For notes and disclaimer, please see part one. For my new friend Megan-Reedus. :) Posting early, 'cause I can! ~K
Previously, on the Walking Dead—Sophia shows Carol a waterfall, and Daryl points out the facts as he sees them.
Insomnia
She'd wanted, desperately, for sleep to overtake her. She didn't care whether she ended up back behind the waterfall or maybe even in the serene field. Wherever her dreams would take her, she wanted to be there, with Sophia.
Except, it didn't happen.
She tossed and turned for hours. When Daryl rose to take his turn at watch, she tried to roll over, to ignore his questioning eyes. The whole of the previous day, Daryl had kept his distance. If he was trying to prove his point, about value, he'd made it. His absence had brought sadness to her day as well as intense internal scrutiny.
For the whole morning, she'd focused on what he'd said. Their band was dwindling. There was power in numbers, and their numbers were down, by half it seemed. Instead of being able to do more, they could only do so much by themselves. Without Dale and Shane, the night watches were longer. Even Andrea had taken her turn. Without Patricia, trying to take care of the more mundane tasks was harder.
Around lunchtime, she'd poked at her plate of scavenged canned goods, heated haphazardly over a small campfire. Without her Sophia, she was lonely. Sure, Lori and Maggie and Beth did their best to keep her engaged in conversation, to try to fill the consuming void, but nothing would ever take the place of her child.
By bedtime, her mind raced. Maybe she'd gravitated toward Daryl because he didn't have anyone else either. His brother was gone. Her husband, her daughter were gone. Rick had Lori and Carl. Herschel had Beth and Maggie, and Maggie had Glenn. T-Dog was by himself, too, but she was drawn, like a moth to a flame, to Daryl.
And Daryl excelled at pushing her away.
When she'd rolled over, it was like that would somehow indicate to him, and maybe herself, that she really didn't need him. An hour into her staring contest with a nearby tree trunk, however, she heard soft footsteps approaching. They weren't the scary, shuffling kind but the determined, powerful strides of, she knew, Daryl.
"You gonna lay there and freeze or you gonna get up and wander around?"
"I am gonna go to sleep and have the best dream yet."
His pause was momentary, as T-Dog had told him the status report when he took over. No one had seen her sleep. "How 'come you ain't slept yet?"
She remained on the ground, her gaze ever fixed on the tree, as though she might be able to bore holes into it. She sounded deflated as she said: "I don't know."
"Well, c'mon, then."
"Won't sleep if I'm movin'."
"You ain't sleepin' anyway," he said, offering her a hand.
She cautiously peered over her shoulder at his outstretched, open palm. Inhaling very slowly, she placed her hand into his.
With little effort, he pulled her to her feet. "Grab your blanket."
She followed him toward where he was keeping watch. "How'd you know I wasn't asleep anyway?"
"You don't shiver in your sleep. You do when you're freezin' and awake."
"Didn't realize that was worth noticing," she said softly.
He shrugged, slowing to a stop when he reached his sentry outpost.
"What'm I doin' here, Daryl?"
"You may as well keep me company."
She created a hood out of the blanket before pulling the rest around her tightly. "Not sure I'm good company."
"You tell me all the time I am. So, you must be fantastic if I'm good."
She granted him a small smile in return.
"So, what's the matter, huh?"
"Honestly...?" She shrugged. "I am tired, but it's like my brain won't shut down. Like it just wants to spin and spin."
"Stop thinkin'."
She gave a tiny laugh. "It's not that easy."
"Make it."
"I can't just say: 'Brain, it's bedtime now, stop that.'"
"Well, you should."
"Is that what you do? To sleep?"
He shook his head.
"How do you do it?"
He cleared his throat uncomfortably before nodding at the group. "I remember that all them people are countin' on me not to let 'em get bit in their sleep. Or not get bit even if they ain't sleepin'." When he sat down on a slight hill, she settled in beside him.
"You were right today."
He glanced over at her.
"About people bein' priceless, irreplaceable. But you are, too. You get that, don't you?"
"I guess," he admitted. "One thing though..." When she looked up at him, he granted her a rare grin. "I said that yesterday. Sleep, would ya?"
Stay tuned...