ᴀɴɢᴜɪsʜ » ᴅᴀʀʏʟ ᴅɪxᴏɴ

{22} Step Closer.

"No!" Rick cried out at the top of his lungs.

Willow nearly threw herself onto the ground to attend to Daryl. Her hand rests on his moving chest as he groans in pain. Everything within Willow fights to keep herself from crying. His motionless body too much for her to handle. She watched as his trembling hand touches his temple where the bullet scrapped a nice chunk of his skin just at the edge of his hairline.

"Daryl, " Willow whispered lowly, removing his hand from the wound. With wild eyes, she glosses over his filthy body, noticing blood trickle from underneath the once crisp long sleeve shirt wrapped just above his waist. There is so much blood covering his flesh, Willow can't determine what truly happened.

Removing her eyes from the blood, she gawks down at a handmade necklace. Human ears attached around a single shoelace. The Sharktooth necklace gone, replaced with this.

"What the hell happened?" Willow spoke to herself whilst cradling the side of his face.

A hand snatch at her elbow, moving her roughly to the side. Willow is stunned but recovers quickly, glaring towards Shane. He and Rick pull Daryl up from the ground, wrapping each arm around their necks.

"I was kiddin', " Daryl says in a weak tone before passing out.

Willow stumbles to her feet with damp eyes, unable to keep her emotions in check once his body completely becomes limp. "Daryl, " Willow's voice cracked, the fear of losing him too overbearing.

"Oh my, God!" Andrea's voice gasped from a few feet away as she ran down the field.

Just the sound of her sobbing voice cause Willow to grow irritable and impulsive. In rage, Willow moved past Shane to reach Andrea. Tears rolled down her cheeks as her feet crunch the grass underneath her boots. In a swift motion, Willow swats her hand forward, slapping Andrea across the cheek.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Willow practically screams as Glenn attempts to take ahold of her arm, but he is powerless to stop Willow.

"Hunter! No!" Rick spat, unable to stop what is unfolding before him.

"I'm -" Andrea held her cheek, shocked. She didn't think anyone would have the nerve to hit her. Not anyone from camp. Especially not Willow. "I'm sorry. Is he dead? Did I -"

"No! But you could have! Do you ever listen, Andrea? Do you ever think before doing something you're told not to do?" With every word, Willow's voice grew louder. "You want to prove yourself so bad, huh? So do I but I'm not going around shooting people! Listen to orders, or so help me God -"

Before anything else could be said, Dale pushes himself in between the two women. He held out his hand towards Willow, giving her a very fatherly type look. Andrea is silent, attempting to process the aggression coming from Hunter. This wasn't the woman she met back on the road. This woman is demanding and quite intimidating.

"Willow, that is enough," Rick growled.

Letting out a huff, Willow snaps her head back towards Rick, Shane, and Daryl's motionless body.

"He's unconscious, " Rick breathed. "You just grazed him."

Walking backward, Willow watch Daryl's head bob up and down. His hair a tangled mess. Dirty and wild.

"But look at him, " Glenn points his pickax at Daryl. Willow wanders around the three men and took Daryl's heavy crossbow from out his loose grasp. "What the hell happened?"

Willow carefully swings the strap of the crossbow onto her shoulders. Adjusting the weapon so it wouldn't bump into her quiver or dig into the middle of her back.