Finding Sophia (The Walking Dead Fanfiction)

Thirty: Claimed

In no way did I like these men. They were dirty, lying, perverted, redneck assholes, but these dirty, lying, perverted, redneck assholes were the best shot I had right now. Daryl seemed to agree with that. Walking down the road, Daryl was supporting me by the waist, acting as my left leg.

It was the same day Len died. We'd been walking a few hours, and being out here wasn't as bad. Sure all the guys were staring at me and there was only one person decent enough to actually have a conversation with, but it wasn't much different than before crap hit the fan.

Joe breaks the silence and talks to Daryl, "Yesterday, you said something that interested me. You said something about how it all fell apart. Fell apart. I never looked at it like that. Seems to me like things are finally starting to fall together. At least for guys like us. Living like this, surviving. We've been doing this from the start, right?" Daryl nods, and my thoughts shift to the scars on his back. I think of what's under my hand, under his shirt. I keep moving, and Daryl helps me step onto the railroad tracks.

"So how do you two know each other?" Joe asks us.

Before Daryl can answer, I say, "We were surviving a while with only two other people. Had a camp a few miles from King County. It was us, the girl I found, and a woman called Maggie. Our camp was overrun a few days back by the walkers. We were separated."

Joe nods, "How very unfortunate." He looks at one of the signs on the road. I'd seen a couple before 'Sanctuary For All' but I figured it was bullshit. There is no sanctuary. But then, Joe says, "Getting closer."

"You seen this before?" Daryl asks.

"Oh, yeah. I'll tell you what it is. It's a lie. Ain't no sanctuary for all. Ain't gonna welcome guys like you and me with open arms."

"So is that where we're headed?" He asks.

"So now you're asking?"

"That's right." Daryl nods.

He starts, "We were in a house minding our own business and this walking piece of fecal matter was hiding in the home. Stabbed our colleague Lou and left him to turn. Lou came at all of us. He lit out. We tracked him to these tracks, one of those signs, and thus we've got a destination in mind."

"You see their face?" I ask.

"Only Tony." He jabs his finger over his shoulder at the men behind us. "He saw him when he's climbin' through the window. That's enough for a reckoning."

We keep moving, never stopping. We'd drink on the way, not even stopping to eat. They were always moving it seemed, until we finally settled down in this little train stop on the way. Daryl helped me sit down inside on a chair.

"I'm ok." I assure him after I make it down. He lets go and nods. I know he's gotta be tired. He's been carrying me all fucking day. I take a sip of water and look at the men. There's only four of them, and me and Daryl. Joe, Tony, Fred, and Mike. Douchebags from the pits of hell. "I feel like a burden." I tell Daryl, pulling my good leg up to my chest.

"You ain't." Daryl says, "Anyone says otherwise, shove a screwdriver up their -."

"I got it, Dixon." I say. He chuckles. I look at the men, rooting through all the stuff in the railroad station.

"How's yer leg?" He asks.

"Feels about as good as it looks." I say, looking at the ugly, bloodied wrapping. "But I'm fine." I assure him. He goes into nurse mode and takes the bandage off. The shot definitely doesn't look as bad as day before last. He changes the bandages and I watch. Feeling like a burden.

As soon as Daryl was finished, I kissed him. He was surprised, obviously, at first, but relaxed to the new position relatively quickly. He placed a hand on my neck and the other was resting on my knee.

"Claimed." I mutter when we end the kiss. He smiles ever so slightly and kisses me again.