Exhausted {Daryl Dixon Fanfic}

VII. Nightmares

slight tw... nothing is detailed, but mentions of abuse are briefly touched upon.

Sophia was still asleep when the sun went down. We were nearing the highway that she had described when I decided we would have to stop for the night. I couldn't protect her if I was carrying her all night. Balancing her on my hip with one arm, I pulled my flashlight from my bag. I usually chose not to use the light in case someone would see it, but I knew it would be safer to travel through the trees this way.
I veered off from the road hyper-aware of my surroundings and the soft breathing coming from the sleeping child on my shoulder. I knew she was old enough to wake and have her walk herself, but I also knew she hadn't felt safe enough to sleep since she last saw her family. As I walked I pondered what I would do once we found them. If we found them, a part of me thought silently. I would let her stay with them, of course, and then I would leave. That seemed simple enough. Maybe I would stop short of them seeing me, and allow her to just run to them. I hadn't interacted with another group since..... I tried to block that out.
I walked another hour in the dark, but I didn't make it far before the darkness combined with her weight made me search for a clearing for the night. Anxiety crept up into my chest as I recalled what happened the last time I stopped for the night. I had no idea where those men could be....but I knew exactly what they were capable of. I tried to move soundlessly through the dense trees, but that only made me slower considering I was already struggling with Sophia's weight. She wasn't a very big kid but that being said, neither was I.
After what felt like another hour, the moon was high overhead and I still hadn't found an area to stop for the night. My body ached and the pain in my head was growing worse but the soft snoring against my chest pushed me forward still. Every noise in the darkness further encouraged the sinking feeling in my stomach. I didn't want to think abiut trying to fight off another walker, especially in the dark. Sophia seemed like the jittery type and I didn't need her running off as she had done before.
Some part of me knew my only job was to return her back to her family, but another part of me was fond of her. Maybe I was just lonely. Or maybe I knew how she felt....alone, scared, lost. My hand thoughtlessly rubbed the small of her back as I made my way through the thick brush. I sighed at the same time Sophia shifted in her sleep and I decided I should stop now, as I would be no use to her if I didn't rest. I shimmied my bag off onto the ground and gently set her down using the bag as a pillow. Carefully, I untied my jacket from my waist and layed it across her small frame. I mentally smacked myself for leaving my wires back in the clearing.
Looking around me I found as many twigs and fallen branches as I could. I formed a crummy barrier around us. The grass around us was soft enough that if anything stepped on the twigs it would hopefully jolt me awake. I sighed and pulled the gun from my waistband. I eased myself onto the ground and sat with my back against one of the trees. I gave one final listen to the woods around us before switching my light off and closing my eyes.

"Can't you ever learn?"

Glass breaking.

"Why won't you listen to me?"

I felt a cup shatter against the wall by my head.

"What is wrong with you?"
"Momma I'm tryin-"

Cupboards slamming.

"Don't you ever try again! Do you hear me? Leave me the hell alone, Cara."

I stood in the doorway staring back and forth between her and my baby brother.

"Momma...please."

I felt the glass breakin against my skin before I saw the cup leave her hand.

I woke up gasping for air. My hands raked over my arms in violent motions. I couldn't supress the sobs that came from my chest and the tears that fell across my cheeks. I felt someone grab at my wrists and I nearly screamed before one of the hands squeezed over my mouth in an attempt to quiet me.

"Shhh, sh please you gotta be quiet!" The urgency in her voice pulled me back to reality and my eyes shot open.

I could barely make out the sun beginning to rise through the thick clouds above us. Quiet. It was silent around us except for the sharp gasps for air coming from myself. Once I had calmed down enough to breathe normally I turned my attention from the sky to Sophia. She had her hands gripped tightly around the bat, and for a moment I thought she was scared of me. No. She was scared of what I might have alerted to us.
I listened to the trees around us and realized it wasn't as silent as I had first thiught in my panic. However, it wasn't the groans or shuffling of feet that I had feared. It was the scuffling of small animals and birds waking up to the sunrise. Using the bottom of my shirt I wiped away the tears from my face roughly and took a few more deep breaths.

"I... I'm sorry, Sophia, I didn't mean to scare you," I mumbled through my shirt.

"Are you okay?" Her question caught me off guard.

"..I think so," I paused, "Are you?"

She chose to ignore my question and shrugged my jacket on. It hung off of her just as my shirt did. She stood up and held a hand out to me. I used the tree to stand and groaned. My whole body ached. When Sophia finally spoke it startled me.

"I get nightmares, too," she said do quietly I almost missed it.

And with that she began walking towards the main road.