Daryl's Girl

Chapter 11

After finding nothing except a couple stray walkers and a dead man hung in a tree, we decided to head back to the highway. That moment between us replaying itself over and over in my mind. It was like no matter what I did, I couldn't shake it and it had made things pretty awkward. The tension in the air building, leaving me with so many unwanted questions and feelings.

I needed to clear the air.

"Look, about what happened before. I'm sorry...I...erm...I don't really know what to say." I said, forcing a laugh. If I didn't laugh, I'd cry. "That's not me...I mean...I'm not that person." I couldn't even bring myself to look at him. Whatever that was, it made stringing a sentence together all the more difficult. I was just waffling and all I wanted was for the ground to open up and swallow me. "Can we just forget that ever happened? We don't know each other and Tyler and I, we-"

"Nothin' happened?" Daryl cut me off and I could feel his gaze turn to me. He understood. 

"Thanks." I nodded, looking back at him. Some of the tension in my body slowly fading. 

What Tyler and I had, it was gone now, if it was ever there in the first place, and I wasn't ready for anything else. I'd made my own decision for the first time since this all started and I had to act on it. I wasn't weak and I didn't need protecting. This wasn't a rebound. That wasn't who I was and yet, a part of me just couldn't hide the feeling of wonderment I had towards Daryl.

"You're tougher than you look, ya know."

I shook my head and turned away. I wasn't tough. Not like he was. He knew how to carry himself and it was something I admired about him, but he was wrong, and I didn't want to talk about it. I needed to change the subject. "How do you do that anyway?" I asked as I watched him. He had his torch pointed to the ground, scanning the area around us. "Because I don't see anything."

Daryl shrugged. "Takes practice." My change in subject hadn't gone unnoticed, but he played along. "You gotta know what you're looking for."

"And how would I do that?" I asked again, squinting at the forest floor.

There was a silence as my question hovered in the air for a moment. "Look." He said and pointed his torch towards a bunch of broken sticks. "What do you see?"

I looked at him with a puzzled expression, trying to hide the fact I had no idea what it was I was supposed to be looking for. What did he want me to say? "Broken sticks?" I shrugged and he shook his head, gesturing back down to the sticks again. I didn't move.

"You wanna learn?"

I just rolled my eyes and smirked, but he was persistent. The amusement creeping onto his face at my lack of skill and I thought about protesting. That was when I saw something. Beneath the sticks there looked to be the impression of a boot, only it looked like whoever had made them had been dragging their across the ground. 

"A footprint." I said a little more excitedly than I should've. "I think."

Daryl nodded. "Walker. You see how it's all zigzagging."

"Yeah." I smiled, stepping closer to him and following the path he was pointing. "I guess I'll get the hang of it. Just need a bit of practice."

"Yeah, you keep tellin' yourself that." He scoffed. 

I couldn't help but roll my eyes again at his comment. Was he challenging me? Either way, he'd win. "Where'd you learn how to do it?" I asked as we continued walking, following a couple of, what looked like, and I assumed were walker tracks, but it was hard to see in the dark.

"Don't matter." Daryl then grunted and walked on ahead of me. 

"All ask and no answer then, huh?" I called over. He didn't reply. Didn't even turn his head.