Hey guys! Happy Tuesday!
So, first things first, I'm fine. The night after I posted the last chapter, Lane had jumped up to a weak Category 5 so the county basically shut itself down. School's were shut down, my workplace is located in a mall, which was shut down as well. So yesterday was my first time back at work. Everyone is alright. The storm, thankfully fizzled down to a Category 1 before it got anywhere near my little island and then slowed down exactly where our trade winds shredded through it. It came at us as a powerful tropical storm, but we are counting our many blessings. I'm back at work, the only place I can update, and things are crazy since we were closed for about 4 days, so be patient with me as I try to catch up on my updates and work all at the same time.
Next, I want to do a new thing with my intro's to each chapter. Since I posted my last chapter, I realized I've been blowing up not only with reviews, but followers/favorites. I can't be anymore grateful than I am right now that my story is getting as much love as it is, so I want to give a shout out to the new followers/favorites at the beginning of every chapter, plus addressing my reviews, hope that's alright!
SHOUTOUT TO: jemmagirl, gottaloveva, Thon unicorn queen, Freakypet and Bri47 for the new follows and favorites! Love you guys!
Reviews:
Bri47: Thank you so much for your awesome words! I'm so glad that you are enjoying my version as much as I hope everyone else is! Hopefully I can continue to live up to your standards lol
Freakypet: Hopefully you got this far in the story lol and hopefully you are still enjoying the beginning of Season 2 as much as you liked Season 1! Many exciting twists and turns to come, so thank you for your support thus far!
KyraNoelle: Bwahaha glad you thought it was as intense as I was shooting for lol I had a few other ideas in mind for the direction of this chapter, but I'm kind of glad I went with this particular direction. Oh! And thank you for worrying about me, I'm physically alright though my house took a beating lol nothing too damaging, just minor wind and rain damage.
gottaloveva: We are safe! Thank you so much for keeping us in your thoughts and for all your prayers. We dodged another bullet with this hurricane though my house has minor wind/rain damage, but nothing too extensive. But aside from that, so happy you are loving my Ana series, I got tons of surprises in store!
Kaikitty165: We'll have to see where all of this shit takes Ana, but i'm sure she'll be alright for the most part :/ Also, thank you for your thoughts and prayers about Hurricane Lane. Just as you predicted, it went from a Category 5, down to a 1 before it got anywhere near my island, though we are still fixing up minor wind/rain damage to our place, we are physically alright.
Lavendor Queen: Ughhhhh, thank you so much for pointing out the fact that I called Ana, Skylar, YET AGAIN lol jesus, my mind just runs away with itself sometimes and then I forget which story I'm writing (There's another story I'm working on with the OC named Skylar) I'm gonna double/triple check my chapters from now on, but no promises that 'Skylar' won't slip in somewhere lmao
UmiNight Angel Neko: Awwwww, don't be sad! I promise, things will look up, soon enough lol
Now, as I promised, since I got an ASS TON of reviews for the last chapter, I quickly got the next chapter up and ready for ya'll!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own AMC's The Walking Dead or its characters, just my OC.
Ana's POV...
As if pain was a second skin to me, I was being jostled from my unconscious state, the pain in my arm on fire as my bleary eyes slowly began to peel open, the foggy sight of the forest moving the first thing I see. Whimpering when the pain in my arm is yanked on once more, I cry out, my eyes slamming shut as I attempted to weakly grab at whatever was lodged in my already dislocated shoulder.
"Stop fuckin' movin. Yer gonna fuckin' make it worst." A familiar voice emerged from close by as I sobbed, dropping my arm weakly before a grunt and groan echoed around me, my back carefully making contact with what I assumed to be the forest ground.
"Come on, ya gotta stay with me. We're close to the farm, just a bit more." That same voice whispered, taping my cheek as I sniffled, my head lulling to the side as the burning in my shoulder slowly began to engulf my entire form again.
"So...phia." I whispered desperately as that same hand tapping my cheek, froze, lying warmly against my cheek as I felt a warm breath blow across my face.
