Not Going Anywhere

Chapter 2

Daryl had spent hours searching for Sophia. He didn't even know why. It wasn't like he liked the kid – or kids in general – but here he was, searching the forest for the little girl who had been missing for a few days now. Personally, he didn't want to believe that she was dead, although that was seeming to be the truth. However, when his horse threw him suddenly, Daryl found himself lying at the bottom of a steep hillside, drifting into a state of confusion – he was almost delirious.

Natalie found herself roaming the forest with her gun in hand. It had been days – maybe even weeks – since she had been left alone to fend for herself and she hadn't encountered any living humans within that time period. It had just been Natalie, a gun and a forest full of walkers since Anthony had gone.

While it wasn't Anthony's fault for his premature departure, Natalie couldn't stop mentally pinning the blame on her fiancé: it had been his idea to follow the interstate. He had chosen to get out of the car to see if anyone needed help within the pile-up of vehicles. He hadn't been careful enough since that walker was able to grab him with ease. It was all Anthony's fault.

When she heard groaning further down the bank, her finger immediately touched the trigger as she slowly glanced over the edge; checking for any signs of walkers down at the bottom of the ridge. Instead she saw a figure lying there, clearly in a significant amount of pain.

Daryl felt a shadow move above him and drifted back into consciousness. It crouched over him and took his face. "Ain't nobody gonna care 'bout you except me, little brother. Ain't nobody ever will."

"Merle..." He groaned, wandering in and out of consciousness. Daryl felt his brother take his leg and it wasn't until he opened his eyes that the true nature of this contact came to light. Scrambling to his feet, Daryl broke into the first walker's skull with ease before ruthlessly pulling the arrow that had earlier pierced his leg out to use against the approaching walker. Then, when the area was clear, he collapsed again in the water – his breathing ragged and bleeding heavy.

"Hey, that was quite a show...!" A woman's voice shouted from the top of the ridge. But Daryl didn't care to respond; he just continued to catch his breath back as she scrambled down the hillside. "I don't know if you're actually real since I've been alone out here for days so please give me a sign that I've not lost my mind?"

"I'm real." Daryl grunted, still lying in the shallow water with a pained wince on his face. "You real?"

"Yes, I am." She moved closer to the man on the ground, examining his injuries carefully. It wasn't until she was standing directly over him that she realised. "Daryl? Daryl oh my goodness! I can't believe it's really you!"

Daryl squinted at her, barely able to make out the woman's silhouette; never mind work out who she was and how she was aware of his identity.

"It's me, Natalie." The woman carefully knelt down beside her childhood friend, growing increasingly concerned for his health.

When she got nearer, Daryl immediately found the motivation to move away; even if it put further strain on his whole body. "Now I know I'm seein' things. Damn college bitch."

"No it's me." Natalie frowned at what he said. "I can't believe you're still upset about that. Especially since you were almost bitten."

"Yeah, thanks to you."

"Me?!"

"Instead of watchin' you coulda come down here and helped me out."

"Well if you weren't so stupid as to venture out here alone then maybe you would've avoided that situation altogether." Natalie bit back, folding her arms against her chest like some silly child. The truth was, despite having become more refined, Natalie had held onto some of her quirks – one of them being the ability to hold her own in an argument.