Pangs

There hadn't been an opportunity yet for me to acknowledge to Daryl that I was grateful for the Cherokee Rose.

He'd left early again this morning to return to the old farmhouse he'd found in search of Sophia. The redneck had taken one of Hershel's horses, and I'd bet my ass that he'd done it without asking the old man.

I'd laid awake for hours after finding my gift, overthinking the motive behind it. Daryl knew I'd seen the one he'd given Carol. He'd watched me leaving the RV, so he must know I'd be aware of who the culprit was.

Presumably, it was a peace offering - an apology for once more running his mouth at me - but then again, Daryl didn't do apologies... Maybe he just had a spare and wanted to cheer me up after my painful run-in with the railing. Either way, I appreciated it.

I'd been roped into heading out with Shane. I certainly wasn't thrilled to be spending the day with him, but his ankle was healing well, and we needed to try and source more bullets before getting back on the road. Carl was doing better, but Rick wasn't yet ready to leave him and Lori, so I'd offered to go along. I'm sure he'd have rather have taken anyone but me on the excursion, but his options were limited, and he'd had to admit to himself that I was the only capable person available.

We hadn't addressed what happened in the rec room of the CDC - both choosing to compartmentalize the events. He was probably embarrassed that I'd got the better of him, and I just couldn't be bothered with the drama.

He'd been acting stranger than usual recently. At first, I thought it had just been toward me, which was understandable, but then I'd heard others voicing their concerns. He and T-Dog had been tight before, but now he barely spoke to him, or Glenn, or anyone - even Rick. He'd also shaved his head, which wouldn't usually raise alarm bells, but the change in his appearance only exacerbated the change in his demeanour.

I'd been in truck with Shane in silence for a few minutes before I decided to attempt breaking the tension. We needed to work together today, and we couldn't do that if we weren't speaking to each other.

"What's going on with you?" I asked curiously.

"Nothing." Was his only response.

Well, that attempt at conversation flopped spectacularly.

~

We'd been on our bullet-hunt for a few hours when, out of nowhere, I was floored by an intense feeling of anxiety, literally. My legs went to jelly underneath me as I was washed over by a tremendous fear that something bad was about to happen, or had happened, or was happening now... I wasn't sure which. I had no idea where it had come from - never experiencing anything quite like it.

Despite us ignoring each other most of the run, Shane did come over to investigate when I fell to the floor.

"You good?" he asked.

"Do I look like I'm good!?" I snapped as I clutched my chest.

"Fuck you then, bitch." He spat at me in return.

My heart pounded, and my vision was spiralling, as were my thoughts. I'd often been able to rely on my gut to give me a sense of when something was wrong, but this was another level of extreme.

We needed to get back to the farm, now.

"Let's go." I shouted over to Shane, shakily picking myself up from the floor.

"Yup, this one's another dud." He answered.

"No, we need to go back to the farm."

"What? We haven't found a single bullet yet. We're not going back until we have."

"I'm serious. Something's wrong."

"The hell you talking about!? Relax woman."

"Shane!" I was yelling now. "We're going!"

He stalked toward me, "I don't know who the hell you think you are. We go when I say we go."

I couldn't help it. My body reacted before I had a chance to think about it, the dread expanding in my stomach in control of my actions. I punched Shane in the face, hard. He stumbled back in shock, giving me the opportunity to reach my hand into his pocket and poach the keys to the car.

"Fucking hell woman. You're insane!" he roared as he took his own swing, cracking me hard in the face and landing his fist right where I was already swollen from the day before."

It took everything in me not to react, but this wasn't important right now.

We had to go.

Shane readied for me to throw another hit, but instead, I took a few steps backwards. "I got one in. You got one in." I told him, clenching the keys in my fist. "I'm telling you - we HAVE to go. If we get back to the farm and there's no crisis, I'll let you hit me as hard as you want with no retaliation."

I was lying, but he didn't know that.

Another pang of whatever-the-hell-this-was raged through my body. I took a few deep breaths.

"I'm serious. I'm going to the car. If you're not in it in thirty seconds, I will leave you behind."

He studied me for a moment, probably wondering if I was actually losing my mind, "Fine. Had just about enough of ya anyway."

