My Damaged Protector

Chapter Twenty-Nine ~ Indifference

We had taken the rest of the day and a few hours into the night walking towards the school we were going to search. Michonne had found a little building for us to hole up in for the night and once the sun was up, we headed back out onto the road. Daryl had barely left my side after I told him about Jasper's sickness, his eyes constantly checking on me as we walked. I had kept my hand laced with his, even when we took a break to refill our water bottles and for Ty to finally clean the blood off his shirt.

"Vamanos." Daryl called after a few minutes at the creek, waving his hand to get us to start walking. Ty had completely ignored Daryl the entire trip so far, opting to follow behind us all as Michonne, Daryl and I took the lead. Something on the gravel road had caught Daryl's eye, making him reach down and swipe up a little stone. He licked his thumb and wiped off a bit of the dust, revealing a stunning green color.

"Is that Jasper?" Michonne wondered, glancing over his shoulder. "It's a good color, brings out your eyes." She joked, nudging his arms as we all laughed.

"What's it for?" I asked.

"Your brother. He asked for something special." Daryl shrugged, dropping the stone into my hand.

"I think he'd like it more if you gave it to him." I handed the rock back to him quickly, making sure he put it in his pocket.

"Really?" Daryl glanced up at me through his hair.

I smiled and gave him a reassuring nod. "Are you kidding? My little brother adores you, and he's gotten so close to Merle too over the last few months. He loves you and trusts you so much." A shy smile crossed his face as he shrugged the bow higher on his shoulder. We had continued joking back and forth with each other, enjoying the outdoors and the walk.

We only stopped when Michonne halted her steps. A gas station sat a few yards down the road, paint chipping, walls cracking, and vines covering nearly every inch of the outside walls. Daryl tried peering through the vines, looking for any possible sign to what could be inside.

"You see something?" Bob asked Daryl, looking over his shoulder.

Daryl shrugged. "Maybe." He passed his bow over to me as he yanked some of the vines away, revealing a rather large van. The pale-green van had seen better days. Its paint was rusted through and the windows were foggy with dust, but it would work for us. Daryl was quick to pull the driver door open and try starting it, only to come back out right away. "Gotta find us a new battery."

I sighed softly, without a car, it would take forever to get to the school we were headed to and back home. Daryl gently took the bow back and went over to the building, looking through a window and announcing that walkers were inside. I pulled a knife from my belt and joined his side, beginning to cut away the vines slowly with everyone else.

Ty was moving a bit too fast for our liking, hacking away at the vines without paying much attention to what could be on the other side. We were all shouting warnings his way, asking him to slow down so we could all be prepared. Ty only continued on, ignoring all of our voices. I rolled my eyes as my knife sliced through another set of vines and reached through the leaves to see how much farther the wall was.

A surprised shriek left my lips when cold fingers wrapped tightly around my wrist, pulling harshly. The knife in that hand slipped from my fingers and clattered to the ground, bouncing just far enough away that trying to get it could kill me. "Daryl!" I called, trying to grab the hunter's attention while another walker reached through to grab Michonne. The walker in front of me was quickly put down, releasing the hold on my wrist, letting me fall back into waiting arms.

Daryl was pulling my hand up to his eyes, examining my skin for any scratches. "You're alright." His arms pulled me to his chest tightly as Michonne and Bob finished up with the walkers. Once my shaking hands finally calmed, Daryl, Michonne and I ventured into the store, pulling flashlights off the shelves so we could see. He headed straight for the back of the store, going to the battery he knew would fit while also asking me to grab a few things along the way.