"You're late!" Danni called.
Daryl sauntered through the gate into the playground. "Careful," he called as she settled Ryder on the swing. "You sure you got him?"
She smiled and shook her head but answered "Yes daddy, ' helping her toddler grip the thick steel chains as she began to push the swing.
Daryl was so worried about the kids getting hurt.
"And that boy needs a haircut." Daryl added over her gentle sarcasm.
"Uh uh….no way daddy, he's beautiful." She pushed the four-year old's light brown hair back behind his ear. "My boy is perfect."
"Da!" Scout who'd been sitting at Danni's feet sprang up and ran to Daryl on unsteady legs like the foal she appeared to be and he fluidly scooped her up into his solid arms joining his wife and son at the swings.
"I want a push." She requested with plaintive eyes. Daryl of course relented. "Up you go little one."
"You know I pushed your momma on these swings."
"Really? Did her feet touch the sky? The stars?'
"Yeah." He glanced at Danni, who was whispering something in Ryder's ear. "Matter of fact they did."
She turned and smiled at Daryl as they each pushed a child gently. "You know that trust fall thing? I think that's what they call it. When you fall back and the other person is supposed to catch you?"
"Think I'm kinda heavy for you, but..." He smirked as Danni continued speaking, her voice far away.
"I must have been nine or ten, my mom came home one day and said 'hey Danni close your eyes and fall backwards; I'll catch you.' So I'm supposed to trust her, you know, believe she won't let my ass hit the dirt. So I do it and she steps away laughing. I hit the floor and I'm pissed, I'm like 'what the hell?' She said 'let that be a lesson Danni, never trust anyone. Not even your own mother."
Daryl nodded and looked down at her with his eyes narrowed. "Sounds about right."
"Daryl, they can always trust me." She motioned to the twins. "Trust us. I'll die before I ever let them fall. I will."
His eyes took in the old red rusted merry-go-round and he heard the creaking of the swings. Nothing had changed here since they were kids. First kisses, painful admissions, run down playground equipment. Yet, something was missing. Daryl realized there was no little girl crying here anymore.
This place may not have changed but they had. Daryl and Danni had become the parents they should have had. They stood back watching the twins on the swings taking flight on their own. He reached around her waist and pulled her in for a heated kiss. He tasted strawberry lip gloss.
"Hey, not in front of the kids." She warned teasingly.
He smiled and nodded into her neck."Wait till I get you home."
She slid her hands under his belt making him groan. "It'll be worth it."
Daryl woke feeling desolate realizing he'd been dreaming. He shifted on the bedding in the casket where he'd fallen into the deepest sleep he'd had in a while. He felt a little silly about having an erection from the brief touch he'd given Danni in the dream. But lately on the road alone, after so much time spent in close quarters with nearly unlimited access to her over the last year, he was suffering from withdrawal. People talk about how absence makes the heart grow fonder, but no one ever talks about how absence makes your balls swell and your cock as stiff as a baseball bat. He was wide awake.
The worst part about not being able to get back to sleep wasn't the not sleeping or even the fact that he probably wasn't getting the rest he needed. Instead, the worst part for him was feeling guilty he was even thinking of sex. Jesus Christ here I am out here trying to keep myself alive and Beth alive and find my family and I'm thinking about sex? His mind tried to convince him to dismiss the thought, but his body refused. It was always so much more than just physical between Danni and himself. They healed each other, became one and he missed that part of their connection. He almost felt like she was yearning for him too, at that very moment. For the past few nights, he lay awake erection throbbing as his mind couldn't help but replay various sexual episodes from their past. He turned on his side fighting to think about something else, anything else other than his, now painful, hard on. He stood and began wandering the shadowy halls of the funeral home. He half heartedly checked the windows, making sure the boards across the glass were tight. Peeked in on Beth asleep on the couch in the parlor.
