My eyes snapped open.
The rustling was coming from somewhere to my right, small footsteps against loose leaves. Slowly, silently, I lifted myself into a partial sitting position. The fire was naught more than smoking coals, but even without the light from the flames, I could still dimly see the sleeping bodies of my comrades. Daryl was closest, lying on his side, facing me, head resting against his arm. He must have taken his place when Mason swapped watch shifts with him.
Michonne was on the opposite side of me, lying flat on her back, both hands behind her head as she softly snored. Her sword was resting against the trunk of a tree behind her.
Bob was lying, partially propped up against a tree near the curve of the roadside.
Claire was still passed out beside Phee, curled into a ball with her mouth hung open wide. I wondered for a moment how many bugs had crawled into her mouth by now until the mental image of it started to make me feel nauseous.
“You okay?” came a voice from my left.
Mason sat on the fallen log, back resting against the long roots reaching up into the sky at its base. The light of the moon cast shadows against his young face, making his features seem almost fae-like in the darkness.
“You hear anything?” I whispered back, pulling myself up fully into a sitting position.
Mason’s eyes glinted as he shook his head. “Nothin’ weird.”
My head jerked slightly to the side as I stared off into the shadows behind him, following that sound. Rustling. Maybe it was just an animal and I was too tired to think straight, but something within was vibrating with urgency. I pushed myself up onto my feet and silently made my way over to the log Mason was sitting on.
He watched me with curious eyes as I stepped over it and lowered myself down beside him, back facing the camp.
“What is it? Spider-sense tinglin’ again?” he asked with a grin.
I gave him a small smirk of amusement, glancing his way momentarily before turning my gaze back to the darkness of the woods before us.
The forest at night was always beautiful to behold for someone like me, who saw deeper into shadows than most. It was hard to discern with the mortal gaze the way the moonlight trickled in thin streams through the minuscule gaps in the branches above. Like tiny lines of starlight, illuminating only small sections at a time until what lay before you was the illusion of an otherworldly forest. But focus on those thin lights and the shadows between became all the darker, an almost depthless black that hid every nasty thing I knew lurked among us.
“I meant to ask…” Mason began, spinning in place until he, too, was facing away from the camp. “What’s with that?”
I snorted. “You know, you’re the only one to actually ask me that lately.”
Mason’s brows furrowed. “Really?”
“Yep,” I answered with a nod. "Everyone else just seems to kind of... avoid it."
Silence settled for a long moment until Mason realised I did not intend on elaborating any further without another push. He shuffled back on the log a little, turning in place to face me.
YOU ARE READING
The Monsters Among Us ➳ Daryl Dixon
Fanfiction𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘹𝘰𝘯/𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 Not human. She was not human. They all knew it. Could almost feel it, but couldn't make sense of it. That was why they were afraid. Not because of what she used to be Before. But...
