Daryl Dixon x Reader

The Sun Will Set But It Will Also Rise

*sorry for the long wait guys...*

You walk close to Daryl and intertwine your fingers with his. Joe turns to look at Daryl and smirks at the sight. "She's taken a liking to you, the bitch used to spit in Larry's damn face whenever she got the chance." He shakes his head and chuckles. "However, I'd still be on the safe side and use these," He holds out a pair of handcuffs to Daryl. "don't want your whore running away now , do you?"
You tense at his words and begin to tremble.
"No, don't need no damn handcuffs." Daryl says calmly tightening his grip on your hand. "I trust her not to wander off."
"Well have it your own way..." Joe laughs again and thrusts the handcuffs back into his pocket.
You continue walking at the back of the group with Daryl while trying to get your breathing back to normal.
The seconds slowly turned to minutes and then to hours as the day started to become the night. All the walking made your body ache and you found yourself leaning into Daryl for support. You had barely eaten reasently and it was starting to take full effect. Daryl stops and opens his bag pulling out a half empty bottle of water and a few strawberries he had found earlier. He gives them to you and softly strokes your cheek. A weak smile covers your face as you lean into his touch. "Won't be long now," He whispers, waiting until the others are out of ear shot. "We make our damn escape and find a place far away from here."
Your eyes close and you place your hands lightly on his chest, "Are we going to look for the others?" You whisper.
"I don't think there are any others..."
"Michonne's out there somewhere, I was with her when that maggot Larry caught me. We had a car and everything but the walkers saw to that."
"Alrigh' we look for her and get the hell away from this place."
"Sounds good." You open your eyes and look into Daryl's. In them you see nothing but guilt, determination and love. He leans down and brushes his lips against your hairline and runs his fingers through your hair.
"Daryl?!" You hear Joe shout from down the road. You flinch and pull away from Daryl. He grits his teeth and gives a slight nod before starting to walk in their direction. You follow close behind.
"Right," Joe says as you draw nearer. "We are going to cut through the forest it will be quicker."
"Do you even know where you're going?" You ask quietly. Joe casts a look of astonishment your way.
"Woah, it speaks. Yes; we know where we're going." He then turns to Daryl. "You wanna keep her quiet just give her a few good punches to the gut, that should do it."
"She can talk if she wants." Daryl says through gritted teeth. The darkening sky thankfully masked the hatred in Daryl's eyes.
You exhale and close your eyes again taking a step closer to Daryl.
The group heads off into the woods while you and Daryl trail behind. You look over at one of the men at the front of the group. Your katana bounces lazily on his back as he walks. He claimed it not long after Larry's death. Oh god how you wished to use it on them all.
"Not long now..." You hear Daryl whisper again.
Through the leaves of the trees you see a flickering light. You look closer and recognise it to be a flame.
"I think we got 'em boys" Joe laughs. He walks to the edge of the tree line and looks at his prey. You and Daryl follow to get a look at the poor unsuspecting guy.
Your clasp on Daryl's hand is enough to break bone. You look at him with wide eyes. You see an exact copy if your expression plastered on his face. Rick and Michonne sat by the dying fire talking about food while Carl slept in an abandoned car. Joe drags the group back and whispers the plan. "We wait until the fire dies, and then we pounce."
Daryl looks at you, a small glimmer of fear sparkles in his eyes before being replaced by determination. You were going to save your family, you had to.