I drove back at a ridiculous speed, refusing to hand the keys back over to Shane. My stomach did somersaults the entire time as I tried to focus on the winding road ahead.

As soon as we reached the farm, I knew I was right to listen to my gut. Not a single person was in sight. There were always at least a few people milling around, cooking, doing chores... but right now, the fields were abandoned.

I jumped out of the car, my legs shaking and not even bothering to remove the keys, and ran toward our camp. Vacant tents and tools tossed to to the ground only deepened my panic. I was just about to start screaming for the others when Rick stepped out onto the porch of the farmhouse, a foreboding look on his tired face.

"What's going on!?" I yelled as I ran toward him. "Where is everyone?

"It's Daryl." He replied cautiously. "He's hurt."

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't take in what Rick was saying. This couldn't be happening.

"We don't know what happened, but it looks like he took a big fall. Hershel thinks he landed on one of his bolts in the process." He placed an arm on my shoulder and moved me in the direction of the house, nodding to Shane as we passed. "Hershel's done what he can. We just need to wait now."

I fought to steady my breathing as we approached the door. Devastating images of the hunter lying injured and alone in the woods burning at my brain.

Everyone was in the farmhouse lounge, barring Hershel, who was upstairs keeping an eye on Daryl and Andrea, who was in the kitchen alone.

The despair in the room was suffocating. Not a single person spoke, Mind's fixed on the hope of the vet reappearing with reassurance that the group's strongest fighter would live.

Carol's eyes were red, I could tell she'd been crying. Even Carl was here, out of bed for the first time since his own injury. I tried to force a smile at him as I sat beside Glenn on the opposite couch, taking in everyone's grim expressions.

It took everything in me not to run upstairs and into the bedroom Daryl was being cared for in. He was my friend, I cared about him, more than he knew. The despair in my bones needed to see him, to know what state he was in.

"How'd you find him?" I eventually piped up, my voice croaky and addressing the whole room.

If they thought Daryl had fallen, he couldn't have been close to camp. There was nothing to fall down until you got deeper into the woods.

"He walked." T-Dog answered. "Crazy son of a bitch made it all the way back with an arrowhole or two in him."

Relief washed over me. If he'd managed to make it back to camp, he must have at least been conscious and able to move.

"Andrea feels awful." Dale stated defensively.

"What?" I queried. "Was she searching with him?"

Dale's face fell. He looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"You don't know?" he rubbed his face.

"Know what?"

He didn't answer.

"Know what!?" I asked the rest of the room, looking between them all.

"Andrea shot him." Carl answered quietly.

What?

"It was an accident." Lori added.

I didn't wait to hear more. I launched myself from my seat and into the kitchen, locating Andrea straight away. She backed up against the counter, obviously perturbed by the fire in my eyes. I was on her before she had time to think about it. My hands clasped her throat tightly as I tried to find the words to speak, my anger clouding my ability to function.

"Tell me what the fuck happened!" I snarled, my voice crackling with menace.

"I didn't mean to." She choked. "I didn't know."

"You didn't mean to shoot someone!?" I raised my voice now, unable to contain my fury. "What the fuck Andrea!?"

Rick and Shane burst into the kitchen simultaneously, one moving to either side of me, trying to remove my hands from around her neck by each pulling on an arm.

I didn't budge an inch.

"Tell me bitch! How do you shoot someone by accident!?"

I heard a click to the left side of my head. Shane had pulled out his gun and was holding it against my temple. I glared at him out of the side of my good eye.

"Let her go." He commanded.

I ignored him.

"Athena. I get it. I do. But this isn't the time or the way." Rick plead with me in a gentle tone.

Even in my ferocious haze, I knew he was right. What mattered right now was Daryl. I could rip this stupid bitch's head from off her shoulders later.

Reluctantly, I let her go, who dropped to her knees in tears, grabbing her throat. I was shaking with rage as Rick took my arm and guided me out to the porch.

Hershel's daughter Beth had seen the end of the exchange. "Daddy's going to lose it if he knows you have that." She said to Shane in a hushed tone. "You agreed no guns except one for watch."

