Stray // Daryl Dixon

It's a Long Way Back

We had been walking for hours before the sun eventually disappeared from behind the horizon and we were forced to post up for the night. At this point, the adrenaline pumping through my body after the crash had worn off and the true extent of my injuries began to kick in. From what I could tell I hadn't been seriously injured. My bones ached from being pinballed around the backseat of the car, but nothing was broken. I could almost guarantee that I am concussed, but what worried me the most was getting the large shard of glass out of my hairline. Nevertheless, I could feel my body start to wear down, it needed rest after the trauma.

I sat next to Linc as he tried to hide how cold he was, every so often his body would shake with a convulsing shiver before he tried to play it off. His injuries were the worst out of the three of us. After the explosion, as Linc was laying on the grass still unconscious, we found a large gash on the side of his abdomen. We wrapped it up as best we could, but he was still slowly losing blood and after each hour that passed you could see on his face that it was taking a toll on him.

I watched as Mark leant over the little fire he had made, making sure it stayed lit. He concentrated on the flame, turning around his baseball cap to put it on backwards so he could see better as he pushed around small sticks and dried-out leaves to keep it going. My eyes then trailed back over to Lincoln.  His skin was pale, with purple rings forming around his eyes, and his lips drying out. 

"You should try getting some sleep," I said to Linc, softly.

His eyes stayed locked on the little flame from the fire, but he snickered, "Why haven't they come looking for us?" he asked.

"It was too close to nightfall. Rick would never let them risk going out on a manhunt when by the time they got back here it'd be the middle of the night," I explained.

"How could they have not turned around though-- checked on us?" Lincoln questioned further.

"Linc, we missed the exit. They knew we'd just take the next as we did, they have no way of knowing that we crashed after that. They probably think we're lost." I was trying to ease his mind, he was getting worked up because he was in the most pain out of all of us. I'd never seen this side of him before, but he was scared.

Lincoln finally looked over at me, his eyes were heavy. He nodded, agreeing with me before he laid down to try and get some rest. From there it was quiet for quite a while, the invading thoughts entering my mind as my ears stayed on high alert. We were in trouble, with no food, no water, no weapons, no sunlight, and we were in the middle of nowhere. If walkers had stumbled across our path, I don't know how we would be able to fight our way out. I listened to every possible sound that rustled around us. It'd be a sleepless night for Mark and me.

About an hour passed of silence, or what felt like an hour. Thankfully, Lincoln had fallen asleep quickly, I could hear his heavy intake of breath from being in a deep sleep, it was almost calming. I could feel Mark's eyes on me, watching me as my vision stayed trained on the flame. I had my knees pressed up to my chest, hugging them with my arms to stay warm, pressing my cut-up hand to my jeans to try and slow the bleeding. Mark didn't say a word as he stood up and walked over to where I sat. I looked up at him, wondering what he was doing.

"We should get that glass out of your head," he said as he crouched down beside me. I stayed quiet while he gently held onto my chin, turning my head so he could get a good look at it.

"I'm fine-" I said before wincing at his touch when he brushed my hair back to see how deep under my hairline it had gone.

"You're not," he responded.

"Well, yeah, not when you touch it," I said. I was being snarky, but joking with him to try and make light of the situation. He chuckled. "How are you going to get it out?"