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angelwings-crossbowstrings · 1 year ago

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I’m Your Fatal Sin

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Reader

Setting: Prison Era

Warnings: Typical TWD violence, descriptions of injuries

Summary: Daryl doesn’t like you going outside the safety of the prison.

Prompt: “I will leave now, or I’m going to say things I will regret later.” (Had to write in Daryl speak but it’s the same thing!)

A/N: Second request by @alldevilsarehere90. I took so long writing the first one that I did the second they asked for…and took equally as long. Apparently, “drabble” is not a word I’m familiar with and I should just call these novels. The prompt is waaaay up in the beginning but I just kept going. Sorry again, my friend! Also, I have not had this checked for errors and my brain is too tired tonight. I’ll go over and fix stuff tomorrow…. Because no beta, we die like men.

*gif is not mine

You watched him pace the length of the room, fingertips rubbing roughly at his temples as if he was fighting off a headache. That would be you, Y/N. You thought, biting back a chuckle. Your group had arrived back at the prison, battered, bruised, and bleeding but hearts still beating. You counted that as a win.

Daryl was not so easily mollified.

He had stayed behind on this run, having only returned from hunting just as your group was heading out. He wasn’t happy that you were going out without him. It was all so amusing to you, personally. When the two of you had first met back at the quarry, you had taken one of the squirrels he had brought back, held it by the tail, and smacked him upside the head with it after he had said something particularly offensive. It was even funnier that you couldn’t remember now what it was that he had said. Regardless, he had retaliated by soaking you in the blood he drained from the rodent he had been skinning. Even in his anger back then, you had caught the look in his eye.

You weren’t afraid of him.

Your friendship started then and there. You spent more time in the Dixon camp than you had with your own boyfriend. That had not gone over well. Mark was the younger brother of one of Ed Peletier’s friends. The moment Daryl had found you doing laundry and saw the shiner you sported, you were given your own small tent next to his and Merle’s. When the perpetrator had come looking for you, the Dixon brothers had formed an immovable wall in front of you.

You still weren’t sure if Mark had been killed by a walker like Merle had said.

Regardless, you were free. Daryl took you under his wing, teaching you to hunt and defend yourself. When he had finally handed you his beloved crossbow, you had laughed and asked if you needed to buy her dinner before squeezing her trigger.

“Stop.” Daryl had huffed, amusement gleaming in those blue eyes.

You had been out with the younger brother when Merle had been left abandoned. While you were angry, you knew how belligerent the man could be, so Rick’s explanation hadn’t seemed too far fetched to you. You went with the group to try and bring him home. You had taken the brunt of Daryl’s verbal aggression with grace, knowing he was in pain. He would never hurt you. That much you knew. When emotions were running high, Daryl floundered and would try to escape them by any means necessary. Even if that meant bucking against someone he cared about.

Still, you stayed.

Months had passed. You didn’t even try to keep up with that anymore, focusing more on the change of the seasons. It felt less like losing something if you only changed your perspective. The group became a family. You had lost the farm and wandered throughout the winter before finding the prison that was your home now.

You and Daryl had remained steadfast, but he continued to open up, bit by bit. First with Carol, then with Rick. Him coming out of his shell made you happy, watching him become more and more comfortable with the others. You’d be lying, though, if you said you didn’t worry about being replaced.

Then, after choosing the cells you all would call your rooms, you came back from your first shower to find the mattress missing from the one you had selected. Daryl was sitting on the top step that led down to the lower level, waiting for you.

“Did you take my mattress, Dixon?”

“Yep.” So nonchalant, like you had just asked if the sky was blue.

“You gonna tell me why?” You pressed, kicking his hip gently with the toe of your boot.

“Ya stay where I can keep a eye on ya.” He shrugged, continuing to fiddle with his crossbow.

“What if I wanted my own space, huh?” You sat next to him and bumped your shoulder into his.

“Cell ain’t goin’ nowhere. S’there if ya need it.”

You never seemed to need it, perfectly content on sharing his perch with him. You had brought things back from runs; books, pictures, and little what-nots that now decorated the area. He never complained beyond the occasional scoff or eyeroll.

And time marched on. Your role in the group was just as vital as anyone else now. You took watches, went on runs, and helped clear the fence. You lost sleep, gave up your portions of the rations to make sure everyone else stayed fed, and you sustained injuries. You weren’t afraid to get your hands dirty for the good of your family.

Which is exactly why you were now perched on one of the tables in the cafeteria, watching Daryl pace a hole into the concrete floor.

“No one died, Dixon.” You leaned back with your palms pressed against the table, collected demeanor the polar opposite of his pulsing anxiety.

“Ya coulda, though, Y/N!” The man snapped, his longer hair shifting to cover his face when he spun to look at you.

“Calm down before you have a stroke.” You mused with a smile.

“Can ya be serious for five fuckin’ seconds?”

You could have sworn you saw smoke boiling out of his ears. Damn, he was mad. “I am.” You sat up straight with your best attempt at stoicism. “Stress can absolutely trigger a stroke and—” You had started laughing while he stomped over to you and grabbed your shoulders.

“Stop, goddamnit!”

“Okay, okay.” You patted his forearm and willed yourself to choke back the amusement. “We’re all fine, Daryl.” Lips pressed into a thin line, he gave you a nod, one that continued even as he released your left shoulder to roughly flick the bandage on your thigh that concealed a deep cut Hershel had earlier stitched. You were taken aback, eyes widening at the tendrils of pain that snaked out from the tender wound. “Ow.” You deadpanned.

“Coulda been a lot worse, Y/N.” He seemed calmer now but his gaze was still intense, shoulders high and nostrils flaring.

“I know that!” You finally snapped back, twisting around until he let you go altogether and stepped out of your space. “Christ, Daryl, I could die just going to piss! I know how dangerous the things we have to do are!” You hated arguing with him but sometimes, brandishing your own anger was the only way to get through to him. He watched you, obviously chewing on the inside of his cheek before he brought his thumb up to inflict the same abuse.

“Nah, not you. Not anymore.” He shook his head and started to walk away.

“What the—” Pain radiated through your leg when you hastily hopped down a little too roughly in your attempt to keep up with him. “What’s that supposed to mean? Daryl? Daryl!” When he made it clear he had no intention of stopping, you had to sprint to cut him off at the door, pressing your palms against his chest to force him to a halt. “Where are you going? What did you mean?”

“M’tellin’ Rick ya ain’t goin’ out there no more.”

Your eyebrows shot up, mouth falling open. “Excuse me?”

“Ya heard me, Y/N.” He made to step around you but you moved with him. “Go get offa that leg.” He ordered in an attempt to persuade you into relenting. He knew better.

“Are you fucking kidding me? Who the hell are you to say where I can and can’t go?” You seethed. Now it was you who was fuming and pacing, though it wasn’t as intimidating with your profound limp. Daryl crossed his arms and squared his shoulders. You suddenly wanted to punch him square in the nose.

“Ya ain’t got no business out there. Ya can do plenty here to help.”

“Says the man that goes off hunting alone every other day!” You hissed. Your fists were clenched at your sides.

“That’s diff’rent.”

“Oh, please, enlighten me. This I’ve just got to hear.” You laughed emptily and mimicked his stance.

“Ya just ain’t goin’ and that’s that.” When you moved to cut him off again, he was ready. His arm caught you at the chest and kept you from crossing in front of him.

“Goddamnit, Daryl! This isn’t your decision!” You yelled, trailing after him once again. You grabbed his wrist but he shook you off. “I want to help!”

“Ya can help here!” He shot back without looking at you.

“Would you just stop?!”

“Nah.”

“Why the fuck do you even care?!”

That stopped him in his tracks, nearly making you crash into his back. His fists were clenching and unclenching at his sides, his posture radiating with tension. He turned his head to the side and focused on something, anything but you, speaking to you over his shoulder. Somehow, this made you more nervous than his livid pacing.

“Ya even hafta ask?” You didn’t respond, utterly confused. The archer gave you more time than necessary but when you remained silent, he shook his head and changed course, heading outdoors instead of to the cell blocks. “Do whatever ya want.”

Your anger dissipated. “Daryl, wait. Where are you going?”

“M’leavin’ now or I’ma say things I’ll regret later.”

You called his name again but the only reply was the slam of the heavy metal door.

Your search for him didn’t last long. You knew better than anyone that there was no finding Daryl when he didn’t want to be found. In his absence, you did the only thing you could do: sulk.

“What’s wrong, Y/N?” Carol queried, adjusting the basket of laundry on her hip after she stopped by the picnic table you had been perched at for the last 3 hours. Your only response was a heavy sigh. “Staring at the woods won’t make him come back any faster.” Your head shot up to reveal her knowing smile. Aside from you, Carol was the only other person to even relatively understand the younger Dixon. “What’d you argue about?” The silver-haired woman deposited the laundry on the table and took a seat across from you.

“He doesn’t want me to go on runs anymore.” A quiet reply while you toyed with some twine you had been using to hang up things around your space inside.

“And that bothers you?”

“Of course it does!” You snapped before quickly muttering an apology, though Carol didn’t seem affected. “It feels like he doesn’t trust me.”

“You know that’s bullshit.” Your mouth dropped open in disbelief. To your recollection, you had never before heard the woman utter even a syllable of a curse. She, of course, only offered a cheeky grin. “What? You think I can hang around you two and not pick up something?”

“Touché.” You nodded.

“Listen, Y/N,” she started and took your hand, “Daryl cares about you, more than he lets on.” She wouldn’t mention all the times he had come to her with questions. How he would mumble and blush when trying to figure something out to make you happy. How he would actively look for at least one thing to bring back for you from a run. “I think you should try to see this from his perspective.” Just like she had told him to see it from yours. “I think then you may be able to compromise, yeah?”

You nodded with a small smile. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll think it over. Thanks, Carol.”

“Good.” The woman stood and grabbed up the basket. “Besides, you’re both insufferable when you’re fighting.” You reached out to give her a playful shove as she walked by and then patted the hand she laid briefly on your shoulder.

She was right. You didn’t want to keep fighting with Daryl. It made you both (and apparently everyone else) miserable. You’d have to come up with something in the middle.

The sky had faded to a pale lavender with the orange hue of the setting sun peeking over the trees. It was getting late and Daryl hadn’t returned. Your fingertips were sore from drumming on the table. Just as you stood with the intent to grab a weapon and go after him, a silhouette emerged from the treeline. There was a distinct outline of a crossbow on their back. The relief was immense and had you sinking back down onto the bench with your hand clutching the front of your shirt.

Your eyes stayed trained on him as he made his way past the walkers outside and entered the gate that was promptly closed behind him. From a distance, he appeared fine albeit a little dirty. He walked slowly with his head down, but he had been out all day, so you hoped that was nothing more than fatigue. He made it a little closer than you thought he would before he raised his head and his gaze went straight to you.

“Hey.” You offered, standing slowly. He gave you a nod and you thought he may walk on by, but he stopped just shy of the table. “You okay?” Another nod, his eyes seemingly studying your boots. “Look, Daryl—”

“I was wrong.” It came out so quickly that you had to think about it for a moment before you made sense of what he said. “Earlier. Was wrong. Ain’t got no right to tell ya what to do.”

This time, it was you who nodded. “I know why though.” He looked up, blue eyes peering from behind his hair.

“Ya do?”

“Yeah. You want to keep me safe. You care about me.” You smiled, small but genuine. A strange look crossed his face but was gone a moment later. Was that disappointment?

“Right.” He had started to chew on his thumbnail.

Licking your lips nervously, you continued. “I’ll do no more than two runs a week. And only when you’re going too.” You were absolutely certain you caught a ghost of a smile.

“Fair ‘nough.” He was shifting from foot to foot now, thumb still pressed against his lips. You had been so focused on the problem at hand that you hadn’t noticed the anxiety radiating from him in waves. Something was off. This had been too easy.

“Daryl, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Mhm, just—just tired.” His eyes said as much. You placed your hand on his bicep and ushered him along toward the door.

“Let’s get something to eat. I’m starving!” Had your focus not been ahead, you would have seen the way he only smiled once he looked down at you.

“Got some formula for Lil Asskicker.” Daryl rounded the end of the aisle you were knelt in, displaying the four cans in his pack before closing it up and placing it on his shoulder.

“That’ll last her about 3 days.” You quirked, causing Daryl to snort behind you. “She’s growing like a little weed.” There wasn’t much left in the way of over the counter medications but you had scored some infants Tylenol and gas relief drops, as well as medication for the adults. “The food was pretty picked through. I got a couple of cans of fruit, though!” You placed three more bottles of tylenol in your bag and stood, your knees protesting the movement.

“Y’ready then?” Daryl turned to head to the front of the old store. Glenn and Maggie were set to meet the two of you in the parking lot.

“All set!” You confirmed, adjusting the backpack straps on your shoulders. You jogged to catch up with the archer, bumping into his side while pulling your knife from its sheath. Daryl smirked and ruffled your hair before gently shoving you away. “Pretty good haul, I think. Maybe we could stop by that gas—”

“Sshh.” The bowman had gone rigid, his hand just in front of your mouth. “Ya hear that?” It was faint at first but the closer the two of you moved towards the front of the store, the louder the thumping and moaning became.

“That sounds like an awful lot of walkers, Daryl.” You rounded the broken down checkout lanes to bring the doors into view and felt your stomach drop. The light that should have been filtering through the dusty glass doors was completely snuffed out by the multitude of bodies shuffling past. A glance at the archer found him tense and mirroring your expression. “Glenn and Maggie—” You whispered urgently.

“They’ll wait ‘em out. Ain’t their first rodeo.” He had lowered his crossbow to his side. “Ours neither. Get comfy, girl. Might be here a bit.” He hopped up to sit on one of the conveyors while you walked through one of the other lanes to look at some of the old magazines. From the corner of your eye, you saw a small piece of bright orange peeking out from under the checkout shelf.

“Oh my god!” You shrieked in an enthused whisper.

“What?” Daryl was on his feet, crossbow leveled with his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

You were already on your knees to retrieve the object of your excitement. “Reese’s cups!” You sprang up to your feet, waving the small package around triumphantly.

The archer let the crossbow fall to his side, his face hidden behind his palm. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Big word, Dixon. I’m proud.” You bumped him deliberately with your hip as you walked by, hopping up where he had just been perched. The man leaned his weapon against the shelf where the cash register was positioned and sat beside you. You didn’t ask if he wanted the second treat, just handing it over habitually. You always shared with him. He accepted it with a smirk you didn’t see since you were already taking the first bite of the stale candy. “Buttery baby Jesus.” You moaned, eyes rolling back.

Daryl barked a laugh, almost dropping the Reese’s. “M’not sure I wanna know why baby Jesus is buttery.” He was shaking his head when he caught your bewildered expression. “What?” He questioned around the first bite.

“They told me it couldn’t happen. That it was impossible.” You whispered, eyes wide. The look on his face said he was waiting for you to continue. “You… you laughed.”

