Torn (TWD Fan-fiction)

The Farm

I close my eyes tight as Shane starts to shake me. His hand comes off my mouth, I take the shot and start screaming for help. I kick my legs as I throw some punches. My chest starts to get heavy and it is getting harder to breathe. "Ellie! Stop!" I kick even harder as I try to get away. "Damn it. Ellie! Wake up!" I feel someone holding my arms down. I stop and open my eyes, my chest moving up and down rapidly as I struggle to catch my breathe. I pull away and look around everywhere. My eyes scanning the environment around me, looking for Shane. But there was no Shane. I slowly wrap my arms around my knees as Daryl kneels in front of me. His eyes staring at me, full of confusion. He sighs, "Bad dream again?" I nod slowly. He looks out at the highway then leans back against the back of the passenger seat and looks at me, "Why are you out here?" I take a deep breath as I try to regain control of myself, "I just wanted to give everyone their space. Andrea doesn't seem too happy to have me around. Carol is going through this whole Sophia thing. Dale does his own thing. And you, well you can't seem to be around me too long without me pissing you off for one reason or another." I lick my lips as I realize how parched I am. Daryl notices and hands me a bottle of water. I take small sips as I wait for him to speak. He gives me that stare, the stare that makes me so foolishly nervous. His blue eyes connect with mine and I quickly look away. He clears his throat and then says, "We're all going through stuff. What you went through at the C.D.C, that's some twisted shit. I don't expect you to bounce back in a day or two, but you gotta try. You can't just hide behind me for the rest of your life." He pauses as he extends his arm out for the water bottle. Rest of my life? He takes a drink and wipes the excess water off with the back of his dirty hand, "You gotta get over this fear Ellie. As long as I'm around, that bastard won't lay a finger on you." I noticed that he was staring at me with compassion, he must have realized it too because his stare quickly turned cold as he said, "Just stop being so stupid and clumsy. Stop finding trouble. I won't always be there." He gets out of the van and grabs his crossbow. He looks out to the woods, "Got a busy day tomorrow so get some sleep." I scoot a little closer to the van's door, "I don't want to sleep. What if I fall back into the nightmare?" He pulls out a cigarette, "I'll be here to wake you up if you do. Try to sleep." I lay down. Daryl starts to walk away, I call out, "Daryl wait!" He stops and turns to look at me. I smile and say, "Thank you." He lights his cigarette and looks at me unsure of what to say, so he nods his head and walks over to sit on a truck. It was comforting to know Daryl was nearby. I couldn't see him, but I could see the red light coming from his cigarette. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning and helped to get everything ready. We were going to the farm place where the rest of the group was. Daryl drove his bike, Andrea drove a little green car, and the rest of us rode in the RV. I looked out the window at the farm. It was nice and it looked welcoming. It was as if whatever hit the rest of the world never even touched this place. We drove to the front of the house, familiar and unfamiliar faces come out to greet us. Dale looks at Rick with a worried look on his face, "How is he?" Lori gets a huge grin on her face, "He'll pull through, Thanks to Hershel and his people and--" Rick cuts in, "And Shane. We'd have lost Carl if not for him." Shane looks over at us with this weird expression on his face. I can't even stare at him for long, I look over at Hershel and the people standing with him. Dale walks over and hugs Rick, Carol goes to hug Lori. I walk over to Hershel, "Nice to meet you sir. I'm Ellie." I shake his hand as he says, "The name is Hershel and these are my daughter's. Maggie and Beth. This is Patricia and that is Jimmy." I walk over to each one of them to shake their hand. The rest of the group took this chance for introductions as well. T-dog comes up to me, "Ellie, Hershel is a doctor. His daughter and Patricia stitched me up. Maybe they can take a look at your back and ankle too?" Maggie walks over to me, "We can do that. Come on inside."

I follow her and Hershel inside to a room. He has me sit on the bed so he can take a look at my ankle, "It seems like you sprained it. Lucky for you it's a grade one ankle sprain. It can take about a couple of days to two weeks for it to get better. Stay off of it and you'll be lucky to be back on your feet in the next couple of days, maybe even sooner. Now, let me see your back." I pull the back of my shirt up and turn around so he can have a better look. I hear Maggie gasp and say, "What happened?" I groan as Hershel presses down as he inspects the injuries, "I fell into some wild thorns. Doesn't hurt as bad as it did then, just real sore." Hershel looks at Maggie and asks her to bring some things. Maggie leaves the room and Hershel explains to me that I need some stitches and antibiotics. Maggie returns with some gauze, a needle and thread, and some medicine. Hershel stitches me up. I bite my lip as he stitches my back and some cuts on my arm. "All done. Maggie here will finish up. If you excuse me, I have to get ready for Otis's funeral." I nod and say, "My condolences to you and your family. Thank you for your help." He nods and leaves the room. Maggie puts some gloves on and starts rubbing antibiotic cream onto my back, "Done with your back. Ima need you to remove your shirt. I need to put this stuff on your arms." I hesitate, "I can do it myself. Thank you Maggie for your help." She looks at me in a confused manner, "Are you sure cuz I don't mind." I nod my head quickly, "Yes, thank you." She hands me the cream, "Well alright, here you go. Apply it 2 times a day."