Daryl's Girl

Chapter 33

I walked out of the house with Daryl, following on after the others, and I could sense he was pissed about something, but I didn't know what. Had something happened this morning? Was that the reason he disappeared? Had I done something to upset him? Was it this whole situation with the kid and his group? I had to know.

"Where did you go this morning?" I finally asked, once everyone else was out of earshot and making their way over to the camp.

Daryl didn't respond. Instead he just glanced down at me and carried on walking, ignoring what I'd just said. "Hey." I said again, but still no answer and I knew something wasn't right. From the moment in the woods where Tyler and I had first met him up until now, this was new. He'd never been like this with me, and most of the time I could read how he was feeling, but this was different. It felt like I was the enemy.

"Daryl!" My tone now more frustrated as I stepped out in front of him, blocking his path and folded my arms.

"What?" He yelled.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" I growled, slightly taken back by his tone. He still didn't answer. He just shrugged, shot daggers at me and pushed his way past, leaving me standing in the middle of the field watching on as he made his way over to his tent. "Daryl!" I called after him. He didn't even flinch. "Asshole." What was he? A moody teenager?

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head and turned around, marching my way back over to the house. He'd been all about making subtle affectionate remarks last night and now it felt like I didn't even exist. Maybe deep down the reason we couldn't quite work out what was going on between us was because sooner or later we knew something like this was going to happen. We were almost polar opposites and if things hadn't have happened the way they did, we would've never crossed paths, but at the end of the day we had and I knew I didn't want to lose him.

I decided to leave him to cool off because, either way, I wasn't about to go chasing after him and having him snap at me like that again. I'd done that one to many times with Tyler and somehow he manipulated me into chasing after him every time. I doubt that's what Daryl's doing, but I wasn't going to let myself fall back into that pattern.

Once I reached the house, I went inside where I found an exhausted looking Hershal tending to Beth and my heart sank. Everything going on with Daryl being pushed to the back of my mind. She didn't look good and I wanted to do whatever I could to help. To take back everything Shane had done. 

"Hey." I said gently so I didn't startle Hershal or wake Beth. "Do you need anything?"

Hershal looked up and sighed. "Can you fetch her some water. She's a bit dehydrated." He mumbled. I nodded and without any argument, walked into the kitchen.

After looking through a few of the cupboards, I eventually found a glass under the sink, taking it and giving it a rinse under cold running water, pausing for a moment to really appreciate where I was. Hershal was lucky. Other than the barn, this farm has been protected from the horrors out there and he and his people haven't had to see or do the things the rest of us have. They've been here, still with their electricity and clean running water as if nothing ever happened. That was a luxury we never thought we'd ever see again.

Not wanting my mind to run away with itself anymore, I pushed those thoughts out of my mind, filled the glass and took it back to Beth's room. Hershal was still sat on the chair besides the bed, but Beth was now beginning to wake up.

Once awake, she sat up and Hershal took the glass from me and passed it over to her. She didn't want to take it at first, but eventually, after some persuading, she slowly reached out her hand and took a small sip. All this pain she, and everyone else, was feeling because of one man. One man, who went on a psychotic rant and killed who she thought was still her mother.

"Are you okay?" I asked as she lowered the glass.

"Yeah." Beth muttered. She had no emotion on her face as she looked at both myself and Hershal. Her skin was pale and her hair a little messy from the pillow. She clearly wasn't. Everything she knew had changed. What most of us had come to accept months ago had now become forced upon her. She looked broken.

"You should get some rest doodle bug." Hershal said softly, putting the glass down on the bed side table within her reach and giving her a hug. Beth just nodded and lay back down again, and as soon as her head hit the pillow she closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

After a minute or two more, Hershal and I left the room and left Beth to sleep, closing the door quietly behind us. He then took me into the kitchen and the two of us sat down at the table. "Did Maggie give you the amulet?" He asked.

"Yeah." I smiled. "It was the same one that she wore on her wedding day, wasn't it?" Remembering Daryl was the one who'd pointed it out. I still couldn't believe I hadn't put two and two together.

"I stole it." Hershal nodded. "It was before your mother...I think we'd been out drinking. I can't remember much...but it was the first present that your father ever bought for her. She loved it so much that she wore it everyday, even to the wedding. Refused to wear anything else because the two of them used to say it was a symbol of their love. When your father found out I took it, wanted to sell it, he wouldn't talk to me. He shut me out of his life, and yours." He stopped. Guilt written across his face. "I tried to return it after your mother died, but he refused my calls."

"That's why you fell out? Because it meant so much to him and my mum." I understood. "I think it's a stupid reason. I can think of worse things people have done. Was it to pay for your drinking? Maggie told me." He nodded and it all made sense. "Obviously, I don't know a lot about what happened, but I think the reason my dad didn't take the amulet back was because, after my mum died, he got rid of everything that was hers. Photos, clothes, jewelry, everything. It was too painful for him. It wasn't you. That's why I was so surprised about the photo. It's probably the only one left."

I was surprised to see what resembled a smile appear on Hershal's face as I spoke and it made me happy to know, after everything, there are still things in the world to smile about. "I miss the times we'd go out and build dens in my father's field. When we got older, I remember we'd agreed to take you and Maggie."

"I'm sure my dad misses it too. Where ever he is." The least I could do was try and make him feel better about what happened between them. He is family after all and had tried to make amends.

"I'm sure you'll reunite soon enough." He said, looking over at the fridge. All the photos still there.

"I hope so." I forced a smile. The missing pieces of my childhood finally fitting together.

We continued talking for a while, getting to know each other a bit better, before we realised that we both had things to do. I said goodbye to Hershal, walked out of the room and passed the room where Randall was locked up. There was snoring coming from inside so I walked passed quietly. Poor kid. Probably has no idea where he is and I for one knew that Shane was going to make his stay here a whole lot worse than it needed to be.

Just as I was about to reach for the front door handle, there was an ear piercing scream coming from upstairs. I didn't hesitate as I ran up to the source of the screams to be closely followed by Hershal. It sounded like Patricia.

Together, the two of us burst through the door, where the screaming continued, and watched as a large mouse ran past our feet. I jumped back and so did Hershal. "Kill it!" Patricia squeaked. She was standing on the bed pointing at the animal.

I couldn't help but laugh as I glanced over at Hershal, who was doing the same, before he grabbed a near by basket. He handed it to me and I placed it on top of the mouse so it couldn't get away. Then, using an old tray, I scooped it up and took it down stairs with Hershal following me down to open the front door. Patricia still yelling in the background, the two of us still chuckling. Of all the things we have to be scared of outside, a mouse was no bother.

I nodded a thank you at Hershal and made my way outside, walking away from the house and over to the tree line, where I let the mouse free and it scurried away into the bushes, returning the basket and tray once I'd finished. Both of which would need a clean before being used again.

It made me think about how different things were. Before everything, I never believed in killing. Walkers were just something I had to learn to get used to, but to kill the living. That's where I drew the line. Whether it was a person, animal or rodent, I couldn't bring myself to ever do it. If I did I think it would break me, there'd be nothing left.