As the fire becomes nothing but smoke and ash the group ready themselves by the tree line. You and Daryl hover further back waiting for the right time and the right way to make your move. Daryl could only take out one at a time with his crossbow and you didn't have any weapons. "We could try and explain it to them?" You say under your breath.
"They ain't reasonable people (F/N), they ain't gonna listen to a word we say."
All of a sudden Joe steps out of the cover of the leaves and points a gun to Ricks head.
"Oh dearie me, you screwed up asshole." Joe smirks. "You hear me? You screwed up. Today's the day of reckoning sir, restitution; the balancing of the whole damn universe. Shit, and I was thinking of turning in early on new years eve." He laughs still pointing the gun to Ricks temple. "Now who's going to count down the ball dropper with me, huh?!" He looks around excitedly. Daryl becomes terrified as he pounces from foot to foot trying to think of a plan.
"Ten Mrs Sippy, nine Mrs Sippy, eight Mrs Sippy-" Joe sings with a smile.
"No!" You and Daryl both shout busting out of the forest. Rick and Michonne stare at the pair of you in disbelief.
"Hold up." Daryl says in almost a whisper.
"You're stopping me at eight Daryl." Joe says, his voice tinged with frustration.
"Just hold up." Daryl says again taking a step forward.
"This is the guy that killed Lou so we've got nothing to talk about." The man with your katana hisses.
"The thing about now-a-days is we've got nothing but time." Joe says some what calmly. "Say your piece Daryl."
Daryl looks at you briefly and then to the floor. He knows he has to be careful with the way he words his explanation.
"These people, you're gonna let them go; these are good people." He finally says with a bit of confidence.
"N-now I think Lou would disagree with you on that." Joe says with a smirk. "Now, I'll have to speak for him 'coz your friend here strangled him in a bathroom."
"You want blood, I get it..." Daryl says slowly. He drops his crossbow and you step forward to place a hand on his bicep.
"Daryl what are you doing?" You say panicked.
"Take it from me man." Daryl says ignoring your words. "Come on."
"This man killed our friend," Joe grumbles. "and you say he's good people? You see now that right there i-is a lie. It's a lie!"
One of the men grab you by the hair and pull you out of the way. They pounce on Daryl, fists clenched. Daryl shouts out in pain as they drag him away.
"Teach him fellas, teach him all the way!" Joe shouts.
"Daryl!" You shout but the man with yiur katana holds you down. "Get off of me! Daryl!" You watch helplessly as they beat Daryl up. You struggle to get the fat oaf off of you to no avail.
One of the men find there way into the abandoned car where Carl is sleeping and pulls him out. He throws him to the ground and climbed on top of him.
"You leave him be!" Rick shouts.
"Daryl!" You scream.
Michonne squirms on the floor and another one of the men hold a gun in front of her. "You'll get your turn." He threatens.
"Listen it was me, just me!" Says Rick.
"See now that's right!" Joe shouts happily. "That's not some damn lie! Look we can settle this we're reasonable men."
"Daryl!" You sob when you hear him whimper in pain. He looks over at you and one of the men hook him in the jaw. He comes tumbling down to the ground. "No!" You shout, tears cascading down your cheeks.
"First we're going to beat Daryl to death." Joe nods in his direction. "Then we're going to kill his bitch." He look at you. "Then we'll have the girl and then the boy." He laughs. "Then I'm gonna shoot you and then we'll be square!"
Daryl's cries are then met by Carl's as the man sits on top of him.
"Let him go." Rick says calmly. Carl continues to sob. "Let him go." Joe's laughs echo through the trees.
Rick pulls his head back and head butt's Joe in the face. Joe's gun goes off, the bullet going to rest in the forehead of the man on top of you. You push him off and grab your katana. The blade is familiar in your hand and you waste no time.
You hurry to the guy next to Michonne and slice through his arm that's holding the gun. Michonne jumps up and grabs her katana. A brief nod and you pounce on the other men.
You run to Daryl who's curled up in the fetal position on the ground trying to protect his head. You make quick work of the men. Slicing through their flesh with ease. Daryl groans in pain before pushing himself up. You look at each other briefly before running around the front of the car. There's blood everywhere. Rick spits out some of Joe's flesh while Joe gasps for air on the floor. What the fuck just happened. Michonne grabs a gun and points it at the man holding Carl.
"I'll kill him! I'll kill him!" The man shouts
"Let the boy go!" She screams.
Rick grabs a knife from Joe's pocket before turning to the last man. "He's mine."
The man drops Carl and backs away. "Stay away!" He trembles. Rick ignores his warnings and stabs him repeatedly in the gut. Michonne clings to a crying Carl while Daryl wheezes against the car bonnet. You stroke his back soothingly trying to catch your breath.

You clutch your katana closer to you and look down at your lap. Daryl's head lay there motionless. You stroke his hair softly and listen to his shallow breathing. Oh god how you've missed him. In the glow of the sunrise you can see the bruising around his eye and the cuts across his eyebrow. Michonne stirs and opens her eyes. You glance over and offer her a small smile.
"Hey," she whispers when she sees Daryl sleeping on you. She smirks and moves to sit beside you. "How's he doing?"
You look back down at Daryl and shrug. "A few bruises and cuts, possibly a broken rib, I guess we'll find out when he wakes up."
"I told you you would find him."
"He found me..."
Michonne nods sensing you didn't want to talk about it.
"So," you mumble "What happened to you when we got separated? How'd you find Rick?"
"I just stumbled across them." She looks over at the car where Carl and Rick were asleep. "Hold up in a house."
You nod and continue stroking Daryl's hair.
Michonne laughs quietly.
"What?" You smile as you look at her.
"I just, I just never seen anything like what you guys have. The love in Daryl's eyes everytime he looks at you and vice versa, it's mind blowing.
"Umm, thanks?" You giggle "I think"
Daryl starts to groan and his eyelids flutter open.
"We'll I'll leave you two to talk." She smiles before making her way over to the abandoned car.
"Hey." You whisper stroking his cheek.
"Hey." He adjusts himself so he's sitting up, wincing in pain as he did to. You both face the sunrise as he gently wraps his arm around you, pulling you into his side. His lips find your cheek. You tilt your head and catch his lips with your's. He closes his eyes and lean into the kiss. When he finally pulls away he rests his forehead against your's. You smile and kiss him again before turning back to look at the rising sun. The warmth from his body offers safety and familiarity, two things everyone yearned for in this cold dead world. While you were with him everything seemed okay, life seemed just a little more livable.