As I walked down the road, the others trailed behind me. I could hear Daryl and Rick whispering-arguing behind me but let's face it, Daryl can't whisper. I heard every word that came out of his mouth.
"She could have got us killed, Rick! Attracted all kinds of walkers shootin' so much like that!" he bit out harshly, his thick Southern accent sticking to 'kinds' and 'like'.
"She was trying to protect herself! You would have done the same, Daryl. You know that!" Rick shot back.
"That don't matter, Rick! She's not one of us!" Daryl countered, his voice hard.
Suddenly, I couldn't take it anymore. I whipped around to face them.
"You know what? I didn't choose to be here! I was left here!" I yelled at Daryl.
Strands of brown hair hung in his face and I saw his jaw clench in anger.
"Oh, quit moaning about how you lost someone! You're not the only one who lost someone around here, sunshine!" he spat.
I furrowed my eyebrows and my brown eyes hardened.
"Says the person who won't get too close to anybody! How do we even know you lost anyone with your tough guy act?! At least I let myself get attached to somebody even though I lost him! That's more than you can say for yourself," I shot back, turning to walk away.
Daryl barged right up to me and twisted me back around, his hand gripping my shoulder roughly.
"You take that back! You got no right to say that to me!" he said, his voice low but dangerous.
His 6-foot frame towered over my smaller one but I shoved my face close to his to show I wasn't intimidated by him.
"No? 'Cause I don't know you right? 'Cause I don't know how you are?" I retorted, arching my eyebrows.
"No, you don't know me! You just walked into town one day - nah, you invaded town one day. With your pack of mangy Wolves!" he said, saying 'Wolves' as if it tasted like poison on his tongue to even utter the word.
"At least Wolves have loyalty! You have none!" I hissed, pushing back from him.
We stood farther apart now but I could tell that Rick and Sasha could feel the tension in the air crackling between us.
"What makes you think I got no loyalty?! Because I didn't kiss up to you like everybody else? I don't owe you 'nothin! And I sure don't owe you an explanation 'bout where my loyalties lie," he said harshly.
"Well, it didn't lie with Mandy, that's for sure!" I shot back.
He fell silent immediately, his blue eyes narrowing in suspicion. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Rick and Sasha exchanging glances.
"What do you know about Mandy?" he asked, the anger still in his voice but now mixed with another emotion I couldn't quite put my finger on.
"I know you walked out on her. She loved you and you just left! What loyalty..." I scoffed, ending the last part softly.
Daryl said nothing, just glared at me. I turned to walk away then so he wouldn't see the tears brimming in my eyes. I would not cry in front of him. I was stronger than that. He scoffed behind me just then and I heard his boots following me across the cracked pavement of the road.
"You didn't know Mandy! You're just lyin' again! But can't expect much from somebody who won't even say their last name..." he spat angrily.
My head whipped around so fast, I thought I'd give myself whiplash. Strands of my dark brown hair flew in my face but my brown eyes beneath it were cold and hard.
"DIXON!" I shouted back at him, releasing all of my agitation and anger.
He stopped dead in his tracks, his deep blue eyes widening.
"My last name is Dixon." I confessed with conviction before turning back around.
I didn't wait for his reaction, didn't even look to see if they followed me or not. I just took off running down the road. My legs ached as I ran and ran but I didn't care. I could barely feel it. All I could feel was the hot tears coursing down my cheeks and the tightening in my chest. Now he knew...and there was no going back.