—————DAYS SINCE OUTBREAK: 79
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHUPACABRA
•••
TAYLOR
TAYLOR GENTLY STEPPED OUT OF
shower in one of the bathrooms in the Greene's farmhouse, grabbing a towel that hung from the hanger on the back of the door to the bathroom, wrapping the soft cloth around her body as she stood in front of the mirror, studying over her appearance.
For over two months in the post—apocalyptic wasteland, she seemed to be doing fairly well.
Her skin was now smooth and clear from her shower as it was now rid of all the dirt, grime, and sweat that covered it, and she seemed to be keeping a decent amount of weight on her body.
She was excited she was also going to be able to blow—dry her hair and change into a fresh pair of clothes now that they were officially guests of the Greene home.
That's when a soft knock on the wood of the door came from the other side, the door opening and revealing Maggie's younger sister, Beth, a quiet young girl a few years older than Taylor, "Um, excuse me, your Taylor, right?".
The young teen nodded, her hands clutching her towel, "Oh, yes, that's me. Do you need something?".
"O—Oh, no, Maggie told me to bring you these." The strawberry blonde replied, gesturing to the folded clothes in her arms, "She said you needed some fresh clothes to change into you before you continue the search for that little girl.".
Letting one hand go from the towel, Taylor took the clothes from Beth with a gentle smile, "Thank you, Beth. I really appreciate it.".
The strawberry blonde nodded and smiled back, "Of course. I'll leave you to it. The blow drier and brush are under the sink.".
Beth then waved goodbye to the young teen as she walked out and shut the bathroom door behind her.
She was also eager to continue back on the search for Sophia now that Rick and Shane had time to rest up, and the young teen had hoped that maybe the group could possibly find her today.
Letting the towel slip from her body, the young teen changed back into her undergarments before putting on the clothes Beth had brought for her, which consisted of some jeans and a black tank top.
She then began to blow—dry her hair until it was completely dry before she tied up her black converse.
Grabbing her backpack and crossbow from the corner of the bathroom, the young teen headed out, closing the door behind her before making her way down the hall and down the stairs, heading outside of the Greene farmhouse and back over to the campsite.
Everyone was up and now preparing for the long day ahead of them.
Rick, accompanied by Shane, walked up to the young teen as the ex—sheriff spoke up, "Morning, Taylor. We've been lookin' for you.".
"Oh, sorry. I was cleaning up inside; I was filthy." She apologized.
"Ready to get goin'?" The ex—officer asked her, causing the young teen to bite the inside of her cheek.
"Um...yeah.".
Taylor then followed Rick and Shane over to Carol's RV where Andrea and T—Dog were over by Carol's Cherokee.
The ex—sheriff spoke up, "Morning, guys. Let's get going. We've got a lot of ground to cover.".
Daryl came over with a new flannel in his hand and his crossbow in the other, still wearing the same filthy tank top.
Taylor cocked a brow, "You do realize Carol and Lori are doing laundry today, right?".
The redneck nodded, "Yeah. They don' need te be washed, though.".
The young teen shrugged, "If you say so.".
Laying the county map down on the hood of the car, Rick sat two branches over it as he said, "All right, everyone's getting new search grids today. If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl and Taylor found, she might have gone further east than we've been so far.".
"I'd like to help." Jimmy said as he walked over, everyone turning their attention to him as Daryl sat down his crossbow and slipped into his flannel, "I know the area pretty well and stuff.".
"Hershel's okay with this?" The ex—sherrif asked him.
"Yeah. Yeah. He said I should ask you." The teen replied.
Rick nodded, "All right then. Thanks.".
"Nothing about what Daryl and Taylor found screams Sophia to me." Shane spoke up from the open passenger side of Carol's Cherokee, "Anyone could have been holed up in that farmhouse.".
"Anybody includes her, right?" Andrea pointed out.
"Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay—high." Daryl said, placing his hand onto Taylor's head as she puffed her cheeks and folded her arms out of embarrassment.
