Wandering

The last remainder of daylight trickled through the tree branches as Ellie sat on a boulder, her right ankle propped up on a log Daryl had dragged over and the redneck sewing up the gash on her head with the supplies from the first-aid kit that had been buried at the bottom of Maggie's bag. The older stitches had just been taken out a few days ago, a giant scab in their place, and now she had a brand new .

"Done,Standford." He muttered, pulling the last of the string throughher wound. With a wince from her and a bite to the inside of her cheek, she stiffened as he leaned forward using his teeth to bite through the rest of the sting and pull the needle away from her scalp. She never had much of a tolerance for pain, making her a giant wimp. Even stubbing her toe brought her to the ground in tears, andshe was incredibly grateful that it was over with.

And now that all of her adrenaline had worn out, she felt like crying.

"Hershel have'ta look at it when we make it back to the camp tomorra. Tha' ankle too." The gruff man said. placing the needle and remainingthread back into the kit, before wiping his hands onto his jeans.

At that moment, her ears perked up, her eyes snapping open and flicking over to him, completely forgetting about the new throbbing of herscalp added to her list of pain. "What do you mean 'tomarra''?"Ellie ordered, scowling as she mimicked his voice rather badly. He raised an irritated eyebrow at her, bending over to stuff the clothinto the pack that had been Maggie's, before picking it up and swinging it over his shoulder. He did the same with his cross bow,and then tossed the one that had been hers at her. It was considerably lighter, seeing as she had watched him transfer half ofthe items in it to his own moments before.

She was only slightly grateful, because she still felt sluggish, and slightly offended, because she wasn't a weakling. She could handle aheavy bag, she'd been doing it for months while on the road with Gerty. She didn't like when people assumed she was weak. But then again, who did?

With annoyed, grey eyes, he huffed at her, reaching a hand out and tuggingat her arm gently, helping her stand up before draping her arm overhis shoulder. It was awkward, seeing as she was so much shorter than him. He had to be a good foot taller than her, and seeing as she wasonly 5'4", it said alot about how large this hillbilly was.

"I mean," He continued, speaking slowly, as if she was stupid,"that its gonna be dark soon, and yer too beat up ta be tramping through the forest at dark, so we're gonna have'ta suck it up and camp out somewhere. I saw a sign for a cabin a few miles tha' way when I was draggin your uselessbody into the woods," He started walking slowly then, his strong strut still evident.

She repressed a growl or a snappy comment. It was best not to piss off the guy who was saving your ass, right?

A half hour of tripping on not only her own feet, but also his was tiring on both of them. But valiant Daryl Dixon only cursed at her afew times, before giving up on the idea that she would stop tramplingover his feet and just continued on their way. They found the tiny cabin right as the last few rays of sunlight filtered through the tree branches.

It wasn't a cabin at all, from the first glance, Ellie knew it was just a hunting shack. Her father had rented one of these tiny little adobes once a year during deer season. He would sleep a few hours in his sleeping bag, Ellie nestled up in her pink Barbie one next to him, and then wake up extra early to make a breakfast over the portable grill that they plugged into the walls.

Itwas a nice memory for her, and she didn't want to ruin it by going in there to see what was waiting for them.

But with an annoyed noise, Dixon pushed her arm off his shoulder and lefther leaning against a tree, pulling an arrow out and notching itbefore walking slowly towards the door, his grey eyes darting against the small gravel road leading to the shack, and the trees around them. Nothing was outside, so with one steady hand, he grabbed theknob and pushed open slowly, peaking his head in for a second before leaning out and motioning for Ellie to make her way over to him,before strutting inside.

Ellie,with ginger, limping steps, followed quickly, uncomfortable being so vulnerable in that quickly advancing darkness. Her ankle, swollenbeyond belief, woundn't be much help in a fight if a random walkerdecided to make her dinner. Not that she would see it coming anyway.

Speaking of dinner, her stomach growled painfully loud as she staggered into the shack, her hand lingering in the door way.

It was tinier on the inside because it was only one room, and completely empty, minus the small layer of dust coating the wooden floor.

