SURVIVE.
❝ Let the end of the world be
inside you, then you don't
need to fear the end
of the world out there. ❞
THE WALKING DEAD.
DARYL DIXON.
BOOK ONE of the LANCASTER SAGA.
[ SEASONS 1 - 3 ]
******
I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its...
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[ xxiii. every bit as good ]
november 1st, 2010
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ONE MINUTE, ASTRID LANCASTER was prepared to wrap her arms around Daryl Dixon's neck and never let him go. The next, she was watching the unguarded hunter drop to the ground from a bullet to the head as she cried out, horrified. Astrid's heart pounded in her chest, and her breaths came in ragged gasps as she darted forward, dropping to her knees in the tall grass. Unexpected tears began to fall from her face, blurring her vision. She shook Daryl's dirtied shoulders slightly and turned his bloody head to the side, noticing the bullet's trail. She realized immediately that it had merely grazed his temple. He was still breathing.
"He's alive!" Astrid announced, her voice choked.
Shane approached Astrid from behind and slipped his hands under her arms to lift her back up. He then passed her into Glenn's hold before returning to Rick's side and helping pull an unconscious Daryl to his feet. The hunter gasped loudly, reawakening briefly as he was held upright. Through bleary eyes, he looked back and forth and then slumped against the sheriff once more, fighting to stay conscious. "I was kidding!" He groaned, his words strained and weak.
Astrid sighed in relief at the sound of Daryl's ferocious attitude as she leaned back against Glenn, but the turmoil inside her was far from settled. Rick and Shane began half-carrying-half-dragging him towards the house, but their steps were halted at the sound of yelling from behind them. Astrid turned and watched as Andrea and Dale ran forward to meet them halfway across the yard.
"Oh, my God!" Andrea yelped tearfully. "Is he dead?!"
The Lancaster woman's anger instantly reignited, and her blood boiled. "What the hell is wrong with you?" She demanded furiously, before she could contain her sudden surge of rage. "Rick told you not to shoot! I told you not to shoot!"
"I thought he was a walker!" Andrea defended breathlessly. "I didn't know! I thought I could handle it."
"Rick said he had it!" Astrid yelled back at her, coming dangerously close.
"That's enough! Both of you!" Rick said harshly, trying to keep the situation from escalating further. "We've got to get Daryl back to the house."
Urgently—yet bitterly, too—the large group that had gathered in the field started back toward the farmhouse once more. The men made sure to keep a good distance between Astrid and Andrea, but their own feud was forgotten as quickly as it sparked—both of them consumed with worry for Daryl who had fallen unconscious once more. Glenn eyed the downed hunter wearily as he was dragged between Rick and Shane. "What the hell happened to him?" He asked. He pointed to his neck. "He's wearing ears!"
Rick hastily ripped the shoestring necklace made of walker ears from Daryl's sweaty neck. "Let's keep that to ourselves," He declared.
"Guys," T-Dog called suddenly from behind them. Astrid and the others all turned back and noticed he was holding a plush little doll that had certainly seen better days. "Isn't this Sophia's?"
