All of Us (The Walking Dead)

Chapter 30

How long had I been out here? 

It was sometime in the middle of the night. The sun had gone down a long time ago, but I still wasn't ready to go back inside the walls. This whole killing walkers to let off steam thing had been really working.

I decided to take a break; my body was exhausted. I didn't hear any walkers around me, so I sat down against a tree on the cold, hard earth. Now that I wasn't moving, I realized how cold it was outside. The temperature dropped significantly in the night, I was just usually inside my house so I never noticed. I was mad at myself that I hadn't changed into something warmer before I came out here. I was still in just a t-shirt, which did nothing to protect me from the harsh winds.

I wasn't sure how long I sat there, but the more time passed by, the harder it was for me to get up. My joints started to feel stiff from the cold and my skin started to sting. I knew I should get up and move around to be ready in case a walker came, but I no longer had the energy. I no longer had the motivation. I hugged myself with my arms to try to stay as warm as I could. My teeth started chattering like crazy and my face felt numb.

Suddenly, I heard something rustling behind me in a bush. Another walker. I stood up slowly, trying not to give away where I was. It was hard to stand up, my joints not working properly, feeling like they were frozen solid. I heard the walker get closer. I stood up and slowly raised my arm, knife in my hand, and when I was ready, I spun around. I started to release the knife with the momentum of the spin, but just before I released it from my grasp, I saw that it wasn't a walker. Just in time, I released it early. My knife stuck in the tree directly on the right of Daryl's head, missing him by inches.

"The hell?" Daryl grunted in shock.

My eyes went wide. I opened my mouth and was about to apologize for almost throwing a knife into his head when I remembered that I was mad at him. I composed myself and tried to calm my rapid beating heart.

I glared at him instead. "What are you doing here? I thought you didn't want to see me?"

"Sloane," Daryl started, sounding annoyed.

"No," I stopped him. "You told me to leave you. You told me you didn't want me to see you. And then you kept me from going with them because I 'wasn't ready'," I made air quotes with my fingers. "You act like you care about me one minute, and then get mad at me the next. What is it that you really want, Darly?"

"I want ya to come back to Alexandria where it's safe," he said, evading my question.

"Daryl, I think you forget that I was on my own for a long time before you found me. I can handle myself," I said. I was so mad, I momentarily forgot that it was freezing cold and I had been out here all night. My teeth started chattering again.

His features softened when he saw how cold I was. "Sloane, yer freezin'. Yer lips are blue. Come back with me," he said more kindly this time. It was so confusing, though. One minute he was mad at me and rude, and the next he seemed to care about me.

I clenched my teeth to stop them from chattering. "I don't want to."

My body started to shake uncontrollably. My skin literally hurt, I was so cold. Daryl stepped closer and put a hand on my back.

"Let's go," he said as he started to guide me back towards Alexandria. I wanted to protest. I wanted to stay out here longer by myself, but I was too cold to say no. All I could do was follow him back. Even walking hurt, my joints feeling like they were ice cold.

We walked in Alexandria and the gates closed behind us. Daryl guided me back to my house and up the stairs to my room. He left me in my room and walked into the bathroom. A moment later, I heard the shower turn on.

Daryl came back out. "Ye' should take a shower. Warm up," he said. He was talking calmly now. He sounded like he cared, as opposed to minutes earlier when we were in the woods and he sounded like I was such a nuisance to his life. Daryl Dixon could give me whiplash with the amount of times he changed his mood.

I nodded my head and then walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind me. I peeled off my clothes and then stepped into the hot shower. At first, the warm water burned my skin the way it does when it clashes against your cold skin, but after a few moments, my skin adjusted and I sighed as the water warmed my cold body.

I spent a long time in the shower. I just stood there, letting the water run down my body. It calmed me down. Now that I wasn't so cold, I realized how tired I was.

I stepped out of the shower and dried off my body. I hadn't remembered to bring in my sleep clothes, so I wrapped the towel around me and opened the door to the bedroom. I slowly walked out and saw Daryl laying down on my bed over the covers.

Daryl turned his head to look at me. When he saw me just in the towel, his eyes quickly looked down my body and then he looked away, giving me my privacy. I grabbed some clothes and then went back into the bathroom to change.

This time when I came out he didn't look at me right away. Daryl sat up and moved to sit on the edge of the bed. I had been mad at Daryl for what felt like so long, but the shower had calmed me down.

"Thanks for coming to get me," I said. I hated to admit it, but it had been stupid of me to go out there without telling anyone and staying out all night in the cold. If even a small group of walkers had come along, I didn't know if I would have been able to stop them all. I was lucky Daryl could track so well, or maybe he just knew me. Whatever it was, he had been the one to come out and find me in the middle of the night.

Daryl didn't say anything. I had learned he wasn't comfortable with someone telling him thank you.

He sat there chewing on his lip. "I should let ya get some sleep," he muttered as he stood up.

I opened my mouth. I wanted to ask him to stay with me the night. I slept so much better when he was beside me. But, I couldn't say the words, because I didn't know how Daryl felt about me.

"Okay," I whispered instead. "Night, Daryl."

He stood there for a moment, like he might say something. But all he ended up saying was, "Night, Sloane." 

He turned and left, shutting the door behind him. At least he would be sleeping close by on the couch downstairs, but more than anything, I had wanted him in bed beside me. 

_______

All of Us reached 1k views!! Thank you so much! I really appreciate it <3

If you're enjoying my story, I would love it if you would comment or vote! It really helps to motivate me:)

Anyways, I'm SO excited to be at chapter 30!

Thanks for reading, Jill