Walsh|| daryl dixon

9

natalie's pov
i'm immune. i was sold as a toddler til the age of 10. here we are drinking. yes there's alcohol and hot water. but all i can do is think about how everyone here is going to die and i'm not due to immunity. jenner explained that during my trials they made me immune to everything else as well. i can't catch a cold anymore. i can't get a fever. nothing. he also said that the experiments might've sterilized me as well. he's not certain. because the rat they tested first was a female. in a cage with other females and males. one of them had babies but he's not sure if it was the immune one or not.

testing showed a probability of sterilization. he said either i'm completely sterile, or having kids will be very fucking hard because of my new gene makeup. not that i want kids in a world like this anyways. what if we find something? a real, safe, civilization? and we settle down? would daryl eventually want kids? will i? i've never actually thought about having kids. really. but this made me do so. "hey" it's daryl. i say "hey" he asks "you okay?" his eyes hazy from the alcohol and drunk. i nod and he tells me "no ya not. what was said changes nothin for me darlin" i kiss his cheek and help him to bed considering he and glenn drank the most. i put him in bed but cant relax. i stand and decide to walk for a bit. i pause at the recreation room seeing shane and lori. whatever is said makes him attack her.

i spring into action and pull him off "the fuck is wrong with you?!" i snap but he attacks me and i cough blood as he hits me. my lip splitting. lori gets him off as he now chokes me and says "shoulda made sure you died. all you do is get in the way" i breathe heavily and get him off of her again. he's on me again choking me and i claw at his hands dots in my vision now. i spit blood into his eyes and he punches me and im released and he's on lori again. we have to knock his ass out.

i grab a lamp and hit him with it. i kick him off of lori as he's unconscious. i help her up weakly. she hugs me "oh my god. are you okay?" i cough "yeah" my ribs on fire. she shakes her head "no you're really fucking hurt now Nat. here take a seat" daryl could be awake and looking for me. worried. i shake my head "im fine. go to rick. i'll see if jenner is still up" standing. she says "let me help you there" i shake my head "go to rick" leaving her ignoring the pain in my body. i find jenner and he stands "what happened" helping me to the table i was on earlier for my blood test, the first check up...and most of my childhood. i say "just fix me jenner. any way you can" he says "we had a trial. it would've made you able to just heal fast and faster reflexes as well. hypothetically...it would've made you more in tune with them" i scoff "you want to make me one of them more than i am? i don't need a serum. i need stitches and a way to fix this without daryl seeing and flipping his shit" referring to my leaking face.

"more in tune...meaning being able to sense them when they're coming. but you'll heal from this right away" he tells me. i tell him "im not a thing for you to use and to look at and study like an animal" standing and i wince. he says "sit" and i huff and i do. "i know you don't remember me. not completely." "you're the asshole that gave me my shots and watched me tick just like the rest of them" i say wincing as he cleans my wounds "no. i mean...yeah. but that's not it. Natalie i was the only one to treat you like a human. we got close" he tells me. i say "close how?" he rolls his eyes "not like that. you were a child. i soon started to see you as my own child. i couldn't release you. i couldn't save you or stop them and for that i am sorry. i truly am. they would've hunted you, or your father would've sent you back. i would've lost access to you or my job in general. keeping my job was the only way i can ensure they didn't take what they were doing to a new extreme"

i snap "i think dosing me with a disease making me immune is extreme enough" he nods "it is. but the other plans they had for you...were worse. they had one thing made that would've made you more them than human. it would've made you a monster" "i already am" i tell him. he shakes his head "not like that. they tried it on another subject and she was weak and died. they wanted to try it on you after your immunity was made known but i talked them out of it. if they tried it on you we wouldn't be having this conversation.youd be queen of the dead a whole new kind of walker. it would've shifted how they work and made a hierarchy. in theory, a bite from you if you took that would've made more of you. you would've been the hardest walker to kill. a human walker...walker abilities and the way of living but with a human conscious. god knows what else." what the fuck.

