DISCLAIMER: I do not own AMC's and Robert Kirkman's "The Walking Dead" or any of its characters/places. There may be a few OCs at a later time and those will be mine. (NO MARY SUES).
WARNINGS: Rated T for language, violence, gore, and sexual situations.
Daryl swam with all his might and soon caught sight of Rick, Maggie, and a clump of brown hair that was barely above the raging water. Rick and Maggie were hanging onto an uprooted tree in the middle of the river with a boy between them. Daryl allowed the current to take him towards the three to save his energy: Lord knew he was going to need it all.
"Daryl!" shouted Carl. Rick and Maggie turned to see Daryl being pushed into the tree near them.
"Hershel, Karen?" asked Daryl. Rick shook his head. "'K…we gotta get out of here…no tellin' how long these tree is gonna last for."
"Carl, you hold onto Maggie's belt. Daryl, you take Carl," said Rick as he wrapped his arm through Daryl's vest to connect the four of them. "We'll let the river take us and maybe there is a place where we can get out farther downstream, but no matter what, we have to stay together."
As one, they let go of the tree and allowed the water to carry them away. It pulled and pushed at them, threatening to pry them apart. Maggie and Rick were on the outside of their group and had to work the hardest at keeping them clear of debris while Daryl did what he could to keep them together. At every second, he felt like Carl was being ripped away from him and was thankfuhey he boy had a good grip on Maggie's belt so the two of them would at least be together if anything happened to him or Rick.
The four were washed farther downstream when suddenly they were forced to an abrupt stop by Daryl. Daryl was yanked underwater as his left leg was snagged on a sharp piece of metal from a mangled car. It dug into his flesh and he felt it rip open skin and sink into muscle. He groaned in pain and a stream of bubbles rippled from his mouth, but he didn't dare release Carl to check on it
At the surface, Maggie and Rick realized Daryl was caught on something and Rick reached down to help lift Daryl's head above the water. He wove his fingers into Daryl's hair and raised his head just enough so that he was allowed to breathe.
"My…leg…" he gasped and chocked as water rushed into his mouth. "Caught on…somethin'…"
Rick was struggling to keep Daryl's head up and finally lost the fight with the river. Daryl was able to grab half a breath of air before going back under. He tried not to panic and opened his eyes but the water was too murky to see what he was stuck on. He still held tight onto Carl with his right arm and raised him up as best he could to make sure the boy was above water.
He felt someone's hand back in his hair that was trying to lift him up but it wasn't working. The water was rising too fast and they didn't have the leverage against it. Daryl's lungs began to ache for oxygen and he panicked. He ignored the pain and kicked and twisted his leg, feeling the metal being driven in deeper. If he couldn't get himself free, he was going to drown. He summoned the last bit of air in his lungs and used it to jerk his knee up and into his chest. In one violent tug, the metal was pulled through his calf muscle and his leg came free.
His head above water, Daryl took a few shaky breaths. He heard someone call his name but he only had enough strength to concentrate on breathing. He was vaguely aware that Carl was pressed into his shoulder and that Rick had his arm looped through his vest.
"Daryl, are you ok?" asked Rick for the third time. He was growing concerned that Daryl wasn't answering him but he appeared to be breathing.
"'M ok…" Daryl panted at length. "Just caught my pants…pulled 'em free…"
It was a complete lie. He knew there was serious damage done to his leg but he didn't need to worry the others about it right then. Once they were out of the river and not about to drown, then they could deal with it.
Daryl's bad leg hung limply under him and he winced every time it was jostled or bumped into something. The unclean water stung as it seeped into the wound and spread a searing pain up and down his entire leg. He finally gave up fighting the river altogether and trusted Maggie and Rick to help keep him afloat.
Maggie knew something was wrong with Daryl and began to take Carl away from him. The boy, though light, was still a burden and an extra weight that Daryl could not afford.
"Carl, hold onto me," she said and reached for Daryl's belt so they wouldn't drift apart. Daryl released Carl to Maggie and was thankful he could now use both arms to help swim. It was hardly an improvement and Daryl found it drained him of the little energy he had left. He suspected part of his problem was blood loss and knew he'd be screwed if the metal had torn through an artery.
