Daryl made his way out into the woods he began tracking T-Dogs steps and moved quickly. He was losing the sun and tracking with a flashlight was less than ideal. He got to a big tree where he assumed T-Dog sat. He finally caught sight of Jayden's tracks. Here combat boots were heavy-duty and made deep imprints into the ground.
He heard a crack and a growl he quickly hid behind the tree and pulled out his knife. Once he had both weapons in hand he turned quickly aiming toward the sound. He saw a figure through the fog crouched down.
"Stupid....... Motherload... Peace of SHIT!" He heard the feminine voice through the trees grunting and growling through each word.
He put down his weapons and stood up from the tree. He shined his flashlight at her figure and saw her lean figure dragging a 3-point buck on the ground. He couldn't help but smirk as she struggled the move the buck.
Once Jayden noticed the light she turned and saw the redneck standing there with a smirk plastered on his face. She released a sigh and stood up turning around to face him. She put her hands on her hips waiting for him to say something.
"Well, Legolas are you just going to stand there a look pretty or are you going to help?" Jayden threw her arms up in the air and looked at him expectantly. He looked down and started walking towards her.
"Don do that" He mumbled.
"Do what" she added sarcastically with a smile now plastered on her face. "Call ya pretty"
"Pfft... Stop" He grumbled.
He made his way next to her and handed her his crossbow and sheathed his own knife. He bent down and picked up the deer around his shoulders. He stood back up and started walking back in the direction of the prison. Jayden followed closely behind him scanning their surroundings for any signs of walkers.
"Why are you out here anyway," Jayden asked.
"Came out for your stupid ass," He said shortly. "What the hell were ya thinking anyway. Rick has a two-person rule for a reason." He turned around worry and anger were etched in his tone.
"I wasn't alone I was with T-Dog and yes I went off to get this deer but honestly if you were with T-Dog you would understand he stomps like an elephant." Jayden laughed to herself and stopped dead in her tracks when she came face to face with the look Daryl was giving her.
"You think this is funny. You could've died out here with no one to have your back." He yelled at her before stomping off.
"I don't know if you remember I survived months no years without anyone's help by myself. So don't come at me with a lecture when you don't even give a shit." Jayden yelled at his back stomping towards him.
"What did you just say" He dropped the deer off of his shoulders and turned to her pointing a finger in her face.
"I said you don't give a shit. Maybe you care about your group but every time you look at me I can see you don't want me here. Always throwing down my suggestions and just being a total ass. I'm sick of it!" Jayden came very close to his face as she seethed.
"Man you don't know the hell you talking about." He turned and walked off and then spun on his heel and came right back towards her. "You don think I care about ya?"
"Well do you? Cause now would be a great time to tell me." She looked at him expectantly.
"Look I ain... I'm not good with that shit." He looked down at the ground and back up at Jayden. "Don't you ever say I don care about ya?" With that, he turned and picked up the deer heading back in the direction of the prison.
Jayden stood there purely in shock. She truly didn't think he gave a shit about her but through his hard exterior, his eyes showed every emotion. She could feel the truth and emotion in his statement. She herself was drawn to him in ways should didn't understand. She was just as bad at emotions as he was but instead of just hiding them she also hid behind jokes and sarcasm.
"Hey, you comin." He turned to look at her momentarily before continuing on.
Jayden composed herself before following behind the redneck.
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Daryl and Jayden finally made their way back to the prison gates. Rick was there to greet them opening the main gate and visually scanning them over for any signs of injuries or bites.
"Is everyone ok?" He asked.
"Yes... Yes everyone is fine jeez yall really need to have some faith I mean come on its me we're talking about." Jayden smiled and patted Rick on the shoulder before heading past him toward the rest of the group.
Rick watched as she walked away before turning back to Daryl. Daryl put down the buck that he had been carrying for over an hour and rolled out his shoulders.
"You good?" Rick asked. Daryl looked up at him with a confused expression.
"Why wouldn't I be?" He asked.
"Look I know you care about her but you can't just go runnin off like that especially when it's close to being dark. We need you. The group needs you." Rick whispered.
"Yea well we need her too." He snapped back. Rick shook his head and went to leave before Daryl sighed. "Take this up to the group will ya. Jayden will skin and cook it. I'll take first watch."
With that Daryl sat on top of the overturned bus and Rick hauled up the deer towards the group,
"That's why it took me so long. The thing weighs at least 250 and I could not get it on my shoulders." Jayden laughed as Rick placed the deer in front of her.
"It's cause we haven't had a decent meal in months. Looks like that's gonna change tonight." Rick smiled and helped Jayden begin to skin the deer.
Following Jayden's instructions along the way they skinned the deer fairly quickly and began cooking it. The aroma of venison bellowed up through the air and withing a few hours everyone was stuffing their stomachs. Carol filled a large plate and walked it down to Daryl.
