The Innocence (Daryl Dixon fanfic)

Blood Under The Water

The night was a long one....but once the chaos was over, it was nothing but silence. Deafening silence and the smell of blood filled the air. A stench that was stained on our skin. Rick seemed to almost be in a state of shock afterwards. Michonne was okay, she tended to Carl who was traumatized by his near molestation. The kid had every right to be. 

I could breathe. For me, this was a weight off my shoulders, all because I found Daryl. That was all I could focus on. If God did exist, then he brought us back together, even with the odds completely against us. Daryl and I had spent the night sleeping on the pavement side by side, using our bags as pillows, and jackets as blankets. Even in shitty sleeping conditions, I didn't care one bit. 

I was with him. That's all that mattered.

The sun was coming up and I laid awake with my eyes closed for just a little while, trying to think of what the future was going to hold for us. What was coming next?

Daryl got up a little while later, grabbing some water and his handkerchief and wetting it, handing it to Rick to clean himself off. The two sat and talked for awhile, and I tuned most of it out. They needed there time to talk, to have brother time, because that's exactly what they were. Brothers.

An hour or so passed before I finally decided to get up fully and get changed. I gathered my clothes up and ran a hand through my hair, feeling the matted up blood that I desperately wanted to get out. Michonne got out of the truck along with Carl and started passing out some granola bars for us to eat before hitting the road. I stuffed mine in my bag and started walking off into the forest, headed to the stream I knew wasn't far off.  A few minutes into my walk I could hear heavy running footsteps coming up behind me, I turned around to see Daryl, crossbow in hand. I stopped and smiled softly to him as he came to stand in front of me "Morning love" I said softly, getting on my tip toes to gently kiss him. 

(explicit content and TRIGGERING CONTENT coming up)

He had a confused expression on his face and looked around "Where ya goin?" he asked me , as if he was afraid that if I left his side for a split moment, I would disappear forever. I pointed off into the direction I was headed "A stream ain't far off, I wanted to wash this blood off out of my hair, change my clothes. Carl doesn't need to be looking at all this. Just a reminder of the hell he almost had to endure. I know it all to well and no one should be reminded of it" I said, realizing I had just spilled the beans on something that we had never discussed before. 

"What do ya mean? Ya tellin me that's happened to ya before?" he said with his eyebrows furrowed and a type of pain hidden in his blue eyes as they stared into mine. I wished I had told him sooner, before this all happened. Before I was triggered by last nights events. 

I grabbed his hand and gestured for him to walk with me into the forest, which he did. I sighed softly, setting my clothes down by the stream as he set down on a decent sized rock, watching as I stripped down to nothing and maneuvered myself into the water. The cold as fuck water mind you. I mean this was considered a Georgia winter.

"It happened before we found each other again...about 4 months after the farm burned. I was with Andrea and Michonne. We ran into some bad guys...managed to get away from them, but they followed us. Once night came they came back for us, well, for me. They took me....I was held captive for the entire night and into the next day even. They tied me to a tree so I couldn't move. Back then I still had my long blonde hair...I was still learning to be who I am today. And if I was who I am today back then, then it never would've happened. They tortured me...beat me as I was naked on that tree. They cut me...that's how these matching scars got here" I said, gesturing to the scars on my collarbones " They raped me....each one took a turn and it didn't stop all night....until it did. The idiot who tied me didn't do a good job, so I managed to get free, and when I did, I killed them all....my first living kills. I killed them all with a knife in their sleep. I found my clothes....and made my way back to where Michonne and Andrea were camped and they tended to my wounds for the next week before I finally got myself out of my head and started snapping back to reality. And reality was, it happened. This world is made for bad people. A good person has to do bad things to survive...and that like us. We do what we have to to protect the ones we love. What happened to me was shit. But it happened. But i had to get up and keep going if I wanted to live, so I did."