Ari stared in horror as Daryl fell to the ground. She took off at a sprint, fearing the worst. Rick, Shane, and a few others of the group followed close behind. Ari reached Daryl first and fell to her knees next to him. She reached out and brushed his hair away from the wound.
"It looks like she only grazed him," she sighed. Ari's eyes fell on the necklace of Walker parts and frowned. Rick followed her gaze and quickly yanked it off tossing it in the bushes.
"Shane, help me get him up," Rick said pulling half of Daryl's body onto his shoulder. Shane moved so he could get under Daryl's other side and the two carried him back to the house.
"Bring him in here," Hershal said motioning to the bed where Carl had been healed. Ari tried to follow but he barred her at the door, "I'll call you when I have finished."
Ari frowned but stepped back and went to sit in a chair nearby. After an hour Hershal stepped out of the room and motioned that it was ok for Ari to enter. She jumped out of the chair and stepped in the room. She sat in the same seat Rick had, as he waited for his son to wake up.
Ari took Daryl's hand in hers and sighed. "Please be ok," she whispered.
x.x.x
Arianna awoke early the next morning to Daryl moving his hand. She instantly sat up to see his eyes barely open. "You're okay!" she exclaimed hugging him. Daryl coughed and winced slightly from the pressure she caused.
"Sorry, sorry," she whispered backing into the chair again, "Here I'll go get you something to drink." Ari got up and tip toed into the kitchen. She poured Daryl a glass of water before returning to the bedroom.
"Here you go, do you think you can sit up at all?" she asked
"Course I can," he answered but his voice was hoarse. He struggled slightly to sit up but managed to prop himself up on his elbows.
"Here, let me help you," Ari said moving the glass to Daryl's and trying to help him drink.
"I can do it," he argued taking the glass with his right hand and taking a long drink.
"You'd think you'd at least consider accepting help," Ari muttered looking out the window. Daryl smirked and placed the empty glass on the bed side table.
"I'm guessing you've been here all night?" Daryl asked as he fell back onto the bed.
"Is that such a bad thing?" Ari shot back, "To have someone who cares about you? At least a little?"
Daryl snorted and looked away from her, "No one's ever given a shit about me so now is no different." Ari frowned but didn't say more. The sun had just broke over the horizon and light came into the windows. He turned his attention to out the window.
"We need to back out to look for Sophia," he muttered looking out the window at the slowly rising sun.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Ari argued trying to stop him from getting up.
"I'm fine," he stated moving her out of his way and grabbing his boots.
"Fine, I'm not arguing with you," she muttered, "But don't plan on going alone." Daryl looked at her and frowned.
"Don't know why you think you need to babysit me," he grumbled tying his boot.
"Because you just got shot last night?" Ari asked sarcastically. Daryl looked at her and shook his head. He led the way to the door and she shut it quietly behind her.
"Just let me give Dancer something to eat," she said grabbing some hay from beside the barn and dropping it in the horse's stall. She stepped back out of the barn and offered Daryl a smile.
"What?" he asked.
"Nothing, just glad you're alive," she replied.
"Oh please, a little bullet wouldn't stop me," Daryl teased. Ari laughed and hit him in the arm playfully.
The two stood at the edge of the woods and Ari took a deep breath. She pulled out her first revolver, loading it, then did the same with the other.
"Do you really think there's any chance at finding her?" Ari asked.
"I'm not so sure anymore," Daryl muttered before taking the lead into the brush.
x.x.x
Ari looked over her shoulder as another Walker appeared to come out of nowhere. She whipped around and buried her knife in the side of its head.
"This is weird," she yelled to Daryl who was at the opposite side of the clearing, "We never see this many."
"It's probably from that gunshot from last night," he replied firing at a Walker to the right of Ari.
"Well we need to get out of this area," she called back trying to move closer to him by killing two more Walkers. Daryl killed one more before the two made a run for it.
"We should be able to lose them since the brush is so thick," Daryl explained. Ari looked over her shoulder and could see the Walkers falling farther and farther behind.
After running for what seemed like forever, Ari slowed to a stop so she could catch her breath. "That was not pleasant," she muttered bent over at the waist.
"Oh come on, thought you used to chase deer through the woods," Daryl shot back.
"Yeah, usually we'd track deer on horseback," she answered standing. Daryl looked up at the sky and frowned.
"We should probably head back," He sighed, "It's going to start getting dark soon." Ari nodded and followed after him.
x.x.x
Ari sat next to Daryl, watching the fire burn. She sat close enough to him for their thighs to touch. She smiled slightly at the sense of safety she felt from that simple contact. Ari looked up in time to see Andrea eyeing the two of them and frowned.
Rick looked around for Carol before saying, "I think tomorrow, we all do one solid sweep of the woods then we need to call this search for Sophia."
Daryl glared at Rick and shot up. "You can't just give up on that little girl. It's going to kill Carol!"
Rick frowned, "Daryl, it's been too long as it is. Do you really think there's any way a little girl can live out there with those things?"
"She's out there," Daryl argued before storming off.
"Awesome," Ari muttered getting up and following after him.
"Daryl, Daryl will you wait a minute," she called, "Rick is just trying to do what's best for the whole group."
"No he's not," Daryl argued, "He just doesn't want to look anymore. We can't do that to Carol." Daryl was almost to his camp when Ari grabbed his wrist. He tried to pull it away but when he turned and saw the look in her eye he stopped. Was this her trying to care about him?
"Daryl you aren't leaving," she muttered.
"Why can't I?" he asked.
"Because I don't want to be looking for two people," she argued, "And if I found you, as one of those thingsā¦."
Ari rubbed her eyes as she felt tears start to well in the corners, "I don't care if I have to sit here and watch you all night, you aren't leaving."
"I think it's cute that you think you can stop me," He replied. Ari glared at him before grabbing the collar of his vest and pulling him into a kiss.
She pulled away and frowned, "There you asshole, now you see why I don't want you to leave?" She stormed off back to the fire leaving a confused Daryl watching her go.
