Anna's tent had an icy chill in the air and she did not want to get out of her sleeping bag. It was nice and warm, cozy even despite dead people walking around the place these days. She pulled her sleeping bag back from over her head, opened up her eyes, yawned and stretched out her legs like a cat waking up. Samson grumbled, rolling over on to his back with his paw in the air.
"Wake up you silly dog! We have a big day ahead of us. We are going to find that little girl and bring her back to her momma" she told him, pushing him over off his back. He yelped, tossing his head and looking up at her like Anna was a big bad monster. Anna laughed at Samson, giving him a pat behind the ear. Anna sat there, just scratching his ear for a while, thankful she had a something from her dad and brother. Samson was a piece of something that reminded her of her old life. Having him by her side day by day gave her hope that someday she would find her family again. But for now, Anna had to survive and help wherever she could.
Today would be the first time Anna would be "out" since she was injured and she felt a little nervous about it all. Anna picked out a pair off green skinny jeans, her hunting boots, a grey singlet and a blue worn down long sleeve flannelette. Anna reached down into her back pack, finding a hair tie, braiding her long dark brown hair and tucking it in to a messy bun on the side . Rummaging around she found the leather straps to go around her waist for her white daggers, picking up her cross bow and heading out in to the sunshine. 'Come on boy, breakfast time. Can't go out tracking with an empty stomach now can we" she laughed, with the crinkles around her eyes and the trade mark dimples that made her cheeks looks like apples; or so Daryl would tease.
The heat of the sun was beating down, already warming her skin in the early morning weather. Samson yawned loudly, stretching and running straight to Carol with a happy bark, knowing full well that she would sneak something to him. Anna walked to Carol who was warming up some porridge with some butter and fresh raspberries for both Anna and Samson. "Good morning Carol".
"Good morning sweetheart" Carol greeted, giving Anna a hug, a quick peck on the cheek and sat down with the bowl of porridge in Anna's lap.
Carol stood there in front of her, Anna looked up and saw that all knowing, concerned mother look that she remembered all too well when her mother was alive and well.
"I hear on the great vine that you are going out there today to help look for Sophia?" she questioned.
Anna took a mouthful of the porridge, talking with her mouth full, "Uh huh."
"You sure you are ready for that? Is your leg and hand healed enough" with a pointed glare, worried about the young woman that she is starting to see as a little sister: not quite young enough to be daughter age.
"They both are fine and dandy. I promise I am in good health, enough to go out there " Anna replied with a mouth full of porridge showing, smiling cheeky and showed Carol her hand was in a fabric bandage rather than a cast of sorts.
Carol pretended to be angry with her by slapping her slightly on the shoulder. Trying to hold an angry look on her face but just fell into a smile when she looked at Anna; he cheeks full like Miss Piggy. Anna was beginning to help Carol feel whole again. "You remember to be careful out there for me today, okay. I can't have anything happen to you too"
Carol looked down to Samson "You look out for her too boy, trouble seems to follow her around too much these days"
" I will be just fine Carol, Samson will be with me and I am pairing with Daryl for the day. You don't have to be concerned about us, I promise you Carol, I will be okay and back in one piece at the end of the day" Anna told her, smiling.
"Yeah, well I can't help it worrying about you. Just call it that motherly instinct sweetheart, I cannot lose another person I care about." Carol gave her a care package of crackers, power bars, some dried fruit and nuts.
"We will find Sophia, Carol" Anna promised.
Carol picked up the basket of wet clothes and began to hang out the clean washing. Lori came out, looking a little worse for wear "I am so sorry for sleeping in. Especially on laundry day" She bent down, patting Samson behind the ear. He rolled over on to his back, Lori laughed and gave him an itch on the tummy.
"No, you probably needed it. Don't worry about it, I can handle it" Carol told her.
Anna noticed Lori was looking a little pale in the face, concerned "Are you okay Lori?"
"Just feeling a little tired, nothing to worry about hun" she replied, putting her hand on Anna's shoulder.
"If you need anything at all or if you want me to check you over, just ask okay?" Anna offered.
"I know. I know. You quit worrying about me and look out for yourself there today okay? You are paired with Daryl, you need all the help you can get being stuck with him all day. Then again, he doesn't talk all that much does he? Well except for you so you might just have an easy day" she joked pegging up one of Ricks shirts to the line.
"You all act like Daryl is a big scary monster. Well he ain't. Just a big puppy dog" she jostled.
"To you maybe." Carol muttered with a small smirk on her face.
"Don't let Daryl hear you say that." Lori countered.
Rick walked past with Shane, Andrea and T Dog, "Morning Anna, finish up your breakfast. We have a lot of ground to cover today. I need you to have your strength for the search; you have a huge day ahead of you"
"Everyone is getting new search grids today, if she made it as far as the farm house she has gone further east than we have been" Rick told everyone, laying out a map on the bonnet of the car.
