"I don't know why your lettin officer friendly take care of ya raised a fighter not a pussy." Walking side by side with my dad is not what I was hopin for when I went to sleep. "Dad I'm not letting him take ca-" he steps in front of me blocking my path. "Bullshit you want him to take care of you cause ya like him well newsflash babygirl he's married, has a kid and you just turned eighteen if you think he'll want someone that young and inexperienced guess again babe." Merle spat at me, looking down everything crossing my mind. The lake, the bathroom, atlanta, the CDC I have been letting him take care of me.
"Your right dad I'll stay away from him." He smiles "There's my babygirl." I hug my dad with a sad smile on my face.
"Are you sure she was coughing blood and it wasn't a nose bleed." Hershel inquires "Yea I'm sure I cleaned her wound and she had a big bruise forming on her left rib and part of her back." Rick insisted then there was silence that seemed to last for eternity. "Alright I'll check it out when she wakes up." He assured rick. Somebody walks out of the room and I open my eyes and look at rick. It takes him a few minutes to notice I'm awake. I get out of bed careful not to wake carl, walking past him I stop in the doorway when he says my name. "Mal" I put my hand up "Don't rick, don't make me your problem." I huff walking out of the room and going outside.
"Malice wait" turning around I face rick in the door way "Let hershel look at ya just to make sure everything is alright" He pleads. I shake my head about to answer "Look at what" a voice interupts, Turning around I see shane walking towards the house. "Nothin, I was just leaving" I grumble walking away from the heading towards the camp. Walking past carols Cherokee with rick and shane behind me. "Morning guys lest get goin we got a lot of ground to cover" rick announces. Daryl makes his way to the car and hands me a my tank top and flannel "Alright everyone's getting new search grids today, if she made it as far as the farm house daryl found she might of gone further east than we've been so far." Daryl puts on his flannel almost hitting me in the face.
"Can I come, I know the area pretty well so." One of hershel's group came up to the car. "Hershel's okay with this" rick queried "Yea, yea I uh he said I should ask you" The boy stutters, rick nods his head. "Alright then thanks" "About what daryl found doesn't scream Sophia to me anyone could of been holed up in that farm house" Shane speculates "Anybody includes her right" Andra states. "Well whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay high" Daryl exclaims raising his hand to about his hip.
"Good lead" andrea praised "Maybe we'll pick up her trail again" Rick assures. "No maybe about it I'm gonna borrow a horse head up this ridge right here, get a birds eye veiw of the whole grid she's up there I'll spot her." Daryl says "Can I go with if she's up there she'll probably be freaked. I was with her last so I should be there to find her." I ask looking daryl in the eye, he nods.
"I don't think that's a smart idea" declared rick,I look over at him "Not your problem rick." Dale brings the guns over and sets them on the hood. "Mal I have something you might want." He holds up my bat and I almost squeal with happiness "Thank you dale."
I walk off as they talk about daryls chupacabra, stepping in the rv I go to the bathroom and shut the door. Taking my shirt off I see almost my whole rib is blue and purple with spots of yellow. I'm to busy poking and inspecting my bruise I don't hear the bathroom door open.
Looking up in the mirror I shriek hurriedly covering my already covered boobs. Daryl stands there looking at my side "What happened" he grunts, I put on my tank top biting my lip to hold the hiss of pain in "I got hit with a well pumpy thingy." I put my flannel on picking up my bat and walking past him. "Don't worry daryl nothing's hurt I'm just bruised that's all."
Daryl and I walk to the stables and he saddles up a horse. He gets on first pulling me up after, we ride into the woods. After a half an hour or so I put my head on his shoulder "Tired" I shake my head "bored" he pats my leg and I sit up and help him with the bow. He shoots a squirrel and puts it in his belt while we're still on the horse. I start looking around and spot something pink in the water "Daryl look." I point at it and he stops the horse. Getting off the he shakes his head in a silent gesture telling me to stay. I grab the reins and watch him go down the the hill. Looking around for walkers I try to keep the horse steady. "Sophia" he roars climbing up the hill and getting back on the horse.
The horse slightly jumps when birds fly away "Woah easy...c'mon" we continue walking daryl and looking in seperate directions. There's a hiss then the horse rears up my arms wrap around his body instinctively as he's trying to get the horse to stop. Daryl falls off taking me with him I hit the ground with a grunt, rolling down the hill right behind him. I slide down a rock then I see white as pain shoots through my head "God son of a bitch" I hiss pulling myself out the water and looking over with blurry vision. "Daryl" I call out pushing myself off the rock landing next to my uncle. "Damnit okay we got to get you out of the water" I move to his other side and put his arm over my shoulders.
We cross the small water hole and make it to the other side,ripping off his sleeves he ties them together to make a tourniquet. I start getting vertigo and I stumble falling back in the sand. "Lucille hey look at me" I turn my head to daryls voice, my face getting warm. "Damn your gonna have one major headache" he jokes pulling me up in a sitting position "Think you can climb." He asks looking up the hill. "What am I six, of course I can climb it's only a head wound." I tell him as I stand up stumbling a little bit. He stands up hissing and holding his side "Can you climb" I echo "Smartass" he grubles walking over and picking up a stick. Hearing snapping in the bushes I back up reaching for my bat only to grab air. Daryl does the same and we both look at each other both of us walking back in the water Daryl using the stick to find his bow I use my feet.
