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chapter four

THREE THINGS KEPT CONSTANTLY repeating in Vega's mind— Where was Tessa? Who could have taken her? And most importantly, was she safe? The thought of her daughter being possibly hurt or dead, haunted the woman.

The only true reason she stayed with Joe, was because that as long as Vega helped him find whoever this man they were looking for, he had promised her to do the same, just with her daughter. Vega obviously knew Joe wasn't someone to really rely on, but she had no other choice. The woman knew if she tried to leave the group, which she had already tried, she would be the next one they would go after.

"They ain't here. Nobody been here for a while," One of the men spoke, walking into the empty garage they had found after long hours of searching for a place to stay at. "Whoever it was, they got all the gas."

Joe shook his head, walking further into the garage. "That doesn't matter. We're getting closer, I can feel it." He replied back.

"Claimed." Another man affirmed. Everyone else also started to choose cars to spend the night in.

Vega noticed Daryl had found a car to stay in, but as soon as he laid his stuff on the ground next to the vehicle, Len kicked Daryl's bag away, claiming the car. The brunette woman scoffed at the sight of the man she had gotten enough of.

The scent of oil and gasoline filled the air as she carefully weaved between the parked cars and piles of supplies, trying to find a place furthest away from Len. After a few moments of searching, her exhausted eyes landed on a small empty spot near the back, that she quickly made her way over to.

Sudden footsteps appeared loudly, which startled the woman who turned around, mostly expecting to see Daryl out of all the men, but this time it wasn't the familiar face she had predicted appear. Instead, a tall man with greasy hair has shown up instead.

"Hey there, darlin'," He spoke, his southern accent being visible. Immediately, Vega's hand searched for her knife, hiding it behind her back. "Mind if I hang here?" A smirk appeared across his face.

Vega slowly stood up from the cold ground, keeping her left arm behind her back, glancing up to the man taller than her. "I'd rather you don't," She replied, her green eyes narrowing.

"A little fun won't hurt." He kept on going. Vega was disgusted.

Clearly, he didn't walk away and leave her alone, but rather took a step closer. "Get the hell away from me." Vega continued, her knuckles turning white from the hard grip she had on her knife, which was still hid behind her back.

The atmosphere grew tense as more started to take notice of the situation. People's eyes darted towards Vega and the man whose name she doesn't know, with whispers and mostly laughter filled the air as they exchanged glances.

"What if I don't want to?" He chuckled with a sinister smile on his face.

Daryl slowly walked towards the two, but before he could come into action, Vega swiftly held her knife only an inch away from the man's throat throat, noticing the sound of his breaths, quick and shallow. "Back. Off." She furiously whispered into his ear.

Too much was going on right now. Vega still hadn't found her daughter, she was exhausted, and she was stuck with a group of men— what could possibly be worse?

The man in anger removed himself from Vega's grasp. "Bitch." He whispered to himself, walking back to the car he had claimed, earning laughter from the others, and a death glare from Daryl, who was close to giving the man a punch, but instead he went over to Vega. She quickly pulled him over to a corner, away from everyone.

"You told me we would leave to go look after Tessa and Beth," Vega looked up him. "What happened to that, Daryl?" She crossed her arms, anger evident in her voice.

Daryl broke the eye contact, his gaze falling down to his feet. He took a deep sigh, as he mumbled, "You think they ain't dead after all this time?" He scoffed, not even having a little bit of hope by the words that just escaped his mouth. Daryl was for sure a very hard man to read. Even though Vega knew so little about the man, he for sure wouldn't give that quick up on Beth, whom he seemed to care a lot about. Right?

Yet Vega's heart pounded in her chest as she struggled to comprehend the words that had just escaped Daryl's lips. How could he even think such thoughts? They both fell silent. A whirlwind of questions swirling within her. What if Tessa was truly dead? The thought of it sent shivers down her spine. In this cruel and dangerous world they found themselves in, the possibility of the two lost teenagers being dead was high. But Vega refused to believe it. Her  daughter was smart and strong, and she knew they soon would reunite.

"Don't ever say anything like that again."

——————

Hours had passed, and Vega still hasn't slept for days. She wouldn't until she knew her daughter was safe. Most of the others were sleeping, and the rest were either chatting or smoking outside the garage. Vega had placed her stuff next to Daryl's, though the two still hadn't said a word to each other after their last conversation.

Joe had told that they were gonna stay for a few hours more in the abandoned garage, and then go search for the man and most likely his group he were with, that had killed one of Joes group members, Lou.

