When the dead roam - (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 14 - Trust is earned

Lou held her arms out in front of her, letting the orange flame heart the soft skin of her hands. Blood still stained the pale flesh, each cut on her palm adding a little more crimson to the mix. The tips of her fingers were shaking. The inability of staying calm had become somewhat of a second nature to her and yet she could never stop her entire body trembling. Each breath that escaped her lungs remained shallow. For once, she couldn't calm herself down and she couldn't help by envy she sleeping man across from her. His grip remained tight on the stick he kept. It seemed to be his only weapon against his inevitable death and surprisingly, it was the only one he needed. Not an ounce of her trusted him but the respect she had for Daryl meant putting up with the new stranger until they could arrive safely back at camp.

Daryl sat on her right, sharpening his arrows as he attempted to warm himself up next to the dying fire. Although he was distracting himself, he couldn't help but occasionally glance at the girl next to him. Her raven hair was blowing in the wind, the moonlight bouncing of the silky locks as she threw twigs onto the small flame. For someone who acted so tough, she struggled to cope with loss of those near her and every time she came close to death she seemed to welcome it more.

"Yer daughter" Daryl mumbled quietly "Yer said 'er name was Holly?"

"Yeah" she whispered, looking at her feet before she locked eyes with the muscled man.

"How – how old was she when -"

"When she died?" she smirked, knowing full well Daryl felt awkward asking questions about her past " Seven. She was seven"

"Was she bit?" he asked, placing his arrows next to his bow on the floor and throwing another slab of wood onto the fire.

"No – no she wasn't" Lou said shaking her head and taking a deep breath, "There was a lot of walkers, more than i'd seen before – I needed to lead them away – so I told her my brother would keep her safe and that she needed to keep running"

"And yer never saw 'er again?"

"No I did – I did" she mumbled "But erm - it was too late"

"Sorry" Daryl whispered

"S'arlight – people die, Daryl – Just a shame it was her" she stated, choking back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. "Earlier. You were gonna risk your life for me"

"So?"

"So why? Why would you do that?"

"Look I ain't in the habbit of lettin' people die on my watch" he snapped, clearly annoyed with her question.

"Daryl" she breathed, placing her hand on his knee and turning towards him "I'm – I'm trying to say thank you"

He nodded at her. Confusion swarming his face as he stared at the small hand on his body. Hesitantly he placed his on top of hers, the warmth of his skin heating hers slightly as they connected. His fingers tucked underneath her small finger, squeezing it slightly before he spoke"Yer welcome - you should rest"

Daryl awkwardly removed his hand from hers, allowing her fingers to delicately slide across his, before rubbing his palms together and blowing into the small crack between them.

"Night Daryl"

- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Lou ripped at the squirrel caucus, guts dropping from it's skin as she pulled it away. Surprisingly, it was a refreshing change to have something other than walker blood on her body - these days blood was the easiest thing to get a hold of, human or dead but either way relying on someone else to catch her dinner was highly irritating. Without her bow and arrow she felt completely useless. Hunting and shooting were the only two things she was good at and now all she was able to do was attempt to use a firearms - and she definitely wasn't good at that. Still, gnawing on raw rodent meat was better than starving.

"Name?" she said to the unfamiliar figure that had saved her "What's your name?"

He coughed in reply, looking towards the female with responding

"Oi - she asked yer a question!" Daryl snapped intimidatingly lifting his bow from the leaves beneath him, his eyes never moving from the man in front of them.

"Morgan" he stated with a sigh as he shoved some crimson soaked meat into his mouth. "The names Morgan"

"You saved our ass's yesterday. Why?" Lou asked throwing what remained of her meal into the wilderness behind her.

"I told you, all life is precious - You really need to learn to trust people"

"Trust is earned" she stated pushing herself up from the ground and walking in the direction of their home "Come on - only so much squirrel i can take"

I hope you liked this chapter guys!

Please comment and rate as usual!

- Al