Spitfire

It had been a few days since I had actually been around anyone, I had decided to take Doc's advice and just keep to myself and heal properly. I felt a lot better in the pain department, I was able to run without a single ounce of pain. I slipped on my jeans and pulled on a flannel tank, it was going to be the first time in a few days that I'd be stepping out into the woods by myself. Doc was completely against it, but she couldn't argue with me anymore. I had done as she asked and the least she could do is hop off my back

Grabbing my leather jacket on the way out, I almost ran down Carol, "Umph." I jerked back and fell against the wall, "Are you okay?"

She nodded, smiling softly, "I'm fine. How about yourself? Your looking better."

I nodded too, "Yup." I pressed my lips together, "I'm just going to go outside." I slipped past her and rubbed my shoulder, coming into the living room, I was met with a few cheerful hello's from Maggie, Glenn, Carl, and Rick. Giving a soft smile, "Hello."

"Anabel! Anabel!" Carl jumped up and down excitedly, his hat falling a little over his eyes, "When you get a chance, can I show you my awesome skills?!"

I chuckled, taking off his hat and ruffling his hair, "Of course, Carl. But, I'm going to take a walk, maybe when I get back?" He nodded and I smiled. Making my way outside, I embraced the sun hitting my face. It was refreshing, like that moment when you've been waiting to hit the beach and you've finally felt the ocean on your feet. It felt good, making my way towards Shaun and Mattie, "What's the situation?"

Mattie shrugged, "Been good, a little more than usual, but it ain't too bad. " He flickered a glance towards me, staring me up and down. Mattie always fancied me, even back in high shool. But, I would never give him the light of day, Mattie and I just wouldn't mix well. Even if we were the last two on Earth, I don't even think I'd give him myself. I would have said if it were the end of the world, but it's looking like it's pretty damn close to that.

Shaun nodded, "Daryl went off a little bit ago." He motioned towards the right section of the woods, "Saying something about missing squirrel meat." His nose wrinkled up, stepping towards me a little bit, "I don't know how these people made it this long."

I squinted my eyes, "They haven't. They've lost a lot of people on the way, Shaun. Keep that mind."

"So have we."

I rolled my eyes, "Right." I headed off towards where Shaun had motioned towards, but got stopped short, spinning around, I was face to face with him. He roughly yanked on my arm, shoving a gun in my hand, he pushed away from me. Shaking his head and mumbling about not missing my attitude. I rolled my eyes again as I headed into the woods, apart of me was a little scared. But, I quickly brushed off that feeling, I knew these woods like back of my hand. Nate had made sure of that. He used to blindfold me and drag me out in the middle of these woods and made me find my own way back.

Our relationship was very different from normal brother and sister's. Sure, we'd bump heads every once and a while, but he would always push me to strive for better. Making sure that I knew my way around the woods and that if for any reason I ever got stuck out in the wilderness, I'd know how to survive. I guess he didn't know I'd have to depend on that for how long it took for this world to start mending.

Looking down, I started tracking Daryl. I wasn't entirely sure what I was going to say or do when I did find him, but Carol was right. Daryl and I were the most similar and I couldn't just ignore someone who would probably be the only one who'd understand me. Raising an eyebrow, I bent down, my hands feeling the ground. It was disturbed, something was wrong here. I continued down the trail and gasped, he was definitely not familiar with this particular section. I was only assuming walkers had forced him down the hill. The branches and twigs looked very out of place and broken, peering over the side, I shrieked as I saw Daryl hanging unconscious from a tree branch with three walkers trying to reach for him.

I quickly scanned my surroundings, I was afraid to fire off shots. I looked around and found a sharp branch, grabbing it, I slowly made my down the hill, trying to keep my balance and my breathing even. Their moans and groans were sickening to my ear, it made me shiver. At this point, I had captured their attention, they started making their way towards me, shoving the sharp end of branch into one of the heads, I pushed it further and hit the second one. I knew I didn't have enough momentum to shove it through to hit the third one, so I just took a heavy stone to my left and smash his head in. I forgot how much adrenaline it gave me to kill these monsters, I almost couldn't stand it.

I shielded my eyes and looked up towards Daryl, the sun was beating down hard and it was hard for me to figure out exactly how I was going to get him down. I started to climb the tree and tried to reach for him. Failing the first couple of times, I managed to get ahold of him. Hissing at the sight of an arrow lodge in his side, this guy just couldn't manage to keep shit together. After minutes of trying to get him down, I started to drag him near the creek that was just a few feet away. Propping him up, I started to wipe away the dirt on his face. A small smile appeared on my face, this was just like whole him cleaning me up.

