A Survivor's Diary of the Apocalypse (TWD/Daryl Dixon)

S2Pt10 - The Stories Behind the Scars

It was the next morning and I found myself waking up from sleeping in a chair all night. I was still holding Daryl's hand and he was sound asleep. Bud ran in here sometime last night and laid next to Daryl's feet. I gently let go of his hand and wrote him a note, just so he wouldn't worry where I was when he woke up.
"I went outside to walk around the farm. I'll see you later. Don't push yourself." -Kelley
I walked over to Bud and kissed him. I then called him with me, and we left Hershel's house and walked around the farm. I saw Lori sitting on a bench by a shed and Carl was feeding some chickens. I sat down next to Lori and watched Carl with her.
"I never really thanked you for saving Carl." Lori said.
I smiled at her and then looked at Carl. "There's no need. I'd do anything for him." I said.
Lori nodded and held my hand and I nodded back. Carl then ran over to us and smiled when he saw me.
"Kelley! Do you want to feed the chickens with me?" He asked excitedly.
I held out my hand and he gave me some feed. I tossed it on the ground and fed the chickens with Carl. Once we ran out of food, I came up with another fun idea.
"Hey Carl?" I said and he looked at me. "Have you ever ridden a horse before?"
Carl smiled wide and looked at his mother for permission. She nodded and we all walked over to the stables. Carl chased Bud over to the horses and me and Lori laughed together. Once there, I then saddled up the horse I've been riding for the past couple days, and Carl watched me warm up the horse. The group gathered around to watch and I even saw Daryl show up. I dismounted the horse and let Carl get on. I walked him around a little bit and then showed him how to control the horse himself. I gave him the reins and let go, while still walking by his side. Carl was so happy. I then grabbed the reins and started jogging, making the horse trot, and Carl was laughing. Everyone was cheering him on and once he was done, I helped him get off. I then hopped back on and began riding.
I've missed riding so much and felt happier when on a horse. Everyone watched me as I trotted and cantered in circles and really bonded with the horse. I looked down and saw Daryl smiling at me, and I waved to him. A few minutes later, I dismounted and put the horse away. The crowd dispersed and I walked over to Daryl. He opened his arms, and I now felt safe enough to give him a hug.
"You're not mad at me anymore right?" He asked me.
I smiled and shook my head. "There's no time to be angry. It's not worth it." I said.
He smiled and I kissed his cheek. He grabbed my hand and we walked around the farm together.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rick was talking about getting a group together to go practice shooting and the word was getting around. Daryl was cleaning his motorcycle outside of his tent. I was sitting on a log watching him, and Bud was chewing on a bone I gave him. Carl then walked up to me and he stood still.
"Can I help you?" I said and chuckled.
"I want to go shooting with everyone else." Carl said.
Daryl stopped cleaning his bike and we looked at each other.
"Carl. That's not my choice. You have to ask your parents." I said, not wanting to get involved.
"But can you talk to them? They'll listen to you." He begged.
I sighed and Daryl shrugged at me, not knowing what to say. He was staring at me with puppy eyes and I gave in.
"Fine." I said. "I'll talk with them."
He ran up to me and hugged me tight. "Thank you Kelley." He said.
I felt something hard in his back pocket and got a bad feeling.
He let go and was about to leave when I grabbed him hand.
"Carl. What's that in your pocket?" I asked.
He hesitated but pulled out a small pistol from his pocket. I held out my hand and he gave it to me.
"Hey. That's my pistol." Daryl said and noticed the gun in my hand. "Did you steal this out of my bag?" He asked.
"I'm sorry." Carl said. "I just want a gun like the rest of you guys."
I sighed and stood up. I handed Daryl his gun back and I could tell he was upset. Before Daryl said anything I stopped him.
"He said he's sorry." I told Daryl. "Let his parents deal with it."
Daryl nodded, and Carl and I walked away to find his parents. Outside of the RV I saw Rick and Lori and sat Carl down on the bench. They looked at me confused and I just shook my head.
"I just found out Carl took one of Daryl's guns." I told them.
"You stole from them?" Lori freaked out.
"You got your gun back?" Rick asked, and I nodded yes.
"He wants to learn how to shoot. I'm more than happy to teach him but I told him to ask you guys." I said.
"He does need to learn how to protect himself." Rick said, and I nodded in agreement.
"The kid was just shot and you want him to have a gun?" Lori said, and I could tell she was nervous.
"Better than him being afraid of them." Rick said.
"He's not mature enough." Lori said.
"I'm not going to play with it mom. I know it's not a toy." Carl spoke up. "I just want to help find Sophia."
Lori looked at Carl and grabbed his chin. "You listen to your dad and Kelley. And if I even hear anything about you screwing around, you're done."
Carl nodded his head and walked over to my side. Rick gathered up the group and a couple trucks and we headed out to a homemade gun range.
At the gun range, Carl hit most of the targets. Rick taught him how to keep his balance and I taught him some tips on how to aim. By the end of the day, Carl proved he was a great shot, and earned the privilege of a gun.

~~~~~~~~~~

Later that evening, I wasn't with Daryl but couldn't find him either. I decided to look in the room he was staying in and found him.
I saw him standing in front of the dresser with no shirt on and looking at himself in the mirror. I saw that his back had scars all over it, as if they were from a whip. Before he could put his shirt back on, I walked up to him and touched his back. I traced over one of the scars gently with my fingers.
"When I-" Daryl began talking.
"You don't have to tell me." I said. "I understand."
"I have to Kell..." Daryl said and turned around to face me. "My father was an aggressive drunk. He always took his anger out on his kids, and when Merle left, it was just me. I haven't seen his ever since I was 18."
I trailed my fingers across his chest and sighed. "My father was like that too." I said. "He hit us, threatened us, abused us in every way you can imagine." I sighed and shook my head, reminiscing on the memories.
"What happened to him?" Daryl asked.
"I called the cops and sent him to jail. Haven't seen him since." I said.
Me and Daryl looked at each other in silence. I didn't know how to explain it, but I felt like we connected with each other. We had something in common and I believe that is what made me feel drawn to him.
"I love you." I whispered and hugged him.
He hugged me back and kissed my head. "I love you too."
I looked him in the eyes and traced his lips with my thumb. He leaned forwards and kissed me for a long moment.
"I'm here for you." I said after kissing him. "I always will be."
Daryl put a new shirt on and grabbed my hand.
"Me too. Now let's go eat." He said and we left the house.
The sun was setting outside and the group was sitting around a fire and eating some food. Me and Daryl joined them and he got me a bowl of meat.
I sat down next to him and he wrapped his arm around my waist. Everyone already knew about... us. I never used the term "boyfriend" with him, but I thought of him as one and he did too. Bud laid down next to us and rested his head in my lap.
Tonight was nice and quiet, and everyone was relaxing around the warm fire. Glenn suddenly got up and looked around.
"Hey guys. Listen up." Glenn said.
We all looked at him and his hands were shaking. We could all tell he was nervous and didn't have good news. A long paused filled the air and it was awkwardly silent.
"So, the barn is full of walkers." He finally said.
I dropped my food due to shock of what he just said. Everyone stared at him in disbelief, and then looked over at the barn. Silence invaded the air and everyone was stunned.
"Why?" I thought.
The one word that filled my head was just, "Why?"