Chapter 23

Eleanor ran to Daryl, where he had slumped against the side of the car. She could see he was badly hurt. She dropped to her knees next to him, lifting his head, trying to assess his injuries.

He reached up and grabbed her face, staring in disbelief.

"I thought you was dead, I saw your pack and they was pawing at somethin' on the ground. I thought it was you. How'd you get away?"

She smiled "There was a storm shelter. I got the trap door open and managed to get in. There were damn great bolts on the inside and they couldn't get in. I called for you, but I guess you didn't hear . It got a bit wild for a time didn't it?"

He managed a laugh "You could say that. How'd you find me?"

"I tracked you. I guess some of the things you showed me when we was huntin' together rubbed off. Saw you yesterday but couldn't find a chance to get close. Didn't like the look of the rest of the group so decided to stay back. Had to do somethin' tonight though" She reached out and grabbed a backpack from one of the men she had shot. Opening it she emptied the contents in a heap and picked through them, looking for anything useful. She found a bottle of water and reached round Daryl pulling his bandana from his back pocket. She wetted it and gently started to wipe the blood from his face.

"Can't leave you alone for five minutes without you getting' yourself in trouble" she muttered.

Carl and Michonne arrived, Carl hugged her side tightly and Michonne knelt next to her.

"How is he?" she asked

"I can speak for myself" Daryl complained "and I feel like shit"

Michonne and Carl exchanged amused glances

"Still as bad tempered as ever, nothing's changed" Michonne joked.

Between them the two women cleaned him up the best they could. They sent Carl to round up all the packs belonging to the gang members and got him to go through them for any first aid items he could find. He came across a grubby blister pack with a few ibuprofens left and bought them over. Eleanor managed to get Daryl to take a couple with some water.

"That's gonna be a hell of a black eye by morning" she commented, as he flinched when she turned his head.

"Leave me be woman" he whinged "Go see to Rick instead"

"I will in just a second. Wanna make sure you're okay first. You took a hell of a pounding" she fussed round him. Finally he pushed her away "let me get some shut eye, I'll be okay in a couple of hours" With Michonne's help she got him into the front seat of the car and reclined it as much as possible. Michonne slid into the back seat and Carl climbed in with her, lying with his head on her lap as she stroked his hair.

"Y'all get some sleep, I'll go see to Rick" she said as she closed the doors. Rick was leaning against a tree, his knees bent and his arms resting across them. He'd wanted to be left alone for a while, but Eleanor could see his hands were shaking and he was in shock. She sat down next to him.

"How you doin'?" she rinsed Daryl's bandana and used it to wipe some of the blood from Rick's mouth and chin. He looked up at her with pained eyes.

"What the hell did I just do?" His voice shook.

She took his hands in hers and looked straight into his eyes.

"You did what you needed to, to save your boy. You never need to feel bad for that" She let go of his hands and hugged him tight. "Don't you lose any sleep over it. All those men were scum"

"What was Daryl doing there? He's not like them." Rick was confused.

"I'm not sure. We got out the prison together but got separated a week or so back. He thought I'd died, I guess he didn't want to be alone, it's easier when you're in a group."

Rick nodded "Don't matter why, he was there when we needed him, so were you." He managed to crack a smile "You put on a hell of a distraction, though maybe you could do up a few buttons now, Carl's an impressionable young boy."

She looked down embarrassed and fumbled for the buttons, before realising Rick was laughing at her.

"Damn it, Rick" she slapped his arm " I thought you was telling' me off."

"No man is ever gonna tell you off for lookin' like you do" he assured her.

She got to her feet, with a smile.

"You get some sleep, I'm gonna go get my stuff. I left my pack back in the forest, got some more suitable clothes in it." Rick watched as she walked away, even in his tired state he decided he could enjoy the view.

The next morning Eleanor had managed to catch a couple of rabbits and get a fire going before the others had woken up. She was wearing her jeans now and had a strap top on under her shirt. Her hair was held back in a braid. She had skinned and prepared the rabbits and they were roasting on the fire when Carl and Michonne stumbled out of the car. Rick had woken and ambled over, warming himself in front of the flames.

"Did you get any sleep?" he asked Eleanor.

"Wasn't tired" she replied, bouncing to her feet and going to the car to wake Daryl.

"That woman is too damn perky for her own good" grumbled Michonne, as she tried to stretch the kinks out of her back.

Daryl was awake but hadn't been able to face trying to get out of the car, he knew it was going to hurt a lot. Eleanor opened the door and leaned in.

"Mornin'" she said cheerfully "How much you hurt today?"

"Too much" he muttered

She glanced over her shoulder and seeing the others weren't looking in their direction leant in a bit further and kissed him gently, careful to avoid his split lip and the various other bruises.

"That help?" she smiled.

"Not really" he said "but this might" he put his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her closer, kissing her again.

"Sorry 'bout hittin' you last night, needed a distraction. "She traced a bruise on his jaw with her thumb.

"Hell, woman, you didn't hit me hard. Guessed you had a plan so went down on purpose." He looked offended she thought she could hurt him.

She raised an eyebrow "Yeah right, on purpose."

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