Here is Chapter 4 already! I know I just put up a chapter last night, but I couldn't sleep, so I decided to write some more. Thanks for reading! Enjoy!
Daryl began to dig through the dirt. He was looking for something, anything, to get rid of the hunger for at least a little while. The group has gone without food for a couple of days now, and they were desperate. There were no houses or other buildings around to ravage through and Daryl hasn't been able to hunt down anything because it seems like nothing is out there to catch.
Daryl ate a worm for breakfast that morning. He got lucky enough to find a worm, and that's about it. Afterward, he met back up with Maggie and Sasha, who had also been looking for food, but had no luck as well.
When they got back to the rest of the group, they were all sitting by the last vehicle they had with gas in the tank, looking exhausted. None of them had any luck finding food either.
No luck for any of them whatsoever. Just Daryl's worm.
They, then, decided to cram back into the van to look for some more ground to cover.
They only drove for about an hour before their last vehicle finally ran out of gas, forcing them to go on foot.
Rick was talking to Daryl about how the group wasn't at their strongest, which was obvious. Daryl was only half-listening to him, dazed by hunger, heat, and emotional exhaustion.
"It's been 3 weeks since Atlanta..."
That caught Daryl's attention.
"I know you lost something back there."
Rick was completely right about that. Daryl did lose something. He lost a lot of things 3 weeks ago. His hope, faith, and any will or possibility to be happy again. It seemed impossible that there would be anything to make him that happy, optimistic, and full of life again. He knew that was stubborn, but he was stubborn, and it was all just too hard.
Had Rick caught on, though? Was Daryl being that obvious? Was he walking around like that much of a dead man?
He changed the subject.
"She's hungry." Daryl said, referring to Judith, who was bouncing in Rick's arms. "We need water...food."
"She'll be okay." Rick assured him, and he didn't what he had said before back up again.
"Goin' on a hunt." Daryl randomly decided. He wanted to get away from the group a little while. He found himself needing breaks from all the company more often now. He became more distant after the events at the hospital. Just like the old days.
"Don't be gone long." Rick told him.
"I'm coming with you." Carol insisted, running up to catch up with him. She had been very concerned about him, and despite everything that had happened, seemed to be the more optimistic one of the group.
"Nah, I got it." Daryl said, trying to stop her.
"Are you going to stop me?"
"Nope. I guess not." He thought. Daryl didn't argue. He let her follow behind him into the woods.
They were quiet for most of the hunting session. Daryl never had anything he wanted to talk about anymore. Carol never knows what to say either. Like the most recent hunts, they weren't finding anything to catch or even track.
"We should head back." Carol suggested.
"Nah, you go."
But, Daryl didn't think she was going to leave him be so easily. They were too adamant about eachother not pulling away.
"I think she saved my life." She said, suddenly.
That stopped Daryl dead in his tracks, more than he already was. Of course Beth saved her life. He wasn't surprised. Beth would have done anything for the people she loved and cared for. He was very proud of Beth for that. That was the person she was. She cared too much. She put everyone else in front of herself...until one day, that trait ended up killing her.
"She saved your life, too, right?" She asked him, sounding shaken.
Beth Greene saved his life in so many ways. He couldn't even count them all. She kept him moving and on his feet. She got in his face when no one else would and told him how things were when he wouldn't listen. She made him listen, though. She was so determined, that girl...woman. She saved him from himself. He buried his past because she taught him to. He burnt it down with that shack that one night, and followed Beth, his light, towards a better outlook. He was completely okay with following Beth Greene from that moment on. He could have stayed in that funeral home with her and not thought twice about it. Beth Greene gave him his life back, his life he's not even sure he had in the first place.
Carol walked toward him, and handed him a knife in a sheath.
"It was hers."
He took the knife from her. He was so thankful, yet surprised, that Carol had it. At least he now had a keepsake to remember her by. He would wear it on his belt with his own knife.
"I know you...you gotta let yourself feel it. I know you will." Carol comforted him, kissing him on the forehead.
He knew she was right. He already felt like he was feeling everything, but he was making himself miserable by keeping it all inside. He knew he needed to let it all out, but he had to remain strong for the group. With the exception of when Beth passed away, nobody had ever seen Daryl cry. Ever.
Except for Beth.
He wondered if Carol knew, too? Did she see that he loved Beth? She said she knew him, and she does. She was right about everything. She had to have seen it, too.
She seen it.
Rick seen it.
Love saved his life, until he lost it.
