I woke the next morning with a startle when I heard a loud noise. I jumped up, grabbing my knife from beside me and held it at the ready. As my eyes came into focus, I saw Hershel walk into the room, giving me a surprised look as he placed his hand on his chest. I wiped my hand across my face, remembering that I was in the house as I glanced over to see Daryl looking startled as well. I lowered my knife to my side.
"Good mornin', Madison," he said, looking slightly amused as he folded his arms across his chest. "How'd you sleep?"
"Fine," I said, my heart still racing. "Sorry," I said. "I forgot where I was and you scared me."
"S'okay," he replied, "it's just a sign of the times, I suppose." He smiled sadly and turned to the bed. "How ya feelin', Daryl?" he asked.
Daryl looked at me for a split second. "Like I got shot," he said, shifting uncomfortably in the bed. Hershel laughed and I rolled my eyes at his attempt at a joke. I walked over to the window seat and grabbed by gun belt, strapping it around my waist and slid my knife into the sheath.
"I told Marc I'd take a look at your side and your head," Hershel said, pulling the covers back. Seeing Daryl's naked torso was enough for me to quickly make my way to the door. I could feel Daryl's eyes on me as I walked across the room.
"I'll be outside," I announced to them both as my face started to flush. "Thank you for your hospitality," I said to Hershel, who nodded at me as I walked out. When I stepped out on the porch, I saw Maggie and Glen in a heated discussion.
"I have to tell them!" Glen said through his teeth, gesturing to the camp and our group.
"No, you don't Glen. It ain't your concern!" Maggie said, borderline hysterical, her hands on her hips.
Glen saw me and swallowed hard. "Madison," he said, stepping around Maggie to approach me. "Hey - good morning. How's Daryl?" I could tell he was nervous and Maggie looked scared.
"Fine, I guess," I replied, wondering what on earth was going on with them. "He's inside with Hershel; you can probably go in and ask him." I gave them both a pointed look. Maggie smiled, looking embarrassed as she turned and walked into the house.
"What's going on Glen?" I asked.
"What?" he asked. "Oh, you mean with Maggie?"
"Yes...with Maggie."
"Oh, nothing. Nothing at all." He rubbed the back of his head. "I'm gonna go in and check on Daryl. I'll see you later, Madison."
"Okay," I replied as he stepped around me and walked into the house. 'What the hell was that?,' I wondered to myself. 'I'm going to have to ask both of them later.'
I walked down the steps and over to camp where Grace, Carol and Lori were cooking breakfast, laughing and joking.
"Good morning Madison. Did you sleep in the house?" Grace asked I reached them.
I ran my fingers through my hair, brushing out the knots and throwing it up in a ponytail. "Yeah, I slept in the chair in Daryl's room." Carol smiled while Grace and Lori looked confused.
"Our Daryl?" Lori asked, "As in Daryl Dixon?" I nodded, avoiding Grace's gaze. "Huh. Is there something going on with y'all?"
"Hell no," I said. "He's the biggest asshole I've ever met! We were just talking last night is all. He was telling me about y'all before we met...it got late and I didn't wanna wake up Hershel so I slept in the chair." I started to feel the heat rise in my cheeks. I was uncomfortable with their attention and started willing the ground to open up.
Lori still looked confused. "He talked to you?"
"Yeah." I shrugged, trying to brush it off.
"Wait a min - Daryl talks?!" Lori asked. We all laughed at that.
"Don't get too excited," I said, "he was high on pain meds." They laughed and I stepped away from them. "I'm going to change," I said, making my way to the tent I shared with Claire, who was still asleep of course.
I changed into my pink camo pants, a black tank top and my hunting boots. I snatched up my backpack, looking through it to make sure I had everything and tossed it over my shoulder. I turned to leave and nudged Claire on my way out. "Wake up, Claire," I said.
"It's too early!" she mumbled. I shook my head and climbed out of the tent, then walked toward the group gathered by the cars. Rick looked up as I approached and he nodded while Jimmy, Shane, and Marc were waiting for his directions.
"Madison," he said, "ready to head out on the trail?" he asked me.
"Sure," I said, looking up as Daryl joined us.
"Did Hershel clear you to come with us today?" Rick asked him, looking over at Marc, who shrugged.
"I'm fine," he said, wincing as he pulled on his crossbow. "I don' need no doctor tellin' me what ta do." Marc looked at him, but I could tell he had no plans to stop him, knowing that it was a moot point.
"Daryl - " Rick started.
"I said I'm fine," he replied gruffly, glaring at him.
Rick nodded, backing off. "Okay, fine," he told him. "Some headway was made yesterday in the north, so let's get on that trail. I want Daryl, Madison, and Marc to head that way. Shane and Andrea will head toward a neighborhood that Jimmy told us about. Jimmy, Carol, and I will head to the cars again to check for her on the highway. Glen and Maggie are going to make a run for some supplies - anything you need, make a list and give it to 'em. We all clear?" We all nodded and about ten minutes later headed for the woods.
"Hey, Princess," I heard behind me.
I stopped and turned around as Daryl walked up toward me. "Yeah?" I asked.
"Stay off'a my trail today," he mumbled as he walked by. "I don' need yer help."
I sighed. "There's the Daryl we all know," I murmured under my breath. Marc smiled and clapped me on the shoulder as he headed northeast.
The day dragged on and still I found nothing, no sign of Sophia anywhere. Around noon, I changed my direction and headed more northwest. At one point, I crossed Daryl's trail and headed perpendicular to it, just to be sure we didn't run into each other. I thought back to last night. Daryl was so open and funny, the total opposite of his usual closed-off and moody self. He complimented me and was borderline flirty. It made me uneasy, and I couldn't tell if it was because it was him or if I liked it.
