'Next chapter as promised! :D Hope you all enjoy it. Next update will most likely be Boxing day :)'
Chapter Ten
Both their heads snapped towards the girl and they stilled, all banter abruptly abandoned.
"Oh, shit!"
"Fuck!"
The two adults exclaimed together before Daryl handed off the duffle to Andrea and bounded forwards.
"Sophia!" he whispered harshly, violently tugging the frozen child back by the shoulder, turning and pushing her in Andrea's direction.
Eyes wide and body tense, Andrea clutched the girl to her body as she watched Daryl silently creep towards the rotting corpses shuffling towards them.
"Andrea!" Sophia gasped out, terrified, pressing herself tighter and closer to the blonde, "Walkers!"
"I know." Andrea whispered back, tightening her hold on the girl at the terror she heard in the twelve year olds voice.
There were five of them. Five! Five hungry, decomposing Walkers and only one distracted Daryl Dixon.
"Shit!" Andrea cursed darkly, heart hammering in her chest as he crept closer and closer.
What really freaked her out though, was the fact that all five sets on empty, lifeless eyes were concentrated solely on her. They could smell her blood.
"Shit!" she cried again, shuffling backwards.
Sophia tugged forcefully on the strap of the woman's bag, "Andrea, they're staring at you!" she whispered frantically, "They're heading for us!"
Daryl glanced back at them in that moment and their eyes locked. Andrea shook head at him, pleading with her eyes for him not to do this. He was outnumbered and distracted by herself and Sophia. He could get himself killed and she couldn't help him.
Daryl glared fiercely at her when she took a small step forwards anyway and held up his hand; silently ordering her to stay put.
Andrea compressed her lips. Her reluctance was stupid, she knew they couldn't just make a run for it. Staying put and fighting back was their best option. But the thought of Daryl losing to those flesh-eating monsters was nauseating...and terrifying.
"There's too many!" Sophia cried fearfully, "He's out numbered."
"Sshhh!" Andrea hushed her, pushing the child further back as Daryl released his first arrow, taking out the first and closest Walker.
Andrea turned to the girl, eyes frantically scanning the surrounding trees for a secure place to hide her.
"There." She pointed behind Sophia at the three large, thick trees spaced closely together, almost triangular in their placement creating a nice little alcove to fit into, "Go hide in those trees and don't come out until Daryl or myself come get you." Andrea ordered seriously, pulling off her own bag and passing both it and the duffle to the girl, "Go, Sophia."
She stared up at the blonde with wide, frightened round orbs, "Andrea..." Sophia whispered, voice trembling and her eyes steadily filling with tears, "Nooo."
"Yes." Andrea insisted with a firm nod, "Hide, right now."
Sophia released a broken sob before scurrying off to the trees.
Blowing out a slow, calming breath, Andrea stood straight and reached for her weapon. She stared down at the cold, hard metal in her hands and hesitated. A gunshot was the cause of this, another would only make it so much worse.
The wiz of another arrow reached her ears and Andrea switched her gun out for Daryl's knife. The very one thats blade had been tunnelling about her abdomen hours before.
She sent a smile of reassurance in Sophia's general direction—the alcove hiding the girl from even her view—then she spun around, intent on going to aid Daryl in his fight but was instead met with the bloody, snarling face of yet another hungry Walker whose open jaw and ghastly, broken teeth were bared threateningly.
It was right there, barely a breath between them and before Andrea could fully register its presence, the things hands were on her and they were falling to the ground and a blood-curdling scream tore through her throat.
"Fuck!" Daryl cursed loudly when his eyes found the cause of Sophia's terror. Walkers. Motherfuckin' Walkers!
He knew this would happen; the woods were full of 'em, all wandering aimless and solitary but as soon as that gun went off they'd come together and head towards it, towards them...and here they were.
He shoved Sophia back as he moved forwards, throwing a fleeting glance back at Andrea over his shoulder. Her eyes were on the kid which was good cause that meant she missed the flash of tight distress that contorted his face.
His focus turned to the advancing Walkers before following their line of sight and landing pointedly on her bleeding side. If he could smell the coppery scent her blood left in the air, then the undead certainly did.
They were gonna head for her but like hell they were gonna get 'er. Daryl wasn't gonna let the fuckers anywhere near Andrea. Over his dead body.