He was beaten when he smelled honeysuckle; he followed the scent, his heart racing, blood continuing to rush his groin. He walked into the small first floor bathroom where the honeysuckle overpowered him. He began daydreaming. Thinking back to that first night. Why are you only nice to me? She'd asked. Remembering how incredible those new sensations felt as he touched her; kissed those damn sparrow tattoos that always teased him and how it felt to come inside a woman for the first time.
You don't have to be so tough all the time, she'd said as he'd hesitated above her and he knew then he trusted her. It was her, it had to be. He nearly collapsed that night as he came because his knees became so weak. Now, kicked back against the wall he kept thinking of that first time. That incredible sensation of Danni's dainty sure fingers on his zipper, then his cock. It was the first time he'd been touched by a woman and the nerves of his dick seemed to be charged with electricity. She kept up her efforts and guided him inside. He remembered that feeling so deep in his belly. It was more than a tingle, more like a tremor from his very core that radiated out with each thrust as he approached his first orgasm not from his own hand. He had given her a climax too; she was panting and begging him not to stop. She had wanted him, shown him what sex was about. If she were here now it wouldn't seem trivial to be feeling this and thinking about sex...if she were here she'd want him to fuck her. He knew it. He couldn't take it any longer, it had been far too long. He thought about her warm wet mouth, the look of her pouty lips, the feel of her tongue running up and down his body along his shaft. The harder he tried not to think about it the easier it was for him to see her looking up at him with those fuck me eyes as she took him in her mouth. He saw it as clearly as if it was happening right then and there.
He closed the door of the bathroom behind him, braced his shoulder against the wall and opened his belt letting his pants fall loosely around his hips. He tugged at the bandana tied around his throat and threw his head back. Holding the image of Danni in his mind and with eyes closed, Daryl began to stroke his straining cock. His other hand unbuttoned his shirt and he began to squeeze a nipple exactly the way she did it; she knew he loved it. Before long, he was stroking his dick steadily, slowly at first, but more quickly by the moment as it became slick with his precum. Then it was Danni who ran her hand over his chest. His heart pounded and raced beneath her palm.
Her hand moved further down to his abdomen and his stomach rippled involuntarily as she lightly stroked and tickled him. He thought of Danni, imagining himself penetrating her, fucking her hard and wild. He heard her moan and beg him to fuck her even harder. He began to thrust his hips, imagining being inside her as he jerked himself off. "Fuck me Daryl, please fuck me." She was begging. She knew what that did to him. She needed this, he did, too.
It wasn't going to take much he could already feel the familiar twinge signaling his impending orgasm. His hand was moving faster now and in his fantasy he saw Danni moving faster against him as well. He quickened his stroke, seeing her in his mind, her head back and eyes wide but unseeing as he moved deep inside of her. "Danni….god…" he murmured aloud.
"I feel you inside me, keep talking…" he heard her voice.
In his mind he was seeing her hand driving his shaft into her wetness, harder than he would ever go, knowing her own limits and pushing them for maximum pleasure. He could see the slight smile and gleam in her eye as he told her he was going to come and he could see her taking everything he gave her. She was crying out and so was he. "Shit, you're tearing me up." He felt the hot rush and saw stars as he felt his come spray into his hand and up his belly. His chest heaved as he came down from the aftershocks of his orgasm. He felt drained yet oddly exhilarated as he slumped against the wall in the shadows. He missed her. He missed her body. He missed Danni but knew he was closer than ever. He couldn't wait until first light so he could get back on the road to finding her.
... ... ... ... .. .. .
After the second dream her thoughts were firmly on Daryl and what she wanted him to do to her. Still cradled comfortably in the tree's wide branches, safely above ground, Danni felt a flush rise in her face and a pleasant shock run down her thighs to her toes. A familiar tightening knot started its thrum and she couldn't help but feel a little silly for thinking about sex at that moment but it was the only thing that would make all this pain go away. If he were here she'd ask him to fuck the fear away. She needed that feeling of completion. She sighed knowing she was going to need more than thoughts if she was going to sleep at all that night. With her eyes closed, she escaped.
