Hey all, back with my second longest chapter yet, so I hope you all enjoy it! Lots of Daryl in this one, I hope for a few comments as a reward for giving you guys Daryl;) Plus, I'm feeling low as my friend left the country and I'll only see her in a year and a half again, so could use some love haha! Thanks to the amazing TestSubject19, for her great comments!
Enjoy!
Chapter 16
She slowly became aware of noise around her. Not loud noises or bad noises, but noise nonetheless, as everything had been soundless where she'd been before. Then she started to feel her body. She didn't think she could move it, not even an inch since it felt that heavy, but she could feel where her arms laid at her sides and her head rested on a pillow. Next came her taste, the fuzzy taste of sickness on her tongue causing her face to grimace and it was as if that grimace unlocked her body, as her fingers twitched after.
That twitch caused the noise around her to spike for a bit and she could hear voices and footsteps around her bed. Inhaling and exhaling steadily, she tried to force her eyelids open, despite feeling as if a cement block was glued to them. Light filtered through her lashes slowly as her mind became less fuzzy and she blinked, hoping to speed up the process. Though she had, strangely, a feeling that she was safe, she still didn't like being vulnerable and not knowing what was going on around her.
When she finally managed to peek through her lashes, the first person she saw was Daryl, standing besides her bed with his eyes trained on her like a hawk. Aaron stepped forward next, peering around Daryl's bulk and smiling when he saw her eyes open. Denise was fiddling with her shoulder and Anamika would have shrugged her off, but her body still wasn't cooperating to that degree. Damnit, she felt like a newborn, unable to move and she had no idea why!
"Wha-" She cleared her throat, accepting the straw Denise held to her lips and draining almost the entire glass of water, before she tried again, "What happened? Why do I feel so fucking weak?"
Aaron laughed, his face relieved at her annoyed tone, while Daryl scoffed.
"Ya about killed yourself that's what." She furrowed her brows, but Denise spoke up before she could muddle through her memories.
"You were shot when you tried to protect Carl. Only you continued fighting with a bleeding wound and collapsed from blood loss. You also had a fever for the last two days and we were worried that your wound got infected with walker blood, but the fever finally broke early this morning, so it was just a regular infection luckily."
Anamika couldn't even think about the fact that she had come so close to death, either by bleeding out or being infected by the walkers. Her mind was stuck on the memory of Carl getting shot, of her inability to save him and she felt her heart clench.
"C-Carl? Is he alright? Is he alive?" She felt her breath hitch when Denise hesitated, but before she could fly into a full-blown panic attack, Daryl leaned down to place his hand on hers, the look in his eyes serious.
"The kid's fine, your actions saved his life." She blinked, taking a while to process that, but when she did, her eyes filled with tears, no matter how hard she tried to hold them back.
"Th-thank god, thank god, I thought he was dead. I thought he was dead."
"No, you saved his life." She looked up at the new voice, seeing Rick standing in the doorway, his own eyes red and bloodshot. He walked forward, taking her hand and kneeling as he brought it to his face, pressing it against his forehead.
"Thank you. T-Thank you so much. Thank you." She bit her lip, not wanting to break down like she was threatening to, as the sight of Rick, who was always so strong and hard, almost broken, on his knees in front of her was too much. She didn't know what to say, so she stayed quiet, instead gripping his hand tightly.
"You really scared me." She turned her gaze to Aaron, giving Rick the chance to compose himself quietly.
"Sorry. To be honest... I hadn't even realised I had been shot. I mean, sure, I felt the pain, but it kind of faded into the background with everything that happened after." Aaron nodded and she smiled at him, kind of sheepishly.
Rick soon left to go back to Carl's bedside, who had apparently woken up a day before her and Denise followed, after having threatened her that if she so much as moved an inch off that bed, she'll get Daryl to tie her to it. Aaron followed Denise, laughing at Anamika's disgruntled expression and soon it was just her and Daryl left. She glared at him petulantly, her bottom lip jutting out.
"You really gonna tie me to the bed if I try and leave?"
"Ya better believe it. Don't need to be getting up from that bed anytime soon." Her face split into a mischievous grin and she grinned wider as Daryl shifted uncomfortably at the look on her face, obviously suspicious of her sudden turn in mood.
"Oooh, is that a promise? Kinky, I like it." She winked at him and threw her head back as she laughed at his scoff, the subtle blush on his cheeks causing amusement to fill her. When her laughter finally petered out and she looked at him again, the amusement left her at the serious look in his eyes.
