Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead. I also have no claim on any pop culture references that I may use throughout my writings. I only own my OCs. Enjoy the read.
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~208 ~ 4340
Isabell had spent the majority of her day inside the Greene's family home, more specifically in their kitchen. She enjoyed getting newly acquainted with Beth and Patricia, as well as the others in her group that Isabell hadn't spent much time with. Isabell liked Beth and Patricia. They were sweet, but Isabell wondered how far that they were going to get if they were always this sweet.
Isabell noticed that Lori was wandering in and out of the kitchen. Something was bothering the other woman so much so that Isabell could sense it. However, Isabell deciphering what was wrong with Lori was going to be a task all on its own. She was afraid to ask Lori about it because Lori might take it the wrong way and bite Isabell's head off. With Isabell just starting to actually get along with everyone in their group, pissing off the leader's wife wouldn't be the best.
There was only so much that Isabell could do in the kitchen to keep her mind occupied while Daryl was out searching. As it got closer to dinner, less was needed to be done to prepare and Daryl was on her mind more. Isabell needed more to distract her mind until Daryl came back. It was even more concerning to Isabell that the other groups from the search parties had managed to come back and Daryl was still absent from the farm.
Isabell shook her head, and pulled a chair out from the dining room table and placed in the doorway between the kitchen and dining room. "Hey, Beth!" She called, turning her head to see the blonde enter the room. Isabell pat the back of the chair. "Come sit. Let me braid your hair."
"Why?" Beth asked, absently running her fingers through her ponytail.
Isabell shrugged and smiled. "I'm bored." She laughed. "Humor me for a few minutes." Isabell gestured her head for Beth to hurry over when she noticed Beth's hesitation. "C'mon."
"Alright." Beth smiled and made her way over to the chair to sit in it.
Lori had made her way into the kitchen, noticing the two blondes playing with their hair. She looked around to the rest of the room before speaking. "It is nice to be cookin' in a real kitchen again."
Carol nodded and smiled. "I never thought I'd be so happy to see a potato." She said, holding one up and earning laughs from the other women.
"I'm just glad we're not roasting squirrels over a fire in the woods." Lori chimed.
"Hey." Isabell said jokingly. "Daryl works hard for them squirrels."
"Oh, I know." Lori said, finally acting like her normal self. "Thank you, Patricia, so much for lettin' us into your house."
"Thank you for cookin' for us." Patricia countered.
"We're just trying to make good for everythin' Hershel's done while Carl's healing." Isabell shared with the older woman.
Patricia looked over Beth's shoulder to gaze at the new braid on her head. "Well, if you folk can cook like this one braids hair," She put a hand on Isabell's shoulder. "I'm sure it'll be lovely."
Isabell took the elastic that previously held Beth's ponytail and tied it tightly at the end of the braid. "You're all set." She told Beth.
Beth put a hand on the back of her head, feeling the perfect French braid. "Thank you." Beth smiled, standing from the chair.
"No problem." Isabell waved off, quickly putting the chair away. "I used to braid my daughter's hair all the time."
Beth furrowed her brow. "You had a daughter?" Beth asked, facing Isabell.
Isabell froze, realizing that this was the first time that she had told anybody about Harley, right out, besides Carol.
Lori looked to Isabell, eyes wide with shock.
Isabell bit her lip and nodded. She nervously looked around to each person. "Yeah. Harley. She…. She was ten." Isabell paused for just a second, noticing that everyone looked at her like they wanted her to tell them more. She pointed with her thumbs towards the door. "I'm gonna go get some air." Isabell said slowly, passing by Carol.
Carol put a comforting hand on Isabell's shoulder as she passed her by.
Isabell left the house and stood on the porch taking deep breaths. She was holding herself up on the guardrail. Isabell wasn't sure if she was ready for everyone to start asking her about her daughter. Having Carol ask her about Harley was one thing. Isabell thought that Carol was able to understand her since Sophia was missing. The two had bonded even stronger.
Isabell was taken from her thoughts when she heard Andrea scream from the top of the RV.
"Walker!" Andrea shouted.
Isabell acted quickly. She reached down, grabbing her knife out of her boot and ran towards the camper. "How many?" Isabell asked, calling up to Andrea.
"Just the one?" Rick asked as well.
Andrea didn't answer. Instead, she picked up her binoculars to get a better look at it from as far away as it was. "I bet I can nail it from here." Andrea said, putting down the binoculars and replacing them with her rifle. The rest of the group took this time to run and get their own weapons from their tents.
"No." Rick ordered. "No, Andrea. Put the gun down."
