From the Shadows

Most of the immediate area had been nearly cleared out of wildlife from hunting and walkers. Daryl decided it would be better and more efficient to drive out for awhile and hunt in a new area. Daryl drove, and the ride was quiet.

He glanced over at Teagan. She had her feet on the dashboard and stared out the passenger window, head resting on her hands. Daryl could tell by the look on her face she was worried about Rick. Daryl knew better than to assume a hunting trip would distract her, but he had wanted to try anyway. He sighed. “Stop thinkin' about it.”

Teagan was pulled from focus. “Hmm?”

“Ya keep thinkin' about Rick. He'll be fine.”

“We don't know that.” Her voice was sad and guilt-ridden.

Daryl scoffed. “And worryin' won't change a damn thing. It's just a distraction. Jus' stay focused on gettin' food an' supplies. Don't get yerself killed over somethin' stupid.”

Teagan rolled her eyes and spoke under her breath. “Says the guy who isn't wearing a seat belt.”

“The hell I need that for? Ain't no one else drivin', ain't nothin' to hit.” He motioned to the empty road ahead of them with his hands.

Teagan shrugged. “Whatever. It's your choice, but I refuse to die in a goddamn car crash.”

“Ain't gonna have no belt pin me down and make me walker food.”

“Oh, no. Of course not. You'll just fly through the windshield and deliver yourself on a fucking platter right to their feet.” Teagan was so angry, her arms jerked around as she spoke.

“I've been drivin' since I was twelve. Ain't never crashed before, sure as hell ain't gonna crash now! If yer so unhappy, how 'bout you try drivin'? Hmm?” Teagan didn't say a word. Daryl reverted to his old self and became angry. “Gonna start bitchin' at me, telling me what to do? The fuck is your problem anyway?” Teagan bit her lip and closed her eyes. She reverted to her old self and tried to block out the argument, to forget Daryl being angry at her. When Daryl was angry, he had a hard time reading signals. He kept talking, spitting acid at her. “What, now yer gonna ignore me? Stupid bitch.” He rolled his eyes and stared hard at the road.

Teagan breathed in deeply. Her hand clutched the interior car door handle so hard, her knuckles were white. Her eyes were shut so tightly, her brow started to ache. “I just don't want to lose you...” Her words were calculated and intentional. She was afraid to share her feelings for him, but more afraid to lose him without them being said. Her voice was too quiet for a fumed Daryl to hear.

“The hell did you jus' say? Speak up!”

She opened her eyes and looked directly at Daryl. “I said I don't want to lose you.” Her voice was controlled and full of sadness.

His anger carried momentum, and he turned his gaze towards Teagan abruptly. He saw the look in her eyes, and reprocessed what she had said. His intensity lessened and he sighed. He didn't realize how long he'd kept his eyes off the road until Teagan's eyes grew wide with panic and she yelled. “Look out!” Daryl turned to look at the road, and Teagan stretched out her arm in front of Daryl's chest to push him against his seat. Daryl slammed on the brakes, but he wasn't fast enough. The car smashed into a small group of four walkers. The car skidded for several dozen feet before coming to a complete stop.

“The hell did they come from?” Daryl was breathing heavy. He looked over at Teagan and saw she was holding her head. He panicked. “You alright?!”

“Yeah, I'm fine.” She winced at the volume of Daryl's voice. “Don't speak so loud.” Her eyes stayed closed. “And you?”

Daryl did a quick body scan and realized he was completely okay. Woulda hit my head too if you didn't push me back... He felt guilty. “I'm alright. Thanks.”

“For what?”

“Holding me back. Ain't got a scratch on me.” Teagan smiled lightly and pulled her hand from her head. A small amount of blood was smeared onto her palm. Daryl turned to her. “Lemme see.” She turned her head towards him and winced again. “Whiplash?” Teagan nodded slightly. Daryl examined her head wound. “Not too bad, just a bleeder. Might have a concussion though. We'll let Hershel get a look at ya when we get back. Take this.” Daryl handed Teagan his handkerchief. She looked at it confused. “Fer yer head.” She sheepishly took it.

“You sure?”

Daryl scoffed. “Yeah. Just a piece of cloth. Stop your bleeding.” He paused. “Want to keep goin'?”

She dabbed at her head wound. “A little accident doesn't change the fact we need food. Keep going.” Daryl nodded.

When Teagan wasn't looking, Daryl sneaked his seat belt on. She was right about safety, but he didn't want to give her the satisfaction of having been right. He knew he had a lot to work on; his ego and anger being two major components. If he had any hope of surviving this world long term or even keeping Teagan around, he'd need to work on himself first.

Within a short time, they arrived at a small town.

“Weren't we going to hunt? Won't be much fresh kill here.” Teagan spoke, feet resting on the dashboard.

“Huntin' could take awhile with nothin' to bring back. We'll search here first, make sure we have at least a little bit of somethin'. We'll hunt after if it isn't too late.”

“We should probably look for medical supplies.”

“Think they gonna have that 'round here?”

“There should at least be a pharmacy. Maybe we can find a map and see if there is a hospital nearby.”

Daryl scoffed. “Hell no. Place like that will be crawlin' with walkers.”

“If there aren't too many, might be worth checking out.”

“Ain't riskin' lives today. We get what we need and go.”

“But we need medicine and supplies. We ran out of specialty stuff a long time ago, and we're rationing our basics. I know the kind of stuff we need and what it's called.”

