Aliyah Summers' back rested against the cool brick building as her chest moved in an unsteady rhythm as she tried to catch her breath. She shuffled the knife that weighed so much between her hands, the warm Southern air soiled with the heavy scent of decaying bodies, the scent of death. The young woman's hair stuck to her forehead as sweat rolled down it, dripping off of her nose and cheeks onto the bloodied ground. Previously, these grounds were home to a pharmacy and liquor store but now, that the world we used to know had vanished, it was the home of bad memories. It hurt Aliyah to think of the past, when someone could say I love you without saying goodbye at the same time. Nowadays, words meant nothing, material items were worthless and love would get you nowhere. Memories were pain, looking into the eyes of someone; into their soul was nothing but agony. The past struggles didn't matter; these were the days where everyone was equal, where you could talk to strangers, when you had to put trust in them. There were strength in numbers but also danger; there was a thin line to having an advantage or having a disadvantage, one too many could throw a whole group off and when it came down to it, Aliyah was always the disadvantage, she was still young and fragile and never had to face the struggles of the real world. Mostly, no one wanted her because she was inexperienced; she never fought for her country or even held a gun before the world went to shit. Now, she was plenty experienced when it came to weaponry, after her family died and she had joined her first group, when they were done with her they gave her a knife, a gun, some ammo, a canteen and gave their wishes and sent her off into the cold world where the dead could do more damage than the living.
Aliyah stood as soon as she caught her breath and decided to continue forward, a prison tower was visible, probably only a few miles down the road from where she stood. She hoped that it was empty of the living at least. She could handle the dead now, she could take down any walker that came across her, and she'd gotten past a few herds before this day and was sure she could do it again. Everyone's detrimental quality is their proneness to fear, fear is what would get you killed. Rounding a corner, Aliyah was taken off guard as a walker hissed as it realized she was alive, she stood in shock for a few seconds and then it registered in her brain and she grasped her knife and walked toward the walker and inspected it before ramming the knife deep into its brain. The walker was probably around twenty-five and was dressed in casual attire with a liquor store nametag strung around its neck and a gold wedding band around his left ring finger, Cole Gray his nametag read. "I'm sorry Cole, you didn't deserve this." She said slipping her knife out of the walker's skull and silently prayed for whoever Cole Gray used to be as a few tears slid down her cheeks. Aliyah would never be a killer; she never was fond of violence and never would be. It stung knowing the walker's name, knowing that he was a working married man, a man who had an undetermined fate ahead of him; he probably would've been a father someday if he wasn't already one.
Aliyah pushed open the door to the pharmacy-liquor store and began scavenging. She picked up five half-filled antibiotics and found a few candy bars, enough for a few days. Her fingers slid against the counter and into a compact mirror. She picked it up and looked in it, her blonde hair still shining due to the sweat and the bath she'd taken in a river this morning, her green eyes still just as vibrant as ever but her expression showed her exhaustion, hunger, and the damage this lifestyle was doing to her, speckles of blood from Cole were splattered on her face along with a bit of dirt under her eyes. She touched her gold necklace that she could've traded for food in the beginning of this mess but she refused to let it go, it kept her fighting and without it she would feel just as worthless as she really was. Her grandfather passed away nine months before the world fell and she had received it a month later from her grandmother because she didn't have anything of his to cherish but now everyday a little piece of him kept her going. She slid the mirror into her pocket, something about looking at herself forced her to remember, a pain so stingingly numbing, almost like when she used to cut herself, yet another painstaking memory. She thought sighing. She hopped over the counter and found a twenty-four pack of water. She grabbed three, it would last her at least two days, she could always come back. She smiled as her hand grasped a glass bottle. She lifted it up as the sun hit it, making it glisten. "Vodka." She whispered in exasperation, she was in desperate need of some kind of mind numbing liquid. She put all of her found supplies into her back after finding a few cans of beans. Beans would sustain her better than anything, since she wasn't too fond of meat in the first place, she was used to them. Her bag was getting heavier by the day; the stock of ammo that never seemed to end was taking up space and becoming a disadvantage. She was carrying around about fifteen pounds of supplies around on her back. Hopping over the counter again Aliyah walked outside the ever burning heat hitting her. She took a deep breath and ventured on.
The prison tower drew closer and closer, a smile crossed Aliyah's face as she realized that it was only a fifteen minute walk from there. As the full view of the prison came into Aliyah's spectrum of vision she noticed a few figures walking about the front, she couldn't make out if they were walkers or humans. She could only hope they were walkers. A twig snapped behind her and she whirled around. "Who the fuck are you?" A gruff voice demanded.
"That's none of your business." She whispered between clenched teeth. Within a few seconds she was pinned against a tree.
"You think you're so fucking smart, I'd have to be retarded not to know that you're heading towards my prison."
"So what if I am?" She asked.
"It's already occupied you dipshit." He said. Aliyah raised an eyebrow at the man who was hidden from her sight, the bright sun shining on his back; he was just a black figure.
"Ok, fuck off; I'll leave, just get your worthless hands off of me."
"Worthless, huh?" He asked Aliyah could hear the venom in his voice.
"Damn straight." She said pushing him off of her.
"Come on, you wanted the prison, you can have fun being a fucking prisoner." He said pushing her in front of him, pushing an arrow into her back.