She gave in and slipped her hand into her panties, not knowing that her sex-starved man was just miles away and doing the same.
She heard him groan with desperation. She heard it like she was there next to him. Danni knew she made him need her. She imagined she felt him slide into her, so familiar, like home.
"I feel you inside me, keep talking…" she murmured aloud and sat back lightly fingering herself. She was never closer to losing her mind than when he worked her up to within moments of orgasm, feeling him start to slide in only to stop and retreat. That feeling of denial, you can't have it yet made her eyes roll back in her head just thinking about it. He knew what he did to her and loved to make her beg for it. He took her to the edge, felt her start to quiver then denied her; reduced her to ragged breaths and animal moans. He was the only man she'd ever let control her. She clenched the sides of his chest, digging her nails into his flesh. "Please …why do you make me wait…" she was practically crying. Danni wanted him to chase their orgasms like prey; fast, wild, and final. Drag them home to feast on in the afterglow.
He said nothing, just tightened his arms around her and buried his face in her neck, breathing deeply.
"You're tearing me up…" she murmured as he let her come, her contractions drawing out his own climax.
She came hard around her own fingers. She shuddered from the orgasm, fingers slick and cheeks red from contained lust and let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. She was exhausted but renewed. At dawn she'd keep heading East feeling she was closer than ever.
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..
The next morning, Danni ate the rest of the rabbit and set off. Alone. She was scared but she did it anyway. That should be on my tombstone, Danni thought. She was scared but she did it anyway. As she headed downhill she noticed that this section of woods seemed thicker but she continued to push on. All she thought of was Merle telling her the highway was East. As she tread through a particularly full hedge the ground suddenly gave way from beneath her and she felt herself go tumbling down through the brambles of pines and nettles that covered a steep bank. The foliage tore at her clothes and whipped at her skin as she crashed through the thickets. Through her awareness of the stinging that was steadily spreading over her body she felt stupid and ashamed of being so careless. This thought was shattered as she was suddenly flung into the open air and slammed to the ground, losing consciousness.
She came to feeling the aches from her fall. Slowly standing, she examined her wounds and found nothing broken or badly bleeding. Relieved and intact, she at once became aware of her surroundings.
She stood on a narrow bank of a large creek which was mostly lined with rocks and moss, with a thin waterfall falling onto a stone shelf, that just touched the surface of the water in its center. The bank sloped into dazzling blue-green water, smoother than glass despite its soft rippling waves. It didn't look like other creeks she'd seen in the Georgia wilderness especially with the waterfall, but she wasn't an expert and all she wanted to do now was clean her wounds. Danni headed to the waterfall along stones lining the gently rushing creek. The water rained down from above, yet fell gently across the stone shelf in a welcoming fashion. She undressed and laid her clothes nearby then stepped into the showering falls. The water was cool on her skin. It tasted clean and soothed her scrapes as it ran down her slender frame. Using a small patch of nearby moss, she cleaned the dirt and dried blood from her body. Surprisingly, it felt as if her wounds were healing while she scrubbed the grime away from her skin. Feeling refreshed and rejuvenated, she walked out of the falls toward the small grassy clearing beside the water. Her wet porcelain skin shimmered in the late afternoon sun that dappled through the treetops. She dressed and gazed at the creek. Danni could see clearly to the bottom and dipped her toes in to find that it felt much warmer than the waterfall in which she had cleaned herself. She rolled her jeans up to her knees and slid forward dipping her legs into the pool and the warm, silky water which felt like a second skin sliding over her calves. She thought for a moment of the stories her Nan would tell her about Elementals of the forest who lived within various webs of life that made up the land. According to Brigid each animal, plant and element water, earth, air and fire played a unique role in the story of life and the sprites and fairies that she spoke of were born from them. Her musings on childhood tales made Danni feel stronger. Somehow she knew she wasn't alone after all. She'd originally thought the solitude of wandering the woods was starting to get to her. She was seeing things, impossible things in the forest shadows. Eyes in tree bark opening and closing, fluttering wings on the edge of her vision that could not belong to any creature she had ever seen. Now she knew she was being watched over. Something lead her to this secret cove.
