CHAPTER TWELVE | f i n d
08/11/17

Daryl stood up as hastily as he could, shaking off his coat and picking up his crossbow. He recognized the voice that screamed; it was Adira. And she sounded rather far away, which didn't make sense. Why would she have left the camp?

He didn't have time to ponder, though. He had to find her. So instead of getting angry at the silly girl, he ran out into the woods to see what trouble she'd gotten herself into. The leaves crackled underneath him with each step he took, the chilly air causing his puffy breaths to be visible. All was silent; since the scream, he hadn't heard a thing. Either she was just fine or completely the opposite.

Though he remembered his promise he'd made to himself only days earlier, Daryl found himself hoping for the former. He didn't know why, but he didn't want that girl dead. Well, he didn't really want anyone dead, but he just didn't want to lose her. He told himself that this was because she was the reason he'd gotten separated from the group; losing her would void any purpose he had leaving his family.

All of a sudden, he stopped moving after hearing a twig snap just feet away. Daryl lifted his crossbow and aimed it through the low branches in the general direction of the sound. He waited a few moments, straining his ears. Nothing.

He'd just lowered his weapon when yet another twig snapped. This time, he raised the crossbow with no intention of putting it down without shooting something. The evergreen leaves rustled for a few seconds as something clearly struggled to move between the branches. Seconds later, though, a walker stumbled out, blood dripping from its half-torn face.

Daryl immediately shot it, and went over to rip out his precious bolt. Upon doing so, however, he noticed how recent the blood looked. Clearly, the corpse had just eaten something and was wandering around searching for its next meal.

Adira.

The realization made Daryl leap into action, no longer caring how his loud footsteps in the crackling winter leaves would draw more walkers in his direction. He had to find her.

He ran through the trees, looking everywhere he could. He must've taken out about a dozen walkers looking for the girl, and he was starting to lose hope. Last time he'd looked for a girl, it had been pointless. She was dead before he'd even started searching. So what made this any different? Maybe he should just give up, so he wouldn't put so much effort into something he couldn't change.

"Daryl?"

The shaky voice made his legs stop sprinting as he turned around to see Adira lying beside a bush, leaning against a tree. She seemed to be in pain as she hugged her left leg, of which the ankle seemed to be twisted in an incorrect way. It was the same one she'd hurt before. He rushed over and almost asked if she was okay before catching himself.

Sending her an icy glare, he huffed. "What the hell do ya think you're doin' out here? Playin' tag with some damn walkers and braidin' leaves?" Sure enough, the girl had some leaves in her lap, weaved through each other to make a short little chain. It was the dead of winter - they were long dead and crackling apart. But that didn't stop her as she wove them together with the evergreens.

She looked down in shame, not having expected such a harsh reaction to her very apparent injury. "I hurt my ankle, I couldn't move and I got bored, so I took the leaves and did...this. I don't really know what I was thinking, just that my foot ankle like hell and I didn't know what to do. I mean obviously I could've maybe limped back but when I tried that it hurt a bunch to walk so I decided to stay here," she rambled on and on, only taking a breath at the end of that last sentence.

Daryl only scoffed and turned his back on Adira. He'd just run nonstop for fifteen minutes to find her, and she had been sitting there calmly, playing with plants. The sound of a small scuffle in the bushes didn't even faze him. All he knew was that he'd spent too much time and effort trying to save this girl.

For a few moments, Daryl stood there, the evergreen leaves rustling in the light winter breeze, the dead ones on the ground crackling with each gust of wind. He'd never been one to step up and be a hero, nor wanted to be. He'd always lived in Merle's shadow, and according to his racist, sexist, redneck brother, nothing he did would matter, anyways.

But what if it did?

