Rough Around the Edges

by lifizzell

You're either one of the living or one of the dead. Jordyn Ryder preferred being around the dead because she hated feeling. What happens when a hunter comes into her life and makes her feel something with her permission? The world is falling apart but other things are built. Daryl/OC story.

4. Chapter 4 - To Serve and Protect

Chapter 4: To Serve and Protect

Daryl, Michonne, and Bob busted through the tree line into an open area surrounded by green. Daryl was breathing heavy along with his companions. He leaned forward placing his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath. After taking a minute, he looked up to the trees where they had emerged from. He was hoping that if they waited, he would be able to see Ryder come barreling through the woods right after them.

He watched the tree line and perked up when he heard something crashing through the trees. Daryl pulled his crossbow just to be safe but he silently hoped he would get to see those crystal blue eyes and that platinum blonde hair again.

A few walkers pushed through the trees. There wasn't many of them just some stragglers who weren't attracted by Ryder shooting her gun. After they had taken out the walkers, he stopped moving facing the trees. He was trying to listen and see if there was anything. Everything around him was silent.

Daryl looked back over his shoulder when he felt Michonne lay her hand on it. "We need to go."

He didn't want to leave. She was going to be coming. The number of walkers around her just slowed her down. He couldn't just leave her behind. "She's coming."

He heard Michonne sigh behind him. "Daryl. She was surrounded by walkers. When she told us to get out of there, she knew what she was condemning herself to."

He didn't move from his spot not wanting to believe it. She was one of the more capable survivors that had joined their group. She fit in with the original group that lived in the prison before they started bringing people in. He didn't understand how she was so adamant about being away from people, but she didn't hesitate to turn back and save Bob. Then, she sacrificed herself for the three of them. He confused her to no end. His shoulders slumped. He wasn't going to figure her out. He closed his eyes. The image of crystal blue surrounded by sickening red was seared into his mind. What gave him some solace was the fact that she didn't seem panicked. He saw determination and aggression maybe even some agitation, but for someone who was surrounded by walkers, she wasn't scared.

Daryl shook his head leaving his own thoughts. He turned walking the way that they needed to go to get away from the horde they had just come from. "Come on. We need to go."

Michonne was watching her friend. She could see the desperation in his eyes when he was watching Ryder die. He wanted to save her, but he couldn't leave the other two at his side. It was rare for him to show how much he cared about a person. It was even rarer since she hadn't been with them long. Of course, when she did see the blonde girl she was usually with Daryl. She assumed they felt more comfortable with each other even if they didn't know it consciously. She started following Daryl as he walked past both her and Bob. She hoped the woman was ok and she would catch up to them.

Daryl paused looking at the tree next to him. He pulled his hunting knife out of the sheath and carved an arrow pointing the way that they were going. He added an "R" above the arrow. He was hoping that when she got away from the horde, and it was safe that she would come and find them. He hoped leaving signs would get her back to them faster.

Daryl and Michonne were standing on a bridge over a creek. Bob was off to the side on the lookout while the other two figured out the route they needed to take.

Michonne pointed to a blue river on the map. "This is Turner Creek so Barnesville must be a few miles downstream."

Bob turned from his spot looking over at the two. "Sounds like our best chance at finding a new ride."

Daryl just nodded his head to the two companions. He pulled out his knife carving an arrow into the railing of the bridge in sight for Ryder. He still felt that she was out there but the further they went away from the spot where she went down the more he feared she would never find her way back.

They were able to make it into a small town and find an old van covered by a mound of tree branches. Daryl, Michonne, and Bob were all able to clear the car, and after a short run in with a few walkers, they were able to find the new parts they needed for the van. Daryl walked out of the shop with a new battery and other supplies they needed. He lifted the hood propping it up. He got to work with changing out the battery and checking the fluids making sure the car would be up to driving them where they needed to go.

He leaned his midsection on the front of the van looking down at the motor. He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. He laid the orange part on his lip grabbing his lighter. Lit it up and pulled a drag from it making sure it started to burn.

He heard someone clear their throat. "Got another one of those?"

