My Redneck (Sequel to That Redneck/ Daryl Dixon Fanfic)

48- Watching and Waiting

The van smelt like feet. Sweaty, musty feet. The padded seats hadn't given me an ounce of comfort all night, my body going stiff, and numb as Carl rested his head on my lap. I stroked his hair slowly, his eyes were closed but I knew he was pretending to sleep. No one, not even Michonne had been able to sleep a wink. I felt like it would be a long time before we got the opportunity to.

Rick and Daryl stayed outside all night, and I could hear the faint murmur of their voices as Michonne, Carl and I sat silently in the van.

"I didn't know what they were." Daryl mumbled, his voice almost sounding ashamed.

"How'd you wind up with them?" Rick asked.

"I was with Beth," Daryl paused. "We got out together. I was with her for a while."

Daryl stopped, and I swallowed nervously at the thought of what happened to Beth, and why she wasn't with Daryl now. I strained to hear their faint conversation, wondering how he ended up with them.

"Is she dead?" Rick replied, asking the question that was tearing into my heart.

"She's just gone." He said sadly.

Gone. Did she leave Daryl? Did she get taken? Did she go mental, or get stuck in a building? Where was she now?

"After that, they found me. I mean I knew they were bad, but they had a code. It was simple. Stupid. But it was something, it was enough. Then I found Mariah hiding in a garage with some guy. He was a write off, he was infected. They put him down. Then they heard her hiding out in a closet, and they swung that door open, and I saw her. I thought I was dreaming." He paused, recalling the events. "I didn't think it was real. I got to her before them, I knew what they would have done to her if I wasn't there. Oh god Rick." He said, sighing deeply.

"Hey," Rick said, "You were alone."

"They said they were looking for some guy. One of the guys said they spotted him. Mariah and I were hanging back, we were gonna leave. Then they split us up. I couldn't object, or they would have known. So we stayed. Thats when I saw it was you three. When you saw me..." He stopped. "I didn't know what they could do."

"Hey," Rick said softly. "It's not on you Daryl. It's not on you. You being back with us here, now. Thats everything. You're my brother."

There was a long pause, and I looked down at Carl's face. The large scratch across his cheek didn't look too bad, neither did his hand. I glanced at Michonne and she was staring at the ground in silence. I reached over and grabbed her hand, she looked at me and a tear fell from her eye. I squeezed her hand and leaned my head back, as we listened to them speak.

"Hey what you did last night. Anybody woulda done that."

"No, not that." Rick objected.

"Something happened. That ain't you."

"Daryl, you saw what I did to Tyreese. It ain't all of it, but thats me. Thats why I'm here now, thats why Carl is. I wanna keep him safe. Thats all that matters." Rick explained.

"Mariah strangled a man, and slit another's throat. Michonne basically shot a man, and Carl was in danger. We do what we have to do." Daryl finished, leaving the pair to sit in silence.

***********

The tracks where coated in a layer of rust, the leaves rested on top of the cold ground, and I walked heavily, barely watching where I stepped.

My fingernails dug into his skin, and his arms hit me hard as he frantically fought for his life.

I fell into step beside Daryl, constantly shifting one foot forewords, then the other.

The blood splattered into my eye, squirting from his vein as it trickled onto me.

A crow cawed somewhere in the shadowy trees, as we walked silently.

His skin came off so easily when my teeth tore into his arm, blood filling my mouth as I took a chunk out of his arm.

"Mariah, when was the last time you drank?" Daryl asked.

The look of pure fear plastered to his face as he realized he had lost our fight, as he realized he was going to die.

"Mariah." Daryl said, grabbing my wrist and whirling me to a stop. "When was the last time you drank any water?"

"Um." I blinked, trying to remember the last sip of water I had. Then suddenly I was thirsty, prepared to chug back the whole Mississippi river to quench my thirst.

"Thats what I thought." He grumbled and handed me a bottle of water.

I drank it thirstily, quenching my thirst as Daryl smirked, shaking his head slightly as I gulped down nearly half the water.

"I think I know you better than you know yourself." He chuckled, and I smiled handing him back the bottle.

"You okay?" Rick asked Michonne, she glanced at him and carried on.

"Yup."

"I'm okay." Rick said quietly.

"I know." Michonne nodded.

"How?" Rick asked.

"Because I'm okay too." She said giving him a half hearted smile.

We continued walking until we saw a cardboard sign on the ground, Daryl kicked it over. "We're getting close. We should be there by sum down."

I wasn't sure if that sentence brought me joy or fear. This place could be a walking death trap, or a safe haven. I could hope for a safe place to settle down with Daryl, and start a family, but I knew the reality would probably be far from it. This place could be full of murderers, looking for supplies and other things amongst survivors.

"Now we head through the woods. We don't know who they are." Rick said, as if reading my mind.

"Alright." Daryl agreed, and stepped into the woods, everyone following in behind him.

We walked in silence for a while, in fear of any snipers or spies they had around the perimeter. After a long while we saw a fence, and Daryl strode towards it cautiously, Rick, Carl, Michonne than I following silently.

We looked in at the fence. TERMINUS, was spelt in large black letters over the windows, and not a soul wandered the yard, but it seemed to be an abandoned train station.

"We'll spread out. Watch for a while and see what we see. We all stay close."

I strode quietly to the right, leaving the others a little behind, and crouched down in the bush. Watching and waiting until Rick gave more orders.