Disclaimer- I do not own the Walking Dead.
Hello there, I'm not completely happy with this chapter, but here it is anyway so read away or not.
Enjoy and please review. I had some really amazing reviews on my last chapter. Each one brought a smile, so thank you.
Danny's POV
She's pregnant, Lori is pregnant and Glenn and the Sheriff never brought Herschel home last night. I slightly regret my words to Lori yesterday but to be fair, she really did panic way too soon. An hour is not long enough to decide if someone that has gone out is in trouble or not. So in other words, I still stand by what I said I just regret saying them to her face especially now they haven't come back.
"I'm going with Shane to find Rick". Daryl tells me as he puts on his jacket.
"I figured". And I understand. There was no way he wasn't going.
"Merle's gonna stay here. With you still outta commission I'd feel better about goin' out if he was here".
"And I don't really think him and Shane should be in a car together. It's just asking for it".
He scoffs but he knows how true that is. Merle and Shane can barely be within 10 feet of each other without arguing about something, no matter how small or ridiculous the reason why is. He leans down to place a delicate kiss against my lips and then grabs his bag.
"Be careful". He just nods and then he's walking away. I watch them all from my chair as they load up the car with a few emergency supplies. Enough to last them a day or two just in case they get stuck out there as well.
We hear the sound of the car engine before we see it, and then there it is coming down the dirt road. You can visibly see everyone relax.
I make it over to them just as T-Dog alerts us to another person in the car.
"That's Randall". Glenn reluctantly reveals, he's clearly not happy about this, meaning neither am I. I can just make out a man or boy sat in the back seat, it's hard to tell which with the blindfold covering half his face. Something bad happened out there last night.
No one seems to say anything, nobody probably knows what to say. What happened out there? They go out to get one guy and come back with two, and as they pull Randall from the car I realise he's also pretty badly injured.
The Sheriff and Herschel ignore all of us as they half drag half carry Randall away, towards a shed off the side of the house. You can really tell that that pisses Shane off more than anything. If this was a cartoon he'd probably have steam coming out of his ears round about now.
With no watch or phone it's hard to tell how long the Sheriff stays in that shed with Herschel for but when he finally emerges he doesn't stop as he walks by us.
"Rick! You tell us what the fuck is goin' on". Shane demands.
The Sheriff gestures towards the house, "let's talk about this inside".
You can tell Shane's about to argue but Lori's quicker, "Shane". She then follows after her husband, son in tow. God forbid we just stay in one place. I guess no one else really cares that I can barely walk.
As the others disappear into the house Merle makes a sound of annoyance, "We gotta get you a wheelchair or somein'. All this laggin' behinds gettin' old".
"Fuck off Merle". Daryl comes to my unneeded defence. "Ain't no one makin' you help". I frown at how harsh those words come out of him.
"Geez, I was jokin' man." Merle jerks his head down at me. "She got it".
"It ain't a jokin' matter".
"Fuck you". Merle then stalks off ahead.
I clear my throat suddenly feeling a little awkward. "Are you okay?"
"They clearly ran into other people and then they go ahead and bring one of 'em back here. No I ain't okay".
"You don't know that. We have no idea what happened out there. Not yet". He doesn't say anything. "Merle was only joking. He was just trying to lift the mood".
He yanks open the farmhouse door quite roughly. "Not everythin's a joke". He then looks through the doorway, avoiding my eyes as he holds the door open for me.
"Okay then". This stranger has seriously rattled Daryl's cage and I'm really not a fan. He doesn't like not knowing things, probably makes him feel like he has no control over the situation.
When we emerge into the dining room we find that the group has waited for us. The Sheriff's looking my way, clearly trying to ignore all the questioning stares. Merle nudges out a chair with his foot.
"Now that she's" Shane sneers the word she, "arrived tell us what the hell happened".
"Two guys drew on us. They left me no choice, but I didn't know they weren't alone. The group tried to corner us in the bar meanin' we had to fight our way out, ended up killin' another in the process. It was us or them". Sheriff runs a hand down his face but no one interrupts him. "The Walkers started comin' in so the rest of the group fled but not before leavin' Randall injured. We couldn't just leave him behind. He would've bled out. If he lived that long".
"It's gotten bad in town". Glenn means the town belongs to the Walkers now.
"What do we do with him?" Andrea asks the burning question. He's part of a group who attacked ours, he shouldn't be here. Under any circumstances.
The back door bangs shut and then Herschel's walking into the room drying his hands, fresh blood on his shirt.
"I repaired his calf muscle as best I can, but he'll probably have nerve damage. Won't be on his feet for at least a week".
Great, Merle groans but the Sheriff pretends like he didn't here him.
"When he is, we give him a canteen, take him to the main road and send him on his way".
I lean sideways, closer to Merle. "You groaned too soon".
Shane sighs, "Just let him go? He knows where we are".
"He was blindfolded the whole way here", Sheriff leans forward slightly, "He's not a threat".
"Not a threat! How many of them were there? You killed what..." Shane pauses. "Three of them, took another hostage. But nah they ain't gonna come lookin' for him".
"They left him for dead". Ooh, someone's not happy that Shane is questioning their good intentions. "No one is lookin'".
"We should still post a guard", T-dogs suggests but Herschel shakes his head.
"He's out cold right now, will be for hours".
Shane stands up straight from where he was leaning against the wall. "I'm gonna go get some flowers and candy". He scoffs, "look at this folks, we in fantasy land." I roll my eyes, he's really got to cool it with the dramatics. He starts to stride from the room, trying to make his big exist but Herschel follows him.