I shrugged off my jacket, this heat was ridiculous. I wiped my forehead and rested on my knees, I wasn't sure if he was passed out from the pain or what. But there was no way I was going to leave him here and there way no way I was going to be able to drag him back home. I removed his crossbow and tried to make him comfortable, looking at the arrow poking through his shirt, I frowned. I wasn't even going to attempt to remove it, knowing my luck, I'd make him bleed out. I loaded the bow in case of a potential threat and sat there. Every once and a while, I'd drizzling his face with the cold water from the creek. I was uncomfortable and I knew he had to be too.
Hours passed by and he finally began to move, I scrambled to his side, "Daryl?"

He groaned, "Fuck," He tried to adjust his body, but I stopped him, looking down at his side, he groaned again. "What happened?"

I firmly placed my hand on his chest, "I don't know exactly. I just found you dangling from a tree with walkers at your feet." I chewed my lip, it suddenly struck me that if I hadn't came this way, Daryl would have probably been dead by now.

He groaned from the pain, "Shit hurts. Can't go a fuckin' day without shit goin' to hell." He rubbed his face, clenching his jaw.

I smiled softly, "Come on, I'll help you up." I stood up, brushing off my body, I held out my hand, cautiously trying to keep him steady and trying to alivate some pain off his side. I bit my lip, "Let me see it."

"Ya kiddin', right." He winced in pain as he stood up straight.

I gave him a look, sighing, I slowly lifted his shirt up, wincing along with him, slowly and tenderly pressing against the sides of where the arrow resting. I heard him curse, "Sorry." I swallowed hard and rubbed my lips together, "I have to take it out and clean it."

He gave me a crazy look, "The hell you are." He backed away from me, his hand clamped over his wound, "Ya ain't a doctor."

I narrowed my eyes, "I may not be a doctor, but I've been with one forever now. I know a thing or two and I do know that if I don't take it out now, it's going to get terribly infected. Luck seemed to be on your side, you've managed to stab yourself along the same scar line." I grabbed his hand, "Please, just let me help you."

He gritted his teeth, "Fine."

I walked behind him, taking his rag from behind his pock pocket, I handed it to him. "Bite on this," I waited until he was ready, positioning my hand, I slowly tugged on it, removing my hands immediately from the sound he made. "Okay ready? I'm just going to pull it right out." I gripped the arrow and yanked on it, hearing the sound of it being ripped through flesh almost made me want to throw up. It was different when I knew the sound was coming from a walker but hearing it from someone who was alive was completely different.

I immediately took the rag from his mouth and tried to ignore his stagger breathing and hissing. I drenched the rag in the water and tried to clean the dirt and blood that was dripping it's way from the wound. After a few minutes, it had finally stopped. I patted his shoulder, "You okay?"

He nodded, "Yeah." He looked away from me, "Thanks."

"Anytime." I squinted my eyes from the sun, "We should probably be getting back." I motioned for him to use me for support, slinging his arm around my shoulder, I helped him walk. "Does it hurt?"

"Ain't that bad." He mumbled.

I nodded, it was pretty obvious we weren't exactly over the whole thing that had happened. I can only imagine that it was partly my blame, I was the one who had avoided him afterwards. I saw two walkers heading towards us, "Fuck." I pulled out the pistol and shot them both in the head, looking around to make sure there were no more, we continued on. We had been walking for about half and hour before I had to say something, "So...should we talk about-"

"-Nothin' to talk bout."

I pressed my lips, "Right." I looked down at my feet, I should have had a feeling that he was going to shoot it down, but at the same time, I didn't know why I actually wanted to talk about it. I was so content with ignoring him and just trying to get over it. But, him not wanting to talk about it, only made me want to talk about it. Talk about reverse psychology. A few more minutes passed by and I just couldn't take it, "But, why?"

He jerked back, wincing from my arm scraping against his side, "Cause, there's nothin' to talk 'bout, Anabel." His eyes narrowing towards me, his lip twitching, "It was a mistake 'n that's it."

I pursed my lips, nodding, "Okay, then." I chewed on my lip, helping him again.

He groaned, "What."

"Hm?"

Daryl gave me a look, "You have that look on ya face, what?"

I shook my head, "Nothing, I don't have a look."

"Yes. Yes you do." He sighed, making me stop walking, he guided me around him, having me stand right in front of him. Even though he was slightly bent over from the wound, he still towered over me. I was always a little bit smaller than most women, but compared to Daryl, I seemed ten times smaller than I actually felt. "There's nothin' to talk about, Anabel. We were caught in a weak moment. That's it."