"Is Carl... Is he really alright? He was injured on his face right? I... I remember so much b-blood..." Daryl nodded, his body still as he looked at the ground.
"Yeah, kid's got some pretty serious scars on the right side of his face, from some of the bullet shards hitting him and his vision in that eye is a bit off. But he'll live and as soon as he gets used to the difference in his vision, he'll be good. Kid's strong, a survivor." Anamika nodded, her teeth worrying her lip and still blaming herself for not stopping the bullet completely.
"Anna, you stepping in front of him saved him. Denise says he could have died if it was a direct hit, or at the very least lost his eye. Ya did good Anna."
"Anamika."
"What?" Anamika swallowed, not sure why she gave him her real name, but the urge to hear him say it just suddenly filled her. No one's ever said her name, not that she can remember, as she always gave them the shortened version, as it's more common and doesn't stand out as much. If Daryl was the first person to call her by her name, she would be alright with that.
"My full name... It's Anamika."
"Anamika..."
Anamika shivered as Daryl said her name slowly, his lips rolling it as he tested it out. When his eyes met hers again, there was a glint in them that caused her breath to hitch, before it was gone and his eyes returned to their usual squint.
"It fits you." She smiled shyly, fiddling with the bed covers and unsure what to say. When Daryl shifted and looked as if he was going to leave, her eyes jumped up and she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.
"I had a flashback!" The redneck paused, before he turned towards her more fully and the intensity in his gaze had her swallowing. She didn't even have time to consider keeping that tidbit to herself, as she wasn't sure if that's exactly what it was or what it meant, but she didn't want the hunter to leave for some reason, so she soldiered on.
"At least, it felt like a flashback, like I was seeing some memories. It doesn't feel like I did it or lived it, more like I saw it in a movie or something. But... But I think I was in the military. I saw myself training with some people in army fatigues and talking to government officials. I can't remember a lot of it, but- but that's the vibe I'm getting."
Daryl nodded, staying quiet and Anamika shifted, not knowing what to say, but luckily he spoke up before she could blurt something else out.
"Tha'd explain some things, like how you're so good at fighting and surviving. You've been trained in this shit." She nodded, feeling proud at the impressed look in his eyes. It confused her how she continued to seek this man's approval and praise, especially as he wasn't prone to handing it out, or perhaps it was because he gave it so sparingly that she craved it. It felt like Daryl could understand her on a level no one else could, as if he could see into her soul.
Rick was more like the other side of the same coin, while Daryl was like a penny that had evolved into a dollar bill and she, still being a penny, looked up to him. Anamika snorted, shaking her head to get rid of her ridiculous thoughts and silently blamed Denise for obviously getting her medication dose wrong.
They continued to talk for a while, Daryl telling her about how the cleanup was going and how they had set up temporary walls and around the hour guards until the wall could be rebuilt properly. He also told her of Deanna's plans that Rick and Michonne were implementing, on how they were expanding out and making place for crops and such. They talked until it became early evening and then Daryl had to leave, since there was a lot left to do.
She twiddled her thumbs for a few minutes, before she thought screw it and slowly sat up, swinging her legs over to the side of the bed. Despite feeling a bit dizzy, her body felt a lot better and she knew if it wasn't for the wound getting an infection, she would have been up and at it a long time ago. Ignoring Denise's threat ringing through her mind, she shuffled her alarmingly weak body to the room next door, peeking through the doorway to see Carl sleeping on the bed.
Shuffling in, she made her way to the bed, sitting on the edge as her hand reached out, brushing Carl's bangs away and trailing her fingers over his bandage. When a hand enveloped hers, she looked down to see Carl looking at her, now awake.
"Hey." She whispered.
"Hey." She pulled her hand back, resting them in her lap as she stared at the teen.
"You gonna be ok?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. This isn't my first rodeo with a shattered bullet." He grinned cheekily, startling a laugh out of her and she listened intently as he told her about how he was shot before in the abdomen near the beginning of the apocalypse and how the bullet had went through a buck that first time. He grinned at her laughter and chuckled when a yawn escaped from her.
"I think you need some more rest. Dad said that you had a pretty bad infection."
