I was awoken a handful of hours later by Rick’s panicked, “Syn.”
My eyes fluttered open slowly, as if weighed down by a thousand lifetimes worth of exhaustion, to find him hovering over me. His hand came up as soon as he saw I was awake, a finger pressed against his lip to signal silence. Sweat clung to the light strands of hair that hung over his forehead.
It took me a few moments to gather my thoughts, my mind still a few steps further behind than usual, but the moment I heard the footsteps, realisation sent a bolt of electricity down my spine.
“Where’s Carl?” I whispered, brows furrowing as I lifted myself partially off the mattress, high enough to peer out the door, as if I expected to see him standing there.
“Safe,” Rick answered. “I got him out, but I couldn’t leave you.”
The sound of voices came up from the lower floor, as if only just now breaking through my thick skull. I still couldn’t quite make out the words. One voice seemed much more aggressive than the others, with another sounding as if it were pleading.
“No!” the second voice filtered into my brain. “No, no, no! Please, don’t!”
Rick’s eyes widened at the sound of blows. He reached out, grabbing my arm and practically hauling my ass off the bed like a misbehaving child refusing to get up for school. “We gotta move,” he whispered.
“You plan on finishing the job?” a new, deeper voice asked. The sound was accompanied by booted footfalls upon the staircase.
Rick and I shared a panicked glance.
“Yeah,” another voice responded, the aggressive one from earlier.
“I’m getting an earache and I know he’s just gonna let his ass squeal.” The footsteps grew louder as the speaker ascended the staircase.
“After what he did, the man deserves to bleed.”
Well. That… does not bode well. These were not the kind of people we’d want to meet face-to-face. Especially right now. My hand automatically reached down to touch the hilt of my knife, still safely sheathed by my hip.
Despite the fact my mind was no operating at full strength, I was quick enough to devise something one could call a plan. We couldn’t leave the room – not without being seen or heard. The bathroom was too far away for Rick to reach it without his footsteps becoming noticeable for our rapidly approaching guest on the staircase.
Best and quickest plan of action right now was the bed.
You’d be surprised how often that one actually works.
“Bed,” I hissed, pushing Rick gently towards it.
He thankfully didn’t hesitate.
The two of us hit the floor, sliding underneath the thin gap between the bedframe and floorboards. I had to lie with the left half of my body practically atop his back just to ensure there were no possibility of protruding limbs. We were so close, I could feel his body shaking, almost hear the sound of his sweat dripping down on the wooden floor beneath us.
Those booted feet reached the top of the staircase, stepping into our view through the open doorway.
I was able to keep my breathing slow and calm, placing the palm of my hand gently against the small of Rick’s back to try and encourage him to do the same. His panicked breaths were horrifying loud in my ear and, though I knew my senses were heightened by both species and my own internal panic, the passing thought that they were loud enough to draw the steadily approaching man’s attentions sent a cold chill down my spine.
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...