His expression deadpanned. “Shtop.” He mumbled around the chocolate and peanut butter.

“I’m serious, Dixon. We were all wondering when we would stumble across the reanimated remains of your sense of humor.”

He swallowed and bumped you with his shoulder. “I hate ya.”

“I love you too.” Your lips pressed against his cheek and pulled away just as quickly. The man went rigid, eyes straight forward. You didn’t seem to notice, wandering around the front.

His blue eyes began to follow your movements, the tight feeling in his chest overpowering the butterflies fluttering madly in his stomach. His face was burning all the way to the tips of his ears. No longer hungry, he delicately wrapped the remaining Reese’s cup in its wrapper and put it in his bag to give to you later.

You had knelt down to look through a basket labeled ‘return to stock.’ “Score! Batteries!” You exclaimed, mostly to yourself, and quickly shoved the different sizes into your pack. Behind you, the archer cleared his throat.

“Think they’re gone.” He was motioning toward the door when you turned to acknowledge him.

You twisted to the other side to find nothing but dull light creeping through the glass. “Nice! You ready?”

“Uh—yeah. Yeah, let’s go.”

You both shouldered your packs and grabbed your weapons, moving almost silently through the door. Glenn and Maggie had undoubtedly hunkered down as well, so it was anyone’s guess who would arrive first at the meeting spot. Daryl followed behind you, walking backwards to ensure the area you couldn’t see stayed clear.

“I think we’re good. It’s this way. Maybe Glenn and—” You rounded the corner, voice cut off into surprised shriek as two walkers tumbled into you. The back of your head met the concrete with a sickening crack and black spots danced across your vision. There was a loud bang to your left that you couldn’t place. Your body moved almost on autopilot, fumbling for the weapon you had dropped while you held one walker back with your forearm and kicked back the other with your free leg. You could hear Daryl screaming your name above the blood rushing in your ears. “D-Daryl!” You managed around the bile creeping up your throat. What seemed like several minutes later, the weight above you vanished and your gun was thrust into your hands.

“C’mon, girl! Up we go!”

Daryl’s hands were on you, pulling you up haphazardly by your arm. His voice sounded muffled but strained, like he was shouting under water. The world tilted and spun, and you felt an arm tighten around your back that you hadn’t realized was even there. You blinked hard, willing your surroundings to come into focus, but Daryl’s jarring movements were aggravating the already present nausea. Before you could warn him, you listed to your right and retched, the bile burning the back of your throat.

“Shit!”

His voice was a little clearer now, but you must have thrown him off balance. You tumbled down, only barely catching yourself on your palms before you would have smashed face first into the puddle of sick on the asphalt. Daryl crashed into your back a second later but quickly averted his weight so he landed beside you. A string of curses left his mouth as he pushed himself up, your eyes trying to follow him but stopping short on the smear of crimson where he had fallen.

“Daryl, are—are you bleeding?” Am I bleeding? You were being hauled to your feet again, the motion almost too much. Your vision grayed at the edges and you felt a strange tingling in your limbs. Don’t pass out. Don’t pass out.

“Over here! Hurry!”

Glenn. You had never been so relieved to hear his voice. It was short lived as you felt yourself fading. Your body was shifted again and now the world was upside down, a strong grip pressing into your ribs and the side of your knees. The last thing you saw was the herd of walkers closing in before it all went dark.

You awoke with a start, sitting up halfway before the pounding in your head made its presence known and you fell back with a grunt.

“Easy.”

Daryl. Thank god. You risked opening your eyes, finding him to be looking down at you from straight above. Scenery was flying by just beside his head. You were in the car, your head pillowed on Daryl’s lap. “Glenn? Maggie?” You asked quietly. You didn’t think you were physically capable of talking any louder.

“We’re here, Y/N.” Maggie’s voice came from the front seat. You felt her gentle touch in your arm and you immediately relaxed. You had all made it.

“What happened?” You asked, trying to keep your eyes focused on the archer when they wanted nothing more than to close and let you be dragged back into oblivion.

“Other half’a the herd came down on us. Ya cracked your melon when two’a ‘em took ya down.”

Worry and fatigue laced his voice but as you studied him, you could see the clear indicators of pain. Daryl always hid it well but you knew him better than anyone.

“You hurt?”

He shifted in the seat slightly and winced. “Ya must’a squeezed the trigger when ya went down. Shot me.”

Your eyes blew wide and you were instantly moving, trying to sit up. Your body seemed to disagree with that plan of action. “Where are you hit? How bad is it? Damn it!”

“Whoa! Hold up!” He pulled you back down, calloused finger smoothing the hair away from your face. “M’alright. Got the back’a my leg. Hershel’ll take care’a it.” You stared at him with wide, exhausted eyes. Were you actually lying on his wounded leg?

“I shot you?” You could feel the tears collecting on your lashes, guilt eating away at your insides, colliding with the nausea so hard that it made your vision swim. “I’m so sorry.” Your fingertips found his jaw, barely brushing the prickly hair there before your arm became too heavy to hold up.

“Ya didn’t do it on purpose, Y/N.”

“I would…never…” You suddenly felt exhaustion pulling you under, Daryl’s pleas for you to stay awake fading into white noise as blackness swallowed you up once again.

It had been three days since the run. Two had seen you lying in bed with Hershel doing periodic checks to ensure that the concussion wasn’t something more serious. Daryl had been there too. He would only leave when threatened by Carol, forced to go rest himself. He never stayed gone long. Rick had finally dragged an extra mattress in and placed it in the corner. The archer finally allowed himself to fall asleep and that’s how you found him when you had awoken near the end of day two. Hershel arrived to check your vitals and found you propped up on your elbows, watching Daryl sleep.

“How long has he been there?” You asked quietly. The old man smiled and released your wrist, satisfied with your pulse.

“It’d be easier to tell you when he wasn’t in here.” He mused while shaking two pills from a bottle. The sound didn’t disturb the bowman in the slightest, a testament to his exhaustion. “Take these.”

You trusted the old veterinarian and took the offered medication, just assuming it was for pain. Your eyes never left Daryl. “His leg— did it—will he—”

Hershel patted your own leg and waited for you to finally look at him. He shone a small light in your eyes and smiled again. “He’ll be fine. And so will you. You both just need to rest.”

You nodded and laid your head back on the pillow, turning on your side so you could keep Daryl in your sights. It didn’t take long for you to fall asleep. You didn’t hear Hershel leave.

Now, you were perched in the tower. It was the only thing Rick would allow you to do after Hershel released you. The sun had long ago set and the prison was dark and silent, save for the moans of the walkers shuffling around outside the fences. You had learned to tune them out when you were out there, allowing yourself to enjoy the fresh air and the quiet peace the night offered.

“Hey.”

You jerked around with a start, vision swimming only slightly as Daryl came into focus just beside the door leading to the ladder. He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand and chewed on the opposite thumbnail.

“Hi.” You smiled at him but it faded as he limped toward where you sat, hissing as he took a seat next to you. “Still hurts?”

“I’ll live.” He was looking out over the field and into the trees for a moment before turning to you. You avoided his gaze, and you knew he knew. “Ya alright?” You looked back at him and he tapped his finger against his forehead.

“Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I’m feeling much better.” A smile graced your lips once again, not quite reaching your eyes. Daryl nodded, his thumb to his mouth again. “You were right, you know.” His brow creased in confusion but you looked away, finding the treeline before continuing. “I shouldn’t be going out there anymore.”

The archer shook his head and moved his hand back to his lap. “Nah, Y/N. What happened was—”

“My fault.” You nodded resolutely, ignoring the twinge of discomfort it caused. “I wasn’t careful. I was distracted. I shot you.”

“That was a accident.”

“That doesn’t matter, Daryl!” Your voice escalated. The tears stinging your eyes threatened to fall. The walkers beyond the fence zeroed in on the noise and began to gather. The bowman glanced over, assessing the situation. When the fence held the extra weight, he looked back to you, your cheeks now wet before you angrily wiped at them with the back of your hand. “I’m a liability out there. You need someone better to—”

“Hey,” he cut you off, with a hand on your knee, “ya got my back out there. You do.” Daryl ducked down his head, searching for your gaze. “Ya got yer shit together. Y’know what yer doin’ out there. There ain’t no one I trust more. Ya hear me?”

Confusion twisted your expression. You turned to face him, careful that your legs didn’t bump his. “Then why?” You asked with a gentle shake of your head. “Why did you fight me so hard about going out?” You watched several emotions skitter across the archer’s face, but he settled on one: guilt. He scowled deeply, bottom lip caught between his teeth with his gaze anywhere but on you. “Daryl?”

“I, uh—” You saw a spot of blood on his lip before his tongue quickly erased it. “I just—need to know you’re safe.”

He wasn’t making much sense. “If you know I can take care of myself, why are you worried?”

His face began to redden, the color spreading down his neck and up to the tips of his ears. “Damnit, y’know I ain’t no good with words, kid!”

“Obviously. Because I’m not a kid.” You chuckled, your fingertips brushing his cheek before you used your palm to coax his head to turn. He kept his eyes stubbornly downcast, his hand immediately lifting his thumb towards his mouth. You intercepted and gently pushed his hand to his lap, keeping your own over it. “Just say what you mean.”

Daryl swallowed hard, his jaw clenching while he slumped in the chair. You knew where this was headed. He was trying to process something deep; something important. When faced head on with emotions, there was only one thing Daryl could count on: his anger. When his fingers folded into a fist below your hand, you didn’t let him pull away.

“We don’t need to talk about this. Let’s just table it for later, alright?” You smiled gently and moved to turn yourself forward, away from him.

This time, it was him that stopped you from pulling away. “Nah.” When you turned your face back to reassure him things were okay, he met you there. His lips pressed against yours firmly, almost aggressively. This definitely wasn’t something he had planned. Soon enough, the pressure minimized and you were able to react. Your brain was currently short-circuiting but you managed to move your mouth against his, finding a rhythm in the hungry dance.

Of all the things Daryl could “say” to you, this was definitely not on your bingo card for the year. His hands gently held the sides of your neck, calloused fingers sliding up your skin to tangle in your hair. Your own hands found purchase in the front of his vest, using it to keep him close to you; afraid that he would change his mind now that you had accepted his confession. And that’s what this was.

A confession.

Daryl was a man of action, not words. He had been for as long as you had been a part of his life. So this? You could decipher this pretty easily. He cared about you more than a friend. He was willing to be vulnerable with you. He trusted you. He worried about you. He wanted you close by and safe. He loved you. Was he in love with you? That was the only question left. You definitely didn’t mind waiting for the answer as long as he could keep kissing you like this.

You tried to pull back to breathe, but he held fast, tongue licking into your mouth the moment it opened to protest. Drawing a deep breath through your nose, you couldn’t help but let out a content sigh and allow yourself to taste him as well. Tobacco smoke and a hint of spice that you found delicable, craving more as you began to take charge. Releasing his vest, you opened your palms and pressed him against the back of the chair. Your lips never left his, even as the angle changed for you to be standing over him. He had released your hair and settled his palms on your hips as you lowered to straddle his lap.

You had begun to wonder just how far this would go when your full weight settled onto him, and he yelped (in a very manly way, if anyone asked) against your mouth. You pulled back, tripping over his boot and crashing toward the floor. Daryl tried to stop your descent, managing to catch your bicep which led to your hand gripping the front of his vest while your leg was still trapped behind his. You successfully pulled him off the chair, the pair of you meeting the concrete one right after the other.

You laid there for a moment, stunned and assessing the situation. When your eyes met Daryl’s wide blue gaze, you couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled up from somewhere deep inside. The entire prison could probably hear you but you couldn’t find it in you to care. Especially when you heard the brief chuckle from beside you.

“Great first kiss, Dixon.” You let your head gingerly fall back, the stitched wound beneath your hair still tender. “Top notch.”

“Shut up.” There was no heat behind the words. In fact, he sounded rather relaxed. “First, huh?”

You grinned at the stars, wondering how red his face would be if you chose to look at him at that moment. “Of many.”

He hummed in reply. You started to rethink your words, worried that you were putting too much pressure on him, but then you felt his finger brush over the back of your hand. He didn’t do more than just press his hand against yours but allowed you to wrap your index finger around his. For several moments, the two of you laid there, silent but comfortable in it.

“I’m still on watch.” You finally said, already missing his touch when he moved his hand away. “I guess I should be, you know, watching.”

“Mhmm.” He replied. You turned your head to watch him struggle to his feet, hurrying to get up yourself to steady him. Once he found his balance, you let go and took a deep breath. You didn’t want this moment to end.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“‘Course.” He gave you a look that meant you should have known the answer already.

“Night, Daryl.” You plopped back down onto your chair and looked out through your binoculars while you waited to hear the door close. When it didn’t, you turned to find him still standing a few feet away.

“You, uh—if ya want some company, I could—y’know, stay.” He was blushing again, rubbing the back of his neck like he had when he’d first arrived earlier. You’d never tell him how adorable he looked. He’d likely murder you in your sleep. So, you smiled and nodded before patting the other chair.

“Yeah, I’d like it if you stayed.” As he limped back over, you felt a warmth rise and settle in your chest, one you hadn’t felt since before the world ended. Actually, this was new. This was different. This was the beginning of something. Something beautiful born out of darkness and death. Something you’d fight like hell to hold onto.

And you’d never have to fight alone.

#murda writes #daryl dixon #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon x y/n #daryl dixon x you #the walking dead #Spotify

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hiro--aoki · 12 days ago

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TWD X Tumblr Chapter Four: Disoriented

TW: Somewhat suggested abuse, but its pretty plain of tw's today

A/n: I'm really sorry for how late this is, family shit, but it's here. It's also short, but that just means more chapters in season one

Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

"Disoriented."

The fire crackles in the middle of the circle of people, crickets chirping off in the distance.

Rick has Lori and Lily either side of him and Carl laying on his lap.

"I guess that comes closest." Rick continues, glancing around the group as rubs Carl's head.

"Disoriented. Fear, confusion; all those things but disoriented comes closest."

Thunder rolls in the distance as the group listens to his tired voice, explaining the journey he went through to find his family.

Dale sets down his mug of soup, "Words can be meagre things. Sometimes they fall short."

He glances around the group as well.

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else." Rick continues, "For a while I thought I was trapped. Trapped in some coma dream. Something I might not wake up from ever."

Carl pulls himself closer to Rick, tilting his head back to look up at him.

There's a soft sparkle in his eyes, as he listens to his strong and brave dad.

"Mom said you died." He whispers softly.

He sounds like he's almost about to fall asleep, cuddled up with his family.

There's another momentary silence withing the group.

Lori opens her mouth to explain, but Rick interupts, his voice soft like silk.

"She had every reason to believe that...don't you ever doubt it."

Lori looks over at Shane, who's sitting with Delilah and Kayden snuggled up next to him. They lock eyes, almost communicating.

Finally, Lori speaks.

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were going to medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta and it never happened."

"Probably for the best." Lily whispers.