Anna was trying to pay attention to what was going on, having a look of the map but her cross bow strap was a little loose on the back and it was annoying her. Daryl shook his head, going behind her and tightening up the strap. "Stop fiddling, I know you are jumpy. You will do just fine out there" he muttered only so she could hear.
"Thanks." she mumbled, looking out the corner of her eye as he was putting his over shirt on, he nodded at her with a smirk.
"I would like to help, I know the area pretty well" Jimmy offered. He was Beth's boyfriend, a young kid who was eager to get out there and help with the group. It felt like he was doing something right.
'Is Hershel okay with this?" Rick asked, wary of the young boy being out there in the open.
"Yeah, he said I should ask you" Jimmy replied, stepping forward and getting a look of the map.
"Alright then. Thanks, appreciate it" Rick answered.
"Nothing what Daryl found is screaming Sophia to me. Anyone could have been holding up on that barn" Shane called out, sitting on the seat of the car and looking over his shoulder.
Anna scoffed, "Anyone can mean Sophia, right?"
"Aren't you a smart ass." Andrea scoffed with her stupid cowboy hat on.
"Your judgment doesn't matter to me." Anna countered with cool, calm and collected which irritated Andrea.
"Might wanna hold your Chihuahua back there Daryl. She is a bit of an ankle biter and it will get her in trouble someday" Shane called out from inside of the car.
Anna raised her eyebrows at him and stuck her finger up at Shane.
"I try to but she is a bit of a fire cracker. Even worse if you try and hold her back, which is when her bite goes from Chihuahua to a Rottweiler" he threatened.
"The person in the pantry would have been so high. Same size as Sophia."
Getting back to the grid plans, Anna spoke up, "Daryl and I are burrowing two of the horses from Hershel. I have been riding horses since I was a kid, I can get through, up and over anything that I come across in these lands. We will be following the river; there is a ridge there where we can get a bird's eye view of the grid. If she is up there, we will spot her without a doubt. Samson is coming with us, he used to be a military and rescue dog. If he finds her scent, we can track her real good" she stated with Samson loyally sitting by her side.
T Dog put his hands on his hips "Well don't we have a little tomb raider on our hands right here? Is there anything you can't do? Horse riding, cross bow, shooting, hunting and tracking" he listed off seeming pretty impressed.
The sun was bright, it was glaring down brightly into her eyes . She bent down to the ground, using T Dog as a shadow "I can't drink straight spirits; last time that happened I kind of got arrested because of it. My best friend's older brother had to come and bail me out on that one. My dad still doesn't know about that to this day" Anna replied smiling cheekily at him with a wink.
"What did you get arrested for?" T Dog asked, curious because of his little friend.
Anna shifted uncomfortably, "Uh" she hesitated, "It was for indecent exposure. I kinda flashed my boobs to the cops so my friends who had priors could get away. I barely got a slap on the wrist for that one"
"Well aren't you full of surprises" Daryl murmured beside her. "You got yourself a record"
"What and you don't?" she whispered., looking up at Daryl with a cheeky grin.
"Just didn't expect you too!", he said shaking his head at the thought.
The people around her stopped and stared at her. T Dog coughed into his hand, blinked a few times "Aww I totally got to get my hands on a bottle southern comfort and get your ass drunk for your birthday. You sound like you would be the life of the party!"
"Nah uh, I am not touching a single drop of no goddamn spirits. My hangover will last days on end. That stuff is damn nasty" Anna screwed up her nose and shook her head with the very thought of the alcohol making her feel sick.
Dale came around with the bags of guns, Anna was given back her dad's sniper much to Shane's disgust. She put the bolt back in from her pocket, dusting some dirt off it. She then searched her other pockets, taking out the silencer from her back pocket, twisting it on and stepping forward to take a better look of the map.
"You never know Daryl, you might even see that chupacabra of yours again" Anna teased, poking her tongue out a little and raising her eye brows at him.
He scoffed at her "Making fun of me now there half pint?"
"Yeah" she frankly said.
"A chupacabra?" Rick asked, the sun beating on to them.
"What, you never heard this? The first night in camp Daryl said he was out squirrel hunting and this whole thing started with a chupacabra" Dale teased.
Anna laughed with Dale, swinging her rifle around her shoulder. Jimmy stared at her a little, he blushed a little too and laughed with her. Daryl bristled a little, staring at him "What you braying at jack ass. You think that is funny do you?"
Jimmy looked down to the ground, nervously.
"You believe in a blood sucking dog?" Rick asked.
"You believe in dead people walking around?" Daryl said having a little go back.
Jimmy reached forward for the gun from bonnet of the car but Rick stopped him "Hey, hey. You ever fired one before?"
"If I am going out I want one. Anna has a cross bow, rifle and those silver knives. If she has all that surely I can have a gun" the young kid moaned like a little child.
"Yeah, well people in hell want slurpees dude. Anna knows how to damn well use those weapons in the woods for hunting, tracking and able to kill anything that is out there" Rick objected.