I nodded, "Okay, then." Repeating my last words to him, apparently they weren't efficient enough for him, judging my his look. I sighed too, "What do you want me to say? I said okay. So stop giving me that look."

"Anabel," He started, "I ain't worth ya time."

That took me back, I scanned over his eyes that tried so hard to avoid my stare. They were so blue and clouded with emotion, no wonder he kept them covered with his hair. You could read him like the back of your hand if you just had the chance to read his eyes. "What do you mean?" I asked softly.

He shook his head, grunting, "Nothin'."

I stopped him from walking past me, "No." I glared at him, "You can't do that." I grabbed his shoulders, making him look me in the eyes, "You can't keep doing that to me. Just tell me what the hell you mean. I'm tired of your shutting everyone out attitude."

Daryl stared into my eyes for a little bit, his blue eyes intensifying, "I said, I ain't worth ya time. It ain't my fault, you don't know what that means."

"How do you know that?" I stated, crossing my arms. Not that I was interested in him, but interested in what he had to say.

He shrugged off my hands, staggering a few steps away from me, "Cause. No one deserves me."

I scoffed, "A little more than conceited there, aren't you?"

He turned around sharply, "It ain't that." He walked towards me, putting a finger towards me, "Ya wanna know what I meant by what I said, it's 'cause I'll never be able to give a woman what she wants. It ain't me. It ain't my style. I'm better on my own and it'll stay like that."

"You could try."

He shook his head, giving me a dirty look, "Ya don't think I did? Ya don't think I tried to do that before this world went to shit?" He threw his hands up, "Look 'round ya, Anabel. Nobody's lining up and ain't anyone got the time for all that love shit."

I shook my head, "I don't think it's that, Daryl."

He scoffed, "Ya think ya got me all figured out, don't ya."

I nodded, "I do." I walked around him, turning my head, "You grew up just like me, Daryl. No mother to love you and show you how to love in return, a father who used you like a punching bag, and a brother who seemed like he didn't give a shit but deep down would have done absolutely anything for you." I spun around, venom hitting my words, "I'm not stupid, Daryl. You and I can connect on a whole different level because of our past. But, I can't. Not because I don't want to , but because you won't let me. I've been so fucking bitter since Nate got taken away from me and whether or not I want to admit that being around you levels that out a little, it does. You get under my skin but something about you makes me act a little nicer to those who've came with you. Yeah, we might have kissed because of a moment, but would you have done that with Tess or someone else? I sure as hell wouldn't have." I was angry, he put on this huge show of him being this total badass and an attitude of not giving a fuck but that wasn't the case. "You walk around like you don't give a rat's ass about anyone but yourself, but that's not true. You'd risk your life to save your group, hell you've done it once before, from what I've been told. You've got one hell of a mean bark but behind that bark is just a man who's had his back against the wall his entire life. You don't let a single person get close to you. You're afraid. You're scared that someone will break and hurt the last of you that you've kept bottled up in that chest of yours. So instead of being the caring and loyal person you truly are, you shield that part of you with this angry and abrasive persona. Am I in the ballpark?"

He scoffed, shaking his head angrily, he pointed towards me, "What about ya, hm? You have no room to talk, princess. I've spent everyday of my life fightin'. Ya had ya brother lookin' after you. Mine was never there. Always locked up or out paradin' with a new whore. Everyone in that damn house of ya's, would drop everything and anything to help ya out. Mine? I had to earn that. If it weren't for that, I'd be out and on my own right about now. Ya never had to fight. Everythin' was handed to ya on a silver platter. I am the way I am 'cause of my past. Your little attitude is from losing a brother and a daughter. No one will ever care 'bout me and I've come to accept that."

I looked up at the treetops, my chest feeling heavy. "Daryl," I shook my head, looking at him. "you may have kissed me because you got caught in a moment of lust or desire. But, I kissed you because I felt like you cared. I saw the sliver of the real you and it triggered a reaction that I had no control over." I looked down at my boots, kicking at the leaves slightly, "And you're wrong about them. They don't love me like your group loves you. They're only keeping me around because they'd be screwed without me. Shaun has a horrible shot and Mattie doesn't even know how to shoot a gun. I've done most of the work in keeping this place safe since the beginning. It was always Nate and I." I hugged myself, "It's funny though, we're the opposite of what you think. You're the cared for one and I'm the one who will never be cared for."

He shook his head, "Don't believe that for a second."

I shrugged, "You don't have too. It is what it is." I motioned for him to come over, helping him walk again, "And you're absolutely wrong, Daryl. I think if you let someone care, they'd give you all the love you ever missed in your life. Love is a powerful thing. I don't know much about it, but I've seen plenty of it."