Last One Standing ~ TWD Daryl Dixon

25

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Jo

I had moved out of the cell block a month ago. The first wave of new people, the ones from Woodbury made me feel claustrophobic and uncomfortable. Not all, but a lot of them recognized me from the ring in Woodbury and I made them nervous. Their words were always polite but I could see in their eyes that they remembered the things I had done in that ring to stay alive. I moved my stuff up to the remaining guard tower and kept to myself.

I was laying on my bed on the floor in the guard tower listening to the storm. It started raining early in the day, but as night fell the swirling clouds worked their way up into a full blown storm. When the thunder struck the whole tower trembled. I closed my eyes and listened as the rain pounded on the roof and the glass windows. I don't know why but I had always found a type of peace within the fury of a thunderstorm. There was something so primitive about it. I breathed out a sigh and opened my eyes to watch the Lightning claw its way across the sky. The wind was whipping around anything not tied down in the courtyard but I couldn't find the energy to care. We would fix it in the morning. Right now, sitting up in the tower surrounded by the storm it was like there was no one else in the world. The thunder rumbled again and I could feel it down in my chest.

Over the storm I could make out the roar of a motorcycle. I sat up and looked out into the dark in time to watch the gates slide open and Daryl to speed up to the courtyard. He was hunched forward, leaning into the driving rain. It had to be miserable. Daryl had been gone on runs most of the last two weeks. For this most recent run he had only been gone the day. Michonne and I watched him leave that morning and I knew I wouldn't sleep until he returned. We had been getting close in our time leading up to our fight with the governor, but since then he pulled away. He immersed himself in taking care of everyone here. I hadn't been out on a run with him since.

I had tried to go on one run without him. It turned out I wasn't as better as we thought. On my own I slipped back into that place. When I came back to myself there were ten dead walkers around me and more coming from the noise I made. I ended up hiding in a tree over night. It rained that whole night and I was weak and sick by the time Daryl tracked me down and brought me back. He sat by my bedside for three days while I was sick then, once Hershel proclaimed me to be better, Daryl proceeded to scream in my face about going out on runs alone. That argument, now weeks old, had succeeded in putting distance between us, enough that people were starting to notice.

Just that morning Michonne had brought it up. We were lightly sparring again when Daryl roared by on his motorcycle, headed out on a run alone.

"Where's he going?" She asked.

I shrugged.

She gave me a droll stare and I realized the silent answers was something I had picked up from him. "I'm not sure." I said.

"He didn't tell you?"

It was an effort to not simply shake my head. "Nope."

She nodded slowly as though considering my words though she still looked confused. "Are you two...?" She drug off arching a brow meaningfully.

I drew back and instantly shook my head. "No, we're just friends," I assured her.

She nodded her head slowly. "I was going to ask if you were having a fight...but now...Are you sure you're just friends?" She asked meaningfully.

I wasn't sure, that was the problem.

It hadn't mattered before when every moment was spent fighting for our lives. But now, now there was time to think and reflect. There was time to watch Maggie and Glenn and Karen and Tyreese. It made me think back to all those quiet moments with Daryl. But now, it seemed like those moments were gone and it took me a while to realize the feeling in my chest was loneliness. I was friendly with everyone but most had been around long enough they were a little wary of me. It was why I treasured my friendship with Michonne.