Dusk came quickly. Danni built a fire, shifting closer to its warmth and leaping orange yellow life, contemplating her next move when all the forest's noises stopped abruptly. She huddled closer to the comforting fire. A snapping twig had her sitting bolt upright, turning her head towards the sound. Her hand instinctually moved to her knife.
The sun had not fully set so the shadows wore deep as her eyes scanned the edge of the clearing. She thought she saw something move. She stared at that shadowy spot for several minutes sure that it wasn't a Walker; its movements were too fluid. A human could be more dangerous, but she sensed innocence in its hesitant gait.
"Hello?" She called out softly. Yes, something definitely moved, right there. She didn't feel afraid or have the urge to run. "Hey I can see you. Come out, I won't hurt you." Danni wondered if her imagination was playing with her again when a doe stepped out of the wood and approached. She lowered her head for Danni to stroke. She knew the beautiful animal was Sadbhb, Fionn mac Cumhaill's queen. Her favorite myth somehow came to her aid.
She found her heart sharing an aching sadness and longing with the creature. They were both separated from the men they loved and sensation was overwhelming; Danni found herself breathing heavily and leaning on Sadbhb to steady herself.
"You don't have much farther to go."
She heard a woman's voice in her head and knew Sadbhb was speaking to her. The voice continued in a lilting brogue. The doe of course was staring mutely at Danni but the voice was strong in her head. "You know how my story ends. I was ripped from happiness; from my life with Fionn, again by the dark magic of of Fer Doirich. "
Danni added. "The Dark Druid tricked you. He took on Fionn's form and lured you from Amu and he struck you with his wand of hazel and you were a doe once more, this time with no way to become human again."
"Yes. The pain in my heart was unbearable. Fionn and I were destined to be separate forevermore by the cruel contrast of our physical forms-he a man, while I was an animal of the forest. I wandered over the green face of Ireland once more as a doe as I ws before I knew him. When my child was born, I was relieved to see that he was a human, unmarred by the enchantment. He was perfect with my golden hazel eyes and the dark curls of his handsome father. I have never felt such powerful love for anything as I have felt for my son, my Oisín. My heart, already broken, was ground to dust, for how could a deer raise a human child? I loved him more deeply than my own soul and wanted him to be raised with the knowledge of humankind by his brave father. So I left Oisín to be discovered on the hill Benbulbin where Fionn first discovered me. When the man saw the baby there was softness in his eyes, blue as the sky. He searched the trees and his hungry gaze found me standing still. Oisín is his son and mine, yet I could never be a part of his life. He is the precious son of a wild deer. A mother's love is the most powerful yet painful thing. You know it well."
Danni reached out and again ran her fingertips softly over the doe's velvet muzzle. "I always cried for you..for you and Fionn."
"I know. But your story is not mine. I am here to help you fulfill your destiny."
Danni wiped a tear that escaped. "I'm close aren't I?'
"He's your rock, you are his inspiration. He's your balance, you are his support. He is your wild, you are his calm. He is your anchor, you are his wings."
"I won't let him go. Ever." Danni stated. She knew somehow that following the doe would lead her to Daryl.
Danni did not doubt or question what was happening to her especially when she saw tiny sparks of light, white and blue, at the base of the trees and brush surrounding her camp. She squinted as Brigid taught her to see eye to eye with the Faeries. She whispered "When we stop believing in magic, it dies." She'd always believe.
... ... ... ... .. .. .. .
Daryl shoved branches aside, for Beth to pass easily not getting scratched by the wild brambles.
