Faded Scars (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 31

I had been on patrol for a few hours, watching the perimeter for walkers. I slowly made my way around the courtyard looking out for walkers, when something jumped on my back. "Leona! Get off!" I hissed, but she chuckled and dragged me to the ground. She laid next to me on the grass, but I soon sat up and got to my feet. "Scarlett, I'll take watch from here." Rick said as he walked up and I nodded. I walked over to the stairs and sat on them as I watch Beth and Carl play with Judith.

"You okay?" Carol asked as she sat next to me. "Yea, I'm good, adjusting to having Leona here, but I'm good." She smiled and walked over to Judith and the others. "Hey, Scar, wanna have a challenge?" Leona said as she walked over to me. "I thought you always lost those." I smirked and stood up. "I at least have a chance now, you're rusty." I looked at her in disbelief. "I am not." I argued back. She raised an eyebrow and walked away. "Whatever ya say, Scar." I rolled my eyes and followed after her as she went to the cell block. She placed two pistols down on the table, unloaded. "What are you two doing?" Maggie asked with Glenn right at her side. "A skill competition." I answered and looked over at Leona. "I'm already gonna win." She scoffed as Maggie and Glenn took a seat next to me. "That's what you think, Scar, but you're tired, so you'll get lazy." I chuckled and smirked at Leona. "Newsflash, I don't sleep." She rolled her eyes. "Alright, first one to take the gun apart and repair it, wins."

I nodded and she counted down to three. When she hit three, my fingers were fast at work taking the gun apart like I had done so many times before. Once I finished, I was quickly placing the pieces back together, being fast, but careful with each piece. "Finished." I said and heard Leona groan. "How are you still so good?" She whined and I chuckled. "Alright, next challenge." I followed Leona as we stopped in the middle of the cell block, Glenn and Maggie behind us and Carol along with Judith, Beth, and Carl coming up and seeing us. "What's going on?" Carol asked Maggie. "A skill competition." She answered back. "What's that?" Carl asked. "Ryan and Miranda used to always make us do these challenges, and some of the girls turned it into a competition to see who was the main leader." I answered and Leona walked up next to me. "And guess who that leader always was." She groaned. "What? It was a distraction from everything." I said and Leona looked at me and smiled.

She handed me a knife and pointed at a block of wood she had set up. "Accuracy." She said and I nodded. She aimed first at the black "x" she had marked in some type of marker. She threw it and it landed to the side of the "x". "Dammit." She said and crossed her arms over her chest. "Your go." I aimed for the "x" and controlled my breathing, focusing in on it. I threw the knife and it planted itself right on the "x". I turned to see them all look shocked, well except for Leona, who was more impressed. "What's happening here?" Hershel asked as he walked in with Daryl and Merle by his side. "Skill competition." Maggie told them and Merle chuckled. "What the hell is that?" Carol told them and also told them I was winning. "Gorgeous? Winning?" I rolled my eyes. "You do realize I have a name." I turned back to Leona, who cracked her knuckles and smiled. "Push ups." She said proudly. "You do realize your not helping yourself." She scoffed. "I got this, Scar, if you remember strength was my thing." I peeled off the baggy t-shirt I was wearing, leaving me in a navy blue tank top. "Your going down, Scar." I chuckled at her as we started in the down position. "Go." Leona said as we began to keep a steady rhythm with each other, going up and down at the same times.

My breathing was steady, and each push up was done effortlessly. Leona was keeping up, but was slowly winding down. She soon fell to the floor and groaned. I stopped and looked at her. "How many was that?" She groaned. "You did 78, I did 81." She chuckled and groaned as she sat up. "Is everything suppose to hurt this bad." I chuckled and helped her to her feet. Maggie smiled. "Impressive." She said proudly. "Man, that ain't nothing, I could beat that." I crossed my arms over my chest at Merle's comment. "Oh really, I'd like to see." Merle then pushed Daryl forwards and he rolled his eyes. "Come on, little brother." Merle said. "Fine." Daryl reluctantly agreed and positioned himself as I did the same. "Get ready, hillbilly." I joked and Daryl gave a low chuckle. "Watch ya mouth, sunshine." I rolled my eyes with a smile. "Alright, go." Leona said and we were in rhythm, our breathing in sync along with our movements.

We were still in sync, sweat glistening over our skin as our movements slowed down. He stopped and as did I before falling onto my back, the coolness of the floor relaxing on my back. Leona and Maggie helped me up while Merle and Beth helped Daryl up. "Nice job, Dixon." I said and leaned on Leona's shoulder. "I think both of you should be impressed, you both did 198 push ups." Hershel said proudly, and I shrugged it off.

I left Leona and went out to the courtyard. Michonne was out there and I went up next to her as she did patrol. "Need something?" She asked and I shook my head, watching the sun began to set. "They'll come in a day or two, bringing their armies to kill us." I said and looked at the bus that the Governor had used last time like a battering ram. "This group is strong, it'll survive." She said as we continued to walk the edge. "I don't believe we met properly, I'm Scarlett, you can call me, Scar." I said and held out my hand to her. "Michonne." She said and shook my hand. "That crazy one your sister?" She asked and looked over at Leona, who was bothering Merle. "Sadly, yes." She chuckled and I gave a small laugh. "She's all I got left, still a pain, but still my responsibility." Michonne started walking again and I followed along beside her. "You two related, you don't look like sisters?" I chuckled. "Not related by blood, but by our pasts." I said as I heard moaning and we both snapped our heads towards the sound. "Get low." I whispered to her and got to the ground, Michonne doing the same. I looked over at Leona and saw that she saw the walkers too and slowly got down, Merle doing the same. A group of walkers slowly made their way by the prison a few feet away. When they passed, I slowly crouched on the ball of my feet making sure everyone of them passed. "Looks clear." I said standing up and helping Michonne to her feet. "Thanks, you should go get some rest." I huffed and smiled at her before walking past her and then walking past Merle and Leona.

I unclasped the chain from around my neck and placed it the front pocket of my bag. Carol had been through all the cell and had hung up blankets over the entrances, for privacy, even though we still had the cell door. I slipped off my boots and put them next to my bag as someone entered the cell. Daryl slipped his boots off and placed his crossbow near the door. I slowly move towards him and before he moved to his bunk, I lightly touched his arm. I motioned my head towards my bunk and he moved towards it and made himself comfortable. I crawled in next to him and felt his hand run under my tank top as he used his other arm as pillow. My head resting on his chest as he moved strands of hair from my face hesitantly, then move his hand back to my waist. For once things felt right. For once I felt safe.