"Just like the one my father used to rent." Ellie mused, walking tothe middle of the room and placing her bag onto the middle of thefloor, crouching down and slowly lowering herself next to it,choosing to ignore the throbbing in her foot. Dixon skirted around her, walking to the door and shutting it quickly, locking the boltand walking to the one window, peering outside into the sudden darkness. The lack of light made the room feel a thousand times darker, causing Ellie to pull her legs to her chest, resting her headatop of her knees.

Her eyes stayed on him, his bare shoulders strong and muscular, tense ashe looked through the small window. He was filthy, covered in blood that she assumed was her own. He gave no sign that he had even heardher speak as he slid his own bag off onto the floor and walking overto sit a few feet away from the blonde girl. He placed his cross bowat his side gently, before laying down.

"Gota sleep, Standford. Gotta walk in the mornin'."

Withouta protest about how early it still was, she slid down onto her backas well, placing her hands on her stomach and fiddling with thefraying hem of her ruined flannel. She had always been a nightperson, working night shifts as a waitress at the bar had literally been a perfect job for her. There were plenty of people around,mostly old men with plenty of stories. But even in her teen years she had spent all her time on her computer, blogging and reading into the early hours of the morning. It was amazing that she was still able to wake up early and run.

She fidgeted more, taking her boots off, one regularly, and the second gingerly before laying back down. It was weird not having Gerty laying right next to her, curled up at her side like a kitten. She hoped Gertrude wasn't staying up late, wandering about the well beingof her sister, but they, well Daryl, had decided it would be betterto just walk back rather than go back to the overrun town.

"What do you miss most about...life before this?" Ellie asked, no longer able to stand the silence, laying on her back with her hairsplayed out beneath her. The floor wasn't her first choice, but itwas better than sleeping outside, completely unguarded. Plus, nature was gross, in her opinion.

He grunted next to her, realizing at that moment how alike the two sisters were, his back facing to her, his shoulders slack and relaxed. He was exhausted. While Standford looked like she weighedless than a box of feathers, that girl was probably heavier than a Ford truck. And running with her was a thousand more times muscles ached more than they ever had. But for some reason, thesoft hum of her soft voice was soothing to him. Calming, almost.

"Like,"Ellie began, lifting her hand into the air above her and examining it closely, "Temple Run. That cheesy game for ipods. Gerty stillhas it on hers, but she only plays it every now and then, to save thebattery. She only charges it when we're in a car. Refuses to let me even touch the thing and beat her score."

She felt as if shewere babbling, but she didn't want to stop talking. It was dark, andthey were vulnerable, and so her mouth automatically flung itself open in a terrific display of word vomit. "And I miss my cat, Motormouth. And TV shows. I miss watching Jensen Ackles stare longingly at the TV screen. I miss-"

"Goddammit, if I say something will you shut tha fuck up?" Daryl had turned, laying on his back now and glaring at her with his piercing grey eyes. He gave a heavy sigh, slightly guilty for snapping at her,and looking away, up to the ceiling like she was. he heard the thudof her hand falling to the ground next to her, and her body shifty."Pie. Apple pie."

She looked over at him, a soft smile on her lips, and she hummed her reply. "Good night."

He grunted back, turning back on his side, facing away from her, his hand reaching out ot grip his bow gently, ready to spring into action at any second. "Your dad a hunter?"

Ellie jerked, not expecting him to talk to her again, and she nodded quickly, then realized that he couldn't see her. "Yeah. Deer,mostly. Used to just take me, before Gert was born. Mostly just useda bow. It was beautiful and super expensive. Wouldn't let me get anywhere near it. You hunt?"

He scoffed. "Huntin' ran in my family. Not the only thing that did though."

Ellie waited, wondering if he would say anything more, and when he didn't she sighed, turning to face his back, her eyes again falling onto hisbare shoulders. She wish she knew why she had a sudden fascination for them. She had never really been a shoulder type girl. More of a hip bone one.

"Daryl?"She whispered aloud again, turning to face him.