"You know, we haven't even dealt with what you did at my barn yet." Shane holts, "let me make this perfectly clear once and for all. This is my farm. Now I wanted you gone, Rick talked me out of it but that doesn't mean I have to like it. So do us both a favour, keep your mouth shut".
Shane glances at everyone around the room before making his hasty exit. Is it just me that thinks that deserves a solid round of applause. Not only is it now clear that we're staying here but Herschel's just actually scolded Shane and I loved it.
I turn my head to the side so I can hide the start of a smile, Daryl and Merle are both staring at me as I try and fail to contain it. Merle winks but Daryl does a very subtle head shake, I guess he' still moody. I just purse my lips.
"Look, we're not gonna do anythin' about it today, let's just cool off". That is a very clear I don't want to talk about this anymore from the Sheriff.
Daryl holds his hand out to help me up.
"I've been thinking, for the time being all meetings should be conducted around me". All this having to follow people around just to be able to get information is wearing me out. "Just until I can walk properly again".
"Next time", the Sheriff pipes up, "We'll do that". He follows Lori from the room.
Once the three of us are back outside Daryl swings his crossbow onto his back.
"I'm headin' out", then he just walks off without another word.
I watch him go. "He seems to be taking this a whole lot worse than everyone else".
Merle sighs, "come on long John Silver, come help me clean our guns".
"That's not funny".
"Yeah it is". I roll my eyes at his back as he walks just ahead of me.
...
Merle teaches me how to take apart, clean and then put together the rifle I found. We take it apart and put it back together a few times so I can learn everything about it just in case something goes wrong while I'm using it, although he's still got to teach me how to use it. We can't go out just yet just in case Randall's group are out looking for him. I think we're gonna have to all stay on the farm for at least a couple of days.
I have been listening to all the information Merle has been teaching me but I can't stop myself thinking about Daryl. Worrying about his safety and worrying about how he's acting. I hate that he went off angry but maybe shooting some animals will relax him.
"Danny". I wince at how loud my name is shouted. "Danny". I lean back in my chair and look over my shoulder and spot Sophia as she is running towards me. She's holding something but I can't tell what because she's waving that arm above her head excitedly.
She comes to a sliding stop beside my chair, somehow managing not to slip over on the grass.
"You'll ne... Are you busy?" She's still trying to catch her breath back. She has her hand clamped over the item so I still can't tell what she's holding and she's seriously peaked my interest.
"Nope", I say that at the same time Merle says yes. I shoot a glare at him. "No, I'm not. What do you need?"
"Maggie gave me this" she then holds her palm out flat and sat in the middle of her hand is nail polish. Merle lets out a snort but I ignore him because the sound makes Sophia's smile falter.
I grin up at her, "give me the polish and grab a chair".
"I'm outta here", Merle grumbles as he starts packing away all his stuff.
Sophia comes bounding back over and slams her chair down and drops down heavily into. She's definitely excited, to be fair so am I. I haven't spent much time with her since we got back and I'm glad she came over especially with such a normal old world thing to do.
"Can I paint your nails first?" she asks.
I'm going to have to thank Maggie when I see her next. "Sure, but it'll have to be my finger nails". I'm not sure I can have someone touching my bad leg, even if it's just my foot. An accidental twitch and I'd be in a lot of pain and I know she'd feel so guilty and would stop. I chuckle when she lets out a little squeal.
The look of concentration on her face is so cute, she even has her lips pursed. She's really trying her best to make my nails looks great but I couldn't care what they look like. It's not like I have to look put together anymore.
As she finishes the first layer on my right hand she lets it go and reaches eagerly out for my left. The polish is a dark shimmery purple and looks pretty good. I wiggle my fingers out towards Merle who still hasn't left like he said he would. He seems to be hooked on watching Sophia work. My fingers in front of his face breaks him out of his trance.
"We can do yours if you're that interested".
"Yeah that ain't happenin' princess."
"Ah, you sure? I think this purple would match your complexion perfectly".
He ignores me.
"Urm..." Sophia doesn't look up from her task. "We're all okay right? The man in the shed isn't dangerous is he?".
I cast a quick look at Merle but he just shrugs at me.
"Yeah, of course we are. Herschel's had to help him so he's staying in there to heal".
Now she looks up at me. "But I know he's bad, that's what your secret meeting was about right? Mum won't tell me anything."
"If your mum won't tell you then I'm not sure it's my place to do so".
She drops my hand. "You're my friend".
"Sophia", Merle says her name in warning.
"No! He's bad right, they got in trouble last night and they brought him back here. That's why Daryl's angry..."
"How'd yo..." She doesn't let me speak.
"I see things. They brought him back here and now we're all in danger".
"Sophia". I say her name quite harshly which I instantly regret because she shrinks in on herself a little. "Seriously listen to me okay. Yes, he is a bad kid but we are safe. His group left him for dead. Do you hear me, for dead. They aren't looking for him".
We don't actually know that for sure hence the no leaving the farm but with the story the Sheriff told us it is highly unlikely that they are looking for him. Surely they'd just assume he was dead especially considering the extent of his injury. There's no way they would have thought he's survived. If Officer friendly hadn't rescued him Randall would have either bled out or been eaten by walkers.
"Oh". She looks sheepishly at the ground.
"Shit Sophia. Ya someone's kid, if ya mum don't want ya to know then it ain't ya place to guilt someone into tellin' ya."
"Sorry Merle".
"Ain't me ya should be apologising to." Who knew Merle could teach some life lessons, certainly not me.
"I'm sorry Danny."
"It's fine, I will happily tell you anything you ever want to know but your mum is in charge. What she chooses to say to you is completely up to her. Anyway look". I hold my half painted left hand out to her. "you can't leave me like this".