Lost ; Daryl Dixon

Chapter 14

You lay in your tent, listening to the sounds of the community bustling around outside. You'd eaten a substantial meal of fish and vegetables the previous evening, leaving you feeling full and satisfied, and you'd had several hours of uninterrupted sleep, a luxury you hadn't experienced for a long while. A part of you felt refreshed, your body healing and restoring some of its strength, but mentally, the opportunity to stop and take a breath had let the emotions that had been threatening to overwhelm you the whole time you were on the road finally take root in your consciousness, wrapping around you like vines, growing and constricting. You needed to be busy, to have something to occupy your time, but you'd only arrived at the camp a couple of days before and hadn't been allocated a job yet. You knew Helena wanted to give you time to rest, not wanting to push you too hard too soon, and you appreciated her kind nature, but you knew you couldn't take another day of sitting on your ass doing nothing but grieving for everything you'd lost.

The community called itself The Congregation, which had seemed a little strange at first, until you'd come to understand that there was a strong religious emphasis to everything that the group did. There was a pastor that everyone called Old Father Joe who held daily services at dawn and sunset, and grace was said before meals, which were always taken together in the marquee. A large wooden cross was erected at the top of the camp, standing silhouetted against the sky, as though the inhabitants thought Jesus was watching over them. It was something you struggled with. You'd had some sort of faith before, albeit non-specific and unpractised, but since the world had gone to hell, you'd lost all hope of a higher being and a better place. Life was hard and cruel, and then you died. That was your belief system now.

Shrugging an oversized cardigan that had been given to you on your first day over your shoulders, you crawled out of the tent, taking a deep breath of the fresh morning air. What would Daryl make of this place, you wondered. These people were certainly less naïve than the Alexandrians had been, with guards on round the clock and almost everyone armed at all times. The way that Helena's group had taken down the walkers in the barn when they'd rescued you was sure evidence that they knew how to protect themselves. He probably would've respected what they'd built up, even if he wasn't on board with the daily worship. That thought alone was enough to make you feel more secure, and you set off in search of the woman in charge, eager to get started and throw yourself into camp life.

*****

You stared at yourself in the mirror, twisting and turning as you inspected your outfit, wondering if it would be deemed appropriate for the first day of your new job assignment. You were wearing the only pair of jeans you owned that weren't ripped, though they sat low on your hips in a way that you never would've got away with at work before the world ended. You'd forgone your usual checked shirt, normally one of Daryl's that you'd snagged and wrapped around your shoulders to envelop yourself in his scent, instead opting for a pastel-coloured button-up that you'd borrowed from Carol. You'd pulled your hair up into a ponytail, putting more care into ensuring that it was neat and tidy than you had done in months, but all that seemed to do was emphasise the puffiness of your eyes, red-rimmed from crying for hours the night before, and bloodshot from lack of sleep.

You'd stormed out of Aaron's garage after Daryl's revelation that he was going out as Alexandria's new recruiter, and shut yourself in your bedroom, crying until you had no tears left. You didn't know why you were so upset, just that you felt desolate at the idea of being away from him for so long. He was your rock, your everything, and the only person that could calm your anxiety when things got too much. You'd barely left his side since you'd found him at Terminus, and the thought of him out there without you filled you with dread. You couldn't bear the thought of losing him. What if he got hurt? What if he just never came back?