"take this" he says handing me a vial with a blue liquid. i say "i don't want it" he tells me "being able to sense them coming can save your lives in the long run. it'll heal you now just as you wish" i shake my head "i can't go through this shit again. another experiment. daryl and i are partners this is something we should choose together." he says "it's the only way you'd heal and not worry him and make him kill whoever did this to you" he's right. he adds "daryl loves you. i can tell that much. he'll accept you just as you are and will be" daryl isn't in love with me. he can't be. i am broken. beyond broken actually. i sigh and give my arm.

he administers it and i wince in pain. it burns. he says "that's normal. it'll run its course. you're starting to heal already. you should be done by the morning. get rest" i nod standing and head to the room. i get in be bed and daryl wraps me in his arms and slurs "where were ya" "went for a walk" i tell him. and with that i go to sleep.

next morning.

i wake up and see a worried daryl in a chair watching me next to the bed "daryl?" i ask worried about him and how he's looking at me. "what happened to ya face nat?" what? jenner said i should be healed by now? "daryl" i sigh as he shows me a small mirror. new wounds on my face. new bruises. though they are healing, they still look fresh. he says "answer me. what happened to ya face? i hardly remember last night. did i...did i do this to ya? did i trap ya in here with me and ya go to sleep? ya got new bruises and cuts and i don't know how they got here but ya here with me and i ain't got no memory. answer me nat. did i do this?" guilt in his blue eyes. fear too. i stand and cup his face and make him look at me he moves away "just answer me. don't touch me. if i did this to ya...im sorry. it ain't enough and it never will be enough to make it right between us again. but i need to know. i ont deserve ya comfort if i laid hands on ye" i tell him "you did not hit me daryl"  he looks at me "don't try and lie and make me not take a-" accountability for actions he did not do. i sit on his lap "daryl. look at me" "nah. just leave me if i did this. get off a me. and just go it's what i deserve" he tells me a panic attack building in him. holy shit...i can hear his heartbeat.

i make him look at me "you didn't do this to me daryl. okay? look at me. i wouldn't still be here if you did this to me. okay? i took you here and tucked you in and you slept through the night and i went on a walk unable to sleep okay?" stroking his hair. he sighs in relief "really?" i tell him "i wouldn't lie to you" softly. the guilt and pain leaves him. i kiss him "good morning dare" he mutters "mornin darlin. now tell me what happened to ya pretty lil face? did ya see jenner bout it yet?" stroking my cheek gently.

we once swore not to lie to one another. "i saw jenner about it" "good. ya still ain't answer me" he says. i sigh "on my walk i heard something...investigated and shame was attacking lori" he sighs tossing his head back "nat" "i couldn't leave her to him. he um...did this...he was going to kill me and lori i think. i knocked him out and went to jenner" i explain. he says "get up" anger in his eyes. i shake my head "leave it be daryl." he says "he laid his fuckin hands on ya. he...he fuckin choked ya?!" tilting my head back seeing the bruising on my neck fully. i tell him "im sure lori doesn't want rick to know." "i dont fucking care. rick is ya brother just as shane is. lori is his fuckin wife" he huffs. i say "shane will get what's coming to him. we still have a lot to work out while we're here. might still need him"

i say "i did something last night...im not sure how to feel about it...or what it could turn into..." he furrows his eyebrows "what darlin?" stroking my hair gently. "i went to see jenner" he freezes "the fuck did he do?" i sigh "i wanted a way to make this go away and not worry you or cause you to go into a rage" he asks me "what did ya do" i stand and pace anxiously "please don't look at me like im one of them. like im still not me. daryl" he stands and grabs my hand "there's nothin ya can tell me that can make me think of ye any different than i do now Nat. nothin. it's you and me against everythin. talk to me woman" and i do. i say everything about the serum. he nods and says "jenner was right it could be an advantage for us. happy to know ya had someone growin. i really am. ye bein able to heal faster just means ya won't be hurt much if at all. ye still you. and always will be to me. cmere girl" pulling me to his chest and he kisses me deeply.