"Yeah, probably for the best." Lori smiles down at her.

"And, I'm not surprised, after Atlanta fell." Rick adds.

Shane tosses a twig into the warmth of the fire.

A few "yeah"s are murmered around the group.

"And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun." "...yeah, looks don't decieve." Shane adds, "I barely got them out. You know?"

He gestures to Lori, Carl and LIly then Kayden and Delilah.

Rick looks over at Shane, "I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it."

There's a sudden tension spike between the group.

"There go those words falling short again." Dale jokes, trying to lighten the mood.

Glenn moves from the fire, with his cup of soup, sitting down next to Delilah and Kayden, offering a sip of his soup to Delilah. She shakes her head at the offer.

Kayden's eyes stay on Carl. She wants to be cuddled up with him, but she can't interrupt his family moment.

"Paltry things." Dale adds, directed at the lack of ability to express oneself purely through words.

Lori grips Rick even tighter, going into deep thought about something.

Rick rubs her arm, soothing her, as he thinks she's still recovering form the shock of him coming back.

Someone steps up. Ed Peletier. Here comes some drama.

He throws a chopped log into the fire, making it bigger. The fire crackles loudly and Ed sits back down.

"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" Shane asks, his patience obviously barely existent for this man.

Ed just throws his head back and says, "It's cold, man."

The groups throws glances at each other, each one showing a different combination of emotions, ranging from annoyance to... yeah basically all annoyance.

"The cold don't change the rules, does it?" Shane says to Ed, waiting for him to get the hint, "Keep our fires low, just embers, so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"

Everyone hopes that Ed will just listen and take the log out. But their wishes go unanswered.

"I said it's cold." Ed hardens his voice, as if he could scare Shane into letting him rule the roost, "You should mind your own business for once."

Shane lets out a groan, before standing, deciding if he wants it done, Ed ain't gonna do it.

"Hey Ed." Shane mumbles as he passes Ed, giving him two pats on his shoulder as he stands next to him, "You sure you want to have this conversation, man?"

Ed looks up at Shane from his seat, thinking for a moment, weighing his options.

"Go on. Pull the damn thing out." He says after a few seconds.

Shane just stands there. He's not Ed's dog, he's not doing it for him.

"Go on!" Ed raises his voice.

Carol stands, laying her shawl on her chair next to Sophia, as she stands to take the log out.

Shane looks between Ed and the fire before pulling out the log, just so Carol doesn't have to and so he doesn't have to put up with Ed's 'Lead Cheerleader Complex'.

He tosses the burning log to the ground and stops out the flames on it.

Shane then crouches next to Carol and Sophia, "Hey, carol, Sophia, how are ya'll this evening?"

Sophia stays looking at the fire, silently, but Carol turns to Shane and answers him.

"Fine. We're just fine." "Okay." Shane says, obviously questioning her.

Ed glares the the three of them from across the fire.

"I'm sorry about the fire." Carol adds.

"No, no, no, no. No apology needed." Shane assures, "Ya'll have a good night, okay?"

They both nod and Carol whispers a "Thank you".

Shane stands again, before saying to Ed in particular, "I appreciate the cooperation."

The underlying sarcasm can be noted in his tone.

Shane walks back to his spot on the ground, the group watching him move.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind." Dale asks.

"I'll tell him."T-Dog declares, "I dropped the key. It's on me."

"I cuffed him. That makes it mine." Rick counters.

"Guys, it's not a competition." Delilah says, Glenn rubs his thumb over her knuckle, his other hand holfing his now empty mug.

"I don't mean to sound racist when I say this but it might sound better coming froma white guy." Glenn adds.

"...I did what I did. hell if I'm gonna hide from him." T-Dog says firmly.

"We could lie." Amy suggests.

"Or tell the truth." Andrea says, leaving no room for argument, "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done, or he would've gotten us killed."

Andrea turns to Lori, "Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale asks with concern, "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?"

Andrea shakes her head.

"Word to the wise," Dale continues, "We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"I was scared and I ran." T-Dog starts, "I'm not ashamed of it." "We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" Andrea asks.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that. Not that chain, not that padlock. My point: Dixon's alive."

Taglist:

@kookiekult @smutinlove @far-cry-from-finality @zomb-1-egutzz

@shadowybasementmiracle @vaniniweenie @sleep-queen

@frankcastleautism @hisdahlia @carlslvr @zzombiegirl

@lunarnightt @carlmipololo @herrera2k @txrasbae

@a-vampire-bat @coveofthesiren @deathswrld

#the walking dead #twd #twd x tumblr #delilah walsh #kayden walsh #lily grimes

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grimesgirll · 19 days ago

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how every walking dead character has voted in u.s. elections (and how they would vote in 2024)

rick grimes: voted republican like his parents until 2008 when he and lori voted for obama. switched back to the gop again in 2012 for romney and voted for trump in 2016, however, he didn’t like the way trump handled covid so he voted for biden in 2020 and is voting harris after everything with january 6th.

shane walsh: also historically republican. would’ve voted for obama in 2008 if lori or rick told him so, otherwise he’s always voted red. that’s until 2020 because he did not like the way trump handled covid - he had his elderly aunt jean to worry about after all!! and definitely voted harris in 2024 because he couldn’t sit with the violence and disdain for police shown by january 6th. officers died and that did not sit well with shane.

glenn rhee: i cannot see glenn voting anyway other than dem. he will be voting harris in 2024.

maggie greene rhee: voted for bush but then flipped her vote in order to vote for obama in 2008 and 2012. she would definitely vote hilary in 2016 just for the sake of voting in a woman from the south. would not vote for trump - her dad wouldn’t allow it. is voting for harris.

herschel: lifelong southern christian democrat and will be voting harris in 2024

t-dog: democrat! maybe he voted for trump in 2016 but he wouldn’t do it again. he’s voting harris in 2024!

andrea: merle said it, she’s a democrat. miss girl has always voted blue and she’ll be doing it again this year.

dale: same as andrea. dale loves election day and going to the polls.

carol peletier: voted dem in secret because of ed. is voting for harris today in 2024.

ed: republican every year and will be voting for trump this year.

michonne: definitely a democrat! her job before the apocalypse probably ended up with her around a lot of fellow georgia dems. she’s 100% voting for kamala harris in 2024.

deanna: we don’t know what her party was when she served as an ohio legislator, but i’ll assume the only time she’s voted republican was 1988. she’ll be voting harris in 2024 because she does not see donald trump as a legitimate candidate.

negan smith: historical democrat! he and lucille went to the polls together and will be voting for harris this year. (he’s disappointed by joe rogan endorsing trump.)

aaron: has always voted blue and is voting for harris, duh.

merle dixon: voted for trump in 2016 and that was the only time he’s ever voted. if someone held a gun to his head and took him to the polls, he’d vote trump but he’s not voting this year.

daryl dixon: has never voted in an election but will be voting harris in 2024 (his hot girlfriend probably dragged him to the polls)

if you’re reading this, go vote!!

#the walking dead #twd #us elections #election 2024 #us politics #rick grimes #shane walsh #Daryl Dixon #merle dixon #kamala harris #donald trump #negan smith #grimesgirll

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alyssaforevermore · 10 months ago

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Unearthed ↦ Daryl Dixon season one, part two

Synopsis: Based on the events of The Walking Dead television series, Y/N Grimes, younger sister of Rick Grimes, attempts to survive in a world now inhabited by walkers. Family has always meant everything to her, but in this new world, can she keep her family safe and together?

Show: The Walking Dead (S1-S11)

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x fem!Reader

Warnings: coarse language, violence, character deaths, drug and alcohol references, series spoilers and general The Walking Dead content warnings!

Tags: @1ivinqdeadqir1 @callmeyn @thegeorgiahuntsman @mellxander1993 @bigbaldheadname @cjmonsterwolf @abbi23323 @actuallyklee

Masterlist

Later that night, you sat around the campfire with your family and other members of the camp. Rick was recounting his journey here, but you couldn’t quite seem to focus on anything he was saying.

You couldn’t get that look on Shane’s face out of your head; the one when he saw your brother. No matter how hard you tried, you just couldn’t explain it away. That feeling twisting in your stomach, making you question what Shane had told you that night. Had he simply made a mistake or was there something more to the story?

It killed you to question him; he had saved your life, after all. He had saved the life of your entire family. Rick had been his best friend their entire lives and you had to believe Shane would never just lie about something like that.

“I felt like I’d been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else.” Rick spoke. “For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever.”

Carl’s response finally grabbed your full attention. “Mom said you died.”

You looked at Shane, his face white as a ghost as his eyes were fixed on your brother.

Rick nodded, his voice soft. “She had every reason to believe that. Don’t you ever doubt that.”

“When things started getting really bad, they told us at the hospital that they were going to medevac you and other patients to Atlanta, but it never happened.” Lori spoke up.

“Well, I’m not surprised after Atlanta fell.” Rick responded. “From the look of that hospital, it got overrun.”

“Yeah, looks don’t deceive.” Shane finally spoke up. “I barely got them out, you know?”

Rick looked at you, his lips curled downwards. “Were you there when-“

You shook your head. “I had a shift that evening, but I hadn’t stayed there that night.”

This was the first time since the fall that you wished you had been there. Rick was alive all this time; you kept thinking about how if you’d stayed, maybe you could have felt a pulse that Shane didn’t. Maybe you could have gotten your brother out of there. Maybe, just maybe, you would’ve never left to begin with.

Rick’s eyes shifted to Shane, a small smile forming across his face. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can’t begin to express it.”

Dale smiled, leaning back in his seat. “There go those words falling short again. Paltry things.”

The sound of a log being dropped into a nearby fire caught your attention. You glanced over at the Peletiers, Ed sitting back down in his seat. Every night since you’d all arrived here, he had insisted that his family have their own fire. He wanted to keep Carol and their daughter Sophia as far away from the rest of you as possible, and you knew why. It made your blood boil.

“Hey, Ed,” Shane spoke up. “You want to rethink that log?”

“It’s cold, man.” Ed responded.

“The cold don’t change the rules, does it?” Shane huffed. “Keep our fires low, just embers so we can’t be seen from a distance, right?”

“I said it’s cold. You should mind your own business for once.”

Clenching your fists, you went to stand up but stopped as Shane gave you a knowing look. Instead, he stood and walked over to Ed.

“Are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?” Shane asked, his eyes darting towards Carol and then back at Ed.

Ed thought for a moment, finally giving in. “Go on. Pull the damn thing out.”

Carol nodded, standing from her seat and quickly pulling the log from the fire. Shane shook his head, mumbling under his breath as he stomped the flames out. Finally, he knelt down in front of Carol and Sophia.

“How are y’all this evening?”

“We’re just fine.” Carol gave a small smile. “I’m sorry about the fire.”

Shane shook his head. “No apology needed. Y’all have a good night, okay?”

“Thank you.”

Shane stood back up. “I appreciate the cooperation.” He spoke to Ed before heading back over to his own seat.

Dale cleared his throat, everyone having clearly been watching the situation as intensely as you had. “Have you all given any more thought to Daryl Dixon? He won’t be happy to hear his brother was left behind.”

“I’ll tell him.” T-Dog announced. “I dropped the key. It’s on me.”

“I cuffed him.” Rick noted. “That makes it mine.”

“Guys, it’s not a competition.” Glenn spoke up. “I don’t mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy.”

T-Dog shook his head. “I did what I did. Hell if I’m gonna hide from it.”

“We could lie.” Amy suggested.

“We need to tell him the truth.” Andrea responded. “Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed. Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's.”

“Is that really going to help matters?” You asked. “We know Daryl isn’t going to be rational about this. It’s his brother. Hell, if I knew someone left Rick behind to die, nothing would stop me.”

You glanced at Shane out of the corner of your eye, him swallowing hard at your comment.

“I was scared and I ran. I’m not ashamed.” T-Dog said.

“We were all scared. We all ran. What’s your point?” Andrea asked.

“I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It’s not enough to break through that… Not that chain, not that padlock. My point is, Dixon’s still alive and he’s still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That’s on us.”

The camp went silent, everyone reflecting on the conversation. Nobody really wanted to tell Daryl anything; he was a loose cannon, but nowhere near as bad as Merle. You just hoped that nobody would get hurt.

…

The next morning had started off fairly slow, everyone partially looking over their shoulders, anxiously waiting for Daryl to return. You stood by as Dale and a few other men took apart the car that Glenn had come back in. He was clearly devastated by the scene, his arms folded across his chest.

You felt a hand on your shoulder, almost causing you to jump out of your skin. “Good morning.” Rick spoke, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Good morning.” You smiled, pulling yourself together. “How did you sleep?”

“Better than I have in days.” He chuckled.

Glenn let out a huff, his arms falling to his sides. “Look at ‘em. Vultures.” Dale looked back at him, shaking his head. “Yeah, go on, strip it clean.”

“Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Got no power without it. Sorry, Glenn.” Dale responded, carrying on his work.

“I thought I’d get to drive it for at least a few more days.”

“Maybe we’ll get to steal another one someday.” Rick smiled, before turning to you. “Have you seen Lori?”

You nodded. “I think she was folding laundry. I should probably join her.”

You lead Rick towards where Lori was standing, taking clothes off of the clothes line and folding them before placing them in neat piles.

“Morning officer.” Lori smiled, noticing her husband coming up behind you.

Rick smiled, kissing his wife on the cheek. “Good morning.”

“Did you sleep okay?”

You began to help Lori, zoning out in the process. You always found peace in household chores. Just sitting in your living room folding laundry was one of the only times you didn’t really need to think; your job already took up enough of your brain power. It was now an escape from the worries that constantly plagued your mind.

“Are you asking me or telling me?” Lori spoke, her voice hushed but pointed enough to grab your attention once more.

Rick swallowed hard. “I’m asking you.”

Before Rick had been shot, you knew of his constant arguments with Lori. He had always been cautious not to speak to you about it, but you were sometimes present for those moments. When Rick had found you all again against all odds, you had really hoped the arguing was behind them.

“Well, I think it’s crazy.” Lori responded, folding her arms over her chest. “I think it’s just about the stupidest way to break your son’s-“

Screams echoed across camp, your ears locking onto Carl’s voice calling for his mother.

“Carl?” Lori asked, her eyes darting across camp to try and figure out where the screams had come from.

Everyone sprung into action, grabbing weapons and rushing into the woods. You had managed to grab a wrench from Dale’s tool kit.

It wasn’t too long before you came across Carol, Sophia and Carl.

“Dad!” Carl called out, rushing into Lori’s arms.

Lori fell to her knees, caressing Carl’s face. “Nothing bit you? Nothing scratched you?”

Carl shook his head, letting go of her. “No, I’m okay.”

Rick, Shane, Glenn, Jim, Morales and Dale continued further into the woods, you trailing close behind with a wrench in hand.

You reached a small clearing, seeing a man hunched over the body of a deer. The sound of snarling filled your ears, urging you to position your wrench to swing at any moment.

