Angel

Chapter Two: Daryl

The first thing I realized when I woke up was that every single fucking muscle and bone in my body was killing me. If it wasn't a sharp stabbing pain it was a strong, steady throb. But that made me realize one thing...I wasn't dead.

Before I even attempted to open my eyes, as even they hurt, I tried to remember what the hell had happened. Pieces started to come back to me. I had gotten jumped by a couple of assholes that wanted what I had. They had to be really desperate because I didn't have shit. Being on my own had started to get to me, and I let my guard drop at the wrong time. I was camping in the woods, and they came out of nowhere. Even though I was hurting like a bitch, I got out of it alive. They didn't. After making sure they wouldn't turn and come after me a second time, I took off through the backwoods that had become my home.

The problem was that with each step I took it became harder and harder to put one foot ahead of the other. They had cut me up pretty good, but a few good whacks to my head had me seeing double. So much for Carol calling me hard headed all those years. "Fuck," mumbled under my breath. I tried not to think about her or any of them at all. It hurt too much.

I forced my eyes to open just a little bit and realized I recognized absolutely nothing about where I was. "It's a shack," I thought to myself. Nothing about the rough walls and plank ceiling looked familiar at all. "How the fuck did I get here?"

My left eye wouldn't open all the way, so I figured it was swollen from the fight. My right let me see more, but I couldn't tell if I was alone here or not. I went to sit up, and a sharp stabbing pain shot through me. "Fuck!" I groaned as I fell back. That hurt really fucking bad.

"Travis, you're awake?"

I grabbed for the knife at my belt, but it was gone. I was so fucked. Well, maybe not as bad as I thought as a woman walked into my line of sight. I took a deep breath, but even that hurt badly enough for me to consider I may have broken ribs. Damn, I probably couldn't even fight off a toddler like Judith right now. Fuck again. Why did everything come back to them?

A woman crouched down near me, but far enough away that grabbing her wouldn't be easy. She was either smart or lucky. I didn't know enough yet to figure out which. When I turned my head to look up at her the sunlight coming in behind her made her look like she was glowing. If I didn't know better, I would have thought I was dead, and she was an angel looking down at me.

"How are you doing?" she asked with a slight smile.

I put my hand up to block the sun. "Where am I? Who the hell are you?" I growled at her. I was never known for my manners. Being raised by an asshole of a man who was my supposedly my father did that to a guy. Plus, I didn't give a shit.

"Where we are, I really have no idea. This is a rundown shack in the middle of the forest that I came across by accident. I found you here and did the best I could to patch you up, Travis."

Travis? I looked at her with my one good eye and realized she was much prettier than I thought. Her smile was soft and welcoming. She made me want to relax my guard with that smile, but I couldn't. My life was at stake. I had never seen hair as long as she had. It was pure black and even though it was in a ponytail that hung over her shoulder, and with her squatting near me it almost hit the floor. I had a strange desire to run my fingers through it. Who she was, I had no idea. But she affected me like no other had. I knew I had to stop that immediately. I was a loner, who did better alone. People...women had no place in my life anymore. None. Not even Angels.

I gave her one of my patented stares that usually had people backing away from me pretty damn quick, but she didn't budge. "Who the fuck is Travis?"