Every time I trust someone new, they end up reminding me why I shouldn't trust anyone at all. -Unknown
I felt my blood turn to ice as I saw them in front of me. This couldn't be happening, Rachel was my age… I started to back up slowly, I had to leave. But as I was trying to make sure Morgan didn't hear me I stepped on a twig and the snap echoed through the streets. His head snapped up and he turned to me. That's when I saw how bad it was, there was blood everywhere, it was running through the streets and into the gutters as Morgan advanced towards me.
"Sam, I can explain." He said slowly, treating me like an animal that would run if he got too close. I kept backing away, but I couldn't take my eyes off Rachel, she hadn't done anything to him. I shook my head, sending tears spilling onto the pavement. "Sam, please."
Then I ran.
I raced down the streets as fast as I could. I could hear Morgan running after me, but he couldn't be too loud or they would find us. I ran into Calvin, who was bewildered at the very least, but I just stood up and kept running. He would take Morgan's side, they all would. I would end up just like Rachel. I had to make it home, back to my family, even if that meant betraying the people that had saved me.I ran as fast as I could into the bank and slammed the safe shut.
I slowly opened my eyes with a splitting headache. I was inside a tent, but everything looked slightly blurry and I wondered for a moment if I had turned and was a Walker now. I tried to lift my arm, but it felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. I looked around to see a figure sitting next to me.
"Glenn?" I whispered. The figure jolted up and looked at me. It wasn't Glenn; this man looked like the other one I remembered, but younger, maybe thirty, with dirty blonde hair, scruff on his face, and soft blue eyes. He was saying something, but I couldn't hear him. I started seeing black spots again as the man reached down and shook me, but it was just making me sleepier. He yelled something to someone but before they could come over I blacked out.
The next thing I remembered was pain shooting through my entire body. There was a figure standing over me and I felt like my heart was going to explode from how much everything hurt. I couldn't breathe and I felt my stomach spasming. Then my vision got spotty and I slipped into the darkness again.
"Hey girl, girlie, it's time to wake up now." I slowly opened my eyes to see the blonde man again. "She's alive!" He said and a small smile spread across his face.
"Where am I?" I asked.
"Outside Atlanta, you've been out for three days." He turned around and dipped something in what I assumed was water, then turned back and set a wet rag on my forehead.
"What happened?" I asked.
"You got caught in one of our traps and I… I thought you were a Walker, so I shot you. You've been fighting off an infection."
"I'm not going to turn, am I?" I asked.
"No, it would have happened by now, just a regular infection." He paused. "We almost lost you." He pressed the rag to my cheeks and then dipped it back in the water and set it back on my forehead.
"Did you see the man I was with? He was in a car." I asked. The man shook his head.
"That Glenn?" He asked.
"Yeah, how do you..?"
"You talk in your sleep, kept saying 'Glenn'. He your boyfriend?" I blushed as I thought about Glenn kissing me, how he looked at me, but I sighed.
"No, we've just been traveling together."
"Hmm." Was all the man said.
"I'm Sam." I said finally. "Sam Harper."
"Daryl Dixon, the man who you saw before you passed out is my brother Merle." I felt a shiver creep up my spine at the memory of how he looked at me. Daryl must have seen my fear because he chuckled. "Sorry about him, he doesn't know how to treat a lady. But don't you worry, he went back to camp."
"Camp?" I asked.
"There's a huge group of survivors that live by a quarry a few miles away." I felt my heart jump, Glenn must have found them.
"We have to go." I said, sitting up.
"Whoa, easy now. You just came back from the dead." He advised. "Maybe we should wait a few days, it's a long walk." I shook my head.
"I'll be fine." I said simply. I shakily stood and fell back into Daryl's arms.
"Warned you." He said simply. I felt cold and looked down to see that my pants were gone and I was just in my tank top and underwear. I blushed and smacked Daryl across the face and stumbled away from him. I grabbed my gun which was lying by my backpack and aimed it between his eyes.