"Hey, I'm not that short." The young teen protested.
"Really? 'Cause I jus' checked." The redneck remarked.
"It's a good lead." Andrea agreed.
"Maybe we'll pick up her trail again." Rick suggested.
"No maybe 'bout it. Me an' Taylor are gonna borrow a horse, head up to 'his ridge right here, take a bird's-eye view o' course the whole grid. If she's up there, we'll spot her." The Dixon explained, pointing to the map as Dale and Ryan walked up with the bag of guns.
The young Greene boy gave Taylor a small, kind smile followed by the tip of his hat as
T—Dog said to the young teen girl, "Good idea. Maybe you and your old man'll see his Chupacabra up there too.".
"Chupacabra?" The ex—sheriff questioned, cocking a brow.
"You never heard this? Our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a Chupacabra." Dale explained, handing a rifle to Rick.
Jimmy laughed as Daryl glared over at him, "What're ye brayin' at, jackass.".
"You believe in a blood—sucking dog?" Rick asked.
"Do you 'elive in dead people walkin' 'roun'?" Daryl remarked.
"Anyway, Merle says Daryl was on shrooms, so it's hard to tell if Daryl actually saw the Chupacabra or if he was on some fucking 420 shit." Taylor explained, smirking up at the redneck, "Knowing Daryl I think it's the latter of the two.".
"Oh, I know what I saw." Daryl muttered as he flicked her across the side of her head, Jimmy grabbing the rifle Rick had set down, but the
ex—sheriff stopped him, "Hey hey. Ever fire one before?".
"Well, if I'm going out, I want one." The young man responded.
"Yeah, an' people in hell wan' slurpees." The redneck remarked, swinging his crossbow over his shoulder before he and Taylor walked off to grab a few last things from their tent.
The young teen smirked over at him from the doorway of their tent as she watched him grab a few extra crossbow bolts from his backpack, "What's with all the remarks today?".
The Dixon shrugged, "Jus' wanna fin' that girl.".
Taylor sighed with a nod, "Let's hope we do.".
•••
DARYL
DARYL RODE IN FRONT ON THE
saddle that was strapped to the horse he and Taylor had taken from the stable, the young teen behind him with her arms wrapped around his lower waist.
Seeing a squirrel scurrying up a nearby tree, the redneck gave a gentle tug to the reins of the horse, strapping off his crossbow and aligning the sight with the squirrels body as the horse came to a stop before pulling the trigger, the arrow flying and landing in the squirrels body.
The Dixon kicked the horses side and it began walking into a slow stride, and he grabbed the squirrel off the tree by the arrow, pulling it off and shoving it between his cargos and belt, tucking the arrow into his back pocket.
"Hol' on, its steep over here." Daryl told the young teen.
"Right." That was the first word she had said since they left, and she pulled herself closer to him as they rode up upon a creek down below them from a steep hill.
The redneck stopped the horse, pointing to a log in the water through the treeline, "Hey, ye see that on the log?".
It was silent for a moment before he got a response, "Yeah, I do. Do you wanna check it out?".
"Yeah." The Dixon replied, hopping off the horse before helping her off, unstrapping his crossbow as he looked back at her, "Jus' be careful walkin' down here. Make sure ye got a firm grip.".
The young teen nodded, a smirk spreading across her face, "You know, you were really tense during ever since you touched that horse inside the stables. Kinda gave me the impression that you have a fear of horses.".
Daryl sneered over at her, "The fuck ye talkin' 'bout?! I ain't afraid o' no horse.".
The young teen chuckled patting him on the back, "I'm just fucking with you, Daryl. I still think you have a fear of horses, though.".
The redneck scoffed, "Whatever. Let's get a fuckin' move on; don' got all day.".
The two then made their way down the steep hillside, and walking down to the creek and over to the log where the Dixon picked up a doll that was wedged from between the log and one of the branches.
