Savage World •••Daryl Dixon•••

Better Me Than You

The sun began to set and burned rays of orange through the barred windows before Hershel leaned back with a sigh and a swipe of his bloodied hands over his forehead to clean away the sweat. Everyone was still crowded into the medical cell, nobody wanted to leave the girl or Daryl alone.

"Alright. I've closed up her bullet wounds and the nick in her lung. But her blood volume is dangerously low and her pulse is bottoming out because of it. Anyone know what blood type she is?" Everyone shook their heads, nobody knew her before the end of the world not even Daryl and Merle.

"I'm a universal donor!" Glenn lurched forward and held out his arm for them to start drawing blood. They didn't waste a second to begin the transfusion, but were careful only to take a small amount of blood from the Rhee boy so he wouldn't be too wiped out if there was a need for a fight again.

"Take as much as you need, Hershel, I'll be fine."

"That would be a big risk for you, the Governor could come back any second and you wouldn't be able to stand." Glenn growled and bit his lip but nodded in agreement. "This will have to do for now. All we can do is wait." Rick sighed and told the group to start fortifying the prison, ready themselves for war. He wasn't expecting Daryl to leave the cell, nor Merle. Rick couldn't ask that of him. He reached out and gripped his shoulder in comfort before leaving the two with Asher.

"I should've waited for her to get inside. But... I was too busy making sure nobody else got shot." Daryl stared down at his dripping hands of blood. Asher's blood.

"Ain't yer fault, little brother. That bullet was meant for me anyways." They sat in silence, both fighting the encroaching fear that she wasn't going to make it. Daryl took in a shaky breath and pressed the palms of his hands to his forehead, not caring about the blood that'll transfer over.

"She'll be okay."

"Of course, she lived through the whole winter alone, survived that Zero kid an' his collar, made quite the fearsome name fer herself that even the Governor is scared of 'er. And he don't even know it's a her, just the name. She'll be just fine." After a few hours, Merle left the cell with a grip of his shoulder. As much as he wanted to stay, he knew that his brother wanted to be alone for a while- maybe say his preemptive goodbyes or cry out the tears he's holding back.

With Merle out of the cell, Daryl felt the tears start to seep over his lashes. The fear of losing her scared him more than any herd or Governor. He didn't want to imagine a world without Asher Dixon by his side. Paws pattered over the concrete and he watched Meeko as she scampered into the cell and leapt on the bed to curl and stretch herself out beside the unconscious teen, small mews escaping as she nudged at her hands with her nose.

"Meeko, stop." The serval cat ignored him and continued to softly mew and push on her hands. "Meeko, please." She finally quieted down, now softly purring.

"Why is it that I got shot, but you look worse than me?" The man's head shot up and he just barely saw her sky blue eyes and soft smile shining in the moonlight, hand gently running along Meeko's back.

"Baby girl, you're awake!" A wide smile pulled his mouth up and he sat forward to gently hold her cheeks before pressing his forehead to hers.

"Gonna take more than a few bullets to put me down, Dixie." They lightly laughed and she lifted her free hand to brush back his hair and curl around his neck in a loose hug. "I am a Dixon after all."

"That you are. I'll get Hershel so he can check on ya. Be back in a second." She nodded and let him step out of the cell to find the elderly farmer. A few minutes later, the old vet hobbled into the cell, a bright smile on his wrinkled face.

"Had us all spooked for a second. Afraid you weren't gonna make it." Asher smiled and pushed herself up from the bed, Hershel moving to stop her. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, it'll rip out the stitches I put in. Both inside and out."

"I can't just lay around with the Governor firing at our home."

"You have to, you just barely survived this. Glenn had to give you blood." Daryl and Merle stepped into the cell as Hershel scolded her.

"Woah, what's goin on?" Both Hershel and Asher looked up at the two.

"Someone's trying to rip out her stitches by moving too much." Asher rolled her eyes and pushed to her feet, instantly falling to her knees in pain. Hershel and Daryl lurched forward to help her up and back into the bunk.

"I'm fine."

"You just got shot less than a day ago, you're not fine. You need to sleep, get some rest. The Governor ain't comin back anytime soon." She nodded and sat back on the mattress, lightly panting from the strain of sudden movement.

"Can I at least clean off? And get out of this cell? I spent enough time in cages already." Her hands moved instinctively for the bandages around her neck to cover the damage done by Zero and his collar. Hershel nodded and pushed the men out long enough for him to check on her fresh wounds and healing neck. Deeming her free of infection, he hobbled out and let the Dixons know they could move back in to help her out.

"You out here takin bullets for people now?" Merle teases as Daryl slid his arms beneath her knees and behind her back. He gently picked her up and held her to his chest, Meeko swirling around his feet to ensure she was safe.

"Next time I'll let the bitch take ya out then." He smirked and chuckled at her snappy retort, letting the thin girl slide her hand down his arm to catch his fingers as Daryl passed him by. He watched as his brother carried Asher down the hall, the blonde girl softly smiling and giving him a wave. He lifted a few fingers to wave back as she vanished into the darkness.

"Better me than you, sweetheart."