It took Daryl a few hours to find Jodie. Her trail was not always easy to follow, as it had rained every now and then and washed away the tracks. Still, he was pretty sure he was on the right track.

About four hours later, he found her. By now he had gotten pretty close to the next town. From the highway, it was about only half a mile away and the sun began to sink slowly. The leaves and trees shone in golden light. Daryl knew that Jodie loved this time of day and he really liked it too. It was too late to hunt, but it was nice to enjoy the sun. The Light turned everything into gold and warmed you up. It was no longer pressing hot, but only warm and soothing.

He had often seen Jodie standing between the trees for a moment with her eyes closed and her face stretched out towards the setting sun. Her reddish-brown hair had turned into gold in the light and Daryl would have liked to touch it in those moments.

And this time he found her like this: her eyes closed, face stretched out toward the sun, her hair tied to a ponytail.

She almost seemed peaceful and Daryl almost felt guilty about disturbing her in this peaceful moment. But the feeling of disappointment that she had disappeared without a word, took over and he started yelling.

"Can you tell me what this is all about? You just taking off without saying a word, and we all are worried sick! Where did you think you were going, hm? "he hissed.

Jodie turned to him, looked at him.

There were so many emotions in her eyes: pain, determination, fear...

He realized that she had left so that she would not have to be afraid that someone would hurt her.

"Jodie, I know you're scared, but you can't stay here alone. We need you in prison, you're an important member, and... you're not safe here! "

Jodie took a deep breathe and then actually spoke a single sentence.

"I am nowhere safe! "

Daryl took a moment to realize that she had spoken again, for him, so he could understand.

"We need you there, please come with us. We'll send Roderick and the others away and you won't have to be afraid anymore."

Daryl tried to make his voice sound calm and gentle to gain Jodie's confidence.

Jodie, however, shook her head and wrote something on her arm.

Daryl gently grabbed her arm and read the message.

"I'm not safe here, but neither ma I safe in prison, and you can't protect me every second."

"When Roderick and the others are gone, no one has to protect you, no one will hurt you anymore."

But Jodie shook her head.

"There's enough people who hate me in prison, what if someone tries to kill me again? What if it happens again and this time no one can save me? I prefer to leave while I still have the chance, "she wrote on her arm.

"And the people who care about you? Are you just gonna leave Cole and the others like that? Without a word? Don't you want to at least ... "he didn't get any further.

A loud roar was to be heard and then suddenly something attacked Daryl from the side.

He was torn to the ground and all the air was squeezed out of his lungs when he was suddenly pressed to the ground and again a loud roar sounded.

It took Daryl a moment to realize his attacker wasn't a human or a walker. No, it was something much worse, which he had at least expected. A full-grown grizzly bear stood over him and shouted furiously in his face.

Fuck. Daryl hadn't thought about bears since the world went to hell.

Of course there were still some out there, but in a world full of walkers, who would have expected such a danger? It was difficult enough to defend yourself against walkers and other people, so of course animals were more excluded as dangers.

"Fuck! "Daryl roared, trying to roll away under the animal, but he didn't succeed and seemed to make the bear even angrier. Whatever he was upset about, he seemed to blame Daryl.

Frantically, Daryl groped for his knife, trying to detach it from his belt and ram it into the bear's head. But when he pulled it out, the bear struck him with his paw and the knife flew out of his hand and landed outside Daryl's reach. The bear now lowered his head and seemed to want to bite Daryl, who tried to keep his teeth away from him. The bear rammed his claws into his side and bit him in the shoulder. Daryl roared in pain and felt his strength leaving his body and the blood flowing from his wounds. He was almost ready to give up, when suddenly a shot sounded and the bear slumped instantly lifeless on him.

In great pain, Daryl pushed the bear away and looked at Jodie, who was still standing trembling, with a hunting rifle in her hands. She had saved his life. Daryl smiled weakly and wanted to sit up, and immediately the bite in his shoulder came up again and he moaned and sank on his back. Jodie lowered the rifle and ran to him. When she saw his wounds, her face was immediately worried.

