❛ now daryl, daryl was gray. he always seemed to be bitter and emotionless with no other dimensions to himself; his mere presence was the only one. gray was intriguing, almost acting like an acquired taste, but it had the potential to be beautiful t...
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fifty five.
It was a beautiful, sunny day in Alexandria. Daryl had decided to go out on a small solo excursion a few hours ago, leaving me at home on the couch but not without a small argument before he left. I decided to make myself busy in his absence by getting into a fresh set of clothes from our closet and sitting down with a book while Carol was throwing together a casserole in the kitchen. As I read I found myself feeling Daryl's absence, more worried about him than the words on the pages in front of me. I sighed, putting down my book.
"Daryl said he'd be back soon," I worried aloud. "It's been like three hours."
"It's Daryl, he'll be fine," Carol reassured me with a smile on her face. "It's not healthy to worry, sweetheart."
"I know," I muttered. "I can't help it." I was still nervous without him by my side in this new community even though it'd already been a few weeks since we've arrived. It was gonna take a while until I was completely comfortable.
"There's other things that are more important than what you're thinking about. But you're young, I understand. You know, I was young once too," she chuckled as she winded up a timer, placing the casserole in the oven. I smirked and picked my book back up, but I couldn't find the motivation to get back to reading. My mind was still clouded with thoughts of Daryl and it didn't help that the house was quiet. Judith was upstairs sleeping and Carl off up there somewhere so there was nothing to distract me. The quiet of the day was abruptly disrupted by a shrill scream coming from outside, the sudden noise quickly silenced.
"The fuck was that," I questioned, getting off the couch. Carol hurried over to me and placed a gun in my hand. The exchange immediately put me on edge.
"Lock the doors after I leave," she ordered. "Make sure Judith is safe." Carl ran down the stairs with a large gun in his hands.
"What's going on? I heard a scream outside." He looked at the two of us with worry.
"Just stay inside," Carol yelled to us as she ran out the door, slamming it behind her. I rushed over to the window to see what was going on. A dead body laid in the street, a guy with an axe dismembering it. I pulled away from the window, my eyes widening and my heart beating faster.
"Oh my god," I whispered, stunned.
"What? What's going on," Carl questioned frantically. I quickly pulled the curtains closed to conceal that we were inside, just a few feet away from the intruder.
"Someone got through the walls," I informed him, turning around and rushing to close all the other sets of curtains on the ground floor. Gunshots began to pop off outside and was soon followed by a banging on the garage door. "Fuck," I cussed, frozen in my spot. "We need to hide now."
"Follow me," Carl demanded, hustling up the stairs. I followed him, my hands beginning to shake. I didn't wanna go through this again. Carl pulled me into a closet and shut the door behind him just as the door leading into the garage opened. I felt my heart sink to my stomach. I forgot to fucking lock it like Carol said to do. Carl and I stayed silent for a while, listening to various loud thumps from the intruder as they seemed to raid the house. He started to reach for the doorknob.
