Indestructible (Daryl Dixon Love Story)

Pleasing The Group

I ran as fast as I could while still trying to remain silent and not cause attention. I froze and ducked behind a tree when a man in a uniform grabbed the girl and hid her in the creek bed. I watched as he ran off with an undead person hot on his heels, and calmly went to where he hid the girl. Before I could reach her, a couple of flesh eaters stumbled near where she was hiding. Without hesitation, I grabbed an arrow and placed it above the nock on the string. I pulled back and let out a calm breath before releasing it and watching it fly into the closest flesh eaters eye. I drew another and repeated the process until the other was down.

I looked around making sure there were no more before going to the girl. I placed my hand over her mouth as she drew in a sharp breath ready to scream. "Listen, I'm not going to hurt you, I'm trying to save you, okay?" I waited until she nodded her head to let go. "Good girl." I smiled. She gave me a hesitant smile back before clinging to my side. I was tempted to shrug the small child off but decided against it. I wasn't sure how this nurturing and comforting thing worked. The scientist back at the facility had decided to skip that process while I was growing up.

I tried sneaking back through the brush the way I had came but found out it was a lot harder to do with a girl clinging to me. With a sigh, I finally stopped and knelt down. "You think you can ride on my back?" I asked her. Things would be ten times easier that way. "Like a piggy back ride?" She asked cocking her head to the side. I smiled at the gesture knowing I did the same thing when people talked to me. "Yes exactly." This time, my smile was genuine. She gave a nod before climbing up.

As we continued our way we got a lot further, faster, and more stealthily with her on my back. I reached the IWV in no time and let her climb in the passenger seat before heading to the driver side. I started it up and pulled up towards the group just as the guy in the uniform came out of the woods. An older woman said something to him and he said something back, she stuck her hand to her mouth and the others comforted her. I figured that must be the girls mother. I scrunched my eyebrows together and tried to remember my mother.

She mysteriously stopped showing up when I was about five. When I asked one of the main scientists about her, in fact, the very one who had begged for my help in the facility, he said it shouldn't matter to me anyways, I was just a weapon. I could never understand feelings or love. Which was quite ridiculous because I did know love and I did have feelings. I was still human. I told the scientist that and he laughed in my face. I remember how he tossed me a small pistol and asked me "Do you think that gun can love its handler? Does it choose to fire for them?" I shook my head at the dumb question. Of course, it couldn't, it was just a piece of metal. He sneered at me and told I was just like that gun. I still never could figure out if he was right or not.

"What's your name?" I was startled out of my thoughts and answered the little girl. "Raksha." She smiled at me and nodded her head. "I'm Sophia." "Well, it's nice to meet you, Sophia." I smiled at her and pulled up behind the RV. I watched as the group raised their weapons and stared the IWV down. I could only imagine what was going through their heads as they looked at it. With its silent motor, blacked out windows, and solar panels on top it was quite the view; and considering it was the only vehicle of its kind it was obvious they'd never seen such a thing before. "Sophia I need you to open your door up slowly and show them it's you," I commanded knowing they would attempt to shoot me down if I went first. I could only imagine their faces when I healed from each and every bullet wound at an unnaturally fast rate. She did as she was told and the group immediately went to her and surrounded her. I watched as she said something and turned back to me with a smile. The uniform guy nodded his head and motioned for me to step out. I grabbed my bow and throwing knives first before getting out.

As they all stared at me I felt like a lab rat on display. I would know what that feels like too.

"I'm Rick, and this is Shane." The uniform guy pointed to himself before pointing to a guy standing beside him. "I'm Raksha." I nodded my head and tried standing as tall as possible. There was something about the Shane guy that told me to be careful. He had this look of authority and power in his eyes when it was obvious the Rick guy was in charge. "Listen, Rick, I know it's usually not the smartest thing to just accept somebody as one of you, but I'm desperate here, and I promise I can pull my own weight." I decided it would be smarter and save more time if I just jumped to the point. "Can you give us a minute?" He asked and rubbed the back of his neck. I gave a quick nod in understanding and stepped back.

I had to keep myself from biting on my bottom lip as he walked back to the group. Every once in awhile someone would look up at me, some in distrust and some with slight sympathy. Eventually, Rick walked back to me with Shane and another guy who had a crossbow slung over his back. "We're not responsible for you if you get hurt," Rick said. I took that as a yes and gave another nod. "I'm a big girl, I can handle myself." I gave a slight smirk that Rick seemed to approve of. I heard crossbow guy snort and I raised an eyebrow. "Problem big guy?" He seemed startled that I confronted him and glared at me. "Didn't think so," I said with a rich southern drawl and a fake smile. I heard someone behind them give a small chuckle.

"Whatcha got in that thing," Shane asked staring at my IWV. My gut told me to lie. "Pillows, blankets, a tent, a sleeping bag, and a bit of food. Oh and also a pistol and rifle." I decided it was best if I didn't tell him I had enough weapons to bring down a small country. He nodded his head and headed back to the group leaving me with Rick and Crossbow guy. "This is Daryl," Rick said after a gap of silence. I nodded my head and gave a small smile and received a cold glare in return. After a minute, Rick gave a final nod and headed towards Shane. I stood there and watched the group as they went on doing what they were doing before I had arrived. Finally, the older woman came towards me and introduced herself as Carol. I gave her my name and she started pointing out members of the group. After awhile I learned who Glenn, Lori, Carl, T-Dog, Andrea, and Dale were. Of course, I already knew who Rick, Shane, Sophia, and Daryl were. "Thank you for saving my little girl. She told me you killed two Walkers to get to her." I shrugged my shoulders, it really wasn't a big deal. She smiled at me and went back to the group.

When the curious glances and few distrusted ones finally stopped I went back to the IWV and let out a relieved breath.

I was in a group. I smiled and slipped off my shoes and climbed into the back under the blankets. I turned on the cameras in the IWV and watched the group some more. So far the only ones who seemed not to trust me were Andrea, Shane, Daryl, and maybe Glenn. With a small sigh, I closed my eyes and waited for my mind to shut off so I could get some sleep.

Tomorrow would be a new day, and I couldn't wait to see what was next for me.