Jayden watched from afar and a pang of jealousy fell in her stomach. She was not sure why but she quickly excused herself from the group and found a patch of grass to lay down on.
She laid down with the intention of falling asleep but as usual, her mind had other plans. She saw Daryl and Carol standing on the bus. Carol was laughing and Daryl was shaking his head. She had a feeling there was something between them. She was never able to make him laugh. Although that in itself is not surprising since she had only just found out that he cared about her at all.
Looking at the happy "couple" made the pit in her stomach return. So instead she turned her gaze toward the group and the fire. What seemed like a relaxing scene soon turned into something else. The memory of her marine squad soon replaced what was in front of her. She could feel the warmth of that night and she could smell the hot cocoa drifting from their mugs and the smiles on their faces. She could feel a warm liquid falling on her nose and to the ground. She wiped away the tears and stood making her way toward the far fence. Tonight was not going to be restful for her.
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Daryl noticed the dying fire and the dark figures sleeping in the grass. He chose to take watch for the night. T-Dog had told him to wake him up when it was his watch but Daryl had no intention of doing so. He remained seated on the bus his attention focused on the forest.
One person Daryl hadn't accounted for was Jayden. She herself also found no comfort in sleeping. She was by the edge of the field straining herself by pulling walker bodies into a pile. She was strong but the lack of food that had been going around made her feel very weak. Breathing heavily she finally stacked a taller walker on the pile. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand before heading toward the corner of the fence closer to the bus. She saw a big walker build like a lineman. He was at least 6'2, Jayden knew her work was cut out for her. She started to grab its legs and pull when it suddenly awoke.
Jayden had never seen a walker move so fast and before she knew it, it had tackled her to the ground and pressed its face toward her own. Daryl heard a small shriek and a thud from behind him. He stood up and faced the sound. She shined his flashlight and saw a giant walker on top of someone. He pulled up his crossbow and shot the walker in the head before jumping off the bus a running over. As he got closer he saw a familiar pair of combat boots under the body and they weren't moving.
"Jay!" He whisper yelled.
When he reached the body he used his redneck strength to roll the body over uncovering the bloody body underneath it. Her eyes opened and immediately found his blue ones. He pulled her to a sitting position and started scanning her arms and legs for injuries.
"Are ya bit? Did he scratch ya?" He questioned frantically.
"Daryl...." Jayden whispered still trying to pull together what happened. "Daryl, I'm ok."
Daryl stopped scanning when he heard her say his name. He looked into her eyes but saw that she wasn't all the way there. She was with him but at the same time, she was distant.
"What happened?" He asked.
"Couldn't sleep... needed to feel productive somehow so I started piling walkers." Jayden stared off into the darkness. In her peripheral Daryl's blues eyes or scruff would come into view.
"Somethins up, you gonna tell me whats botherin ya?" He put his face in front of hers to get her attention.
Jayden met eyes with him. She had strict rules about showing emotion if it wasn't necessary then there is no need for it. The last person she wanted to be weak to was Daryl she didn't want to give him any more of a reason to dislike her. The problem with emotion is one can only hide it for so long. You think your barrier is strong and you think you're not going to break, then they ask that one question.
"What's wrong?" His eyes pulled her in.
As soon as you know it the tears burst like a damn. She had learned to cry silently but her face and the tears said everything. She didn't want Daryl to see her like this so she furiously started wiping away the tears only to spread the blood from her hands to her face. Daryl grabbed her hands and pulled them away from her face and looked into her eyes.
"It's the memories..." Jayden's voice cracked. "They don't go away I can't hide from them. I'm too weak to face them... I-I don... I don't know how to..." She started shaking her head and tried pulling away from him.
Daryl understood to an extent what she was going through. He would often have flashbacks of his childhood trauma. He could never compare his pain to hers. She went through too much and never got help for it. He didn't let her pull away, instead, he pulled her towards him and let her wrap around him. He visibly stiffened as he was not used to this interaction but could not think of anything else to do.
"Maybe it's not bout forgettin. It's about focusing on what is here in front of you rather than behind." His statement was more of a question like he didn't know if he was saying the right thing.
Jayden took in the scent of smoke and wood. She finally knew that he cared about her. She wasn't sure in what way but she at least knew that he didn't despise her. And that in itself was a win.
"You're a shit hugger" She sniffed.
And out of his mouth a genuine laugh. Jayden almost thought she imagined it but she felt the chuckle reverberate through his chest. She smiled and pulled away wiping the tears from her eyes. He stood up and held out a hand for her.
"Common, let's get the bus and keep watch." He grabbed her hand and pulled her from the ground.
They walked side by side towards the bus and Daryl handed her a cloth from his pocket and a bottle of water.
"You look like shit." He smirked and climb onto the bus Jayden smiled and followed close behind.
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Wow, this is a long one. So some confused feelings here and they are starting to sort things out. I hope yall like this chapter. Leave any suggestions or comments and ofc if you like whatcha read give it a vote!
-J