𝐇𝐀𝐙𝐀𝐑𝐃 │ 𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐘𝐋 𝐃𝐈𝐗𝐎𝐍 ¹ [✔]

[9]: state of decay

The Dixon's car came crashing into the bar, taking out Cooper first and killing him instantly. Next the two henchmen were taken out luckily. But their deaths were slower.

"You get the girl!" Merle ordered from the driver's seat. Daryl rushed out to Marley, luckily the car hadn't touched her.

She already had purple bruises forming on her ribs, and she was dripping wet. Daryl ran over to her and untied her quickly. As he gently picked her up, she whimpered as she ached all over. She would have grabbed him, but she couldn't, and her head stayed laying back, like a doll.

Daryl walked over to the back seat with her in his arms. He looked at her face as he lowered her gently and saw in her face that she wasn't exactly coherent. All she did was whimper and cry.

+

They had stopped just outside Atlanta next to the forest. They had set up camp right next their car, and they had caught two squirrels to eat.

Merle and Daryl sat around the fire eating their squirrels whilst Marley was still in the car, crying most likely. She hadn't stopped crying since they got her from the club. Merle would have complained but seeing her with those bruises and in that state somehow silenced him.

Marley was going to stay in the car for the night whilst the Dixons took shifts in keeping watch.

Daryl was first to keep watch, and whilst Merle snored, the first thing Daryl wanted to do was check up on Marley. She hadn't said anything or moved since they had saved her.

He opened up the door, and despite it being night, her pale skin held a perfect contrast to her black bruises that looked slightly like they had branches coming from them.

She looked cold as she was only wearing underwear and she curled up in a ball like a stray cat on a doorstep.

Daryl had a blanket in his hand ready to lay over her, and as he did, he heard a content sigh come from her, and it made him smirk slightly.

+

Daryl and Merle... well, mostly Merle had taken the camp up and packed it in the boot of the car. Daryl kind of forgot that Marley was in the backseat. As he opened the door, he found she awake and dressed, cross-legged and looking out the window.

She turned her head and saw it was only his tired face. She smiled at him and scooted closer to him. He wasn't sure what she was doing until she wrapped her tiny arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly.

He didn't know what to do, so he kind of just took one his arms and wrapped it around her back and squeezed gently momentarily. She buried her face in the crook of his shoulder.

"Thank you," he heard her say, muffled by his shoulders, "and Merle too, thank you both."

She sniffled slightly, and he could tell that she was trying not to cry. As she pulled away she put her head down and wiped her face, then looked back up to him.

The whites of her eyes were red, making her green irises become brighter and more vibrant. She shuffled back into the middle seat, ready to drive some more.