He took down the first effortlessly. The stupid rottin' bastards hadn't noticed him yet, they were too focused on Andrea. Speakin' of, he snuck a quick glance her way—if she'd decided to come even a lil bit closer to all this he was gonna shoot 'er himself—and did a double take; Sophia was gone. What the fuck?!
A nasty and much-too-close-for-comfort snarl stole his attention and he turned to the right, back still against the tree. Daryl took the second one down with the same amount of ease as the first, then he bent-double and yanked his bolt free.
He'd just re-loaded his crossbow when her blood-curdling scream tore through the forest and everything just stopped. When he peered around the tree he was greeted with the most disturbing image imaginable; Andrea was on the ground, flat on her back, with a Walker on top of her. Her hands shoved at its shoulders while its snapping jaw got closer and closer to her exposed neck.
Every muscle in Daryl's body spasmed, his heart clenching painfully in his chest. Fear ignited within him with surprising force and he leaped towards her.
"ANDREA!" the howl left his lips before he'd registered the need to call her name.
There was a growl from behind and he spun around, smacking the nearest of his final three attackers across the head with his crossbow while he pulled his largest blade free.
Daryl turned to the other one and, tugging it closer with his crossbow, drove his blade up under its chin and into the brain. It jerked violently then went limp when he gave the knife a sharp twist. Its foul-smelling corpse hit the forest floor with a thud.
Daryl glanced behind him at Andrea who was still struggling and screaming over the snarling growls and he wanted to scream. Two more were shuffling slowly towards their new prey and Andrea had no idea they were coming.
Releasing an animalistic growl of his own, Daryl rounded on the final two as the fourth tried to stand again. He pinned its arms to the ground at the elbows with his boot-clad feet and rammed his blade through its left eyes. A new and overwhelming violence and blinding determination took over, coursing through his veins. All he could think about was getting to Andrea. All he could hear were her terrified, agonised screams.
He gave the blade one fatal twist and the Walker went limp beneath him. Daryl pulled it free and not wasting another second, pierced the blade through the fifth and final Walkers eye; once, twice, dead. For good this time. Drawing in a quick breath, Daryl yanked it free, snatched up his crossbow and bolted in Andrea's direction.
Then he stopped dead; Andrea wasn't moving and the twitching Walker had its face buried in her neck. She'd lost and now she was gone. He'd failed her and he'd lost her. She was gone.
Daryl blinked slow as his world came to a screeching standstill.
Andrea couldn't breathe. She could feel the rocks and twigs and leaves beneath her back. The weight of the thing on top of her was unexpected, considering its state, and the stench was overpowering. She still wasn't used to the smell, despite the months spent living with it in the air. Its jaws were so close she could feel its black blood dripping onto her skin.
Andrea wanted it off of her, like now, but she couldn't move. She'd never experienced physical pain like this before in her life! The tearing and ripping, not only on the outside but the inside too; it froze her lugs and made her stomach roll so violently it hurt. Her vision was unfocused and marred by annoying sporadic black spots.
Andrea could faintly hear her name being called but it sounded so far off in the distance. She tried to move but the now limp Walker had her pinned and she didn't have the strength to move it so she just gave up. It was easier, giving up, but then a twig snapped to her left, closely followed by a gurgling growl.
Andrea's neck snapped in said direction and her eyes bulged when she saw them over the corpses head.
"Fuck!" she screeched breathlessly, heart pounding harder against her ribcage.
There were two more corpses ambling towards her, ravenous and threatening.
With a sudden strength she'd been certain she no longer possessed in her current state, Andrea rolled the lifeless Walker off her body, freeing herself, and yanked the blade free from under its chin.
The nearest of the two Walkers, stumbled over a rock, hit the ground right in front of her and started clawing at her feet.
Andrea scurried backwards, feeling for her gun amongst the dry foliage, sending a swift strike to the things face too fend it off.
When her finger found the comforting metal of her gun, Andrea breathed an audible sigh of short-lived relief before her flight or fight response kicked in and her survival instincts took over.
Without another thought, Andrea dived at the Walker, pinning it down with her knee in its back, it face in the ground and then she struck the back of its head four times with the butt of her Ladysmith before driving the length of the blade into its ear.
