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WITH NO PERCEPTION of time, I awoke again. The warmth was still there from his body pressing against my own. It was nice, this was nice. Taking one night off from all the running, hiding, and killing was well needed. My head rested against his chest. Listening to his breathing as it repeatedly made his chest rise and set.
The cool night had passed so there was no need to stay cuddled up to him now. And yet for some reason, my body wouldn't move. Like a defiant child, it just stayed put. Maybe I wanted to stay in his embrace for just a little while longer. That thought was quickly shooed away when I heard his groggy morning voice speak up.
"You awake yet?" It asked. He kept his voice low and hushed like someone else would be around to hear it. "I'm awake," I answered. My head felt a lot less foggy than it did last night, I was able to think clearly, or so that was what I thought. "Tell anyone about this and I'll kill you."
I hissed as my arm unwrapped itself from around his torso. I didn't want to leave, not now. As soon as my body broke from his everything felt cold. Like a sudden icy breeze had hit me. My eyes glanced over to the plate. After all that work I went through to get the food, it was left untouched.
My stomach loudly growled like it hadn't eaten anything in days. It was tempting to just shove the scraps in my mouth but then I remembered why I got them in the first place. "Wanna split them?" He asked, noticing the figurative saliva dribbling down my chin.
"Yeah, I guess we can split it," I answered. It was originally for him after all. He tossed on his clothes as I split up the plate to give us both a reasonable amount. Something about it felt wrong, I shouldn't be eating. He gave me extra food for the days that I was trapped in that holding cell. The least I could do was give him this.
Daryl was too stubborn to take it though. Even if I wanted him to have every last bite he wouldn't. Even if he was starving to death he wouldn't take the full plate. That was the thing about him, he acted as though he didn't care about anything or anyone but he wasn't selfish when it came to people he care for.
He waited around and made sure I would eat. Once I had finished my fair share he took the plate and finished it off. "Back in the woods, after we split up, how did you find me?" I asked. "Just a fluke." For some odd reason, I didn't believe that. How he made it into the governor's armed forces and how he located me didn't make any sense.
It couldn't have just been a coincidence, could it have? I let it go, having no real reason to keep pushing the question. We were here together and that's all that mattered now. I got ready to leave, wrapping my hand in the same cloth that I did Daryl's, pulling the remainder of the curtain onto the ground. They won't just let us walk out, that was obvious.
The people of this camp must have thought something was up when their leader didn't come back. Who knows, they may have already sent a welcome party to come up and blow our brains out. We were both ready to go as soon as we finished up. The only way out of the building was going down the main staircase. All the balcony doors and windows were boarded shut.
So we took this chance and hurried down. He took the lead with his crossbow, peeking around every corner, refusing to take any chance of someone hiding out. It was blatantly clear that he knew the ins and outs of this place. The way he moved through the halls was the first inaction that he knew where he was going.
"There's a back door." He said. Such a large house like this one was bound to have at least three main exits. There wasn't anyone around. It made me question why. Who cared, we were making it without any trouble. No guards around or anything as we busted down the door.
I guess he knew of a way to get us here without running into people. The sun had just begun making its ascent into the heavens above. The feeling of the warm ray against my skin felt amazing. I never thought in a million years that I would feel this again. The hot touch of the sun.
How nice it felt to breathe the fresh air. It was a reminder that I was alive. No longer held up in a cell as the smell of rotting bodies filled my nose. No more carving into the walls with my spare time. No more staring blankly at a wall or waiting for food to arrive. I was free.
Freed from the chains that bound me to that place, that also bound me to Woodbury. I needed a fresh start, a whole new beginning. And Daryl allowed me to do just that. He killed the governor and for that I thanked him. I was forever in his debt. "There's a camp nearby." He spoke up.
"Maggie, Bob, and Sasha are waiting." The familiar names hit me. Maggie was Hershel's daughter and I had a good relationship with her. We were both strong women who were capable of looking out for ourselves if need be. We bonded pretty fast and we became close, and frankly one of the only people I got along with.
An explosion of excitement flooded through me. Though I didn't show it, I was more than happy to hear that she was alive and well. The path ahead was brighter than I could have imagined. As we both continued down the dirt road I couldn't help but think how lucky I was to be alive.