"Yeah, I'd go back to my room to sleep some, but my head is too dizzy to stand." She watched as Carl shuffled over, making space for her besides him and she laid down without hesitation, too tired to care. She wiggled around, making herself comfortable and soon she drifted off to sleep, Carl's deep breaths lulling her under.
WD
Anamika walked outside, enjoying the sun shining on her face and the breeze in her hair. OK, she was maybe lying a bit to herself, as it was hot as fuck out here and no breeze to speak of, but anything felt amazing after being cooped up in the infirmary.
When she had woken yesterday morning, it was to hear Denise ranting at her for getting out of her bed and Rick standing in the doorway with that funny smile on his face that she knew meant he was practically rolling on the ground laughing at her, the traitor. She had flipped him the finger, only for Denise to misunderstand and go on an even longer rant and then the asshole had the nerve to chuckle, chuckle, at her predicament!
After being properly chastised and saying she was sorry about a thousand times, Denise had huffed and walked away and Anamika had turned to Carl, the other traitor, who was still pretending to be asleep. Poking him in the side, she watched as his mouth twitched and then break into laughter when her fingers found the ticklish spot on his side. After sufficiently punishing him for not helping her against hurricane Denise, her heart and mind now considerably lighter at his laughter, she had retreated to her own room, feeling much better than she had yesterday. Aaron had come in soon after to keep her company and Carol had come by after with Judith, causing Anamika to spend a good two hours entertaining the small girl whilst Carol ran some errands.
Now, the day after, Denise had finally loosened her clutches and Anamika was a free woman again. After teasing Carl about his extended stay in the infirmary, she had left, a bounce in her step despite the sweat already clinging to her tank top. Taking a shower had been the first thing on her list and when that was done and she was decked out in clean clothes, she wandered around the community, talking with people and seeing how the rebuilding was going. Seeing Glenn and Maggie standing close together, she smiled, happy that the couple was reunited even if she didn't talk to them as often as she does Carl or Daryl.
It was as she was wandering aimlessly, that Abraham had called out to her, "Hey Bolo!"
Anamika tensed up, the nickname stirring anger in her, though she wasn't entirely sure why. She turned, her glare burning through Abraham while her hand twitched towards her knife. She relaxed slightly as he held his hands up at her hostile demeanour, though irritation still filled her, especially as he still had that shit-eating grin on his face.
"Now now, Wildcat, just testing a theory of mine. You were in the military correct?"
Her eyes narrowed and she gritted her teeth; she doubted Daryl would have told anyone, so that begs the question on how the redhead came to that conclusion. She had only just remembered that herself and was a bit suspicious on how this stranger knew it. "What gives you that idea?"
Abraham grinned, placing his hands on his hips as he easily replied, "The way you carry yourself. I'm a military man myself and can recognize a comrade a mile away. Besides, anyone that wasn't in the military would have thought I was just referring to your machete with that nickname, not gotten all defensive about it."
Her eyebrows furrowed, but she nodded, knowing the term he had called her by was a military slang insult now that he mentioned it. She felt she'd probably been called it before, but decided not to pursue the thought further, as it was unimportant.
"Yeah, I might've been in the military. My memory is honestly a bit foggy because of an injury just before all if this happened," she fibbed, not wanting everyone to know her business, "so I can't tell you more than that really."
Abraham nodded, seeming satisfied with the knowledge that she had been part of the military at some point and he patted her on the shoulder as he walked past.
"Always pleased to meet a fellow comrade, especially one that fights like a wildcat." Anamika blushed as she watched him walk away, unsure what to make of the encounter, but finally decided not to break her head over it and continued on her way.
She finally saw Daryl in the distance, cleaning his gun with his pinky sticking out in that habit of his she had noticed early on. His face was focused and she couldn't help but feel a pang at the sight of him without his crossbow. He had told her about the people in the burning forest, though he hadn't gone into details and though he told her about some biker gang they had blown up, he hadn't mentioned names and she didn't ask, figuring it didn't really matter what their names were.
As she walked closer, his eyes found hers and she nodded, leaning her hip against the stair railings. She watched as he finished cleaning his gun and put it back together, before sliding it into the back of his pants. When he met her eyes again, she decided to speak up, "I was thinking of going hunting. I've been cooped up inside for almost two weeks and as much as I appreciate everything you guys did for me, I need to get out for a bit. Wanted to ask if you wanna come hunting with me? I've got my rifle."