"Come on Half Pint, we have to going before we waste too much time in the day light" he told her stalking off with Samson running along by his side. Anna rolled her eyes at him being all grumpy.
Rick pulled her aside for a moment "Be careful out there okay, I need you back in one piece. I already have had the "talk" from Carol for letting you go out there too soon while you are still healing. Are you sure your hand and leg are healed enough for you to go out there?" He fussed over her taking a hold of her hand and looked it over.
Anna laughed, holding her hand up and giving him a pointed look "My hand is nicely strapped and reinforced with sports tape. You don't have to worry Rick, I will be back just fine. Besides..."
"Yo, Half Pint, will you just move your ass, quicker. You are wasting time there by just standing around and yapping like there is no tomorrow." Daryl called out shielding his eyes from the sun and Samson barking at her.
"You better get going before you end up in too much trouble with him. I think I can actually see Daryl's eye twitching from here. Seems your dog has made a new best friend as well" Rick laughed.
Daryl was standing there, wiping his nose and staring her down. He was kneeling down, patting Samson behind the ear and talking to him.
"Pfft, I could handle that red neck on his worst of days." she joked. "Be careful out there today as well" she told him giving his side hug and a small kiss on the cheek.
Rick felt it there, Anna was the light and maybe somehow she was the answer to everyone's grief. As strange or mysterious as it was, she lifted peoples spirits. "Don't let him boss you around too much you hear me. He gives you too much trouble, you just come back to me and I will sort it all out" he joked.
"Yes big brother" she joked.
"That has a ring to it." Rick laughed.
'Anna! Come on" Daryl's voice echoed, without him even looking back.
"You better get going now, he called you Anna rather than Half Pint. That is when you know you are in trouble" Rick pointed out.
"See ya. " Anna laughed to Rick running up to Daryl.
Anna saddled up the chestnut mare for herself "I will take this one, she is a little bit flightier. A bit jumpy on her feet as well".
"You think I can't handle a little spirit" Daryl asked her chucking Samson a little of his granola bar, which he snapped it out of the air and gobbled it up pretty quickly.
"No." she simply replied getting up on the horse. Nelly, the horse shifted on her feet a little, her head looking up in the air and peering around the barn. "Hey, hey easy there now, Nelly okay. No playing silly buggers on me alright. Today you and I are going to have a nice easy ride. What do you say about that?"
Nelly gave a little rear, Anna holding on to the lead rope to the halter a little tighter. The smell of the horses, hay and the barn reminded her of home. She smiled, leaning down, giving Nelly a pat on the neck and a quick kiss. Daryl looked on, for a moment there it was as if there were no dead people walking around in the world and all they were doing was going for a ride. Together they rode out of the barn.
"Where did you learn all that sort of stuff anyhow? I gathered you to be some rich pony club princess sort of girl with a horse that was worth just as much as a car or something like that" Daryl asked curiously. Eyeing her off, cocking one eyebrow and both rode in the open fields. The Cherokee roses were in full bloom, their fragrance wafting along the breeze. Anna reached back untying her bun releasing the long plait over her shoulder. She leaned down half off her saddle, reaching out her fingers tips and grabbing a rose and putting it behind her ear.
"Looks can be deceiving Daryl. I remember the day I got my first big horse" she recalled thinking back to the way life once was. Samson was up ahead, keeping a watch out for any of the walkers.
"I didn't even know my father was bringing one home for me that day." There was something about her smile that was haunting, her eyes were dark. Anna was gloomy.
"But when he unloaded Twister. Never have I seen such an amazing animal, a deep blood red bay old school quarter horse gelding. He had been a giveaway horse my father had seen advertised in the local paper and was almost about to be dog food when my father got him. He only had two weeks left to live. My dad said to my mom, I wouldn't get any better nor loyal horse than all those other thousands of dollars' worth of horses that other girls had. We had given him a second chance in life. Best damn horse I ever owned and he didn't cost a dollar" She gathered her reins, clicking her tongue urging the horse forward with a big smile on her face, laughing sadly to herself. "Oh I miss this." she whispered.
"Your dad sounds like a good man" Daryl commented, his eyes squinting as the sun shone down brightly in to his eyes.
Anna smirked, gathering the reins tighter in her hands "I could get away with murder with him."
"I bet you would batter those big green eyes of yours and you would get just about anything you want wouldn't you!" Daryl looked up to see Samson standing still, looking straight. There was a lone walker stumbling towards them. Daryl whistled to her, tilting his head to Anna "Want this one? Been a while since you shot, you need the practice" he asked.
"Sure." she replied swinging her cross bow off her shoulder.
"If we will be out tracking and hunting together. I won't have you with a damn lousy shot that could get me killed one day because you don't have my back" he teased.
"You are such a jack ass sometimes Dixon. I got this one." Anna pulled Nelly to a stop, pulling her cross bow from around her shoulder.
