𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 // 𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘹𝘰𝘯

ᴄᴏʟᴅ ᴅᴀʏꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴇᴡ ʜᴏᴍᴇꜱ

We left the trail a week ago now. Since then we have been moving from one place to another. With the weather constantly changing, the days are cold and the nights have been even colder. I don't know how much longer we can be out here for.

With the weather being cold everyone seems to be tired and runs have been taking longer. This morning Rick spoke to me alone after telling us what to do for the day. He warned me about taking care of myself, telling me "we don't need you passing out again" as if I planned it.

Standing next to Daryl, my shoulders are slumped and my posture is rigid. I want to be in a hot building somewhere, wrapped up in a blanket. Instead I'm stuck in the middle of the forest with grumpy. He hasn't said a word to me this whole time and it's really starting to piss me off. Not like I want to talk to him or anything.

"Scarlet?" I whip my head towards him.

"What?"

"I've been talking to ya for five minutes." I laugh at this, causing him to cross his arms. I look down at them for a minute before looking back at him. Don't want to get caught.

"That's funny?" I nod my head, taking a step and then two until I'm right next to him again. I look at what he was pointing at just moments ago. It looks like it's a building but it's so far away and covered in trees, it's too hard to see from here.

"That would take us a day to get to, maybe two." We make eye contact and I break it right away, looking down at my feet. My boots are dirtier than they were a couple months ago, the leather is tearing away at the tips and the back.

"If we went alone we could get there quicker." I look over at Daryl quickly, shocked by his statement. He wants to go somewhere alone with me? And without Rick telling him to?

"Are you sure?" My voice comes out quieter, expressing my insecurity. Daryl has that power over people. He can make the strongest person feel like the weakest.

"We'd have to tell Rick but why not?" He smiles at me and for a minute we stay like this. Standing next to each other, staring at each other like we're the only people left. I almost want to reach out, touch his arm, but I know I can't, not when this is all momentary.

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"What do ya mean?" I shake my head, turning the other way quickly. We both know how much we've hated each other since the moment we met, why be nice now?

"We've hated each other since the moment we both met." Daryl lets out a huff of breath looking at the building before looking back down at me. For a moment I can feel his eyes linger to my lips but he's stopped when Rick walks up behind us, causing the trees to crunch under his cowboy boots.

"Did you guys find anything?" We both shake our heads and he looks at the ground frustrated.

"We did find that building though." pointing to it, I can feel Daryl's shoulder harden against my arm, the muscle flexing every time Rick gets closer to me. Is he jealous?

"I was telling Scar we could go and check it out, come back and tell yall later." Rick and I both seem to stop dead in our tracks at the new nickname, causing a smile to form on my pink tinted face. I don't know if it's because of the cold or Daryl. Probably the cold.

"If you guys are up to it, we could circle around for a day, the forest around here looks pretty clear and Glenn found some food nearby." As soon as Glenn's name is brought up my smile gets bigger.

"Yeah that sounds good." I whisper under my breath, I don't know if I'm entirely sure about this. Rick nods, whispering something to Daryl under his breath before walking away quickly. He comes back a few minutes later with a backpack that I assume has stuff for the night. I take it, giving Rick a nod and a goodbye wave for good luck.