𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐔𝐌 (𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝐷𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛)

𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑟𝑡𝑦 𝑂𝑛𝑒

Shane dragged me by the arm to the SUV and flung me towards the hood. My palms only had a second to slam against the cold metal before my knees buckled underneath me and I fell to the rocky asphalt.

"Get up," Shane's voice growled behind me. His hands lifted me from the ground and faced me towards the car again.

"I thought you were a cop. What happened to 'Protect and Serve'?" I asked him in a trembling voice.

He pushed my face down onto the hood and the gash above my brow collided with the hard surface. I clenched my teeth and contained a groan as a sharp pain exploded around the side of my face.

"Honey, you don't know shit about me. I'm the only one keeping this group safe, not Rick. Definitely not your boy Daryl."

A chill ran down my arms and legs. I wished he were there. I wished I never followed Lori into that damn car.

"You call this protecting the group?" I felt the air leave my lungs as Shane leaned forward and pressed his weight onto my back.

"You were never really part of the group, just some stray Rick picked up off the side of the road," he said into my ear. "I call this putting you in your place."

Shane raked his fingers through my hair and twisted it around his hand. I winced as I felt his belt buckle roughly grind against my jeans and silently prayed for help.

"Lori's still out there, she could be in danger!" I reminded him in a desperate attempt to distract his thoughts. Where were the dead when I needed them? All it would take was one walker, just something to get him off of me.

"Don't worry, this gon' be real quick."

The sound of an oncoming engine made everything come to a stop. Shane loosened his grip around my hair and I felt him lean to the side. Only a couple seconds passed before the noise died out and I heard a door quickly open and slam shut.

"Guess who's here," Shane chuckled dryly. He let go of my hair and pulled me up from the hood with his hand on my upper arm. I glanced at the spot where my face once was and spotted a tiny patch of blood standing out against the metallic coloring of the car.

We stepped out into the headlights of a truck parked a few meters away and I squinted my eyes to get a better look at the approaching figure.

"Shane!" 

At the sound of his southern drawl, my breath stopped in my throat. Daryl stepped into full view with his crossbow raised and pointed at Shane. I felt him tug me to the left so that I was standing in front of him, with his other hand resting heavily on my shoulder.

"How bout' you put the crossbow down Pocahontas? You're gonna shoot somebody's eye out," Shane taunted him.

"Let her go," Daryl snapped. There was something different in his voice. His face rested in a deep scowl, yet the words coming out of his mouth were mixed with hints of both anger and fear.

"Sounds like your boyfriend ain't too happy that you're out past curfew," Shane said to me, but still loud enough so that Daryl was able to hear.

"You gon' make me say it again?!"

I watched as Daryl's chest heaved up and down as he slowly took a step forward. He seemed antsy and his finger hovered over the trigger of his crossbow. Shane was at least a foot taller than me: Daryl could've easily made the shot if he wanted to, but he was holding back.

A familiar rasping noise suddenly came from the nearby trees and I turned my head to see a lone walker straggling out of the woods, drawn out from all our shouting, no doubt. I didn't know if it was due to the stress from being manhandled or from my concussion, but for a quick second, I saw my brother's face plastered onto the emaciated corpse, snapping his jaws open and shut at the thought of tearing into any one of our flesh. I blinked, and then he was gone.

"Nah," Shane answered. I gasped in surprise as his hands shoved me forward and the sharp pebbles of the road met my palms and knees. "I gotta go get Lori."

With a loud grunt from somewhere behind me, the walker was silenced. Warm tears silently traveled down to the tip of my nose and splashed onto the asphalt as I listened to Shane get back into his car and quickly drive away. Soft footsteps made their way to me and I lifted my head to see Daryl's fingertips being extended out to me. I wiped my cheeks on my arm and swiftly brushed off the tiny rocks embedded into the palms of my hands. Without meeting his gaze, I took his hand and we both made our way to the truck for a silent ride back to the farm.

✯✯✯

Daryl anxiously paced back and forth in front of the illuminated porch of the farmhouse with his crossbow hanging over his shoulder. The only thing he could think about was the girl. She explained to him that she and Lori had gotten into a car accident and that the Sheriff's wife had decided to keep going while Charlotte tried to make her way back. Daryl didn't press any further and let her rest her head against the window for the rest of the ride. When the two first arrived, everyone crowded around her. Daryl ignored them and quickly led the girl into the farmhouse, where Maggie and Patricia agreed to check her out. 

Daryl didn't know how long he had been waiting for someone to come out and update him, but he felt himself growing restless. Just as he decided to go inside and check for himself, the front door suddenly opened. The girl stepped out wearing a bandage that covered the gash above her eyebrow, looking calmer than before, yet still shaken. Her eyes widened slightly with surprise as she set her sights on Daryl.

"Hey, I didn't know you were out here," she tucked a strand of her loose hair behind her ear and came down the porch steps. "I thought you went back to your cave," A lifeless grin accompanied her little joke. Daryl shook his head and impulsively scratched at his chin.

"Just wanted to make sure you were good." He hated the way his voice came out sometimes; It made him sound more raspy and serious than he meant to be. Recently, he had made a mental note to try and make his voice softer when he was around Charlotte, but he didn't think he was doing a very good job at it.

"Yeah. I'll be alright. Maggie said I have a concussion and that I should take it easy for a few days, drink lots of water, and get some rest."

Daryl took in the details of her face as she spoke. Even with only the porch light illuminating her figure, he somehow picked out a couple of stray freckles wandering around her face. How could he have not noticed before?

"I'm gonna sleep in the guestroom for tonight so that she can keep an eye on me. I kept telling her that I feel fine but she insisted."

His eyes glanced down to the empty sheath where her knife once rested. Before leaving, Daryl searched for it in the dark but it was nowhere to be found. He made a note to get her a new one.

"I was actually just on my way to pick up some clean clothes from my tent," she gestured to the nearby campsite. Daryl nodded and made a little grunt in response. Her eyes bore an exhausted gaze that he could see her struggling to keep up and decided to let her carry on with what she needed to do.

"I'll let you get some rest," he said to her before turning away.

Her cold hand suddenly reached out and rested on his upper arm. Daryl faced her again and she lifted herself up on her toes so that she could wrap her arms around his neck. For a moment, he felt his body stiffen and freeze up as she pressed herself against him and whispered, "Thank you for coming to get me," into his ear. She didn't wait for him to hug her back and let go, sending him one final glance before walking off to her tent.

✯✯✯

(𝑷𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 10/4/20)

𝑆𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑝 𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑀𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝐶𝑂𝑉𝐼𝐷-19 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼'𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑦. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐼 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑏𝑒 𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑦 𝑢𝑠𝑢𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑒.

𝑆𝑡𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑘 ♡︎