Uhm...Don't kill me. ;)
Daryl looked over the woods as he moved deeper than before and shook off the cool morning air biting at his exposed throat and hands. He'd opted for long sleeves this morning when he felt the cool air in the room with him and Carol. He was use to waking up with the cold biting at him in that house since he usually ran hot at night and never stoked the fire high for over night. But with Sophia and Carol there he built it up this morning before he left the thought of either of them getting up with the cold wrapping around them bothering him more than he was use to.
Squatting down Daryl ran his fingers over the prints shaking his head and looked up his eyes scanning the woods. The animals were just starting to stir and it was a comforting sound as he moved up through the incline of the mountain to get a better look. If he could hear the animals stirring it meant whatever was out here had likely moved on. So long as it moved away from the farm then Daryl was fine with that and didn't much give a shit.
The sun was high beating down on his back making his shirt cling to him despite the chill in the air. The crunch of fallen leafs underfoot and the crisp air was a stark reminder that winter was large and looming and that things needed to be done before it truly was here. He'd bring it up to Hershel, Mac, Merle, and Rick before long and see if they had any ideas or plans.
If he'd been focused, if he'd been thinking about more than the farm and been watching where he was walking he would have seen the danger but that was the problem. He wasn't. He'd let his mind drift to Carol and if she was up and what she would be doing at the moment and that moment was all it took. The ground broke under his steps as his eyes focused down on something and then there was a distinct sound. Trying to move but not fast enough the quick shift in his weight was enough to finish off the breaking ridge lines ground. With a grunt Daryl was careening down the hill hitting hard with each motion of his body.
"Hey! Whoa buddy you alright there?"
Daryl groaned trying to set up not opening his eyes yet but sucked in a breath as pain shot through his entire side. He felt his breath heave and he hit on his back hard.
"Don't move." The voice was firm and so was the hand on his chest holding him in place.
Clenching his jaw against the spike of pain Daryl fought his eyes open and looked to where he had seen it. It hadn't been a hallucination and he was a lot closer than he had anticipated. Cutting his eyes up he realized he was at the bottom of the ravine and he was soaked to the bone the cold already setting in.
"We're gonna have to get that out and find a way to bind the wound."
Daryl finally looked away from the boots across from him refusing to let it settle in as the pain in his side roared and droned through him. He was having trouble breathing and finally looked down. He had a bolt clean through his side with a steady flow of blood seeping out to paint the water around him a crimson swirl.
"Fuck." His voice was a pained grunt as he forced himself setting again.
The man shifted setting a pack down next to Daryl, "I don't have much in the way of supplies but I got enough to at least get something on it for now."
"The girl..." Daryl didn't look back over as he spoke his eyes on his wound. "Is she alright?"
The man pivoted on his feet, "Not sure...honestly I just heard the noise of you crashing through the underbrush and came over here in time to see you hit the bottom. Didn't see her really..." He got quiet for a moment and stood, "She with you?"
Daryl looked up and gave a slight nod. He knew those boots. Him and Mac had hated them from the moment Annette had bought them for the girl and didn't see why the fuck someone would get boots that were like that. For fucking looks? Who the fuck got boots for looks? It was ignorant but then again a lot of the shit Beth done in Daryl's eyes was ignorant.
The man walked silently over and Daryl watched as there was no movement from the body on the ground. She was completely still, not even a muffled groan that was something even the most weakened walkers could muster up. The man squatted and the cringed slightly and looked over his shoulder and shook his head at him before standing and coming back.
Daryl shoved himself into a kneeling position needing to see for himself...He needed to be able to look at Hershel and tell him. TO tell him what had happened to his youngest daughter out here. He needed to have the peace of mind and know that the farm was safe from whatever had done this to Beth.
"Whoa hold up." Catching Daryl under his arm he helped him to stand.
Daryl felt searing pain race up his side and take his breath as the skin and his body shifted around the bolt. He'd felt a lot of pain throughout his life but this felt like someone was driving a fucking branding iron through his side and stirring his insides up. Looking down his body his side down to his knees was coated in blood and he looked like a walker himself. He was dirty and bloody with a limp that had his breath whistling out of his chest.
Daryl walked slowly but surely for Beth and seen what had the man cringing. The multitude of tracks from earlier in the day made sense to him and he knew exactly what had done this to her. He didn't get why she had come out here but from the lashes on what skin he could see showed she had run through the underbrush likely being chased and hunted. There was enough tracks in the area to be sure that it was to be sure that it was indeed a pack and not just a few strays.
Coyotes like most predators would take on anything if the pack was big enough and they knew they could overpower it. With the lack of likely food and the amount of death around they were likely starving and it made Beth a prime target. Daryl could already see in his mind why she'd been lured out here and shook his head. Beth had a soft spot for all animals and had likely seen one running or watching at the edge of the farm not realizing it wasn't a dog. Not realizing it was a scout for a larger pack.
"We need to get you dry."