Stepping on something hard I bend down and grab my bat, taking my flannel off and tie it around my bat and tie the sleeves to my belt loop. Daryl finds a easier way to get up. He goes first grunting with every move. I sqeak when my hand slips from the tree, Pulling myself back up with a small grunt I look up to a huffing and struggling daryl. I step on a tree and jump to latch onto another one "What are you a damn cat" daryl hisses out. I laugh "Maybe" he throws his stick and pulls himself up slightly. With me right behind him if he falls he's landing on me. "Ugh c'mon you done half stop being such a pussy" Daryl tells himself and reaches for another tree and starts sliding.
He steps on my hand making me cry out I look up and I'm hit with his full body making both of us tumble down. I land on the ground with an audible thud and the air is knocked out of my lungs. I wheeze trying to breath daryl rolls down landing on top of me. He immediately rolls off me and I'm coughing with pain shooting in my side. Every breath feels like my ribs are sandpaper compressing my lungs. I drag my body over to daryl my arms beginning to feel like they weigh a ton. My head starts pounding and my ears begin to ring I reach for daryls leg before my world goes black. The events around me are echoing in a tunnel, my eyes refusing to open. I hear the groans of a walker and daryls voice bouncing around in my head "Malice wake up damnit malice" My eyes open, with blurry vision I look over seeing daryl on top of a walker with a stick stabbed through its brain.
I push my heavy body up, hearing moaning behind me but I turn around when a walker lands on top of me. "Lucille" daryl bellows the walker grabbing my hair and pulling me closer to his mouth. I scream when I feel it's rotting breath on my cheek. The walkers movements cease and I push it off me, scrambling back jumping when I feel arms around me. Daryl and I fall back both of us breathing heavy. I pass out from pain and physical exaustion, I force my eyes open when daryl shakes me, sitting up groaning in pain. Looking at me and I wave it off, he takes his flannel off folding it up and laying it under his shirt then tying his sleeves around it. "Son of a bitch was right" I look up at him confused but he just shakes his head.
We sit on a log as daryl cuts open the squirrel he got earlier "All we need is some wine." He stops cutting and looks up at me without moving his head. "Oh forgot you don't like wine right, well how about some moonshine." He chuckles and continues cutting the squirrel. He stabs the log with the knife and begins eating the small creature. After he finishes he slides it over to me and I finish the rest of the iron flavored meat. After finishing I lick my fingers as daryl makes a necklace of ears. "Well that's definitely not going to catch on."
I laugh when he puts the necklace on "Shut up" I continue to giggle as we walk over the hill. Whining as I grab hold of the another tree I look beside me at daryl. "C'mon we're not that far from the top." He nods his head and we go back to trying to reach the top.
I'm a few inches ahead of him but I stop to breath as the pain in my rib and head increase. "I did better when you was missing." I look back at daryl and look around to make sure I didn't miss anybody. "Yea, since when" I continue to look at daryl who is looking for a way up. "You never took care of me you talk a big game but you were never there, you never took care of malice." Daryl said tauntingly forgetting that I was a couple feet away from him. "Some things never change" He huffs out "I know what I saw" daryl grabs a hold of another branch. "You best shut the hell up" he yells out looking up at nothing. I continue to climb almost at the top whimpering when I reach my arm out stretching my rib. I pull myself up to the top leaning against a tree.
Daryls huffing and groaning I wrap my arm around his torso and pull him up. I fall backwards as daryl stands up yelling into the empty woods "Yea you better run." Looking down at me he picks me up and hugs me. We start walking towards the farm,I'm walking right beside daryl and I smile when I see the opening to the farm. My foot gets stuck in a fallen log "Damnit" number pulling my foot out stumbling out of the tree line. I'm dragging my bat on the ground and I'm limping from the falls. I look around daryls arm watching a group run up to us "Is that malice and daryl" daryl stumbles a little bit "That's the third time you pointed that thing at my head." Daryl rasps at rick "You gonna pull the trigger or what" rick puts the gun down.
I hear a gun shot before I feel a pain in my shoulder.I watch daryl fall to the ground, standing in shock at daryl on the ground it feels like my world is crashing. I see him move his head and I let go of the breath I was holding. Helping them pick up daryl but I cry out grabbing my shoulder "Uh so I just realized.....I've been shot."
I pull my hand away from my shoulder and glenn moves to my side. I look over at an unconscious daryl and rick looks back at me we stare at each other till I put my head down looking at my feet. I ignore everything going on around me till andrea runs up. I feel my heart rate rise, I jump at her glenn pulling me back. "Let go of me glenn" I hiss trying to pry his arms off me. "Malice calm down" glenn huffs, They take daryl to a different room and glenn puts me in mine, I pace the room wringing my hands together. Hershel enters and motions me to sit down, sitting down I pull down my tank top strap I tighten my jaw when he threads the needle through my skin. After what felt like eternity he cuts the string putting a bandage on the wound and my forehead.
I look at myself in the mirror and see a face I don't recognize. My mouth is bloody my forehead bruised and dirty. I look like a walker from a distance. I rush to the bathroom turning the hot water on and take my clothes off cursing myself with every movement. Pulling the bandages off I sit them on the sink, and hopping under the hot water Scrubbing all the dirt, blood and sweat off I turn off the shower and get out looking around the bathroom, I sigh. I didn't even think about grabbing clothes wrapping a towel around me I pick up my clothes and open the door. Quickly moving to my room shutting the door I drop my clothes and walk to my bag. I close my eyes when I start to get dizzy my head feeling like it's going to combust, I fall to the floor with a thud. I lay there everything fading to black.