my angel ➶ ➶ daryl dixon

f i f t y t h r e e

A door slammed, startling me awake. Daryl groaned from behind me, and pulled me closer to his chest. I smiled, remembering last nights events. I tried to pull his arms apart, but they quickly tightened. "Oh no ya don't." He mumbled in a deep morning voice. My heart fluttered, and I vaguely remembered him saying something last night.

"Hey, did you say something right before I fell asleep?"

Daryl tensed a little. "Nah. You must've been dreamin already." He said, forcing a chuckle

"If you say so. Come on we can't stay in this car all day." I planted a kiss on his cheek, and he relaxed his grip just enough for me to wiggle out.

"Fine." He muttered. I shifted over to the door, and opened it, stepping outside. I stretched my arms, as Daryl followed me out of the car. Most of the other men seemed to be out already, and Daryl led me over to the grey haired man.

"Sleep well?" The man smirked.

"Ya." Daryl muttered.

"Joe, we headin out?" Another man called from outside the garage.

"Yea one sec!" The man, Joe, responded. "We're goin to a place called Terminus."

"What's that?" Daryl asked.

"Supposed to be a 'sanctuary for all' or sum shit. Just gotta follow the railroad tracks around here." So Terminus was the place we were headed to. Daryl grunted his approval of the plan to Joe.

"Let's go! We're leaving!" Joe called to the rest of the group, and we made our way out of the garage to the nearby railroad tracks.

—————

It had been almost a whole day of walking. We had stopped for a canned lunch at least a few hours ago, and now it was almost completely dark. Daryl hadn't left my side once, and I couldn't say that I wasn't glad. I didn't feel safe around these men, and I didn't want to be left alone with any of them.

"Hey is that a fire?" One of the men called from the front of the crowd.

"I do believe that is." Joe said with a sickening smile. "Quiet." All of us followed him, making our way towards the fire. We had almost made it when I heard a familiar southern drawl.

"Daryl-" I stopped in my tracks, and grabbed his arm. Looking up at him, I met his worried eyes.

"Shit." He muttered as we ran to our friends.

We entered the clearing as Joe pressed a gun to Rick's head. "What do we have here?" Joe chuckled as another man pressed a gun to Michonne's head. "And I was thinking of turning in for the night on New Year's Eve! Who's gonna count down the ball drop with me?" Another man in the group made his way over to a car, and pressed his knife against the window. I could see Carl's head pop up from the seat, and I tensed beside Daryl. He reached out for my hand, giving it a squeeze.

"10 Mississippi! 9 Mississippi! 8 Mississippi!" Joe called, when Daryl had obviously had enough. He gave me a reassuring look before he stepped into the light.

"Hold up." He called to the group, and Rick's eyes snapped to him. He squinted, trying to put the pieces together. I stepped up beside Daryl, and relief quickly flashed across Rick's face, before his eyes turned cold again.

"You're stoppin me on 8 Daryl." Joe said, frustration clearly present in his voice.

"Just hol up." Daryl walked towards our friends.

"We ain't got time for this." One of the other men muttered.

"Well the thing about nowadays is we got nothin but time. Say your peace Daryl." Joe said, relaxing his grip on his gun a little bit.

"Yer gonna let these people go. These are good people." Daryl shifted a bit, he was clearly nervous. These men were not trustworthy; any slight thing could set them off.

"I'm gonna have to disagree with you on that."

"You want blood, I get it." Daryl dropped his crossbow and held out his hands, palms up. "Take it from me man."

"Daryl no!" I cried, running towards him, and putting myself between Joe and him. "There doesn't have to be any blood spilt. Just let them be on their way, we can make it up to you. We can catch ten times as many rabbits and deer than their blood will ever be worth."

Joe tilted his head to the side, contemplating my offer. "I like you girl. But Daryl, you said these were good people. And that is a lie." My heart dropped, and I felt Daryl's shoulders tense beside me. "Teach him a lesson boys."

"No!" I cried out as three men shoved Daryl against the truck. I tried to pull one of them off, but he elbowed me in the jaw, and shoved me to the ground. Blood filled my mouth as stars appeared in my vision. Daryl's grunts filled my ears, and I grit my jaw. I was about to make my was back over to them when I heard Carl cry out.

"You leave him be!" Rick yelled at the man who had now pulled the boy out of the car. Carl whimpered, and I pushed myself off the ground.

"Don't touch him." I spat at the ugly man who just grinned at me.

"Fine. I'll take ya instead." He threw Carl to the side, and his greasy hands were suddenly around my waist. I tried to push him off of me, but he slammed me against his chest, holding a knife to my throat.

"Don't ya touch her!" Daryl growled, trying to get away from the two men who were beating on him.

"Stop! I'm the blood ya want. Just kill me!" Rick tried to reason with Joe.

"Now you're right. But first, we're going to beat Daryl to death. Then we'll have the women. Then the boy. Then I'll shoot you. And then all will be right in the world." Joe chuckled menacingly.

"Let them go." Rick muttered barely loud enough for me to hear. I tried to free myself again, but the man shoved me onto the ground. He landed on top of me, his dirty teeth and rancid breath inches from my face.

"Daryl!" I cried, even though I knew it was useless.

"Get off of her!" He managed to yell even through the beating. He freed himself for a moment, trying to make a run to me, when another man grabbed his jacket, and pulled him to the ground.

All of a sudden, Rick head butted Joe, causing his gun to go off. I was able to catch a glance of Rick, and his eyes were empty. I had never seen him so devoid of emotion. Joe quickly got up, and made his way back to Rick.

"Oh it's gonna be so much worse now." The two men began to fight, as chaos broke out. I tried to grab the man's knife that had landed on the ground, but it was just out of reach. Michonne managed to punch her gunman, but he quickly shoved her back down. Another man had a hold of Carl, and Daryl was still being beaten to a pulp. Rick and Joe exchanged blows, neither gaining any real ground. Joe had a gun, but he seemed too proud to use it. He wants Rick to have to watch all of us be killed first.

Joe finally got Rick in a lock, both men facing each other. "Whatcha gonna do now sport?" Joe teased. In what seemed like slow motion, Rick bit into Joe's neck, and ripped open his carotid artery. Joe sputtered to the ground, blood pouring from his gaping wound. Michonne took that opportunity to turn the gun towards her attacker, and shot him in the head. Daryl managed to knock out one of his assailants, and Michonne shot the other, as well as the one holding onto Carl. However, the man on top of me quickly grabbed the knife, and picked me up, holding me against his chest with the knife to my throat.

"I'll kill her." He shouted.

"He's mine." Daryl growled, picking up a knife on the ground.

"Hey, hey." The man quickly released me, and I crawled away. The man tried to back up, but Daryl was on him quickly. He stabbed him in the gut, and the man sputtered, blood filling his mouth. Daryl continued to stab the man, ten, fifteen times. Finally, he fell to the ground, blood soaking his shirt. Daryl dropped the knife on the ground, and spun around, searching for me. His eyes met mine, and he raced over as quickly as he could.

Tears began to fall quietly down my face, and Daryl pulled me into a tight hug. "It's alright." He whispered. "I've gotcha." I huddled against Daryl's chest, letting him block me from all the horrors this world brings; at least for a moment.