"Where is she Ana? Ya know where she is?" The voice asked desperately as I let out a blubbering sob, tears flowing from my shut eyes as another hand joined the one on my face, holding both my cheeks as I blinked against the pain, peeling my eyes open, squinting through the sunlight blaring down on me from the trees above. Through the tears in my eyes, I tried to focus on a fuzzy imagine of someone hunched over me.
"Ana." It whispered once more, the rough pad of their thumb brushing lightly across the tears spilling from my eyes as I slowly shut my eyes once more.
"Daryl..." I weakly answered, my uninjured hand slowly reaching up, grasping onto what I knew was his vest before I felt the energy completely slip from me.
Author's POV...
Daryl knew there wasn't a lot of time. Even if Ana knew where Sophia was holed up, he knew in her current state, there was no way she'd be able to tell him or make it through the night. Swallowing back the bile of worry, he scooped her up once more, not wanting to yank on the arrow still lodged in her shoulder, he swung her left arm around his shoulder, his right arm tightly around her waist.
He had to get back to the farm as quickly as possible. He had to get her help.
Guilt rose deep in his gut at the sight of the injured woman, this was his fault. Though he had instantly realized, when he had first saw her there, laying on the ground, he recognized a makeshift splint her arm was in, concern flooding his system briefly before skyrocketing when he realized his arrow in that same arm.
"Daryl..." Ana muttered about 20 minutes later as Daryl passed her a worried glance to see her eyes shut as she breathed shallowly.
"Don't talk, gotta get ya some help." Daryl spat defensively, knowing she was in bad shape though he was a bit worried if there was any unseen injuries he couldn't pinpoint through the layers of mud coating her.
What the hell had happened to her in the week and a half she had been missing?
About 5 minutes from the farm, Ana slowly began to slip out of her unconscious state as she blinked a few times before peering ahead to see the treeline coming to a close just under a 25 feet in front of them.
"Daryl..." She rasped out, getting his attention again as his eyes shot over to her, surprised to see her eyes open, though she looked like absolute shit compared to his fucked up appearance after failing at stealing one of the Greene horses. Luckily he had walked away from that fall with nothing more than a sprained ankle that didn't faze him, even now.
"Told ya to stop fuckin' talkin'..." Daryl rasped out, out of breath and completely winded with how far he had carried her so far.
"Sophia, she's...she's waitin' for me..." Ana whimpered out, blinking the fog away once more as Daryl's wide eyes shot over to Ana who was stumbling beside him.
"Ana, where is she? Tell me." Daryl insisted seriously. Once he got her checked out, he was heading back into the forest to look for the little girl, there was no way in hell he was giving up, especially with how close he had gotten.
Before he even realized what was happening, Ana gathered whatever energy was left in her and pushed Daryl's arms off of her, watching in horror as she fell towards a tree. Daryl snatched her up before she could completely collide with the tree and hissed at her.
"What the fuck is yer problem?! Yer fuckin' injured!" He snapped as she grumbled, weakly pushing his arms off of her as she stumbled out of the treeline and into the clearing that led to the Greene farm just across the way.
"Wait." She panted, ignoring the pain in her shoulder as she turned her back on the Greene farm, her uninjured hand reaching into the back of her pants where she fought to yank something out.
Once the item was free of the flannel tied around her waist, she slowly brought it out in front of her, showing the man the familiar rag doll now sitting in her hands.
"Is that Daryl? Ana?" Voices shouted from somewhere behind her as she slowly turned, welcoming the shocked faces of Rick, Glenn, Shane and T-Dog
"Ana..." Daryl stepped forward to ask her where she had picked up the doll before the sound of a gun shot echoed through the fields. In that next second, Ana was on the ground, blood seeping from the wound in the side of her head.
And just like that, Daryl was reminded why he never got close to anyone in this world. That agonizing horror of possibly losing something he cared for, began to drown him, his anger spiking as he dove for the girl, attempting to shake her awake with a scream.
"No. No. NO! Noo! Oh my god! Ana!"
Dale watched helplessly as Andrea took the shot everyone told her not to take as that same body dropped to the ground between what he could recognize to be Daryl and Rick before there was a frantic cluster of screams from the men. Andrea smirked up at Dale proudly before noticing the pale look on his face as he immediately began to climb down the RV towards the ground.