It was Sophia's doll...
"Isn't that Sophia's?" The young teen asked him, and Dsryl gave her a simple nod in response.
"Sophia!" The redneck called out, but there was no response.
Sighing, The Dixon tucked the doll between his belt and pants, "C'mon, let's head back te the horse an' keep lookin' fer her.".
Without a word, she followed him back to the horse, the two getting back on as he kicked its side and they strode off.
Coming up to a log, a few bird flew out, startling the horse as Daryl tugged on the reins lightly, "Whoa. Easy easy.".
Signaling for the horse to keep going, a few moments later, it was startled by a hiss from a snake, and the horse began whinnying and thrashing, throwing Taylor and Daryl right off its back and down the hillside into the creek before it galloped away.
He hit his head, and he didn't wake up...
•••
TAYLOR
WITH ATHROBBING PAIN IN HER
head and side, Taylor awoke with a groan, opening her eyes.
The young teen rubbed her eyes clear of water before sitting up, immediately collapsing back into the water of the creek as her side flared and ached, wave after wave of pain flowing through her body.
Her breath hitching in her throat, the young teen saw her hunting knife had fallen out of its sheath and found its way into her left side.
"Oh fuck..." she gasped, her eyes prickling with tears from the pain that had begun to consume her.
What the hell was she supposed to do...
"Daryl..." She whimpered, hoping the said man was around to save her, just like he always did.
As if on cue, Daryl trudged over to her through the creek water, tying the fabric of his flannel sleeves around an arrow that was lodged into his left side just like her hunting knife as his eyes landed on her wound, "Oh fuck.".
"...I—It hurts..." The young teen cried, tears drizzling down her cheeks as the redneck sat down beside her.
"Yeah, yeah I know it does. Jus' hold still." The redneck told her, wrapping his hands around the handle of her hunting knife, "I'm gonna pull it out, quick an' fast. Ye ready?".
Fear filled the young girls eyes as her hands clamped down around his wrists, "N—No! It's gonna hurt; I—I'll bleed out!".
"Taylor, yer already bleedin' out! I gottta get the bleedin' te stop. The only way I can do that is by pullin' the knife out. Ye jus' gotta suck it up fer a few seconds, 'alri?" The Dixon told her.
Slowly, the young teen let her hands fall from his, resting them on his shoulders as she gave him a small nod.
With a quick tug, the hunting knife left her body as a cry of agony escaped past the young girl's lips, her nails clawing at his arms as she burried her face in the crook of his neck.
"It's done. Yer alri', it's out." He told her, pulling out his rag before he placed it over her wound, "Ye gonna be able te walk?".
The young teen placed her hands over the rag, "I—I don't know. I tried to but the pain was really bad.".
"Shit. Alri' then, I'll jus' carry ye. Ye ready?" The redneck asked her, to which he nodded, and he picked her up.
The young girl kept a hand over the rag while her other arm was slung around the Dixon's neck as he carried her out of the creek, "...I'm not too heavy...?".
He laid her up against the nearby log where they found Sophia's doll, "Kid, yer fuckin' light.".
"Oh." The young teen moved the rag slightly as she winced, "It's still bleeding.".
"Yeah, well, it's gonna be bleedin' fer a while." The redneck remarked.
Glancing down at his wound, Taylor bit the inside of her cheek, "Are you okay?".
The Dixon looked down at it, seeing how he had tied the sleeves of his flannel around his arrow to stabilize it, "Yeah, I'll be fine. I've been through worse.".
The young teen nodded in agreement as she let out a hiss of pain, "Yeah, me too.".
She then looked around the tall rocky walls that enclosed the creek, "How are we gonna get out of here?".
Daryl took a look around himself, "...Guess we're gonna have te climb our way out...".
The young teens face fell at his words, "Great...just great...".
Bracing herself on the log, the young girl pushed herself up onto her feet while Daryl walked over to a part of the rock walls that didn't look too steep and was more of a hill, "This looks doable.".