I thought of Rachel, lying in the ditch, how I couldn't end up like that and fought back my tears. No. I wouldn't end up like that. Daryl just looked at me calmly. "You really going to shoot the guy that just saved your life?" He asked simply. I kept the gun pointed at him, but I could feel my knees shaking from my lack of strength. Before I could say a word my knees gave out and I collapsed back to the ground. Daryl jumped on top of me and pinned me to the ground, shoving the gun away from us.
"You bastard!" I spat as I fought against him, but he just pinned my arms above my head with one of his hands. I couldn't help but notice how rough his hands were and how he smelled like an animal.
"Look, if I had wanted to do something to you, I would have done it already. I couldn't roll up your pants far enough to get to your wound and I used your sweatshirt to stop the bleeding. Jesus."
"Get off of me." I snapped.
"You going to try and shoot me again? Because I'm the only way you're getting out of these woods. And if you shoot me you'll draw every Walker for miles and you can't even stand. You really want to do that?" I stopped fighting and Daryl let go of my arms, but stayed over me. "That's better. Now if you want me to help you, you've got to trust me."
"Fine." I said finally.
"Alright, now I'll leave so you can get dressed, deal?"
"Deal." I said simply. He slowly stood and helped me to my feet and walked out of the tent. I grabbed my jeans and slipped them on and threw my hair into a braid to keep it out of my face. I looked through my backpack for a jacket, but couldn't find one. I sighed when I remembered I'd left the other one with my first backpack, which was in Glenn's car. "Alright." I called to Daryl." He stepped back inside and looked at me shivering and sighed.
He grabbed a denim jacket from a corner of the tent and dropped it over my shoulders. "We've got to keep you warm so you can get better." He said. I didn't say anything, I just thought about Glenn. He must be so worried about me, if he was even still alive. I looked up and saw Daryl's soft blue eyes staring at me and felt blush creep up my neck. He had the upper hand earlier, he could have easily taken me if he really wanted, but he didn't.
"Why didn't you?" I asked.
"Why didn't I what?" He asked.
"Earlier, you could have easily…you know. Why didn't you?" He stared at me like I'd just grown horns.
"Look here girlie, I'm not that kind of guy." I nodded. "But you know…if you want to…" He smiled at me and I rolled my eyes. He sighed. "Look, I know you miss your friend, so I'll tell you what. First thing tomorrow we'll head back towards the camp." I smiled weakly.
"Okay."
"For now you've got to rest, it's a long walk." I nodded and Daryl stood to leave. "Well, I'm going to go catch some dinner, see you soon."
"Daryl." I said. He stopped and turned around. "Thank you, for saving me."
"Couldn't let a Walker get you now could I?" And then he was gone.
I slept for the rest of the day, trying to get back my strength, I hated being so helpless, having to make other people care for me. I knew I owed Daryl my life now, and I was worried about what that meant.
Rachel had owed Morgan her life.
I tried to get the ghosts out of my head as I pulled Daryl's jacket tighter around me. I couldn't end up like that. I heard something open the door and shot up, aiming my gun at Daryl again. When I saw it was him I set it back down. I winced, my leg hadn't liked me doing that and I was pretty sure I had reopened it.
Daryl sighed and set down his crossbow, coming over to me. "Do you want to get back to camp or not?" He asked.
"I thought you were a Walker." I admitted.
"Well, now I'm going to have to rewrap this." He said, fumbling around in a bag until he pulled out some gauze. "Now take off your pants."
"Listen, I can-"
"Sam, no you can't. Just let me help you." I sighed and pulled off my jeans, wincing as they went over my gash. The blood had started to stick to the denim and it hurt like Hell to try and pull off. I sat there blushing as Daryl unwrapped the blood soaked gauze and let out a low whistle. "You pulled out your stitches." He said grimly. He looked back up at me. "This is going to hurt, a lot." I remembered waking up in pain; that must have been when he was stitching up me leg the first time.