Aliyah's P.O.V…
"Daryl, what the hell is going on here?" A man in a sheriff's uniform asked as the man, well Daryl I guess, pushed me through the entrance of the prison gates.
"Got ourselves a pet prisoner."
"She's just a kid, Daryl."
"I ain't no damn kid." I said gritting my teeth together.
"How old are you?" He asked.
"About twenty-three, lost track of my days." I said shrugging.
"Haven't we all? I'm Rick Grimes, you got a name?" He asked softly as his blue eyes bored into mine.
"Aliyah, look I'm real sorry I'm causing all this trouble, I was just gonna see if the prison was available but your group member here, decided that he was gonna play games."
"It's alright Aliyah; we won't be holding you captive." He said.
"Thank you, now Daryl could you be kind enough to let me go?" I asked and he released me and I turned around looking into blue eyes. I stared him down a bit, glaring into his eyes, no matter how much it used to hurt, his eyes were endless but they held nothing. The reason why I felt no pain because I detected nothing from his eyes, his eyes were empty.
"Looks like a herd followed you guys, you armed?" Rick asked.
"Yeah." I said tearing my eyes away from Daryl and looked at the small herd of walkers that were approaching the prison. I slid off my bag and took out a gun and some ammo along with a silencer.
"That's a lot of weapons you got there, Aliyah." Rick said looking into my bag.
"And?" I asked looking up at him after zippering my bag closed.
"That's a lot of weapons." He said.
"You gonna stop drooling and handle this situation?" Daryl asked, getting impatient.
"Anyone need a silencer?" I asked.
"I do." Rick said. I tossed one to him and with that we were shooting all of the walkers down. I was pretty precise in delivering bullets to the head, we all were. Daryl was using his crossbow, I guess that was his weapon of choice, he knew how to use it really well.
After all of the walkers were handled Daryl opened the gate and collected his arrows. His muscles flexed each time he stretched his arm down to yank the arrows out from where they were embedded in the walker's brains. I couldn't help but watch in awe as the well-built man did his dirty work. It was stupid of me; really, I knew that looking would plant a seed deep inside me and it would only take the smallest amount of affection to send me reeling in romantic fantasies. A smile, whisper, or tender touch, anything that hadn't happened in a long time would be all it took for me to be head over heels. I wasn't one to fall in love easily, at least I never was, I never believed in the love at first sight bullshit and never will. Love is a tender and delicate thing that takes time and dedication from both partners. Love cannot be faked; those who cannot see that are simply blind. I wasn't inexperienced when it came to men and relationships; I could see through their facades and discover their true intentions. At the beginning of every relationship both partners had intent whether obvious or not, most of the time they won't work out because every person is set on their success and are selfish in relationships when they discover their partner isn't what they had in mind.
As I drool over Daryl, the one reason I am here, the thought crosses my mind that I could easily walk through the gates and go back to the pharmacy to set up camp until I find something more stable but I don't want to. Something makes me want to be a part of this group and help them succeed. The overall vibe of this place isn't malicious but rather homey. I looked around as other people walked out of the prison, a young boy, a pregnant woman, an elderly man on crutches and a few other people. "Rick, who is this?" The pregnant woman asked reaching for him.
"This is Aliyah, Daryl found her and brought her back, he was suggesting keeping her as a prisoner." Rick said his eyebrows slightly rising as his gaze averted to Daryl, who was just closing the gate and securing the lock.
"That's absurd, she's adorable, how old are you sweetie?" The pregnant woman asked.
"I'm twenty-three." Yeah, we'll go with that, I was about twenty-three at least. I thought.
"Dad, is she staying here for good?" The little boy asked. It was sweet that the small family was staying together after all of this time.
"Maybe, Carl, I don't know." Rick said shrugging and sent me a sympathetic glance. "I think the group would welcome you, well you know, besides Daryl."
"I heard my name." Daryl said crossing his arms as he stood next to a blonde with blue eyes, probably his girl or sexual partner at least. I thought.
"We're just talking." Rick explained.
"Talking about letting this woman we don't know stay with us, you believe that Daryl?" The blonde said shaking her head. Daryl's jaw clenched as his eyes became hard.
"No fucking way, look at her, she's useless." He said.
"Daryl, you brought her here for a reason, right?" Rick asked.
"She pissed me off, I was just showing her whose boss and there you go acting like she's worth something, damn, I figured we could make a deal, she's got a huge pack of shit she's carrying around and it don't look like sentiments to me."
"Thanks douche."
"Hey, don't you go and talk like that to me, little bitch." He said.
"Same to you." I said.
"If any of you think that she is staying here for good, you're out of your damn minds." Daryl said.
"I said we were just talking, nothing's set in stone, if you want to walk away there's the gate and Daryl, if we as a group decide to let her stay you're expected to leave her alone or treat her with respect."
"Sure thing officer." Daryl said stiffening. "I'm going hunting, be back later." He said.
"Daryl, don't be hasty." An older woman with short gray hair said in a soft voice, she looked harmless.
"No, never." Daryl said and with that he was off, back into the woods where he came from, leaving the group in silence and me wondering what had happened to him for him to become so cold. No one is born cold; something had to have happened to get him that way. I pitied him because bad things happen to good people but worse things happen to the cold ones.