What a Wonderful World

A few more days went by and I found myself fitting in with the group pretty well. I had opened up more, letting them know more about me. In return, I gained friends and possibly a family. It made me relax a bit more when I went to sleep to say the least.
Rick had pulled me aside one day and asked me to stay with them as long as I'd like, which of course, I accepted. For right now, I needed them. And I felt as though I had proved myself to them. Boy were there many occasions to prove myself. We were still on the road, trying to find shelter where ever we could. It was almost frustrating. I knew everyone was testing their own limits as winter was slowly approaching. Especially with a baby on the way.
"You wanna come with us on a run?" Glenn had asked me one day. He and Maggie were usually the ones that went. And Rick had asked them to go since we were dangerously low on food. We really needed to stock up as much as we could.
I really didn't have a 'job' like the others seemed to have. And I was tired of feeling like dead weight. So without a second thought, I nodded and stood from my spot I had set up away from the others.
Although I had been accepted into the group, I wanted my space. I wasn't use to honesty. The group seemed to have the best interest expressed, but something was holding me back. I knew that Woodbury was in the past, and I needed to get over this slump that I was in. It was just hard.
Maggie and I hopped in the car as Glenn shouted to the others that we would be back. He soon got in the driver's seat and took off.
"What made you ask me if I wanted to go?" I asked out loud. I had only been on three other runs before and didn't really think I was much good at it.
Maggie shrugged and replied, "Honestly, you looked bored."
I laughed slightly, watching the trees zoom by out the window. "I guess I was a little bored."
"Well, we shouldn't be out here too long. Just see what we can round up and head back," Glenn said, throwing me a smile through the review mirror.
After a silent drive, we stopped at what looked to be a strip mall. I bit my lip in concentration as I noticed that there were quite a bit of walkers. That was good, in my opinion. That meant that no other people were around here. They wouldn't be safe with that many walkers hanging about. But I still wasn't too optimistic about finding a lot. I figured that mostly everything would be gone.
We managed to attract the walkers a few at a time and get them away from the group. It took a few good minutes, but we did it. We entered the largest store and immediately were attacked by walkers.
"Glenn," I got his attention and nodded towards the two that were closest to him. He took them out with ease as I shoved one that had gotten too close to me for my liking. It fell to the ground while I lost no time in lowering myself to it and running my knife through its head.
We took a moment to catch out breath before venturing into the store. Much to my surprise, we managed to get lots of canned food and water. I stalked off to see if the store had larger water cooler tubs. That would be really great if they did. I found a random cart that had been abandoned and noticed the purse and baby seat inside. I sighed, looking away and placing them on the ground. No time to get emotional.
I fit three of the water tubs inside the buggy then grabbed some alcohol to maybe help with medical reasons. Speaking of medical, I watched Maggie and Glenn head towards the medicines and start grabbing what they could get. Mainly flu and cold medicine, I thought to myself. Winter was heading our way, and quite frankly, we weren't prepared. As they continued to fill up on medicine, I made my way towards the hunting and sports section. Thank God for the south and their love for killing things.
Most of the ammo was gone. But I expected that. I grabbed what I could, throwing it in the cart. I grabbed camping blankets and jackets for everyone. Even some camping socks that would keep our feet dry and warm. As I was making my way back to Glenn and Maggie, I spotted arrows and Daryl came to mind.
Daryl and I were awkward around each other. We were similar in a lot of ways. Kind of wanted to be alone but needed the group. We were both strong and independent but craved human interaction. But we didn't speak much. It was like he was still trying to figure me out. I often caught him staring at me. And he didn't shy away if I stared back at him. He wanted me to know that if I messed everything up, I would pay.
I stepped away from the buggy to grab a handful of arrows, hoping to present it as some sort of peace offering, but as soon as I wrapped my hand around them, I was grabbed. A snarl came from the walker that attacked me and I couldn't help but let out a scream myself. I kicked and shoved at the thing. It was heavy and hungry so it kept on coming. As I gathered up all my strength, I shoved the walker into the glass case that once held the expensive knives. The glass shattered, and I shoved the arrows still in my hand into its head.