Daryl clicked his tongue to move his horse forward to be right beside Anna. "Take your time remember." whispered, encouraging her.
Anna shot a bolt, hitting the walker in the shoulder; she growled with frustration feeling disappointed with herself "Bloody hell. You have got to be kidding me?"
'Go again, you can do it Anna. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. You always remember that" he encouraged her.
Samson lay down deep in the grass, his eyes followed a butterfly around his nose, keeping quiet and out of sight. Anna took a deep breath, closing her eyes and then raising her cross bow, shooting and getting the walker in the eye. Anna smiled big, wisps of her hair falling out "Booya! I still have my mojo. I can't believe it. I actually got the sucker with this stupid hand" waving her bandaged hand around.
"See, you can do it! It is all in your head you bo zo!" he teased her, looking at Anna and actually found himself do more than a smirk, but rather a smile.
Anna rolled her eyes, swinging her cross bow around her shoulder and staring him down with daggers with her eyes. Daryl put his arms up in mock surrender "Hey now, I meant no harm."
"You call me a bo zo you southern red neck hick. I hate you"
"No you don't." He replied, shooting an arrow off and killing a squirrel. Daryl rode past, grabbing it and tying it to his waist.
"Whatever smart ass" she shot back.
Samson was up ahead, his ears were pricked and his nose looking over to the river. Daryl and Anna pulled up their horses. Samson whimpered and Daryl leant down, patting Samson "Good boy." he muttered.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Samson got the scent of Sophia, that is her doll there by the log in the river. I owe you a good hunk of meat for this boy, maybe this entire squirrel" Daryl muttered, getting up of his feet and looking down the hill. "You gonna be okay getting down this? It is real steep"
Anna put her hands on her hips, pushed past Daryl "Of course I can." and made her way down the hill.
"Your momma is far too easy to shit stir boy. Now stay here, give us warning if anything gets close by" he laughed and followed after her with Samson.
Daryl watched Anna as she was short footed over the logs like it was nothing and made it down to the river with no problem at all. "See?"
"Yeah, yeah woman. Just you watch yourself okay. First moment you don't you could trip up" he mumbled walking through the water and picking up Sophia's doll.
"She came through here. Samson catches her scent around the area, we will be close to finding her" Anna noted, puffed from the climb. "We could be close!"
Daryl looked around, holding the doll "Sophia!" he yelled out.
"Sophia!" Anna called out.
"Come on, we got to get the trail. We don't want to lose it to anything"
Anna was looking up at the hill when Daryl looked back to her "I knew you only just made it down that hill"
"Hey, not my fault I ain't six foot tall and have arms like you."
"Come on." he laughed. "I will even give you a boost up there if you want'
'Ha ha ha nice try hick. You are sooo not getting your hands on my ass. I don't know where your hands have been. Gross" she muttered pushing past him.
"I wash my hands after every woman thank you kindly" he teased.
They were on top of the hill, Anna's horse was a little jumpy. "You alright there?" he asked as his horse jumped a little.
'They are both on edge, something is up" Anna had a frown on her face, holding the reins tight and walking the horse forward.
Then a snake came at them and the horses reared up. Anna screamed as she fell off and down the cliff. "Anna!" Daryl cried out as he was falling down the hill after her. Branches stuck in to his body, losing his crow bow as he slid down the rocks and into the river. He was stunned, laying in the river "Son of a bitch' he muttered, looking over and seeing an arrow through his side. The pain was almost unbearable, finding it hard to breathe. Slowly, he eased himself up and looking up to see Anna slowly stirring, trying to lift herself up.
"You alright?" he called out.
"Yeah. Seeing double but I am all good" Anna panted. She got up, whole side of her face covered in blood. Looking around all she could find was her cross bow and a few bolts. She gingerly picked herself up and carefully slid down the rocks but her legs gave out in the water. "Shit" she swore.
She waded across to him, looking at his side "We need to get you out of this water, so I can treat your wound better. God knows what infections you will get by just lying here" she urged helping him up out of the water putting his arm around her shoulders. Anna was strong for a petite young woman.
"What about your head?" he asked, wavering a little on his feet, almost pulling her down.
'I can deal with my head later. We need to deal with your wound first"
'My cross bow. " he told her, looking back in to the river. "Merle gave it to me."
"I will find it in the water. It isn't going anywhere, promise I will find it for you"
Anna was struggling a little with Daryl using her as a leaning post, he was stumbling every so often and it brought her down each time. But she made it to a nearby log and sat him down. She leaned down close to his wound, her head throbbing as her vision started to blur, she blinked quickly trying to shake off the nausea. It didn't go unnoticed and he looked at her warily 'Ya sure you are alright? "
She ignored what he said "I need to use your sleeves. I can use that to put around exit and entry wound. I am going to use my shirt to tie it around and hold it in place. At the moment, as painful as it may seem, we have to keep the arrow in. I take it out, it can cause severe bleeding. If it were back at the farm house I could better treat it by taking it out. But I don't want to do it out here if something went wrong"
"You will catch your death out there." he commented as she took off her flannelette jumper which revealed a large scratch up her right arm.
