Hi all, oh my lord I haven't updated in awhile... I am so sorry! I have been in some really sticky life stuff lately, and well.. life can be annoyinggg. lol.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter! By the way I will be fast tracking this story to after Terminus, so keep your eyes pealed.
Keep on dreaming, don't stop breathing, fight those demons
Sell your soul, not your whole self
If they see it when you're sleeping, make them leave it
And I cant even see if its all there anymore so
Afraid- The Neighbourhood.
What's wrong with you Beth. Why do you consistently get yourself into trouble.
I walk around the small fire Daryl made earlier, inconsistently pacing. I never should have pushed him, but he doesn't scare me.. He never really has. I know there is a side to him he won't tell anyone.. not yet at least. I bend down and gather my belongings that are scattered around the living room, shoving them into a bag. All of our things are packed and ready to go in case of a problem. I sit and gaze at the slow burning blaze he lit, and my eyes begin to close.
"Beth!" I shout into the darkness of the house...
"Beth! Get your shit! we have to go!"
I run frantically into the living room and shake her to consciousness, she looks at me like a wounded dog, stricken with confusion.
"What's going on Daryl?!" She exclaims as I haul her off the ground.
"Get your shit, we have to run"
She obeys me immediately and we tear off through the front door. I see her trying to peak over her shoulder as we run across the huge piece of land the house is on... It's slowing her down... I think quickly and grab her hand to keep her focus forward. We crash through the forest like a downed aircraft, stopping for nothing, gravity is our force. Tree branches keep whipping my damn face as if they are trying to greet me, all I hear is Beth behind me grunting at them attacking her as well.
We run about 2 miles away from the house we were in, before finding ourselves at a lake. I stop and survey the area for walkers, crossbow loaded. Beth huffs and puffs while hunched over leaning on her knees, our faces are caked in sweat and dirt.
After walking the perimeter of the area I return to Beth and help her get the entangled bags off her shoulders.
The moon over our heads is taunting us.
"What the hell was that about Daryl?" She snarls like a feisty cat.
"Don't snarl at me Beth, there was a herd of walkers bigger than God himself coming right for us.. I knew I had to get ya out of the house before they overran the place and saw us"
She sighs and looks up at me with her twinkly eyes.
"I'm sorry, you just scared the life out of me.." She says apologetically.
"God knows what time it is right now, all I know I'm cold.. I'ma get some fire wood."
She nods and perches herself on a rock, knife in hand.
I scout the perimeter of the shoreline for wood and sticks. As I reach down to grab a washed up log, around it is something shiny. I pick it up and dust it off, it's a gold locket, with an engraving saying "love endures all". I shake my head and shove the cliché thing into my pocket, and continue my search.
In the corner of my eye I see something shift slightly, my eyes dart over it like a falcon stalking prey. It's a rather large duck wandering on its own.. Strange to see one alone. I shoot my arrow into it and haul it up and over my shoulder.
When I return I drop all the fire wood and the duck, Beth grabs it are starts plucking it's feathers with ease.
"I haven't had duck in a long time" She giggles with a slight excitement. I look over and can't help but smirk at her glowing smile.
"Me neither, I guess this night ain't all that bad."
After I get the fire going I put a stake through the duck and let it roast over the fire.
He looks out for me so well. I watch him as he roasts the duck he found, his eyes intently focus on the fire.
Suddenly he looks up, and catches my gaze, we lock eyes like a padlock on a gate, but he quickly looks down, as if he did not see me. I wonder to my self if he even knows how to act around women, or if he's tough on the exterior but shy on the interior. There are so many unanswered questions with Daryl. He doesn't say much about anything, which leaves a lot to the imagination.
"I wonder where the group is... I miss Judith" I try to start a conversation, he just looks at me with his shady eyes.
"I want to find Maggie, we can track them.. You can track, we should find them" I encourage him, I know he's a good tracker, hopefully he wants to find them as much as I do.
He just looks at me. I feel my frustration growing.
He takes the duck off the fire and peels some meat off it, putting it onto a flat piece of bark for me. He hands it to me in silence, then begins to devour his meat off the bone.
How polite, he makes mine all neat for me to eat like some princess. Actually more like lame if that's what he thinks I am.
"My dad used kill ducks for supper.. Maggie and I used to hate it because we loved the ducks." I chuckle, and I see a slight smile on his face.
"I've eatin' better in this damn apocalypse than I did before" He says grimly. I awkwardly look down, and begin to eat my meat.
I rip the pieces apart with my teeth and try to pace myself. I am so hungry, I feel death knocking on the door. I look up to see Daryl staring at me with a smirk.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Yer pretty hungry eh?" He grumbles with a slight giggle at the end.
"That's for damn sure. I am starving" I reply while shoving my face with duck meat.
An hour passes, and I begin to drift off, laying my head on my bag, and curling up to keep warm.
I watch Beth as she dozes off.. She's shivering pretty badly, I don't want her to get sick again.
I make my way over to her and take my jacket off, laying it along her fragile body. She flinches slightly at the contact, but settles in, and dozes off. I sit beside her, keeping my eye out for walkers. She breathes lightly in her sleep, making a slight whistle noise.. As I sit here my heart feels... Weird. I can't describe it. Some sort of strange warmish feeling. I don't feel comfortable, so I move away slightly.
A few hours pass and I feel the sleep setting in, Beth wakes up and looks at me.
"You look tired" She says with a concerned tone.
"M'fine.. go back to sleep" I murmur while staring at the dying fire.
"I'll keep watch, lay down and sleep." She gives me back my jacket and perches herself on the rock she was on earlier.
Not wanting to fight, I lay down, and close my eyes.
"What's yer name boy?" A tall policeman asks me.
"Daryl sir... Daryl Dixon" I reply quietly while twiddling my thumbs.
"Daryl do you have any siblings?" The stern voice asks.
"A brother names Merle"
"where is he?" He shoots back.
"In juvy.." I awkwardly reply. He can feel how uncomfortable I am.
"Your dad is coming to pick you up Daryl, just wait here" He says while walking away.
I sigh. I don't want to be with my dad again.. I just want my mother, I just want her to be here. I feel my eyes start to burn, and tears come rolling down my face. The pain is unreal, everything is surreal, I feel my heart begin to split.
Suddenly my dad walks through the door of the police station, and hauls me out into his car.
"Sorry about yer mother" He says unsympathetically.
We arrive at the house and he walks away from me, grabs a beer and crashes on the couch. I wander upstairs to my old room, and break down in tears.
Daryl's body jerks and twists around with discomfort, the sun is beginning to rise so the features of his face become more clear. He looks like he's rattled with pain and anguish, maybe he's dreaming?
Simultaneously he thrusts forwards and looks around with confusion. His eyes meet mine.
"Are you alright?" I ask him.
"Fine." he grouches and gets up.
I look at him with disbelief. He just ignores me and picks up all our stuff. I need to break down his walls, find out what's really inside. I know there is a lot more here than meets the eye.
"Time to find the rest of 'em." he says and cooes me forward. The sun begins to rise as we trail off into the forest, on a quest to find sanctuary.