The Undead's Nightmare (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 9: Still Hurt

~Rebel's POV~

"I'd rather sleep outside." I spat at Daryl, taking a step back towards the barred gates.

I leaned against the wall next to the door, being careful to avoid contact between my head and the wall.

“Don’ be stubborn, Rebel. Ye’ need a place to sleep, and you ain’t sleepin’ nowhere else.” Daryl said, grabbing hold of my hand.

I groaned and buried my face in my hands; everyone knew Daryl was going to win this fight.

“She could sleep in my car, bet y’all have an extra cot somewhere ‘round here.” Shaw offered, stepping back in my general direction.

“No!” Daryl growled.

Daryl held a menacing stance, but it was quite comical as Shaw was at least two inches taller than him, if not more.

Shaw was smirking over at me and I could feel Daryl’s stare burning into my forehead; like he was accusing me of something.

The tension in the room was so thick that even a knife couldn’t cut it.

I was twirling my fingers around, Shaw was looking at me, Daryl was staring daggers at me, and Glenn and Carl just looked confused.

“She’s sleepin’ in our car,” Daryl snapped, “an’ if ye’ got any problem with tha’, there’s always room outside.”

I gasped. I knew Daryl could be cruel when he wanted to be, but I never thought he would throw someone to the walkers.

No one deserved that. Not even the worst of people.

Carol rounded the corner and the corners of her mouth twisted down.

She remained silent as she lifted me off the ground and led me towards the main room.

Even with Carol’s support, my head was spinning and my legs felt like lead.

“Come on, Rebel. Just a bit further.” Carol urged, dragging me over to an empty tree stump.

I watched her with hooded eyes as she got out her medical supplies.

She pulled my hair apart from the back of my head and I felt gauze moving around in my hair.

I heard Carol muttering about how the blood was “caked in the hair” and “it won’t come out for a few days”. I felt my eyes drooping even more and my tongue felt heavier than before.

I wanted to hiss in pain when Carol started to apply cream to my scalp, but I couldn’t find it in me to protest against Carol.

Carol blew on the back of my head, making it feel chilly. She started to wrap my head with an ACE Elastic bandage, cutting off some of my circulation and making me feel even dizzier.

“Where is she sleeping?” Carol asked quietly, talking to someone I couldn’t see.

“With me,” Daryl told her, picking me up bridal style.

I was too tired to protest and my mouth didn’t want to cooperate with me either.

Somewhere out of the corner of my eye I saw a flick of blonde hair following us, but it disappeared as soon as it came into view.

I could feel Daryl trying to do his best not to jostle me, but he was doing a terrible job of it.

My head was bobbing around and my limbs ached from the short, but corrugated journey.

“Daryl,” I groaned, pushing on his chest weakly.

“Wha’s wrong?” he asked, stopping in the middle of the tracks and looking down at me.