"...I'm so sorry for this..." Taylor apologized, trying to keep her composure as she trudged over to the redneck who was currently testing out the stability of the hill.
The Dixon looked back at her, "Fer what?".
The young teen gestured to his wound, "For that." Then to her's, "And this." Then to their surrounding predicament, "And all this. Maybe...maybe if I wasn't here, you could've been able to focus and see that fucking snake coming and you wouldn't be in this mess.".
She sat back down by the log as Daryl looked her over, "Kid, don' put this shit on ye. Ye didn't do shit.".
The young girl sniffled, "...I always wondered how you and Merle were so strong and brave back at the quarry camp...I wanted to be just like that...I still do...just when I think I'm making progress...when I think I'm getting stronger...I get like this...and then I feel like I'm back at square one...".
"...Kid, listen te me. Ye know how many fuckin' kids out there that have died from this shit? I highly fuckin' doubt there's that many fuckin' kids out there like ye. Ye aren't sittin' on yer ass whinin' 'bout the world, wishin' things would go back te the way they were. Yer doin' somethin' 'bout it. Ye wanted te learn how te defend yerself, not rely on other people. Kid, if that ain't bein' strong an' brave, then I don' know what the hell bein' strong an' brave is." Daryl said.
Taylor looked up at him, wiping away her tears, "You think so?".
He slowly nodded, "...Yeah...I do...".
The young teen picked herself up, still clutching her side, "...We need to find a way out of here.".
"Yeah." He muttered in agreement.
He gestured up the to the rocky walls that enclosed the creek, which Taylor hadn't noticed before, and now she was beginning to realize their situation.
Taylor gestured to the blood that dripped down the side of his head, "What about your head. It's bleeding.".
He brushed her off, "I'm fine. Jus' hit it is all.".
As he picked up the limb she had used before to find her backpack and their crossbows, she said, "Don't you think it's too dangerous to climb up there? Daryl, we've been stabbed in the side. Climbing up will put too much strain on our wounds.".
He glared, "Well then what do ye suggest we do.".
She looked around the creek before pointing to a nearby cave, "We rest in there for the night.".
He cocked a brow, "So yer sayin' we should spend the night in that cave.".
"When you took me on that hunting trip back at the quarry for a few days, we slept outside every night. This isn't any different." She tried to reason with him.
"Nah," He refused, walking over to the log where they found Sophia's doll and snapped off a limb, "We'd be wastin' too much time; we gotta get back an' show 'em what we found; pick up the search.".
He tossed her the branch, "Use that. It'll help ye climb.".
Sighing, she threw her backpack and crossbow over her shoulder, following Daryl up to a steep hill that didn't have too many rocks, but lots of ledges and leaves.
"This looks doable." He commented, prodding the ground of the hill with his stick, "You go on firs'. I'll be right behind ye.".
Gulping nervously as she looked up the steep hill, she nodded, planting her foot on the first ledge before lifting herself up, crying out in pain at the flaring ache in her side.
She wanted to sit down and give up, knowing her chances were slim of pulling herself out of this creek, but she couldn't.
The longer it took for her and Daryl to get out of this creek meant the chances of finding Sophia got slimmer and slimmer.
"Fuck it..." She tossed her stick down, grabbing the next ledge with her too hands before lifting herself onto it.
The rest of the way up looked leafy and steep, and she'd have to use the the thin tree limbs growing in the hillside.
She heard a grunt from Daryl as he pulled himself up onto the first ledge, and she pulled herself up higher, grabbing a tree limb and planting her feet into the ground before hoisting herself up to the next one.
After a few minutes of climbing, she heard a snap from Daryl's branch, seeing it had broken in half as he cursed and fell backwards, back down the hill.
"Shit, Daryl!" She called, her foot slipping as she fell back down the hill too.
She hit her head on something, groaning in pain as now not only her side flared in pain, her head did as well.
