1. I Found

-beaten and bruised-

TRIGGER WARNINGS: YES, MENTIONS OF SELF HARM AND ABUSE. 

IF YOU DO NOT FEEL COMFORTABLE READING THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER I UNDERSTAND. 

Considering Daryl wanted nothing to do with small talk, they managed to talk almost the entire time. 

It's just simple talk about bikes, mostly.

They were about 45 minutes in before Dale's RV gave up on itself; with that being the most significant mode of transport they had, they had to get it fixed.

As well as that, Jim, one of the members of the camp, was bitten, and he was currently dying in the back of the RV, struggling to stop himself from letting go. 

Daryl and Theo stayed in the truck while the others fussed about it.

"Do you want some water?" She offered Daryl her water, and he happily took it from her as she removed her hoodie, as it was a hot day. 

However, she forgot about Shane grabbing her that morning, her arm coming up in minor bruises, which were easily noticeable. 

Daryl had to double-look at her before saying something. 

"Where do you get that? You trip and fall again?" he asked sarcastically. Daryl knew something was happening, and from how Shane controlled her yesterday, he suspected it had something to do with him.

"Yeah,'' She said, not wanting to get into this now.

"Are you going to tell me who is hurting you?" he turned to face her completely.

"No one is hurting me", she lied, looking forward.

He then grabbed her arm, not as hard as Shane and looked closer.

***

"No one, huh, so why are there clear finger marks?" he asked, turning her wrist to reveal many scars that her tattoos had hidden.

He looked at her arm in shock before letting go as she pulled back her arm quickly.

"And I thought I had it fucking hard," he said as she looked away from him.

"You don't know shit, asshole", she snapped as she put her hoody back on and left the truck to walk over to see what was going on.

Daryl sat in the truck, watching her leave. 

He sighed before closing his eyes in regret. 

"Fuck" He snapped at himself before following after her. 

"What's going on?" Theo asked, walking up to the group. Daryl followed after her, and guilt washed over him completely.

"Jim knows what he wants. He wants to be left alone, and he wants us to go and leave him," Rick told everyone after talking to Jim himself.

"Really?" Theo asked, shocked; in a time like this, why would he want to die alone?

"Yeah, and if that's what he wants, it's only fair we give that to him," Dale said sadly.

A few moments passed, and Shane and Rick carried him out of the RV, placing him against a tree and up a small bank.

Everyone said their goodbyes. Theo was not close to the man personally, so she watched from a distance, giving him a small smile as she walked away.

Theo knew how fucked up this world was before the dead started walking, but this world was also so cruel.

Dale managed to get the RV running again before they set off again.