The troubled group bumped along, barely hanging on to one another. Daryl was flirting with consciousness and relied more and more upon Maggie and Rick. He thought about closing his eyes and letting sleep take him when they came to another stop, this time by Maggie. She slipped suddenly underwater as her feet became tangled in some unseen object. Daryl quickly grabbed onto her hand that was on his belt and followed it to her arm and held on with all he had left.
"She's caught on something!" Carl cried and thrashed at the surface.
"Let go of her so she can use her hands," said Rick. Fear immediately filled Carl's eyes and he shook his head. "Son, you have to. Daryl and I will make sure you don't get away."
Carl released himself from Maggie and the current pushed him into Daryl.
"Hang onto my neck," said Daryl. Carl wrapped his arms around Daryl's neck and faced his father, the two locking eyes.
Daryl quickly realized he was put into an impossible position. Maggie was holding onto him and because of that, she was also holding onto the combined weight of Daryl, Rick, and Carl as the water tried to drag them downstream. If she didn't have them holding her back, she might be able to get free. But if Daryl let go of her, they'd be separated and she'd be left on her own.
Looking around sharply, Daryl spotted a downed tree that reached into the raging river from the bank. Some of its branches were only six or so feet away and could be reached if they were able to swim upstream. Daryl knew the likelihood of swimming against such a strong current was out but there was a chance one of them could make it.
"Carl, get on my shoulders," ordered Daryl. The boy looked up at him with a deep, questioning gaze. "Damn it kid, when I tell ya to do somethin' do it."
"What-why?"
"Cause if ya can, ya can jump from my shoulders and maybe make it to that tree…if we get ya outta this water, I might be able to get Maggie free."
"Do it Carl," Rick said at once.
Carl nodded and struggled to climb onto Daryl. He dug his boots into Daryl's sides and Rick steadied him, giving him the extra boost he needed to get a little higher. Daryl was thrust underwater as Carl made it to his shoulders. He felt the boy shaking like crazy and then he was shoved roughly as Carl jumped. Coming back to the surface, Daryl saw Carl clinging to a tree branch that was thankfully thick enough to hold his weight and working his way to the bank.
One of them was safe.
Daryl put his attention back on Maggie who he could feel still struggling to get herself free. He knew she was running out of oxygen and he did the only thing he could think of. He didn't want to announce it because he knew Carl would freak and dive back into the water: he'd already jumped in after his father once, he'd do it again. Daryl drew in the deepest breath he could and dropped underwater. He let go of Maggie to raise his arms and slipped out of the vest that Rick was hanging to. He felt Rick's weight leave him and he reached back for Maggie. Finding her, he followed her arm to her body and then down to her legs. She continued to move about but Daryl realized her actions were extremely sluggish and she was almost spent.
Daryl clung to her and reached her feet and the mess they were caught in as her body went slack. His hands came into contact with some barbed wire and realized her boots and the bottom of her pants had been tangled in a fence. The barbs tore at his hands but he managed to rip them from her clothes and get the wire out from around her ankles. He pulled her in close and then brought them both to the surface.
Daryl took no pleasure in the air that filled his lungs and not Maggie's. She wasn't breathing and her head rolled against Daryl's shoulder.
"Shit," he swore and tapped against her cheek, "Maggie, Maggie…c'mon Maggie."
Daryl looked back at Carl, who had almost made it to the bank and then downstream: Rick was nowhere in sight. He was a strong man and had a better chance of surviving the river than anyone else at that point. It had been a shitty move to pull—letting go of Rick—but a necessary one if there was any chance at saving Maggie. Daryl looked downstream again and searched for anything to pull them from the river. He saw another tree like the one Carl had been able to climb out on and tried to make for it.
To Daryl, Maggie felt dead against him and he kicked as hard as he could with both legs and one arm to get them to the tree. His bad leg was numb with pain and he knew there'd be hell to pay once they were out of the water. Then for the first time, the river relented and the current brought Daryl and Maggie right up to the tree. Daryl hoisted Maggie over his shoulder as he grabbed hold of the first branch he could. He took another, and another and slowly began to pull himself towards the bank. He had to stop to readjust Maggie so she didn't fall back into the water but he continued to make decent progress
Daryl edged closer to the bank and at last, his tired feet found something solid to stand on. His injured leg buckled once it had to bear his weight and Daryl hobbled on his right and continued to use the tree to support him. The shore was only a few feet away and groaning heavily, Daryl heaved Maggie onto the muddy ground. He threw himself down after her and rolled her onto her back. Without thinking about it, Daryl put both his hands on the center of her chest and started to perform CPR. Hershel had once shown them how to do it on a walker corpse and though he paid attention, Daryl wouldn't consider himself anywhere near qualified to save a life.