It was quiet for a moment until I heard footsteps running into my direction.
"Cor?" Maggie sounded worried as she called me, "Are you okay? What happened."
I sighed, feeling myself calm down, "I'm fine. I took care of it."
I stood up, still clutching the arrows and turned towards them. As soon as I did, they both gasped. Maggie had her hands over mouth. I stared at them confused, knowing for a fact that I didn't get bit or scratched. I then looked down, trying to figure out what made them so uncomfortable. Then I saw it. A large shard of glass was sticking out of my abdomen.

"Glenn, hurry up!" Maggie screamed, trying to wrap the wound up with a random shirt she had tore off the rack back at the store. "We need to get her to my dad!"
He was speeding so fast that I was starting to get car sick. I had no idea how I hadn't passed out yet, but I was losing a lot of blood. I knew that for sure. While Maggie had helped me to the car, Glenn ran ahead of us to shove everything we had found at the store into the car and were heading back to the camp.
It hurt like a bitch, but Maggie had already given me some pain killers that she had gotten from the pharmacy. They were starting to kick in. I could tell because my head was growing heavier. But before I could pass out, the car jolted to a stop and Glenn was jumping out, gathering everyone's attention. The backseat door of the car ripped open and Rick and Hershel were there, looking over the damage.
"What happened?"
"Is that glass?"
"Get out of the way!"
"Coraline, can you hear me?"
"Just hang on."
Everyone was talking at once and it hurt my head. I squeezed my eyes closed and whispered that it was too loud. I didn't have the energy to tell everyone to shut up. But I soon felt someone pick me up completely. I opened my eyes lazily to see Daryl's stone expression. He carried me to the picnic table that we had set up around. And once he set me down, I felt myself lose consciousness and my grip on the arrows loosened, sending them to the ground with a soft clang.

When I opened my eyes, I stared up at the top of a tent. I was confused. I looked around me, noticing that I was still on the picnic table. I laughed to myself, knowing that they must have set this up around me. As I tried to sit up, pain struck throughout my body, causing a small whimper to leave my lips.
"Take it easy now," a gentle voice called from the entrance.
It was Hershel. I did what he said and laid back down. I sighed and looked down at my blood stained shirt and the large bump under it. I knew it was a bandage.
"How bad is it?" I asked, raising my shirt to view the gauze tapped to my skin.
"You were extremely lucky," He said, "It was shallow enough that it didn't puncture any organs. Plus the supplies that you all brought back was more than enough for me to take care of it."
I nodded taking in the information. He handed me a few pills and bottled water. I took them without hesitation and asked when I could go back to my own tent. He lifted up a finger to indicate for me to hold on a moment. He soon returned with Rick and Daryl.
"Gave us a scare," Rick said coming near me.
"I'm fine," I said trying to sit up again, "I'll be back on my feet in no time."
I winced a bit and felt Hershel's hand wrap around my upper arm and help me sit up. I looked back at Rick. He was wearing one of the thick jackets that I had found.
"You did good today. You found more than what we could have imagined. I hope to see you on more runs," He said heading back out the tent, "Just don't get stabbed every time."
After he had gone, I looked at Daryl who had been watching me the entire time. I was slightly confused as to why he was even in here but my thoughts were soon interrupted by Hershel.
"No more runs for a while. Got it?" He said in a fatherly tone.
I nodded with a pitiful smile plastered on my face. Daryl stepped closer to me and helped me off the table. He held open the tent for me to exit, which I found walking to not be as painful as I thought. His hand was wrapped around my warm, keeping me from falling. It was an uncomfortable silence between us as we entered my tent. There were two blankets on the ground spread out like a bed, a jacket, and a pair of socks.
"Maggie do this?" I asked as I was lowered myself to the ground.
"Beth," His voice came out rough, "And Carol."
I nodded, feeling my heart warm a bit. I grabbed my bag from beside me and pondered whether or not I should even attempt to change my shirt. After a moment, I just pulled off my boots and socks. I threw the socks into my bag and replace them with the new socks I had found. I felt eyes on me. Following me.