Daryl stood staring, just a little dumbfounded as the blonde took down two out of three reasonably quick. The third approached her fast and he raised his crossbow to dispatch the ugly bitch but it was already on Andrea. He couldn't take the shot without the risk of hitting her too, so instead he charged forwards.
Andrea yelped sharply when dead hands grabbed at her shoulders. She hadn't caught her breath yet! Shrugging off the hands, Andrea twisted around to the right which was an exceptionally terrible idea. White hot, searing pain exploded across her abdomen and with a brutal and tortured shriek, she crumbled to the ground.
Daryl ran faster, yelling her name as she fell, immediately assuming she'd been bitten.
Sucking in a struggling, laboured breath, Andrea grasped the handle of the knife in her right hand and stared defiantly up into the dead, yellow eye gazing coldly back at her.
Reaching up, Andrea grabbed at the matted hair tightly, holding its head in place and plunged the blade deep into the empty eye socket, finishing off with an abrupt twist.
The thing went limp and so did Andrea, the forest falling silent once again.
"ANDREA!" Daryl boomed, dropping down beside her, abandoning his crossbow to wrench the dead, decomposing monster off of her, "Andrea?!" he cried again stiffly, frantic eyes scanning her form for that fatal bite.
Her eyes were tightly closed, hands limp and she did not appear to be breathing.
Brow furrowed deeply, Daryl moved his right hand to her neck and pressed his two fingers to her creamy skin, feeling for a pulse.
Andrea's eyes snapped open at his touch, wide orbs staring unblinking into his troubled deep blues.
"You holdin' yer breath, Blondie?" he asked her uncertainly, fingers still to her neck.
Lips pursed and jaw clenched, Andrea nodded jerkily, her left hand flying up to grip the wrist at her neck with crushing strength.
Daryl's brow creased further, his body tensing, "Gotta breathe, girl." He reminded her casually while his eyes and his free hand moved down to her injured side.
"AH!" Andrea cried out loudly when his fingers grazed her wounds.
He immediately withdrew his fingertips, quite startled by her reaction, to find his fingers saturated and dripping with her deep crimson blood.
Daryl growled darkly, "Fuck." And scowled at her abdomen, pulling his hand free from her hold, "A need tae check it."
She shook her head vigorously, "N-no, no!"
He merely rolled his eyes and lifted her tank top anyway.
Andrea gasped out, her body jerking violently.
Daryl's face hardened at what he found; the layers of thick gauze were now soaked through with blood and it was still leeching steadily out. His eyes snapped up to her face, which he noted this time was two shades paler than before, maybe even three.
Swallowing thickly—and despite knowing the pain it would cause—Daryl pressed forcibly down.
Andrea screamed, gripping his shoulder and the dirt ground in a white-knuckled grasp. She couldn't contain the agony.
"Sophia!" he snapped, stern and demanding but the skinny pre-teen failed to appear.
Chest heaving and sweat littering her skin, Andrea tugged at his shoulder, informing him breathlessly, "She wo—won't come...out un-until you...go get her."
"What?!" Daryl barked furiously, glaring down at her.
Andrea swallowed thickly, squeezing her eyes closed again, "Made her hide." She raised her left arm and pointed behind her, "Trees."
He frowned in that direction, reluctant to leave her to bleed out but the kid had the medical supplies and he needed them to stop that happening. "Fine!" Daryl exhaled, snatching up her hands and pressing them down on her side.
She hissed, trying to remove them defiantly.
He growled at her, "Don' do tha'! Keep 'em there or you'll bleed out, Goldilocks."
Andrea opened her eyes to glare fiercely at him, "Dick." She spat, livid but still did what he told her, albeit grudgingly.
Up like a shot, Daryl raced towards the group of said trees, "Sophia?!" he barked impatiently, "Sophia!"
A quiet sob caught his attention and Daryl spun to the left and found Sophia wedged amongst the large thick trees, partially hidden by their wayward branches. Andrea's shoulder bag was on her knees, the duffle at her feet and she had her hands covering her ears, eyes squeezed tightly shut.
Daryl's stomach tightened and his pounding heart throbbed for the poor kid. The sight of her; tears streaming down her cheeks and dripping from her chin, teeth piercing her bottom lip was pretty heartbreaking. He crouched down in front of her, pushing the branches from his view and whispered her name, taking hold of her elbow with one hand.
