Bleeding Love | Daryl Dixon

Chapter Twenty-Two

Daryl's POV:

Where the hell are you Savannah? Why the fuck didn't you find your way back to the highway by now. It has been two days and nothing. The only sign we had of them was a pile of dead walkers and a trail of blood. But that trail of blood eventually went away along with the two sets of footprints. Merle had to drag me out of the woods kicking and screaming after he realized looking in the dark was a dumb ass idea. 

Now we were with the group, walking down the creek where their footprints stopped. Savannah was a fast runner though, and considering they were being chased at some point made me realize they were probably at least ten miles away from where we were looking. I sighed and shifted the strap of my crossbow over my shoulder as I looked around the forest bed for any sign of Savannah or Sophia. Nothing. 

I heard someone calling my name softly from the front of the group, and I saw Rick motioning me forward. He pointed to a small yellow tent up ahead, and I immediately already knew Savannah wasn't in there. Call it a hunch, but Savannah isn't camping somewhere, shes working her ass off to find Sophia back to her mother. I know that woman better than she knows herself sometimes, and she's become very attached to that little girl. 

"Carol call out softly for Sophia, Daryl be ready if they're in there" Rick told Carol and I who were standing the closest to the tent. Carol nodded and called out Sophia's name, we got no response. I grunted and carefully opened the tent flap to walk inside. But instead of finding Savannah and Sophia, I found a guy who had opted out and shot himself in the head. I found a revolver in his hand and took it not seeing anything else worth taking in the tent. 

"Nope" Was all I said, knowing before I even stepping inside they weren't in there. I heard Carol crying softly behind us, and not having the energy to deal with her at the moment I just walked ahead of the group. Where the fuck are you Savannah?

Savannah's POV:

Sophia had tears rolling down her face, her fist shoved deep into her mouth as she looked down at the bite mark on her ankle. I cried softly running my fingers through her dirty hair. "I'm so sorry Sophia" I mumbled into her hair. At this moment I swear I was crying harder than she was, I let her down. I let her get bit. We were surrounded by walkers and Sophia ran back with the knife I gave her to help me, and I wasn't quick enough to get to her. 

Sophia sobbed quietly into my shirt as we both leaned against a tree, looking from her wounded ankle to the dozen dead walkers laying around us. At least we killed them all. Sophia actually killed a few of them herself, she wasn't afraid of them in that moment. And for that I couldn't be more proud. But sitting here and looking down at the broken girl, the girl who was dying, I couldn't help but feel like a part of me was dying along with her. 

"I don't want to die Savannah" Sophia whimpered into my shoulder causing me to squeeze her tighter to me. I closed my eyes and let a plan surge it's way into my brain, the only way i could think would save Sophia. 

I pulled my knife out from where it was stabbed into the dirt and rolled Sophia's pant leg up to her knee. "This is going to hurt like a bitch. But it might keep you alive" I told Sophia, motioning from my knife to her ankle to get her to understand. Her eyes went wide and she whimpered quietly before closing her eyes and finally nodding her head.

I took a deep breath before beginning to saw off her tiny foot. She screamed bloody murder the second my knife touched her skin, and it took everything in me to keep her still with one hand while cutting off her limb with the other. Tears ran down my own face as I maimed the tiny twelve year old girl. Even if this kept her alive, things were going to be even harder for her than they were now. But I couldn't let her die, I had to do whatever it took to keep her alive. 

"Fuck" I shouted not caring if any walkers heard me, I was just focused on Sophia. With one final saw of my blade I had her foot completely off. Sophia had passed out from the pain not too long ago, and my hands were now covered in her blood. My hands shaking dropped the knife onto the ground and layed back into the dirt. All I could see above me was the top of the tall pine trees. All I could hear was the soft chirping of the birds. I felt drained, physically and mentally, and maybe things would just be easier for Sophia and I if we just died right here. 

This world was terrible, it was survival of the fittest, and even though I was a survivor I don't know how much more of this I could take. After what felt like several hours of laying in the dirt, I finally peeled myself off the ground. I stuck the handle of the knife in between my teeth and bent down to grab Sophia. I stuck my bow across her shoulder so it was easier to carry, and let her head rest against my shoulder while I did my best to balance her and carry my knife. 

But after walking for a few miles my exhaustion began to take it's toll on me. I haven't eaten in days, I was drenched with walker blood from head to toe, and the small amount of water from the creek was probably out of my body by now. I was starting to see double of everything, spots covering my vision and it wasn't long before Sophia and I tumbled onto the ground.

It wouldn't be too long before I wouldn't feel anything, and Sophia would surely die soon without medical attention. So maybe this was our time, two damaged young woman who met their end lost in the woods. I would never see Daryl again, never crack jokes with Merle again. Sophia would never hug her mother or play with Carl. And I felt this was all my fault. 

I cried softly, sobs shaking my body as the realization that death was closer than I wanted was too much to bare. I swear I was hearing things when I swore I heard the hoofs of a horse riding by. But lifting my head to see a young woman riding towards us on a white and brown horse made me realize I wasnt seeing things. "Hey!" I heard a soft voice with a southern drawl yell out to me. The sound made me wince as a migraine had found it's way into my head. 

The horse was closer now, I could hear it only feet away. I heard human footsteps now walking closer to us, and by instinct I pulled Sophia closer to my body. "You bit?" she asked, and I felt her hands roaming my body. "Get off me!" I groaned and tried to swat her away. 

My eyes were still closed, but I heard her sigh and then Sophia was pulled away from me."Sophia. Sophia! Where's Sophia?" I asked frantically when her warm body was no longer next to mine. I had a hard time opening my eyes, but the small amount  of light that was let in, made me quickly shut my eyes.

"Look, your girl needs help. My daddy can help her, just let me help you" Her soft voice said again. I knew we both needed help or we would die here. I was reluctant to receive help from anyone, but anything was better than this right now. I just told myself this was for Sophia, and I told the woman okay. 

My consciousness drifted in and out for a while, feeling the soft wind blowing through my hair as my head layed against the back of some unknown body. But eventually everything went to black, and it stayed that way.