The Last Flame

Chapter 7

Daryl awoke the next morning to find Bell back in bed, he remembered her coming home but pretended he was asleep. He wanted to apologize to her but wasn't sure if she was still upset or not.

He got out of bed quietly, doing his best not to wake her up. He stood at the side of his bed and just gazed down at her. Her red hair was sprawled out around her head like a flaming halo, the freckles on her face seemed to pop out more with the sunrise slightly shining on them. He smiled to himself.

He walked to their dresser and grabbed Bell's polaroid camera, taking a picture of her, for some reason he felt the need to capture the moment. When she was awake she always had a look of fierceness in her eyes, but somehow, even as she slept, she still looked just as fierce.

He looked down to the picture that had just developed, and felt something in himself ignite. Everything that had happened the day before, Denise dying and her being taken hostage, it brought forth so many feelings he was feeling the night before.

The feeling of wanting to protect her and his people, to make sure they were safe. And they couldn't be safe as long as Negan and his men were still out there, he knew what he had to do.

He got dressed and put the picture of Bell in his vest pocket. He leaned over the bed and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, she must have been exhausted cause she didn't even stir at his touch.

And with that, the man left the house, getting ready to set off and hunt down Dwight.

Bell finally awoke some time later in the day. She wasn't really one to oversleep, but her and Glenn had stayed up talking pretty late. She looked to her left to see Daryl missing, she remembered him being home when she got back, so she figured he must be outside somewhere.  

Once she was up and dressed, she headed out of their home and to look for Daryl, she figured they should finally talk. She made her way to the gates to see a slightly panicked Rick, along with Sasha and Abraham standing with him.

She walked up to the group. "Hey, y'all seen Daryl?"

They all exchanged a look, making Bell even more confused. Rick finally addressed the woman. "Look, Daryl left, he went after the Saviors from yesterday- but don't panic, Rosita, Glenn, and Michonne went to bring him back."

Bell was in shock. "He left? Well I'm going after him then, can you lend me a car?"

"You really think that's a good idea?" Abraham confronted his sister. 

"Yeah, I do, I'm not just gonna let him get himself killed, I'm going after him."

Rick put his hands up. "Now Bella, just wait a second, we should really think this through, okay? The others went after him, and Daryl knows how to take care of himself, they'll be fine, we should stay here, keep the numbers."

Bell stepped up to the man. "You can't stop me, Rick."

Abraham put his arm out to her. "You need to calm down, Rick is right, you're just gonna get yourself hurt out there on your own. Trust the others."

She pushed his arm away. "Screw you, Abe. If it was Sasha out there, you wouldn't hesitate." The man just remained silent, but standing his ground. "Yeah, that's what I thought, hypocrite."

She walked away in frustration. If the others really thought she was just gonna sit around and do nothing, they had another thing coming.

She made her way to Noah's house, knocking on the door. When the boy answered, he looked a bit confused, but Bell cut him off before he could even ask.  "I need your help with something."