The men began to circle the scene before them, catching the attention of the walker. His snarling intensified as a piece of the deer’s meat fell from his hands.

Rick took the first swing, hitting the walker in the head with his shovel. When that wasn’t enough, everyone else joined in, hitting it with as much force as they could muster. Finally, Dale took a swing with his ax, taking the walker’s head clean off.

Everyone struggled to catch their breath, you knelt over with your hands on your knees.

“That’s the first one we’ve had up here.” Dale commented. “They never come this far up the mountain.”

“They’re running out of food in the city.” Jim spoke, wiping sweat off of his forehead.

You let out a sigh. “What does this mean for us? Are we even safe up here anymore?”

“It’s just one, right?” Glenn asked. “Maybe this is a one off.”

“We should still have a bit more time before more make their way up here, at the very least.” Dale responded.

Shane nodded. “We should start thinking more about safety measures, getting traps and tripwire signals set up.”

A twig snapped behind you, earning everyone’s attention as they held their weapons high once again. After a few moments, a familiar face poked his head out from behind the brush. Daryl.

“Oh, Jesus.” Shane huffed, lowering his gun.

“Son of a bitch, that’s my deer!” The man snapped, walking towards it. “Look at it. All gnawed on by this filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!” Daryl kicked the body of the walker with each word.

“Calm down, son.” Dale said. “That’s not helping.”

“What do you know about it, old man?” Daryl asked, getting into his face. “Why don’t you take that stupid hat and go back to On Golden Pond?”

You shook your head. This was typical any time Daryl or Merle were around. You had begun to get used to the peace around camp without them here.

“I’ve been tracking this deer for miles.” Daryl bent down, grabbing his arrows from the deer. “Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?”

Shane shook his head. “I would not risk that, man.”

Daryl nodded. “That’s a damn shame. I got some squirrel—about a dozen or so. That’ll have to do for now.”

You looked back at the severed head of the walker, his teeth smashing together. Amy, who stood off to the side with Andrea, let out a gasp as she turned away.

“Come on, people. What the hell?” Daryl asked, loading up his crossbow and shooting the walker in the head. “It’s gotta be the brain. Don’t y’all know nothing?”

Daryl turned away, following Amy and Andrea back towards camp. You and Rick shared a knowing look, joining everyone in heading back there as well.

This was it.

“Merle!” Daryl called out, entering the main camp area. “Merle, get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrels, let’s stew them up.”

“Daryl, just slow up a bit.” Shane spoke, his voice calm. “I need to talk to you.”

Daryl turned to face him, his eyebrow arched. “About what?”

“About Merle. There was a—there was a problem in Atlanta.”

“Is he dead?”

“We’re not sure.”

Daryl shook his head. “He either is or he ain’t.”

Rick stepped forward, getting between Daryl and Shane. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’ll just say it.”

“Who are you?”

“Rick Grimes.”

“Rick Grimes,” Daryl huffed. “You got something you want to tell me?”

“Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He’s still there.”

Hold on, let me process this.” Daryl stepped back, facing away from everyone as he wiped his eyes. It took a moment before he turned back to Rick. “You’re saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?”

“Yeah.”

Without missing a beat, Daryl flung the rope of squirrels at Rick before rushing to tackle him. Shane jumped into action, body slamming him to the ground. Daryl then pulled out a knife, swinging it back and forth at the two men. Rick was able to sneak in a gut punch, allowing for Shane to get Daryl into a choke hold.

“You’d best let me go!” Daryl yelled, thrashing his body.

Shane shook his head. “I think it’s better if I don’t.”

“Choke hold’s illegal.” Daryl spoke through gasps.

“You can file a complaint.” Shane responded, Daryl continuing to thrash in his arms. “Come on, man. We can do this all day.”

Rick knelt in front of Daryl, looking him in the eyes. “I’d like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?”

Daryl thought for a moment, before choking out a quiet “Yeah.” Shane looked to Rick for reassurance before letting the man go.

“What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others.” Rick began.

“It’s not Rick’s fault.” T-Dog chimed in. “I had the key and I dropped it.”

“You couldn’t pick it up?”

“Well, I dropped it in a drain.”

Daryl shook his head. “If that’s supposed to make me feel better, it don’t.”

“Well, maybe this will.” You responded, earning the looks of your fellow camp members. “T-Dog chained the door to the roof, right? With a padlock.”

Rick nodded. “That's gotta count for something.”

“To hell with all y’all!” Daryl snapped. “Just tell me where he is so I can go get him.”

“He’ll show you.” Lori spoke up, looking at her husband. “Isn’t that right?”

Rick stared at his wife for a moment before finally nodding. “I’m going back.”

“Like hell you are.” You snapped.

Lori shook her head, storming off towards the RV.

Rick stepped towards you. “I have to.”

You shook your head, stepping away from your brother. In this moment, you felt like you were losing him all over again.

----

AN: Thank you for reading this chapter, I really hope you all enjoyed it! I originally intended to end this one with them getting to Atlanta, but this chapter was way to long already. We will follow that rescue mission in chapter three! If you'd like to request to be tagged in future chapters, you can do so here. Please be sure to like and reblog <3

#daryl dixon; unearthed #twd #twd fanfiction #twd fanfic #daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon fanfic #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon x you

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omgkatherine01 · 9 months ago

Text

Between Your Wings - Chapter 3: Back to the City

Series Masterlist

Chapter 2, Chapter 4

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x female reader x Rick Grimes (slow burn)

Please comment, like and share

That night, you sat around the campfire with the members of the camp. Rick was recounting his journey here, "I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever."

"Mom said you died," Carl said softly, and you tilted your head sadly.

Rick nodded, his voice soft, "She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt that."

"When things started getting really bad, they told us at the hospital that they were going to medevac you and other patients to Atlanta, but it never happened," Lori spoke up.

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell," Rick said, "From the look of that hospital, it got overrun."

"Yeah, looks don't deceive," Shane finally spoke up, "I barely got them out, you know?"

Rick's eyes shifted to Shane, a small smile forming across his face, "I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it."

Dale smiled, leaning back in his seat, "There go those words falling short again. Paltry things."

The sound of a log being dropped into a nearby fire caught your attention. You glanced over at the Peletiers, Ed sitting back down in his seat. Every night since you'd all arrived here, he had insisted that his family have their own fire. He wanted to keep Carol and their daughter Sophia as far away from the rest of you as possible.

"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" Shane asked.

"It's cold, man," Ed told him.

"The cold don't change the rules, does it?" Shane asked. "Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"

"I said it's cold," Ed told him, "You should mind your own business for once."

Shane stood up, walking toward the Peletier family, standing in front of Ed, "Hey, Ed... are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?"

Ed looked at his wife, "Go on. Pull the damn thing out." Carol didn't move. "Go on!"

Carol stood up, walking around.

Shane shook his head, "Christ."

Carol pulled the log out of the fire, walking back to sit between Ed and Sophia.

Shane stomped the flames out, looking at Carol and Sophia, kneeling in front of them, "Hey, Carol, Sophia, how are y'all this evening?"

"Fine," Carol told him, "We're just fine."

"Okay," Shane told them.

"I'm sorry about the fire," Carol told him.

"No, no, no," Shane told her, "No apology needed. Y'all have a good night, okay?"

"Thank you," Carol told him.

Shane stood up, looking at Ed, "I appreciate the cooperation." He walked away, walking back toward the others, sitting back between T-Dog and Amy.

Dale cleared his throat, everyone having clearly been watching the situation as intensely as you had, "Have you all given any more thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."

"I'll tell him," T-Dog said, "I dropped the key. It's on me."

"I cuffed him," Rick said, "That makes it mine."

"Guys, it's not a competition," Glenn said, "I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy... maybe... someone like Audery?"

You frowned and looked at your closes friend, "What?"

Glenn shrugged, "I'm just saying... you are the safest person to tell him. Because he won't beat you up."

You shook your head, "Nah, nope. I'm not telling shit. Wasn't there, didn't see what happened exactly." Glenn nudged your shoulder with his while some of the group smiled with amusement. "Don't drag me into this."

"I did what I did." You looked at T-Dog, who looked down in slight shame. "Hell if I'm gonna hide from it."

"We could lie," Amy suggested.

"Or we tell the truth," Andrea said, "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed." She looked at Lori, "Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale asked, "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise--We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"I was scared, and I ran," T-Dog said softly, "I'm not ashamed of it."

"We were all scared," Andrea told him, "We all ran. What's your point?"

"I stopped long enough to chain that door," T-Dog said, "Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that--Not that chain, not that padlock. My point--Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us."

The camp went silent, everyone reflecting on the conversation. Nobody really wanted to tell Daryl anything; You knew Daryl was a hot headed like Merle, but he wasn't nearly as bad as his big brother.

You wouldn't lie, ever since you've met the Dixon brothers, you thought the youngest Dixon was quite attractive. You were shy at first to approach him--not to mention you pulled your father's gun to his face when you first met him when he and Merle stepped into your and your father's hiding place--but as time went on, he got used to you been around him.

You knew you developed a crush on him, but you kept it to yourself. Or well used to, until you and Amy had a heart-to-heart talk, and she found out you had a crush on him, she teased you a couple of times when it was just the two of you, but she definitely kept it a secret.

You sighed softly and looked down at Max who was lying on your feet. You would have to be the one to talk to Daryl about Merle.

Slowly everyone started to turn in, heading to their tents. You picked Max into your arms and walked to your tent. You walked inside and placed Max on the tent's floor. He walked to his small bed, and you put your boots outside before zipping your tent up.

You petted Max before stepping to your bed and lying down.

Tomorrow will be hard; you just knew it.

****

You woke up to a lick on your hand and opened your eyes slowly to see Max was awake and he whimpered. You groaned softly and slowly got out of the bed. Max jumped to the entrance of the tent, and you unzipped it.

He jumped out and ran off, wiggling his tail and you rubbed the sleep from your eyes and brushed your fingers through your hair. You put your boots on and stepped out completely.

You looked around at the camp and spotted only a few people around while the others still sleeping, which meant it was pretty early in the morning. "Morning, Audrey!" You looked up at top of the RV to see Jim.

You smiled as you stepped up to the RV. "Morning, Jim."

"Slept well?"

You shrugged, "Guess so. And so did Max, since he hasn't woken me up in the middle of the night." Jim smiled as he let out a chuckle. "Did you sleep?"

"Yeah, don't worry, just took the shift from Shane," Jim said and frowned, "Dale said he was up all night." You frowned at that; Shane was supposed to be on shift night but during the night Dale was supposed to take over.

"Huh," you said softly and glanced around before spotting Max running toward you, with his tongue out. You kneeled down and petted your puppy with affection. "Who's a good boy?"

"Son of a bitch!"

You looked to the direction the shouting came from and saw Ed throwing his shoe on the ground. You looked down at Max who just tilted his head up at you. You glanced slowly to Ed's direction... which was where Max was before running to you.

"Oh, you really are a good boy," you praised your dog quietly and rubbed him on the head. "Yes, you are." Max gave a small bark and fell on his back, and you giggled as you rubbed his belly. "Yes, you are!"

"Hey!" You looked over to Ed as he stormed toward you, and you froze.

Carol ran after him worried, "Ed--"

"Shut it," he said as he glared over at her and then turned back to you as you stood up with Max in your arms. He pointed in your face, and you took a step back while he glared at you, "Your stupid dog ruined my shoe!"

"Is there a problem, Ed?" you looked over your shoulder at Shane as he approached to your side.

"That little bitch's dog peed in my shoe," Ed hissed.

Shane's eyes darkened and his jaw clenched before he spoke in a calm tone which sounded scary, "First of all, don't call her that. Second, your shoe must have fell on the side, should watch how to put your shoes outside the tent." He stepped forward and faced Ed closer, "Now, anything else?"

Ed didn't answer and just glared between the two of you for another second before turning and storming back toward his tent. Shane and you watched him and Carol before you looked at Shane as he stepped around and stood in front of you.

"You okay?" he asked, and you nodded. He nodded and looked at Max for a moment before he smirked lightly and petted his head, speaking softly, "Good boy."

You let out a chuckle as he praised him for the nasty trick, and Max barked, wiggling his tail happily.

****

Everyone were now up and around. The kids had asked you if it was all right to take Max and play with him near the camp, which you happily agreed for them to do so. But your happy mood changed when Dale had told you the men would have to take parts out from the sports car you stole yesterday.

You stood on the side with your arms crossed over your chest, watching in complete sadness as Dale, Jim and Morales worked on the car. "It's not fair," you said, while the three amused men ignored your complains, "Taking my new car apart is just cruelty."

You felt someone next to you and you glanced over to see Rick, who was staring at the men and the car. "Look at 'em," you said as you looked at them, "They took my dream car."

You heard Rick letting out a soft chuckle. Dale stepped closer with part of the car, which made you sad even more. "Generators need every drop of fuel they can get," he said, "Got no power without it. I'm sorry, sweetheart."

He rubbed your arm and walked away. You looked over at Rick, "Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days."

Rick petted your back with a nod, "Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday."

"Hope so," you muttered and glanced back at him as he walked toward Lori. You looked back at your ruined car in disappointment before letting a soft sigh.

You heard a honk and looked behind the car at Shane's jeep driving closer. Shane parked and leaned up, "Water's here, y'all. Just a reminder to boil before use." You watched the men approaching the jeep to help carry the water tanks.

You walked up to Shane who noticed your expression, "Oh no, what happened while I was away?" he asked with a frown.

"Stolen car has been torn apart," you answered.

"Oh boy, that's sucks," he said as he leaned to the passenger side and grabbed his rifle. "Look like one hell of a car. Don't worry, you get another one day."

"Can you go this time to the city and get me another one?" you asked with a small smirk.

He laughed, "Just because I care about you, that does not mean I'll go to the city just to get you the same looking car you stole."

You pouted jokingly, "You mean." Your friendly conversation was cut off by screaming in the distance, and you tensed up and turned to where the screams came from.

"Mom!"

You watched as half the campers ran toward the direction the screaming came from. You followed them and immediately spotted Carl embracing his mother with Max in his arms. "What happened?" she asked, "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah," Carl answered as you watched the men running to where Jacqui was pointing.

You followed the men to the path and paused when you saw a walker kneeling down and eating an already dead deer. You leaned forward and saw the animal had a few arrows stuck in him.

You heard footsteps behind you and glanced over to see Andrea and Amy stopping near you. You turned back your attention to the men, the walker stopped and turned to them. He slowly got up and then Rick hit him with the pole, and he fell to the ground.

You watched the men beating the walker until Dale finished the walker off by chopping his head off with an axe. There was a moment of silent after that until Dale spoke, "It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain."

You heard small growling and looked down to see Max had left Carl's side and now was standing next to you and the sisters. His tail wiggled and he was staring at the dead walker.

You picked Max up and held him in your arms before turning your attention back to the men. "They're running out of food in the city, that's what," Jim said.

You heard branch snapping from behind him and you all looked tensed up. Andrea pulled you and Amy near her sides as you watched the men holding their weapons up.