He didn't answer, and after a while, his breathing became slow and gentle, and hers followed in pursuit.

xXxXx

She woke up, not snuggled in his arms like a cliche romance novel, but reaching out over the space between them and touching his back. It was what she did with Gerty. Checking to make sure that he was still there. That he hadn't left in the middle of the night. And across thecold, empty space between them, she felt his body shift, his breathing turning back to normal as he pulled himself out of the deep chasms of sleep.

But god, did he snore louder than anything Ellie had ever heard. But itonly woke her once, before she calmly feel back to sleep, shifting only a little bit closer to him, shivering slightly in the night. It was calming and reassuring, hearing it faintly as she drifted back tosleep. Yet another reminder that she wasn't alone.

It took a few moments before he realized their was a tiny hand touching him, as he slowly drifted out of sleep, and he flinched away, pushing himself away from the girl and pulling himself up, not even lookingat her as he walked to the door, bow in hand, throwing it open and proceeding down the steps and away a little, unzipping his pants to take a whizz.

She heard, waking up quickly and sitting up, her eyes darting around the room, her stomach giving another pained growl. But that wasn't the only thing that wasn't happy. Her back and neck hurt from laying on the hard ground with nothing to even attempt to soften the ground under her, and her head felt dizzy from sitting up so suddenly.

She started to examine her ankle. It wasn't swollen anymore, just bruised to the point that there was no tan skin see able. With a sigh, she tugged up her shirt, seeing that two large straight bruises were also starting to form there, where the shelving had fallen on her. It wouldn't be a surprise if they were on her legs too, but she wasn't going to risk being caught with her pants down by this guy. Even if he did save her life, he didn't deserve a peep show.

Though,if he played his cards right, she wouldn't really mind giving him one.

She stiffened at that thought, shoving her shirt back down and reaching forward to dig into her bag, pulling out two granola bars and ripping them open quickly, trying her best to wipe any of those thoughts from her head. It had been a long time since...well since she'd done that.

And she really wasn't going to do it with that jerk.

Holding onto the bar with her teeth, she reached down to tug her boots ontoher tired, sore feet, and her throbbing ankle. Daryl came back inside, bow still on shoulder, walking over to grab the bar next toher and ripping it open, basically shoving the whole thing into his mouth before he tossed the wrapper to the ground and shrugged the last backpack over his shoulder.

"Lets go." He grumbled down at her, heading back towards the door, her shoving herself up tiredly and following him slowly, still wincing at the weight she put on her ankle.

"How long?"

"Few hours.' He grunted out, and at that moment, Ellie knew that she wasgoing to die. Not physically, unless attacked by a horde of walkers,but mentally. Dealing this guy, Mr. Talkative, for a few hours was going to be the death of her.

Her mouth was twitching already, words begging to slip out. Word vomit was just around the corner, she could feel it on her tongue, and in moments she was going to regurgitate every single thought she had ever had.

The struggle was clear on her face as she bit her lip, her brow crunching up, reaching up to fiddle with her hair, trying to distract herself.

"What did you do before all this?" The words slipped out of her mouth so quickly and so loudly, she wouldn't have been surprised if he didn't understand any word she said, but as they made their way around a fallen tree, he paused, looking over his shoulder and at her face.

"Not much." He grunted back, cross bow pulled over his shoulder, greyeyes, the color of a dark stone, flicking from her eyes, and down her, as if he was still accessing her damage. She knew she was covered in dry flaking blood, some her own and some not, and day old sweat seeping into her pores, giving her the'I-probably-haven't-bathed-in-a-week' look. While it was frowned uponin the 'before times' it was pretty normal these days.

Her mouth twitched again. "God, what I would give to brush my teeth right now. To bad I left all that stuff in my tent."

"Yeah."He huffed back, not even bothering to look back at her this time.

She frowned, pulling at a stray strand of hair. She wasn't enjoying his short responses. At all.

"I hope Gerts not too freaked out."

He didn't even bother to respond.

"Hello? Do I need to set up an appointment with your secretary to have an actual conversation with you?" She snapped, eyes glaring into theback of his head.

He only grunted in response. And no matter what else she said, he did not give her any response besides one worded sentences, or the occasional grunts. She gave up eventually, enjoyingthe smell of the clean forest air, and the sight of the leaves thatwould soon start turning hues of oranges and reds. The forest in thefall was a beautiful sight, and she felt slightly thankful that shehad lived to see another one, but what about the winter? It was boundto be a cold, vicious one, and Ellie still hadn't decided if she asgoing to end up staying with this group or not for the winter. Who knew what would happen?

Until around 10. She was lagging behind, her ankle bothering her immensely,when he decided to stop, watching as she struggled to sit on highway asphalt, only a mile or two from the farm. His gaze, unreadable,never left her even as he reached into the pouch on the side of the bag and pulled out a water battle, taking a quick swig before handing it to her.

"Thanks.."Ellie smiled back, wanting to chug the rest, but knowing that probably wasn't the best idea. Two miles was still a long way away,and who knew what was going to happen. She handed it back to him,licking her dry, cracking lips, but then a smile crossed her mouth."We match." She giggled.

He raised an eyebrow at her, crouching down on his feet and stuffing the bottle back into the bag before examining her again, a smirk gracinghis lips only for a fraction of a second before slipping back to that slightly annoyed expression he seemed to have every time he looked inher direction. They both were wearing flannels, the sleeves ripped away, though Ellie's was due to her binding Maggie's wounds, and Daryl's, from what she could only assumed, was because he liked to give those guns some air.

"I look better in it though." She giggled again, grinning widely at the older man.

He snorted. "Hows your ankle?" Daryl inquired, quickly changing the subject and grabbing at her right leg and sliding the boot off her foot, freezing as she winced from his roughness."Sorry." She threw him off, mentally. Something about her nonstop chattering, and the way she smiled was getting to him, and he was not happy about it.

"S'kay." The blonde whispered back, her eyes flicking up to his as he peeled the sock from herfoot, examining the bruises closely, his hand gentle as he moved it on the joint. "Look bad, doc?"

Hisgrey eyes looked up at hers slowly, lingering. "Well, I aint no doc. My brother Merle, he was a idiot. Doin' stupid shit and hurting his self all the time when we were kids." And then his warm,gentle fingers were gone, allowing her to quickly put on her footwear, holding out a hand to help her out when she was done. Themoment she was standing, he released, throwing that ratty backpackback over his shoulder, turning to walk away.

"You have a brother?" Ellie inquired, doing her best to catch up withthe mans quick pace, her hair, falling out of its bun and acrossed her curious blue yes, her pink lips pulled into a frown. There was no Merle at camp. She knew the answer, she didn't know why she even bothered asking.

"Had."

The blonde didn't have to ask how. She knew, just from the tone of hisvoice, and reaching out she placed her hand onto his arm. "I'm so sorry."

His reaction wasn't what she expected. He flinched, yanking away so fasthe jostled her, causing her to stumble backwards, his eyes, pissed and his mouth pulled into an angry grimace.

"Stop fuckin' touchin me." Dixon growled, eyes flashing. "Youbdon't fuckin' know nothin. God dammit! I can't wait to be fuckin back at the farm so that I can be fuckin' done with you. Always talkin'and shit. Fucking Fuck."

Growling,like a feral animal, he stomped forward.

Ellie hesitated, slowly pushing herself up and limping after him, trying tobite her tongue.

Obviously that didn't last long.

"You know, maybe I'm over sensitive, but you're still a dick and that'snot okay."

Infront of her, the hunter stopped, his head turned in her direction, but notreally saying anything as she struggled to keep up. Once she reached him, he grabbed her shoulder and slung it over his, helping herbalance.

Ellie thought she caught a glimpse of guilt on his face, but was unsure.

And then they started walking, like nothing had happened. As the timepassed, the silence and stiffness around them made it feel like aneternity.

Eventually, when the farm came into view, he actually talked to her again.

"I was a mechanic." He mumbled to the blonde.

"What?"

"You asked what I was. I was a mechanic."

All Ellie could do was give him soft smile. "Thank you for telling me."

He scoffed at her, as if she were just a child. "Its not a big fuckin'deal. Just tellin' you my job. Not like it matters anymore."