sure even he couldn't watch others die."
Darci wondered if she should go out there and keep an eye on Lilly but remembered that Hershel told her she should rest. They seem like good people… She lay back down on the bed, staring up at the top bunk. Just rest… It was quite hard to do so as in her mind she knew Lilly was with strangers. They wouldn't hurt a child… Finally, she fell asleep.
She woke up again, her eyes still closed. A strange sensation came over her, like she was being watched. Creaking open one eye she saw a man standing by the doorway. He turned his head away.
She sat up slowly, opening her eyes fully now to get a good look at her guard. He looked a bit slim-built but muscular. He had brown hair that seemed to be growing a bit longer than it normally was, along with a bit of facial hair. She couldn't see from where she was but his eyes seemed to be a blue-green color.
Darci then looked away, not wanting to stare. He apparently knew she was awake when he turned to her, "'the hell were you doing with a child running through woods full of Walkers?"
Looking back at him, she replied calmly, "I was trying to get us both away from something that may or may not have been a bit worse than them."
He only gave a huff before looking back out of the room. Rolling her eyes, she added, "Did you need something?"
"We want you under guard in case you decide to try and attack us." He said in a somewhat quiet voice.
Okay then, straight to the point I guess… She tried to sound friendly while asking, "Well, you got a name?"
He paused and looked at her for a moment—as if thinking whether or not tell her—before finally saying, "Daryl."
She nodded with a smile, "Darci."
The smile disappeared when he gave a short huff of amusement. She muttered "asshole" under her breath.
He eventually left, being replaced by another guy. He was more polite than Daryl, as he made a friendlier attempt at conversation. After asking, she recognized his voice and name—Glenn—from Lilly's talk with 'Mrs. Peletier' earlier.
"Oh and one more thing, don't mind Daryl. He can be... Edgy around strangers. It's a bit hard to earn his trust." Glenn added.
She lay back down, "Ah. Got it."
A couple of minutes had pass when Lilly had come running over, "Is she awake, mister?"
"Yeah you can go in if you want," Glenn gave a small laugh.
Lilly skipped over to Darci's side. She smiled and greeted her with, "Hey, Little Owl."
She giggled at the mention of her nickname, "Hey! How are you feeling?"
"Ah, good. Still a bit exhausted—and hungry—but good. How about you?" She sat upright.
"Great! You should meet all the people here! There's Mrs. Peletier—a very nice lady—and Mr. Greene; he told me he had to cut his leg off because he was bit!" she paused, "Beth is nice too! As is her sister, Maggie! There's even have a baby here! It's this group's leader, Mr. Grimes' baby. I think I saw another kid here too but he didn't stay around long. I thought it was scary at first, this being a prison and all."
Darci almost hit her head on the top of the bunk when straightening upward, "This is a prison?"
"Yeah, they didn't say much about it only that they took it from those 'Nightmares." Lilly shrugged, "Oh, I think you already met Mr. Dixon." She lowered her voice for a second, "he's a real jerk isn't he?" her eyes seemed to get bigger, "Well, nothing compared to his brother… He said he cut it off but didn't tell me why. If you ask me, he's a bit scary."
Glenn still stood at the door and gave a short bit of laughter, "Just avoid Merle. He can make you feel down in a heartbeat but don't let it get to you."
Lilly nodded, "Okay," she turned back to Darci, "Well, I'll be back! Mrs. Peletier said she's gonna show me Judith—Mr. Grimes Baby!" Lilly skipped out.
"Your sister is very energetic… And more curious than she is scared." Glenn commented.
Darci smiled, "she's like that if she feels safe, or does it to feel safe. She was more scared out there, being so close to those monsters…" she sighed.
"It's a dangerous world out there, now." Glenn replied.
She fell backward on the mattress, nodding her agreement. She closed her eyes, thinking about what she had overheard earlier. I hope they change their minds… Lilly seemed happy. She hadn't been in a long time. She was smiling. She eventually fell asleep with all these thoughts floating around in her head.
To Be Continued…
Another A/N : Hey guys! Hope you liked the chapter! ;v; If you have any opinions or suggestions please review! This chapter was recently re-written (by recent I mean July of 2015) due to an improvement of grammar! Hope it managed to get better and not worse! Thanks for reading!