Life I Left Behind (A Daryl Dixon Story)

Chapter Fourteen

I walked a few paces in front of Daryl and I knew this was so he could keep an eye on me. I had given him my word that I wouldn’t try and make a break for it, but apparently that wasn’t good enough. The silence between us was almost uncomfortable, the only sounds coming from our boots as they crunched on twigs and other forest debris. I wanted to say something, but every time I tried to open my mouth, the words wouldn’t come. I threw a quick glance over my shoulder towards Daryl. Our eyes met and I quickly looked away again.

“You got somethin’ you wanna say?” His voice drawled.

I shrugged my shoulders but kept my eyes in front of me. “Not sure yet.”

“What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I don’t know what to say to you.” I answered, releasing an irritated sigh. I climbed over a fallen tree trunk and hopped down onto the other side. I wiped my hands on my jeans, watching Daryl effortlessly step up onto the trunk and drop down next to me.

“How long you been alone?” He asked suddenly. He fell into step next to me, crossbow in hand as he surveyed our surroundings. I noticed he was always tense and alert, never letting his guard down even for half a second.

I hesitated, trying to calculate in my head just how much time had passed. “Two months, maybe three. I don’t know for sure.” I finally answered. I had stopped keeping track of time a while ago. With nowhere to be and nothing to do, what was the point? “How long you been with these…people.” I struggled to find an appropriate word to call my kidnappers. My first choice had been ‘assholes’, but I didn’t think that’d go over with Daryl very well.

“Pretty much since the beginning. Met up with ‘em just outside Atlanta. They’re good people, Charlie.” He said, giving me a look. Before I could voice my doubt, he suddenly stopped and thrust his arm out in front of me, forcing me to a halt. “Walker.” He said, his voice barely above a whisper. Sure enough, a walker meandered through the bushes a few yards in front of us, though not yet aware of our presence. Daryl held up his crossbow and a second later the walker was on the ground, an arrow embedded in its rotting skull. “Stay here.” He said before jogging over to the fallen geek and tugging the arrow from his victim. I watched as Daryl wiped the head of the arrow on the walker’s shirt. I wondered when he had gotten so good with a crossbow. He was pretty lousy the last time I had seen him use one, but then again that had been almost two decades ago. I smirked a little, remembering being twelve years old and Daryl giving me a turn with his newest “toy”. I had almost shot an arrow through his foot struggling just to lift the damn thing. My memory was disrupted when a decaying hand suddenly curled itself around my jacket.

I let out a terrified yelp as I tried to fight off the zombie that had snuck up on me so quickly. It smelled like rotting flesh and dirt, growling and snarling as it tried to take a bite out of me. I wriggled out of my jacket and fell to the ground where I scrambled away on all fours. I needed a weapon, a branch, a twig, anything was better than nothing. Another cry escaped my lips as the walker suddenly collapsed to the forest floor next to me. I wasn’t as surprised to see an arrow sticking out of its forehead. I fell back against the nearest tree trunk, placing a hand over my racing heart. It felt like it might explode out of my chest.

I didn’t have much time to recover before Daryl was hauling me to my feet and pushing me up against the trunk. “You bit?!” He demanded, his eyes scanning my body for any signs of blood or a wound. He spun me around and checked the back of me.

“No, god damn it! I’m fine! Maybe you could actually give me a second to answer instead of getting all grabby!” I turned back around and placed my hands on his chest, shoving him backwards. “I’m fine, alright?”

He glared at me. “Well maybe you could pay more attention next time. I ain’t gonna waste all my time savin’ your ass.”

I returned his glare with one that I hoped looked as annoyed as I felt. “Yeah, sorry about that. Hopefully next time it’ll just kill me. Save you a whole lot of trouble then, huh?” I whirled around and began stalking off through the trees, pausing to grab my jacket though it looked unsalvageable. “Just get me the hell out of here!” I yelled back to him.

In a second, he had reached my side though not a word was said. It seemed we were both to furious to say a thing, which was fine by me. We walked in silence for a while longer before I could make out an end to the thick trees. As we broke into the clearing, a white farmhouse stood in the distance. I hadn’t seen it earlier when I had made my escape, not bothering to glance behind me as I ran. My stomach suddenly felt like it was turning itself into one giant knot. I had no idea what would happen once we got to that farmhouse. I didn’t know if Daryl would keep his word, or if he would let them tie me up and throw me back into that shack to rot. I didn’t know what these people were really like.

There was an RV parked on the edge of the farm and someone was perched on top, no doubt keeping watch. They must have spotted us coming, though, because the next second they had jumped down and I heard the distant yelling. Daryl’s hand curled around my upper arm as he led me closer to the house. I made to tug away but his grip tightened. “Don’t. Stay close and let me do the talkin’. I know you, they don’t.” He said quietly.

While I still felt angry with him for what had happened earlier, I didn’t argue. I was outnumbered as it was and I was also looking like the bad guy. I swallowed hard as I noticed the small gathering of people in front of the house. In the yard, just off the side, a small camp was set up. There were a few tents here and there, and what looked like a fire pit in the center. When I looked back at the group waiting in front of the house, I noticed all eyes were on me. I looked down at my shoes and tried to make myself seem as nonthreatening as possible. We finally slowed to a stop.

“It’s getting’ dark, we were starting to worry about you out there.” An unfamiliar male voice said. “See you found her, though.”

Daryl cleared his throat. “Yeah, I did. Everyone, this is Charlie.” He trailed off for a moment before continuing. It was quiet and I raised my eyes slowly. I had never felt so uncomfortable and out of place in my life as every pair of eyes lingered on my heated face. “She and I…we go way back. Don’t we, Charlie?”

I forced myself to nod. “Uh huh.” It was the only sound I could manage to force out. My eyes slid from unfamiliar face to unfamiliar face, though they all wore the same expression. An expression I would have described as ‘what the hell is happening’. I sure hoped Daryl knew what he had gotten me into.