Recapture

Chapter 21

Missy paced back and forth outside her house. The yelling from the Dixon house was so loud she could hear it clearly at her house. Daryl's dad was home and screaming at Daryl, half of what he was saying didn't make sense. Suddenly she heard a loud ruckus and glass breaking. The front door swung open and Daryl's dad shoved him out the door causing Daryl to fall onto the sidewalk leading from the porch. Daryl clutched his left forearm as Missy began to approach him just as his dad slammed the door. Daryl struggled to his feet still clutching his arm as Missy stepped close to him.

"Daryl….are you alright?" She looked at his arm and could see the bright red blood pouring through his fingers. "Oh my God! You're bleeding!"

"I'm fine….it's nothin'" He told her.

"It's not nothing…you're hurt, here come with me." Missy led Daryl back to her house and followed her inside.

"But your parents…" Daryl said. He knew full well her parents didn't want her having anything to do with him and his brother. He had even seen her father threaten some of the neighborhood boys with a shotgun when they came around and tried chatting her up.

"Oh don't worry, they are both out of town. They left me here alone….can you believe it? My parents?" Missy laughed as she took out the first aid kit from the kitchen cabinet.

"Sit down Daryl, here let's put this on your arm." She grabbed a towel and used it as a compress against his arm.

She held his arm in one hand and pressed the towel against the wound with the other and just held it there. Missy could tell Daryl was uncomfortable with her touching him as he struggled to make eye contact with her. Even still she could feel his eyes on her when she wasn't looking.

Missy always had a thing for Daryl. Ever since she could remember. She wanted to lean over and kiss him but didn't have the nerve. She was afraid he'd pull away and think she was crazy or maybe he'd think she was too young for him. She could never read Daryl. He never spoke much to her but he also never acted like she was bothering him. Whether she was right or not, she took that as a good sign.

Daryl always though Missy was a pretty girl. But now that she was getting older, she was becoming more beautiful. The fact that she wasn't stuck up like most of the girls her age with her looks made her that much more attractive. He couldn't help but feel nervous around her, not just because of how pretty she was but because of how she made him feel. He often found himself wanting to pull her close and kiss her but he wouldn't dare act on those feelings. He didn't have the nerve to.

Missy looked at Daryl but this time he didn't look away. She smiled softly at him and there was something about her eyes that just drew him in, especially when she smiled. He wanted to tell her how beautiful she was but he just sat there in silence as she bandaged his arm.

Melissa woke up the next morning with her hands bound behind her back. Her feet were also tied together with rope. She started to struggle and panic. He head throbbed near her left temple. The smell of death still in the air made her nauseous. She saw John sitting in a chair by the entrance of the living room. Her shotgun was laying across his lap. His head was tilted back against the chair and he was snoring.

Paula came walking from the back of the house. She pranced her way into the living room, wearing the yellow dress from Melissa's backpack.

"Wake up John! Whatcha think? Don't I look pretty?" Paula twirled around in Melissa's dress in front of him. He woke up groggy and rubbed his eyes.

"Boy you sure do look purdy!" John stated and they both laughed.

"Now I have new clothes, just what I needed." Paula stated.

"What are you planning on doing with me?" Melissa demanded to know as she continued to struggle trying to free herself from the rope.

John looked over at Melissa as if he couldn't care less what happened to her. "You're gonna stay right here. Come on babe, get your stuff, let's get out of here."

"YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME HERE LIKE THIS! AT LEAST UNTIE ME,I'LL DIE HERE!" Melissa screamed at them.

John opened the door and turned back to Melissa. He pressed his right hand against the door frame. Paula just looked at Melissa and smiled.

"Sorry hun, but didn't your mother teach you not to ride with strangers?" John said as he and Paula laughed at her. Paula looked back towards the door and a look of horror came over her. Melissa saw her change of expression and turned herself towards the door to see better.

Paula screamed in terror as a walker bit into John's shoulder and he screamed out one of the most terrifying screams Melissa had ever heard. John dropped the shotgun on the floor. Melissa frantically tried to free herself as she watched Paula stand there frozen with fear. Another walker pushed passed John and the walker feasting on him as the two dropped to the floor. Paula started to slowly back up but tripped over the bottom step of the staircase. As soon as she fell, the other walker lunged at her and bit into her face.