"What on earth's going on out here?" Hershel shouted as Andrea followed Dale towards the group that was now dragging a familiar body between them, caked in blood and mud, an arrow sticking out of her shoulder. Dale gasped at the familiar woman they hadn't seen in a week as Carol gaped at the sight of her.
"Oh my God, is she dead?" Andrea asked in panic as Daryl glared hard at her, his grip on Ana's waist unconsciously tightening as he somehow knew she was the one that pulled the trigger.
"You just grazed her." Rick huffed from the opposite side of Ana as the two men continued to carry her unresponsive body towards Hershel and his family.
"But look at her." Carol cried, seeing as the woman was caked in mud, blood oozing out of the wound in her shoulder and her head.
"What the hell happened?" Dale called out in concern as both Rick and Daryl shrugged their shoulders, unsure themselves, though Daryl had yet to admit he was the reason she had a arrow in her shoulder.
"Another one of your group?" Hershel asked as both himself and Maggie stood on the farmhouse porch, watching them approach.
"She's the one that went after the little girl that we lost. She must have been out there searching for her this entire time." Rick muttered as both men helped her dragging feet up the stairs towards Hershel who was already instructing his daughter to prepare a room for the woman.
"Oh wait." Daryl stopped them, briefly allowing Rick to take all of Ana's body weight as he pulled the rag doll from the side of his pants before turning and offering it to Carol who stared, horrified at the object being held for her.
"Ana found yer little girl. I think she has a hunch of where she is." Daryl explained, pushing the doll impatiently into Carol's arms before running back up the stairs to help Rick carry Ana into the home.
Hershel escorted the group into an upstairs bedroom, instructing them to place her gently on the towels that were laid out. The doctor immediately took count of the various visible injuries to the woman's form before turning to Maggie and Patricia, whispering various things to them as they made a quick dash out the door.
"She gonna be alright doc?" Daryl breathed in heavily as he paced the side of the room, his eyes not moving from the still unconscious girl.
"Looks to me that she's been through hell and back." Hershel commented as he took a careful seat beside her, checking her heart rate and various other vital signs as he muttered under his breath.
"I need to get this arrow out first, then I can see how serious the damage is." Hershel stood just as Patricia rolled in the same medical tray from Carl's room, Maggie following closely behind with a stack of towels and a half of bottle of whisky.
"Anything we can help with?" Rick asked worried as Hershel had Maggie soak his hands in the whiskey, ringing it out.
"I'm gonna need ya'll to hold her down. This is going to unpleasant." Hershel looked at the 4 men seriously, who in turn nodded, quickly approaching the bed. Rick and Daryl got a hold of her arms, T-Dog and Glenn grabbing her ankles as a few of the campers stared in from the open door.
Grabbing the heavy duty hedge trimmer Maggie brought in, Hershel made a clean cut of the arrow, just above her shoulder. Tossing the arrow tip onto the tray, he glanced at the 4 men with a heavy sigh and nodded. Helping the man to turn her on her side, showing what was left of the arrow sticking out of her back, he passed them one last look before taking a grasp of the end of the arrow.
Her reaction was instant. Ana's eyes shot open in pain, as she began to squirm and scream out as the men fought to hold her down.
"Hold her down!" Hershel shouted as Daryl all but climbed onto the bed just behind her head, wrapping his arms around her head and free arm, holding her tightly to his torso.
Once the arrow from free, she all but stopped moving as Maggie dove in, holding a towel to her oozing wound while Daryl slowly pulled her away to see her eyes shut once more.
"Is she alright?" Glenn asked in a panic as Hershel nodded, holding another towel to the front side of her wound while his other hand inspected her shoulder further.
"She'll be fine, once we get it cleaned up and stitched. Doesn't look like it hit anything vital." Hershel added as Daryl sighed in relief, unconsciously running his fingers through her tangled hair.
"She seems to have dislocated her shoulder as well." Hershel commented as he climbed off the bed, allowing Maggie and Patricia to move in and clean the wound.