She pushed his vest aside and saw in fear as more and more blood flowed over his arm. Daryl, on the other hand, apart from the pain felt suddenly really tired.

His eyelids fluttered and Jodie shook him. He couldn't fall asleep now. But his eyelids threatened to close again and again.

Nevertheless, he tried to stay awake as hard as he could to help Jodie lift him up and finally lift himself up. Jodie supported him and staggered with him towards the highway.

Although Daryl tried to help her, he felt that he wouldn't last long until he passed out. They couldn't go back to prison, because by then he would have bled to death.

They had to go somewhere else and take care of his wound. When they reached the highway, Daryl could hardly walk anymore. Especially since the blood kept running out of his body, soaking his vest and his skin, almost like water. He gasped as Jodie dragged him further, accidentally grazing his wound. The world was blurred before his eyes and the pain exploded in his shoulder. He suppressed a scream and tried to drag himself further, but his legs gave in, he fell, and Jodie caught him and put him on his back. Her face hovered over his, her reddish-brown hair glowing golden, in the setting sun. A strand of hair had come out of the braid and fell on her forehead. Dazed, Daryl reached out to her face and gently touched the strand. Only unconsciously did he realize that Jodie was trying to pull him up and he wanted to help her, but in trying to get himself up, another stabbing pain shot through his shoulder and black dots danced in front of his eyes. Daryl tried to escape from fainting, but this time he failed and fell unconscious back into the street.

********************************************

Jodie hadn't hesitated when Daryl fell unconscious, looking for a transportation. Maybe there was a house nearby where they could hide until Daryl got better. In fact, she had spotted a white van about ten meters away. She had grabbed Daryl, dragged him by his shoulders and put him on the passenger seat. She herself had climbed onto the driver's seat and discovered that the key was still in place.

"Please, work! "Jodie pleaded silently and turned the key. In fact, after two attempts, the engine started and Jodie closed the car door behind her. She remembered what Glenn and Rick had already taught her about driving and started to drive.

She simply drove down the street, hoping soon to find a house, as she wouldn't find the way to the prison. She had been on the road too long and had lost her orientation.

After about ten minutes of driving, Jodie was relieved, she stopped the van and looked around.

In such suburbs or cities there were usually also more walkers, but at the moment she couldn't see any of them.

She swore quietly, closed the door behind her and ran to the next house. The door was only ajar and Jodie pulled out her hunting knife to look for more walkers. The kitchen, the bathroom and the living room remained empty. Even in the upper floor, nothing was to be found. But she heard some noise down in the pantry that a walker could cause. She quietly opened the door and turned on her flashlight. And in fact, in front of a shelf stood a walker with an empty look and turned his back on her. Jodie snuck up and then stabbed the walker in the head.

He immediately collapsed and Jodie looked down at him. Because of the bad light, she had assumed that it had been a man, but now she could see that it must have been a boy about her age. Since he was so incredibly thin, Jodie assumed that he had probably starved and died.

Poor guy, she thought as she looked for more walkers, but found none. The house was empty so far.

****************************************

Getting Daryl into the house was hard, and in the end, Jodie wasn't even sure how she managed to get him all the stairs up to the bedroom, but she didn't really care. As long as he would survive.

She tried to stay calm and remember everything Hershel had taught her about nursing. She listened to Daryl's breathing, which came only faintly, but it was there, and next she felt his pulse. It there too, but quite weak.

Now she had to take care of the wound, so she took off his vest and inspected the wound more closely. She wasn't bleeding quite as much, but due to the high blood loss made Daryl pretty weak.

Jodie looked around the bathroom for medication, water and towels. She was pretty sure that the water would probably not run if she turned it on, but to her surprise the water flowed again. There probably had to be an additional electricity source in the house.

She actually found a few towels and disinfectants in the closet, but no other meds. She brought everything to Daryl and disinfected the wound first. Daryl flinched slightly, but didn't really wake up.

Jodie clean the wound with the tepid water and looked for more bandages. She found a small first aid kit in the pantry.