Daryl turned in his spot, and there she was. Ryder was standing behind him breathing heavy. She must have been running since she was free to try to get to them. She was absolutely covered in black blood and walker guts. He was in a stunned silence because the longer that they went, the more that he didn't think he was going to see her again.

Ryder just watched the redneck standing in front of her. The only way that she was able to make it back to them was because of someone marking the arrows. She had assumed that it was Daryl who was giving her signs on where to go. "If you a take a picture it will last longer."

Daryl shook his head leaving his thoughts. He had a slight twinge of red on his cheeks. He had been staring at her, and she had been waiting for him to say something. He pulled his fingers to his lips and whistled calling the other two to his spot. They came around the corner, and both stopped when they saw Ryder standing by them.

Michonne stepped up closer to her. "We thought you were dead."

Ryder walked forward sheathing her machete that had been dripping walker blood onto the dirt. She walked up to the side of the building leaning against it and sliding down still breathing heavy. "I can't really blame you. I told you guys to run. Hell… I thought I was dead too."

Finally, Daryl found his voice. "Are you bit?"

Ryder just watched Daryl. It wasn't a bad question to ask. Considering the last time, he saw her she was walker food. She just shook her head amused. "You really have a way with words Dixon."

He didn't say anything. He needed her to answer his question before he felt relief with her standing in front of him.

She sighed. "No, if I were bit I would have put a bullet in my head. Wouldn't worry you with coming to you guys infected."

He let out a sigh of relief that no one else heard. "How?"

She turned from Daryl but leaned her head against the building. When she had slid down the wall, there were bloody streaks from her back printed onto the wall. "I cleared the walkers around me. When I was using my gun, their heads pretty much became mush. When I was fighting their blood and guts were covering me. Once I was covered, they started to ignore me. After that, I started running after you guys." She opened her eyes making eye contact with Daryl. "If it wasn't for the arrows you left behind who knows how long it would have taken me to find you guys." She nodded her head smiling at Daryl in a silent thank you.

Ryder looked over to Bob who was standing next to Michonne who wasn't really looking at her. He didn't want to look her in the eyes. He wasn't even looking at her in any capacity. Finally, she stood from her position and started making her way back into the woods.

Daryl watched where she was going. "Where you goin'?"

She threw her hand up waving him off. "I'm going to wash off in the creek that I saw running past the town. I guarantee you guys don't want to be in a car with me smelling like a dead person."

Daryl wiped off his hands on the rag he kept in his back pocket grabbing his crossbow. "Hold up. I'll come with."

She stopped turning and looking at him which, in turn, stopped him from following her. "I appreciate you wanting to be my guard dog but cleaning off in the creek also means my clothes will be off my body."

That was the second time in about five minutes that she had made Daryl flush a light shade of red. He was about to say something when Michonne came up behind him patting his shoulder. "Finish the van. I'll go with her, so she doesn't get ambushed." He looked down at her. He could see and hear the amusement in her voice.

Ryder turned away from where she was standing and made her way back into the woods with Michonne trailing after her.

Both the woman made it to the creek. Ryder pulled off her crossbow putting it on the side of the creek making sure it was in reach in case she needed it. She took off her other weapons. Luckily, she didn't lose any of them when she was dealing with the walkers. Her weapons held some significant value. She had them since the beginning of the apocalypse, and she didn't want to try to replace them. She pulled off her shirt that was soaked with blood. Looking down at herself she couldn't help but roll her eyes at the blood that had soaked through the shirt and also covered her body. She decided the easiest route would be to take off her shoes and get into the creek.

Michonne went over to a small incline by the river by Ryder. She sat down to watch the water around her become red and murky. She knew that the blonde had a shit load of tattoos, but she didn't know she had even more under her shirt. She must have spent hours upon hours under the gun getting those intricate patterns and designs permanently tattooed into her skin. "You know you scared us when we saw you go down."

She heard Ryder answer her while she was bending down cleaning her shirt. "I would have been nervous if you guys weren't scared. Also, thanks for coming with me but you didn't have to. I can…"

"You can take care of yourself." Michonne smiled over to Ryder when she stood up ringing out her shirt.

"Yeah."

"We know you can if that stunt back there didn't show us."

"Then, why did you come decide to come out here?"

