Another sleepless night leaves me with a headache the next morning. I don't want to interact with anyone, my mind too much on its own, so I assume watch as soon as I leave my cell.
I know there's some discourse about whether we should stay or leave and I know they're probably arguing about it inside. That being another reason I didn't want to be inside. I could not stand arguments and I didn't have the energy to try and talk everyone down.
I don't know how long I actually stay outside, all the hours blending together but once I feel like it's been long enough I force myself to go down. Nothing seemed to be happening.
Almost everyone was outside now, Carol was stood with Axel both having a smile on their face. They'd gotten closer over the past few days, Axel really was a harmless funny guy. I'd only spoken to him a handful of times though, I still didn't know him well enough to be comfortable around him.
Hershel is down at the fence, talking to Rick. Rick had been on the outside of the fence for the whole day. I'd tried to keep an eye on him whilst I was on watch but he'd been running around so much that I found it difficult.
I'm approaching Carol and Axel who are laughing when all of a sudden Axel is shot in the head. He and Carol go down as shots rain through the yard. Carol uses his body as a shield as I sprint for cover. I have my usual gun on me so as soon as I duck behind some discarded furniture, I pull it out and look in the direction of where these bullets were coming from.
I see who I'm assuming to be the governor with his men. It's so chaotic and with trying to keep myself covered, it's a bit difficult to aim precisely, especially since I can barely see anything from the filing cabinets that I was crouched behind.
Maggie runs out with guns, she hands two to Beth before she runs over my way. "We need to help Carol." She shouts over at me, I nod in agreement seeing as Carol still lay exposed on the ground. Her only source of cover being Axels dead body. We cover Carol who runs towards Beth.
The shooting begins to die down when suddenly they run a van through the gates of the prison, my mouth parts in horror once the back of the van drops and walkers stumble out. Hershel was in that field, I want to run down and help him but there's no way for me to do that, I'd get shot down in seconds.
The shooting resumes as the governor and his men trey to escape, once they do so we all run forward to help keep the walkers from infiltrating as the others still had to make their way back up. Glenn had returned in the car and driven to help Hershel and Michonne who were still in the field.
Once everyone is okay I finally notice Rick isn't alone, he's walking back up towards us with two other people. Daryl and who I'm guessing to be his brother. I don't want to see Daryl right now, I also don't even know what I would even say to him and so I tell the others that I'm going to check on Jude and Sophia and then speed back to the cell block.
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I slip into my cell before the others arrive, knowing that aside from the kids, they wouldn't bother me. I feel very disconnected from the group since the last few days. I don't know what it is, whether I've done it myself or if it's just in my head but I just feel odd around them, on edge like I overthink every second that I'm with them, like there's a gap that I have no idea on how to bridge.
I clamp my eyes shut when I hear footsteps approaching my cell, I know it's not Carl or Sophia, they're much louder. I know who it is, I can tell just from the steps. I feel like I'm holding my breath as I hear the footsteps stop right at my cell door.
"Uh..." It is Daryl, he stands there for a few moments shuffling awkwardly. "Selene? You awake?" I don't move, not even an inch. I fight the urge to open my eyes, my heart leaping out of my chest as I hear him approach. He doesn't say anything more but I'm afraid that he can tell I'm faking sleep. I try to keep my breathing even as I feel him lean down towards me.
He still doesn't say anything, he just pulls the blanket up over me and then I hear him shuffling back, a sigh escaping his lips. I open my eyes just to see his retreating figure. I sit up and almost go after him but I stop myself and let him walk to his own cell.
Swinging my legs over my bunk I cringe as my feet hit the cold floor. I don't know what to do, I wasn't angry at Daryl and after that moment, I knew that even if I had been, there was no way I could stay angry at him. I reach out for the blanket a smile growing as my fingers meet the slightly rough material.
I glance back in the direction that Daryl had left in as the blanket curls up with my fingers, maybe I should go after him. No but then he'd know that I was pretending to be asleep. My shoulders hunch as I exhale, I'd missed Daryl terribly these past few days so I should maybe suck it up and go see him. I know it must've been hard decision for him, choosing between all of us back here and his brother and in the end he came back for us, he was here now when I'd thought I would never get to see him again.
"Sophia don't go in there," I hear Daryl's voice again and I peek out to see he'd stopped Sophia who was on her way to my cell, "Selene's sleeping." He tells her softly, "oh okay." She shrugs before giving him a smile, "I'm happy you're back Daryl, we all missed you loads." She hums even giving him a hug. He looks surprised for a moment but recovers and returns her hug, a soft smile emerging on his face.
"Goodnight Daryl." Sophia chirps before she stops to whisper something to him, "oh yeah?" He asks, my brows furrow as I try to listen carefully to what's being said. I could not hear Sophia's whispers at all but I see that they've brought a smirk to Daryl's face. "Yeah, we all missed you but I think Selene definitely missed you the most." His smirk shifts into a smile that he tries but fails to contain.