Daryl's Girl

Chapter 1 (edited)

Fear.

That's all I feel anymore. It's all I know.

Since the world went to shit a month or so ago, it's the only thing that's kept me going. That fear has kept me alive and kept our group safe...Well, until now.

The adrenaline that pumped through my veins that day, running from whatever those things were, came flooding back, overwhelming me. It's just something I'm accustomed to at this point. There's no getting away from it. My head under the water, no idea where we were. No idea if we were going to survive. The only thing comforting me was the familiar warm touch of Tyler's hand holding mine in the cold water.

The echo of the explosion was loud enough to bring those things for miles and if Tyler hadn't had pulled me into the water with him when he did, I don't know what would've happened. The most likely outcome being I wouldn't still be here. I was stupid and I owe him my life. It was a debt, to add to the list, I don't think I'll ever be able to repay. 

It was then, I realized I couldn't hold my breath any longer. The air was draining from my lungs and, whether it was safe or not, I needed to get to the surface and fast.

Without thinking, I let go of Tyler's hand and swam upwards. 

The second my head was out of the water, I gasped for air, coughing and panting as I forced my body to breathe again. My temples throbbing and my vision slightly blurry. It didn't surprise me. It reminded me of when I was a kid and I'd try to see how long I could hold my breath underwater before I started to drown. Not that we could have days like that anymore.

"So what do we do now?" I asked, treading water as I looked at the wreckage. The boat that we had lived on, the boat we had survived on was up in flames and slowly sinking.

When I didn't get a reply, a sudden wave of panic washed over me. "Tyler?"

Nothing.

"Tyler?!" I spluttered a little louder as I frantically began looking around me, trying to at least catch a glimpse of his shadow under the water.

Still nothing.

"Tyler?!"

In my stupidity, I'd let go of him instead of pulling him to the surface and a horrid feeling washed over me. In that moment, I thought that he'd gone, that he'd drowned, that I was in the middle of no where, alone. Without him, I might as well be dead already.

Luckily, just as a tear made its way down my cheek, he came up besides me sending a wave of water over my head, spluttering and coughing as he fought to get the air into his lungs. 

I hadn't realized I was holding my breath again until that moment and didn't hesitate to throw my arms around him. "Thank God. I thought you'd drowned. Don't do that again. Don't disappear on me like that-"

"I promise." He spluttered, trying to hug me back, only we both needed our arms to keep us above the water, not under it. "So much for riding it out on that thing." He then said, looking over at the still sinking wreckage.

That boat had kept us alive since pretty much the beginning. It was the only place I thought was safe, where those monsters couldn't get at us. They couldn't swim, which was a good thing, because I wasn't any good at facing them head on, and being on the boat meant I didn't have to. I knew how to fight and how to kill them, but I hated it. Even on the few occasions when we had to go to shore to gather supplies, other members of our group headed out and I stayed behind.

Then it hit me. "Wait. Where are the others?"

We were in the middle of nowhere and we were alone. Before the explosion, the rest of our group had managed to get onto the lifeboat, but now, they were no where to be seen. By the looks of it, they'd got away just as the boat went up in flames.