Michonne shrugged her shoulders. "I did it mostly for Daryl."

This caused Ryder to stop what she was doing. "For Daryl?"

Michonne smiled knowingly again. "When you called him a guard dog it wasn't far off. He needs to watch out for everyone around the prison. Since you started living there, he has pulled you under his paw too."

Ryder dipped down into the water washing her hands over her body trying to get the blood off that was drying. "Not that I don't appreciate him watching out for me, but I hate it when guys try to protect every girl around because they feel obligated."

She leaned back on her hands after a quick look around making sure they were still alone. "He knows he doesn't have to protect you. It was obvious when he left you those arrows. He knew that you were still alive. It's just who he is." Michonne watched the woman thinking. "I haven't seen that look of devastation on his face in a long time."

Ryder stopped for a second but then continued what she was doing. "He thought he was watching someone die one of the worst ways possible. Of course, he was devastated."

Michonne just shook her head. "No. We have all seen deaths like that. It's sad no doubt but the way he was watching you… You haven't been here long but he cares about you. He may not show it but if you know Daryl long enough you start picking up on how he feels. The man wears his heart on his sleeve unconsciously."

"… He shouldn't care about me."

The brunette watched Ryder slightly confused. "Why not?"

"Because I'm not going to be staying." Ryder stood up from the water stepping out of the creek. She rung out her shirt again trying to get as much water as she could out.

"You're still hell bent on not staying with our group?"

Ryder just nodded as she took off her pants and started ringing those out after she put her shirt back on. "I have said this numerous times. Groups get people killed. That…" Ryder pointed back to the area that they left the car in. "… was because of a person in the group."

Michonne just watched her as she slipped her pants back on.

Ryder looked up from what she was doing. She could feel the woman's eyes on her. She was waiting for more of a response than just the explanation she had been giving to everyone. Ryder sighed. "I have a problem with saving people. Without thinking, I always rush into a situation, dangerous or not and try to save people. It's… it's gotten me in trouble more times than I can count. The best way for me to not do that is to be by myself."

Michonne watched her for a couple seconds trying to figure out if she was lying so she would stop asking questions. She started to chuckle when she noticed that Ryder was telling the truth.

The blonde woman heard her companion laughing. She looked over trying to figure out what she was laughing about. "Something funny?"

Michonne just shook her head laughing still. "I have heard people referring to you as female Daryl, but I didn't really believe it, but I can totally see it now."

Ryder bristled at what the woman was saying. "Come on." She walked past Michonne grumbling. "Let's get back."

Daryl looked up from shutting the hood of the van. He heard Michonne walking through the brush back to where Bob and he were. He hadn't heard Ryder walking up. He watched Ryder walking past him. She had a scowl on her face as she passed him. She didn't even bother acknowledging that he was there. He looked back over to Michonne who had amusement written all over her face. "What happened out there? Y'all run into trouble?"

She just walked up to him patting him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. We're fine."

He turned when he heard the back door of the van slam shut. Ryder stuck her hand out the window slapping it on the roof of the van. "Come on. Let's go."

Everyone piled into the car on their way to the college.

The four of them split up to two teams trying to make their run faster since they lost time with the car incident. Daryl and Ryder went to go look for all of the supplies they needed. Michonne and Bob went to go get the medication since he was the one that knew what they were looking for.

Daryl and Ryder entered the room that they needed for all the supplies and started scavenging around. "What all do we need?"

Daryl pulled the list out of his pocket. "Bags, tubes, clamps, connectors and anythin' we'll need to give everyone the medicine."

Ryder nodded her head turning her back to Daryl starting to look around the area for the supplies they needed. She had been kind of avoiding him as of recently. She couldn't stop thinking about what Michonne had said back at the creek. She also remembered that Maggie had said something about her being a female version of Daryl too. He didn't know him as well as everyone else, but she didn't think she was like him. He was rough and borderline anti-social with everyone. She didn't think that she had seen him smile once since she had been at the prison.

"Ryder?"

She didn't understand why everyone was thinking that way too. Michonne had said that people had been talking. This was another reason why she didn't like being in groups. People didn't know how to mind their own business. When something interesting happened, they had to have their nose in everything other than their own business.

