In the Sound

He edged closer, meeting me chest to chest.

The top of my head only reached to the bottom of his chin. Daryl squinted his eyes down at me, raising those sallow cheeks in unison. Wallowing within those dark slits was something like curiosity. He was so close now that I could swear his shirt was brushing up against mine. I tightened my fists for a moment, tightened them so hard before wedging them between us and pushing him away.

Daryl stumbled back a little, but it didn’t take long for him to keep a firm stance. I guessed that he’d been pushed like that before. No stranger to staying in the game.

But I was.

Kit was my guard. My rock. My teeth. My hunter. My protector. We both knew that. Without him, I wasn’t really much of a fight, or really much of anything. Kit was sure I needed him just as much as he needed me, and that was okay. That was just us.

So when Daryl strode back over to me, I was a little bit frozen. His chin slightly raised, chest more swollen then before. His right arm was swinging wildly by his hip as he walked. I watched it cautiously, waiting for the moment he’d swing that fist directly into my face. I drove my eyes back into Daryl’s and peered at him through thin slits.

“You done? That it?” He closed the gap between us quickly and snarled through gritted teeth.

I could hear his breathing now. Ragged. Heavy. Definitely not calm.

A shaky breath slipped through my lips, misting into the chilly air. I brought my fingers back up, pressing them against his chest again. Desperate for some distance.

But Daryl snaked a dry grip around both of my wrists before I could push him away, twisting my skin a little as he did. Our skin rubbed until it stung. Maybe even bled. My fingers felt tight and clammy. It was almost like he were snaking those dirty palms around my neck in a tight choke.

He watched me carefully for a moment before letting the anger dull over his features.

Daryl pushed me back. Maybe harder than he expected to, I wasn’t sure. But I felt my elbows jab into my own stomach, and his fingers slip from around my wrists. My heel instinctively plopped backwards to try and catch my fall. As I did, my ankle rolled in the slightest way. Slight enough to send me sailing to the ground.

I hit the grass hard. Tail bone flooring it first, shattering my entire back with shards of pain. The ache stretched down my thighs, and spread up my spine like an unwinding rope. The rest of me frayed, fumbling down onto the grass bed in a pathetic heap.

And last came my head. Following along quickly. Following too quickly.

In a blurry flash, the back of my skull intercepted with the sitting log. I felt the horrible thud. My head felt hollow. But no pain. I knew I should have felt pain. My eyes were clogged with the photo frame of shivering eyelashes. They fluttered like butterflies rested over them. The darkness of their wings swarming over. Swarming over until it was a sea of black.

When I opened my eyes again, the world was hazy. A film of blurry pictures was clicking across my skull. My head bobbed up and down. Up and down, up and down. The tops of grass consuming most of my view.

It was dark. And it was cold. Up and down. My heart gave a nervous flutter in its cavity. I drew a long, hesitant breath. Lids glazing over in slow and measured blinks.

"Guess we're even."

I couldn't see the face of who spoke. Only bobbing grass. My head lulling incessantly.

Vision slimming again, until I was completely out.