TWD ~ Daryl + Reader ~

The Way Back

"Stop." You yell from the back of Daryl's bike when you're about halfway back to Alexandria. "Stop the bike."

The bike comes to a halting stop and you jump off of it. You hit your knees on the road and for the first time since you climbed out of that car with your brother, you cry. Your hands rush to cover your face at the sound of the motor to the bike getting shut off and you hear Daryl moving his feet as he gets off his motorcycle.

The images of your mom's corpse moving on the road go through your head. Your mom's dead eyes staring up at you and your brother as you both got closer to her. You watched as she brought her arms up and tried to reach for you both. Your brother started walking away but you just stood there ready to fall right on top of her. You almost did, but Andy grabbed you and put his arm around your shoulder forcing you to walk with him towards Hilltop.

The tears stop as you move to sit on the road with your knees to your chest. Daryl is standing behind you with part of his weight on his bike as he leans on it.

"Ya good?"

You stare off into the trees as you say, "We left her." Daryl stays quiet, "My brother and I left our mother as a walker on that road." Your left-hand reaches for your right index finger, but ends up picking at the tape on your fingers instead. "We never went after the men that did that to her either. We just left and tried to forget."

"They're dead." Your head spins around so you're looking at Daryl.

"How do you know that?"

"We killed 'em."

Your eyes widen, "Why?"

"They tried ta kill us."

"They were on the road, there are way more of you than there were of them, how were they a threat worth killing?"

"B'fore Alexandria my group was inna prison when the prison fell we all got separated." Your left-hand continues to mess with the tape on your right hand, wanting to grab ahold of your index finger while you listen. "I was with 'em guys for a while after that, until they tried killin' members of my group af'er they killed one of theirs." Your hands freeze waiting for the next words, "Rick, Michonne, and I killed 'em."

Daryl's eyes stay away from your gaze. You stand up from the road and take a step towards him. He slightly moves away from your hand but he lets it rest on his shoulder in the end.

"They were vial people, Daryl." His eyes flicker to meet yours, "They got what they deserved." You move a few pieces of his greasy hair from in front of his eyes. Your left-hand freezes as you realize what you were doing. You slowly take a step back as your right-hand moves to grab your left index finger. "The others are probably back by now, let's go." You say to move the awkwardness along.

Daryl just nods and moves back onto his bike, you slide on behind him as close as before. He starts the motorcycle and says, "Hold on."