Anna took one of her daggers and took off Daryl's sleeves. "Better me freeze than you get internal bleeding or even worse, a blood infection. Now stay still will you?" she commanded, focused tying the sleeves around the wounds.
"Yes ma'am" he joked. "Bet you were one of them female surgeons who would bust everyone's balls?"
"Now here comes the painful part. It is going to hurt like a bitch but I need to try and stop the bleeding"
"Fire away doc, get it over and done with. Argh! Son of a bitch. Yep, yep you were definitely one of those surgeons" Daryl grunted as a searing pain went through his side. Anna quickly with precision hands tied her flannelette up and stood up.
"I will go and look in the river for your cross bow. We need as much fire power as we can get. I lost my dad's rifle somewhere up there"
Daryl propped himself up against the log, seeing her hand was black and blue. "You hurt your hand there. It is all different colours"
"It will be fine, promise I will fix it as soon as we get back to the farm" she replied, looking around the ground for a decent size stick to search in the water with.
"Ever bother looking out for just yourself once in a while?" Daryl pointed out, heavy breathing and holding his side.
"Now what kind of person would I be if I did that? I figured we all need people to get through this tough time. No one should have to do it alone" she replied, turning around smiling to him and heading into the water. "I am not going to lose my humanity over that. I have seen there isn't a lot of kindness going around these days, there still needs to be some around. That is the kind of hope that keeps me going"
Anna was waist deep in the water, pushing around the dirt on the bottom, keeping a constant eye on everything around her. "Or there is the kind people that are just plain old asshole examples of human beings. My opinion is good people are even harder to find these days. Everyone gets pushed to their limits and some go beyond that of humanity and become monsters. So I like to believe there is some still good people out there, your group is." She thought about that for a second, "well, most of it".
Anna paused, taking a breath and scooping up some water to wipe a little blood off her mouth and then facing Daryl " You are."
Looking over to the edge of the water, there was some bushes rustling; she held her breath, adrenaline kicking in as she looked up at Daryl. He looked around himself, picking up a large rock and putting his finger to his mouth to silence her and pointed to the bushes. Anna sunk deeper into the water, and slowly picked up Daryl's cross bow. She felt scared, a lump in her throat as she backed away from the direction of the noise. Daryl got up on his feet, getting ready to strike if any walkers came into the clearing.
'Come on, come on! Half Pint, move your ass, hurry the hell up" he muttered to himself, feeling uneasy standing there.
She came out of the water, shivering with his cross bow in her hand. "We had better get going, god knows before any of the walkers come along. It will be dark soon. It won't be safe"
Daryl limped along to the base of the hill, he handed her a stick to help her up the hill "Let's get started."
Anna looked up at the hill, dwarfed by the size of Daryl "This is going to suck isn't it."
Daryl laughed, even in a life or death situation she still manages to bring light in to the situation "it is going to suck balls. And hurt like a real son of a bitch".
'Well good thing I am not a dude then." she whispered taking the stick from his hand, smiling and raising her eyebrows and poking her tongue out.
"Let's get this show on the road then." he urged her walking to the start of the base of the hill.
Daryl pushed Anna forward above him, making sure she at least got away if anything happened. Every inch of his body was screaming at him, his side had a searing pain that was making it hard for him to breathe with every step he took or anything he grabbed. At least in this world he could actually help someone physically in the meantime while looking for a lost little girl in the woods. She was getting weak and dizzy every movement she made but Anna was too stubborn to admit of it. She had treated his wound but not hers "You alright up there" he called out, puffed.
"Just peachy. I think I just ate a bug. Oh yep, I did just eat a goddamn bug. Oh that is seriously the most disgusting thing ever in my entire life" she gasped, spitting and trying to wipe away the grossness from her mouth.
Dead people roaming the earth and she was grossed out by bugs? Daryl thought to himself.
He pushed himself up again, the pain almost unbearable "Come on now, almost half way. Don't be such a pussy" urging himself up.
Anna's head started to spin a little, she tried to shake it off, grabbing a hold of a branch but it let go. Daryl tried to grab her but he fell too.
Daryl lay down at the bottom of the ravine dazed as a figure stood over him.
'Why don't you take out that arrow, dress your wound better, little brother?"
He blinked slowly, dazed and confused "Merle? That you?"
"What's going with you and the pint sized hottie? You both out here by your lonesome" Merle asked.
"Where's Anna? Where is she?" he asked trying to shift his weight but panic set in, he tried to move his head to try and find Anna, but he couldn't see her anywhere in his sight.
"Why are you laying down anyway? Having a siesta or something? Want me to rub your feet or something? I can have a look around for the sweet ass of yours and she can do it for you? God knows I would love to have her do it for me" Merle tormented.