"Ryder."

She needed to get away from everyone at the prison. She did her thing again. She doesn't even know Bob, and she ran into a horde to save him. She didn't even think about her own safety. She was reckless when she had other people around her to watch and protect. She had almost lost her life once before because of her sick obligation to people. With the world the way it is now she can't risk being her old self. She didn't have people there to save her when something went wrong. She only had herself and by leaving the group was the way she was going to protect herself.

"Ryder!"

Ryder whipped around from the area that she was looking. "What?"

"I've been tryin' to get your attention for the last couple minutes. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"It's nothing. What did you want?"

Daryl just watched her not believing that nothing was wrong. He hadn't known a time that he had caught her spacing out when she wasn't inside of the prison fence. "What's the matter with you?"

"It's nothing like I said… Michonne said something at the creek that got me thinking."

"What did she say?"

"…Nothing to worry about." Ryder was avoiding his gaze now. She didn't want to let him know what Michonne had said. She didn't know how he was going to react.

Daryl just scoffed. "Whatever."

The woman rolled her eyes catching the annoyance in his tone. "People around the prison have been referring to me as the female version of you."

Her words caught his full attention. He turned back to her. "What? Why?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know. You wanted to know, so I told you. Just… drop it." She turned and walked to another section of the room that they were in looking for more supplies… away from Daryl.

Daryl, on the other hand, was still stunned into his spot. She's the female version of him? What the hell is that supposed to mean? They aren't anything like each other. She was standoffish to everyone. She didn't like people touching her. He had seen her get violent when people barely touch her. She was hardened by the world but not just the world they live in now but the world they did live in before the epidemic. Daryl scoffed to himself. No one knew what the hell they were talking about. Complete bullshit. "You got everythin'?"

She walked over to him looking in her bag. "Yep. Let's get out of here."

He led the way into the room that Bob and Michonne were currently in sorting through the necessary medication that they needed.

Michonne turned looking over her shoulder when she heard people enter the room she was currently in. "How'd you do?"

Both Daryl and Ryder walked in carrying their bags setting them on the tables. "Bags, tubes, clamps. Everythin' on the list."

Ryder watched as Michonne and Bob were dropping bottles into their bags. "What about you guys?"

Bob tightened the string on his pack. "Yeah, we got it all."

Michonne shined her light into the cabinets looking at all the bottles. "Yeah. We're good."

"All right, let's roll." Daryl wrapped his pack around his back picking up his crossbow. He was followed by Michonne then Bob and Ryder brought up the rear with her crossbow.

They all entered into a darkened hallway lights and supplies downed and turned over all around them. Daryl looked up shining his light on the "EXIT" sign on the wall. He went past it following the arrow pointing down to the side of the hallway they were already going down.

Walking further down the hall he walked around a leaning door with his hand up signaling for everyone to slow down behind him. He moved into the open doorframe using the flashlight to look around the room. He looked in and was met with a few walkers who had noticed their group when Daryl used his light. They started moving down the hallway faster to the exit. All four entered another part of the hall.

Ryder pushed her back into the door when she noticed that the latch was broken and wouldn't keep the dead out. "Hey! Door's busted."

Daryl walked over keeping his hand on the door above where Ryder was pushing on it. Ryder could see Michonne's light roaming around the wall trying to find an exit. The light finally stopped on a sign pointing to stairs. "There."

Ryder and Daryl left the door walking over to the chain on the double door where their exit was supposed to be. Ryder watched the back of the group making sure they didn't get swarmed the way that they had come from. Michonne pulled on the lock as hands from walkers tried to get through the cracks.

Daryl used his flashlight trying to see through the crack. "How many?"

Michonne copied him, but she just shook her head. "I can't tell."

Ryder pulled her crossbow up facing the door as a few walkers stumbled through falling on the floor. "Get the door open. I'll cover these guys until the exit is cleared."

Daryl was about to protest when Bob spoke up. "No! They're infected. Same as at the prison. You fire at 'em, get their blood on you or us, breathe it in. We didn't come all this way to get sick."

Ryder turned looking at Bob frustrated then back at the walkers that were coming down the hallway. She wanted to go over and take care of them before they were on top of them. "How do we know the ones in there aren't any different?"