"You'd best let us handle this." Shane explained, limping out from between the trees.
"Shane, hold up." Rick said to his best friend, trying to stop him. "Hershel wants to deal with walkers."
"What for, man? We got it covered." Shane continued towards the treeline across the field.
Rick cusses, frustrated with his friend. He ran inside the RV to retrieve his own gun from the gun bag. He hurried back out to catch up with Shane and T-Dog.
"What should we do?" Isabell asked Rick as he ran by.
"Stay there." Rick ordered over his shoulder. "And don't shoot."
Isabell nodded, even though Rick had already gone, and he wouldn't see. She watched as the men ran off towards the lone walker.
Andrea earned Isabell's attention when Andrea clicked the rifle's safety off.
"Andrea, what the hell are you doin'?" Isabell asked, taking a few steps back, so she could see Andrea laid down on the roof. "We were told to stand down."
Dale made his appearance, climbing up the ladder, hoping to stop her that way.
The blonde didn't answer and started to line up her shot.
"Andrea!" Isabell shouted, trying to get her to stop.
Andrea steadied the gun on the rail on the roof to get an even shot.
"Andrea, don't." Dale persisted, finally speaking up.
"Back off, both of you." Andrea spat. She took a deep breath and then took her shot. She smiled knowing that she got the target.
Isabell's head followed the bullet as it flew through the air. She waited for a response from the others who had gone after the walker.
"No!" Rick shouted from across the field. "No!"
"Andrea, what the fuck did you do?!" Isabell shouted.
Dale moved down the ladder, preparing to go into the field.
Andrea also looked panicked and followed Dale down to the grass.
Hershel and the other inhabitants of the farm came out from the house. "What on Earth's going on out here?" Hershel yelled.
"I'll go check it out!" Isabell shouted back at him. She broke into a sprint in the direction of the others with her knife gripped tightly in her hand.
Andrea and Dale followed behind her, slowly.
What Isabell saw as she approached Rick and the others wasn't something that she ever wanted to see. It made her stop a few yards in front of them. Isabell's knees went weak, and she almost fell flat onto the ground. Thankfully, Dale was behind her to catch her under her arms. Isabell steadied herself on her feet. "D-Daryl?" She questioned. Isabell gained her strength back quickly and continued towards him. "Daryl!"
"Oh, my God!" Andrea cried. "Oh, my God, is he dead?"
Rick answered. "He's alright. Unconscious. You just grazed him."
Isabell took in Daryl's appearance. Muddied up clothes, ripped shirt, walker ears on a string around his neck. Isabell shook her head at the sight.
"Look at him!" Glenn gasped. "What the hell happened?" The younger man pointed to the string around Daryl's neck. "He's wearing ears!"
Rick quickly pulled the string of ears off from around Daryl's neck and stuffed them inside his own shirt. His eyes shot to Glenn. "Let's keep that to ourselves."
Isabell took a deep breath, looking Daryl over. She saw red, and then she saw Andrea. "You bitch!" Isabell shouted, charging at Andrea herself.
Glenn acted quickly and grabbed Isabell so that she couldn't get to Andrea. One arm wrapped around her waist and the other held the wrist that held her knife.
"Let me go, Chinaboy!" Isabell shouted angrily, fighting against his hold. "God Dammit, Andrea, this is why you stand down when you're told to!"
"Isabell!" Dale shouted. He moved in front of Isabell, blocking her sight of Andrea. "Calm down!" Dale said, gesturing with his palms down.
"Don't you fuckin' tell me to calm down, old man! She shot Daryl! She shot him and she could have killed him!" Isabell insisted, continuing to kick and fight against Glenn.
"He's okay!" Dale reasoned, shaking his head. "He's just hurt. Needs a few stitches. But beating up Andrea won't solve anything."
"It'll sure make me feel better." Isabell growled.
"Guys, isn't this Sophia's?" That one phrase consisting of four words from T-Dog's mouth made Isabell stop fighting against Glenn's hold on her and look to the other man. In his hand, T-Dog held a doll. Sophia's doll.
"Daryl had that?" Isabell asked, falling to her knees as Glenn's hold weakened significantly.
T-Dog nodded at her.
Isabell smiled. "He found a lead."
"We need to get him to Hershel." Rick said, continuing to help Shane carry Daryl back towards the white house. Each had one of Daryl's arms over their shoulders.
"You good?" Glenn asked from over her shoulder, worried that she would still try to go after Andrea.
