These Awkward Moments

Chapter 32 Growth

The next day
Delilah's POV
The woods around the fence were full of wildlife. We decided to spend the morning hunting rabbits in the woods before we returned home. I had promised Carol I would show her how to make potted rabbit, so we would need a few rabbits to make it worth the effort.

We were up before sunrise. Daryl carried Mercy in the sling on his back as we made our way quietly through the woods. We each carried our crossbows and a hunting knife. Daryl had a pistol in his holster.

We came across a meadow scattered with burrows. We took turns walking them out. Rabbit hunting didn't involve the stealth of deer hunting. The noise of our movements was what flushed them out of hiding. We would take about 10 steps, allowing the grass to rustle, then pause for about thirty seconds waiting for movement.

By noon we had bagged twenty cottontails. I showed Daryl the method my Da had taught me for gutting rabbits without a knife by just squeezing from the rib cage down until the innards popped out. "I just can't believe I never learned this 'fore! It's like the fuckin' coolest thing ever!" I couldn't help but giggle at him.

We stopped for a break and for Mercy to nurse, then I tucked her back into the sling and we started back to the cabin. As we walked through the woods, I noticed that it had become abnormally quiet. I stopped and signaled to Daryl. We stopped back to back and listened intently. We could make out the sound of a group of walkers in the distance somewhere ahead of us. We turned off our path to attempt to skirt around them, stopping intermittently to judge their position.

We had walked about a half a mile off our trail and decided to angle back towards it. We were still about a half a mile from the cabin, and quite a way from the path when we spotted the edge of a herd of about forty walkers. Daryl signaled to me to move quickly ahead of him and to stay hidden in the brush. Daryl aimed his crossbow at a target in the distance, and released his bolt before dropping down beside me. I heard the clank of the bolt striking a metal object, and watched through the branches as the walkers turned away from us, following the noise.

Daryl signaled for us to move, and we continued silently back towards the path. We finally reached our path and sped up to a steady jog through the woods. We reached the gate without running into any more walkers. Once we closed the gate behind us, Daryl wrapped me in his arms and held me until our breathing returned to normal. "That was close Doc! There were too many of 'em for us ta take on with the baby with us."

I nodded and pulled back to look at him. "The distraction was genius darlin'. But what was it you hit that made the noise?"

Daryl smirked. "It was an old 'No Hunting' sign."

We both chuckled as we headed back to the house to start packing up for the trip home.

As we were loading up the truck I caught Daryl staring at me with a half smile. "What?"

He shook off his reverie. "It's nuthin'. I just never thought this would be my life. I never pictured myself spendin' a day huntin' in the woods with my gorgeous, smart, amazin' wife."

I moved to him and pulled him in for a sweet kiss. "You better go on and get used to it, cuz you're stuck with me now Dixon. Now get in the truck and let's get back home." I growled in his ear as I smacked his ass.

Three hours later we were entering the gate at Alexandria and were welcomed home by our family. It was only a matter of minutes before half of the community was there to welcome us and congratulate us again. Roe patted Daryl on the back, then turned and swung me around in a bear hug before taking Mercy from me. She giggled and babbled at him.