Michonne looked over flashing the light in Ryder's face. "We don't."

"Well, it's gotta change sometime." Daryl stepped forward grabbing a chair kicking to break a leg off. He looked at Michonne. "Ready?" With a quick nod, Daryl used the chair leg to get the chain off around the handles.

It took a few seconds for the walkers to figure out the door was open but when it started to give all of them decided to come through at the same time. Bob shot one in the head while Michonne slid her blade through the other two that came from the doorway. Everyone pushed through the door with Ryder bringing up the rear. She held up her crossbow at the walkers coming down the hall. Once she knew that everyone had made it though she followed behind.

They exited into another hallway from the stairs that they had taken. Daryl held his crossbow up to his left as walkers came around the corner. He turned to his right moving down the hall. There were stragglers coming through the open offices and rooms on either side of the corridor. Each of the companions took turns taking out the walkers trying to stay in line so not to accidently get separated.

Michonne got to the end of the hallway trying to open the door. The handle didn't budge. "Don't have an exit." Michonne and Ryder stood at the end of the hallway weapons at the ready for the walkers to come to them.

Daryl jumped up on a heater attached to the wall. "Then we make one." Daryl used the end of his crossbow to smash the glass of a window leading outside.

Michonne went to where Daryl was, grabbing his hand. He pulled her up towards the window. "Jump down to the walkway below." Michonne made the jump across. Bob climbed up next. Daryl helped him up and practically tossed him out the window. The walkers were getting closer as Ryder watched them stumble towards the group. Daryl pushed his hand into her face waiting for her to grab it. "Come on!"

Ryder shook her head. "Daryl, go. I can climb out myself."

He looked at her incredulously. "Come on, woman. Get your ass out the window."

Her brain was telling her not to. She had to make sure that she was the last one out. If someone was going to get stuck, it was going to be her. She needed to make sure that her group was safe. "Daryl! Move now!"

He paused for a second at her no-nonsense voice. Finally, with much difficulty, he jumped out the window. Once he was outside Ryder turned climbing out the window. Before she could jump, she felt fingers wrap around her ankle pulling her body down slamming it against the window sill. She felt a sharp pain in her side but ignored it. She kicked her foot back hearing a crunching sound. The fingers around her left her ankle. She stood up and jumped into Daryl's side who caught her around her waist.

Daryl didn't let go of a panting Ryder. She was breathing heavy from the run and from being in panic mode after feeling fingers around her ankle. She couldn't stand people touching her whether dead or alive. She closed her eyes making herself take deep breathes in and out. Over to the side, there was a sound of tripping. She looked up, but instead of seeing anything she was met with a chest dressed in black. She looked up meeting Daryl's calculating eyes. She finally noticed that he had an arm around her waist. She pulled away quickly moving past him.

Bob had tripped on the roof, and his bag was flung over the side, but he still had a hold of it by the strap. There was a swarm of walkers below them pulling on the bag. They didn't care about the material. They wanted the human flesh that was attached to the bag. Everyone noticed that he was pulling on the bag for dear life.

Michonne pulled on his belt while Daryl dropped his stuff going to his other side pulling on his shoulder and arm. "Bob, let it go." Bob didn't hear what they were saying, or he didn't want to listen to them. "Let it go, man." They were pulling on his clothes, but he still wasn't letting go of the bad. Bob had a death grip on it trying to wrestle it from the dead fingers and hands holding it. "Let go of the bag, man." With one last yank, the walkers were able to lose their grip on the bag. At the same time, Daryl pulled on Bob's leg pulling him back onto the walkway they were currently occupying.

Daryl walked over to the bag now laying freely on the platform. He bent down and pulled a glass bottle out of the bag. It was some type of whiskey or bourbon he had found when they were getting the medication. Bob stood while he watched Daryl do the same still holding the alcohol. "You got no meds in your bag?" Daryl was looking at the bottle but then looked back up at Bob in confirmation. "Just this?" He held up the bottle for emphasis. Bob was watching Daryl, but he was mostly watching the bottle in Daryl's hand. He still didn't have the courage to say anything though. "You should have kept walking that day."