Sophia screeched. Daryl cringed. Andrea panicked.
"Sophia?!" she demanded tightly, voice a lot stronger than before, "Daryl what's going on?"
"A scared 'er." He answered shortly, dipping his head to catch her now wide, open startled eyes.
"Hey there, lil' bit." Daryl greeted her soft and careful, keeping his hands to himself, "Ye good? It's all over now, Walkers are gone."
Lip trembling, body shaking, Sophia swallowed hard and whispered, "Andrea?" new tears springing to life. She'd heard all the noises; the groaning and screaming and him yelling, it definitely wasn't good, "I heard her screaming."
Daryl clenched his jaw and his muscles twitched.
The kids face fell and she sprang out of her little hole without warning and running without pause towards the blonde lying on the ground.
"Andrea?!"
Daryl felt an unsettling sense of Déjà vu wash over him as he lifted the bags and followed after her.
"I'm okay." Andrea tried to reassure Sophia with a weakly forced smile but the child wasn't to be fooled this time.
Sophia shook her head and countered, "No, you're not." wide eyes on the deep crimson blood that could now only be described as 'gushing' from the woman's side.
Andrea, first wiping her dirt and blood covered left hand on her pants, reached up to stroke the girls cheek with a gentle smile before taking her hand and squeezing it.
Sophia clutched at it with both of hers as hard as she could.
Kneeling down at her side again, Daryl caught Blondie's eye briefly then went silently on without a word.
Andrea kept her eyes on Sophia; expression carefully controlled, lips firmly compressed and holding her breath while he replaced the dripping red gauze with fresh dry ones.
"How bad now?" she quizzed him tightly once he'd finished taping down the thick bandages.
Daryl raised his startlingly bright blue eyes to her afflicted green-blue pools, his eyes said it all. He watched her lids slip closed and her chest heave as she released a shuddering breath and he briefly wondered how this time she'd managed to keep her orbs free of tears.
"We gotta move." Daryl stated without room for argument, "The bleedin's worse, tears bigger 'n deeper..." he trailed off glancing subtly at Sophia.
Andrea inhaled slow and deep trying to calm her racing heart; the harder it pumped the fast she'd bleed and that would be counter-productive.
"Get me up." was her austere command, orbs full of unyielding determination.
Eyebrows rising, Daryl smirked down at her, taking her proffered right hand in his and lifted her carefully to her feet, "Ye good?"
Andrea stared wordlessly into his eyes; lips pursed, muscles tense, jaw clenched until she nodded once and exhaled slowly, "If by 'good' you actually mean "can you stand" then yeah." Andrea quipped with the barest trace of a smirk on her lips, "Not entirely sure if I can stay on my feet without assistance though." She added with a grimace.
Sophia immediately slid up to her left side and hooked the taller woman's arm around her thin shoulders.
Andrea's face instantly softened, eyes brightening and she pressed the girl's face to her chest, kissing the top of her head.
Daryl—satisfied that she was stable—dropped to the ground to retrieve a spare rag and a bottle of water promptly washing his hands clean on her blood again. Then he stood and nodded at hers, "Gimme..."
Andrea obliged, holding out her right hand with a small smile of thanks.
He didn't return it with one of his own, instead focused solely on the task at hand so they could move the hell on. That's when he noticed it, there, on the underside of her forearm; a long, reasonably thin but deep enough to draw blood, jagged scratch.
Daryl stiffened and his head snapped up sharply.
Andrea slowly frowned at him, confused orbs growing wary. The look in his eyes...
Sophia glanced between them, her stomach fluttering nervously at their change in demeanours.
Daryl swallowed hard, feeling the crushing weight of failure and dread heavy on his shoulders. This wasn't fair she'd fought so hard and done a damn good job too. She'd beaten the fuckers damn it!
Daryl tightened his hold on her hand while his eyes returned to the death sentence marring her perfectly smooth skin. His insides plummeted and his chest seized.
He was gonna have to kill her.
~T.W.D~
'Another cliff-hanger I know haha. Don't hate me! :P
Please review cause they're my crack and I need a hit ;)
Rachel xoxo'