"C'mon Maggie," he hissed and pressed down on her chest again and again. Daryl tried several more compressions and then took a deep breath. He pinched her nose closed, opened her mouth, and breathed into it. The air didn't really go in and Daryl figured there was water trapped in her throat. He sat her up and hit the center of her back with his flattened hand. Her body jerked with each strike and then gave a small spasm. Water trickled from her mouth and she coughed faintly.
"That's it Maggie," Daryl encouraged. He continued to hit her back until a larger cough racked her body and her airway was opened. She was thrown into a true coughing fit and Daryl began to rub her back soothingly. "Yer alright, try an take a breath when ya can. Yer alright," he repeated and stroked her back.
"Da—Daryl?" she was able to get out between coughs.
"Right...here."
Maggie took a few trembling breaths as she settled into Daryl's chest. She listened to his heartbeat and knew she was alive. She took comfort in its fast rhythm and she pressed herself against him. Even though she was soaked to the bone, and cold, she was thankful she could at least feel it. She felt his arms tighten around her and then went limp as he pulled away and fell to the ground. Somewhat startled by Daryl's sudden disappearance, Maggie opened her eyes and saw him laying back in the mud.
"Daryl?" she asked and gave his arm a shake. "Daryl?"
Daryl remained motionless and she gave him a more violent shake. When that didn't rouse him, her fingers crept to his neck and found his pulse. His heart rate was fast, and he was breathing, but something wasn't right. Maggie then remembered his leg had at one point been caught in the river. Though he had brushed it off at the time, Maggie quickly suspected it was a lot worse than he made it out to be.
She crawled down to his legs and immediately saw a large rip in the left side of his pants. She tore the fabric open more and recoiled at the mess before her. A gash about eight inches long ran down the side of Daryl's lower leg so deep that muscle and bone had been exposed. Blood ran freely from the wound and dripped off his leg and to the ground.
"Maggie, Daryl!"
Maggie looked over her shoulder and saw Carl running towards her. He was rather scratched up, but she couldn't be more thankful to see him alive as well.
"Have you seen—"
Carl stopped when he saw Daryl's leg.
"Help me," implored Maggie. Carl swallowed and knelt down next to Maggie. "His leg got caught on something—we need to stop the bleeding. Give me your belt."
Carl fumbled with his belt and removed it so that Maggie could secure it above the top part of the cut. She searched herself for a knife but came up empty and guessed it'd be stripped from her in the flood. Daryl still had his and she pulled it from his belt. She cut the bottom portion of Daryl's pants off to completely expose the wound, then removing her own shirt, Maggie wrapped it around Daryl's leg as a bandage.
"We have to…" Maggie coughed again and Carl laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "We have to find shelter and fix his leg," she said regaining her breath. "It's getting dark, we have to find something."
"There was a trailer home not too far from where I got out of the water," said Carl.
"Ok, we go there. Help me with him."
Carl and Maggie both stood and each took hold of one of Daryl's arms. They slowly began to drag him away from the water and to the trailer Carl had seen.
By the time they reached the landing of the house, Maggie was beat. Going no further, she dropped Daryl's arm and sank into the tall grass. Carl looked down at her then walked to the door of the house. He went inside and was gone for several minutes before coming back and announcing it was clear.
"Just a little farther," said Carl and Maggie nodded. "I'll get his arms if you take his legs."
Together, Maggie and Carl moved Daryl inside the house and lowered him onto the carpet. Maggie stumbled away from Daryl and fell blindly onto a couch. She heard Carl say something and felt his small hands on her before succumbing to exhaustion and passing out.
Carl swallowed hard and looked between the two adults. He had no idea what to do for Maggie and fixing Daryl's leg was going to be a shot in the dark for him. He shook both adults and called their names but neither so much as twitched.
A/N: Phew! an update on both of my stories in less than a day. I deserve a raise! Haha. Anyways...Thank you for all the great reviews. I look forward to hearing what you guys think of this one.
