Haven (A Walking Dead fanfiction)

Chapter 3

My mouth hangs open. My mind slowly processes what Glenn just told us all. This place seemed so perfect...so safe and now here we are living 50 feet from a barn full of death and destruction. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, after everything I've seen out there nothing should come as a shock to me, yet here I am overwhelmed with fear. I feel someone take my hand. I flinch at first, still not quite used to the touch of another person, but relax when I see it's Lori. The same look of utter fear spread across her face. I squeeze her hand, finding comfort in her company. The group bickers back and forth about what to do.

"There's nothing we can do. This isn't our land. It's there home." Rick argues.

"It's our lives!" Shane yells.

"Lower your voice Shane. I'll talk to Hershel okay?"

"And until then?" Dale asks.

"We keep watch." Andrea offers. "We'll take turns guarding the door, making sure it's safe."

"I'll take first watch." Shane grumbles before storming away towards the barn. I turn to Lori.

"What happened to him?" I ask her sadly. She tucks a stray strand of my hair behind my ear.

"The things we've seen sweetie...the things we've had to do to survive...it changes people..." I lower my head, my heart aching for my big brother back.

"I've seen things...horrible sickening things...things I'll never be able to unsee and I survived I made it here on my own. I survived on my own. The only thing keeping me going was finding my brother and now....I've found him...but I'm too late. He's already gone." I stand, dropping her hand. I walk away from everyone, all the people, the conversations suddenly too much to handle. I walk to the horse stables craving for some peace, but when I get there I find that I'm not the only one with this idea. Daryl stands at the gate of one of the stables petting a beautiful brown horse.

"Oh...sorry..." I mumble. I turn to walk away, but he stops me.

"You can stay ya know." I want to walk away, to be alone, but instead I find myself walking toward him. I lean on the gate beside him, standing on my tiptoes just to reach the horse.

"What's her name?" I ask him curiously. He shrugs, grunting a little. I wobble a bit, struggling to reach her.

"Here." He grumbles. And before I could protest he puts his hands on my waist, lifting me up onto the gate. I shiver as his calloused fingers brush against the skin just underneath my shirt. His hands linger on my body before dropping back to his side. We sit in silence for awhile just petting the horse before he decides to speak. "What are doin' out here anyway?" He asks. I shrug, imitating him. I catch a small smirk, but it fades away just as quickly as it came.

"I spent so much time alone....sometimes it's just too much. Ya know?" He nods in agreement.

"Sometimes a little company ain't so bad..." he says trailing off.

"That's surprising coming from you Dixon. I haven't seen you spend more than ten minutes with anyone since I've been here." I smirk at him. He takes a steps toward me so that he's standing in between my legs. Our eyes just about level.

"Sometimes it just takes the right person." He says quietly, he places his hands beside the outside of my legs on the gate. My breath catches in my throat. I forget how to speak. He looks from my eyes down to my lips, letting his gaze linger before looking back up into my eyes. His grey mysterious eyes searching my face. He leans in so close I can feel his breath against my skin. Goosebumps erupt over my body and I pray he doesn't notice. I place my hand on top of his, and suddenly whatever was there is gone. He pulls away, sliding his hand out from underneath mine. Then walks away without a word, with no explanation of what the hell just happened. I lean my head back against the wall of the stable, the ghost of his body just inches from mine still lingering in the silence.