Rotting Hearts

Chapter 5: Back to the Highway

A/N: Sorry this took awhile. I had a little case of writers block. What am I talking about? I've only written like 5 chapters, how could I have writers block already?

Im so weird.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! It will be a little longer than my other chapters. I'm going to dive deeper into Annabelle and Daryl's past! :)

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"I saw a department store a couple blocks away from here. I'm going to check it out today, wanna come with?"

"No. I'm going to fix up the walls around here. Make sure none of those rotters get in. Not after what happened to CJ." I could see the sadness on his face.

"Alright. Well im going to go now." I pulled on my boots and stuck my knife in my left boot. I gave him a small hug before I left.

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I found a lot of stuff. Food and water, clothes, and even some weapons. I made my way back to the house, dragging the bags because they were so full. There were wood panels around the perimeter of the house.

I made sure there were no walkers around before I yelled, "Dad!"

He didn't respond. "Dad! You will never believe what I found!" Dad? Dad?"

I started to get nervous. I peered into the kitchen and saw two walkers. One on the ground and one walking around. I looked closer and saw the worst thing I could ever see.

"Dad! Dad!" Tears blurred my vision.

"Dad!"

"Annabelle! Anna! Wake up!"

I opened my eyes and Daryl was hovering over me, lightly shaking me.

"You ok? I heard you yelling. Are you crying?"

"Im ok. Just a bad dream." I wiped my eyes.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"I dont know. It's kind of personal." I've never told anyone about what happened and I wasn't sure if I wanted to.

"My mom used to say that the best way to get over something is to let it all out and tell someone."

"I still dont know." Why did he want me to tell him so bad?

"Come on, I dont like seeing you sad like this."

"Wouldn't telling you make me more sad?"

"You know what I mean."

I took a deep breath, "Ok."

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By the time I was done telling him the story I could feel tears falling down my face.

"Wow. Im so sorry."

"Yeah. That was the worst day of my life."

"My mom died when I was really young." Even though it was dark I could see the expression on his face sadden instantly.

"Im so sorry." I told him.

"I was nine. I can remember it like it was yesterday. It was sunny, barely any clouds in the sky. I was playing with some of the neighborhood boys. We stayed out all day. Around four or five in the evening we heard sirens- a lot of sirens. We could see smoke in the distance. All the other boys had bikes but I didn't, so they took off and I followed. I ran all the way to my street. The boys were staring at me like they were waiting for me. Then I saw it. My house was burned down. There was almost nothing left. I looked all around for my mom and Merle. I could care less about my dad. I didnt see her. Finally I found my dad and Merle talking to a police man. I ran over frantically. My dad looked down at me right in the eyes and said with no emotion in his voice or on his face," She's dead." His voice was shaky by the time he finished.

I could feel tears rolling down my cheeks once again. "Daryl. I am so sorry." I reached out and hugged him. He tensed up. I could tell he wasn't used to gentle touch.

"You know, I've never told anyone about my dad."

"The last time I talked about my mom was at her funeral. It wasnt even a proper funeral. Merle and I buried her ashes and put some flowers in the ground. My dad didn't show up. He was too drunk. He didnt even love her."

I tried to lighten the mood a little bit, "Your dad sounds like an asshole."

Daryl chuckled a little, "He was."

We sat there for a few minutes not talking. I looked over at Daryl admiring the strong sensitive man. He looked back at me. After a couple of seconds he leaned forward. Then I leaned forward slowly until our lips touched. His rough, chapped lips felt good against my soft ones. It was slow and steady, but nice. It felt like an eternity before we both pulled back.

I cleared my throat, "We should, uh, probably get some sleep."

"Sure." He stood up and walked over to the couch. I laid down and rolled onto my side so that I wasn't facing him. That was awkward. I definantly wasn't expecting him to kiss me. I sat there for a few minutes until I finally closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

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I woke up to the sound of Daryl walking around the cabin searching for anything we might have missed. He came into the living room and stopped abruptly when he saw me awake.

He cleared his throat, "Good morning."

"Morning." I replied. So he didn't forget about the kiss.

"I, uh, found some clothes and food. We should start to head back."

"Yeah. The rest of the group is probably worried."

Soon we left. We were silent most of the time, only stopping to talk when we heard a strange noise. After an hour or two we made it back to the highway.

A/N: its kind of an abrupt ending but whatever. I dont have my computer to watch the episodes so I kind of had to base the story of Daryl's mom by memory and research. I hope you liked this chapter!