A Life Worth Living || Daryl's daughter/Carl grimes X OC

21. Comfort Cries

Daryl doesn't say a word, so Nell decides to speak.
"Hi." Is all Nell says, still clutching Snuggles tightly in her arms.

Daryl still doesn't say anything. He looks up at Nell for about two seconds and then looks back down, continuing to sharpen his arrow.
I hope he isn't mad at me.

"What're ya doin' out here?" Daryl finally says after a long moment of awkward silence. His focus still remains on his arrow.

"Can't sleep," Nell says. "And you look like you need someone to talk to."

Daryl glares back up at Nell.
"I'm fine. I don't need no one." He says, tossing his arrow on the ground and picking up a new one to sharpen.

"Why are you sharpenin' arrows at nighttime anyway?" Nell asks, completely ignoring his response.

He shrugs. "Huntin'," He says, scraping the edge of his arrow.

"Can I come with you?" Nell asks, expecting 'no' as an answer.

"No," Daryl says as if he read her mind.

Nell's face scrunches into a frown.
"But I'm good at huntin'. My daddy taught me." She whines.
Well, her dad tried to teach her. She really just taught herself at the compound.

"Then go huntin' on yer own time," Daryl says as he places his newly sharpened arrow into his crossbow and draws it back, testing it out.

Daryl's sudden movement makes Nell flinch and take a step back. She hadn't realized how close she was standing to him until he drew back his bow.

Nell's dad would always suddenly throw things at her without warning, especially when he was drunk.
Flinching sorta became muscle memory for her.

Nell's heart starts racing and her eyes slightly widen in fear.

Daryl notices Nell's sudden panic and he immediately puts his crossbow down at the bottom of the tree stump.

"I ain't gonna hurt ya," Daryl says with the tiniest bit of concern in his voice.

He remembers the scars on the poor girl's back when he found her that one day in the woods.
Daryl knows that the worst damage done by an abusive parent isn't the scars.
It's the trauma.

"I know. I- I'm sorry..." Nell mumbles with her eyes quickly filling up with water.
Don't cry. Don't be weak...

"Don't apologize. Ya did nothin' wrong," Daryl says, picking his crossbow back up. "It's gettin' late, maybe ya should head back to yer tent."

Nell nods and turns to go back to her tent like Daryl said, but she stops in her tracks when a blood-curdling scream echoes throughout the farm.
She turns back to Daryl with wide eyes.

They both recognized the voice of the scream.

It was Dale's.

"Stay here. Go hide in the tent," Daryl says as he grabs a lantern and a knife. Before Nell even has the chance to say 'No I'm coming with you,' he sprints off into the big grass field.

Hugging Snuggles even tighter for comfort, Nell runs after Daryl.

The rest of the group has woken up from the scream too. Shane is shouting at everyone, and Rick, T-dog, Andrea, and a few others that Nell can't quite see in the dark, run towards the source of the scream.

When she finally catches up to Daryl, she sees him tackle a walker to the ground, stabbing a knife through the top of its head.

Nell's focus drifts from Daryl to Dale. The sight of Dale leaves her in a state of shock.
The poor old man has his chest torn open with his insides spilling out.
It was a gruesome sight.

Nell's mouth hangs open and tears start flowing from her eyes, totally forgetting about 'never show weakness.'

"Help!! Over here!!" Daryl shouts, jumping in the air to get everyone's attention.

"Who is it? Who is it?!" Andrea shouts as she runs closer to Daryl and Nell.

The rest of the group arrives at the horrific scene and everyone starts to freak out.

"Oh my god. Oh my god..." Shane says as he runs his hands across his shaved head.

Rick squats down beside Dale.
"Okay, hold on now. Listen to me— hold on Dale. Get Hershel! Someone get Hershel!!" Rick yells, his voice breaking.

Nell's breathing gets heavy and her vision gets blurry from all the tears. Seeing Dale like this made her think of Ollie.
And her mom.
And all the other people in the entire world living in this fucked up version of life.

Her little sobs catch Daryl's attention.

"I thought I told ya to stay at the camp..." He says, standing in front of Nell to protect her from the horrifying sight of Dale.

"It's alright." He says. "Everythin' will be just fine."

Nell takes a step closer to Daryl, burying her face into his vest as she sobs even more. His vest is cold and rough, but she didn't care.

Daryl jumps slightly in surprise as the girl cries in his arms. He definitely didn't expect this from a kid he barely knew, let alone a former abused kid.

Daryl places his hand on the top of her messy hair.
"Everythin' will be just fine..."