Daryl knew there was nothing he could do for her now. He'd tell Merle and Mac where she was and let them come get her body. He couldn't physically do it now not with his injury and the task of climbing out of this ravine.
"I need to get back." His voice was low and to himself.
Daryl started for the water searching through it for his crossbow. The man copied him searching and Daryl wasn't sure really what to say to this man. He could see the walker body that had been right next to him and didn't to ask to know that he had saved his life while he'd been blacked out. He'd saved him from a death where he wouldn't have been able to protect himself. He'd laid in this ravine with Beth's body until his brothers found him and until Carol moved on from him.
The pull on his flesh was just to strong as he lifted crossbow out and shouldered it looking to the hill. Daryl started towards it with the man shadowing him.
"If we go slow it shouldn't be that bad." He was looking up his dark eyes focusing on the top. "There is a house a ways away but it is clear that we can stay in over night till we get something to stitch you up with."
"No I have to get back." Voice gruff and refusing to hear anything else.
Daryl dropped to his knees and pulled his knife. He could hear Merle snapping at him telling him to quit being a pussy and get his ass up that ravine. He could hear Mac's deep chuckle as he told him to get that goddamn bolt out his side and make tracks. He could hear Sophia's laughter down the hall from him and Carol's as she had tucked the girl in...he could head it all. With that in his mind slipped his knife into the sleeves of his shirt cutting them away and setting them to the side to use in a minute.
"Quit being a pussy Darylina." Merle sneered in his mind.
Growling to himself he gripped the bolt and gritted his teeth pulling steady as the fletching slipped through the entry wound. Stifling the air in his lungs and Daryl groaned and felt the fletching burning through his body scraping his insides as he pulled harder for the bolt to leave him completely. With a pained grunt he let it clatter to the ground and just took a second to breathe without the searing pain of the bolt keeping his body from expanding for breath.
Daryl looked up when the man squatted without preamble and started working the sleeves into a knot at one end. "Get the bound and we can get up there easier." His voice sounded pained, "You got balls of steel man."
Daryl snorted and tied the shirt around his wound making sure it was tight enough to slow the blood. He was pretty sure he had some bruised if not fractured ribs but didn't give a fuck so long as he got back to the farm.
"You got somewhere in mind or are we getting to that house?"
Daryl eyed him gripping the base of a Oak tree, "I got somewhere...If you try anything-"
The man held his hand up, "I'm not looking to start something. I'm just looking for a place to sleep and to make sure you don't bust your ass and plummet back down this hill."
Daryl gave a sharp nod and started climbing. It was grueling but he kept on his brothers voices driving him faster with their leering taunts and sharp barbs. It was enough to get him worked up to not feel the pain in his side. He slipped a few times but a strong hand catching him kept him from plummeting down like he said.
They had walked for a while each step feeling like it was draining more life from him. Daryl knew he'd lost too much blood for it to be safe. He didn't care though so long as Hershel and Annette knew where there girl was...that they didn't have to set and without laying her to rest. He wanted to see his brothers one last time...he wanted to see Carol and her girl one last time before he closed his eyes. He wasn't sure they'd open again this time so he refused to stop any time the man suggested it.
"The farm we're going to is the Green farm..." Daryl's voice was hoarse and weak.
"Alright..."
"We get there...if something happens to me before we get there keep this direction and you'll come out in the pasture. Hershel is the man who owns it tell them that Daryl sent you."
The man's steps faltered for a second he looked at him, "You saying something here that I aint getting?"
"I'm saying if I don't get there walking...My brothers aint exactly the most trusting of men. If you come in there telling them I'm in the woods or where ever blacked out or dead they're gonna react first." Daryl shook his head, "Speak to Hershel first."
Daryl and him were quiet after that and he could see the break in the trees that showed the pasture just beyond. And he smiled shaking his head. They'd been walking for a good hour since he had said what he had to the stranger next to him. A man he hadn't even asked the name of yet his mind to scattered and disoriented. His body was chilled from having been soaked from the water at the bottom of the ravine and his soaked clothes clinging to his body, with his fucking luck he was going to get a goddamn pneumonia now.
They cleared the tree line and Daryl smirked at the farm house. They were partly through it when he seen someone coming towards them cautiously. He could guess why knowing he looked like a fucking walker and there was a stranger half carrying him. The man had ended up Daryl's arm thrown over his shoulder and his arm around his side bracing his weight the longer they had went out. Daryl couldn't remember walking that far but given that the sun was setting by now he figured it was about right.
"Hey man what is your name?" Daryl grunted.
A chuckle sounded next to him, "I was curious if you were going to ask."
Daryl blinked but it felt like it was in slow motion and then he stumbled slightly, Fuck." Before he could move his knees buckled and he felt that darkness edging into his vision as the ground raced up to meet his body pulling the man with him. He felt the struggle of him trying to keep him balanced but Daryl's full weight had dropped to suddenly for him to catch and with that the darkness closed around him fully.