Daryl went to go throw the bottle into the grass, but as he was winding up, Bob placed his hand on his gun. "Don't."

As soon as Bob made the move, Ryder had pulled her crossbow up pointing it at Bob's head. Daryl didn't do anything except walk up to the scared man getting in his face. He was silently telling Bob to do it and see where that got him. While Daryl was in his face, Bob didn't hold onto his threat. The rough man pulled the gun from Bob's holster grabbing the lapels on his jacket moving him towards the edge of the platform.

Ryder walked over standing by the side between both men. She put her hand on his chest. "Daryl, back off. He's made his choice. You can't do anything about it now."

Daryl glanced at Ryder pulling his hand from the man's vest. He started to back up away from him, and she dropped her hand.

Bob was looking off to the side away from all their eyes. "I didn't want to hurt nobody. It was just for when it gets quiet."

He shoved the bottle into the other man's chest. "Take one sip before those meds get in our people, I will beat your ass into the ground." Daryl pushed the bottle into his chest harder. "You hear me?"

Ryder stepped forward again when she noticed Daryl wasn't leaving Bob's face. She put her hand on his shoulder pushing slightly to make him back off. He took a step back at her persistence.

Daryl looked down at Ryder. That was the first time he noticed that there was a red mark on her side. "Come on. Ryder's hurt. We need to go." He turned putting Bob's gun into the back of his pants bending down grabbing his stuff that he had set down earlier.

Ryder watched as everyone was walking away. Bob walked past her shoving the liquor into his bag and throwing it over his shoulder. She looked down at her ribs and noticed that there was a red spot. She pulled up her shirt looking at the small gash in her side. It wasn't terrible. It wasn't big it was just bleeding worse than usual because it was deep. When the walker grabbed her ankle, she fell on a piece of glass. It was the first time that she had paid attention to it. She followed the rest of the group holding her crossbow in one hand and holding her side with the other.

All four of them had made it back to the van. Michonne and Ryder were looking at a map on the hood of the van. Daryl was in the passenger seat rolling a rock, from what she could tell in his hands. Bob was over next to a building pacing back and forth while smoking. Her and Michonne decided on a route. They packed up the map and all piled into the car.

Michonne got into the driver's seat. "Taking Highway 100."

Daryl didn't bother looking up from the rock he was holding. "I heard."

Ryder pulled the door shut leaning her head back on the headrest. She wasn't losing blood at a fast pace, but she was getting tired from the blood loss and the lack of sleep that she normally had. She heard Michonne and Daryl talking in the front seats, but she didn't bother listening in on their conversation.

Everything was silent. There weren't any sounds around her. She opened her eyes, but there wasn't anything. Everything was completely dark. She couldn't tell if she had opened her eyes or if she still had them closed. She tried moving from her spot, but she couldn't move either. Wherever she was her wrists were tied down. She tried moving her legs, but those were also strapped down.

After minutes of struggling someone lifted something from her head. She couldn't make out any faces. They were all blurry to her. Looking down she noticed that she was sitting in a chair in her ranger uniform. Her arms were bound with duct tape. He left leg sore and in pain. Both her legs were tied to the legs of the chair that she was sitting in.

There was talking around her, but she couldn't make out the language. She couldn't tell if her mind wasn't processing the words or if they weren't speaking English. She closed her eyes taking inventory of her body. The only thing that hurt was her leg. She couldn't remember what happened or how she had gotten to where she was now. The rest of her body was sore, but she thought that it was just dehydration. She couldn't remember getting here, and she couldn't remember how long she had been here. She could have been sitting in the chair for hours, days or maybe even weeks.

Soon there was a pain in the side of her face. The sudden force shifted her entire head giving her whiplash. Her eyes snapped open looking up at her aggressor. Still, she couldn't see his face. There wasn't anyone else in the room, but she couldn't see anything other than herself. Everything else was dark around her. There was another blow to her face. The second one caused her to spit blood that was filling her mouth.

The man was saying something, but she couldn't understand him. She didn't say anything. All she could do was shake her head weakly. The man above her started yelling getting angry at her since she wasn't answering questions. She looked up noticing that he wasn't there anymore. Before she could look around to find him, there was a sharp pain in her hand. She screamed trying to pull her hand away but with it taped to the chair she couldn't move.

