Save Yourself, I'll Hold Them Back

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light - Aristotle Onassis

Chapter 9

The day after the encounter with Daryl, he steered pretty clear of me for the day.

On the second day during breakfast, we were all sitting around the campfire, not really saying anything. The only noise was from the fire cracking. I was sitting in my chair with my plate of eggs in my lap; I took a fork full and brought it up to my mouth.

Glenn was over talking to Dale but then came over to stand beside me, "Um...guys?" I put my fork down and looked up at him.

He looked around us nervously, "Um, there are walkers in the barn."

I looked at him, wide eyed before turning to look at Rick and Shane.

Shane's face turned red, and I could tell he was beyond pissed off.

"How long have you known?" he asked Glenn roughly.

Glenn shrugged and looked at the ground, "Couple day."

I covered my mouth with my hand as I looked back to him; he had known for a couple days and didn't tell us?

Shane started fast-walking over to the barn with all of us following behind me. I saw him patting his sides for his gun, but he must have remembered that since we were on Hershel’s land we couldn't have our weapons on us.

"Shane, you need to calm down! This is not our decision!" Rick shouted at him.

I was running to keep up with them, along with everyone else.

We all stopped once we made it there, Shane pressed his face against the door of the barn to look inside. I could hear all the moaning and everything from in there. One of them must have walked in front of the door, because Shane jumped back.

"This has to be cleared! They could have killed us a million times since we've been here!" Shane started yelling, pacing back and forth in front of the barn.

Rick ran a hand through his hair, "But they didn't, man!"

Shane scoffed, "They could have! We need to clear this barn, and get the hell outta here."

"I'm not leaving without my daughter," Carol said from behind me.

Shane let out a breathy laugh, "You're not leaving...Carol, I’m sorry, but your girl ain't out there no more! She's gone! We're spending all this time on someone who ain't even alive no more!"

"What the hell you talkin 'bout? I just found the girls doll not two days ago!" Daryl yelled, moving his way to the front of the group. Just to the right of me.

Shane scoffed, "Ya, man, you found a doll! Let's face it, if that little girl saw you coming, all tweaked out with those geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction!"

Daryl ran at Shane, I tried to hold him back but he pulled my arm away from him. Rick grabbed onto him.

"The hell with you!" Daryl called.

"Daryl, calm down!" Rick told him, "Now, I agree that the barn needs to be cleared, but we need to do this with Hershel's permission. This is his land, and we are still guests here!"

Rick let Daryl go, and he stalked off. I followed behind him.

"Daryl!" I called after him.

"What?" he called over his shoulder to me, but didn't stop.

I sighed and ran to catch up with him; we were heading to the horse stable.

"Hey," I said grabbing his wrist when he finally slowed down enough for me to get to him, "don't listen to him, he's an asshole. Just because he thinks that way doesn’t mean he's right."

He turned to look at me; I dropped my hand from him. We looked at each other for about 20 seconds before I spoke.

"I think what you're doing is great, and I really believe you're going to find her."

He gave me an awkward quick smile, "Why do ya care? Ya didn' know her."

I shrugged, "She's a person. An important person that you all care about. And you want to find her, Daryl. And I want you to."

He nodded once to me, "I'm gunna find her."

I smiled up at him, "I know," I said before pulling him into a hug. I could tell instantly that hugging was not something he had done much of. His arms hung beside him before he hesitantly put them around me, but he was still rigid.

I pulled away a second later, "Sorry," I said looking down at the ground.

"S'alright," he muttered putting his hands in his pockets.

I laughed a little, "See, I'm not such a bitch am I?"

He laughed and nodded a little, "Ya still probably a bitch, but not a big one."

I fake gasped and hit him in the shoulder, "But you're still a jerk," I smiled.

He smirked at me and opened his mouth to say something, "Daryl, there you are," Carol said from behind Daryl, before he could speak.

Daryl turned and Carol saw me, "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," she said looking between us awkwardly.

I shook my head, "No, it's alright. I was just about to leave. I'll um, talk to you later?" I asked looking back to Daryl.

He nodded, "Ya, okay."

I smiled and looked at the ground, "No more ignoring me, okay?" I asked him quietly.

I looked back to him and saw him smirking at me, "I'll try."

I rolled my eyes and nudged him with my shoulder as I walked beside him, "Jerk."

He scoffed, playfully, "Bitch."

I walked towards Carol and smiled at her, "See you back at camp."

She smiled softly at me, "See you later."

I walked by her but turned back to look at Daryl again, he nodded his head once to me before looking at Carol to talk. I smiled to myself and looked ahead again.