bullseye ➵ daryl dixon

f o u r - trap

CHAPTER FOUR | t r a p
30/7/17

Adira sighed as she rocked back and forth in the wind. She'd been stuck in that net for maybe an hour or two. She was lucky no monsters had found her, but at the same time she wasn't lucky because with every second she spent hanging up there, she grew to resent life more and more. What was the point? She wasn't getting anywhere. Literally.

She didn't know anymore whether she wished to live or die. To put it simply, all she knew was that she was surviving, which didn't really count as either. It was the only thing she seemed to be able to do in her situation, so on she went with no visible goal in the end.

She watched a rabbit hop through the dead leaves and eat a few berries. It seemed so peaceful until a monster groaned and came from behind the trees. The rabbit attempted to run away, but it was too slow as the monster grabbed it and started to devour it. She turned her head away, not wanting to witness something so similar to the deaths of her parents.

After a few minutes, the crunching sounds of the rabbit being eaten stopped. She held her breath until she heard a monstrous groan only a few feet away. She looked over and the monster, which was rather tall, had spotted her and started to make its way over to her.

That was it. That was the end. The past several months had all been for nothing, for it all ended right there, in that moment. She was going to die.

She shut her eyes tightly, waiting for death to claim her. She didn't want to watch this happening, for she knew she would feel it. All of the pain and misery would be there without her having to so take much as a glimpse.

The sound of something whizzing by and hitting something made her open her eyes wide. It was a bolt, lodged inside the brain of the monster.

It was dead.

But who had killed it? Who had saved her seconds away from sure fatality? Who had risked their life for hers? Could it possibly be-?

Daryl.

His name echoed in Adira's head over and over as she spotted him through the trees, walking towards her. He had a look in his eyes. He seemed scared. For a second, she thought it was for her. But then she saw the crossbow still tight in his grip, still raised to point straight at her heart.

His boots crushed the leaves beneath them as he ran the last few yards. His expression changed almost too quickly from worried to stone-faced.

"What've you gotten yourself into since you ran away?" He murmured, crossing his arms.

She didn't want to talk to him. She didn't want to talk to anyone. So instead of responding, she looked away, not meeting his eyes.

She felt his hand turn her chin towards him, forcing her to look at him.  Hunting knife to her throat, he stared into her eyes, almost like he was trying to figure her out. Why had she run off? Why had she tried to kill herself? Why was she so determined to avoid other people? "Who are you? Who else are you with? There ain't no way in hell you caught that rabbit I found."

Her eyes twitched at him in annoyance, the only sign of any reaction to what he'd said. Of course, she was a woman. She was helpless and couldn't lift a finger to do anything to aid her own survival.

He sighed. "Well, if you ain't gonna say nothin', I might as well just leave you here. Not much you can do to my people from up there."

She watched as Daryl walked away from her, each step like another needle poking her heart. She didn't expect him to walk away that quickly. She knew she had just ran from their safehouse, but for some strange reason, she didn't like seeing him retreat. She didn't know she couldn't bear the loneliness anymore until she saw the first person she'd talked to in months walking away from her.

"Wait!"

He turned as if he expected her to call out, the hint of a smirk ever so slightly gracing his lips. "What? I ain't got all day."

She closed her eyes, taking in what she was about to do. "If- if you let me down, I'll let you all decide what to do with me without a fight. I'm not with anyone. Please, let me down." In this world, she didn't want to owe anyone anything. It would only turn out badly. But not as badly as staying trapped in this tree would.

"Sure, I'll let ya down." For a second, she was grateful, but she had been in their safe house. He probably didn't want her running off and bringing anyone she knew back with her to take their place. This wasn't from some good place in his heart. No one helped strangers anymore, at least not without a price.

She reluctantly nodded. What else could she really do in that situation? Daryl set down his crossbow, took a knife, and climbed the tree next to her, carefully cutting through the rope. When the last thread snapped, she fell to the ground with a thump.

She glared at him. "That wasn't funny."

He laughed anyways. "Looked pretty funny to me, fallin' on your ass. Now come on. We're wastin' time and we have a ways to walk."

He picked up his crossbow and instead of walking forward, as she expected, he whipped around to be at her side in an instant and wrapped an arm around her throat, knife at the ready.

In shock, Adira's breath hitched and she was very conscious of the blade's edge caressing her skin, almost drawing blood. Her muscles froze and she squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the metal to slice across her throat. "I- I promise, I'm alone. What could I even do to you?" She whispered, not daring to let her vocal cords vibrate more than necessary, lest her throat bob into the blade.

Daryl, meanwhile, was busy disarming her. He scoffed in disbelief at how long she'd survived; she wasn't even carrying her weapons properly. The holster was too high on her to efficiently grab the gun and was tied around her stomach too tightly with a string, since she didn't have belt loops on her leggings. Meanwhile the knife was too low to get out, dangerously close to her knee as its sharpened tip dauntingly danced around it through its frayed cloth cover.

"Precautions, darlin'. You're right, though; I don't think you could do much, least not to me."

As quickly as he had appeared at her side, his arm retracted from its hold around her neck, and Daryl set off almost running. She struggled to keep up on her short legs, but at least she had stamina from her months on the road. It took about half an hour, but they finally reached the 'safehouse' she'd originally escaped from. When they got to the door, Daryl stopped and looked at her. "What's your name?"

"Adira," she replied with a shaky voice. She hoped Daryl's group was as kind as some of the people she'd met in the past.

"Well, Adira, welcome to the group." He opened the door, and they stepped into a living room that had several people in it sitting and laughing.

"Everyone, this is Adira."

The laughter died as the group went silent, and nine pairs of eyes turned to her.