Jinx || Daryl Dixon || The Walking Dead Fanfic

-50-

JINX

Two more walkers ambled out of the trees before they could run back towards the sound of the gunshot and they both darted forward to take care of them. Jinx quickly took hers out but Tyreese continued to beat his even once it was on the ground, taking his frustrations out on the monster.

A wave of nausea rolled over Jinx and she finally felt the effects of the virus catching up to her as she doubled over and threw up. As she slowly stood upright again, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand she heard a voice from behind her say Tyreese's name. A voice she knew, but not the voice of a child.

She spun around to see Carol standing behind Lizzie and Mika holding Judith in her arms. Tyreese murmured, "how...how..?" as he ran towards her and pulled the older woman into a hug. In her joy at hearing her friend's voice she had momentarily forgotten the reason Rick had sent her away and she realised the attack must have begun before they'd had a chance to tell Tyreese what Carol had done.

"Where were you? How'd you find us? Where'd you...?" Ty began to bombard her with questions before he was interrupted by the moans of one of the injured men on the ground behind her.

The man manged to crawl towards them and the three adults stepped forward as he began to speak. "Stay on the tracks, that was my mistake." He told them and Carol questioned him, pointing out the woods had more cover. "No, you don't understand." He continued, "There's a place up the tracks. It's safe. You can... you can take the children there." The scepticism must have shown on their faces, "Trust me. Please. Follow the tracks."

Carol and Tyreese turned and began to walk in the direction the man had motioned, the children followed, but Jinx hovered behind. She knelt beside the man and thanked him as he looked around at the rest of his group and sobbed. She pulled her knife back out and waited until he nodded, letting himself fall back to the ground.

She knelt and held his hand, gently whispering "I'm sorry" as she put him out of his misery. She closed his eyes before standing up and felt a single tear finally escape her eyes, but she quickly brushed it away and hurried to catch up with the others.

___

They moved more slowly now, though the tracks had less cover, they also gave them a better field of vision for if anything was coming. As they walked, Mika proudly told them that she hadn't run when walkers had come towards her and Carol offered them the food and water that was in her bag.

"I didn't see you get out. I thought you..." Tyreese told her as he passed the water to the girls and look of confusion passed over Carol's face.

"I wasn't there." She paused for an almost imperceptible moment and her eyes flickered over to Jinx before she continued, "I hadn't gotten back yet. Rick and I found a car, he took what we had back to the prison while I kept looking." She glanced at Jinx again as she finished her sentence, knowing that Tyreese couldn't see her at the angle they stood she gave a small shrug, letting Carol know that she wouldn't say anything, what would the point be now anyway?

"Did you see it?" Ty asked her.

"I saw the end and then I saw you running into the woods. You were far away. I lost you but..."

"You found us." Mika finished for her with a smile.

"I knew you would." Lizzie told her and Jinx smiled, happy to have her friends back, but also glad to see the children perk up again at having her back.

As they started to walk again, Ty suggested they circle back and find Carol's car, but she shook her head.

"The walkers and the fire... can't go back to a graveyard." She told him solemnly.

Jinx froze as it finally hit her that Daryl probably hadn't made it out alive. If Carol had seen the end, seen them running, they must have been the last to go, which meant he hadn't made it out.

Carol saw the look of panic in her eyes and paused, unsure what to do. "I-I need a minute." Jinx managed to stammer as she pulled herself up the embankment beside the tracks and into the trees. As soon as she was out of sight she dropped to her knees and the pain rolled through her as she sobbed silently, not wanting to alert the others or anything else that could be nearby.

She wrapped her arms around herself as if trying to hold herself together, but it felt like someone had ripped her heart from her chest and she was empty now. Another wave of nausea caused her to throw up again. She crawled a couple of feet away and collapsed onto the ground, emotionally and physically exhausted.

She didn't know how long she laid there like that before she heard Carol's voice saying her name. Slowly she opened her eyes, they felt dry and a little swollen from crying and looked up at her. Carol knelt beside her, she glanced towards the vomit a short distance away and back at Jinx. "I'm fine.. just weak from the virus is all." She told her as she pulled herself up to sitting.

"You got sick?" Carol asked.

"Mm, just after you... left." Jinx confirmed, letting her friend pull her to her feet.

Carol nodded, but the look of concern didn't go away as they climbed back down to join the others.

It was only a little way ahead that they came across the first sign for the safety the other man had told them about. Lizzie was the first to spot it and she and Mika walked closer to read it:

"Sanctuary for all.

Community for all.

Those who arrive.

Survive."

Lizzie looked back at them, and Tyreese nodded with a smile. Jinx could see the hope in his eyes, but she couldn't feel it for herself, she couldn't feel anything at that exact moment, and she wasn't sure she'd ever feel anything again.

___

DARYL

It was dark again as they finally pushed out of the treeline and onto a road. Daryl raised his crossbow and kept watch while Beth climbed into a nearby car and tried to start it unsuccessfully. They didn't need to speak so much anymore; they were getting used to each other's company and they glanced at each other as they could hear the heard approaching. Looking around for any place to hide that would mean they could take a break from running, Daryl's eyes fell on the trunk of the battered old car.

"Come on," he instructed in a whisper as he held it open for Beth to climb in, he climbed in after her and used a rag to tie it closed so only a sliver of moonlight shone in. It was a tight fit between the two of them and the crossbow and Daryl was incredibly uncomfortable in such tight quarters, but they had made the right decision as it was only seconds later that the herd began to pass.

Daryl manoeuvred himself in the small space so that he could keep the crossbow trained on the tiny space where the trunk didn't quite close fully, his body locking up as he stayed tensed in the uncomfortable position. He kept his breath shallow the same way he would when he was hunting and he could sense Beth trying to hold her own, but he could almost feel the fear rolling off her.

As the walkers passed them, a storm rolled in and flashes of lightening gave them a better view of both inside and outside the trunk. They stayed there the rest of the night, it was one of the larger herds they'd seen, and it was better cramped in a trunk than being eaten. Beth flinched every time one of the reanimated corpses bumped into the car, but Daryl stayed ready to fight, like a coiled spring ready to bounce out of the trunk any second. 

———————

Author's note: 

I can't believe there's over 10k reads on this story now, that seems totally insane to me, but thank you so so much for all your support!

This chapter is finally my last draft, so please bear with me while I try and get more written, I'm not giving up on this story, but life is busier at the moment so uploads will likely be more sporadic until I can get a decent amount of drafts built up again. 

Thank you again for your support!