The Devils Eyes •Daryl Dixon•

S I X T Y - T H R E E : B L O O D - L U S T

It's not until I hear a voice and feet circling around me until I realize I've been sitting here sulking for hours.

I feel the men surround me and I know I should get up to fight back, but I don't have it in me.

I'd failed in keeping everyone safe.

It wasn't until one of them lightly kicked my knee that I sprang up, knocking him down with my crossbow as I aimed the tip at him while the men cocked their guns at me.

"Damn it hold up!" the man shouted to his men as he place his finger against his bloodied nose.

"I'm claiming the vest," one of the men said from behind me. "I like them wings."

"I said hold up," the man on ground repeated as he brought his finger back and looked at the blood smear.

He began to chuckle as he stood up.

"A bowman," he said as he continued to wipe the blood from his nose. "I respect that. See, a man with a rifle, he could have been a photographer or soccer coach back in the day. But a bowman's a bowman through and through." 

I don't lower my crossbow, I wasn't going to show weakness to these men. They were dangerous and I wasn't going to take any chances.

"You pull that trigger, there boys are gonna drop you several times over, that what you want?" he scoffed.

I wouldn't care if I died, but I wouldn't go down without a fight.

"Come on fella, suicide is stupid. Why hurt yourself when you can hurt other people?"

The hell is wrong with this dude.

I still don't lower the crossbow.

"Name's Joe," the man grinned cheekly at me.

I don't respond at first.

What choice did I have?

If I wanted to live I'd have to suck it up and snake my way into the group.

"Daryl," I muttered as I lowered my crossbow while the men surrounding me lowered their guns.

<>

The sun was peeking over the trees as I fixed my crossbow at a small rabbit, remaining perfectly still.

I sent a bolt, while I felt another arrow whiz by me as two arrows dug itself into the rabbit, killing it on contact.

I spun around to look at Len, the prick who had tried claiming my vest earlier. "What the hell you doing?"

I stood up and walked over to the corpse.

"Catching me some breakfast," he shrugged.

"That's mine," I growled.

"My arrows the one that hit first," he scoffed. "Cottontail belongs to me."

"Been out here since the sun came up," I bent down and pulled out the arrows.

"You see the rules of the hunt, don't mean jack out here," I stood up and tunred around to face him. "Now that rabbit you're holding is claimed, boy." He scowled as I threw his arrow out into the forest.  "Claimed wether you like it or not."

"It ain't yours," I muttered as I walked closer to him.

I walked behind him, not wanting to delve into the argument with this man.

"You know," he chuckled. "I bet its this bitch, got you all messed up huh? Am I right?" I gritted my teeth as I stopped, and turned around to face him with a glare in my eyes.