Daryl sighed. “Get food first, then medicine. Won't need stitches if we starved to death.”

The two set off on foot into the medium sized town. They only ran into a few straggling walkers, and they were easy kills.

“Seems too quiet.” Teagan looked around at the absence of life and death.

“Miss 'em already?”

Teagan's face curled into a snarl. “I will never miss them.”

When they came across a small market, they exchanged looks and decided to go in. They took all the precautions necessary, and went inside.

“This place is barely scavenged. What happened here?” Teagan looked at Daryl with concern. They had never run across a place so untouched so far into the epidemic.

“Dunno. Can't be good. Let's make this quick.”

Teagan shrugged. “Might be good to keep this place on the map. If it stays this way, we could hit it several more times.” Teagan started filling the first duffel bag with cans of food and small bags of rice and beans. She started to grab non-food items like soap and mouthwash before Daryl interrupted.

“The hell is that for?”

“If you haven't noticed, we're not exactly living in hygiene paradise. Everybody could use some.”

“Waste of space. Focus on food.”

Teagan stood from her kneeling position and crossed her arms. “Have you ever heard of a little thing called 'morale'?”

“”Scuse me?”

“Morale, you know, the general mood of a group. The more morale you have, the better people feel, the less sick they get, and the more motivation they have to keep going.”

“How the hell is soap gonna fix that?”

“You may not shower, Mr. Dixon, but some of our people miss it. They'd feel better if they felt cleaner.”

“Whatever. Just grab your shit an' let's go.” Teagan didn't respond, so Daryl looked around and saw her trying to pry open another door with a crowbar. “The hell you doin' now?”

“I think this might be the door leading to the pharmacy.” She grunted every few words.

Daryl dropped his stuff and sighed. “Step aside.” She moved slightly out of his way. “I think I can handle it, now move.” Daryl's voice was gruff. Teagan rolled her eyes and stepped back. Daryl struggled with the door, but it didn't budge.

“Hey Strongman, want my help yet?” She raised an eyebrow at Daryl, her arms crossed.

He scoffed. “Whatever.” She went over to Daryl, and with both of their strengths combined, a loud CRACK echoed and the door opened.

Daryl left Teagan to collect the medicine while he grabbed more food. He wasn't gone but a minute before she spoke.

“We aren't the only one's who've been here.” Teagan's voice was stale and cold.

Daryl walked back over to her and peered inside the room they just opened. Three walkers were crucified on the wall. They were lethargic, barely chomping their jaws and trying to wriggle free.

“The hell happened here?” Daryl spit on the ground.

“Not sure. Looks like they were alive when it happened.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I'd imagine it be a lot harder to nail a walker to the wall than just a person. They died up there... and turned.”

“Christ. Let's get out of here.” Daryl turned to go, and Teagan quickly swung through the room with the crowbar and killed all the walkers. By the time Daryl noticed she wasn't following and turned to her, the job was done, and she was flicking blood off the crowbar.

Daryl and Teagan gathered up their bags and started to head out the door. On the way out, Teagan stopped again.

Daryl sighed loudly and was getting annoyed. “Again? Can you hurry up, please? Keepin' an eye on you is like tryna watch a damn rabbit. How many times we gotta-”

“Three blocks.”

“What?”

“Three blocks from here is a hospital.”

“No. We ain't going.”

“Why not? You've seen this damned town. Not a soul, alive or dead, here.”

“Yeah, 'cause they're all up in the hospital er somethin'.”

“Daryl, please. We need more than over-the-counter pain meds. There was nothing at that last store.”

“We don't know what it's like deeper in town, we're in the 'skirts right now. And whatever rotten bastard made the show in the store could still be 'round here. We ain't stayin'.” Daryl started to walk and Teagan stood still. “Come on, we ain't doin' this right now. Let's go!”

“Daryl, what if our people get sick? Or injured? We have no antibiotics, no antiviral, no sanitation, no bandages... If you haven't noticed, we might be in a bit of a war here, and in war, people get hurt. We need to prepare for that and-”

“I said we ain't goin'. If you haven't noticed, you are still hurt. And got hurt again today. If we get in trouble, you got a head injury and stitches that could pop at any moment. Did you ferget you got shot not too long ago? We can come back when yer healed or with other people, not now.”

“And guess what? If these stitches pop, we have nothing left to fix it!” Daryl and Teagan angrily stared at each other for several minutes, neither wanted to give up their stance.

Daryl looked at her, and scanned his gaze over her. He looked at old scars and bruises that still hadn't quite healed. He saw the fresh wound on her head. He realized she was right, but didn't want to put her in any more danger. Just want to get her back safe. He sighed deeply, and threw his crossbow over his shoulder. He walked toward Teagan, and grabbed her bag.

“What the hell are you doing?” He struggled to carry all their bags, and hobbled away from the town. “Daryl, answer me.”

He turned to her with fierce eyes. “Droppin' this shit off in the goddamn car. Can't have this shit slow us down.”

Teagan pulled back for a second in surprise. “So... we're going?”

“Yeah, we're goin', you stubborn shit.” With his last statement came a slight grin. After they made it to the car and loaded up their bags, Teagan took one bag and emptied it out. She threw it over her shoulder, and they headed out towards town again.

Daryl looked at Teagan and spoke. “You remember where to go?”

“I think so. We can double check at the store if you want.”

“Nah. I'll follow yer lead.”