"Are you standing guard or something?" I questioned, not looking up at him.
"What ya doing with them arrows that you had?" He asked after a moment.
I shrugged my shoulders and stated, "I was getting ammo for everyone. Saw the arrows and thought you could use them is all."
I stopped and looked up at him. What did he think I was doing with them? I obviously got them for him. I knew that he was probably running low. I had noticed that he had been trying to make his own. He stared at me. He looked confused and frustrated. I raised my eyebrow in reply to his expression which made him even more upset. He picked up his crossbow from the corner of the tent and slung it over his shoulder. His eyes were cold as he looked me in the eye.
"I don't need you to get me arrows," he blared before storming out.
I was slightly surprised by his outburst. I honestly didn't see where I did something wrong. In fact, I hadn't been selfish in the least bit. I did something nice for him and he responds with an attitude? I shook my head and laid down, wanting nothing more than sleep to consume me.

The next time I woke up, I felt groggy but in less pain. But most of all, I was extremely cold. I pulled the thick, wool blanket closer to my body as I shivered. How long was I out? After a few more minutes of warmth, I pushed the covers back and stood. I was surprised that I wasn't in a lot of pain. I put on a clean shirt and Mason's flannel. I then pulled my jacket and boots on last, throwing my hands into the pockets.
I stepped outside to find everyone gathered around a small fire. It was dark out, the stars barely visible between the tree branches. I made my way over to the group, realizing that the smell of food drawled me closer.
"Well look who it is," T-Dog joked, a large smile on his face.
I suddenly felt shy as the group greeted me and asked me how I was feeling. I sat in the only open spot next to Daryl and grabbed the food that Carl had handed me.
"I feel fine to be honest," I said once the heat of the fire neared me. "Just really hungry and cold."
A few laughs coursed throughout the circle in agreement. Hershel had explained that I had been out for three days but the wound was looking fine. He also said that Maggie had come in there every day to change it. I looked at her from across the fire. She gave me a sheepish smile before going back to her conversation with Glenn.
I finished up my food and talked with the group. I found out that we planned on moving again the next if I was up for it. Which I was. I felt bad that they decided to stay in one spot longer than what was safe because of me.
After a while, people were going off to their space to get some sleep. The only person, besides myself, that stayed behind was Daryl. It was silent for a moment before he stood up and sat back down in the chair that Lori was sitting in. It was an actual chair and not just the ground like we had been sitting on before.
"You still pissed at me for getting you arrows?" I asked after a moment.
He looked up from the fire to stare at me then said, "Worryin' about that for three days?"
I rolled my eyes, knowing that he wasn't mad anymore. I poked at the fire with a large stick that I had snatched from T-Dog thinking about the scars on my back. I wondered if Hershel saw them. Or Maggie. I physically shuttered at the thought of trying to make up an excuse for that.
"You should try to sleep some more 'fore tomorrow," He announced, "Keep warm."
I laughed a bit, "I've been asleep for three days. I can't sleep."
He shrugged his shoulders, spinning one of his arrows in his hand. It was one that I found in the store. He noticed me staring at it and threw it to his crossbow beside him.
"Just don't wanna hear ya complain about being tired in the morning," He spoke harshly but it didn't really bother me.
"What about you?" I asked ignoring him, "Shouldn't you be getting some sleep?"
He scoffed and lifted a bottle to his lips and took a swig. After he set it down, he looked back at me with a small smirk on his face. "I'm on watch. Plus don't think I need you worryin' about me, Sleeping Beauty."
I sighed and rolled my eyes, clearly starting up no kind of conversation with him. I stood up, wrapping my jacket around my small form and stepped away from the fire. He looked up at me for a moment, then immediately back down at the fire. I took a few steps towards my tent before turning back towards him.
"Thanks for calling me a beauty," I said then turned away again and began walking, "Ain't so bad looking yourself."
He didn't reply. I knew he wouldn't. But as I unzipped my tent and stepped inside, I looked back at the fire and what I saw surprised me. I made Daryl Dixon smile.