"Screw you jack ass. Anna ain't like that. She would kick ya ass if you touched her. She can handle herself well in a fight. It is just a real shitty day bro, for us both, just stop with the shit stirring okay" he muttered, his head still spinning from the pain. Daryl tried to move his head around to try and get his eyes on Anna.
Merle leaned closer in to his face, the image still blurry, making Daryl feel sick in the stomach "Well by the looks of it you are the one screwed little brother. All those years I spent trying to make you a man and here you are pussy whipped by some midget size of a woman! Look at yourself, god you are lying in the dirt like a used rubber. You and miss thing are gonna die out here. All for what?"
"A girl, we are looking for a little girl" explaining to Merle
Merle leaned in real close to Daryl's face "I see the connection here now, you got a thing for little girls now?" Merle badgered.
"Shut up!" Daryl bit back.
"'Cause I know you aren't looking for little ol' Merle anymore"
"Tried like hell to find you bro."
"Like hell you did. You split man and went off the first chance you got"
"You got out, all you had to do is wait. We went back for ya, Rick and I. We did right by ya"
"Is this the same sheriff Rick that handcuffed me to the roof top in the first place? Forced me to cut off my own hand? That is who we are talking about here, you his bitch now? And now you pussy whipped by the green eyed beauty? God knows I would probably be with a girl with an ass and tits like that too"
"I ain't nobodies bitch!" Daryl told him.
"You are a joke is what you are. Playing errand boy to some pansy asses and niggas. You are nothing but a freak to them. You think you can even be friends with Half Pint over there? A woman like her? Those hands are manicured man. To someone like her who was brought up with a gold spoon in her mouth you are nothing but red neck trash. They are all probably laughing behind your back right about now, making fun of you like those girls did back in high school. You know I am right, one day all of them are just going to scrape you off their heels as if you are dog shit" Merle taunted.
Daryl started to black out again when Merle hit him, talking to him "Hey they aren't your kin, your blood. Now you listen to me, ain't nobody gonna care about you accept me, little brother, ain't nobody who ever will. Now get up before I am gonna have to kick your teeth in. Come on, get up" Merle began kicking Daryl's feet "Come on Daryl, and get up. ".
"Daryl Wake up!" Anna screamed throwing a stick as close to him as she could but she still missed.
He suddenly woke up, looking down to his feet and seeing a walker chewing on his boot. Two walkers were after her as she stumbled along trying to find a large and sharp enough rock to hit any of the walkers in the head with.
"Daryl!" she screamed and stabbed a walker in the head.
Daryl kicked the walker in the head; his heart was in his chest as he was trying to reach for his cross bow. He looked up, seeing Anna slice the other walkers head off with her daggers but still unsteady on her feet. Daryl grabbed the stick pushing the walker to the ground, bashing its head in until there was nothing left but mush blended into the dirt. Anna stumbled to his direction, exhausted and collapsed by his side. Daryl looked up, seeing another walker coming fast through the river, he laid down, pulling the arrow out his side. He was not going to let them die here today; there is no way in hell they were going to. The pain was agonizing for him but he put the arrow in the cross bow and shot the walker in the head just as it got to them.
'Nice shot!" she joked heaving on the ground, tired.
Anna sat up, her throat ablaze with thirst. She put her hand out to help Daryl up off the ground.
"We better dress that wound of yours a better way now there is no arrow in it." she informed with a doctor voice Daryl thought.
"Yes Doctor Hendricks." Daryl joked removing his flannelette and Anna's make shift bandages. Anna dusted off her hands and sat down besides Daryl.
She lifted up his singlet, taking a closer looks at his wound. She got up, taking the make shift bandages to the water, rinsing it off to make it as clean as possible. Daryl watched her, Anna was quick and efficient with her hands. "This is the best I can do until we get back to the farm. I'm sorry" she said when she got back to him.
"What about your head?" he asked pulling his singlet back down and eyeing her off warily.
"I am just going to wash this blood off. Just need to keep awake. I will be right back" Anna eased herself up off her tired and sore knees and trudged her way back to the river.
Daryl took the squirrel he killed earlier, skinning it, his eyes looking up at Anna every couple of seconds, watching for any walkers. He cut the meat from the bones, eating a piece for strength for the no doubt long trip back to the farm.
He took the laces of one of the walkers and cut their ears off. Anna was up, taking a little breather and walked up to Daryl, her body was tired and sore. He held up a piece of raw squirrel meat to her, to Daryl's surprise and she ate it without hesitating. "I need all the energy I can get to make it up that ravine"
"Let's get this show on the road." he whispered.
"The Daryl and Anna show." she joked finding a little light in dire situation.
Daryl tilted head back, laughed and put his hand on her shoulder, walked forward to the base of the ravine. Samson barked loudly. He was anxious for his owner and new friend. Daryl and Anna looked up in sync and laughed. "Don't forget the pooch in that show" Daryl joked.
