R A N D O M || OS

193. (TWD) Daryl Dixon - Don't Look Back

https://crossbowking.tumblr.com/

PROMPT : "I ain't gonna leave ya alone out here."

SUMMARY : (Set early season 2) After a devastating loss, you find yourself fighting for your life against the dead. But you come to find that you're not alone when a stranger with a crossbow saves your life.

WORD COUNT : 4,673

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"Run! Don't look back. Don't stop for anything. Just run. Now, Y/N, go!"

The woods were deathly silent, the only sound coming from heaving lungs and feet crashing through leaves and thickets.

"No, Dad! I'm not leaving you!"

Branches tore at clothing and skin, tearing holes and slicing exposed arms and legs.

"I'll be right behind you, sweetheart. I promise!"

No one had heard them coming. One minute you were helping set up camp before nightfall and the next, a herd of biters ambushed your group.

You felt your stomach twist as you remembered your fathers' eyes — warm like honey, wide eyed and terrified as he begged you to run.

Your father pulled you in for a hug — swift but firm, like he knew deep down it would be the last time he'd hold you — before giving you a small push as a group of walkers closed in on him. Turning on your heels, you took off ahead, hearing grunts as flesh hit flesh — no doubt your father fighting for his life.

Then suddenly, a gut wrenching scream filled the air that stopped you dead in your tracks. "Don't...don't look back," you whispered, repeating your fathers' order through gritted teeth.

But you couldn't help yourself.

You spared one last glance over your shoulder just in time to see a biter rip the exposed flesh from your fathers' neck.

A strangled noise escaped your mouth as you watched the blood pour from his throat, soaking the front of his stained white t shirt. His eyes met yours, still warm like honey, but bloodshot and filled with unshed tears, as he gargled one last word. "Run."

And so you did.

You didn't know how long you'd been running — you were sure you had lost the herd behind you a while back. But your body felt as though it was on autopilot — falling into a steady rhythm as you ducked around fallen branches and roots.

You wiped at your tear stained cheeks, your breaths coming out in huffs as you tried to forget that fact that you just lost the last person you had left on Earth...about the guilt that coiled around your body like rope for listening to your dad and running ahead...about how you had no idea what the hell you were supposed to do now.

You felt your chest tighten, as if a hand had reached inside your body and grabbed your heart, squeezing it in its grasp.

Distracted by the sudden pressure, you didn't notice the tree branch hanging too low in front of you. The next thing you knew, you were sprawled flat on your back, wind knocked out of you, staring up at the swinging branch you collided with.

You laid completely still, save for your heaving chest as you tried to slow your breathing. Sweat dripped down the base of your neck and sides of your face, collecting into a pool around you.

With a groan, you pulled yourself up into a sitting position. You felt wetness drip down the side of your face and wiped at it with your fingertips. When you pulled your hand back, it was covered in blood. "Shit," you grimaced.