Then after a moment of only hearing the footsteps approaching, you were relief to see it was only Daryl stepping into view. He paused and stared at the men, and they lowered their weapons down when they realized it was only Daryl.

"Oh, Jesus."

Max gave one bark in your arms when he saw Daryl, his tail wiggling.

"Son of a bitch," Daryl snapped as he looked at the deer. "That's my deer!" He walked closer. "Look at it. All gnawed on by this--" He kicked the Walker. "Filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard."

"Calm down, son," Dale told him, "That's not helping."

Daryl walked around the Walker, standing in front of Dale, and you took a few steps forward toward them. "What do you know about it, old man?" he snapped, "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'?" He walked back to the deer, taking out the arrows. "I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?"

As much as venison sounded good, you had to disagree because of the walker, "I would not risk that," you spoke up and glanced around at the men to see Shane nodding in agreement, before at Daryl.

Daryl looked back at you and then at the deer with a sigh, "That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel--about a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

The head of the Walker started to move his teeth. "Oh, God," Amy said behind you and you glanced back to see the sisters leaving.

"Come on, people," Daryl said and you turned back. "What the hell?" He shot the Walker's head with his crossbow. The arrow hit him in the eye, killing the walker. Daryl pulled the arrow out. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?"

Daryl walked past Shane and Rick. He petted Max on the head as he walked past you. You turned to the men and saw Rick watching Daryl leaving. "Yeah..." you trailed off and he looked at you, "That's Daryl."

You turned and took a step to leave but then Glenn spoke, "So... Audrey, you will... right?" You turned and gave Glenn a look as you raised your eyebrow. You didn't say anything and just turned and walked after Daryl to the camp.

"Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up."

You gently placed Max on the ground, and he ran up to the RV to where Lori was. You cleared your throat, "Hey Daryl?" Daryl stopped and turned to you as you walked close to him. "I, uh, I need to talk to you."

"'Bout what?" Daryl asked.

"About Merle," you answered, "There was a--there was a problem in Atlanta."

Daryl looked around, then he looked at you, "He dead?"

"No, I mean, we don't think so--" you started as Shane stepped to your side.

"We're not sure."

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl yelled at him.

Rick walked closer, "No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it."

"Who are you?"

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes," Daryl huffed, "You got something you want to tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

"Hold on, let me process this," Daryl said as he stepped back, facing away from everyone as he wiped his eyes. It took a moment before he turned back to Rick, "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof, and you left him there?"

"Yeah."

Without missing a beat, Daryl flung the rope of squirrels at Rick before rushing to tackle him. Shane jumped into action, body slamming him to the ground as you stepped back. Daryl then pulled out a knife, swinging it back and forth at the two men. "Daryl, stop!" you called.

Rick was able to sneak in a gut punch, allowing for Shane to get Daryl into a choke hold. "You'd best let me go!" Daryl yelled, thrashing his body.

Shane shook his head, "I think it's better if I don't."

"Choke hold's illegal," Daryl snapped.

"You can file a complaint," Shane said as Daryl continuing to thrash in his arms, "Come on, man. We can do this all day."

Rick knelt in front of Daryl, looking him in the eyes, "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?"

Daryl thought for a moment, before choking out a quiet 'Yeah'. Shane looked at Rick for reassurance before letting the man go.

"What I did was not on a whim," Rick told him, "Your brother does not work and play well with others."

"It's not Rick's fault," T-Dog told him, "I had the key. I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl asked.

"I dropped it in a drain."

Rick stood up as Daryl looked down at the ground, breathing heavily, standing up, looking at T-Dog, "If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Well, maybe this will," T-Dog told him, "Look, I chained the door to the roof--So the geeks couldn't get at him--with a padlock."

Rick looked at Daryl, "It's gotta count for something."

Daryl looked away, shaking his head, "Hell with all y'all!" He looked at Rick. "Just tell me where he is so that I can go get him."

"He'll show you," Lori told him, and everyone looked at her, "Isn't that right?"

Rick looked around, nodding, "I'm going back." Lori shook her head slightly and she turned and walked into the RV. You looked at Rick and watched him walking to the tents and Shane followed him clearly pissed off with the idea.

You stepped to your ruined car and leaned against the side of it as you crossed your arms across your chest. Daryl glanced to your way before quickly he sat down on one of the rocks and started to clean his arrows.

There was a couple of minutes of silent, full of tension in the air until you saw Rick and Shane walking back to the main camp, with Rick in his uniform.

"Well, look, I--I don't, okay, Rick?" Shane asked, "So could you just--Could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?"

"Hey, choose your words more carefully," Daryl snapped at him.

"No, I did," Shane told him. "Douche bag's what I meant." He looked at Rick. "Merle Dixon--The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me," Rick told him, "I can't let a man die of thirst--me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

Lori was sitting on logs with Carl and Max, "So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?"

Rick turned around, before his eyes landed on you. Oh no, he was staring at me you thought. You pointed at yourself, "Me?"

"You know the way," Rick pleaded as he stepped closer to you, "You've been there before. In and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask, I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you there. I know she would too." His eyes landed on Lori, and you looked over at her for a moment. You sighed and nodded lightly.

"That's just great," Shane told him sarcastically. "Now you're gonna risk three people, huh?"

"Four," T-Dog said.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" Daryl huffed.

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog asked.

"Why you?"

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."

Dale let out a heavy sigh, "That's four then."

"It's not just four," Shane said, looking at Rick, "You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that Walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp."

"Sounds to me like what you really need are more guns," Rick said.

"What guns?" Shane asked.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns," Rick explained, "I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up."

"Ammo?" Shane asked.

"700 rounds, assorted," Rick answered.

"You went through hell to find us," Lori told him, "You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?"

Carl stepped forward, looking up at Rick, "Dad, I don't want you to go."

"To hell with the guns," Lori told him. "Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in." Rick walked closer to them. Lori stood up. "Tell me. Make me understand."

"I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy," Rick told her, "Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him."

"What's stopping you?" Lori asked.

"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped," Rick answered. "He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."

"These are our walkies?" Shane asked.

"Yeah," Rick answered.

"So use the CB," Andrea told him. "What's wrong with that?"

"The CB's fine," Shane said, "It's the walkies that suck to crap--Date back to the '70s, don't match any other bandwidth--Not even the scanners in our cars."

Rick looked at Lori, "I need that bag. Okay?"

Lori looked away, "All right."

As the men began loading the van for the trip, you approached Lori who stared longingly at her husband. "Hey, I'll watch over him, don't worry," you assured.

Lori looked at you and smiled a small smile, nodding. She wrapped her arms around you, bringing you into a hug. You hugged her back as she spoke quietly, "I didn't get the chance to thank you for saving him."

"What, he told you?" you asked, and you both pulled out from the embrace.

"Yes."

"You're welcome," you said, "I got his back, don't worry."

Lori nodded and then said, "Be careful out there."

"Always am."

Daryl beeped on the horn of the van with his feet, "Come on, let's go!"

Carl ran closer and you hugged him gently, "Alright, bud, remember what happens when I'm out?"

"Keep Max close," he said as he pulled away.

You smirked and nodded, "See you soon."

He waved to you goodbye as you headed to the van. You got into the passenger seat and closed the door. Rick got into the driver seat and closed his door. After a moment of waiting, you glanced over and saw Daryl sliding the back door close and sat in front of T-Dog.

"All right let's get going," you muttered, and Rick started the van and drove off.

****

"He'd better be okay." You glanced up from the map and over your shoulder to Daryl when he spoke, you saw him looking at T-Dog, "It's my only word on the matter."

"I told you the geeks can't get at him," T-Dog told him, "The only thing that's gonna get through that door is us."

You turned back your attention to the road and when you saw you reached just outside the city and on the railroad tracks, you looked at Rick, "Stop here."

Rick did as you said and slowly stopped and parked the van. "We walk from here," you said as you glanced at the men before opening the door and getting out. They followed your move and you glanced at T-Dog and saw him holding his side for a brief second before letting his arm fall. "You okay?" you asked.

"Yeah," he answered as you all ran to the gates, and walked through the cut fence of the highway.

Rick looked at you, "Merle first or guns?"

"Merle," Daryl snapped, "We ain't even having this conversation."

"We are," Rick warned him and then turned his attention back to you, "You know the geography. It's your call."

"Merle's closest," you answered, "The guns would mean doubling back." You glanced at Daryl, "Merle first."

Daryl gave a small nod to you, and you all ran all the way to the building of the clothing store, and you all paused. There were no longer herd of walkers around the area but that didn't mean there was no walkers inside. Rick walked in first, and looked around before nodding for all of you to follow in.

Rick stopped you all suddenly, seeing a Walker inside, looking at Daryl, signaling him. Daryl walked past you, walking toward the Walker, holding his crossbow, "Damn. You are one ugly skank."

The Walker noticed him, taking a step closer but then Daryl shot an arrow to the Walker's head, killing it, walking toward it. He pulled the arrow out, cleaning it from blood with his pants. "Let's go," he said, and you all ran to the stairs that lead to the roof.

At the top of the stairs, T-Dog cut the chain to the door. Daryl pushed past him, throwing the door open and running onto the roof.

"Merle! Merle!" Daryl called out, looking around.

You followed the men who came to an abrupt stop.

"Oh, my God," you whispered, covering your mouth with your hand.

Daryl rushed over, "No!" You looked at him, and he began pacing back and forth, tears welling in his eyes as he continued to scream out.

Everyone remained silent, not knowing exactly what to say; if there was anything to say.

Your eyes lingered on the ground, Merle's severed hand sitting next to a hacksaw. Semi-dried blood was pooled around it, droplets leading away from the scene. Yet, there was no sign of Merle at all.

That crazy son of a bitch.

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emswritingsstuff · 4 months ago

Text

Pink in the Night (Carol Peletier x Fem! Reader) - Pt. 2

parts: [part 1]

summary: your relationship with carol grows, with some very bad events causing it to happen.

WC: 5.6k

It had to have been mid-afternoon by the time Sophia had left your tent. You were happy to give her solace for a few hours at least. With finally alone, you at least decided to clean up and bathe after days of not doing so. You knew the risks with going off by yourself to bathe, Shane had made it clear to the group multiple times unfortunately. But it felt all too awkward to buddy up for something like that, at least for you.

Everyone had their families or friends they could rely on. You didn’t. That fact had never really bothered you, well at least until recently. It seemed the more serious everything got the more you thought about how lonely you really were in this world. It was laughable to you how you could feel so lonely in a group like this but that’s just how the everything felt right now.

After getting out of your own head you had gotten everything ready to bathe. You made quick work of getting the job done before anyone had really noticed you were gone. Deciding to just deal with your hair at your tent. It was always a messy job, but it was worth it if it meant Shane didn’t chew you out for going off alone.

Setting down the bucket of water at your feet, you swiftly moved to sit yourself right in front of it. You immediately got to making your hair finally look decent after having to hide the oil that collected for days. The process was practically mindless, meaning your mind started to wonder. Every second it seemed; your brain flashed back to the events of the previous day.

Things had seemed okay for Carol and Sophia, Ed hadn't shown his face to the others yet. Better yet, he hasn’t been monitoring the pair at all. And part of you knew he probably was never going to do it. At least not anytime soon. But after everything, the guilt still loomed over you like fog. It was living in your brain and you still couldn’t help but feel like you had made everything just so much worse for the two. Carol was one of the sweetest women you had ever met, Sophia included in that as well.

Right as you started to ring out your hair, you felt slight touches to the back of your neck. Jumping up a bit, you turned to be met with Carol’s soft glance. A sigh of relief left your lips as you turned back to the bucket and continued on, but not without signaling what she was doing was alright.

It was a few minutes in comfortable silence. It was nice, Carols was just wiping off the back of your neck as you finished washing. It confused you at first, but it was endearing. Almost loving, but you didn’t want to think it was like that.

As you finished, you moved so you were sitting in front of Carol. Just looking at her. She had a soft smile on her face. “What was that for?” you had to inquire, the thoughts racing through your head needing some sort of reason.

Her first response was a simple shrug, but with some explanation afterward. “Just helping. The back of your shirt was getting soaked, couldn’t let that continue happening.” Carol’s slight laughs made you smile, it was rare to see her be genuinely happy like this. Not to say you didn’t welcome it though.

As soon as she was there, she was gone. You were sad to see her leave, but she had other duties. You had wished she could stay, just keep you company, but that couldn’t be a reality right now.

So much was going on. Everyone was on edge about the run group, and not only that, Jim was going crazy. He was scaring everyone, most importantly the kids. You had heard he apologized to Carol and Lori about the kids, but that's all you knew. Honestly, you just couldn’t wait for everything to be over, everything to die down. But that didn’t seem likely. Barely anything nowadays was.

Dinner had rolled around, as you walked over to the campfire you were happy to see Carol and Sophia finally joining the main group. Approaching softly, you got Carol’s attention, asking politely if you could sit next to her. Of course, she said yes. Making your place beside her, she was making small talk. Just asking simple things just to talk. She was coming out of her shell, and you loved to see it happen.

The meal that night had been so much better than usual, having a makeshift fish fry living up to be one of the best things to happen so far. Joyous laughs filling the air around you as you ate. A lot of the things being said were pointless jokes, just trying to make everything more lighthearted.

Morales soon spoke up to Dale, saying something that apparently a lot of people had been wondering. “Everyday, at the same time, I see you winding up that watch. Seems important for you to keep track of the time. Even if the world has ended.” You raised an eyebrow and looked at Carol, she just simply nodded along and shrugged. You shrugged back and looked back at the conversation going on in front of you.

It was interesting to hear Dale speak, but it wasn’t interesting enough to actually maintain the information he was saying. Everything had become blurry around you as you focused on eating but soon you couldn’t just ignore everything. A loud, painful, scream was heard throughout the whole camp. Looking toward the RV, the sight made you sick. Amy was getting eaten by a walker, but you couldn’t dwell as more closed in.

Everyone had long forgotten about everything going on before, just focusing on the danger going on now. You pulled out the knife that was attached to your waist and did your best to help fend off the walkers. Shane was yelling at everyone to get to the RV, but it was blocked off partially. Only a few actually made it there. Meaning you had to defend the others.

Without no words being said, you had joined the men in fighting off the raid. You had a feeling Shane was going to have a word about that tomorrow, but you couldn’t wait and think about it. You knew how to fight. You need to do something now. Moving your hand in a ‘come here’ motion to Carol and Sophia, they both moved behind you. Scared out of their minds. A protective arm was draped in front of them, willing to take the hit before they did.

The walkers seemed never ending, you started to feel like all this fighting was going to be for nothing. Soon though, more loud gunshots rang out.

The group on the run had returned. You were thankful, everything started to lighten up shortly after they showed up. Once it was fully silent, you put your knife back in its sheath and turned toward Carol, who was still behind you holding Sophia in her arms.