"Now that is a reality show worth watching more than those damn Kardashian's". She said in disgust as Daryl laughed at her. "Oh I am serious, give me the pleasure of turning those girls in to a walkers and shoot them with a bolt" she joked. "Damn girls are a pain in the ass."
They were a long way up on the ravine, Anna cut her hand bad on a tree root with every branch she grabbed it stung like hell. Daryl was struggling to heave his body weight up, he was half crying. Anna stopped, looking down at him and her gut instinct told her to help but Daryl saw that "You damn well keep going ya hear me! Get to the top, don't you stop for me ya hear! Get your ass up there Half Pint or I will kick ya ass"
"Daryl." she muttered.
"Go Anna. Don't you worry about me" he urged her softly, giving her a small smile.
Daryl stopped for a moment watching her go up higher and higher until he couldn't see her anymore. A sense of relief washed over him. A flock of crows flew above them, Daryl stopped taking a quick breath. At least Anna would get out of this damn horrid mess. "Please don't feed the birds."
'What's the matter Darylina? Is that all you got in ya?" Merle teased, crouching down low. "Look at you climbing!"
'I did better when you were missing! Won't you just piss the hell the off and leave me the damn well alone" he growled pulling himself up from another branch.
"Come on, don't be like that. I have always been on your side"
'Since when?" Daryl challenged.
"Hell, since you were born baby brother. Somebody had to look after your worthless ass" Merle teased.
"You never took care of me. You talk big game but you was never there and you aren't here now so some things will never change"
"I tell you what I am real as your chupacabra." Merle was taunting him. Trying to get him angry. It worked.
Daryl was starting to get really angry now "I know what I saw!"
"Yeah, I am sure the shrooms you ate had nothing to do with it either? Tell me something little brother, where on this goddamn earth do you think you could be friends with a girl like little Cutie, I mean seriously. A girl like that has standards, and you are below those standards by a long shot, little brother."
"You'd best just shut the hell up!" Daryl warned.
"Or what? You gonna get to the top and shut my mouth for me. Well come on and do it then, if you are man enough. Kick off those high heels son and start climbing. If I were you little brother I would take a fall for the cause, I just don't think you are gonna make it to the top! Come on little brother, won't you grab your friend Rick's hand"
Daryl put his hands up to the top of the ravine, clawing at the dirt, feeling himself starting to fall back "No, no, no" he muttered.
Two small hands shot out and grabbed the loose hand. "I got you Daryl. Got your back there redneck" she joked with a smile.
Anna pulled him up, he was struggling real bad and leaned on her a great deal. "Yeah you better run!"
Anna breathed a sigh of relief "We are here. Thank god!"
Anna was breathing hard, her throat feeling red raw and dry from thirst. Her whole body ached, limping with every step. Her hair was sticking to her face where the blood had dried. Daryl refused to be helped with the farm in sight, dragging his cross bow behind him. She stayed close by him just in case he collapsed. It would be no doubt both of them would look like death itself, all covered in blood, dirt, grime and pale. Samson barked with relief that they were back. The horses had taken off. Hershel isn't going to like that. They headed for the farm, limping and tired. Samson stayed at their heels, alert and weary.
Rick, Shane, T dog and Glenn were running up to them, with all of their guns pointed at both her and Daryl
'Is that Daryl and Anna?" Glenn asked, shocked not quite believing it was them.
"About time you pointed that gun to my head. Are you gonna pull the trigger or what?" Daryl asked Shane, his body swaying a little, his face covered in blood, scaring them all.
Anna shook her head, pulling a piece of blood crusted hair from her face "Daryl. Now is not the time to be a douche."
Anna flung sideways and then still on to the ground. Daryl looked around wildly and to the ground. All this way from twice up that damn ravine after she gets hurt bad and now this. "What the hell?" Daryl yelled wiping the blood away from her forehead. "I was just kidding and here you are shooting at us! If she dies!" he yelled out at Andrea.
The colour drained from Rick's face, he turned back to the RV and screamed "No! No!"
Hershel stormed up to the RV pissed as all hell "What is going on here?" he demanded to Andrea and Dale.
Rick bent down, carefully picking Anna up into his arms. "We need to get her back."
Rick saw the look on Daryl's face "She isn't dead Daryl."
Andrea and Dale were running to them "Oh my god, oh my god is Anna dead?" she cried, feeling horrible and guilty.
"No, she isn't dead. Unconscious from it all" Rick told her, hurrying past her.
T Dog and Shane put Daryl's arms around their shoulders.
"Here you are shooting off like a lunatic, been through hell and back out there today. If she dies you are in real trouble ya here me!" he yelled out at Andrea.
Daryl felt his eyes droop "Anna better not be."
Rick could see Andrea was completely guilt ridden "Anna isn't going to die Andrea, you just grazed her okay. She is too damn stubborn to go out like this".
