Reflections - TWD

78. Gotta be more careful.

"Hi," Isabella sat down on the floor by the graves of Abraham and Glenn. Daryl had taken the two kids back to the hilltop, he really didn't like the Kingdom. Especially after they wouldn't fight.

"I'm sorry for what happened. I'm sorry for telling you that I hate you, I don't hate you. I'd give up anything to tell you that I don't hate you. And now, you'll never know. I'm sorry I couldn't take a look, I should've...you're probably both laughing at me from Heaven. 'Cause that's definitely where you both are. Maybe I'll see you again one day."

Freddie was watching the men making iron tools. He had spoken to Maggie a lot since they got here. Neither of the Dixon's could look at her.

Later that night, Isabella sat on a picnic bench whilst Daryl sat on the table, stroking her hair and her chin rested on his knee. She was looking up at his face, but he wasn't looking back at her, he was looking down at the floor.

Isabella was trying to figure out how he was feeling. He looked calm, his face was solid as stone, like it always was. But something in his eyes was sad.

Maggie came out of one of the trailers for a moment, putting down two plates of food on the table and putting her hand on Daryl's shoulder for a moment. Then, she slowly walked back inside.

Isabella and Daryl both watched her, she stopped for a moment. Wiping her face. And in that moment, Isabella knew. She knew that Maggie hated her. She was just tolerating Isabella. That stung. She loved Maggie, at the farm, Maggie was the first person to help her out. And then at the prison, Maggie always cared about Isabella. And Isabella had betrayed her.

Daryl gently stroked the bandage on Isabella's head. "How's your hearin'?"

Isabella shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. It's worse when everything is loud, they start making this weird ringing sound," she told him. Her ears had started ringing when Shiva roared, and then she couldn't hear anything for a moment. They didn't have a proper doctor anymore, Denise was dead and the one at Hilltop had been taken by the Saviors. "Carl said it makes me special."

Daryl just gave a small smile. To him, Isabella was already special. She was the most important thing to him, she didn't need to lose half of her ear to prove that.

—

The next day, Isabella was sat at the same picnic table with Daryl when Kal shouted from the guard post. "The Saviors are coming!"

"We have to get Maggie," Enid ran over. Daryl was getting up and following Enid, but Isabella ran towards Freddie.

"Bells! Isabella!" Daryl yelled as Isabella shot off in the other direction. Sure, he trusted her. But she was nine, after all.

Isabella pushed through the crowd of panicked people to find Freddie. She quickly grabbed his hand and ran into Barrington house.

"What's happening?" Freddie asked breathlessly. Isabella released his hand and started to search through the house for somewhere to hide. Eventually, she found a small closet and they both went in.

Isabella caught her breath for a moment before responding. "The Saviors."

They both stayed in the closest for what felt like hours. Freddie was biting down on his nails. Isabella couldn't hear much, she wasn't sure if it was because she was in the closet or because of her ear.

After a couple of minutes, someone approached the door. Isabella got her knife out of her pocket. It was scary how ready she was to kill someone, but she knew it was to protect the people she loved.

Freddie could see through a gap in the door that it was an unfamiliar man. Just as his hand started to turn the handle, a voice called out.

"Tim! Come check this out!"

Isabella and Freddie both listened until the man's footsteps got distant, and they the door to Barrington house clicked shut. They both let out a shaky exhale of air that had been held so tightly in their chests.

They both couldn't even look at each other, their eyes were locked on the door and the handle. They were just waiting for it to start moving again, Isabella had a white-knuckled grip on her knife.

The handle started to wiggle again after about ten minutes, Isabella and Freddie both took a step back. Freddie looked terrified. Isabella held up her knife and tried not to look scared, but she was.

The door opened and revealed Daryl and Maggie. Both of them sighing of relief of finding the two kids.

Isabella shoved her knife back into her waistband and rushed towards Daryl. He had been crying, she could tell by the way his hair was all in his eyes and he was trying to cover his face.

"Are you okay?" She mumbled into his shirt.

Daryl nodded. "Mhm."

He slowly pulled away from Isabella's hug. "Why'd you run off from me like that, huh? What if one of 'em would'a saw ya?"

Isabella started to look around the room. She didn't want to look him in the eyes when he was angry. "I-I don't know."

"You don't know?" Daryl practically scoffed and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and pointed finger. "You gotta be more careful."

Isabella furrowed her eyebrows. "I had to get Freddie to safety. He didn't even know-"

Daryl huffed from frustration. He wanted Freddie to be safe, of course. But he needed Isabella to be safe. He'd never admit that to the kids, but that was just the way it was. "Ya gotta get yourself to safety."

"I wasn't just gonna leave him out there!"

"You know what those men'd do to ya? Do you?!" Daryl yelled. Isabella's eyes brimmed with tears.

She knew exactly what those men would do to her. Something bad. Something nobody should do.

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sorry for the shitty chapter, I've been struggling a lot recently with things like exams ect that's why my updates have been inconsistent

please leave a vote and a comment of what you thought of this chapter! it gives me motivation and I always appreciate it! thank you! <3