For most of his life, he'd always believed whatever words spewed out of his brother's mouth no matter how false or foul. Not once did he ever really become his own person and break free of the chains of familial loyalty to do something he wanted to. He kind of regretted it now; now all he was able to do was survive. The only chances he ever had to really be someone were when it was a life or death situation with the group and he had the option of either running away or putting himself in danger. Several times, surprising even himself, Daryl had done the latter. Merle would've laughed and told him he was turning soft, but something about the little warm feeling in his chest that he got after doing something not beneficial to just himself made it worth the imagination of whatever ridicule Merle would have come up with.

Meanwhile, Adira was still sitting in the same position up against the tree, unknowing of the thoughts of the man in front of her and mindlessly twisting the leaves between her dirty, tired fingers. She didn't understand him. He'd seemed somewhat caring when they'd first met, saving her and even cracking a joke at her expense about falling out of the net on her ass. Then he had turned completely against her. Now, he came running when he heard her scream but turned cold again upon seeing her safe and sound with just a twisted ankle to remember her venture by.

Then again, she couldn't really say much, either. She'd never been one to let people in, even keeping her parents at a distance sometimes. It had been the reason she'd traveled all the way to Minnesota for college; she didn't care which school was best for her major, she just went to the furthest place she could that offered her a decent scholarship. Even during medical school, she bounced around, taking trips across the country whenever she could find the time to, which wasn't often. There was something about staying still that bothered her, something that twisted her stomach in a way that she couldn't ignore.

When she'd met Daryl - not when he knocked her unconscious or when he'd held her up against the door, but when he let her down from the rope net - she felt something for what felt like the first time in forever. She didn't know exactly what it was, but she knew that she didn't want to push him away like she always felt like doing in the past.

This didn't outweigh the sinking feeling she'd gotten when he'd scolded her, though, instead of asking if she was alright. Clearly, he didn't want anything to do with her, and was trying to stay as far away as possible. Though this move was meant to do just that, it only piqued her interest further and made her want to figure him out. One minute open, the next closed...it was like some sort of puzzle that she had to solve to stop the constant alternating. She had to find the button or mess with the wires somewhere in the toy that would fix the issue that apparently was there before she opened the box. The problem was, she couldn't seem to find the instruction manual.

The leaves continued to sway in the breeze, and the sun continued to beat down on her face even though the temperature was cold. She moved her head the slightest bit, not enjoying the way the sunlight shone in her eyes brightly, as if taunting that it had never been better, much unlike the world. All she could hear were the rough, ragged breaths of Daryl and her own, quieter ones.

All of a sudden, the bush besides her crumbled as a walker stumbled through, the weak winter branches cracking down effortlessly. Daryl spun around immediately and shot down the walker before she even had time to react to the situation. She had helplessly flung herself as far out of the reach of the monster as she could, but found herself clutching her ankle in pain once more as she struck it against the trunk of the tree.

Adira's eyes met those of Daryl, and with one glance she nonverbally communicated her gratitude, displayed by both the fear and overwhelming relief in her eyes. She let out a breath she hadn't even known she'd been holding and grasped at the tree as she tried to stand. She didn't make it past lifting her ass more than a foot before collapsing on her ankle, which was even more fucked up than it had been before.

After seeing her struggle, Daryl made a split second decision that he justified to himself as necessary to get himself and Adira back to the group. He extended his hand and huffing, he said, "C'mon. Hop on." He bent his knees so his back was more within the reach of Adira's short stature and waited patiently.

"You serious?" she asked breathlessly. Normally, in such a situation, she would have laughed uncontrollably. But this was Daryl. The last person she expected to do such a thing.

He didn't move, and she took that as a sign that he was in fact being serious and jumped onto his back, wrapping her legs around his waist and her grime-covered arms around his neck, being sure not to cut off his air supply.

After those small five words, the two didn't exchange any more for the rest of the morning, simply walking back to camp, gathering their things, and taking off on Daryl's motorcycle in hopes of locating the group.

All Adira could think of while the trees went past in a blur was how she secretly didn't want to find them. He didn't have an excuse to avoid her inquistive gaze when it was just them. Being alone with Daryl, while stifling and almost mute, was something she found she enjoyed very much.

And she didn't want it to end.