Living For A Reason - The Walking Dead Fanfiction

Chapter 7 - Gone

"Then he had said-" I've kind of been ignoring Daryl as he's been talking. He's in the process if telling me a story from when he was growing up. I basically just laughed whenever his grin got bigger, and that was enough to fool him into thinking that I was listening.

I saw his grin get wider, so I forced a small laugh, my eyes still focused on the road.

"I knew you weren't listening to me." I turned to look at a smirking Daryl. "You didn't even hear what I said did you?" He asked, the smirk still permanently plastered onto his face.

"I, um, no." I smiled, putting my eyes back on the road.

I knew it was rude that I wasn't listening, but I had a lot on my mind. I was thinking about what Rick said with the group of men, and I was thinking about them beating Daryl, and I was thinking about my family, and just everything. Everything seemed to be running through my mind all at once.

"What're you thinkin about?" Daryl asked, as if reading my mind. He leaned against the door, still facing my direction.

"How bad did they beat you?" I asked straight forwardly, looking at Daryl in the eyes. I could tell from his eyes that he knew who I was talking about. "And don't lie to me."

"Not to bad." Daryl said, rubbing his chin. I gave him the look to let him know that I think he's lying. "Really. A black eye, a busted lip, and a couple bruised ribs. That's all."

"That sounds bad to me." I said turning away from him and watching the road.

"Trust me Am, it wasn't that bad. When you grow up with an abusive father, that's nothing." Daryl said softly, obviously not wanting to bring up his father, but he did so anyway.

"Sorry." I whispered. "I'm just worried."

"Don't be worried about me Am. I ain't goin no where." I looked at Daryl once more and saw him give me a genuine smile. Possibly the first one I've ever seen him give off.

I took one hand off the steering wheel and rested it in his. I felt Daryl's strong fingers interlock with mine as we sat in a peaceful silence.

A couple of minutes later I heard a honk from one of the cars behind us. That was a sign that we needed to pull over. I slowly brought the Mustang to a stop and hopped out of the car, walking towards the rest of the group.

"What's up?" I asked, Daryl showing up by my side.

"Beth was getting car sick." Carol said quietly, rocking a sleeping Judith in her arms. "We wanted to stop so she could get a little fresh air."

I turned to my left to see Beth on the side of the road bending over with her hands on her knees. I cringed and looked away as she began to throw up.

"Alright." I sighed and looked up at the sky, my eyes squinting against the sun. "It seems to be about midday, might as well get some hunting done or something."

"I got that." Daryl said stepping off to the side. "I'll got get us somethin."

"Rick and I can walk the road a little bit and siphon fuel from some cars." Glenn suggested. I nodded in agreement.

"I'll go with you." Maggie spoke up. "Might as well do something useful."

I watched Glenn, Rick, and Maggie walk off down the road and I stepped over to Daryl.

"I'll go hunting with you." I frowned as I saw him shake his head.

"Nah," His rough voice grumbled. "I'll go alone." I opened my mouth to argue but he cut me off. "You've been drivin for hours, get some rest. You could use it." Daryl kissed the top of my head and walked off into the woods by himself.

I groaned. There was no way I was going to sleep. So instead, I walked over to Beth who was sitting by herself, still looking queasy.

"How're you feeling?" I asked putting my hand on her shoulder.

"I'm ok." She muttered softly, forcing a smile. "Oh, Carol went back into the car with Judith. Just to make sure she doesn't wake up."

"Alright." I looked around to find Jane, who was leaning against a tree twirling her knife in her hand. I walked over to her. "Hey."

"Hey." She replied not looking up from her knife.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

"No," Jane shook her head. "Just thinkin." I gave her a look telling her to keep going. "You're group is so... odd." She looked back down at her knife. "They're so nice, but so cut off. Like they don't trust me or something."

"They went through some bad stuff after I left, Jane. They'll warm up to you, I'm sure." I gave her a reassuring smile. She returned it with her own.

Her smile was the last thing I saw before something hit me in the back if the head and everything went black.

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Daryl's POV
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I walked the forest, three squirrels attached to my hip, searching for more food to come back with.

Being alone in the forest gave me time to think. I thought about Amelia and how lucky the group was to find her. I was surprised to find out that she was still looking for her family. I would've thought that she's given up by now. It's been months since she left. You'd think since she hasn't found any kind of lead on them, that she would've stopped looking.

My thoughts were cut short when I heard something shuffling around. I instantly lifted my crossbow, looking for the source of the sound. I turned to see something rustling around in a bush. I took a small step towards it and the rustling seized. I took another step and shot an arrow when something jumped out.

"Just a damn rabbit." I muttered picking it up and attaching it to my hip with the squirrels.

I looked up at the sky and saw it was getting dark. Had I really been out here that long? I decided it'd be best to head back to the cars, so we could start moving again.

When I got back, Rick, Glenn, Maggie, Carol, and Carl all stared at me, worry obviously taking over there faces.

I looked around. Amelia, Beth, and Jane were no where to be seen.

"Daryl..." Rick's voice trailed off a bit. He opened his mouth to speak again, but I beat him to it.

"Where is she?" I asked, my eyes set on his.

"She's gone, Daryl." Glenn spoke softly from behind Rick.

"What the hell do you mean she's gone?" I growled, curling my fingers into a tight fist.

"Amelia, Beth, and Jane." Rick spoke up again. "They've all been kidnapped."