Angel

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Daryl

I was going to kill Angel. She's going off after that rat bastard that raped her on her own. She had promised to let me be the one to take him out, but instead, she runs off to do it herself. If we both make it through this, I'm gonna kiss her, then I'm gonna kill her.

When the group from the run came back I instantly knew something was wrong. The second I heard the truck approaching the gate, something inside me told me she was in trouble. I ran over to the truck with Rick automatically following me.

"Where is she?" I demanded pulling John out of the driver's seat. "Where the fuck is she?"

"Daryl, back off of him!" Rick said pulling me off the guy. "Give him a chance to tell us what happened."

"Talk!" I had no patience for this. I needed to know where Angel was and now.

"She chose to stay back, Daryl. She's alive the last we saw her," John said as he dusted off his pants.

Amy and Benny joined him. "Daryl, It's not John's fault. Jessie got weird after this car drove by the strip mall we were in. We heard it before they could see us, so they never knew we were there. When she saw the guys in the car, her face got white and she said it was time to leave. I thought we were all going together," Amy said standing up for John.

"Yeah, but then she told us what route to take back before running off. But she did say to tell you 'that she's settling an old score' and you would know what that meant. I didn't want to leave her, but you can't tell Jessie what to do. You know that." While I knew he was right, I was still pissed that they came back without her.

Except now I knew the reason why. She had found the motherfuckin' prick that had raped her and now she was going after him. Once I heard that I had them tell me where this strip mall was and I was on my bike in seconds. My crossbow was already in the back since I had been planning on going out for a ride, but got delayed. I was thanking God for that delay.

Rick wanted to go with me, but I told him no. He asked me if I knew what was going on and I told him I sure did. I couldn't tell him more than that. That would be breaking Angel's trust and I never wanted to do that. I'd find her and bring her back, even if meant she was hogtied on the back of my motorcycle. This was something I had to do alone.

Scenarios kept running through my head and none of them were good as the miles passed under my tires. Rash emotional decisions like that always blew up in your face. I should know since that happened to me every damn time. The image of this asshole raping her again kept replaying over and over again. She survived the first time, I doubt she'd be so lucky again. Either way, she'd be so fucked up in the head I wouldn't know how to fix that. Look at me. I'm still fucked up from how my old man treated me as a kid.

I zig-zagged around a few straggling walkers as the strip mall came into sight. I knew she wouldn't be here, but I should be able to find her tracks. Besides Sophia, this was the most important person I needed to find. Tracking was the only damn thing my old man taught me and it was something I used all the time. Now I needed that skill more than ever.

Normally, tracking on asphalt was impossible, but since there were so few people around these days, dirt and debris blew over the roads and parking lots making footsteps slightly visible in some cases. I drove my bike around the back of the strip mall and saw where the truck had been parked. There were numerous recent footprints around it. Then I followed tracks along the building and through the front lot. I went back and got my bike and headed in the direction she went. It wasn't long before I lost her trail and just had to go with my gut.

By the time night came I had doubled back so many times my head was spinning. I had no idea where Angel was. I figured she was following the car she had seen driving past, but there was no sign of either. At least I knew she could survive on her own and she was armed. Like all of us, she always carried a knife on her hip, but she never went anywhere without her gun. That was the only comforting thought as I hid my bike behind a house. It was getting too late to be out on the streets. I needed a place to hold up in.