"I'm good." Isabell nodded, using Glenn to help her get to her feet. She approached Andrea, narrowing her eyes at the blonde. "Consider this your first and only free pass." Isabell told Andrea, gripping her knife tightly. "If you almost get me or Daryl killed again, they're gonna need to do a lot me than hold me back from just beating your face in."
Isabell followed the men back to the house. She followed them up the stairs to the second floor into a spare bedroom.
Once Daryl was safely in the bed, Rick and Shane silently left the room.
Isabell couldn't bring herself to leave even if she wanted to go. She sat cross-legged on the other half of the bed. Isabell faced Daryl, watching his face, looking for the small sounds of life.
Hershel came in, holding a washcloth. He held it out to Isabell, and she took it to dab it on Daryl's forehead. Hershel stood over Daryl, removing his ripped shirt and starting to stitch up the man's side.
Isabell sighed, looking over Daryl in his hurt and weakened state. It was rare for Isabell to see him this vulnerable. Isabell wasn't sure that she liked seeing Daryl weak. She cleared her throat, not looking from the man on the bed. "Hey, Doc?"
Hershel glanced up towards Isabell for a moment and then returned to his work.
"If he wakes, don't….don't make a big deal of the scars. He gets a little — "
"I wouldn't have." Hershel admitted, shaking his head. "It's his business."
Isabell nodded as one side of her mouth turned up into a small smile.
Daryl must have started to feel the pressure from the stitches because he started to stir. He woke up only moments after Hershel started.
"Daryl?" Isabell questioned, pushing herself closer to him on the bed.
"Izzy?" Daryl mumbled, reaching a hand up to touch his head. He winced when he made contact with the wound.
Isabell smiled, pulling Daryl's hand away from his head. Her lower lip quivered, and she leaned over, touching her forehead to Daryl's shoulder. Isabell couldn't stop the small tears from forming under her eyes.
"Wha's wrong, Iz?" Daryl asked, shrugging so Isabell would lift her head. "Why you cryin'?"
The blonde pulled away from Isabell, confused. She furrowed her brow and scoffed. "D, y-you came back with a both would in your side. A-and then Andrea shot at you because she thought you were a walker." Isabell said, the anger building up in her just a little.
"Good thing she's not a good shot, then, huh?" Daryl moved his head she he could take a look at Hershel's progress on stitching him up.
"Daryl, I thought you were dead."
"'M not." Daryl said simply.
Isabell sat up, averting her eyes away from him. "Yeah." She sat up straight, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Yeah, I guess you're right." Between Isabell and Daryl there were a couple moments of awkward silence. Isabell was no long in physical contact with Daryl and had backed up on the bed slightly.
Hershel spoke. "You should get Rick." He said, noticing Isabell's uncomfortableness. "He'll want to know where Daryl found the doll."
Isabell nodded, pushing herself off of the bed. "Yeah, you're right. I'll go get him." Isabell walked around the bed, leaving the room and went downstairs. She sighed, finding much of the group sitting around in the living room, waiting for either dinner or to find out what happened to Daryl. "Rick?" Isabell called, gaining the sheriff's attention. "Daryl's awake. If you wanna grab a map and talk to him about what he found."
Rick nodded, looking to Shane sitting on his right. They both pushed themselves out of their seats. Rick stood in front of Isabell. "Are you sure that he'll remember? With that shot he took to the head?"
"He seems fine." Isabell dismissed. "Normal. He'll remember."
Shane scoffed, looking to Rick with a side smirk. "What exactly is normal for Daryl? Considering what he came back with." He moved to take a step around Isabell and move up the stairs.
Isabell stepped in his path, stopping him from going farther. "We're not talking to him about that." She stressed. "You ask him about the doll and only the doll or you'll wish them walkers took you down with Otis." Isabell threatened, her right eye twitching with anger.
Shane looked at Isabell like she was crazy. "What's got your panties in a bunch?"
"Shane…." Rick warned, lightly pushing Shane back from Isabell. He then turned to the woman, putting a hand out in front of him. "We'll go talk to him."
"Not without me." Isabell insisted, sending a couple daggers towards Shane, not trusting him. When Rick agreed, Isabell nodded to him and then turned to walk up the stairs.
The men followed close behind her.
Isabell opened the door and allowed the men inside before entering herself and closing the door again behind her.
Shane took a seat in the chair next to Rick.
"Daryl?" Rick questioned.
"Hm?" Daryl mumbled.
"I was wonderin' if you could tell us where you found the doll."
Daryl nodded to the best of his ability with his head leaning on his hand.
Rick unrolled the map over the bed.