Glenn pointed at Daryl, shocked "What the hell happened to them? Oh my god are those walker ears?"
Rick took off the boot lace necklace of ears and shoved them in his pocket "Let's keep that to ourselves"
T dog stopped behind them all, holding up a doll "hey guys, isn't this Sophia's?"
"We found it washed up on the creek back there. She must have dropped it crossing there somewhere" Daryl grimaced as Hershel stitched together his wound.
"That almost cuts the grid in half".
Anna sat on a chair beside the bed with a bandage around her head. It was pounding like no tomorrow, knowing she would have to be woken up every two hours when it was time to go to sleep. Anna was feeling utterly exhausted and started to blinking slowly, feeling tired. But Daryl whistled, glaring at her and pointing am angry finger at her.
"Right, no falling asleep, got it Daryl" she replied pulling her legs to her chest on the big recliner chair and pulling the rug over herself.
"You better get it. Or I will kick ya ass" he warmed her.
"How are they both looking?" Rick asked passing Anna a glass of water.
'I had no idea I would be going through so many antibiotics so quickly. Any idea what happened to my horses?" Hershel questioned.
"Yeah, the ones that almost killed us? If they were smart enough they would have left the country" Daryl snapped.
Hershel raised his eyebrows "The one that Anna fell off was called Nelly, as in nervous Nelly. We would have told you she would have thrown you if you had bothered to ask. It is a wonder all you people have survived this long"
Daryl was keeping eye on the clock, Anna had five minutes or so left before she meant to be woken up again. Bags were starting to form underneath her eyes, of course that wasn't helped by half of her face covered in bruises and scrapes. She had the recliner full out, a big warm quilted blanket and two big fluffy pillows behind her head. He had to laugh; Carol had come in earlier and given her that stupid panda bear beanie and that is when Samson came in. The dog hasn't left her side since.
There was a soft knock on the door, Daryl quickly pulled up the blankets to cover himself up and Carol came in with a tray of food for both of them.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Alright." he replied.
Carol looked over to Anna "She due to be woken up yet?".
"She is soon, that damn girl can just about fall asleep on anything. I don't know how the hell she does it half the time" he noted.
Carol smiled softly; she cared for the both of them "Well I brought you both some dinner, god knows both of you must be starving. I know Anna eat likes a horse despite the size of her. I don't know where Anna puts it all"
"Yeah and she eats anything too." he told her, remembering the squirrel in the woods.
Carol put down the tray, leaning down. Daryl flinched a little as she gave him a kiss on the head. "Watch out for the stitches."
Carol felt resigned, looking at the door but looking back to Daryl "You need to know something, you and Anna have done more for my little girl than her own daddy and I did in her whole life"
"I did nothing that Rick or Shane wouldn't do." Daryl said.
"There is a reason why you have that young lady over there as a friend for life despite what you think of yourself and what you have between yourself and her. Anna could have made friends with Rick or Shane, but she is that good friend to you and no one else is she? Anna sees that something in yourself that you don't see. Don't doubt yourself okay? You are every bit as good as them, every bit" she softly told him, walking out of the room.
Daryl pulled himself up eyeing off the food, then to Anna, he picked up a small pillow and softly throwing it at her "Yo, wake up half pint." he whispered.
Anna stirred from her sleep, yawning and stretching "I was sleeping soundly just then." she giggled tiredly.
"Be my guest to fall asleep again. Then you will get even more brain damage than you already have. Carol brought in dinner. You need to eat. Come on now" he firmly told her and sat himself up against the head of the bed.
"Yes sir." she joked and rolled her eyes at him, waving him off with her hand wrapping the blankets around her shoulders, walking around the bed and grabbed the tray. Anna went to the other side of the bed and sat beside Daryl "You are eating to bo zo."
"Who you calling a bo zo?" he joked nudging her in the shoulder and taking a piece of venison from her hand.
'I know what you are like, you won't eat unless someone force feeds you" Anna told him., smiling.
"Thanks for saving my ass out there today. Would have been one of them if it weren't for you" Daryl thanked Anna
"Oh I don't know about that, I have a feeling that you would have found a way out of it. I just helped you to get out of it a little bit quicker that is all"
They sat there eating in silence, Daryl taking the last of the pickings with a plate on his lap while Anna read a book Lori had dropped in. Daryl looked down, Anna had fallen asleep with the book in her lap. He picked it up, gingerly lifting the tray up and setting it on the cabinet beside him. Anna slid down further in the blankets, half asleep. Daryl scooted over to side of the bed as far as possible, still facing her. Anna rolled over to face Daryl "Good night Daryl Dixon."
"Night Half Pint. Go to sleep now, you need it" he spoke softly.
"You too Mister, see you in the morning" she sighed. She closed her eyes and soon began to purr again.
"That's a promise, Half Pint" he said to himself before drifting off to sleep as well.