"We'll need to pop it back into place and then stitch her up. Either than that, she'll be fine." He promised as Rick glanced at Daryl with a positive nod.
"Thank you." Rick thanked the older man who nodded, informing them all to leave so that he and his family could finish up Ana.
"I ain't goin' anywhere." Daryl cut the man off as Hershel made to complain only for Rick to step up to the man's defense.
"She and Daryl are close. She would be more upset if he wasn't here when she wakes up." Rick confessed as Hershel sighed, seeing no way around this before nodding.
"Fine, but stay out of the way till we have her stitched up good."
Thankfully Ana had stayed unconscious through the entire ordeal of getting her shoulder popped back into place, correctly, followed by Hershel sewing up her shoulder, front and back. The only time Daryl had moved from the room was when Patricia and Maggie insisted on giving Ana a sponge bath, just to inspect for any other injuries that might need their immediate attention. There were none. Hershel then instructed Daryl, who had refused to leave the room after that, that Ana was under orders to stay on bed rest for at least a day. Luckily Hershel was able to scrounge up an old sling that he was able to fit Ana perfectly. Showing him where there were more painkillers, Hershel excused himself from the room with Maggie close behind. But before the door could shut all the way, Maggie stopped, turning to the redneck who hadn't noticed her presences just yet.
"She'll be alright you know? If she were in any danger, daddy wouldn't be as calm as he is." Maggie hesitantly commented as Daryl peeled his eyes slowly from the sleeping woman and over to Maggie who continued to stand in the doorway.
"You care for her, I can see that. But she'll be okay." Maggie added, effectively cutting off Daryl's next words.
"I'll bring up some dinner in a few hours." Maggie nodded her goodbye before slipping out, shutting the door quietly behind her.
Daryl scoffed as the woman's words continued to run through his head again and again. Shutting his eyes as he buried his face into his palms, he let out a loud sigh, more relieved then he had been in a long time. After not being able to find her when they were still back on the highway, he had slightly panicked. He knew what this woman was capable of. He knew, in the long run, she could take care of herself if need be. She was badass and he knew, no one was ever going to take that from her.
But as the days trickled by, Carl getting shot, the group congregating at the Greene Farm, and still no sign of Sophia or Ana, Daryl for the first time in a long time, found himself panicking over a single person. He had never felt like this about someone. When Merle had gone missing, sure, he was pissed as fuck, but he wasn't worried. He knew his brother, walker or human, would kick ass till he couldn't anymore. But with Ana, possibly the female version of his old brother, he was worried. She might have survived on her own for a long time before he found her, but with a missing little girl possibly tagging along with her, he had no idea if they were alive or dead and that thought alone, scared him.
He kept telling himself that she was alive and fine, but he couldn't bring himself to believe that until he saw her right in front of him.
And when he finally found her, the first thing he did was to shoot her, mistaking her for a walker. He cursed under his breath, gripping the armrests tightly in his grasp, angry that he had made such a mistake.
"Ya know...if ya grip that chair any tighter...it's gonna break." A raspy voice suddenly echoed through the room as his eyes shot off the ground and to the woman who was peering over at him from her spot on the pillow. Feeling his heart thud loudly in his chest, able to see her alive and well right in front of him, he couldn't stop the small twitch of his lips, grateful to have her here once more.
"Aww, was that a smile just now Dixon? Yer gonna make me blush." She teased softly as he snorted, glaring half-heartedly at her.
"Shut yer fuckin' mouth." He growled as she snorted, slowly turning her head, lifting her uninjured hand to touch the bandage on the side of her head.
"Ya okay?" Daryl was on his feet in a heartbeat, worry flooding through him as she winced slightly.
"I feel like I got hit by a fuckin' truck." She hissed, resting her head back onto the pillow as Daryl stood awkwardly at her bedside, unsure what to do.
"What the hell happened? Did ya shoot me?" She dropped her hand from her head to her bandaged shoulder as Daryl glanced down at his shoes, unsure how to answer.
"Thought you were a fuckin' walker." Daryl whispered guiltily as her eyes slowly panned over, noticing the look of guilt on his face causing her to smile slightly.