"Motorcycle mechanic." She said suddenly.
"Huh?"
"That's my guess. For what you were doing before the turn. Did Sophia or Carl ever guess that one?"
"It don't matter. Hasn't mattered for a long time."
"It's just what people talk about, you know, to feel normal."
"Yeah, well, that never felt normal to me."
"Well, if we're gonna be walking again, we might as well make the best of it."
"Stop. Stop trying to make this out to be a fucking family vacation camping trip next thing I know you gonna sing campfire songs and make 'smores. Jesus let me walk in peace."
"But-"
"What do you want from me, girl, huh?" He snapped at her, not meaning to. His fatigue was getting the better of him. Why did she want to talk so much? It wasn't the same as when Danni went off on her tangents. It was making him miss her.
"I want to you stop acting like you don't give a crap about anything. Like nothing, we went through matters. Like none of the people we lost meant anything to you. It's bullshit! One minute you're fine and I think you get it. The next you're yelling at me and treating me like shit. Danni must be a masochist!"
aryl was tiring of their routine of trudging through the goddamn woods fighting. "Is that what you think?"
"That's what I know."
"You don't know nothing."
"I know you look at me and you just see another dead girl. I'm not Danni. I'm not Maggie. But I've survived and you don't understand how because I'm not like you or them. But I made it and you don't get to treat me like crap just because you're afraid."
"I ain't afraid of nothing."
"You're afraid you won't find her. For all your big talk, you are afraid. It's okay."
He clenched his jaw but willed himself to remain calm. I will find her. His breathing was harsh and deep, but he spoke softly. "Let's not start this again. We're tired-" and before he could stop himself he started laughing.
"What?" Beth asked.
"Just remembering something Danni said. One time Lori or somebody asked her why she always cut the collars off off all her t shirts. Know what Danni told her? She says 'I must have been strangled in another life cause collars on shirts and I don't get along."
Beth smiled. "I know you miss her."
Daryl just nodded.
"Can we, can we hold up a sec?"
"You all right?
"I just need to sit down."
"All right let's hold up."
"I'm sorry I keep making you so mad Daryl. I don't mean to. I'm scared that's all, scared I'll never find Maggie again. I guess I'm just taking it out on you. But I'll admit it I am scared. "
"You just make me think too damn much is all." He sighed loudly. "it's okay. It's what Danni always did too."
Danni used to get him all riled up in the beginning. She made him start to question things and that made him uncomfortable so of course he'd get pissed at her... at everything, but underneath he was starting realize that he and Danni spent lifetimes walking through the walls of their broken homes, with no other person to depend on. But she kept at him until he started to see the word like she did; it was theirs to make over into a place they wanted it to be.
There was a rustling in the brush. Daryl stood alert and raised his weapon at the source of the noise. He pulled back letting out a loud breath when Tyreese appeared from the bushes holding his arms up. "Shit." Daryl muttered relieved.
Tyreese immediately laughed. "Never been so happy to see a white boy holding a weapon at my head before."
Daryl just squinted but smiled a little. "You been alone all this time?"
"Yeah. You all look like you have a direction."
Daryl nodded. "Danni…and me... we had a plan to meet at this house…if anything like this ever went down. That's where we're headed."
"Any plan sounds good to me now."
Now three, they walked together, Tyreese and Beth chatting. After some time the trio came across railroad tracks.
"Whats that?" Beth jogged ahead to a large wooden sign. "Terminus, those who arrive survive." She read aloud. That alone would have been enough to give her hope but scrawled over it in spray paint were the words "Glenn go to Terminus…Maggie."
"Daryl! She's okay! Maggie! She was here. "
He approached and examined the sign. Tyreese scanned beneath Maggie's message. "There's a map. Looks like this place us up the tracks that way. Sarah could be there...Rick ..."
"Well let's go." Beth looked urgently at Daryl and Tyreese
"It's the opposite direction." Daryl tossed his head. He cleared his throat. "I'm heading East."
