Jinx || Daryl Dixon || The Walking Dead Fanfic

-17-

DARYL

The pair had grown closer since that first night on the road. They'd both finally admitted to themselves that they cared for the other, but not quite enough to know what to do about it.

Around the rest of the group, they were the same as usual, maybe they talked a little more, but they never touched, not since that first night sleeping on the ground.

It was only in moments when they were alone that they really let their guard down with each other. When he went hunting for food, Daryl had started to take Jinx with him, teaching her how to track, what plants she could eat and which were poisonous. She was even getting quite good at actually hunting, her aim when throwing the knives had been good before, but now she rarely missed a target, but she couldn't use them on a larger animal, or she would be risking losing the knife altogether if it managed to run.

It was only during these brief excursions from the group that he might summon the courage to reach out and tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear when she was focused on something else or she might grab his hand when a sound made her jump, before going back to pretending that she wasn't afraid. They'd become so used to each other's company, they barely needed to speak to know what the other was thinking. It was easy for them to communicate through just a look or hand gesture, and occasionally the rest of the group would be confused when one answered for the other without thinking.

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JINX

They'd been on the road for what felt like forever, only staying in one place for a night or two trying to keep ahead of the herd that felt like it was following them. That night they'd found an abandoned cabin, the group had all made up their beds for the night in the main room where the fireplace was. They always slept in the same room now, even if there was the option of more space, not only for safety but also to try and keep warm. This was the coldest night so far and as everyone else seemed to pass out from exhaustion, Jinx laid awake shivering.

Eventually she gave up on sleep and untangled herself from the blanket she'd been burrowed under. She pulled her coat and boots on and silently slipped upstairs to where there were two empty rooms. Rick and Daryl had cleared them when they'd first arrived, but no one had been up there since. She stepped into the first room to find it completely bare, the moonlight making horizontal stripes of white across the floor as it shone through the gaps between the panels of the boarded-up windows.

She turned around and went to look in the other room, wincing as the floor creaked underfoot. This room was brighter, there were no panels over the windows and she could see clearly, again there was no furniture, but the closet door was open and on the ground there was what appeared to be a small pile of crumpled black fabric.

She walked over to the window and wrapped her arms around herself, it wasn't as cold here as it could get in winter back home, but after the long hot summer they'd had, the onset of winter felt even harsher. She watched as rain started to fall, glittering in the moonlight, from inside it was beautiful, but she knew she would've felt differently had they had to camp outside that night.

She heard a small squeak and span around, expecting to see a mouse or rat, but there was nothing there. She turned back to the window, enjoying the peaceful feeling the moonlight and the rain gave her, when she heard the squeak again. This time when she turned her eyes landed on the thing on the closet floor again. She walked towards it, slowly rolling her weight through each foot trying her best to keep the floor from creaking again and nudged the bundle with her toe, again expecting a mouse or rat to appear.

Instead, she discovered that the pile was in fact a cat, sadly deceased, but curled up against it, desperately trying to stay warm was a tiny black kitten. She crouched down and murmured quietly to the little creature. It was so small it fit easily in the palm of her hand when she picked it up. She held it against her chest inside of her coat, hoping her body heat would warm the small creature and tried to figure out if she had any way to keep it alive.