“You both okay?” you spoke softly, not wanting to startle them. Carol nodded with tearful eyes while rubbing Sophia’s back. You held out your arms and Carol was quick to fall into them with Sophia. You held them both close as you looked around the camp, offering them comfort but also doing a headcount. Everyone in the immediate group was accounted for, dead or not. Except for one person.

Ed.

It made your stomach churn to think about the sight in the Peletier tent if your thoughts were right.

Nervously, you pulled away from the pair in your arms and looked at Carol’s tear-filled eyes. You held her shoulder and let out a deep, worried breath. Just muttering his name was enough to get Carol to realize what you were getting at. Wiping her tears she pulled away from you both, “I’ll go look, stay with Sophia.” Right as you were going to protest, she had walked away. Mentally cursing to yourself, you just tried to comfort Sophia, just holding her while she shook. Still scared out of her mind.

It felt like an eternity before Carol had returned again. But when she did, all your thoughts were confirmed. “Ed’s gone,” she muttered softly. It was loud enough for you and Sophia to hear. Sophia detached from you and ran to her mom, just sobbing. You took the time to look at Carol, she was now covered in blood. She had tried to move Ed out of the tent herself. While in hysterics, Carol tried to voice she needed to move him, which you shook your head and cut her off. You couldn’t let her do that.

“I’ll move him, get Daryl to help. You have been through enough. At least let us do it,” you squeezed her shoulder while speaking to her and she just gave a tearful nod. You took that as your cue to go ahead and get Daryl.

He wasn’t far from you, helping to move a lot of the others. Walking up quietly and just looking at you, not speaking until you did. “We need to move Ed, they got him too,” as you spoke, Daryl's eyes shifted. He looked at you and then looked over at Carol and Sophia. Just simply nodding and leading you both to the Peletier tent.

It was gruesome, you had wished you’d stopped Carol before she saw this. Daryl lifted Ed from his legs while you lifted him from his shoulders, unfortunately covering yourself in his blood. It was gross, but this needed to get done.

Once getting him out, he was set with all the other bodies. A cover was thrown over him and you just let him sit there. You stood there for a while just looking at him. You really couldn’t imagine how both Carol and Sophia were feeling right now.

“Son of a bitch got what was comin’,” Daryl’s rough voice caused you to look up at him. Shrugging, you agreed. “Can’t say that to Carol though,” Daryl nodded and started to walk away, but quickly turned back to say something to you. Like he was debating saying it.

“What ya did the other day, punchin’ him. Ya did the thin’ I always wanted to do.” Simply shaking your head in response, he walked away doing it back. You had to have been there for a few minutes just thinking, finally deciding to turn in and change into somewhat cleaner clothes.

As you approached your tent, you had caught sight of the two familiar figures you had spent the past few days getting to know. Both of them were still shaken up, not looking any better than what they did earlier in the evening. Stopping in front of them, Carol looked up at you and covered her mouth in horror. You swiftly reacted and crouched down to her level with your hands in front of you.

“He's out of the tent, if you want to go in there,” Carol nodded her head in response. Getting a clear ‘no’ from her body language. Silently, you stood up and entered your tent, opening it up for them to join. Carol hesitated, Sophia just looking at you, but when you gestured your head inside the tent she followed.

The rest of the night was rough, all of you barely sleeping. It was a scary time and with the knowledge of what morning was going to bring. All of you could barely turn your brains off to even rest.

Once the sun shined through, the feeling of dread filled your body. The day was going to be filled with burying and burning. Everyone was on edge, emotions running at an all time high. Andrea was unwell, not leaving Amy’s side. Glenn was also distraught at the fact Shane just wanted to burn all the bodies. ‘Bury our people’ was what he kept saying, you’d felt bad for the guy. Everyone else just looked dull, like they weren’t feeling anything.

Trying to help where you could, you were mainly on standby. But you also kept Sophia company. Carol was off dealing with some things with Ed, just meaning she was destroying his brain. She had told you that it should be her because ‘he was her husband’ but part of you knew it was because she was angry at him. Angry at all the pain he caused her and her daughter. And you couldn’t argue with that.

Once she was back, she was covered in blood spatter. She took her place next to you and looked off into the distance. The blood was on her face and neck. You didn’t know what to say, but you knew you had to help her in some way. Grabbing a rag and some water, you dampened the rag and started cleaning her face. It was gentle, not wanting to freak her out accidentally, but she welcomed it.

The day was spent mostly in silence, no need for words until they needed to plan where to go from there. Rick wanted to go to the CDC, try and get help for Jim who got bit. Shane wanted to go to Fort Benning for safety. It didn’t matter where you went, just as long as everyone got there safely. Fortunately, everyone decided on the CDC for Jim’s sake. Deciding to roll out in the morning, meaning you had to prepare for the long drive ahead of you.

Everyone woke up around the same time, everyone meeting up to discuss the plan. Shane, of course, takes the lead in everything and explains the plan. Once he was done talking you all split up into your respective cars. Carol approached you timidly with her belongings as you finished packing up.

“Is it alright if we ride with you, the original plan was with Lori and Rick but-” you stopped her talking and nodded a quick ‘yes’ with a smile. Carol softly smiled back as she packed her things into the car where she could. Both her and Sophia got in the back with you in the front. It felt a little awkward but you just figured Carol wanted to be as close with Sophia as possible.

Once the drive started it was oddly peaceful, you followed the Grime’s car and just mindlessly drove. Sneaking many glances at the two in the back via the rearview mirror, you noticed how bored Sophia was looking. Considering she wasn’t with any of her friends or had toys, you figured she’d wouldn’t have a good time on the road.

Thinking fast, you quickly reached to grab a coloring book and broken crayons you had stored in the car. You passed it to Carol first because she was the one you could reach. “For Sophia, she looks bored.” Looking at Sophia through the mirror again, her eyes lit up. “I haven’t seen this many crayons in weeks!” You silently laughed to yourself and smiled. “Forgot I had them actually, stored them in here for my nieces and nephews.” You smiled at the memories and you could sense Carol’s smile too.

The ride since that point had been smooth, though unfortunately Jim had gotten worse. All of you were forced to stop. Jim wanted to be left there, left to turn. Leaving him there was hard, but it was what he wanted. All of you had to respect it. As you drove off you noticed Sophia staring out the window at Jim. You couldn’t imagine what was going through her head right now, but the best thing you could do is try and distract her a bit.

“Hey Sophia, what’ve you colored so far?” Sophia looked over at you, then at Carol almost for approval. Carol smiled down at her daughter and Sophia’s eyes lit up. She was excited to show you, even if it did have to be through a rearview mirror.

She looked so proud of her colorings, they were all of different animals. Bunny, dog, pig, all just different animals. It was sweet. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Sophia reach over and set one of the colorings on your passenger seat. Looking over quickly you saw it was another dog coloring page. “What’s that for?” you asked, genuinely clueless on why she set it there.

“It's for you,” she said bluntly but also kindly. She looked back down at the book and continued on with the coloring. It warmed your heart to see that she was still getting to be a kid.

Finally you all had arrived. The CDC looked rough, almost abandoned. Great, this was for nothing, or at least it looked like it was. Rick went up to get into the door, but was stopped by a voice booming over a speaker. Someone was in there, and he wasn’t going to let us in. At least not without some convincing. Luckily Rick was the best at convincing.

Once in you couldn’t help but notice how locked up the place was. Nothing could get in, but what made you nervous was getting out if things went south. Shaking the thought out of your head, you continued forward. Carol was behind you with Sophia, you stood strong, just trying to convey that you would protect them if it came down to it.

The CDC had proven to be a much better option now than anything. There was actual food and drinks, as well as hot water. It was like a dream come true in the apocalypse. It's how you found yourself now playing games with the kids after dinner.

Sitting on the floor around the table, you held the cards in your hand. Looking up as Carl played his card, not long after he yelled, “Uno!” Looking down at your hand of 6 cards you grunted, your cards not even being playable. Sophia also looked defeated, having so many more cards than you.

Leaning over to Sophia you whispered softly while picking up from the deck. “I think he’s cheating,” Sophia nodded with a smile while Carl looked offended. “Am not!” Once the turn came back to Carl, he slapped down a Draw 4 card and cheered. “I win!” You jokingly rolled your eyes and looked at Carol who just had an entertained look on her face.

“Whatever man, come to me about winning when we start switching hands,” You laughed lightly and started to clean up the cards. As soon as you finished, Lori walked in with a glass of wine, clearly interested in the place.

“Any good books?” Lori laughed, Carol spoke in agreement. “Enough to keep us busy for years,” Carol closed her book and set it on the table.

“C’mon kids, bedtime. Includes you to (Y/N). I know you haven’t been sleeping.” Rolling your eyes again, you got up with the kids and stuffed the uno box in your pocket. Carol took notice and raised an eyebrow with a smirk. “What? He’s not gonna miss a single card game,” She just giggled and left with Sophia.

“Maybe we’ll get some sleep for once. It’ll be a miracle” Carol ushered Sophia out of the game room with you not far behind. Both of your rooms were next to each other, you made sure it ended up that way. A ‘Just in case’ sort of thing.

Once reaching your respective rooms, Carol let Sophia into her room but stayed in the hall. Confused, you stood outside your door as well. Carol closed the door softly and hugged herself while turning to face you. Looking up she was grinning ear to ear, a smile you hadn’t seen from her.

“You know, playing that game? That's the most she’s ever smiled,” what Carol confessed to you broke your heart. But it also warmed it, just knowing you were making that little girl's life better. You didn’t know how to respond, but Carol didn’t give you time to anyway.

“I just want to thank you. Just for everything. I know I can’t really show it now, but I’m just grateful for you.I know Sophia is too.” Grabbing her hand you squeezed it lightly, smiling fondly at her. “Don’t mention it, I’ll always protect you both. No matter what.”

She pulled you in a tight hug and quickly pulled away. “Goodnight sweetheart,” you slightly blushed at the new nickname, but welcomed it. “Goodnight Carol.”

The sleep you got that night had to be some of the best you had ever gotten, at least for today’s standards. Leaving your room quietly you met the others for breakfast. Everyone looked refreshed, except for maybe Glenn who was hungover.

After you all ate you filed into the main ‘control room’ and met with Dr. Jenner. You were too distracted looking around to listen to what everyone was talking about. A loud slam of the metal doors brought you back to your senses, causing you to look around.

Panic set in as the huge timer on the wall continued the countdown. Basically, counting down to your deaths if you aren’t let out soon. Shane and Daryl were trying to break open the door as Rick was trying to reason. But it didn’t seem like Rick was getting through.

You were pacing around, trying to remain as calm as you could. Carol and Sophia were sitting right beside you, tears streaming down their faces. You sat down beside Carol with your head in your hands, legs shaking like they haven’t before.

“We’ll get out of here, we will.” You tried to speak as calmly as you could, just trying to reassure the scared people around you. And reassure yourself. What Carol said to you though, made you rethink.

"You don’t need to do that with me,” you stopped to look at her. Just a confused look on your face, “Do what?”

“Act like you aren’t scared,” she looked up at you with her tearful eyes, a look you were so used to now. Right as you were about to respond the thud of the doors opening made you jump up.

“Let's go!” Shane shouted, and almost everyone followed. Some later than others, but most of you got out. You were upset to know Jacqui stayed, but it's what she wanted. And you couldn’t argue with that.

You really didn’t want to be back on the road, but you had no other choice now.

After a few hours, you had made it back to the highway. The blocked traffic was difficult to navigate, between that and the RV breaking down, you were forced to stop.

Trying to make good of the difficult decision, you all had decided to look through the cars for anything good. Much to Lori’s dismay though.

While looking through some clothes, you notice Carol holding up a bright red shirt. She was looking down on it almost lovingly, like she had something like it before.

“Ed never let me wear nice things like this,” She had directed the comment to Lori. But Lori had just looked at her with an angry glare. As Carol went to put the shirt down you gave her a light nudge. “Keep it, it’ll look good on you.” Carol gave you a weak smile as she grabbed it again and kept it.

After a few minutes of scavenging, Dale yelled for everyone’s attention. Getting you all to look at the herd coming toward you. The group was stranded. You couldn’t get through the traffic, the RV was broken down. You had to hide, so you did.

Carol and Lori hid under a car and so did you. Carl and Sophia were under a separate car right in front, luckily within your sights. As the herd was passing you tried to stay as quiet as you could, finally breathing a sigh of relief when it looked like it let up. Crawling out from under the car you instantly went for Carol and Sophia. But unfortunately, the world had different plans.

You all had somehow missed a few walkers, one of them being around Sophia and freaking her out. Her fight or flight had to have kicked in and she instantly ran off. More walkers soon followed. Rick sprung to action and ran after her, knowing him, he would bring her back so you tried to focus on calming Carol. Which was no use.

It felt like an eternity before Rick had shown back up.

Without Sophia.

Carol was a mess, the worst you had ever seen her. Rick and Daryl had gone back out to search, apparently gutting a walker to look too. But to no avail.

The whole situation was fucked, this could’ve been prevented. But alas, the world wanted more bad things to happen to good people.

Days and days had gone by, you had tried looking for Sophia everyday you could. Most of the time you were with Daryl, both of you being the most passionate about looking.

Daryl tracked and you followed, picking up on details he missed or if a walker snuck up. And Sophia trusted you more than anyone besides Carol. But usually, all you found was dead ends.

While searching one of those days, you noticed a different looking stone at your feet in the ground. It was smooth and lighter than what you’d find in the woods. Picking it up, you immediately knew what it was. Pink opal, the same one you gave Sophia.

“She was here,” you spoke for the first time in a while. Daryl walked over to you to see the stone in your hand. Nodding and gesturing to keep moving, “We’re gettin’ closer.”

Though it seemed with every lead you got, it ultimately failed. Still no sign of the girl and still no sign of where she ran to. Daryl was growing restless and so were you, the sudden move to the farm made you both angry. But you couldn’t protest. Not at all. Especially when they had a doctor.

The farm had proven to have more ground to cover, and you luckily had some people there offer to help look for Sophia.

But with all the searching, still nothing. You were starting to lose faith, and you know Carol was too. She had grown distant, hiding in the RV and doing chores. You would keep her company sometimes, but you knew she’d ultimately want to be alone.

Thanks to Daryl, the area you had to search got smaller after he managed to find Sophia’s doll. But after a single day of looking, still nothing, no more clues or tracks. It was hopeless.

When morning came around, the group was making breakfast. Well, Carol was making breakfast. She looked hopeful, made you glad to see her out of her shell again. Everyone was peacefully eating and carrying on with light conversations when Glenn had gotten everyone’s attention.

“There's walkers in the barn”

All of you froze. What? Was he serious? But he sure was. Shane was pissed, instantly confronting Hershel about it. Shooting walkers, proving they aren’t alive, yelling, just everything to piss off Hershel. Shane started a massive fight, which then turned into a fight about Sophia after they debated leaving. Before you could get a word into Shane about Sophia, he stomped toward the barn and opened it.

Letting the walkers out.