I shook the thought out of my head. We're in the middle of the end of the world, I thought to myself, now is not the time to worry about a stupid guy and a potential crush.
I walked a little further, picking up a trail made by a smaller, lighter person. I bent down and felt the dirt. A few days old but I started following it. I walked about a half a mile, then stopped when I saw something just under some leaves. I reached down and moved the leaves and dirt away, seeing a doll. I picked it up and inspected it. Hmm, I thought to myself, I wonder if this could belong to Sophia. I shoved it in my bag, wanting to take it back with me to see if it did belong to the girl.
I heard a twig snap behind me and I whipped around, seeing two biters right behind me.
"Shit!" I said out loud and started off in a sprint to gain some ground on them. I could hear them running behind me, their groans getting further away the faster I ran. There was a whooshing in my ears as my adrenaline kicked into high gear.
I was able to duck behind a thick tree and hid behind it until I heard one coming up on my left. I gripped my knife, my heart thumping in my chest, and when it came up next to me, I jumped out and stabbed it in the eye, the thick squelching sound making me gag. I pulled my knife out and turned to find the other one and saw a blur as I was tackled to the ground. A white flash came through my vision and I felt immediate pain in my head. I screamed as I felt the biter's hot breath on my neck and pushed against it as hard as I could with my left hand, trying to avoid teeth. I brought my right hand up and realized I had dropped my knife. "SHIT!" I said out loud as I used my arms to hold him off of me while I tried to figure out how to get out of this, the pain in my head making me weak.
The next thing I knew, an arrow pierced the biter's eye and he collapsed on top of me. I pushed as hard as I could and sat up. I fell back down, the blinding pain in my head causing me to black out.
When I came to, I saw a face in front of mine and I screamed, flinging my hands out in self-defense. I connected with flesh and heard a grunt.
"DAMNIT WOMAN. Wha' tha hell did ya do tha' for?!" I tried to focus my eyes and saw Daryl sitting there, holding his nose.
"I - I - What happened?" I asked as I looked around and tried to stand up.
"Ya damn punched me!" he yelled out.
"No, I mean - " My head was pounding. "There were biters - two of them - "
"Ya got lazy and stupid," he said. "The hell you thinkin' lettin' yer guard down?"
"What?" I asked. "I was following the trail and I found somethin' - " My head was spinning as I tried to focus on him.
"Yeah, ya foun' trouble! Jus' like a damn woman."
"Daryl - what happened?" I asked as I laid on my side and held my head, trying not to focus on not throwing up.
He heaved a sigh. "Ya got one and the other almost got ya," he said, helping me sit up all the way. "I showed up just in time ta put it down." He reached his hand up to my head and said, "Yer bleedin' pretty good..."
"I'm dizzy and my head hurts," I said, closing my eyes and wishing the world would stop spinning.
"WHOA, hold on there," he said, catching me as I fell over. "Y- mus' have a concussion. The farm is close - lemme help you," he said, putting his arm around my waist and slowly helping me stand up.
"I'm fine. Let go of me," I snarled at him. He released me with a huff and I nearly fell again, my head feeling as though it were disconnected from my body.
"Dammit, Madison. Lemme help ya," he grunted as he put his arm back around me, trying to get me steady on my feet. All I could feel was the pressure of his arm around my waist, which made it hard to concentrate on regaining my balance. "Here, lean on this tree for a minute." He leaned me against the tree and went looking around on the ground.
"Yeah, thanks. Let me stand for a minute," I said as I rested my head against the bark and watched him search the ground. I focused on trying to get the world to stand still. "What are you looking for?" I asked him a minute later.
"Yer knife. Ya mus' have dropped it here somewhere." I concentrated on breathing in and out, the pain in my head pounding and making me feel woozy again. "Ah, found it," I heard him say. He came over and placed it back in my belt. "Get yer bearings and we'll head back," he said, looking around at the woods. I nodded.
A few minutes later, I felt more steady and the pain started to subside some. "I'm good, let's go," I told him quietly.
He grunted as he walked to me and put his arm around my waist, pulling my arm around his shoulders and securing me against his strong side, which made my stomach flutter a little. But surely it was from the fall and head injury, I thought to myself, not from the intimate way he held me against his side with our arms around each other. I pushed that thought from my mind and concentrated on walking.
The farm came into view after about 15 minutes. We made it to the clearing and I heard someone yelling my name. I looked up and saw Grace, Carol, and Lori running to us, but I couldn't focus on their faces, everything was blurry.
"What happened?" Lori asked Daryl. Grace grabbed me on the other side and helped him guide me to the house. I heard Daryl explaining what happened to them as I heard Hershel's voice asking what had happened.
"Pretty sure she has a pretty bad concussion," I heard Daryl tell him as they helped me up the stairs. I couldn't focus my eyes on anything and I felt like I was going to puke at any moment. They took me to the room that Daryl had been in the night before and Grace took my backpack off as Hershel and Daryl laid me on the bed on my left side. I looked over at Grace, her face coming in and out of focus, as one memory came back to me.
"Grace - check my backpack. I found somethin'..." Grace unzipped my bag and pulled out the doll.
I heard Carol gasp and start to cry as Daryl cursed.
"Daryl," I called out, "is it hers? Is it Sophia's?" I asked. His face came in to focus above me.
"Yeah, Princess. I's hers," he said.
I blacked out.