Taylor had no idea how much time went by, but she began to hear voices.
"Lee, there's a little girl." This voice was squeaky and soft, sounding like it belonged to one of a young girl, not much older than Taylor's sister.
"Looks like they got the shit beat outta 'em. Dad an' daughter maybe." A southerner voice commented.
"It might be a trap." A voice between manly and high pitched pointed out, meaning it belonged to a teen, most likely a few years older than herself.
"Oh come on, Ben," This voice came from a different man, "How much harm could a father and daughter do. Their knocked out cold.".
"Let's get 'em outta here," It was the southerner again, "Walkers'll be on our asses soon.".
She then felt herself being picked up, and the next time she woke up, she was laid up in bed, it being dark outside through the windows, and the bedroom she was in was dark, other than the lamp that shone on the nightstand to her left.
As if on queue, Maggie walked in, a tray of food in her hands as she smiled down at the young girl, "Look who's finally awake.".
Taylor sat up, wincing at the stinging pain in her side and head, deciding it would be better to take it slow, so she carefully pressed a pillow to the headboard of the bed before laying back against it, "How long have I been out for?".
"Since the new group o' folks brought you and Daryl back. They seem alright." Maggie replied.
Taylor cocked a brow, "New people? Where are they?".
It must have been the people she heard in the woods when she was unconscious.
They saved her and Daryl...
"Not sure, but they introduced themselves as Lee, Kenny, Clementine, and Ben. Lee's from Macon, and he seems like a good guy. Kenny's from Florida, and he seems like a bit of a hothead. Clementine's a sweet little girl, a bit younger than you and Carl, and Ben's a high school student. He's already got Jimmy all riled up; he's got eyes for Beth. Poor kid though is scared of his own shadow." Maggie explained.
Taylor nodded along as Maggie explained everything, her eyes flickering down to the tray of food still in her hands.
She had just now realized how hungry she was, and she hadn't eaten since breakfast earlier that morning.
Maggie noticed her stare and chuckled, setting down the tray of food on her lap, "Sorry, didn't mean to keep you waiting.".
"No, it's alright." Taylor said after swallowing a mouthful of the carrots, corn, and peas that sat by the slab of steak on her plate, "It's really good, thank you.".
Maggie smiled with a nod, "You're welcome.".
"How's Daryl? Is he up yet?" Taylor asked, wiping her mouth with a napkin.
"He's just fine, but he's not up yet. He needs to stay in bed for a while. His side looked pretty rough; his head too. Andrea shot him accidentally; thought he was a walker. Don't know how, though. He was unconscious, and Lee and Kenny were draggin' him back." Maggie explained.
Taylor nodded, "Does he need to stay in bed for long?".
Maggie shrugged, "Maybe a day. Knowin' your Dad, though, he'll probably put up a fight.".
Taylor perked her head up at this, setting her fork down as she said, "Oh, Daryl's not my Dad. He's friends with my Dad. He's been looking out for me since the walkers showed up a month ago.".
"Sorry about that. I just got the impression you two were related. That's very kind of him, though. Looking out for a kid that isn't even his." Maggie commented.
Taylor sighed, "...A few days back...he admitted he was only doing it for the cash...".
Maggie nodded acknowledgingly, and Beth walked in with a pair of folded clothes, setting them down on the edge of the bed.
"Daddy said it's okay for you to get up and get a shower." She smiled, "Feel free to change into these after you do.".
Taylor politely smiled, "I will. Thank you, guys.".
The two sisters then walked out of the room, leaving Taylor be with her thoughts.
Setting the remnants of the tray down on the floor, she laid back in bed, shutting off the lamp before snuggling up into the pillows and blankets.
She'd have to meet, Lee, Kenny, Clementine, and Ben tomorrow and thank them for saving her and Daryl.
———
To Be Continued...
Word Count: 3926
Edited: ✔️
@Taylor_Frickin_Dixon, 2022
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