But I knew I would have to get through it to get back to Glenn and find my brothers. I looked into Daryl's eyes and simply nodded. "Do it."
He searched a while for something, and then pulled out a needle and surgical thread. I laid back and closed my eyes. I thought back to before all this had started. When Jason, Simon and I would go to the speedway and race go carts, building B.W. with my dad. My mom and I talking about boys I thought were cute. I gripped the floor, trying to channel the pain as the needle slipped into my skin.
I had to find Simon and Jason. I had to find Glenn, I had promised that I would come back to him and I was Hell bent on keeping that promise. I remembered when he and I had looked at the stars together, when he just held me after I found my parents, him saving me from falling into the horde of Walkers.
Finally I felt Daryl wrapping my leg up with gauze. He helped me sit up and got me his canteen. I took a greedy gulp of water and bit my lip. My leg still ached.
"You are the toughest chick I have ever met in my life." I turned to Daryl, who was staring at me with a look that was mixed between awe and disbelief.
"Thank you." I said, pulling his jacket tighter around my shoulders. He reached over me and grabbed the blanket, which he spread over me.
"So, little miss mystery, where are you from?"
"Macon. My dad owned a bike shop." This sparked his interest.
"Really, [i]you[/i] wouldn't happen to know how to fix bikes too, would you?"
"Yeah, I was going to take over the shop before the world went to Hell. I built my own bike, which is in Atlanta right now."
"Really? Well, my brother Merle has an old Triumph Bonneville 650 and we can't get the damn thing to start, do you think you could take a look at it when we get back to camp?"
"Sure, on one condition."
"Name it." He said eagerly.
"Help me get my bike back." I extended my hand for him to shake, he smirked at me and shook my hand.
"Done."
The next few days blended together as I stayed with Daryl. He would go out and hunt during the day, I would rest, he'd come back at night and we'd talk until the sun came back up. He'd sleep at night and I slept during the day so someone was always keeping watch. Finally, after four days I was able to walk on my own and Daryl said it was time to go back to the camp.
We left at sunrise the next morning. I packed everything neatly into my backpack while he shoved his things back in his bag. We stepped outside and I smiled. I couldn't wait to work or Merle's bike, it would make me feel right back at home again. But when He didn't even bother to take down the tent and started to walk away I jogged to keep up.
"Aren't we taking the tent?" I asked.
"No, I'll come back on another hunting trip, so we just leave it here.
"Huh." I said.
Daryl hadn't been kidding when he said this was a long walk. We had left at sunrise and right about sunset we made it to a clearing. I looked around and saw tents and people, so many people all smiling and acting, well, normal. I had to balance myself on Daryl as we made it to the top of a hill and Merle ran over to us.
"Bout time you got back! To busy fucking her to catch anything?" Daryl tried to hide the blush trying to snake its way up his neck.
"It's in my bag you bastard." He said, smirking at Merle and punching his shoulder. "And I did find out that this little lady can fix your bike."
"Really? Don't know if I want some damn broad touching my bike." He muttered. I shook my head and looked back to the camp. That's when I saw him.
Glenn was standing with a woman with curly brown hair and a huge guy with black hair. He turned and saw me and a huge smile broke across my face. I ignored the pain in my leg and ran as fast as I could to him and he sped over to me. We met halfway, crashing into a huge hug. "I thought I'd never see you again." I whispered, clutching him to me.
"When Merle said you'd been shot I wanted to go get you, but he said I'd never make it down there and Shane sent me to scout…"
"Glenn, I don't care. What matters is that…" I pulled back and looked at him "We're together again."
"And we're never splitting up again, just so you know." He teased.
"Deal." I said, hugging him again. I suddenly remembered Daryl and turned around to introduce him. "Glenn, this is Daryl." I said, leaning on Glenn as we walked over to him and Merle. Glenn smiled and stuck out his hand.