There was still aspirin, a bandage and tape, plus a welded syringe.

However, no further medication could have helped him. Nevertheless, Jodie tied the wound neatly and cooled his forehead, which was hot and feverish. She tried to wake him up and at least managed to get him to drink a few sips of water to keep him from dehydrating.

Then she sat down at the end of the bed and thought, what to do next. She didn't understand much about injuries, but she was pretty sure this one had to be stitched. In the first aid set, however, was nothing else.

She needed to find medical help somewhere, otherwise, the wound might get inflamed or not heal properly.

She needed to search the other houses, maybe she was gonna find something. She looked outside. The sun was already setting. In the dark it was far too dangerous to go on a looting tour.

She would have to try her luck tomorrow. She laid down next to Daryl and listened on his breath, stayed awake and watched over him. She wouldn't let him die at any cost. She'd gone through so many situations with him, he wouldn't just die on her.

*************************************

The night seemed endless, but eventually the sun came up.

Jodie got up, gave Daryl another sip of water and checked his wound, it had stopped bleeding, but didn't look good.

She really needed stitches, and she needed medication.

Jodie took her rifle and the crossbow, bent over Daryl and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

I'll be back soon, she promised him silently.

Jodie discovered a back door by the house that led into the garden, and from there, she snuck into the next house, and she searched it. She found some food and also some bandages, which could certainly still be used, but no sewing material for Daryl's wound.

She also had no success with the next two houses, neither food nor medicine.

It was not until the fourth house that Jodie made a discovery that she also entered through the back door and began to examine the kitchen. Then she suddenly heard a rattle from above, Jodie stopped and listened, but now it was suspiciously quiet upstairs. An inner instinct told Jodie that this wasn't a walker up there, and a walker wouldn't care how much noise he was making. A human on the other hand...

She unloaded the rifle and quietly crept up the stairs. Luckily for her, the floor and the stairs had been carpeted, which dampened her steps. When she reached the top of the stairs, she listened, it was still very still, but the bathroom door was open a crack. Jodie opened the door with a silent push of her foot and held her rifle towards the entrance. A man stood in front of her with his hands raised. He wore a long coat, a gray beanie over the half-long, light brown hair and a cloth over his mouth and nose. His bright blue-gray eyes lightened up as he saw her.

„Hi, don't worry, I am not gonna hurt you," he said, and although she couldn't see it, she knew he was smiling under the cloth.

„I'm Paul Rovia, but people call me Jesus, "he greeted them, while Jodie looked at him suspiciously. He pulled the cloth from his nose and revealed a beard and a broad grin.

"You wanna tell me your name? "he asked with his head tilted. Jodie stayed silent.

"Are you alone? "

Jodie's fingers cramped around the gun.

This "Jesus, "or as he called himself, must have noticed it, for he smiled gently.

"Like I said, you don't need to worry, I'm not gonna hurt you."

Jodie nodded.

„I had most of the houses cleared out, but I think you might need one or two things. Maybe I can give you something. What do you need? Food? "

Jodie shook her head.

"Weapons? Ammo? Clothes? "

Another headshake.

"Well, what do you need? "

Jodie briefly pointed with one hand to the bathroom cabinet.

"Medicine? "

She nodded violently and Jesus nodded understanding as well.

"May I? "he pointed to something behind Jodie, who turned around and saw a backpack in the hallway. She pointed the gun at him again, but then nodded.

No tricks, she said, and Jesus seemed to understand. With his hands raised, he walked past her, without a care in the world and reached for the backpack and then pointed to the stairs.

"It's much more comfortable in the kitchen than here," he said, smiling again.

You'd think it was his house and Jodie was his guest. He didn't seem to be afraid of her at all and he didn't fight back against anything that made Jodie even more suspicious. Nevertheless, she followed him down the stairs.

**********************************************

Hi Guys, Here I am with a new chapter. I hope you like it. And of course, I am always happy about comments and recommendations. Leave it here, if you like. Have a nice evening.

Love Liz ;)