Out on the porch, Rick pulled me into a brief hug. The movement shocked me. I don't think we'd ever had any physical contact before, him always being the level-headed, determined leader who tried to dispel his emotions, focusing only on our fight for survival; but right now, it seemed like it he knew his support was necessary to keep me upright.

I couldn't speak. My mind was consumed with images of my friend lying upstairs, helpless.

"It really was an accident, Athena." Rick started, "She thought he was a walker - we all did because he looked so messed up."

"What the fuck was Andrea doing with a gun? You know she can't aim for shit!" I growled.

"I know. But it's lucky for Daryl that she can't. She grazed his head, it was the injuries to his stomach that caused him to fall unconscious."

"She could have killed him."

"She could. But she didn't."

~

The night passed at the speed of a snail on sedatives. Carol, Rick and I stayed in the farmhouse's lounge while the others went to bed. There was absolutely no chance of me getting any sleep.

Andrea stayed well out of my way, which was smart. I was still seething. I didn't care if it was an accident - she shot Daryl and I hated her for it.

It was getting light before I heard the creaking of steps, as Hershel made his way down the stairs.

"He's awake." He told Rick, who let out a sigh of relief. "I can't quite believe he's awake, but he is.

For the first time in as long as I could remember, I felt pure, unadulterated relief. My body releasing the hours of tension it had been bubbling with. I felt like I could float.

Daryl was going to be okay.

"He says he's alright, but he must be in a great deal of pain. I've given him painkillers. Hopefully, they'll take effect soon. He'll need his rest."

Rick looked like he could kiss Hershel, while Carol was smiling widely, thanking him. I didn't waste a second in moving, my body carrying me of its own accord. I reached the top of the stairs and took a moment to steady myself.

"Daryl?" I spoke quietly as I edged toward the room.

"Mhmh. " He grumbled, scrambling to pull the sheets over his bare chest.

Damn. I'd just missed my first opportunity to see a shirtless Daryl Dixon.

The redneck looked utterly awful. His normally tanned skin appeared grey, his face and arms littered with a cacophony of cuts and large, purple bruises. Carol told me the arrow had gone in through his side and out of his back, but I couldn't see due to the sheet. I could tell, though, from the blood-soaked rags and bandages crumpled in the corner of the room, just how nasty his injury had been.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, trying to locate an area of his skin that hadn't been brutalised.

"Like I fell down a ravine onto a bolt." He replied sarcastically, voice rougher than I'd ever heard it.

Was that Daryl making another joke? He must be concussed.

"How the hell do you fall into a ravine?" I asked teasingly, still loitering by the door, aware that we hadn't been on best terms recently.

"Damn, stupid horse lost its shit." He groaned.

I stared at the brave, battered man lying in front of me, taking in the effects of the day that adorned every visible inch of his body. He'd been out there every single day searching for Sophia without fail - he had to have been completely exhausted even before today's events. Now, his form bore the scars of that effort. In that moment, I didn't think i'd ever felt so much respect and admiration for a person.

I craved desperately to put my arms around him.

"I was worried about you." I confessed.

He didn't answer. Instead, he looked down at his hands, an aura of discomfort emanating from his weary form.

Daryl wasn't a man of many words at the best of times. Right now, it seemed like every word was a tedious battle to emit.

It wasn't the time to force my presence on him. As much as every single fibre of my being wanted to stay in this room with him, to sit by his bed and make sure he was okay, I didn't.

"I'm glad you're okay." I told him as I moved toward the door, turning back just before I closed it and remembering the Cherokee Rose he'd left for me...

"And thank you."

I want to thank you all again for reading. It really means so much to me. ❤️

I feel like Daryl is someone who needs a long time to get to know somebody before letting his guard down at all.

For this reason, the next chapter will take place a number of months after this one, picking up around the start of season 3 in the show (where there was a big time jump anyway, I'm just extending it slightly).

None of the good stuff between our pair will be skipped, but I feel like this is important for the story to stay true to Daryl Dixon's character.

I'll include a recap from Athena's POV of what's happened during the time we've skipped.

TRUST ME - THIS IS WHERE THINGS ARE GOING TO START GETTING INTERESTING! 😜❤️