bullseye ➵ daryl dixon

f i v e - trust

CHAPTER FIVE | t r u s t
11/8/17

One of the members of the group beckoned to Daryl to come over to him and Adira was left standing alone in the doorway. She cast her gaze to the floor as the group whispered to each other furiously. She didn't hear much at first, but as the group started to speak louder, she was able to catch more.

"Who is she? Why have you brought her here?"

"She's a tiny little thing. Must've been going hungry for months."

"Can she defend herself? We can't be looking after another person."

"Can we trust her?"

There were three people standing together who looked like a family. The father looked to be at least forty and was dressed as a sheriff. Whether or not he was one, Adira had no clue. The mother looked to be pregnant to which she raised her eyebrows at. She only seemed to be about six or seven months along, which meant that she and her husband had decided to conceive a baby in this monstrous world. Why would anyone wish such a thing on their child? Lastly, there was a boy who looked about thirteen years old.

There was also the man who had been watching Adira the last time she was there, standing just a step ahead of a brunette. She guessed from his stance the he was close with her and wanted to protect her. Next to the brunette stood a younger girl, around seventeen or eighteen. She had blonde hair and looked rather shy. An older man stood nearby, rounding out their little group.

Lastly, there was a man and woman. The man was bald and looked large and strong while the woman was rather kind-looking and had short, greying hair, though her eyes told another story, one of strength and power. The two looked as if they could do some serious damage with the guns they had.

Everyone was silent. After a moment, Daryl led her to the hallway. "Don't even think about moving from here." He said, indicating for her to wait on the small bench. She could only manage a nod, too overwhelmed by the large group of new people to even think about running again. He dipped back through the doorway into the living room.

After what felt like hours of discussion in low tones she couldn't decipher, Rick wrapped around the archway to retrieve her. He considered her for a moment, noting her empty holster and sheath, then told her to come back to the room with the group. They had decided she could stay for now, at least while she did not show any signs of being a threat and while she was still injured. She wasn't promised anything long-term.

She got up, slowly and nervously, and stepped through the archway. With every gaze burning into her, she cleared her throat and mustered a small smile. "Hello, I'm Adira".

They all seemed hesitant to talk to her, but she learned all of their names. The mother and father were Lori and Rick, while their son was named Carl. The boyfriend and girlfriend were Glenn and Maggie. The blonde, Beth turned out to be a sister of Maggie's while Hershel, the old man, was their father. The last man and woman were T-Dog and Carol.

Daryl crossed the room and waved Adira over, leading her further into the house. "Come on, I'll show you where to sleep," he grunted out. They walked up a staircase and past a few doors before finally reaching what was to be her room. There wasn't a bed, just a pile of blankets on the wooden floor. The room was so small that it just felt like an oversized closet.

She was confused to see someone's belongings already by the blankets. "Is someone else already in here?" she asked, unable to keep the disappointment out of her voice. She knew it was an unreasonable thing to ask for and she should be happy with what she had, but she would've preferred to have her own space.

Daryl grunted. "Yeah, me. I'll find ya a blanket or two. Sorry, the place isn't large and I didn't think anyone would- uh, I mean I didn't think you would be comfortable sleeping with someone else."