Daryl Dixon x Reader One-shots

Kidnapped Daryl x Teen!Goth!Reader (requested)

(Requested by Ao3 user Miss Noir)
(In which Daryl is kidnapped by a deranged doctor and held captive in a mental institution)

***

The springs of the old uncomfortable mattress creaked with relief as you stood up off the bed, wiping your eyes lazily. The morning sun filtered through the barred windows and you sighed. You clumsily pulled on your black ripped jeans and black t-shirt before tying on some heavy combat boots. God, you were tired. Something about spending all day in this mental institution seemed to really drain you. It had drained you the day you were first admitted to the hospital, and it drained you still today – a ripe 5 years later. Granted, you hadn't spent 5 consecutive years here, but it sometimes felt like it. This place has a way of making you feel like you'd never left.

It was your PTSD that landed you within the dull white walls, where you stayed for 2 years in the process of recovery. After that, you transitioned from being an inpatient to an outpatient, which meant you came here 3 times a week for therapy after granted freedom. When the dead started coming alive and gunshots became as common as the rattling cicadas outside, it made the... bad thoughts come back. The flashbacks started again. The intrusive thoughts. The insomnia. So you went to the only place that made you feel safe - the institution

You quietly shuffled your way out of the plain room and into what once was the rec room. Well, if you could call it that. There was nothing recreational about it since the television no longer worked, so the only entertainment was a single chess table and a comfy couch.

A wide yawn escaped its way out of you, stopping dead halfway in fright. What the hell? You hastily rubbed your eyes just in case it was a trick of the light. But when you opened up your eyes, he was still there. His lean arms were bound behind his back and a piece of cloth was tied around his mouth, gagging him. Greasy brown hair stuck to his clammy forehead. His eyebrows were furrowed as he glared at you. But there he was. Just sitting on the sofa.

"Who the fuck are you?" You barked at the stranger, though feeling no need to protect yourself. He was tied up after all.

The stranger grunted angrily, reminding you of his inability to speak. You shook your head, rubbing your temples tiredly. David was at it again. You couldn't believe it.

Impatiently you marched your way over to the man and ripped the cloth from between his teeth.

"Let me go!" The stranger immediately growled, anger making his nostrils flare.

Sighing, you sat next to him. "I'm sorry," you mumbled while offering him an apologetic smile. He didn't respond, but he looked puzzled.

"I'm sorry that he took you," you continued, "It's David. He does this all the time. It's just some kind of experiment –"

Before you could finish, David hurried into the room, his white doctor's coat flying behind him. Beneath the salt and pepper stubble that dotted his skin in patches his face looked deeply concerned.

"Good morning, y/n. I see you've met test subject number 97," David said gesturing to the bound stranger, making you sigh.

David was some kind of doctor before everything happened. But he seemed to form an interest in recording the amount of time between the death of a human and their rise as a corpse – pretty twisted, but for him it's a science. And the mental hospital had all the equipment he needed. It was perfect. So he stayed here with you, sharing the large building. He was a pretty good housemate, the only downside being the people he kidnapped and murdered.

"He's not a test subject, David, he's a human. We've talked about this," you eyed the stranger and rolled your eyes in exasperation.

"He won't be human for much longer, so it doesn't really matter," the doctor retorted as he scribbled something down on a nearby notepad. The stranger opened his mouth as if to speak, but you quickly placed a finger to your lips to shush him. You'd learned by test subject number 12 that David only killed them faster if they spoke too much.