Chapter 47
Daryl headed out before it was fully light. He left on the bike with no plan where he was going, he just knew he needed to get out of there. He needed to be exhausted when he came back so he stood half a chance of falling asleep, of stopping the memories keeping him awake. He drove aimlessly for a few hours and then came across an old farm. He decided it was as good a place as any to stop.
He climbed off the bike and walked up the steps to the front door, crossbow hanging at his side. He didn't really care what happened to him anymore. Kicking open the door he wandered inside, without waiting to see if it was clear. He went from room to room downstairs, not finding any walkers or any supplies worth having. He started up the stairs. He was half way up when he heard the creak of a floorboard above him. Cautiously he continued. Once on the landing he headed for the nearest door. It was a bathroom and was empty. The next room was a bedroom, with a large wardrobe against one wall. As he glanced at it he saw the door move slightly. He raised the crossbow and reached for the handle. He flicked it open and found himself staring at a small girl, she was huddled in the wardrobe, clutching an even smaller boy, both were trying not to cry. He lowered his weapon but before he could speak a small shape flew out from the other side of the bed and crashed against him.
"Don't you touch them!" a furious voice yelled at him, as small fists pounded at him. He dropped the crossbow to the floor and caught hold of the arms attached to the fists. A slight girl struggled to get free.
"Stop fightin' me" he ordered "I aint gonna hurt yer and you aint gonna win" he loosened his grip and pushed the girl away from him. She stood in front of the children, eyes blazing as she glared defiantly at him.
With a sigh he picked up his crossbow and left the room.
"Wait" the girl called out, hesitantly "Have you got any food you can spare or even just some water, please"
He stopped, remembering these were almost the same words Ellie had spoken to him the day they'd first met.
He stared at the girl and the children, who were now standing at her side, looking at him with frightened eyes.
"Come on" he told them as he headed back downstairs. He went to the bike and retrieved a bottle of water and a couple of cans of fruit. Wordlessly he handed them to the girl. The three of them fell on the contents like they were half starved.
"How long you been on your own?" he asked.
"About 2 weeks, I think. It's hard to keep track." She looked at him with nervous eyes.
"How come you ended up on yer own with these kids?" he questioned her.
She took a deep breath, "We were part of a larger group. I was there with my parents, brother and sister. Sally and Mark were with their parents. One night a load of the undead came through, more than I've ever seen before. The fences couldn't hold them. I saw my Mom go down, then my sister and brother. My daddy was with me and we managed to grab the kids. We were running for a car when three of the things came at us. My Daddy blocked them so we could get out of there. The last I saw of him he was on the ground and they were tearing him apart." Her voice broke and she turned away from him, brushing her hand across her face. The children moved closer, clinging to her legs. "I drove away and we've been running ever since. You're the first person we've seen since then"
Daryl looked at the girl, she couldn't have been much older than Beth, she'd seen her whole family wiped out and she was still trying to keep two kids that weren't even hers safe.
"What's yer name?" he demanded.
"Samantha. People call me Sam" she told him nervously "What's yours?"
"Daryl" he ground out "I got a group, got women and other kids. You wanna come back?"
She stared at him "I don't know. I don't know you, if I can trust you"
He shrugged "S'up to you. I'm gonna stay here tonight and head back in the morning. Decide by then." He pushed past her and went back into the house. He was settling down on a couch in the front room when the three of them came inside. Sam took the children upstairs and settled them down in one of the beds. He knew she would be sitting up there awake, watching over them because she didn't trust him. He didn't blame her.
He jerked awake to find a hand on his shoulder; instinctively he lashed out and felt his fist contact flesh. He heard a small cry and a thud as whoever he had hit fell back, landing on the wooden floor. Breathing hard he swung his legs off the couch and sat up, shaking sleep from his head. He cursed when he saw Sam on the floor, a hand to her mouth, blood seeping from a split lip.
"Shit girl" he exclaimed "you tryin' to get yerself killed?" He reached out a hand to help her up and she flinched away from him.
"I didn't mean to hit yer, didn't know what was goin' on. Just lashed out. What'd yer wake me for?"
"You were having a nightmare. I could hear you calling out. It sounded like you were getting really upset and I thought it would be a good idea to wake you" She gave a small, rueful smile "Turns out it wasn't"
He pulled out the red cloth he always kept in his back pocket and dampened it with some water from his bottle. He reached over and handed it to her.
"Sorry 'bout that" he indicated her lip. She took the cloth and dabbed at the blood, cringing as she touched the cut.
"Whose Ellie?" she asked suddenly. "You were calling her name"
He glared at her and rose from the couch, striding to the window, staring into the night.
"Was she your wife?" Sam pushed.
"No, just someone I cared for a lot" he told her.
"Was she pretty?" The girl asked with the insensitivity of youth.
"Yeah" Daryl hesitated for a second then reached into the inside pocket of his vest, pulling out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to Sam and she unfolded it, seeing a family group photo. She looked at the young blonde woman smiling back at her.
"She was beautiful" she said softly as she carefully handed the photograph back. Daryl took it from her, gazing at Ellie's face before replacing it in his pocket.
"Yeah she was" he looked out the window again.
"What happened?" Sam was beside him, her hand resting on his arm.
"She got bit, saving me" he still felt a pain in his chest when he thought of her dying for him.
"Like my Daddy. She must have loved you a lot to do that" Sam's voice cracked as she mentioned her father. "Do you wish it was you instead of her?" she asked him "'Cos I do. My Daddy would've been better at keeping those kids safe. I don't know what I'm doing."
"You got them away and you kept them alive all this time. You gotta be doin' something right" he reassured her.
She nodded "I guess so. It's just so hard to keep going sometimes. I just wanna lie down and let the undead things come and get me, then I think my daddy died so I could live so I have to go on, otherwise he died for nothing."
Daryl suddenly realised she was right. If he kept wallowing in self-pity, taking stupid risks, not caring what he was doing he would die and Ellie's sacrifice would be for nothing. He had to pull himself together. The first step would be getting this girl and the two kids to a safe place.
"You gonna come back with me?" he asked. She thought for a moment.
"I guess so. Is it far?"
"You still got a car?" he asked, Sam shook her head.
"Ran out of fuel a few days ago. I haven't found another one" she told him.
"Won't all fit on the bike, so it'll take a day or so to walk there." He started to pack his bag, "Better get your shit together. We need to make an early start"