She had missed him. As embarrassing as it sounded, she had missed the redneck's sarcasm and snarky remarks. She had missed him reeling into her at every minute of the day or throwing annoying comments about anything she did. She had missed him. And deep down, she was so happy she had run across him, even if he had shot her, on accident.
Shutting her eyes, she sighed out, her mind reeling in the realization that her attempt to help Sophia and save her from her impending death, might have backfired against her with the ending result being Daryl shooting her, mistaking her for a walker. That was her karma. She couldn't be mad though, that was on her. That was her fault but she didn't regret it. She was determined to save Sophia, having hope that the little girl had listened to her words and was hiding out, waiting for her.
"It's alright." She promised Daryl who slowly turned back to her, peering into her eyes as she kept his stare.
"Where are we?" She innocently asked, though she knew where she was as Daryl grabbed the chair he had been sitting in, pulling it closer to her bedside.
"Greene Farm. One of the guys that live here, shot Carl a week ago after Grimes and Shane went out lookin' for Sophia. We've been here since then." Daryl explained as Ana attempted to act startled by the news.
"Is...is Carl alright?" She asked, genuinely worried, realizing that her attempt to save Sophia could have backfired further aside from her getting shot at. That's when she stopped, blinked a few times as Daryl answered her question with a simple nod. Lifting her hand, she felt the bandage on her head, now confused. Had she fallen? Had she been injured on her head, and not known?
"Did I fall or somethin'? What's with the bandage on my head?" Ana then asked as Daryl scoffed, leaning back in his seat.
"That fuckin' blonde thought you were a walker too, shot ya. Good thing she's a horrible fuckin' shot." Daryl growled the last part as Ana's eyes widened, both surprised and annoyed, realizing that the bullet that had originally been meant for Daryl had been shot at her instead.
On one hand, she was happy that Daryl hadn't been shot like originally planned but on the other hand, she was annoyed that Andrea still had been the idiot behind the gun. Rolling her eyes, carefully resting her head back into the pillow as a headache began to brew, Daryl watched her in concern.
"Ya in pain?" He whispered as she grimaced slightly before dropping her hand slowly from her head onto the mattress.
"A little." She muttered as Daryl grabbed the pain medication on the bedside table along with the water bottle, gesturing for her.
With a little help, Ana took the needed medicine, swallowing half of the water bottle down before Daryl took the items back, placing them back onto the bedside table.
"Ana." Daryl spoke after a few minutes of silence, watching as she pulled her eyes from the window, slowly to him. He could tell, she was exhausted. Dark bags still hung under her eyes, her skin a sickly pale, either from her injuries or exhaustion, Daryl couldn't help but silently worry about her.
But, he needed to find the little girl and he knew, Ana knew where she was.
"Where is she?" Daryl insisted as Ana kept her eyes glued to his hazel ones.
"Sophia, you know where she is." Daryl pushed as Ana blinked a few times, feeling the heavy set in her bones sink in as the pain medication did exactly what it was meant to be. She nodded groggily as she moved her head a bit, attempting to fight against the need to sleep as she tried to push herself to sit up only to wince when she forgot her arm was injured.
"Shit, stay still." Daryl barked out, not enjoying the look of pain on her face, at all as she settled back into her pillow.
"Sophia..." Ana whispered as Daryl looked up from where he was tucking the comforter around her, his eyes boring into her own.
"Where is she?" Daryl asked as Ana blinked a few times, licking her dry lips.
"The house..." she muttered before her eyes completely shut as Daryl shot out of his seat, reaching out to touch her hand, attempting to gently wake her though she didn't move as she let out a small snore.
"Damn it."
Not like Daryl had any choice. All Ana had mentioned was a house, which didn't narrow his search down in the least bit and now with her injured, he couldn't find it in him to leave her side till she was up and walking around. Especially with Shane marching around with a strange look in his eyes since he had returned from that run to the nearby high school. Nothing was said on the matter that one of the men that lived here had died while with Shane, but Daryl knew, something had happened, something that Shane wasn't willing to admit to, and that alone scared Daryl. He wouldn't leave Ana without anyone to watch her back, especially with him walking around.
