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(4everMCRluver, Skies192, carey905, .95, gkelly, serina1944, speedy964, Lamia86, and sugabee14)
I tried to sneak out of camp while those awake seemed to be distracted and heavily involved in what they were doing, however, I was mistaken.
"And miss, where are you going?" Dale's voice appeared out of nowhere, stunning me. I cringed and pivoted on my foot, facing in his direction. He was climbing up onto his camper for first watch this morning.
"Going," I replied vaguely and attempted to begin my journey once more.
Before I got to take a step, he spoke again. "Not by yourself I hope."
"Yes, by myself. Now if you would excuse me-"
"Lauren, I was told to keep tabs on what is going on at all times. I don't need you all to be playing games." He looked at me, intent on getting his point across.
"I am a grown woman. I can make my own decisions," I replied, maybe a bit too harshly.
He looked taken aback by my hostility and opened his mouth to say something but not one noise came out. "I'm sorry," I continued, "but I have to go. I'll be back before lunch." And before he could get any other response out, I turned and ran, clutching the straps of my backpack tightly to me. I made my way to the woods, looking back over my shoulder. No one was following me, but I spotted Dale's silhouette illuminated by the sun rising behind him, standing on the top of his camper, facing my direction. I hesitated before stepping into the brush, climbing over fallen tree stumps. I bore my knife only, keeping it ready to use at all times. I surprisingly faced no trouble stumbling through the woods, but found myself nearly tripping over certain things, I guess my body hasn't fully woken up yet. I regret not eating breakfast before I left. I hope the box of granola bars is still in the glove box of my truck because I am starving. I encountered one zombie on my way up to the highway, thank God it was just one, and it seemed to be distracted eating a squirrel, so I ignored it but sped up my travelling.
Hours seemed to trail by and the trip was gruesome and appeared much longer than it should have. I felt so dizzy once I finally made it back to the highway and to my vehicle. I don't know what is coming over me. I pulled the truck's key out of my back pocket and fumbled to get it into the key slot. My fingers were shaking for some reason, sending terrified nerves throughout my body and to my toes. I finally got the door unlocked and I climbed in, pulling out various supplies and throwing them into my backpack. I stopped for a moment to catch my breath, wiping my forehead of the nervous sweat accumulating. My break was cut short when something touched my back, sending my adrenaline level to the moon and back again. I kicked my leg backwards furiously, feeling my foot come in contact with a heavy body. I flung myself around to see two zombies, the one I kicked on the ground, and one coming closer to me. Faster and faster it came, stretching its arms in my direction. I felt tears sting my eyes as I struggled to locate my knife. I found that it had fell to the pavement. In one swift movement, I knelt down and picked it up before lunging forward and plunging it into the head of the walking one. As I struggled to retrieve my weapon from its rotten flesh and brain, my ankle was grabbed. I flailed my leg wildly, in hopes that it wouldn't get the opportunity to bite. I refused to scream, knowing no one was around and that it would only attract more attackers. Fate was with me as I finally got my knife free from the head of the deceased and quickly thrust it into the top of the skull of the other one. I continued to stab it repeatedly, feeling anger and frustration burst through me like fireworks. The monster seemed to release my leg almost instantly, the pressure its grasp put on my skin was lessened. I pulled my leg free and quickly lifted the pant leg to inspect for scratches.
My breathing was heavy and unsteady now, my head feeling like a spinning top. I felt so panicky and unsettled that I couldn't help but to cry. I told myself repeatedly, "No, no you're stronger than that Lauren." But deep down inside I felt so indifferent. I felt like I can't be okay, nothing is ever okay. Something always happens, something always forces fate to rear itself up again. I've become so dependent on fate and hope lately. Maybe I shouldn't think so unrealistically.
"Shit!" I yelped as I was grabbed again by the shoulders. My vision was blurred with tears but as I turned around, I could make out a gruesome-looking, torn up face. My knife in hand, I killed that one instantly, but only to see two more behind it as its limp body fell to the ground. I accepted this as reality now. However determined I should have been, I don't know if I felt it anymore. I cried as I struggled to throw them off. They only attacked more furiously, their jaws gnashing at the space between us and their hands trying to grasp onto any part of body they could. I stabbed one of them in the forehead, leaving the other one to pin me against the side of my truck. "No…" I managed to whimper as I used my entire strength to attempt to push it away by its shoulders. This try had failed. I couldn't manage my knife away for two seconds to kill it. This was over, I had to accept that. Everything around me was one big blur of commotion. Loud sounds became blended together and my head began to pound ferociously. I don't know how long I can manage to hold it off for much longer, given that I was already weak and on the brink of blacking out right there. Before I would've given up, the body seemed to collapse right in front of me and fell to my feet. "What…" I whined and scrambled to regain myself. I looked down at the body. I blinked away the tears and managed to note the fluorescent feathered arrow sticking out of the side of its head.
"What in the actual hell do you think you are doing?!" A familiar, husky voice shouted at me. I looked around and saw an angry looking Daryl coming right in my direction. I ran over to him shakily and didn't even hesitate to what I did next. I wrapped my arms around his body like a mad woman, embracing him like I have never hugged anyone before. Unable to think of what to do, he caught me with a large hand placed at the small of my back. I cried into his chest, feeling my hands tremble as they moved to grasp desperately onto the back of his sleeveless shirt. I felt his entire body tense up and become rigid at my touch and I inferred he began to feel awkward but at this point, I didn't know what else to do. He had saved my life again, and I owe him everything and more. For many moments he let me stay that close to him, under his protection, until I pulled away. He didn't look me in the eyes for seconds until I began to speak. His face had softened quite a bit since I first saw him stalking towards me.