"Thanks for bringing her back to me." He said. Daryl looked at Glenn's hand, then turned and walked away. "Nice guy." Glenn commented.
"Let me talk to him." I said. I limped over to Daryl, who was pretending to look at Merle's bike. "What the Hell was that?" I asked.
"What was what?" He asked. I shook my head. He had been so kind and compassionate in the woods, why was he being such an asshole.
"Why won't you talk to Glenn? He wanted to thank you and you just walked away."
"I ain't talking to no damn china man." I rolled my eyes at his excuse.
"He's Korean."
"Whatever." He snapped. "Just fix Merle's bike and you and your Korean lover boy can get out of my hair."
"Why are you being such an ass?"
"Why did you lie to me?" He snapped, sitting up and staring me down with his now icy eyes.
"When did I lie to you?" I asked.
"You said he wasn't your boyfriend, just some guy you were traveling with. Let me tell you something little lady. People don't run to people like that if they're "just travelling together." They don't." I blushed as I wondered if maybe Daryl was jealous. He hadn't acted like he wanted me in any way, but…
I looked around the camp. From what I saw I was the only girl who was anywhere near Daryl's age.
"Daryl…I…"
"Hello there! You must be the girl Daryl shot." I turned to see an older guy with a beard smiling at me. "Name's Dale. I'm assuming you're Sam, Glenn won't stop talking about you." I heard Daryl throw a wrench to the ground and he stormed off. I was going to follow him, but Dale stopped me. "Don't worry about him, he's got a short temper."
I watched him walk off. It wasn't a short temper at all. I thought about what I would do if I liked a girl and saved her only for her to run back into another man's arms. I felt bad and hoped that maybe that wasn't it and he was just tired or something. I turned back to Dale.
"Yes, I'm Sam. So, what's Glenn told you?"
"Only that you're a good person to have around when you've got a machete in your hands." He helped me walk over to the center of camp and introduced me to everyone. They all seemed nice enough, except for when Dale introduced me to a gray haired woman named Carol.
"So, you're the one Glenn's crazy about." She said. I blushed.
"I wouldn't go that far, we've just been travelling together-"
"So you spend a week alone in the woods with another man?" She snapped. "That's not how you treat people."
"I didn't really have a choice." I said.
"Sure you didn't." She snarled, getting right in my face. "You listen here you little harlot, Daryl has been through enough without you treating his heart like your own personal plaything. So stay away from him and stay away from my daughter." and then she stormed off, taking her daughter with her.
"I don't think she likes me." I said to Dale.
"She just got the wrong idea, but out of curiosity…" Dale looked at me, raising his eyebrows. I blushed, remembering Daryl pinning me down.
"No. Nothing happened." I said simply.
"Hey, you never know. A pretty young girl and a young guy alone in the woods for a week." Dale and I both laughed as he walked me over to a small fire and sat me down between him and Glenn. I remembered most of the people sitting with us. There was Shane, the guy with the black hair, Lori was the woman I'd seen with him, next to her was her son Carl, Andrea and her sister Amy, and T-Dog. They all were asking me where I was from and how I'd managed to survive being shot. I smiled and answered all their questions, but I couldn't help but see Daryl sitting with Merle just glaring at me. Every time I looked over he would turn away, but I could feel his eyes burning a hole in me.
"So." Shane said, bringing me back to the conversation. "Where were you when the shit hit the fan?" I sighed.
"I was in Savannah at a show for my dad's shop. It was the first one for us, my dad couldn't go, so I said that I would. Then… everything started."
"Jesus, what's Savannah like?" Shane asked. I felt a shiver creep up my spine as I thought of Rachel.
"Worse than Atlanta, but not because of the Walkers. There's a group of survivors there they just…" I closed my eyes and Glenn put his hand on my shoulder.
"Shane, now look what you did." Dale joked.
"Are you okay?" Glenn whispered as the rest of our little group changed topics. I looked over at Daryl, who was glaring at me now and not trying to hide it.
"Fine."