"Are you serious? You're not coming?"
He shook his head. "Can't. I have to find my family….find Danni. But y' all go… you need to catch up to Maggie. And who knows maybe Rick and them made it. G'wan. I'll be fine."
"But ...split up? No. Maybe Danni is there." Beth interjected. "You have to come with us. It's not safe alone out there."
"Nah we had a plan. She'll be at the house if she's anywhere. Tyreese, you got this?"
"I do…but…are you sure Daryl?" Tyreese respected Daryl's need to find his family.
Daryl nodded. "Don't expect to be alone for too long. I'm getting close I know it."
"Okay man, well I hope you're right." Tyreese shook Daryl's hand.
"Hey," Beth said softly before Daryl turned. "Thank you, Mr. Dixon." She had tears in her eyes.
He snorted.
"Thanks for everything. And don't ever stop believing you will find her."
"Sure you'll be okay?" Tyreese couldn't help but ask one last time, before leaving this man alone on the desolate railroad tracks.
"Gotta be." He swallowed trying to push the knot in his chest down as he watched Tyreese and Beth head off away from him down the tracks. Tyreese was right about being alone out here. Doubts were always ready to creep into his head always. He shoved them down deep, focusing on Danni instead. She said he was made for this world; she was right. He'd be fine. He had to be fine. Still that old tape wanted to roll in his head. Maybe he was a fraud despite everything; despite dreams, cards, signs and his intuition. He'd never find her. He trudged on alone, thinking of her telling stories to the kids. Her favorite was that one about Fionn and Sadbhb. He'd heard that one so many times he could recite it from memory. It made him feel closer to her as he muttered the words to the legend watching out for any sign of danger or of Danni. If she was heading to the house, she could be anywhere. He had to be okay, the voice in his head jabbed with spiked insistence.
... ... ... ... ... .. .. .
Kieran finally ended his song; he'd been singing to pass the time and the miles. He covered Irish folk songs to Thin Lizzy. It kept the twins happy; they'd been crying and fussing less. They seemed to like his voice.
Sophia looked pensive and broke the silence. "One time, Danni told me she had a lot of bad dads. I don't think she meant you Sirius."
Kieran sighed. "Nice of you to say but, I think she did. I hurt her very much. I hate to say it. I let that girl down and she's got every right in the world to say such a thing about me."
"But...did you ever….hit her? Or hit Danni's mom?"
"No lass never. Of course not."
"Then I don't think you were a bad dad. Dads that do that are. Danni said it was okay if I wasn't said that my dad was dead. He was bitten a long time ago. He was a bad dad and Danni said it was okay for me to say it."
"Did he hit you love?"
"Sophia nodded. My mom too. Danni stood up to my dad. Twice." Sophia smiled. "Nobody is braver than Danni. I bet even if Daryl didn't come along that one time she'd still have fought off my dad."
"I don't doubt it. Danni is a wonder." Kieran smiled at the good in his daughter, but his face twisted in pain at the thought of Sophia being abused and remembered work he'd done in the past avenging the children of his bosses. "I am very sorry that happened to you." He looked over at her for emphasis. "No child deserves that. I may have let Danni down in many ways, but I'd never lay a hand on her or any child…any child." He shook his head in disgust.
"I'm okay."
Kieran felt a chill race his spine at the resemblance in tone Sophia had to Danni at that moment saying something Danni often said to him.
"I know." He answered as he always responded to his daughter. "I know you are lass. Know what else I know?"
She shook her head.
"That we are here." Kieran announced pulling the car into the long driveway of the ghost house signifying the end of one journey and the beginning of another.
"And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow, Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings… mm, Yeats." Kieran announced as he and Sophia walked up the path to the front porch of Lorelei and John Dixons's house. Kieran hugged both his grand babies tightly to his chest. Sophia looked a little awed and searched for the lady in the windows as she gripped the hem of Kieran's shirt. The old plantation style home felt like the most welcoming place Kieran had ever experienced. It was a deep feeling that he belonged. A feeling that had eluded him all his life.