“Are you insane?” You yelled, Shane ignored all the yelling from everyone and started shooting. The others with weapons not short behind..

The Greene’s were distraught, and you couldn’t blame them. A random group comes along and shoots all your turned loved ones? You’d be angry too.

Just when you had thought all the walkers were dead, another groan was heard. One more walker, but this one was different. It was a child, but not just any child at that. It was Sophia.

Instantly looking toward Carol, you saw the realization hit her and she went to Sophia. Running toward Carol, you caught her in your arms holding her back. Carol was inconsolable, just fighting to get out of your grasp but you couldn’t let her. Not right now.

“Don’t look. Look at me, Carol, just look at me,” her heavy breathing was making her panic more and more. You could see her looking at Rick with his gun up, ready to shoot. Trying to speak to her to make her forget and not realize when the gun would eventually go off, but to no avail.

The gunshot from Rick’s gun made her jump, and in turn her cries were louder. The tears from her eyes soaked your shirt as you both sat there, her loud sobs being the only sound to fill the air.

After a few minutes, once she calmed down a bit, you escorted her to the RV to let her rest in bed. Setting her down on the bed, you tucked her in. Carol looked numb, barely speaking and barely moving. She was just looking out the window of the RV. You saw that she still had a view of the horrific scene outside the barn. Reaching your arm over her, you closed the curtain as swiftly and quietly as you could.

Closing the blinds made the room more dim, you hoped that it would help Carol get some rest. You rubbed her arm in a supportive manner and turned your heel to make your way out. Leaving Carol alone.

You’d wanted to stay, but you feared that you would be overstepping. She had just lost her daughter, the one you were so confident you were going to find. You’d figured you would just go check on her later when everything calmed down.

Your body felt heavy as you made your way to the barn, the bodies of everyone in the barn were now laid down with blankets over them. Making your way to the smaller one, you kneeled down and sat beside it. You had just assumed it was Sophia. And you hoped you were right. It just didn’t feel right to check and see.

At that moment, all the walls you had built up for Carol’s sake had come down. Ugly sobs and cries leaving your lips. You had loved that little girl, and you know she had to have been scared. It broke you into millions of pieces to think she was going through all of this. Her family was going through this. All you had wanted to do was protect her and Carol from the evil in their life, after having to endure it for so long. And for a while you did, but now you have failed.

Reaching into your pocket, you pulled out the stone you found in the woods all those days ago. Holding it in your hands, rubbing it to try and ground yourself. Just sitting there, silently paying your respects. You had to have been there for a while. Nobody bothered you though. You knew that they had to have seen you sitting there crying, they all knew what was going on. They understood.

After a while you stood up, brushed yourself off and stuffed the stone back in your pocket. You made the choice to go check on Carol. Or at least see if she wanted some sort of company. Even if she declined, it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

Once entering the RV you saw her asleep, probably worn out from all the emotions she felt today. You just stood at the entrance of the makeshift bedroom, just watching her. You felt weird doing so, but for everything she’s been through the past few days, keeping an eye on her felt right.

Hours had gone past, you were just sitting at the table in the RV now. Sleep wasn’t going to come easy that night, but you were glad Carol could at least sleep. Your back was facing the bed while you rested your head on the table. Staying in the position for a bit, you heard some stirring behind you. Instantly looking back, you were met with Carol's eyes. She looked rough, but that was to be expected right now.

Quietly standing up, you moved toward the bed. Carol also moved to make room for you right at the foot of the bed. Sitting down softly, you looked at Carol again. A sort of numbness filling her state. You didn’t need to speak, your look was enough to get her to start talking.

“I’ll be okay, I’m just hurting so much,” her voice was shaky but also stern in a way. She was tired of getting asked the same question, which you guessed. Looking down at your hands you nodded along. “Just worried is all.”

“I know you are, you’re always worried about me,” her hands had suddenly made her way to your face. Feeling a little awkward you just froze, just let her put her hands there. You had a feeling she wanted to close the gap. Kiss you, but you couldn’t let it happen. But an unforgettable, new feeling ignited in your chest, almost like you were on fire. When you broke out of your thoughts, you placed your hands on her wrists and pulled them down. She looked surprised to see you pulled away like that. But you just couldn’t do it, especially not when she's hurting.

You quickly gave her a forehead kiss, holding her shoulders in the process. She looked disappointed that it's all she got, but there wasn’t a part of you that wanted to ruin your relationship. “Get some more rest, I’ll be around if you need me.”

And with that you left, wishing the kiss you gave her meant more. And regretting that it didn’t.

#carol peletier #carol peletier x reader #twd carol #the walking dead #the walking dead x reader #fanfic #x reader #female reader #wlw

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rickmymanrick · 1 year ago

Text

one rule | chapter three |

[rick grimes x original female character slowburn]

summary: it's been a month since the complete collapse of civilization. when daphne and glenn realize this is their new way of life, they begin to strategize the best ways of survival. along with the new members of the group, they fall into a steady routine, until a one-sided fight breaks out and everything is knocked out of order.

notes: you'll hate me for this. sorry. also, daphne might seem a bit weak but we'll see her character grow and learn how to live in this new world as the book goes on. i gotta allow some room for growth.

A month later…

Daphne’s POV

The first two weeks were absolute hell.

It didn’t dawn on me just how accustomed we had all been to technology and conveniences until the first night. It was uncomfortable and terrifying, the heat creating a layer of sweat that made it hard to even breathe. Every noise made me jump and it took a while for me to get more than an hour of sleep most nights.

I felt even more horrible for Glenn who, for all the years I’d known him, slept like a log. But even he was struggling and it was mostly due to my constant tossing and turning.

On my worst nights, I usually liked to open the trunk of the Jeep and just sit, legs curled up against my chest and staring at the clear sky with my head on my arms. It’s amazing how many stars you could see now that there wasn’t much use for electricity. For those who had survived the initial outbreak, I assumed they were smart enough to figure out that light attracted the dead.

Glenn called them geeks, but we mostly agreed on walkers. Made them sound less goofy I guess.

During Glenn and Shane’s runs, they encountered some survivors and we’d slowly been adding to our group. Each person had something to offer thankfully — well, most of them at least — and though we were all complete strangers to each other, we were slowly but surely falling into a comfortable routine. This was life now; we had to accept it.

Glenn was out on a run now. The first time he had made his solo trip to the city, he had made the smart decision to do it while I was finally asleep (needless to say, it wiped out all my progress and now I woke up every half hour expecting him to be gone). But he survived and even more, he brought back things we didn’t think we’d ever see again.

Canned foods, appliances, blankets, mosquito spray. Too many things to even keep track of — thankfully, Lori was good at stock.

I would’ve gone with Glenn — I have a few times before — but he was more familiar with the city. Knew shortcuts and alleys I couldn’t even navigate in my wildest dreams. Unfortunately, I only slowed him down. So he mostly goes alone now, to my dissatisfaction.

”Grab me my beer. Hurry up!”

I clenched my jaw, picturing every single way I could knock Ed Peletier on his ass. I tried not to look up from my task, scrubbing my knife clean, to avoid an argument.

“The dead can move faster than that,” he snarled again. I saw his wife Carol rushing to bring him a lukewarm beer from my peripheral.

Him, Carol and their daughter Sophia were new additions to the group; Glenn found them maybe a week ago in the woods close to the interstate.

It was clear from the day they were brought in they weren’t a happy family. There was tension; it almost felt as though one wrong move could inflict Ed’s rage on every single person in the camp. It wasn’t until the second day of their arrival that Shane had caught Ed being less than friendly towards his wife. It led to a nasty discussion, but Ed didn’t take it as far as I thought his peasized brain would.

Even a vile man like him knew being with other people was the only chance at survival. It was unfortunate he used his time on this earth to be the shittiest man alive.

I finally looked up when Carol crossed in front of me, a forced smile on her face, and her posture looked small. Despite not knowing her for long, my heart broke.

Carol approached her husband with the beer (the cooler and the alcohol being his only contributions towards this group in terms of supply searching) and stretched it out with a shaky hand.

Ed looked up with an easy smile. It was sinister. He didn’t thank her, instead brought his hand back and slapped her from the back as she walked away.

I automatically jumped up, disgusted and infuriated out of my mind. My feet were pulling me towards him before my brain could catch up.

”You fucking pig—!”

I had no idea how or when Shane had crossed the camp so quickly but his hand was wrapped around my arm firmly. He held me back, feet away from where Ed was now standing, sneering down at me with an amused glimmer in his eyes.

”Daphne—” gasped Carol, red in the face.

Shane’s hand held me back from acting on every murderous thought I’d had about him ever since he set foot on our terrain.

"You wanna know something, Ed," Shane spat the name like it was poison. "I don't see why you're here. It's thirteen against one. We can have you out on the street before you get the chance to pull your head outta your ass."

I noticed how Shane gave Merle Dixon, a survivor who had joined our camp with his brother Daryl weeks ago, a side-eye.

"20 if you include the kids and jackass over there-"

Merle wasn't paying attention, too far away to hear the brewing conflict and probably too high to care. Just the sight of him made me angrier.

"Screw you and your little bitch too," grunted Ed, drinking his beer like it was a regular Tuesday night. I stiffened in anticipation, knowing Shane wouldn't let this one slide. Ed had said some pretty stupid shit since he's gotten here, but I could feel Shane's patience thin out each and every time.

"You know what, man, I've been-" Shane chuckled strangely. He seemed to simmer down, smiling easily as he reached a hand out to Carol who stood nearby with another beer bottle on hand for when Ed finished his. I watched tensely as Carol reluctantly gave it to him. The confusion on her face was evident and I knew the pit in her stomach that must've formed if she thought Shane, our sort of guard dog, was actually about to make peace with her abuser. "I've been going about this wrong. You and I -- I guess we haven't been seeing eye to eye. It's tense, I get it, it's a new world now-"

Ed had been eyeing him distastefully, probably angered that he'd taken one of his beers, but as Shane kept talking, his guard began to come down, a pleased look in his eye as Shane fed him exactly what he wanted to hear. "To the new world," Ed said gruffly, clinking his bottle against Shane's.

A nauseous feeling arose as I watched the scene, but I liked to think I knew Shane fairly well and I wasn't an idiot. Anyone with eyes could see Shane had a little more than a soft spot for me. Was he actually going to let that comment slide? Because I sure as hell wasn't. My lip curled, ready to fire insult after insult at Ed but the words fell short as Shane moved unexpectedly.

His bottle swung in the air faster than Ed's two brain cells could comprehend it, straight for the side of Ed's head, shattering loudly against the bone of his temple. A strangled noise left Ed, his big body stumbling to the side before falling with a loud thud.

Carol had gasped, jumping back what seemed like a few feet but maybe I had just run forward as soon as the violence started, and little Sophia screamed, face red. Even with all the abuse, Ed was still the only father figure in her life, but it wasn't enough for me to stop Shane.

Blood was seeping down the side of his face, gargled sounds leaving his mouth as he weakly tried to fight Shane off. I guess his large structure was the only thing giving him any strength at all- the force Shane had put into that bottle swing was enough to incapacitate anyone. It only got concerning when Shane didn't stop his assault even after Ed had fully given up, slumping unconscious on the floor. His fists kept crashing into Ed's face, red on the ground and on both of his hands and you could barely tell Ed's nose from his mouth. His entire face was swelling up rapidly and it was only when our lookout, Dale, came running along with the others that I snapped out of my stupor.

One glance at Sophia was all I needed to rush forward and grab Shane's shoulders.

"You're killing him!" yelled Dale, ramming the bottom of his rifle against the ground, face screwed up in a mixture of anger and disappointment. I gave two of the other survivors, the burliest of them, an exasperated look, struggling with Shane's relentless movement, unable to pull him off alone.

The two came rushing forward, huffing as if it were the biggest inconvenience - and I supposed it was; no one was a fan of the abuser and in fact, if the sight of his mangled face wasn't so grotesque, I doubt anyone would be complaining. I wanted nothing more than to let Shane kill him, even though the thought made my stomach churn because I wasn't this murderous a month ago, but Sophia's cries were hard for me to ignore. Getting rid of Ed had to be done in secret, away from prying eyes and especially from Sophia's. As we pulled Shane off, I glanced over at Carol, out of breath and still shaking in fury, and she was not as shaken as her daughter was. In fact, I'd say that beneath that shocked expression, there was a glimmer of hope and satisfaction in her eyes.

"Don't you let me hear you insult her again, you bastard!" Shane yelled as T-Dog and Morales, the two survivors, pulled him away by the arms. I stepped closer to Carol, debating whether I should even breathe in her direction.

”Ed,” gasped Carol quietly. “I—he—Soph-Sophia—”

”Carol, you’re going to be okay. You…” I glanced back at my tent. It was large enough for two more. If Glenn were here, he’d insist. “You two can stay with me.”

”He’s… he’s my husband, Daphne,” Carol said in a shaky voice, barely above a whisper. “I—I did this to him—”

”No, you listen to me. You didn’t do this. Shane did.” I glanced over to where Dale, T-Dog, and Morales were dragging Ed. Our little “med-bay station” under a small tarp with a stack of first aid kits. “And if he hadn’t, I would’ve.”

Carol didn’t say a word. She just clutched Sophia tighter. Even with her young ears latching onto my every word, I couldn’t find it in myself to take it back. I wanted her to know she had someone willing to fight for her and her mother.

“He’s my husband.” Carol repeated a bit firmer this time. She looked more upset as she gazed at the med-tarp. I couldn’t tell if it was whatever care she had for the man or if it was because he was still breathing.

I knew my limits. All I could do was hope he wouldn’t lay another hand on them, because then I would have a murder to deal with.

Carol and Sophia walked away, probably to the med-tarp but I couldn’t bring myself to turn around. I was drenched in worry and sadness, for them. For their situation.

I felt the burning of a pair of eyes on me. I removed the hand shielding my eyes from the sun. Squinting against the brightness, I found Shane by the tree line, as far as he could get from Ed without abandoning the camp altogether. Other than the blood on his knuckles, he looked otherwise alright. No surprise though— Ed wasn’t able to lay a finger on him.

I walked over to him. He was still seething, his shoulders pulled back as if he were ready to send a punch flying. His lip was curled and he was now staring at the ground furiously.

”He needs to be sent away,” I said quietly. It was my turn to look at the ground, afraid to see the disgusted look on Shane’s face.

Murder was a line we hadn’t crossed yet. We don’t kill people — just the dead and any wildlife we need to consume… and that’s what it would be— exile was just as good as murder in the new world.

”I agree,” said Shane gruffly. “But- but what we’re building here. All of us—” he gestured at the group of twenty. “We need the numbers.”

”Ed doesn’t do a damn thing for the numbers—”

”Yeah, but Carol and Sophia do.” Shane sounded a bit disappointed as he said so. I couldn’t blame him— it would be much simpler if Ed wasn’t a manipulative bastard who had his family wrapped around his stubby finger. “That little girl is Carl’s best friend and Carol—”

”You don’t have to explain,” I sighed. “I get it.”