"I'm…sorry," I managed to choke out between sobs, wiping the heavy tears from my cheeks. He pursed his lips together and watched my face, his eyes darting from feature to feature. He gave a slight nod before walking over to my belongings and supplies which I had dropped in spite of the moment. He picked my bag off the ground and scooped up any other tossed items before putting them in the pack and zipping it shut. He pulled the arrow out of the zombie's head and then motioned over to his motorcycle and had me follow him to it. He handed me my things back and sat on the bike and started it. He waited for a minute before looking at me, insinuating that he was offering me a ride back to camp. I hesitated before slinging my backpack over my shoulders and sitting on the seat behind him. "Hold on tight," he instructed and allowed me to get comfortable, to which I snaked my arms around his crossbow and then his torso, which had flinched again at my gentle touch. He made a U-turn and sped off without another word. We had soon found our way back to camp through a maze of back roads and country trails.
I could see a couple of the others watching for us nervously as we began to pull into the field. Daryl parks next to Dale's camper and as soon as he shut down the engine, an outpour of angry and worried words come shooting in my direction.
"I told you!" Dale chimed in, pointing a finger at me, "I knew it was a bad idea, now look at you, you-" The old man was cut off by Daryl stepping in front of his face, pressing a finger to Dale's chest.
"You don't talk to her like that. She's alive isn't she?" He defended bitterly. Dale looked stunned and raised his arms in defense and would be damned if he would say a word after that. Daryl burned him one last dirty look before stalking off towards his tent. I refused to look at Dale and walked past him and a few of the others and made my way towards house. I saw Lori and Maggie in the kitchen, preparing lunch. I greeted them with a slight smile, still feeling fairly weak. "Oh dear, you're shaking like a leaf," Lori noticed, a worried expression washing over her features. I felt my legs grow weary and my head become numb. I shook it and held my hand on my forehead, frowning. "Yeah…yeah I-I don't know what's come over me today," I whimpered, feeling like I could breakdown any second. Maggie put her knife down and came over to me, placing her hands on either one of my arms. Her eyes scanned my features, head to toe, examining for anything obvious. She frowned and shook her head before taking me gently by the wrist and leading me down the hall to a guest bedroom.
"You can rest here for a little bit, until you're back and stable on your feet. You are looking as pale as ever," she explained, a concerned tone edging her voice, "I'll bring your lunch in in a couple minutes, it's almost done and you look starved." And with another genuine, soft smile, she left the room. There was a knock on the door, just a nearly a minute after. Before I knew it, Rick stepped in. He looked at me, and slowly walked across the room and sat in a chair next to the window.
"Why?" he asked simply, rubbing his growing facial stubble with his knuckles.
"I don't want to be interrogated, Officer Happy."
"I'm not here to interrogate. I just want to know why."
"Because. Because I'm capable."
He sighed and looked at me again. "Lauren…you almost died again today. Do you realize how worried we were?"
"I told Dale."
"Yeah and he told you not to go."
"Yeah and you didn't have to send anyone for me, I could have survived." I didn't like to feel weak like this, but it felt like I was being shut in a box by his words.
Rick was silent for moments before he cleared his throat, "You're right. Nobody had to. Daryl told me he wanted to look for you," his voice began trailing off as he rubbed his face. "Wanna know something? He doesn't give up on people. That's the thing. Like with Sophia, he has went out every single day and searched for that girl for hours. He is still determined, just like he was this afternoon to go and rescue you." I thought about his words for several moments, replaying them in my head.
"Hard-headed, isn't he?" I smirked, earning a chuckle out of him.
"That he is. He's a good man." He nodded at me and rose to his feet. He didn't say another word and swaggered over to the door and stepped out quietly, leaving it slightly ajar. I waited for what seemed like ages for my lunch, but was entirely grateful when I heard a soft couple knocks on the door. "Come in," I said meekly watching the white door. My stomach flipped when I saw who it was. Not Maggie nor Lori, but a quiet, restless looking Daryl was bearing my lunch on a tray in front of him. He looked at me, worried, and walked over and knelt by the side of my bed, setting it on my lap. He watched my face to see if I looked okay, and after receiving confirmation, stood on his feet again.
"Lori uh…told me how you were acting when you saw her…and I wanted to see if you were okay, and it looks- it looks like you are so…that's it," he said quietly, mentally stumbling to find the right words to say. I took this as a genuine moment, felt the corners of my mouth push their ways up almost automatically. He turned on his foot and prepared to walk out before I had to say one more thing.
"Daryl," I said, "come here for a second." He hesitated slightly before obliging, walking back to the side of my bed. I reached out my trembling hand in his direction, waiting for a response. He looked confused and I raised my eyebrows at him until he realized my gesture. He put his large palm on mine, the rough callouses on his skin grazing the soft exterior of my own. I raised my other weak arm and grabbed the same hand on top. My hands looked so small and dainty compared to his strong, tan one. "Thank you so much," I said genuinely and softly, just audible enough for him to hear and understand. I brought his hand to my face and kissed the top of it. I held it just for a little bit longer before I let go. I swear I saw the corners of his lips turn up ever so slightly, but I truly noticed to softness in his gaze as he watched me. He gave a slight nod before turning around and walking towards the door. He looked back once before stepping out into the hall, closing it behind him.