RIDE OR DIE | DARYL DIXON

awol

THE FIRST THING she does when she wakes up now is grab her knife and carve a notch into the wood slab in their tent. Her hand ached as she slid the point of her knife across the wood a few times before setting it down and staring at the 35 tallies.

It's day 35 of the bridge construction, and it has been going surprisingly well. There had been some issues with a few Saviors- they walked off and never came back, but no one complained about it. They were only slowing them down anyways.

She tugged on her boots and bunched up her sleeves before dipping out of the tent. She was immediately hit with the smoke of their campfire, heating up water for tea and instant coffee. She could already hear hammers pounding away in the distance, surely the Saviors already at work. Some of them had a habit of getting right to work most mornings- not to get a good start on the construction for the day but to prove a point to Rick. Daryl must've done the same. She noticed the empty sleeping bag next to hers the moment she opened her eyes.

"Tea?"

She was already walking past but she backtracked a bit. "Ash?"

He grinned and poured some of the boiling water into a metal cup, holding it out to her.

"No thanks... what- what are you doing here?" 

He shrugged and kept the cup for himself. "Michonne rode in early this morning asking for an extra set of hands... and some other things."

"What other things?"

"Food, fuel." He took a slow sip. "Maggie wouldn't budge."

She wasn't surprised that she didn't. She's made it clear that she's going to supply her own people before ever supplying the Saviors. 

"Bonnie's gonna stay back and keep an eye on Sienna, in case you were wondering." He added. "She's already thought of a list of things to do with her and the livestock."

Willow smiled sadly. She's been wanting to make a trip back, but they've been needing all hands on deck. Another storm came through a few days ago and pushed their progress back a good bit.

"I'm gonna finish this up, then I'll be over." He said as he hung the pot of water back over the fire. 

She nodded and trailed off toward the HQ tent, grabbing a few tools and gloves before heading to the bridge- or what they were making of it.

"What're we at?" Daryl was already with Aaron and a few others, laying out the planks and hammering them in.

Willow slipped on her gloves. "Day 35."

She heard a scoff to her right and Justin mutter, "35 days of hell."

She straightened up and brushed it off, stepping further along the bridge to help an Oceanside girl put a plank into place.

"35 days, huh?" She asked on the other end of the plank.

Willow nodded as she lifted her end and they carried it to the small gap where it would lay. "I'd say we're making good time, despite the storm."

The girl smiled and picked up her hammer and a few nails, holding one at a corner of the plank. She reared her arm back like she was about the use all of her force.

"Don't-" Willow cringed at the motion, but relaxed just before she hit the nail. "You just need to tap it a bit to get it in there, then you can hit it harder."

The girl sucked in her lips and tapped the nail lightly with her hammer, the point splitting into the wood a bit before it was standing on its own. "Thanks."

Willow nodded and began to hammer her end, glancing up occasionally to watch the girl. She was young- probably the youngest one there besides Henry. She had to have been 16 or 17. The way she carried herself and the way she spoke to some of them showed her age. She had long black hair with subtle waves, and it was always styled in an elegant way. She was one to keep up with her appearance, even after the world went to shit. She could tell the poor girl lived in the past and she hadn't worked a day in her life, but it was a bit admirable that she was still willing to get her hands dirty and help.