He's Just a Baby

The Theory

This is another chapter that I just copied and pasted instead of looking at, so please lmk if there are any mistakes :)

This is scheduled to publish on new years day(at least in my time zone), so hopefully you all will like the 2024 surprise 🕺

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"Duck down!"

As soon as Aaron ducked, Daryl let free a single arrow from his crossbow, watching as it implanted itself right in the middle of a deer probably 20 feet behind where Aaron had been standing. The deer fell lifeless with a thud, and Daryl was instantly running towards it.

This was the first game that him and Aaron had managed to catch, and they had been out of the walls of Alexandria for about a day and a half. They had actually stolen a car and been on their way back to the city when Daryl had spotted the deer tracks on the side of the road.

Daryl let free a pleased whistle as he knelt down next to the deer and tapped its forehead. It was stone dead.

He heard Aaron come up from behind him as he pulled the arrow out from the deer's head, wiping some of the blood off on the deer's coat before returning the arrow to his quiver.

"Help me check for bite marks," Daryl murmured as Aaron knelt down next to him. The other man gave a hum of acknowledgment and proceeded to help Daryl flip over the deer.

Once Daryl was sure that the deer was bite free, he stood up and looked around.

"If we could find a tarp or something, we could wrap the deer up and stuff it in the back of the car," Aaron spoke.

"That's what I'm lookin' for," Daryl replied, walking out of the woods and back to the stolen car that rested idly on the side of the empty road. He opened the trunk and looked through it, digging through the random items that he found. He began to believe that his search was futile, when in the back of the trunk he found a box of trash bags. He grinned; today seemed to be a lucky day.

Daryl got the trash bags and ran back towards Aaron, before getting the man's help to wrap the deer in a couple of them and lift it towards the car. Only when the deer was secured safely in the back of the vehicle did the two men take a deep breath.

"Nice shot," Aaron chuckled mostly to himself. "We haven't gotten a deer this big in some time."

Daryl nodded, leaning against the trunk of the car and looking out at the road ahead. Aaron joined him and both men just sat and enjoyed each other's company for a while. Their peace was only stirred when they heard the familiar sound of a walker coming from behind them.

Daryl instantly pulled out his knife and twisted around to attack the walker, only to freeze in place. The walker was a couple feet down the road and it was missing an arm. This was a normal sight for Daryl, however the thing that got him was something else. The walker, which was once a girl, was dressed up in a torn and muddy yellow onesie. It had a pacifier still hanging from its chest by a pink clip.

Daryl swallowed. He'd killed hundreds, maybe thousands of walkers now who had once been littles, but deep down it always made him sick. And it was very rare that he would stumble upon a walker that had once had the headspace of a baby; a headspace like his. Shaking slightly, Daryl rose up his hand, ready to run towards the walker and plunge his knife in its skull...when he felt someone push his hand down.

"It's okay, she's far down the road. Let's just leave." Daryl glanced to his side to see Aaron looking at him with an expression he couldn't place. He looked back at the walker once more before nodding.
Turning around, him and Aaron made their way back to the car. Aaron got into the driver's seat and Daryl quietly made his way to the passenger's.
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