Knock-knock
Daryl's ears perked up as he sat a bit straighter in his seat, his eyes darting to the door just as it was pushed open slightly, Andrea's face appearing on the other side.
"Alright to come in?" She asked through a whisper, noticing Ana asleep in the bed that separated the two.
Daryl glanced down at the sleeping woman and then to Andrea with a hesitant shrug. He knew, if said woman were awake and capable, she would have slammed that door in the blondes face without any hesitation.
Andrea nodded, stepping in quietly before shutting the door silently behind her.
"She alright?" Andrea chewed on her lip worried as she awkwardly stood at the opposite side of the bed, staring down at the injured woman.
"She'll be fine. What do ya want?" Daryl asked defensively as Andrea looked to him, surprised by the tone.
"Look, I'm sorry. It was an accident, I was just looking out for the camp." Andrea grumbled, defending herself just as Ana began to slowly blink her eyes open at the arguing. Instantly they landed on Daryl who was glaring across the bed, where her eyes led to next, immediately glaring along with said man.
"Lookin' out for the camp? Don't feed me that bullshit. Every since the CDC, ya been climbin' up everyone's asses, especially hers." Daryl growled as Andrea's jaw dropped, her arms crossing over her chest in defiance.
"Look, Daryl, I don't know what you think you know but I honestly thought she was a walker. With Sophia missing, I needed to do something to protect everyone here, even if it meant shooting when Rick told me not to. What were you going to do if she really was a walker?" Andrea spat out as Ana blinked her eyes a few times, feeling the effects of the drugs wearing off on her.
"Do me a favor...and shut the fuck up." Ana rasped out, both annoyed and pissed as hell by the simple sound of her voice echoing in the room.
"And before you start begging for my fuckin' forgiveness, how about you stop lyin' to yourself and just admit you did all of this for yourself and no one else?" Ana's eyes slowly panned away from Daryl's to pin Andrea to her spot.
"You did nothing when Sophia ran into that forest, you stood there and acted like the defenseless little girl you are, yet you preach about your responsibility to protect those in the group. Where were you when Sophia ran screaming? Ah, that's right, you were guilt tripping Dale, who saved you when he didn't have. Honestly, he should have left you there to die, better for everyone."
Ana knew she was pushing buttons she had no business pushing, but she was past caring. Knowing this woman would have shot Daryl instead of her had she not been there when she was, ignited a fire deep in her chest, one that continued to burn the longer she stared at the woman. And just like she had imagined, it was mere seconds before Andrea was on the bed, her hands tightly around Ana's throat, threatening her to take back all her words.
It didn't faze Ana in the least bit as a simple second later, Daryl yelled, ripping the woman off of her and pinned her to the wall with his gun to her forehead.
"Ya put yer fuckin' hands on her again, and I'll kill ya without blinkin' an eye, ya hear me?" Daryl hissed deeply into Andrea's face, watching as the woman's face paled slightly before she shrugged out of Daryl's grasp as the man took a step back, blocking Ana from sight.
She took one last look at Daryl before she pushed past him and out the door, slamming it loudly behind her as she left.
"Bitch." Ana rasped out, lifting her uninjured hand to rub at her throat just as Daryl slowly turned to glance down at her.
"Ya okay?" He asked, shoving his gun back into the back of his pants before fulling turning to face her just as she looked to him.
"'m fine, thanks." She thanked him with a small smile as he sighed, heading back over to his original seat before plopping down in it.
It grew awkwardly quiet between the two before another knock echoed through the room. Ana's eyes rolled to glance at the door, worried to know who was behind it as Daryl stood this time, wanting to answer it for himself in case it was someone they didn't want. Daryl peeked out the door, standing frozen before he stepped back to look at her unsure.
"Who is it?" Ana whispered confused as Daryl glanced out the doorway once more before a familiar head popped around the corner with a small smile.
How could she turn Carol away?
So, that's the update! How'd you like it? Yey or nay? lol
I'm going to try my hardest to update at least once a week, since it seems like that's the path I've been taking so far, but be patient with me if I don't!
Also, remember, reviews make me update quicker! lol
Until next time~