Jinx || Daryl Dixon || The Walking Dead Fanfic

-15-

DARYL

The three sat in silence in the car, the only sound other than the engine was the constant scraping as Jinx sharpened one of her knives from the back seat. Daryl glanced at her in the wingmirror, she held her tongue between her teeth in a failed attempt to stop the sound from putting them on edge. Rick broke the silence, "Jinx... your real name's Jennifer right? Where'd Jinx come from?" It was a question Daryl had wondered about too.

He could almost feel the girl shrug behind him as the scraping sound ceased, "It started as a joke, you know, because I've always been clumsy, no sense of direction, unlucky, hell I was even born on Friday the thirteenth", the girl gave a dry laugh, "I hated it at first, but as nicknames tend to do, it stuck and I got used to it." She paused for second, "I guess it's all I have left of my life before... seems kinda fitting these days anyway".

The scraping sound resumed as she switched knives and began to sharpen the other, indicating the conversation was over.

Daryl had missed hearing her voice, since Dale's funeral he'd barely seen her. The girl spent most of her time with members of the Greene family, helping around the farm and, he was fairly sure, avoiding him. He thought he'd at least see her in the tent they shared, but she'd been sharing Maggie's room instead and on the rare occasion she stayed in one place long enough for him to catch a glimpse of her, she'd pointedly avoided looking at him.

It had caught him by surprise when she'd informed him and Rick that she would go with them to drop Randall off, "mm-mm, nah" he'd responded and for the first time in a while she'd acknowledged his existence, informing him that it hadn't been a question. He'd looked to Rick who shrugged. He'd been surprised as Jinx had barely left the farm since they'd arrived, only leaving to search for Sophia or the one trip out for gun training, she never volunteered or even showed an interest in going on runs, so he didn't know why she'd wanted to come along this time. He'd been equally as surprised when she'd helped herself to a gun before they left, it made sense, but it felt wrong seeing the weapon in her hand.

They'd been waiting for T-Dog to bring Randall to them, but when he reappeared alone all three jumped from the car. The kid had escaped.

Daryl threw open the door of the shed in anger and the rest of the group came running up to join them, trying to figure out what had happened. The cuffs were still locked and bloody, he must have slipped them. "Door was secured from the outside" Hershel observed, something wasn't right, but Daryl couldn't put his finger on what yet.

"Rick! Rick!" Shane was yelling for his former partner as he ran out of the woods, "He's armed! He's got my gun!" Carl asked if he was okay, "I'm fine, little bastard just snuck up on me. He clocked me in the face" He was still yelling, but now he was close enough to the rest of the group that they could see the blood running down his face, his nose looked like it had been broken.

Rick sprang into action telling Hershel and T-Dog to get everyone back in the house, taking Shane, Glenn and Daryl with him into the woods to look for Randall. Shane took T-Dog's gun since Randall had supposedly taken his.

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JINX

The sun had already started setting when the guys had started searching for Randall and now it was almost completely gone. Despite how busy the group had kept themselves moving everyone into the house, she was starting to get worried. She hadn't agreed with Carol when she'd first suggested just leaving him, but now the darkness was drawing in and Rick, Daryl and Glenn still weren't back, she was starting to think maybe it had been the right idea. She wouldn't pretend she cared whether Shane came back, he'd been erratic when they first met, she wasn't sure there was a word to describe what he was now. He was a danger to them all, maybe more than the kid they'd been keeping locked up and she didn't trust his version of events.