”I know you don’t like it. Hell, I don’t like it, but this isn’t forever, Daph. I promise—”

I didn’t mean to flinch away, but his hand reaching toward me, covered in fresh blood, with the nickname Glenn so often used for me— I was automatically moving away in discomfort. I made a promise to myself to toughen up. Like Glenn and Shane have.

A hurt look crossed Shane’s face. I quickly placed a hand on his arm, loosely clutching his elbow. The warmth of his skin grounded me.

“I’m sorry. I just…” I sighed. Shane’s eyes were glued on me intensely. “I want us to be safe. You, me, Lori, Carl, Glenn… every second he’s out there and I don’t hear his voice over this damn radio, I can’t breathe.”

His gaze followed my other hand, that wrapped around the walkie clipped to my belt, and it made me aware just how bad they were shaking. The tears welled up before I could help it. God, I wish I was stronger—

“Hey," Shane said in a demanding tone. I looked up through unshed tears. "He'll be okay. How many times has he not come back?"

I didn't answer, caught up in my thoughts about Glenn. Even if I tried, I wouldn't be able to make Shane understand. He was my best friend, the only person other than my parents that I'd ever cared about more than myself. In a world where there was nothing left but survivors, I couldn't lose him.

"You're right," I said eventually, getting a grip. Crying wouldn't do me any good. The sun was slowly setting and he would be back any second now. He had to.

"Damn right. In fact, there he is," boasted Shane. I turned around so fast I should've gotten whiplash. How did I miss the sound of the van pulling up the trail? I gave the thought less than a second of attention before rushing over to the driver's door. I pulled it open before Glenn could.

"Woah, Daph," gasped Glenn, barely making it out of the van. I tackled him into a tight hug, gripping his shirt tightly. It was familiar, the feeling of his body and the sound of his voice. Relief flooded me like an icy bucket of water.

"You asshole," I pulled away and smacked his chest. "What took you so long?"

Half of our group already crowded around the trunk of the car, taking whatever Glenn brought back to where Lori was waiting with her little inventory list. It was only a few crates full of small things, maybe three or four.

We sat down by our pile of logs, unlit but everyone stared at them as if they were ablaze. It was silent, disappointment and a feeling of loss reeking in the air.

“Hopefully, I’ll find more on the next run,” sighed Glenn, eyes stuck on the ground.

”I’m coming with you,” I said firmly.

Glenn’s mouth opened in automatic protest.

“I’m serious, Glenn. I don’t know the roads like you do but I’m fast. Faster than I used to be. I’ve been hunting in the woods with Shane—” who was currently shaking his head furiously, pacing with a frustrated look. “— and we could get more for the camp if there were two of us.”

”Even more with three,” drawled Merle Dixon from behind us. His little brother was nowhere in sight.

I spun around to glare at him. “I’m sorry. I think I missed the part where I invited you.”

”Lighten up sweetcheeks. You’d be hotter if you kept that mouth of yours busy doing something else.”

”Fuck you,” I spat. Merle smiled as if I gave him a compliment.

”No. No, no, absolutely not,” Glenn protested.

I nodded fiercely. “I agree. Merle won’t be coming.”

”Neither will you. I don’t think this is a good idea. We’ve got a good thing going here. I bring any more people and we could mess that up,” he said exasperatedly.

”No offense Glenn, but the lack of supplies here isn’t a good thing,” Andrea Harrison said from across the circle.

“He’s trying,” I snapped before Glenn could even defend himself.

”We know that,” said Andrea quickly. “We'd just like to help out more.”

”Who’s we?” Glenn asked, sounding more and more frustrated by the second.

“Andrea, Morales, Jacqui, and I were talking… it doesn’t have to be every run. But the numbers could be better for you. We’d cover each other and get more supplies in one run,” explained T-Dog.

“You were in on this?” Glenn asked quietly, giving me an exasperated look. I shook my head. This was news to me. Sure, Andrea had mentioned something to me about “picking up some harder shifts” around camp the other day, but I hadn’t thought much of it. I figured she was just going to go fishing more often with her sister or something.

”Glenn, like it or not, I’m coming. As for the others… you know the risks,” I gave them each a pointed look. At the end of the day, the others didn’t matter to me like Glenn did. I would make sure the two of us got home alive if shit were to hit the fan.

They all quickly nodded in agreement. Glenn stared at them for a moment and then let out a hefty sigh. “Fine.”

There was a silence that fell over the camp. Shane was still seething, holding his knuckles to his mouth and glaring daggers at me.

”So,” Merle began. Everyone turned toward him with a glare. “When do we leave?”

”You’re not coming,” I scoffed.

”Sorry, sweetheart, but you could use an extra set of hands. I’m getting a lil too comfortable in this five star hotel, I’m in need of a little fire under my ass—”

”You sure it’s not drugs you’re in need of?” I rolled my eyes.

”Now that you mention it, I am running low. All the more reason I’ll be joining your little crew for the time being,” Merle said snarkily.

”This is gonna be a disaster,” groaned T-Dog, stomping away from the gathering. We all took it as a cue to disband, knowing there was nothing any of us could say that would keep Merle Fucking Dixon from joining us into the city tomorrow.

Glenn and I shared a worried glance.

"It'll be fine," I tried to sound reassuring but I think it had the opposite effect. Glenn's face dropped even more and he trudged over to our tent without another word.

I waited a moment, listening to the sounds of the insects that seem to come alive at night, and I stared at the sun that was slowly slipping beneath the horizon. Everyone had gone to their tents or were now sitting close to the small fire Lori had started. Jacqui, a sweet woman I'd talked to once or twice within the two weeks she'd been here, and Andrea sat close together, her little sister at her side as usual and T-Dog joined the circle too. Even Morales was sitting close by, his family surrounding him but he seemed engaged in whatever conversation they had going on. I furrowed my eyebrows in frustration or confusion... maybe both. They were surely discussing tomorrow's supply run and I tried not to be angry with them. It was obvious they wanted to contribute more and while the thought was appreciated, I'm not sure a larger group would do us any favors in a city that's infested with the dead.

I dragged my gaze away from them, but not before Lori's eyes met mine and she gave me a weak smile. Carl was sitting beside her silently, staring at the burning embers with disinterest. I weakly smiled back and followed after Glenn's footsteps, mentally preparing for another restless night.

Later that night, I was up long after everyone had fallen asleep, with my legs pressed against my chest and my chin resting against my knees on the back of the black jeep we’d stolen when all of this started.

My anxiety kept me awake as usual. After tossing and turning for a full hour, I’d resorted to my usual activity, stargazing. I laid down, thankful the roof of the jeep happened to be stored away from Shane's last water run. I let out a quiet sigh, feeling the tense muscles in my back forcefully relax. It was a bit painful letting my guard down because my body was so used to being alert.

A sudden branch snapping sent me sitting up again, hand flying to the blade I kept in the sheath on my belt.

"It's me," Shane said as he stepped into view. I let go of the knife and pulled my knees up to my chest again. I had nothing to say, knowing exactly what Shane was dying to discuss. It was the only reason he'd be joining me at this hour instead of patrolling the edge of the woods. The group alternated night shifts, Shane volunteering to take most of them, but it was supposed to be T-Dog's night. It wasn't out of the norm for Shane to take his place but I knew T-Dog must've been patrolling if Shane was here now.

He sat next to me silently, staring at the ground and clicking his tongue. I kept my head forward, staring at the outline of the city stubbornly.

“I don’t approve of this,” Shane finally said quietly.

”And I’m not asking for permission,” I responded with a bit of a bite. I knew Shane was just concerned for my well-being, but it didn’t ease the pent-up frustration from the last few days. Between Ed’s arrival and Merle’s stupid little jabs at anyone who wasn’t what he considered superior, I was beyond over trying to remain civil. Maybe Shane didn’t deserve it, but I was done trying to please everybody.

”Since the moment the others arrived, we’ve been bending over backwards trying to make sure they’re fed, safe. Sure, some of them have earned their keep but others? Shane, we’re risking our lives every damn day.”

I felt horrible even saying this. But I needed to think beyond our natural instinct to protect anyone who was still alive. At the end of the day, this was about us. What used to be just Glenn and I become a group of five and I’m willing to admit I’d do just about anything to make sure we survived.

“I’m not going for them. I’m going for us. I’m not going to sit here while Glenn is out there every other day. If I can help him find even one children multivitamin pack, it's more than enough for me to try."

“Carl will be fine,” Shane said sternly.

”Maybe. But he’s a boy. He’s growing and we need him to be strong if he wants to survive—”

”I won’t let anything happen to him or you,” Shane cut in, looking more determined than I’d ever seen him.

“I appreciate that, Shane. I really do,” I placed my hands over his and he stared down at our contact, entranced almost. “But I can take care of myself. Or at least, I’ve gotta learn how to... I’ll be fine tomorrow. Glenn will be with me.”

Shane tilted his head, straining the muscles of his neck. "That's... that's what I'm worried about..."

I rounded on him suddenly, pulling my hands away as if his skin burned me. "Glenn has proven time and time again he's more than capable of keeping this camp safe. He knows how to avoid the walkers--" I didn’t know why I was repeating this. Wasn’t he the one reassuring me of Glenn’s skills earlier?

"But has he killed any?" Shane hissed. "The world ain't ever gonna be the same again and it's either kill or get killed, Daphne. See, me? I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty and do what needs to get done. Would he? Let's say you tear your bullet wound open and one of the walkers got their hands on you--"

"Then, I would be dead anyway," I cut him off fiercely. "Where the hell is all this coming from? I can't keep playing it safe while you're both risking your lives everyday for the rest of us. I was able to handle myself pretty damn well on the field--"

"That was then. This is now. This ain't like the field, Daph. We're not tracking down petty criminals, wearing our little bulletproof vests with backup around the corner. If I can't stop you then I need to know you'll be safe. I can't go with you, I can't leave Lori and Carl--"

"I wouldn't ask you to," I shook my head, feeling my temper rise to the back of my neck, bubbling as if I wanted to open my mouth wide and breathe fire. I looked away from Shane and stared at the dark outline of the skyscrapers against the moonlight. "Lori and Carl need you here."

Though reluctant, he nodded in agreement. "I...I just want to make sure you're okay. If I-if I can't stop you, at least take this with you. Please." He held out his handgun, safety on, but I could tell it was loaded. I eyed it for a long moment, knowing it was one of the few weapons we had to protect the camp.

"Take it," he pressed one more time. Hastily, I took the gun before he could retract it. If it came down to it, I'd be grateful Shane gave me something to defend myself with. God knows what we'll encounter tomorrow. Even if Glenn was pretty much desensitized to the dead, I sure as hell wasn't.

"Thanks," I muttered, turning the pistol over in my grip. It was a semi-auto pistol and almost always in Shane's hands. It didn't go past me the sacrifice he was making for my safety. "Thank you, Shane," I said more clearly, finally meeting his gaze.

He was staring at me intensely, a bit closer than I expected him to be. His eyes were filled with worry and something similar to...to longing? I thought his crush on me had died the second our lives at the precinct did.

I debated whether I should get up and put some distance between us or let whatever was gonna happen, happen. The rush of the last few weeks, the turn our lives took, it didn't give me the time or luxury to even feel lonely. And even if I did, even just for a second, I would catch a glimpse of Lori Grimes and her boy wherever they were in the camp, and the guilt would squash any of that loneliness away... Was it selfish for me to want attention from a lover when a mother and her son had just lost their husband and father so recently? And besides, it wasn't like I was dating anyone before the world fell apart, it had been some hookups here and there, and my embarrassingly huge crush on my coworker I interacted with once.

Add in the fact that the subject of my embarrassing crush was the husband and father of who I now considered family...

I didn't let myself think about it... until now. I should feel horrible for letting Shane lean in slowly, especially since I had no strong feelings for him, just mindless lust driven by my loneliness and the fact that he cared so deeply for me didn't help.

He was probably a breath away from me now. I could feel the warm puffs of air leave his mouth, fanning against my lips gently. The only thing I could hear was this, the chirps of the night, and my relentless thoughts badgering at my conscious.

Did I have any feelings for Shane? His hand slipped over the fabric of my jeans, resting on my thigh lightly and my eyes followed the movement. He's always been so attentive... so adamant in keeping us safe... keeping me his priority. My head started to feel light and I allowed my eyes to shut... my head to tilt up the slightest bit...

Our noses brushed lightly and his mouth was on mine, a shuttering puff of air escaping his nostrils. He was nervous; I wasn't. In fact, I wasn't feeling anything. It was mindless, chasing the movement of his lips because it was familiar and nostalgic. It reminded me of before...

I'm not sure Shane would've ever pulled away, his other hand had even slipped under my jaw, tangling in the curls behind my ear with passion. But my brain finally caught up with my body and I felt too guilty for leading him on. It was obvious he had feelings for me and if I even wanted to pursue anything with him, I couldn't do it under a pretense. Under a guise.

"Shane," I mumbled against his lips, trying to pull away gently. He hummed back, pulling me closer and trying to slip his tongue into my mouth. I pushed against his chest firmly and it seemed to snap him out of his daze, his mouth pulling away from mine slowly. Like he wished he could be this close forever. An unpleasant feeling settled in my stomach.

"I'm.." I looked down at his heaving chest, my hand resting against it. I could feel his hair brushing against my ear as he tried to duck his head and meet my eye. "I shouldn't have let that happen," I whispered, afraid to shatter whatever we had here, for his sake. "I'm sorry-"

"You don't mean that," he rumbled against my hand. "Almost three goddamn years... you finally said yes."

"To dinner," I shook my head and looked up at him. He was still too damn close. I pulled my hand away. It sounded ridiculous, discussing things from before. A fucking cancelled date of all things.

Shane looked like he was at a loss for words. "You don't mean that," he repeated with a sudden guarded look.

It dawned on me how serious he was. How did I not realize this sooner?

Shane didn't scare me, but his commitment did. Almost three goddamn years. You finally said yes.

"I'm sorry." It was the only thing I could think to say.

Shane stared at me as if I'd spoken a different language and I shifted uncomfortably, my cheeks stinging with shame. And without another word, he got up and walked around the jeep. I stood to watch him stomp over to T-Dog and they switched shifts. T-Dog looked surprised to see me but waved as he walked over to his tent tiredly. I forced a small smile, not that he could see it from this distance, and waved back weakly. I was suddenly quite glad I was leaving tomorrow and set off for my tent with a newfound eagerness to fall asleep and wake up to a new day. If I was lucky, we'd leave before Shane could wake up from his morning nap.

I spared him one more glance, seeing his body turned toward me and the faint outline of his head shaking from side to side.

Guilt stabbed at my stomach for the rest of the night.

next chapter…

#rick grimes x daphne ayala #rick grimes x original female character #rick grimes x reader #rick grimes x oc #the walking dead #the walking dead fanfic #shane walsh #shane walsh x original female character #shane walsh x reader #lori grimes #carl grimes #glenn rhee #andrea twd #twd

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