Temerity ➳ Daryl Dixon

Chapter Three

---*--- Rewritten on 10/8/2022---*---

The truck door on my right opened with a creak. A firm but gently hand grabbed my upper arm and pulled me out. I flinched at the contact.

Putting pressure on my leg caused my knee to buckle. Whoever it was put their other hand on my lower back to steady me.

I flinched again at the feeling. The pushed me to limp forward. After a couple steps, my foot caught on something so I stumbled.

"Can't you walk straight?" The heavy southern drawl let me know this was the same person that drove.

I scoffed. "Yeah. Maybe if I could see."

I heard quick footsteps to my left. "I thought I told you to take the blindfold off."

There was a brief pause, then the voice behind me spoke. "Sorry man. I just thought it'd be better if she couldn't see the group."

Hershel slowly took the blindfold off. He examined my face than asked if he could look at my leg. I nodded.

He than led me away from the man and sat me down. I could hear the man from the barn arguing with two ladies. I glanced at them.

"No. My decision is final. We agreed after what happened that we'd do it Dale's way!"

The younger woman glared at him. "Dale is dead. His weak mentality is what brought that on him!" The man glared back. "We all know what made him that way. Walkers!"

The man in front of me started unwrapping my leg. I looked at him. "Like I told your buddy. I don't plan on staying. I was just running away from the herd. I can leave as soon as you're done."

He looked up at me than at the three arguing. After looking for a moment he proceeded to go back to unwrapping my leg.

"There's no need. Ignore the folk over there. They are just scared because of said herd."

I glanced back at the group and noticed there was now another person among them but I couldn't see his face because of the lack of sunlight.

He was staring at me, but I brushed it off as him worried about the old man treating me.

"I'm not trying to get executed just yet. I'll leave as soon as you are done and be on my own. I prefer it that way, and I have somewhere I need to be. "

The man looked back up at me. This time in my eyes. "With you're leg in this state, you'll barely be walking. If it gets infected, you'll lose it. "

I stared at him for a moment of silence. "My brother is out there. Look at this picture.  He's only 8! I can't leave him on his own! God only knows if he's alive.."

The last few words came out as a whisper. She handed him the photo. The man flinched at what I had just told him.

"Look, you need to focus on yourself for the moment. Stay with us tonight and I'll talk with the group."

The yelling for worse and I drowned everything out thinking of my brother. My poor sweet Liam. I could only pray to a God I didn't believe in that he was alive and well.

His bubbly personality would be ruined in this mess..