She looked at him hopefully, wanting to spend some time with him, though she refused to consider why. When he nodded after a slight hesitation, she grinned widely and bounced to the pavement. "Great, let's get going then!"
Daryl scoffed at her enthusiasm, his deep rich voice sending shivers down her back which she determinedly ignored and started walking towards the gates, excited to get out for a bit.
WD
"Rick, we're goin' hunting!" Daryl watched as Rick held up a hand in acknowledgement and followed Anamika out the gates. His gaze kept being drawn to her ass, clad in form-fitting black jeans that was stained with dirt and blood in some places. He shouldn't find it attractive, but he did. However, he determinedly ignored his attraction, not thinking that anything would come out of it and years of keeping women at arm's length when it came to romance came back into play now. He wouldn't know how to make a move even if he wanted to, so he just ignored the feelings stirring in him.
He followed her into the woods, impressed with how quiet she was and her concentration. Lots of people had to learn how to hunt after the apocalypse, but the way she walked, it seemed like she knew before that. It would make sense, as she as trained by the military, probably some stealth training as well, but he knew better than most that doesn't alway mean they are good hunters. This would be a good opportunity to see exactly how good she was at hunting, as he knew she could evade easily enough, grumpily remembering those three months he searched for her.
He kept an eye out for walkers and tracks, but was mostly content to let her do the leading. It wasn't long before she paused, her body tense as she held a hand up. He crouched behind her, seeing the gang of turkeys ahead. He brought his own rifle around and glanced at her, seeing her nodding at him and flicking her finger to the right. Nodding, he aimed at one of the larger turkeys to the right, while she aimed at one on the left.
Focusing, he kept half a eye on her three fingers held up away from the barrel of her rifle, inhaling as she let them drop one by one. When the last one touched the barrel, he exhaled and fired simultaneously with her, the two of them dropping two turkeys. Taking aim again within the second, he managed to drop another one before the rest flied away in panic and was pleased to see she had also managed to do so. Thanks to the silencers she had brought with her when arriving in Alexandria, they also didn't have to worry about walkers hearing their shots and descending down on them by the herds.
"Nice, people back home is gonna love this." Anamika nodded along with his observation and he found himself once again startled by her radiant smile. Narrowing his eyes, he looked away and walked forwards, throwing two of the turkeys into the large bag tied at his waist. Waiting till Anamika did the same, they set off, hoping to get more from this hunting trip. He crouched near the ground, seeing the path smaller wildlife took through the brush and followed the subtle signs to what he hoped would be a rabbit's burrow.
"Say Daryl, what did you do before this? You're too good at this to only have started when the apocalypse did." He glanced up at his companion, seeing the curiosity in her eyes and slightly amused that she had been analyzing his skills the same way he had been observing hers. For a moment, he considered not answering her, uncomfortable with talking about who he was before. However, he felt he owed her after she had shared so much of her own story with him.
"I learnt ta hunt from my uncle when I was a kid. My dad wasn't around a lot and when he was... well, let's just say I preferred being off in the woods on my own. We didn't have a lot, so after my uncle showed me how ta hunt, I'd hunt every week for food, and when my brother came back from juvie or a bender or whatever the hell he was doing at the time, we'd go huntin' together."
His companion was quiet, her intense blue eyes trained on him as he talked and though he felt self-conscious, he also felt that she wouldn't judge him or care about his past, so he continued, telling her stuff he hadn't told anyone but Beth, "Fact is, I was a nameless nobody back then. The Dixon name was so worthless it might as well had been trash and I didn't do nothin' except follow my brother around, getting into shit and fucking things up."
He kept his gaze forwards, not sure what he would see if he looked around, but her hand on his arm caused him to pause in his tracks as she turned his body to her. Her hand lifted and she placed it gently against his cheek, barely touching him as she met his gaze. It should have felt uncomfortable, but instead he found himself leaning into her touch slightly.
"Well, luckily our pasts don't matter, it's who we are now that does. And I think you managed to give the Dixon name a good reputation now, that of a loyal man who'd do his damndest to protect his family. Who'd kill for those he cares about in a heartbeat, the type of man you want by your side." He inhaled sharpy, not able to tear his eyes from hers as he saw the truth glittering there and he felt an unfamiliar emotion bubble up in his chest. Clearing his throat, he turned his gaze to the ground and felt both relieved and disappointed when she stepped back from him.
