Triggerfinger ➳ Daryl Dixon

f i f t e e n

The group moved quietly through the trees. Supposedly, Alexandria wasn't too far away. The time felt like it was moving at the rate of a snail's run as he watched Presley and John walk side by side. Zeva trotted happily at Presley's heels, ready to take a bullet for her owner. 

Though Daryl was far different from a dog, there was no denying that he wouldn't do the same for Presley if it came down to it. 

"Daryl." He hadn't noticed that she had stopped, her eyes bright with happiness. "Look, Dare." She nodded her head towards the distance. They'd fallen behind in the group, but they were still visible. When Daryl looked, a soothing calmness came over him. A doe and a buck grazed together, sunlight splashing onto their backs. They were oblivious to the couple watching them.

Out of instinct, Daryl raised his crossbow towards the animal couple. Presley placed a hand on his and shook her head. "We don't have to, Daryl." He stared at her for a long moment. Presley, the girl who shot down men without a second thought, was stopping him from killing those creatures. Her eyes, which had been previously cold from death, were bright and warm. "Let them be happy." 

He lowered the crossbow. 

She gave him a smile. 

And then she turned and walked away. 

- - -

"We're not far now." Morgan promised again.

"Ye've said that every five minutes and we still ain't there yet." Daryl growled under his breath, not quite loud enough for Morgan to hear it. Presley and Daryl trailed at the back of the group. She chuckled under her breath, stepping over a log at the same moment that a soft voice alarmed them both.

"Presley?" The word was simple, but it drove many instincts towards Daryl's mind. He reached for Presley's arm and pulled her roughly into his side, driving a protective arm over her to keep her from being harmed. Still, she managed to wriggle out of his grasp and lurch towards the figure that was about her size. 

Presley wrapped her arms around the blonde girl that the group hadn't seen in quite the while. 

"Beth." Presley breathed, laughing with joy in her voice. 

That joy swiftly ended when Presley was pulled away from Beth's arms and Beth had two thick hands wrapped around her neck. Her frail back was against a tree, and a look of terror reflected in her Georgia blue eyes. 

"Dad, stop!" Presley snapped, wrapping her small arms around his bicep in a desperate attempt to pry him away from Beth. She struggled, but he did not budge. Daryl intervened, throwing his weight against John and managing to push the grown man away from Beth.

The gleam in his eyes was alarming and frightening all the same. Daryl didn't let it get to him as he continued to push John a safe distance from Beth. "She's a friend!" Daryl growled under his breath.

"He's trying to hurt her! He's trying to hurt my Mary!" 

"Dad." Presley whispered, stepping towards him. "Mary's dead." 

Suddenly, recognition seemed to overcome the man, for he stopped struggling and stared at Presley with a dumbfounded expression. He looked between her and Beth, shaking his head. The entire group was in silence.

"Presley..." John said, running his hand over his tangled head of hair. "I'm..." He shook his head. 

Rick grabbed Presley and whispered something harshly in her ear, but she didn't seem affected by his words. She cast a cold glare his way and advanced towards John, turning her back towards the group. 

"Presley--." Daryl started.

"I'll catch up to you later, okay?" She said without turning back to him. The returning cold voice left him with an empty chest.

He didn't even have the energy to try and fight her. 

"Be careful." Was all he could say before she drew her father away from the group.

"What was that?" Rick hissed at Daryl. 

"The hell am I supposed to know?" 

"Who's Mary?"

Daryl turned slowly, answering to the entire group. "Mary is John's deceased wife... And Presley's mother." He said darkly. 

Maggie was the first to move in the unmoving group. She rushed to embrace Beth, catching her younger sister with a fit of hormonal tears and frustrated sobs of joy. The group was uneasy, but they did relax enough to allow Morgan and Beth to lead the way back to Alexandria. 

Daryl followed them reluctantly, but he kept looking behind his back, waiting for Presley's smirking face to appear again, with that black mutt following after her.

But she didn't appear again. 

Really sorry this chapter kinda sucked... I might have to go through and edit through a lot of it erg. School's started and I'm already stressed out. Sorry for short update, it's already midnight and I have school tomorrow!

Q&A time! Thank you for all your questions <3 Ask more for early update, babies. 

luckystar8: why did you decide to write a Daryl fanfic?
My dad got me a TWD poster of Daryl and it sits on my wall and mocks me constantly so it's very easy to write about him because it literally stares at me with a crossbow while I write. 
If that's not pressure i don't know what is.

RachelAnn22: Where did you come up with the names Presley and Zeva, and what made you think about adding a dog as one of your characters?
Hmm... There was some boy in the mall named 'Presley', and to me, it sounded like a girlish name. Of course, that inspired the whole backstory with Mary's favorite singer being Elvis. I was marathoning NCIS at the time that I started writing this, and I already have a cat named Dinozzo, so I thought that Zeva would be an appropriate dog name.
Presley's not really a people person. I tried writing a human partner, but it just didn't quite fit, I guess... A cat named Dinozzo wouldn't work, so I did a dog named Zeva. 

XXwalkingdeadXX: what's your biggest advice to a new writer?
There's gonna come a time when you're not going to know what to write anymore, or your muse is just killing you. Push. Through. It. That advice is constantly said by Stephen King, and he's published like over 50 novels. If writing were easy everybody would do it. You have to push through the story, and you can't give up. Also, don't treat your first draft like your final draft. It's okay to change things up.

ardenbabe: are you excited for fear the walking dead and season 6 of the walking dead?
Season 6: HELL YEAS 
Fear the Walking Dead: Meh... It'll be a difficult transition, especially since I've fallen so in love with the characters on TWD. [ahem daryl n carl ahem] I'll still watch, of course, but I don't know I guess xD I'm sure AMC won't be disappointing us.