Chapter 6

Tasha dropped to her knees at Daryl's side. His face was white and his breathing harsh. Carefully she rolled him onto his back and lifted his shirt, checking the wound. It looked like the bullet had only grazed him; there was a deep gash along his side, still oozing blood. She untied the knot of excess fabric in her tee shirt and tore a strip off. Quickly she wadded it up and pressed it to the injury. She pulled Gareth's belt off and used it to hold the makeshift bandage in place. Daryl's eyes flickered open and his eyes met hers.

"You were suppose to go" he groaned, his hand reaching for his side.

"Told you I never leave a man behind" she caught his hand so he couldn't dislodge the makeshift bandage. "Leave it alone, it's not that bad" she scolded. He glared at her and tried to sit up, winching in pain.

"Keep still" she pushed him back down. "Gotta check your knee again" She moved so she was able to reach and gently ran her fingers over it.

"Feels like it's dislocated again" she told him "Twice in one day sucks" She glanced at him, seeing he was half sitting, resting on his elbows staring at her intently.

"You want me to put it back in or you wanna wait 'till we get back and let Bob do it? He's the Doc"

He managed to smirk at her "If the distractions a kiss I'd rather it was you than Bob" he managed to joke.

Tasha pulled a face at him, her hand resting on his knee as she moved closer. She leant in towards him, her free hand touching his cheek. He sat up straighter, looking unsure as he moved forward slightly. She smiled and her lips brushed against his. As he cautiously returned the kiss she twisted her hand and his kneecap popped back into place again. It hurt more this time and he gave a surprised yelp of pain, pulling away from her.

"Damn it, woman that hurt!" he cursed her.

"Guess the kiss wasn't as good this time" she smiled as she got to her feet "Can't believe you fell for it again" she held out her hand to help him up again. He allowed her to assist him and this time they headed slowly outside. Once they were in the car she pulled away from the farmhouse and headed down the track until she found a gateway leading to a paved main road.

"How the hell do we find our way back, I got no idea where we are" she looked both ways at the long, straight road. Randomly she turned left and they drove for several miles before finding a road sign.

"Know any of those places?" She asked as she stared blankly at the list of towns.

"Head to Macon, think that was close to Terminus on the maps we saw on the tracks" Daryl was leaning back in his seat, clearly in a lot of pain. She turned at the next junction following the signs to Macon. Glancing at Daryl she saw he was pale, flinching in pain every time the car went over a bump, the wound on his side was still bleeding; the makeshift bandage she wrapped on it soaked red. She accelerated the car, racing down the road much faster than the marked speed limit. As they raced around a bend she swore out loud and stamped on the brakes. The car slid sideways to a stop and she looked in horror at the herd of walkers approaching them. The road was completely blocked and she couldn't see an end to the hoard of undead heading towards them. She slammed the car into reverse and backed away before spinning it round and racing back the way they had come, away from where she wanted to go.

It was several hours and many detours later that they arrived back at Terminus. She had needed to stop and syphon fuel from several abandoned vehicles as they had almost run dry. There had been another herd on the road which had caused another huge reroute and added several miles to the trip but finally they were pulling up at the gate. She opened the door and jumped out shouting at the men minding the entrance to let them in. The men looked at her blankly then one called over his shoulder. Finally a familiar face arrived and Maggie flung open the gates.

"Where's Bob?" Tasha demanded. Maggie took in the situation and ripped open the back door of the car, throwing herself in.

"Drive down there" she ordered. Tasha followed her directions and they drove deeper into the compound finally arriving at the building they had been using as a main living area.

Maggie leapt out, yelling for Bob as Tasha ran round and opened the passenger door, helping Daryl out. With an arm around his waist and his arm draped across her shoulder they limped towards the door. Several people hurried out and helped them inside. Daryl was set down on a table and Bob started to unwrap the gunshot wound on his side. Tasha filled him in on what injuries he had received.

He nodded, and then looked quickly at her. "Don't you go anywhere, looks like you need checking over too" he ordered. She nodded back then moved away, giving him space to work. Maggie and Tara took her arms and guided her to a chair, handing her a bottle of water and some tinned soup. She realised how hungry she was and tucked in. Once she'd eaten Rick approached her.

"What happened, where the hell did you go, why didn't you tell anyone?" He fired questions at her rapidly and she felt her temper rising.

"Kinda hard to tell anyone anything when you're drugged unconscious and trussed up" she snapped.

"Who was on watch last night?" she demanded "didn't they see four armed men take two people out of this damn place and bundle them into a car?" Her anger faded as exhaustion hit her. It had been a long couple of days.

Rick sat down next to her; "I'm sorry. Someone cut through the fence and let a whole load of walkers in. They must have done it as a distraction. We lost three men" he told her softly "Tell me what happened to you." She told him the whole story, watching the range of emotions crossing his face, anger changing to concern.

When she finished her covered her hand with his. "Thank you" he told her sincerely, "Thank you for going back for him, you don't know him, you didn't have to"

Tasha looked him straight in the eyes "I never leave a man behind" she said simply.

Rick told her that they had actually got a search party together and had been searching the complex for them. It had been when he realised they hadn't been seen during the walker attack that they knew something was wrong. He'd gone to their room and found it empty.

"We couldn't think where the two of you could have gone, didn't occur to us someone could've taken you." He told her.

"You knew we were up for searching for Gareth and the farm. You think we'd just up and go off for a moonlight stroll or something?" she snapped at him, surprised when he didn't meet her eye and actually blushed at her question. It was Michonne who stepped forward and replied.

"We thought that after last night the two of you had gone off somewhere and …." She hesitated, searching for the right words "….hooked up or somethin''"

Tasha was speechless for a second, when she found her voice again she didn't know whether to laugh or yell.

"You thought the two of us were getting together?" she looked around at all of them; no one looked back at her. A thought struck her and she turned to face Maggie "That why you gave me that damn silky thing?" Maggie looked sheepishly at her and tried a small smile.

"Found it in our room and thought it might help things along." She admitted "Thought you two would be good for each other"

"He wasn't bothered about it, but two of the guys that took us loved it" she snapped, then felt bad when she saw the guilty look on Maggie's face.

"But if I hadn't been wearing it they wouldn't have taken me to another room and I wouldn't have been able to kill them. We probably wouldn't have got away." She confessed.

Bob approached them, having finished checking Daryl over.

"He's pretty battered, got a couple of cracked ribs and I need to put a few stitches in the wound on his side. Tasha managed to relocate his kneecap but dislocating it twice in one day has kinda messed it up, I think there's some torn ligaments. I'm going to need to strap it and he'll have to stay off his feet for several days." The medic gave a nervous smile.

"Anyone want to back me up when I tell him that?" He asked hopefully.

Everyone exchanged glances, no one wanted to tell Daryl he wouldn't be able to move for several days. Tasha shook her head, getting to her feet with a sigh.

"Pathetic" she muttered as she strode over to Daryl who was sitting on the table, looking pissed off.

"Doc says you gotta stay off that knee for at least a week" she told him bluntly. He opened his mouth to protest but she interrupted him.

"You don't and it'll never be right again. Don't be a dumb ass tryin' to be all macho 'bout it. Stay off it and get it better quick. These people need you to hunt for them, too damn useless to do it for themselves." She saw the ghost of a smile cross his lips "you aint doin' it for you, you're doin' it for them" He gave her a barely noticeable nod and she smiled sweetly at him.

"Also the Doc needs to strap it up and do a few stitches in your side" she finished. As Bob approached she turned and stalked from the room.