Daryl studied the map for a moment, getting his bearings and figuring out where he was. He pointed down on the map. "I found it washed up on the creek bed, right there." Daryl insisted. "She must have dropped it crossing there somewhere."
"Cuts the grid almost in half." Rick noticed.
"Yeah, you're welcome." Daryl groaned, watching Hershel as he tugged at the skin around the cut on his side.
"How's he lookin'?" Rick asked the doctor.
Hershel shook his head. "I had no idea we'd be going through the antibiotics so quickly." He said, cutting off the end of the stitch. "Any idea what happened to the horse?" He moved to wash his hands.
"Yeah, the one that almost killed me?" Daryl asked. "If it's smart, it left the country."
"We call that one Nelly, as in Nervous Nelly. I could have told you she'd throw you if you'd bothered to ask for it." Hershel admitted.
"You didn't ask?" Isabell asked, accusingly.
"Is now really the time to be yellin' at me?" Daryl complained, eyes locking with Isabell's.
Hershel dried his hands. "It's a wonder you people have survived this long."
Isabell scoffed. The old man knew nothing about them and how they've survived out with the walkers. "You know what? I'll get the rest of the stitches." Isabell said, annoyed by all the men in the room. "Go get ready for dinner. I'm sure it's almost ready."
"You sure?" Rick asked.
"Yeah." Isabell insisted. "Daryl and I need some space." She said, trying to shoo them out of the small bedroom.
"Okay." Rick said, calmly, leading Shane out of the room.
"I can get those if you need." Hershel told Isabell.
"I've done it before. Obviously well enough that we're still surviving." Isabell stressed. "I appreciate it, but I can handle it."
Hershel nodded, holding out the supplies to her, realizing that he hit a nerve.
"Thank you."
Hershel left the room, closing the door behind him.
Isabell climbed back onto the bed on the other side of Daryl. She sat in front of him and crossed her legs. Isabell pat a hand on her lap. "C'mere."
Daryl sighed, but complied, putting his head in her lap.
Isabell pushed the hair out of the way of the wound gently so that she wouldn't hurt him. "Yer hair is gettin' long."
"So?" Daryl questioned. "Not like Ima be winnin' any beauty contests soon."
"I'm just makin' conversation, D." Isabell chastised, stopping her work and looking down at him with a hard stare.
"Well, don't." Daryl snapped, not meeting her eyes.
Isabell sighed. She hated these moods that Daryl often got into. Around Isabell, Daryl didn't get into these closed off moods often, but when he did, it was almost like he was barreling over even her with his terrible attitude. Normally, this mood would only happened if he had been spending time with Merle.
Daryl's brother tended to bring out the worst in him. Given that Merle was dead, that hadn't been able to happen.
For the next few moments, Isabell silently worked on the wound on Daryl's head, being as gentle as she could.
Daryl, being fidgety, was starting to play with the bandage that covered the wound on his side.
Isabell glanced sideways at it and licked her bottom lip. "Can I ask how that happened?" She asked, gesturing to Daryl's side.
"Got thrown from that damn horse. Tumbled down a cliff." Daryl explained, clearing his throat. "One of my bolts went straight through."
"Good thing it didn't go more towards the middle." Isabell told him. "You'da never made it back."
"I guess."
Isabell bit her lip, wondering why Daryl was being so dismissive. She waited a moment before finishing off the stitches and tying it off. "You wanna tell me what the ears were about?" Isabell asked, reaching for the scissors to cut the thread.
"No." Daryl barked.
"Okay." Isabell nodded, reaching for the gauze to wrap it around his head. She pat Daryl's shoulder so that he would sit up.
Daryl sat facing Isabell, legs crossed in front of him. He watched her as she moved the bandage around his head in circles. "You okay?"
"No." Isabell responded shortly.
"Wha's wrong?" Daryl asked, almost like he didn't want to.
Isabell shook her head. "Nothin' apparently."
"Talk ta me."
"No." Isabell forced. "You used ta always get on me about bein' closed off and not sayin' things. I'm tryin' ta get through to ya and yer not havin' it."
"How can I if I ain't got any idea what yer sayin'?"
Isabell sighed, tucking the end of the bandage underneath the rest of it. "You looked dead, Daryl. You looked like a walker. There was no way that Andrea shootin' you wasn't just."
"So she shot me." Daryl scoffed. "Big deal."
"That's just it." Isabell gripped her hands into fists. "You don't care that you could have died. You coulda left me forever."
"But I didn't. And if I did, you'd've had the people here."
