The Walking Dead: Danielle Grimes

129.

Daryl's POV

I pace around Hilltop waiting for someone to give the all clear. The Saviours had left half an hour ago and Jesus had sent one their trucks out to trail them to make sure they're gone. I don't think they're coming back. They got what they wanted and took the doc.

"Daryl?" Maggie's voice sounds out from behind me. I turn towards her and she takes a step back away from me when she sees the look on my face. "Are you okay?" She ask uncertainly.

I feel bad for scaring her. I chew on my lip. "Nelle ain't back yet." My voice rasps roughly and I clear my throat as worry seeps through me.

There's no reason why Dani shouldn't be back yet. Soon as they were gone she should have been climbing back over the fence. I ran a hand over my eyes. But she's hurt, so she wouldn't be climbing any fences. I swallow thickly as a bad feeling goes over me.

She should be back.

I need to get out from behind this damn fence and find her. I need to make sure she's okay. I feel like I need fresh air even though I'm standing outside.

Maggie nods. "You're right. She should have been back, Enid was just in the clearing." She agrees. She knows Dani just as well as I do to know somethings wrong.

I jerk my chin down roughly and look towards the gate where the truck pulls through and parks. Jesus leans into the window to talk to the driver. After a couple of seconds he pulls back and looks across the community to me. He nods to me to let me know it's clear and I stride off towards the gate, my crossbow pulled over my shoulder.

"Daryl!" Maggie calls after me.

I ignore her. I have a bad feeling about Dani. I can't help the feeling of tightness building in my chest every second she wasn't back. When I don't look back I hear Maggie trot behind me. I don't stop and when she catches up she doesn't say anything to get me to.

It takes ten minutes to get to the clearing and it's the longest ten minutes of my life. I step out into the clearing and freeze. She isn't here. I stop at the edge and swallow.

I recognise the bodies laying on the grass, one in a pool of blood. They were Saviours and real pieces of work. They had been some of the ones that did Negans dirty work. They happily beat the shit out of me. Behind me Maggie gasps when she sees the bodies.

I step up to the bodies, staying on the outside of the circle, trying not to mess up any of the trucks that might still be useful. I toe the body circled with blood. He had been stabbed in the neck with a knife but it doesn't look like Dani's work like the other one does. Temple, ear, under the chin or the base of the skull are her trademarks. She would never leave a body behind to change. She's too careful for something like that. Especially so close to a community that's her friends are in.

"Daryl." Maggie calls getting my attention. I turn to her and see her standing in front of a target carved out onto a tree. My chest tightens when I see most of her knives stuck out of it. I try to remember how many she had been wearing this morning. I have been so wrapped up in my own guilt, I haven't payed enough attention to her. I've been such an asshole. I count the ones in the target trying to figure out how many she would have on her. Maybe three or four? Not enough.

Somethings wrong. She wouldn't have left them behind.

Her boot prints are all over but I can also see where someone her size had laid down or knelt in the grass. There was a tussle at some point, someone on the ground. I pace around some more trying to figure out what happened. None of what I was coming up with is good. There's another set of prints around the body, mens and pretty large. They look fresh but I can't be too sure.