Exhausted {Daryl Dixon Fanfic}

II. Alone

My eyes narrowed in on my prey as I drew my knife from my pocket silently. I took a deep breath as the rabbit, unknowingly, placed itself directly in front of my hiding spot. With one swift move I released the knife before the animal could turn to look at the disturbance in the grass. I celebrated my catch quietly as I tied the rabbit to my bag and wiped my lucky weapon on my pants.
I had been traveling on empty the last few miles, so when I heard the rustle of leaves I jumped at the chance for a real meal. I did a quick survey of the land around my kill zone and decided I could stop and set up camp for the night. Dropping my bags to the ground was such a relief that I audibly sighed. I cracked my neck as I pulled some wire from one of my bags and found one of the bigger trees around me. After successfully closing off my 'camp' with with wire, I slung my duffel bag into one of the trees that was close enough to the ground for my to grab, but high enough that it would be out of sight.
I hadn't run across very many people but after the few encounters I did have, I wasn't taking any chances. My time on the road had taught me three things.
1. No one is to be trusted.
2. You can not make any noise.
3. Head shots are the only way.
My most recent encounter was with a group of men - maybe late 20's - who had mistaken me for one of their "lady friends". After they had realized I was not who they had originally thought I was: they kicked my ass. It left me with a split lip and holes in the jeans of my knees. This was one of my luckier interactions. I say lucky because I made it out and have yet to cross their path since.
I had been walking for days, stopping when it got too dark, and this was the first proper camp I felt safe setting up. From my time out on the open road I had noticed that they're more active when the sun goes down. 'They' being the dead. Crawlers, sickos, geeks, whatever you want to call them. At the end of the day it was just you against them. Fortunately, they were mostly in the city, and you could almost avoid them completely if you stayed out of town, but I knew it wouldn't last long. They were growing in numbers quickly. Whether you were bit or not - if you died, then you were destined to be one of them.
Thankfully I hadn't been forced to face one since before the group of men got to me. If I'm being honest, they terrify me. They were soulless creatures with one goal: to feed. There was no trace of who they were before all of this started and they would kill anything they got their hands on. One scratch, one bite, one contaminated person, and you were dead.
As I stripped the rabbit clean I couldn't help but side-eye the trees around me. I knew the wire wouldn't keep anything out, and it wasn't supposed to. It was just there to trip any unsuspecting people; dead or alive. Plus, the vibrations from the wires snapped against the tree bark hard enough to wake me, that is, if I slept at all. Once I was satisfied with the rabbits color I stepped out the fire, unable to suppress the quiet shriek when one of the leaves jumped out onto the dry grass. I hurried to step out the timbers before tossing my backpack up into the tree closest to the one with my duffel bag.
Once I was seated on one of the thicker branches in the tree, I leaned my back against the trunk and spread my legs out across my duffel bag. Instinct told me to stay awake, but my full stomach and tired feet told me I was high enough off the ground that I would be okay. Once I was satisfied that no one had seen the smoke from my small fire, and the smoke itself had cleared out, I tucked my arms around me and, with one last glance around the ground underneath me, I let my eyes drift close.