"We are home." Sophia said.
"Aye. Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine. Err scawh a chale-ah a wir-enn na dee-neh." He opened the door knowing it was safe inside.
"What did you say Sirius?"
"Under the shelter of each other, people survive."
... ... ... ... .. .. .. .. . .. ..
Daryl wiped the sweat from his forehead with his bandana. These late autumn days still held humid heat before winter officially kicked in. He was overly warm in his layers, but at night he was grateful for the warmth his flannel shirt, denim jacket and vest gave him. He glanced at the train tracks before him knowing they led to the highway; he was getting closer. He stopped and crouched pulling the last water bottle from his pack.
"Well, lookit here."
Daryl knew he should have stayed off the tracks and hung in the brush as he traveled when he heard the gruff voice behind him and the noise of several guns cocking. He stood and turned his face slowly like a stone as another voice warned "That's enough just hold it right there."
"I'm claiming the vest. I like them wings." One of the guys surrounding him called out.
"Hold up. Len." A man with white hair and a gray, grizzled face approached from the rear of the cluster of men.
He looked Daryl up and down slowly then observed "A Bowman. I respect that."
Daryl squinted, tensing, ready to raise his weapon now held at his side, as he was circled.
"See, a man with a rifle, he could have been some kind of photographer or soccer coach back in the day. But a bowman's a bowman through and through. What you got there, 150-pound draw weight? I'll be donkey-licked if that don't fire at least 300 feet per second." He stepped a little closer to see the crossbow better. Daryl held his ground. "I've been looking for a weapon like that. Of course, I'd want one with a bit more ammo and minus the oblongata stains." He laughed.
At that moment, Daryl swung the crossbow up and aimed at the man's face.
"Get yourself in some trouble, partner? You pull that trigger, these boys are gonna drop you several times over."
Daryl scanned the group with his eyes while his body remained stock still. They were a rough, ragged, road weary, mean looking bunch. He supposed he looked that way himself. A pack of mongrel dogs. Most of the guys looked like the type he and Mere hung out with back home.
"That what you want son?"
Daryl remained silent and still but adrenaline and heat radiated from every tensed muscle
"Come on fella, suicide is stupid. Why hurt yourself when you can hurt other people? Name's Joe."
He swallowed hard and weighed his options as quickly as his mind could process them. Joining up with these guys was not ideal but neither was dying. He'd do this for now do what he had to so he could keep going to find Danni. It might be a detour, but he'd still be moving. And they were heading East as he was. He'd lose them when the time was right.
"Daryl." He grunted roughly, lowering the bow to his side.
... ... ... ... ... .. .. ... .
Danni continued to follow the doe all day. She crawled up a short embankment where the doe waited at a set of railroad tracks. She looked at the sun lowering behind her and knew the doe was pointing her to the East. Danni had taken a few steps down the tracks before she noticed the Sadbhb wasn't following.
"What's wrong?"
The beautiful creature tossed its head as if directing Danni on with her gesture.
"I'm supposed to go it alone from here, huh?"
"Dá fhada an lá tagann an tráthnóna. Daw aw-dah on law tog-ann an traw-no-nah." Danni recognized Nan's saying in Sadbhb's Gaelic words. "No matter how long the day, the evening comes. No matter how bad things are, they will end."
She scanned the seemingly endless tracks ahead of her. When she looked back, Sadbhb was gone. Before she had a chance to worry, a vivid scene flashed in her mind as if on a movie screen. She saw a radiant image of herself sitting barefoot on the front porch of their house. The morning sun glossed her hair and she held out a bowl of fruit loops, of all things, to Daryl, who was also barefoot. He sat touching her shoulder as if to bestow a claim upon her, one that had been there forever unspoken.