When the dead roam - (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 55 - If this is a trap...

The warm morning breeze brushed against her skin as she slung her rucksack over her shoulders. She kept her black leather jacket in it's usual place around her small waist and hung her bow across her chest. Each weapon she owned was strategically added to her person as she prepared for the trip to Jesus's town.

"Alright, I'll be back before sundown" she sighed, slamming the door of her house closed. The concept of keeping it unlocked still seemed foreign to her but she walked away without a second glance behind her.

Nicole shook her head and followed Louise down the old wooden steps. "Can't I come with you?"

"No" Louise said, almost instantaneously. "If this thing goes belly-up, I don't want you around for the fallout"

"But I can help" she protested, struggling to keep up with Louise's increasing speed.

She stopped in her tracks and turned towards the arguing teenager. "You can help by staying here...and staying safe"

"But-"

"I said no, sweetheart" she said, shaking her head and placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not putting you in the line of fire. I'll be back before you know it, alright? Just stay here and help Carl and Enid with Judith"

"Okay" Nicole sighed, nodding defeatedly as she looked toward the ground.

"Hey, come here" Lou pulled the teenager in for a hug before she held her out at arms reach. "Behave okay?"

Nicole nodded at her and walked towards Carl, who stood with his father by the doors of a beaten down RV. His sheriff hat sat perfectly on the top of his head, partially hiding the bandage that hung over his missing eye.

With a heavy sigh, Louise walked in the opposite direction. The weight of her recent actions had caused nothing but anxiety to her otherwise confident façade and she hated nothing more than feeling uncertain. The 'new world' seemed more confusing than the one that she grew up knowing; nothing was ever simple anymore.

The black combat boots on her feet gathered mud as she splashed through stray puddles and made her way across Alexandria. When Daryl came into view, she watched briefly from afar. He stood, hunched over the hood of a car, tugging at the mechanics in the hood. Oil marks streamed down his freshly washed clothes and across his bare arms. Denise was stood beside him, trying to force some food upon him. Daryl shook his head repeatedly.

"Hey" Louise said, crossing her arms and leaning up against the door.

Daryl stopped messing with the vehicle and straightened up. "Alrigh'?"

She nodded as Denise smiled at her. "You should take that, it's better than nothing"

"Is this 'cause I tried to get you that stuff?" Daryl asked the doctor, wiping the grease off his dirty hands and reluctantly taking the small bag from her grasp.

"Yeah" she said. "And you remind me of someone I used to know"

"Well..." Daryl grumbled. "Fine but I hope it tastes better than it looks...'cause it looks like shit"

Louise chuckled. "Thanks Denise"

"Yeah...good luck out there" she said, a small appreciative smile appearing on her lips as she walked off towards the infirmary, leaving Daryl and Louise alone.

"D'yer really trust that Jesus guy?" he asked, slamming the hood down.

"I don't know" she sighed. "I honestly...I used to trust him with my life but now...I haven't seen the guy in two-three years. He could be a completely different person now"