"I don't care about them bein' here. I'd care about you bein' here. And if you weren't…." Isabell shook her head. "I'm not sure what'd I'd do. Because right now, you're the only thing that is keeping me going." She licked her lips. "I just don't like the idea of findin' anybody like that. Especially you." Isabell shook her head and pushed herself off of the bed.
Daryl sighed. "Nah." He grabbed her wrist. "Don't go." Daryl said, pulling her back to lay on the bed. "C'mere."
Isabell let out a breath and laid down next to Daryl. She curled up to his side, looking up at him.
"I ain't never leavin' you." Daryl insisted. "I'll get bruised and banged up and I'll take ten bolts for ya, but I'm never goin' anywhere without ya."
Isabell looked Daryl in his eyes and put a hand on the side of his neck. "Alright." She said before she leaned forward and kissed him hard. Isabell pulled away after a moment, and she noticed the slight look of confusion on his face. "I'm sorry. I just want you to know I'm not goin' either. I'll be with you until the end of it. Until we both go because I won't go much farther without you."
"I love ya." Daryl said to Isabell after he took a breath. "Ya love me?"
"I do." Isabell told him. "Just don't do that again."
"What?"
"Scare me like ya did." She turned over, curling into him. "Never give us a reason to think yer dead."
Daryl put an arm around her waist and put his mouth to her ear. "I'm not gonna."
As Daryl tried to fall asleep after his difficult day, Isabell stayed in her place right next to him. She didn't let herself sleep. Even if Isabell wanted to sleep, she couldn't. Her brain was still running wild about what happened to Daryl and what he found.
The possibility of finding Sophia just shot through the roof. They had a better area of where she could me, making it easier to narrow down the place where the child could be hiding out.
Isabell sighed. She listened to Daryl's even breaths deciding that he was finally passed out. Isabell turned over onto her stomach so that she could face him, her chin resting on his chest. She watched as his shoulder rose and fell as he breathed, happy to have him back and alive.
There was quite a long time that passed until there was a knock at the door.
Isabell pushed her elbow into the bed and leaned up on it. "Come in." She called softly.
Carol entered the room with a tray of food on her arm.
Isabell smiled at her and raised a finger to her. She looked down at Daryl. "D, wake up." Isabell said, reaching for the sheet that was draped over his body. She pulled it further towards her shoulders, knowing that he would be embarrassed if Carol sat the scars he was cursed with.
With the movement of the bed, Daryl's eyes shot open. He grabbed and secured the sheet at his chest and turned his body to see Carol standing behind him.
"How are you feeling?" Carol asked him.
Isabell sat up with her legs crossed over each other. She faced Carol.
Carol looked away for just a moment, not sure how to go about the situation. "I bought you both some dinner." She said, setting the tray down on the bedside table. "You both must be starving."
Daryl turned to look at the tray and looked away again.
"Thank you." Isabell said with a small smile.
Carol nodded. She looked to Daryl and then leaned down towards him.
Daryl cringed away slight, but it didn't stop Carol.
The short-haired woman continued towards him and kissed his temple.
Daryl looked at her, accusingly. "Watch out, I got stitches."
"Daryl…." Isabell chastised.
"You need to know something." Carol said suddenly, preventing Isabell from further talking sense into Daryl. She had the attention of both Isabell and Daryl. "You did more for my little girl today than her own daddy ever did in his whole life."
Daryl looked back towards Isabell. He fluffed the pillow under his head to make it more comfortable. "I didn't do anything Rick or Shane wouldn't have done."
"I know." Carol said, then quietly continued. "You're every bit as good as them." She insisted. "Every bit." Carol continued to watch for a response from Daryl.
Isabell looked from Daryl up to Carol, meeting the woman's eyes. She smiled and nodded her head, mouthing a thank you.
Carol nodded, smiled, and then took her leave.
Isabell sighed. "You really did do a good thing for the group. Findin' that doll is givin' us a whole string o' new leads to Sophia."
"Yer welcome."
"I'm not sayin' to be thankful. I'm sayin' it so you know the people here know you can be good, too."
"If ya didn' know, I kinda had a long day. I'd like ta get some sleep before long." Daryl said, closing his eyes, not wanting to have a conversation.
"Alright." Isabell relented with a sigh. "Get some sleep. I'll wake ya in an hour so you get eat somethin'." Isabell got herself off of the bed and grabbed her plate from the tray Carol had left. She moved to the chair so that she could sit and eat.
"I love ya." Daryl said.
Isabell looked up to see him watching her. "Me, too."
"Ya sure?"
"Promise." Isabell smiled, nodding.