Daryl's Girl

Chapter 18

"No!" Rick yelled, waving his arms, looking back over to the camp. There was someone on top of the RV with a rifle. I couldn't make out who, but at this moment in time, I didn't care. My only focus was Daryl and as the others all followed Rick's gaze, I painfully limped over to the unconscious man laying on the ground, falling to my knees besides him.

The bullet had grazed his temple, but he wasn't moving. My eyes shooting to his chest.

"He's alive." I said, watching his chest slowly rise and fall, wiping the blood out of his face with my hand.

Almost immediately, they all turned back to Daryl and I. All of them startled over what had just happened and seeing the state of the two of us, but I wasn't about to lose him and I don't think Rick was either.

He ran over with Shane trailing behind where the two men swung Daryl's arms around their shoulders and pulled him up where they began dragging him across the field. I tried standing to follow them, but no matter how much I tried, with no support, my ankle couldn't take my weight anymore and I fell back down.

It didn't stop me as I tried again and again, but eventually I think Glenn must've noticed as he quickly ran back, helping me to my feet. "You good?"

"Yeah." I lied as my head began spinning and my vision went fuzzy, just as it had before. All I had to do was push through it, using Glenn for support, like I had with Daryl, as we followed on after Rick and Shane. It didn't stop the agonizing pain shooting up my leg every time I took a step though.

"Guys." I then heard Tdog say behind us and we all turned around. I could just about make out Sophia's doll in his hand and I reached down to my belt. I hadn't realized I'd dropped it again. "Isn't this Sophia's?"

He held up the doll and I noticed both Rick and Shane looked down at Daryl before they all looked over at me. I tried to answer, but it felt like my breath was caught in my throat. My heart started racing, the blood still running down my head and my ankle sending a pain shooting up my leg. Something wasn't right and I could feel myself going weak at the knees. That was when I opened my mouth to speak and a lump formed in my throat. The next thing I knew my legs went from under me, I let go of Glenn and everything went dark...

When I finally opened my eyes, I was in the house, laying on a bed. 

I had a throbbing headache and my ankle was wrapped tightly in a bandage. I had to say it did feel a lot better than it did, but it didn't stop the wave of nausea that washed over me though. I then reached for my head and lightly touched where my wound was, wincing a little, and bought my hand back. It was clean. The bleeding had stopped. All of what had happened blurred and slowly starting to come back.

It wasn't long before Hershal entered the room, followed by both Rick and Shane. "You're awake." Hershal smiled. "You've been out for a couple hours. How are you feeling?"

"As good as I look." I grunted as I shifted my position and sat up in the bed. A couple hours? "Is Daryl okay?"

"He's fine." Rick replied. "He's awake. Told us what happened." 

I nodded and took the painkillers, Hershal handed to me. "Any idea what happened to my horse?" He sighed.

"I don't know. It threw us off and took off into the woods." I shrugged.

"As I told Daryl, we call that one Nelly, as in nervous Nelly. I could've told you she'd throw you off if you bothered to ask." He said and turned to Rick. "It's a wonder how you people have survived this long." 

What was that supposed to mean?

"What happened out there?" Shane asked.

I glared at him before I looked back over at Rick and Hershal. His presence in the room making me uncomfortable. I thought Daryl had already told them, but that's not what they were asking. They were talking about the ears. "It was like he was hallucinating." I replied. "He kept saying someone's name. Does Merle mean anything to you?"

"Merle was Daryl's brother." Rick said and I couldn't help but notice the wave of guilt that washed over his face. "He got left behind in Atlanta." 

It was starting to make sense, although the details a little hazy. The way Rick spoke made me think about something else. Daryl had mentioned Rick's name when we were out there. He said that he and Rick went back for someone. Was it Merle he was seeing? And what exactly happened before I showed up?

"We'll leave you to get some rest." Rick eventually said and I nodded. He then left the room with Hershal close behind. Shane on the other hand, stayed put. Him of all people I wanted gone. I didn't want to have to deal with his bullshit.

"I'm glad you're okay." He smiled as the bedroom door closed. "I don't know what we would've done without you." We, or he?

There was something about him that made me physically uncomfortable and he made me sick. It was like he got a kick out of it which made it worse. Like he enjoyed it.

"You can go now." I sighed, laying back down and attempting to turn away from him, but before I could, he put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me back to face him. I felt my body immediately tense. "I said, you can go now." I repeated, only this time, a lot more aggressive.

"I'm not going anywhere. Not until I know for sure that you're okay." He argued. 

Whether the others wanted to see it or not, he was dangerous. He killed Otis to save his own skin and he clearly didn't agree with how things were playing out here. How Rick and Hershal were running things and who knows what else he's capable of doing.

"Why do you care? You don't know anything about me, my life, what I've been through." I sighed and managed to turn away from him, thinking about everyone I've lost since all this started. "Just get out."

The next thing I knew, I felt his weight on the edge of the bed and feeling my body begin to tremble, turned my head back to see what he was doing. Before I could do anything else, he leaned in and his lips touched mine. 

"No!" I spat and quickly kicked him away, watching as he fell back off the bed and onto the floor, wincing as the pain shot through my ankle. "What the hell do you think you're doing! I thought I told you to stay the hell away from me!" I yelled at the top of my voice. My heart beating loudly inside my chest.

"There's something about you. Something that these people don't have." He replied, climbing to his feet.

What kind of excuse was that? I was pissed. "Shane, you and I will never be a thing." I could feel myself shaking and I had to fight the anger rising inside of me. "If you dare put your hands on me again, or any of these people, I'll kill you."

"Lil-" He said, approaching me again.

That was when the door suddenly swung open and Lori ran in. "What's going on in here?" She panted. "I heard the shouting." She must've assumed something had gone wrong. She'd be stupid not to. It had.

"Nothing!" I snapped and stared at Shane. I'd stood my ground for once, but I still felt like I wanted to cry. I wanted to break down. I wanted him dead. "I'm fine."

She must've known by the look on my face that Shane had done something, but I wasn't about to come out and say it. The last thing I wanted was to cause any problems within the group when it came to Shane. I didn't know what he was capable of. Maybe all this was just scratching the surface.

"Come on. Leave her to rest." Shane didn't move. "Come on." She said again, tugging his arm.

To my relief, Lori eventually pushed Shane out of the room and I planted my face into the pillow where my tears began filling my eyes. I was grateful to her and, in some ways, I underestimate her. She carries a lot on her shoulders and her presence definitely came across as an alpha female. It was a role I never intended or wanted to fill, but around her, Shane was different.

Then it hit me. I had to get to Daryl before Shane did, to tell him about what Shane had just done before he gets a chance to manipulate how things played out. The last thing I wanted for us to go back to that constant friend to stranger cycle and ruin whatever this was between us. I didn't want the only person I felt the most comfortable being around thinking I was taking advantage. Whether or not I'd tell him I'd threatened to kill him another matter entirely.

My only problem was how the hell was he gonna take it?