Faded Scars (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 2

I slowly opened my eyes and lifted my right arm to shield them from the blinding light above me. I slowly sat up and saw I was on a table in a room with ugly flower print wallpaper. Suddenly remembering the events that had happened, I looked at my left shoulder. I had on a black tank top that wasn't mine but showed off my wrapped-up shoulder, which was arrow-free. I gently moved off of the table being wary of my shoulder and landed on shaky legs. Planting my hands against the wall before I lost my balance, I moved toward the doorway. Immediately, I pressed myself against the wall as I heard voices.

"Are they still going to do another search tomorrow for Sophia?"

"I'm sure they will, I just hope that girl is ok."

"Yeah, me too."

I heard the front door close and I made my way out of the room, hoping I wouldn't run into any more people. As I tried to make an escape to the front door, I was grabbed harshly by the arm.

"And where do you think you're going?" A man said harshly and pushed me into a room where others were sitting.

"Look who I found sneaking away." He smirked and I scowled at him, then looked around the large room. There were a lot of men around, but two women sat on the armrest of a couch.

The man who had grabbed me was standing near the doorway, his arms crossed and eyes still narrowed on me.

The man wearing the police uniform stood behind the right side of the couch, his face almost hidden by the brown hat he wore.

An older man was sitting with the two women, one with brown hair and the other a pale blonde. They smiled softly at me from where they sat.

Then I saw someone I remembered, the man with the crossbow was sitting on the couch, his feet lazily propped up on the coffee table in front of him.

One of the women, the one with the short, brown hair walked towards me and I took a step back. Suddenly, I felt the scars from years of pain on my back being exposed and I became more alert, my breathing becoming ragged as my eyes flickered between the many faces in the room. This caused the guy with the crossbow to sit up, his eyes watching me carefully.

"Hey, hey, you're alright, you're safe here," the woman said softly and I turned my attention back to her. "My name's Maggie, that's Beth." She pointed to the other girl who had blonde hair.

"My dad, Hershel, he fixed your shoulder." She pointed to the older man and he gave a small smile. "That's Rick," she said, looking towards the police guy and he tilted his hat.

"The one that grabbed you, which was highly unnecessary, is Shane." The man snapped his head towards me and then Maggie.

 "Unnecessary? We don't even know who she is and she was going to leave, probably to go warn someone." Maggie rolled her eyes and turned back towards me.

"Oh and that's Daryl, he shot you." I glanced over at Daryl, who was about to say something to Maggie, but she ignored him. "Who are you?" she asked sweetly, I slowly backed up and glanced at the group looking back at me, then focused back at Maggie. She gave a soft smile and then took a step back.

I was trying to find a possible exit route, but so far I couldn't see one. "Are you hungry?" she asked quietly and I turned towards her, seeing her wide smile. Maggie walked towards the door and moved Shane from it, as I slowly followed behind her. I heard people moving and looked behind me to see the others following. I made my way slowly past the front door and saw that it was close to dawn. 

"Keep walking." Someone growled behind me, but I ignored them. I caught up to Maggie, who told me to take a seat, and as I did the others piled in too.

They all took a seat close to each other, except for Daryl. He sat in the middle of two unoccupied chairs, while the others sat on the opposite side of him. I moved toward the empty seat on his right, still highly uncomfortable due to their gaze. Maggie called Beth over and they passed out plates and then sat down, Maggie sat down next to me and Beth moved back to her seat next to Hershel.

I waited until everyone had taken a bite of the food before slowly eating it myself. I wondered how long I had been out, it felt like forever since I last ate. I swallowed and hesitantly looked at Maggie.

"Scarlett."

She smiled and the others looked at me like I had grown an extra head, except for Daryl. He continued to eat, not worried about the others. "So where are you from?" Rick asked, taking a sip of his drink. I looked at Maggie and she gave me a small nod, telling me I can trust him. 

"Just around," I said and felt their eyes once again fall on me. I shifted in my seat and slowly started to become alert again, but then Daryl nudged me.

I turned to look at him, but he just glanced my way and grabbed his plate, standing up from the table. I turned back and saw Shane watching me carefully, but I ignored his watchful eye. "So do you have a group?" Rick asked and I shook my head.

 "What if she joins y'all?" Maggie said and Rick turned to look at her.

Shane scoffed and they looked at him. "Look how jumpy she is, we don't need someone like that behind a gun." I frowned, my patience running thin, and stood up. I looked around and spotted my bag and bow near the door.

I walked over and picked up my bow, and reached into my bag grabbing three arrows. "What do you think you're doing?" Shane growled, but I walked out the front door and to the side of the house, knowing they would follow close behind me. I saw a couple of empty, dirty bottles and carefully grabbed them, and set them on a few hay bales that sat in the front yard.

I closed my eyes briefly and then snapped into action, bringing an arrow to the string and aiming carefully. I felt my shoulder wound pull, but I forced my focus on the empty bottle. The arrow released from my hold and it flew, shattering the bottle on the left side. I felt a small shock of pain in my shoulder, but shook it off and quickly aimed at the next bottle. I memorized where the bottle was and closed my eyes, firing. I opened my eyes to see the bottle on the right side shatter. I quickly spotted the top bottle and immediately faced Shane, firing the arrow. It pierced the bottle directly and Maggie stood there with a giant smirk on her face.

Shane immediately snapped from his awed look to mumbled something under his breath and I heard someone chuckling. I looked over by the house to see Daryl drinking whiskey and laughing at Shane. I smiled and raised an eyebrow at Shane, who just scoffed and walked away.