ANGEL FACE ➵ DARYL DIXON [2]

Chapter Sixteen: Catching Up

Chapter 16

Daylight evolved into night fast, black the fear and fuel of bad dreams. Howls and hoots circled the land. But that's all they where. Sounds. It was just the group and the hot, smokey fire they had created and sculpted all night long. People took turns, watching and on guard of any trouble. It wasn't a secret that they were still on high alert of any survivors of a Terminus pure breed, terrified to see any of their unforgettable faces appear out of the unknown and sink their cannibal teeth into their necks.

The trees were almost stripped naked by now, their clothes on the forest floor getting ate by bugs. Jane struggled to stay awake as it was her turn, her weary eyes sauntering the surroundings. Of what she could see anyway. Until a tap of a shoulder made her jump, but the touch wasn't dangerous. The touch was her bloodline.

"Hey," Kendra whispers to her mother, the group scattered throughout the premises, but in range sight, "how are you holding up?"

With that, she yawns, stretching her weak arms up into the dark sky. Her appearance looks drained, days that she has had a good night's sleep.

"Alright," she lies, her body just about to go into shut down.

"It's okay, mum. I'll take over," Kendra says.

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"That's my girl. Always so strong."

Kendra cringes and smiles at the same time, her mother getting up from the rock she was sitting on, and laying beside Kai instead. Instally, he throws an arm over her, bringing her in closer. Again, Kendra smiles, her mother needing someone like Kai. But it doesn't change the fact that if her father walked into the campsite right now, Kai would never compare to him. Her father will always be apart of her, his death still fresh like a piece of picked fruit from a bush.

And probably for a long, long time.

She sits down on the rock that has a slight curve, watching her white breath transcend into the starry sky. She watches closely, how her white trails mix with the smoke of the fire, the two both different and from different backgrounds, yet working cohesively to create something beautiful. The next thing Kendra knew, she couldn't tell either or apart, too in it together to break apart and go there separate ways.

She sighs, hugging herself to keep warm.

"Mind if I join ya?"

Kendra turns around to a dark silhouette. Her heart lights up.

She pats the rock with her hand, scouting over so he had enough room to sit down beside her. He sits down looking at her with a face of mystery.

"Why ain't ya asleep?" He asks, sparking a cigarette.

"Why aren't you?" She fires back playfully, but then the smile disappears, "we don't sleep anymore."

Daryl inhales sharply. Kendra's stare won't break.

"What?" He questions, taking the cigarette away from his mouth.

He stretches his arm out, the cigarette snuggled in between his fingers.

"Want a bit?"

Kendra immediately scoffs, pushing his hand away that held the burning orange ember at the tip.

"You know I don't smoke," she says with a soft, lazy smile.

"Jus' makin' sure," he replies.

"Those things will kill you someday," she says, watching his smoke flare.

"Yep," he mutters, "if you don't get there first."

She nudges his shoulder with her own, pretending to be offended. While she was doing this, Daryl instead wraps his arm around her shoulder from stopping the act. She eventually gives in, snuggling up against him. The familiar feeling of Kendra's touch makes Daryl giddy inside. A small smile on his face was the only thing that could prove it.

"I love moments like this," Kendra admits, "it's so rare now... Don't you?"

A gentle squeeze was the answer. She cuddled in more to the aroma of cancer.

"Daryl?" She pipes up.

"Hmm?"

"What happened?" 

He exhales. He knew what she ment.

"What?"

She scouts closer, like she didn't want anyone else to hear. She twirls a loose strain of his long brown hair with her finger while she replies.

"The bursies on your face. The deaths. The missing... Everything."

She looks deep into his blue eyes. If he didn't reply, then maybe she could look deeper to see the story unfold in his expanding black pupils. All she got was a grunt, followed by a groan of two words.

"Not now."

"Why?" She asks, and like Daryl didn't have to answer, she yawns.

"Think that jus' about sums it up," he tells her, rubbing her back that's slouched over to his side, "c'mon, I'll keep watch, huh? Get some sleep."

"What if this is all one big dream?" She randomly states, catching Daryl off guard.

He doesn't reply.

"I mean... What if...?" She looms, "when I wake up, I'll be back in my bed. Markus is alive. Dad is alive. Merle? All the people we have met don't exist in the real world. They're all apart of my different personalities I have got. All in my head. All in my mind. This is where they have all came from.

"I'm a writer... Well, was. What if I'm writing this story right now, and I've managed to get stuck into it. Somebody, somewhere, is reading it right this very second. Their eyes are reading every word, and when I just said that, they got scared, because they are reading this! And when they have finished with this story, or series if I'm writing more, we just all die! That's it! It's over, Daryl. We cease to live, because there's nothing more to the story! God, I hope they keep re-reading to keep us all alive."

Speechless. That's what Daryl is. He wonders when the last time she has slept, or how many times she has thought her thoughts, and now finally saying them out loud.

She's crazy, he thinks. The lack of sleep and constant fear would make anyone insane.

Or has she just broke the fourth wall?

Rubbing her brown eyes, she places her head on Daryl's shoulder, "I'm crazy, I know."

The scent of smoke vanishes, Daryl stepping on his cigarette and crushing it with one stomp.

Looking down at her with a small grin, he replies, "so what? All the best people are."