"Come on, I think I see a house up ahead." The house she saw was more like a cottage than a house, but they decided to check it out anyway, as you never know what could be a goldmine. Sneaking up the porch, Daryl took note of the way the wood creaked under their feet, but it wasn't so bad that he would abandon the house. Having his knife ready as Anamika knocked on the door, they waited, both nodding to the other when they heard a thud on the door and groaning. It sounded like there was more than one, but not more than five, at the very most. Daryl held up three fingers, silently counting down to when Anamika should open the door.
Three
Two
One
She pushed the door open, using enough force to fling the walkers behind it to the ground and Daryl was immediately there, stabbing the one nearest to him in the head before backing away. Luckily, there were only three more and Anamika stepped forward, bending to stab the other one on the ground while Daryl killed the last one over her head by throwing his knife into its skull. Quickly, they both entered, Daryl checking out the main room while Anamika checked out the doorway to the left, which turned out to be the kitchen area. The cottage had only three rooms, the main communal area, the kitchen and the bedroom. Daryl could see a outhouse through the window and had no desire to check there.
Hearing Anamika rifle around in the kitchen, he left the main room, which held nothing of interest, and headed towards her, finding her looking through dusty cupboards. On the table stood a single can of beans and an unopened bottle of Southern Comfort, which Daryl gave a longing glance to, but ignored, as no one needed to get drunk in these times. The slam of the cupboard door had him jumping and he turned to see Anamika scowling, her hands on her hips.
"There's nothing here. I'm gonna go check the bedroom. I peeked in and didn't see anything of interest, but I'm just gonna check more thoroughly." Daryl nodded, looking through the window to make sure they hadn't attracted any unwanted attention, when in the next moment, he heard a shout, the sound of wood creaking, buckling and splintering reached his ears, followed by an almighty crash. Heart pounding in his ears, he ran to the bedroom, calling Anamika's name, "Anamika!"
Sliding to a stop just inside the doorway, Daryl felt his heart lodge in his throat at the good sized hole in the floor and knew he should have been more vigilant and warned her about the wood maybe being rotted. To be honest, he hadn't expected a hole to be under the house, as it was a single story house with no basement door as far as he could see, but for now the main priority was seeing if Anamika was alright, as he still hadn't heard from her.
"Anamika!"
Silence...
"Anamika!" A cough rang out and Daryl heaved a sigh of relief, closing his eyes for a second, before he bent low and inched forward slowly, keeping an ear out to make sure the floor doesn't rot away beneath him. Peering over the edge, he saw Anamika lying spread eagle, her arms over her face as she coughed and gasped for breath, a walker lying dead off to the side.
"Hey, ya ok?"
"Y-yeah. Stupid closet walker surprised me and the floor couldn't hold our weight." Daryl shook his head, amazed at the situations she got into and tried to peer around, trying to see where she fell into. It appeared to be a cellar, shelves covered in dust and dirt and packed with boxes. He hadn't seen a door leading to the cellar, but it could always be on the outside of the house opposite the way they had approached it.
"Hang on, I'm gonna see if I can find a door."
"Yeah, no worries, I'm not going anywhere, kinda knocked the breath right outta me."
Retreating from the room, Daryl quickly exited the house, walking the outside perimeter until he came to the cellar doors. They were padlocked shut with a thick chain, but luckily it seemed the wood of the doors had also started rotting and he was easily able to kick them apart. Throwing the broken pieces of the doors behind him, he quickly descended the stone steps, clicking his flashlight on as he entered the cellar. It was bigger than it looked and he had to follow the light the hole in the floor created to find Anamika. She was sitting up by the time he reached her and he crouched down besides her, his hand on her cheek as he checked to make sure she seemed coherent and had no bad injuries.
"Ya good?"
"Daryl, I'm fine. A bit winded, but seriously, don't worry about me." He grunted, before moving away and checking the boxes that stood untouched on the shelves. He was elated to find canned goods and dried products and knew they had hit the jackpot.
"Hey, these boxes are filled with food and stuff, 'nough to last us another month if we ration. We ain't far from Alexandria, bout two miles, let's head back and get some people and cars to get these stuff back home."
The blue-eyed woman grinned, nodding as she gingerly stood up and followed him out of the cellar that had really turned out to be a goldmine.
WD
So, I hope you all enjoyed the Daryl/Anna-centric chapter, let me know what you thought of their interaction and thoughts, I always worry that I make them sound too mushy, when that's not really who they are, at least not verbally.