Melissa thought for sure she was going to be walker food herself and her heart felt as though it was going to beat out of her chest. Melissa fought the urge to scream herself afraid of bringing the attention of either or both walkers.

Melissa pulled her knees up to her chest and struggled to slide her legs through her arms so her hands would be in front. Once she was able she sat up and fought with the ropes around her ankles until her legs were finally free. She started to stand and caught the attention of the walker devouring Paula. It stood up and began walking towards her. Her hands still bound Melissa quickly grabbed a fireplace poker and swung as hard as she could at the walker's head.

The loud crack against the walker's head caught the attention of the other. The walker she struck dropped to the floor as Melissa struck it in the head over and over. The other one lunged towards her and she swung again as hard as she could but this time her aim was off and she struck it in the arm. She did strike it with enough force to knock back into the corner and before it had a chance to regain it's balance Melissa took off towards the front door. She tried jumping over John's body but didn't clear it completely causing her to fall forward on the porch. As soon as she hit, she lost grip on the fireplace poker and watched it slide across the porch.

Melissa didn't even want to look back and scrambled to her feet as fast as she could and took off down the steps. Running towards the rear of the house and running into the barn. Once there she turned around and noticed that the walker hadn't followed after her. She dropped to her knees and started to cry.

.

Daryl and Rick had searched the woods just around their property. They found their way back up to the roadway. They continued walking a ways and Daryl noticed the house he had previously searched with the dead family.

"That truck wasn't there before" Daryl told Rick as he pointed to the red truck.

"Well let's check it out then maybe someone picked her up or they saw her." Rick stated.

"That house is full of rotting bodies, this isn't right, no one could be staying there." Daryl stated as he started to pick up the pace. As they approached the porch Daryl could see a walker feeding on what used to be a man on the doorway. Daryl took aim then called out to it.

"HEY YOU UGLY BITCH!" he yelled.

The walker looked up at Daryl. It stood up and started to walk towards him. He pulled the trigger to his crossbow and a bolt shot out and pierced the walker's skull. It dropped to the porch. Daryl marched up the steps and pulled the bolt from it's head as he braced it with his foot.

Rick walked past Daryl with his gun drawn and into the house, stepping over John's body and saw the remains of a woman with short dark hair like Melissa's. Her face was completely gone. Rick thought he recognized the dress as one she wore before but he wasn't certain. He noticed the shot gun lying on the floor nearby and recognized it as his own. His stomach turned as he dreaded telling Daryl Melissa was dead.

"Damn nasty piece of shit!" Daryl exclaimed as he started to go in the house behind Rick.

Rick quickly turned around and tried to get Daryl to step back onto the porch.

"Daryl, don't…..come on….you don't want to see…" Rick told him.

Daryl cut him off in mid sentence. "Don't want to see what?" Daryl looked past Rick and saw the woman laying at the foot of the stairs. Daryl stood there motionless at first when he saw her. He shoved Rick out of his way and walked closer to her. Daryl could feel the tears filling his eyes as a cry escaped out of his throat. He covered his mouth to suppress it. All he could do was shake his head. Daryl took a deep breath to gain control, ignoring the smell of decay in the house.

"Daryl….I'm sorry." Rick said as he put his hand on Daryl's shoulder.

Daryl shrugged Rick's hand off of him and started to pace back and forth still shaking his head.

"No…no…it's not her…..it's not!" Daryl said still fighting back the tears.

Rick bent down and picked up the shotgun. "Daryl I'm sorry but it is…..this is my shotgun, those are her clothes…"

"NO!" Daryl yelled as he started to cry. He couldn't hold back the tears any longer even though he continued to fight them the whole time. Rick stood there in silence.

Daryl turned around and walked back on to the porch. He saw the fireplace poker lying on the porch and he picked it up, sitting his crossbow down in it's place. Daryl went back to the walker he had killed and ruthless began beating it with the poker swearing the entire time.

Rick stepped back out onto the porch but he didn't try and stop Daryl. He just let him beat the walker until he wore himself out. Daryl stopped resting his hands on his knees to catch his breath. He used his arm to wipe the tears from his face.

Rick picked up his crossbow off the porch and walked over to Daryl.

"Come on Daryl…let's go." Rick told him.

Daryl looked up at Rick as he threw down the poker. He walked over to him and grabbed his crossbow from his hand. They walked back to their house without speaking a word.