The man above her was yelling something else at her. Before she could say anything, there was another pain in her hand making it throb and ache. He had broken her hand. She could feel the bones moving around when she tried moving her fingers. She noticed the hammer in his hand coming down for a third strike.

Ryder shot up in her bed screaming and sweating. She looked around the cell that she was in panting heavy. She grabbed her hand rubbing it and flexing it making sure that she wasn't back in that terrible place.

Daryl had heard Ryder scream from her cell. He stood up and hurried into her cell. He wasn't expecting to see the state that she was in. The strong woman that had only been kicking ass was sweating through her clothes. Her face wasn't focusing on anything. She was staring off into space, and she had a look of pure terror written in every feature. She was holding her hand rubbing her palm, and he could see her shaking from where she was standing.

He walked over to the woman kneeling in front of her making sure that he was in her sightline. He didn't touch her. He didn't want to scare her any further than she was already. He spoke softly to her. "Ryder."

The blonde didn't say anything. She didn't even notice that he was in her cell yet. The only thing that she was doing was rubbing her palm. He looked down at what she was doing and finally noticed that her hand didn't look healthy. Her knuckles were all out of place. Her fingers weren't straight. The abnormality wouldn't have been caught unless someone was looking. When her thumb rubbed against her palm, the bones moved under her skin awkwardly. He hadn't seen anything like that. Sure, he had broken his hand on plenty occasions. His father had even broken them a couple times. Even still his hands didn't look like hers. What the hell had happened to her? He called for her again. "Ryder."

This time his voice was able to bring her out of her trance. Her eyes focused on the man kneeling in front of her. "What happened?"

He watched her eyes for a couple more seconds. The fear was still present, but it was dissipating the more she didn't think about her nightmare. "You were having a nightmare."

Ryder just shook her head remembering the nightmare. It was one of the many that she often had. A nightmare that she would give anything to stop living. She closed her eyes again still rubbing her palm.

Daryl didn't take his eyes off her. "Wanna talk about it?"

Ryder simply shook her head no. She couldn't. If she talked about her nightmares, then they would all come flooding back quicker than she could bury them. She couldn't talk about her past. She needed to live in the now.

He just nodded understanding. He didn't want to push her into talking about something that shook her to her core. He could tell it was something that she was barely dealing with herself considering how much she was shaking right now. He stood up pushing his hands on his knees. He turned to walk out of the cell, but he stopped when he felt weak fingers wrap around his wrist.

Ryder could tell that Daryl didn't push her into talking. She liked that he understood when someone wanted to talk and when they couldn't. She noticed him standing up leaving the cell. She started to panic. If he's gone, then she would be alone again and being alone in her dark thoughts right now wasn't the greatest idea. Before she could think further and lose her nerve she reached out and grabbed his wrist. She looked up and noticed that he was looking down at her. "Don't go… please."

He started to chew on the inside of his cheek. He didn't normally do this stuff, but he couldn't say no to her. She had sounded so soft and scared. He had actually barely heard her when she spoke. He nodded his head and turned around facing her again. She moved over on her bed making room for him to sit down. Once he did, he leaned his back against the wall. One knee was up while the other foot was planted on the floor. He looked over to his side. She was sitting awkwardly still absentmindedly rubbing her palm. He could tell that she wasn't good at this just like him. He brought his hand up slowly making sure she noticed that he was going to touch her. She didn't flinch away from his touch. He pulled on her shoulder making her lay her head on his. It took her a minute but finally, she relaxed, and they stayed like that the rest of the night. At some point, they had both fallen asleep in each other's company.

(A/N): I know the last part of that was clique but sometimes it's just necessary. I figured you guys knew that Ryder wasn't gone yet! Anyway, here is some of Ryder's back story. It's cryptic (of course), but it will come out through the story. I hope you guys like the way that she is turning out. If you guys have any advice or want to say something about the story don't be afraid to tell me! Also, I have been debating on whether Ryder and Daryl's relationship should get more…physical *wink* in the future. I don't know if I want to take it that far, but I could always be convinced.

Thanks again everyone! Don't forget to R&R!