Death do us part

Greetings and Beatings

Melody

I woke up alone with Taylor oddly staring at me. I the shock caused me to jump and fall off the 'bed'.

"Why were you staring at me like that?!" I said, terrified. His face softened and he got up to help me off the floor.

"Sorry babe." He said, monotone. My skin crawled at his use of the word 'babe' and I paused, thinking of Dallas.

  "Please don't call me that." I whispered. He ignore me and I decided to put it off for the time being.
"It's.. fine, I'm going to go meet people. We've been here for three days and I know, like, five people?" I sighed and left Taylor in the tent as I walked independently. I walked into the main area and scanned the camp. Rick and his family sat amongst other group members. I decided to go and meet the blonde girls.

"Hi." I waved as I walked up to them.

"Oh, hello." One of them said.

"I'm Melody." I said holding out my hand. The shorter one took it.

"I'm Amy, that's Andrea." She said, pointing to the taller girl. I held my hand to Andrea and she took it as well.

We talked for a while and I really liked them. They seemed like good people and we were fast friends. They soon left to go fishing and I went to go meet others. I saw a lady with short hair, so I went up behind her.

"Hi, I'm Melody." I said, making the lady jump. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." She turned and I held out my hand.

"It's okay sweetheart, I'm Carol." She took my hand and shook it.

  "So Sophia is your daughter?" I asked and she smiled.

  "Yes she is." She watched Sophia playing with Carl and I smiled as well.

  "I don't think I've officially met your husband." I said, looking back at her. She tensed up and I changed the subject, knowing I'd made her uncomfortable. "Carl and Sophia are pretty close."

  "They are." I had clearly made her uneasy and I looked around me, seeing Daryl walk out from the wooded area with his crossbow. I excused my self and ran over to him.

"Hey." I said, walking along side him.

"Hey." He said in a raspy tone.

"Where you going?" I asked, looking at his crossbow.

"Hunting." He replied, putting a fresh arrow in the crossbow.

"I'm coming." I stated. He stopped and faced me, looking at me confused.

"No." He said sternly.

"It ain't a question, I want to do something, so I'm coming." I said running to my tent to get my pistol. As I approached my tent, I looked back to see if Daryl was still there. He was watching me, staring, trying to figure me out. When he saw me look, he focused his gaze on something else. I chuckled.

When I unzipped my tent, I felt someone grip my shirt and pull me into the tent. As I was being pulled in, I caught a glimpse of Daryl's eyes. My body hit the ground and pain shot through my side.

"Are you avoiding me?" Taylor asked angrily. I looked up at him and he had psychotic eyes; I swore I could see steam coming out of his ears.

"What is wrong with you?!" I whisper/yelled, careful not to disturb the others.

"Answer the question." He growled. I kept still and quiet. His face fell even angrier and he walked closer, raising his closed fist. My eyes flooded with tears and fear flowed through my veins. He swung his arm forward and it collided with my left eye. I screamed in pain and tears burned down my cheeks. I held my eye and felt it begin to throb. He swung again and hit my lip.

The tent flew open and Shane and Rick barged in. Shane punched Taylor and aided Rick in marching Taylor out of the tent, a gun to Taylor's head. Daryl looked to me from outside the tent, confusion written into his features.

"You alright?" Lori asked, climbing in.

I shook my head, still sobbing, and she reached down and put a hand under my back, helping me up onto the bed then kneeling infront of me. She started to pick leaves out of my hair, while I kept my hand on my eye. I looked out of the tent and saw a crowd begin to form.

He took my hand off of my eye, and it felt like it had swelled up to the size of a pumpkin.

"I-is it bad?" I choked. She squinted her eyes at mine and looked around for a mirror. When she found my pocket mirror, she handed it to me, but my left eye was still in pain, so it was hard to check it out. There was a liquid dripping down from my lip and my left eye began to puff up, a nasty red bruise forming around it. "Oh god..." I mumbled, dropping the mirror and hanging my head into my shakey hands.

"Do you know why he did this?" She asked, concern clear in her voice.

"Uh, I'm not too sure, but I'm convinced he's crazy." I replied. I tasted a coppery taste and put my finger to my lip, seeing blood. He must've been really strong.

I looked out to the crowd and saw Carol with her hand over her mouth and Daryl turned to walk away. The rest kept watching me: the poor girl who got hit.

"I think I'm okay. I want to be alone right now." I said as politely as I could. Lori nodded and I looked down. She stood, ready to walk out, stopping and looking back before weaving through the small crowd of people outside of my tent. I got up and zipped it shut, avoiding eye contact.

  When I layed back on the bed, thought about my fiancé  -the man I would never see again- and I cried.

***

-Kenzie