A/N Hey guys! I promise the next chapter will be better, this one is just ok. Thanks for all the support! Keep the reviews coming, much love to you all! 3
Daryl comes to in a dim lit room. Hershel is preparing to stitch him up.
"I'm sorry I have nothing for the pain while I do this." he says "If you start to pass out, don't fight it."
Daryl starts to scoff, but all over pain stops him.
"I took care of your head while you were still out, luckily the bullet only grazed you."
Sam rushes into the room, her face flushed and slightly puffy, she goes to throw her arms around him before she remembers his injuries. She settles for kneeling next to the bed, holding onto his hand while he gets stitched up.
"Where did you find the doll?" Rick asks
"She musta dropped it crossing the creek somewhere."
"That cuts the grid almost in half." Rick points out "And now we have a trail."
"Any idea what happened to my horse?" Hershel asks.
"The one that threw me? If it's smart it left the country." Daryl says as Hershel finishes up his stitches. "Damn horse got spooked, threw me, an I landed in the bottom of the ravine."
Everyone else leaves the room to go to dinner, leaving just Sam and Daryl.
"Thank god Andrea's such a bad shot." Sam says, her voice slightly scratchy when she speaks.
"She was just protecting the group." Daryl defends "What happened to your voice? You been yellin?"
Sam looks away and opens her mouth to reply when Carol walks into the room "Oh, you should have heard her." she says with a smile "When she caught up with Andrea it was like all hell broke loose."
"I wasn't that bad, was I?" Sam asks.
"The guys had to hold you back. We're all just glad you dropped the axe, or someone really could have gotten hurt.." Carol puts a plate of food on the bedside table. "Dinner's ready, Sam, why don't you grab a plate?"
Daryl watches Sam leave and Carol starts to speak.
"I just want to let you know, you did more for my little girl today than her own daddy did in his entire life."
He turns away and pulls the sheet up around himself "I didn't do anything Shane or Rick wouldn'ta done."
"I know, and you're every bit as good as they are." she rests on his shoulder and he jerks away slightly "Every bit."
Sam takes a long drink of milk before refilling the glass and heading back to Daryl's room, the cold liquid soothes the scratching in her throat. She completely ignored Andrea when she passes her. She sits on the end of the bed, her plate of food resting on her knee.
"So you an Andrea really almost had it out?" Daryl asks after a few minutes of quiet.
"She shot you, almost killed you." Sam defends "Plus, she would have had it coming for more than just that anyway."
Sam sees the twitch of a smile in the corner of his mouth, but it doesn't go any farther. She puts her empty plate on top of his on the nightstand and rests her hand on his leg.
He looks her dead in the eyes "We could leave, we don't need these people. They sure as hell don't need us."
"Daryl, what are you talking about?" she questions, so confused "Of course they need us. You especially. You could probably take out more walkers than the rest of them put together, without firing a gun to boot." he just scoffs "At the very least, Sophia needs you. You're the only one who knows how to follow her trail. Shane wants to give up the search, and Rick would just be falling over himself out there. He's no tracker."
She can still see the wariness in his eyes, but he doesn't say anything else on the subject.
"Do you want me to leave?" she asks, feeling as awkward as she did those first few days with him. She removes her hand from his leg.
"Nah," he says just before she gets up to leave "'Sides, it's not you I'm tryin to get away from."
The next day they help Daryl move out to the tent, still on ordered bed rest. He lays on the cot someone lent the, and punches holes in the mesh window with one of his bolts. Sam left to take care of her chores shortly after Daryl got settled in the tent, sorry she couldn't stay in with him.
Andrea interrupts his solitude, handing him a book. "Dale said you might like this."
He takes the book and flips through "What, no pictures?"
"Look, Daryl. I'm really, really sorry." she says.
"You were just protecting the group. We're good. But hey," he says as she turns to walk out "you shoot me again, best pray I'm dead."
Being cooped up is driving him crazy, left alone with his thoughts is never a good thing. He grabs one of the blankets off the floor, a heavy wool one with a geometric pattern on it, and his hunting knife, and starts cutting a hole in the middle of it. Concentrating on each thread he cuts and ties, making sure it won't unravel. It keeps him busy for a while, but once he gets a rhythm down his thoughts start to creep in.
Was Merle right? Or rather his hallucination of Merle. His whole life, the only person that cared about him was Merle, at least that's what he always said, even though he never backed it up. Why should this group be any different? They don't care that Sophia's missing still, just a kid. He's the only one that cares enough to get out there every damn say and search the woods.
And then there's Sam. She would have kicked the shit out of Andrea, had there not been enough people there to stop her. But why is she so intent on staying with these people. They'd make a good team out there, on their own. But there's still Sophia. Sam was right when she said he is the only one capable of finding her.
His head starts pounding and all the aches from the day before are returning, the pain killers mist be wearing off. He drops the blanket, sheaths his knife and rolls onto his uninjured side, hoping sleep will lessen the pain.
Someone calling her name snaps Sam out of her daze. She looks around and sees Carl walking towards her. Rick's hat shading most of his face.
"What can I do for you officer?" she asks, resting her elbows on her knees.
Carl lifts the brim of the hat so he can see her, "We're going to the field for shooting practice. Dad asked me to see if you wanted to come."
"That's right." she stands "I bet you're excited."
"Yeah." he says, trying to hide the smile with a shrug. "It might be cool."
"I'll meet you at the truck." she pats his shoulder and he runs off.
She heads to the tent to let Daryl know she was leaving an finds him asleep when she pokes her head in. The sheet is mostly on the floor, reveling his naked and bandaged torso. She winces inwardly when she sees the bandage, but can't help admiring all that muscle. The way his broad shoulders taper down to a narrow waist. She can just see the scars that crisscross his back and shoulders, even though his back isn't facing her.
"You just gonna stand there all day?" the sleepy southern drawl almost makes her jump out of her skin.
Her face feels as hot as the fun and she quickly looks away while Daryl readjusts the sheet. "I thought you were asleep."
"I was. I heard you come in, I'm a light sleeper."
"Right," she stammers "um, I'm going to target practice. You good?"
"I need anything. I'll get up an get it." he pats the crossbow next to him "I'm good. You go learn to shoot."
Sam sighs and smiles as she leaves the tent.
Rick and Shane have as many bottles and cans as they could get a hold of sit up on the far fence as targets. Sam takes aim with the Browning Rick gave her, and squeezes the trigger. The bottle on the fence explodes. Her first hit! They've been at it for five minutes before she hit anything, but at least she's not the only one. Jimmy, Patricia and Beth all hit their first targets shortly after her. The first practice is a success, with everyone hitting at least one of their targets.
Sam heads back to her tent as soon as they get back, Daryl is out by the fire pit, smoothing out new bolts for his bow.
"How'd it go?" he asks, looking up at her.
"Good." Sam smiles "I hit all my targets. It's a lot different than the BB gun I used to shoot as a kid though."
Daryl laughs "Yeah, those are nothing. What did they give you?"
"Browning. Felt pretty good. But I'd still rather use something quieter." she pats the hatchet at her side. "Back up is always nice though. How you feeling?"
"Like I got hit by a mac truck, then shot. But I'm still kicking."