Daryl took the cigarette out of his mouth, holding it in his hand. Vega looked down to the man lying down next to her, as it seemed like he was thinking of saying something. "I shouldn't have said that." Daryl suddenly then spoke barely above a whisper, avoiding eye contact with the brunette next to him.

Vega's gaze kept focused on the man, who seemed like he really meant the words that came out of his mouth. Deep down he did feel guilty from earlier, and he had to apologise. Normally, Daryl Dixon wouldn't even think of the fact of apologising to someone he has known for so little, but with the curly haired woman, it was different.

She debated if she should say anything back, but unsurprisingly, Len beat her to it. "Christ!" Vega immediately looked up, seeing Len in front of them. What is he now up to? Vega thought to herself, furrowing her brows. Len reached his hand out for Daryl's plastic bag. "Give it here." He snapped.

Daryl threw the smoke away. "You step back."

"My half was in the bag and now it's gone. Now ain't nobody around here interested in no half a cottontail, expect you." Len kept yelling, creating a crowd of everyone interested in whatever was happening. "Ain't that right!?"

"You're the only one still thinking about that crap!" Daryl called out, standing up from the ground.

"Empty your bag," Len commanded, attempting to take the trash bag before Daryl could, but he failed.

"I said step back!"

Joe appeared next to them, earning a glare from Vega, as he snatched the bag from Daryl's hand. "Did you take his rabbit, Daryl?" Joe asked.

Before Daryl could even answer, Vega interjected to his question. "You're seriously gonna believe him?"

"Mind your own business, darlin'." Joe replied back. There was no way Vega Collins was going to stay here anymore. Whether the Dixon man would come with, or not. Joe checked
out the bag in his hands again. "Just tell me the truth."

It was clear that Daryl had reached his limit with Joe and his crew. "I didn't take nothin'." He stated angrily.

For a second, Vega thought he would believe them, but as she watched Joe empty the bag, revealing all of Daryl's belongings falling one by one to the ground, she took a deep sigh. A pack of cigarettes, a lighter, a pocket knife, and finally—the rabbit that had sparked the heated dispute. "Well, look at that."

Vega knew Daryl didn't take the other rabbit half. Len must have sneaked the dead animal into his bag while she was talking with him. "You put that there, didn't you? When I was over there talking with her." He shouts, pointing towards Vega, who was standing with her gun in her hand.

"You lied," Len muttered as Daryl shoved him harshly back. "You lied. You stole." Len repeated louder this time. "We going to teach this fool, or what Joe?"

Just as the Dixon man was gonna give him another forceful push, Joe stepped between them, separating the two from each other.
"Whoa, wow!" He shushed Len who kept on talking. "Now, Daryl says he didn't take your half of the rabbit, so we got a little conundrum here. Either he's lying, which is an actionable offence, or..." Joe laughed, stopping mid sentence for a few seconds. "Well, you didn't plant it on him like some pussy, punk-ass, cheating, coward cop, did you? Because while that wouldn't be specifically breaking the rules, it would be disappointing."

The big amount of fear in Len's eyes caught everyone's attention. It was clear he was lying, yet he kept on. "It would." He nodded along.
"I didn't." He continued stretching the truth.

He moved his face closer to Joe, not breaking the intense eye contact they had. "Good." Joe patted his shoulder, as he turned around facing Vega, who stood confused in silence.
"Well—" The grey haired man's fist in a swift moment collided with Len's face, earning a loud grunt.

"Teach him a lesson gents. The lions a sack of shit, I'm sick of it."

Vega had always thought that she would most likely be the one killing Len. But when barely a second after Joe finished his sentence, all of the ones who Len claimed to be his friends, started attacking him like they were wild animals. She in that moment changed her mind faster than a chameleon could change its colour.

It was mostly now she realised— The dead aren't the only ones to worry about anymore.

AUTHORS NOTE !!
guess who's back with a new chapter!!😭
I'm soooo sorry for the wait since i haven't published a new chapter since like February, but
I wanna state a few things.. First of all, I've only checked for any grammar mistakes a few times, so don't mind if there's a few errors, When I have more time or motivation I'll fix them :)

Also, Daryl isn't going to be Vega's love interest fyi. They're only gonna have like this special platonic bond, but no romance in it.

Lastly, I will try to get the next chapter done as quick as possible, but I've got a few upcoming exams soon, which will take a lot of my time, sadly. But as I said, I'm gonna do my best, thank you to everyone who's reading this book, ily all🤍

don't forget to vote<3