Reflections - TWD

98. Love ya.

"Oh, my god!" Isabella shrieked. "Daryl! Daryl!" She stood up from her spot on the forest floor, right next to where Dog had brought back a walker's foot.

Daryl quickly came out from some trees. "What? What?! Ya okay?!" He cupped her face with one hand then looked down at her arms to make sure she hadn't been bitten. "The hell ya screamin' for?"

"Dog brought back a foot!" Isabella's eyes went wide as she pointed back at what Dog had done.

Dog was a dog that Daryl had gotten off his girlfriend. Isabella hated her, she'd never met her, but because of her, Daryl would sometimes send her to the Kingdom for a couple of days so she wouldn't be alone in the forest. So, Isabella hated her.

They'd been living in the woods together for a few years now. At first, Isabella was staying with Carol and Ezekiel, but she had snuck out about seven times and gotten lost in the woods just trying to find Daryl. No matter how many times they told her to stop, she wouldn't, so, Daryl let her stay with him.

He'd sometimes send her back to the Kingdom, if she had gotten sick or the weather was too cold for her, but once everything was fine again, Isabella was back out there.

"Jesus Christ, Bells, don't scare me like that," Daryl sighed, shaking his head.

Isabella held her arms out to her sides. "Don't get me wrong, I love Dog. But why the hell does he bring back walker's limbs?"

"'Cause I trained him to bring back animals. He gets confused," Daryl explained. Isabella kneeled down next to Dog and started scratching behind his ears.

"Do you get confused?" She asked in one of those voices that people use for their pets. "Yes, you do. Yes, you do."

"Stop talkin' to him like that," Daryl shook his head but smiled at the same time.

"But just look at his little face!" Isabella reasoned.

Daryl nodded and chuckled. "A'right. I'm gonna go look for some wood, keep an eye on dog for me, yeah?"

"A'right," Isabella tried to imitate his gruff voice and then started laughing to herself as Daryl walked away.

•

"Hey," Isabella heard Daryl's voice as he put some logs down beside her and put his hand on top of her head.

"Hi," Isabella smiled up at him from her seat on a tree stump. Daryl tilted his head to the side, telling her to look next to her. She did and saw Carol, with some really long hair, Henry and Freddie. She hadn't seen them in a long while, especially since everytime she went to the Kingdom, Freddie avoided her.

"Oh, hi," Isabella smiled, not as brightly as she did at Daryl.

"Where's Dog?" Daryl asked, sensing that she was uncomfortable.

"Somewhere in the forest. I tried to chase after him, but he just ran off further," Isabella shrugged and looked down at her lap.

Daryl took off his poncho and his crossbow and then started walking towards the river.

"You didn't fix the boat since last time?" Carol asked him. She'd been out her once or twice last year. Daryl didn't respond.

Dog came running over to Isabella's feet and dropped a walkers hand.

"Nope," Isabella mumbled and kicked the walker's hand towards a bush, causing Dog to follow it and lay down in front of it.