𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐋𝐄, daryl dixon

𝘹𝘹. 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪'𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭

TWENTY,
for you i'd risk it all.

—

THE COLD STENCH of rotting blood splattered all over my arms and the tree. My attention turned back to the girl who had collapsed on the ground with an arrow stuck into her head. There was a small thud as she hit the ground but that was enough to stop the swarm and draw their attention. Seeing me above a lifeless rotting corpse sparked some instinct in them to kill.

The group of ten to fifteen walkers charged in my direction. I was going to give up and let them have their way with me when I heard a voice. It was faint but I listened to the words carefully. "Get out of there!" It said. And before I knew it I was on my feet. Running as fast as I could towards the voice. I was never alone, he was always quick to find me.

Their growling grew distant as I ran, dodging all the tree branches and other obstacles that stood in my way. My legs couldn't keep up with my body's demands and I started to slow down. Their footsteps slowly gained on me. I knew I couldn't run for much longer, my legs were weak.

There was no other choice, I had to stand my ground. They were thinned out in a line, some walkers tended to be faster than others which made it easier to pick them off. I used my blade to dig deep into their brain. My shirt was drenched in the filthy liquid that their bodies produced. After getting the first three down they started piling back up again.

I did as much as I could to hold them back. Getting another five or six down. One that I managed to kill fell forwards, trapping me under its rotting corpse. I struggled to get free as another walker jumped on for the ride. I could smell its rotting breath against my neck. The sound of an arrow filled my ears. I could see the green fletching of his arrow piercing through the walker's head.

Now he decides to help. With all my strength I pushed the bodies from on top of me. Their lifeless bodies roll off with no troubles at all. So there I was, laying with my back in the mud, covered in gut, blood, and organs as rain wrapped me in a blanket of wetness. Today could not possibly get much worse than this. I was just one of the many corpses laying among the muck.

"Ya dead yet?" He asked as he jabbed me in the side with his crossbow. "They're gone," I spoke weakly.
"They're all gone." The tears that I had been holding back for so long fell once those words left my lips. I didn't expect him to take pity on me, or tell me everything was going to be alright. That isn't what I needed to hear.

"I'm still here." He said. I wasn't sure if that was supposed to make me feel worse or cheer me up. "I'll never leave you, you have my word." For some odd reason, I believed him. No one in this world stays for long, I've learned that the hard way. The closer you get to someone the weaker you become. This was different, this had to be different. It just had to be.

I took a deep breath, allowing myself to regain control over my emotions. "You better not, I'll hold you to that," I said. He held out his hand for me to take and he hosted me to my feet. Something in me clicked when he took my hand as his own. What were we? Friends, enemies? Something in between? We had to be something right, we couldn't just be two people.

"We better find somewhere dry." He said and strolled into the woods. Suddenly he stopped when he realized that I was following behind him. "I ain't no damn dog walker, get up here." He gestured for me to walk beside him. It felt off, I had always been the one trailing behind him. Back when he wanted nothing to do with me that was just normal. Did this mean he saw me as an equal?

"Am I growing on you?" I asked. A smile curved my lips as I stood by his side. When he didn't respond I knew that I had the right idea. It only took a few days for me to be able to 'read his mind' or just tell what he was thinking, sometimes. I knew I was growing on him, or maybe it was the other way around. Perhaps he was growing on me.

It was like before,  just me and him, only this time was different. It took me this long to realize that I didn't hate him after all. And just maybe he wasn't as self centered as I thought. Yeah, he may be a jerk at times, but I feel like we've come a long way with one another.

"Would you risk your life for me?" I asked. He glanced over at me for a second, like he was confused about why I'd be asking such a stupid question. Without hesitation, he answered. "Yes." My heart almost stopped. I'm not sure what I was expecting him to say, but a simple yes wasn't my first guess.

"I guess we'd be risking our lives together then, I won't let you die alone," I uttered. Just the thought of him dying alone in a swarm of walkers pained me to think about it. I'm afraid any more time around him will make me fall for him.