The next morning, Daryl heads to the farm's slaughter shed, where Randall is being kept. He told me he was gonna interrogate him.
I make breakfast with Carol while the rest of the group gathers. We anxiously await for Daryl to tell us what he found out.
"I think we'd feel better if we knew the plan," Glenn says.
"Is there a plan?" Andrea asks.
"Are we just gonna keep him here?" I ask.
"We'll know soon enough," Rick says, pointing.
Daryl is walking towards us, his crossbow on his shoulder.
"Guy's got a gang, thirty men. They got heavy artillery and aren't lookin' to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are dead and our women, they're gonna...they're gonna wish they were," he reports.
"Are you ok? Your hand..." I point to his knuckles. They're cracked and bleeding.
"Yeah. We just had a little chat," he mumbles and walks off.
"No one goes near this guy. We have no choice. He's a threat. We have to eliminate that threat," Rick says solemnly.
"You're just gonna kill him?" Dale asks, shocked.
"It's settled. I'll do it today," Rick says, his voice void of emotion.
Rick walks off and Dale follows him.
I look towards the slaughter shed. I try not to think about Randall and what's going to happen. I head towards my tent, where I see Daryl sitting on his bed.
"Hey," I say as I walk in.
"Hey," he mumbles a response. His hand is badly wrapped in a strip of cloth.
"That doesn't look good. Let me see," I offer, kneeling in front of him. He sighs and holds out his hand.
I unwrap the cloth, placing it to the side. I grab the first aid kit I keep under my cot and open it, pulling out antiseptic and gauze. I begin wiping the dried blood off his knuckles.
"So, when you say you had a chat with him, I take it that meant 'Punching him until he confesses something'," I say as I work.
"He said that the men in his group...did thin's to these young girls. Made their dad watch." His face twists with disgust. "I found it hard not to punch him after that."
"Things as in...rape?" I ask quietly.
Daryl nods, staring out the window. I put down the antiseptic and start wrapping his hand.
"I can't let that guy brin' his group back here. If they showed up, did somethin' to you and made me watch...I..." He blinks rapidly and shakes his head. "I would want to die."
"That's why Rick is gonna take care of it," I say, subconsciously crossing my legs.
I finish wrapping his hand and I ease myself up, sitting next to him. He kisses my forehead gently.
"How's the throat and cheek feelin'?" he asks.
"Better. I'm telling people I had a run in with a walker that tried to strangle me, and when I ran away a branch cut my face."
"Good enough story," he says, getting up and grabbing his crossbow. "Speakin' of which, I'm gonna go scout for walkers. You wanna come?"
"Sure."
We leave the tent and start to move along the perimeter of camp, crossbow and knife at the ready.
I hear rustling in the bush and I see a stray walker. I nudge Daryl and point. He nods and takes aim, firing an arrow into its brain. He goes in, coming back swiftly, holding his arrow. He bends down, reloading. I wait, watching for any more walkers.
YOU ARE READING
Daryl's Angel (Book One in the Apocalypse Angel Trilogy)
Fanfiction"Why're you bein' so nice to me?" "I would want the same if I were you." Hope Starling was alone when the dead started rising. She had always been alone, with parents that had disowned her and no friends to help her. Inside the department store in...
