Haunted | Daryl Dixon

20. Reopened Wounds

Screaming. There were people screaming.

So many sounds echoed through the space, making Evelyn's ears begin to ring.

Her eyes snapped open and she was out of bed in an instant, knife in hand.

The woman felt as though she had only just been able to fall asleep by the time she was awoken by the horror-filled screams.

After last night, after everything with Daryl, sleep had been the very last thing on her mind.

She hadn't gone back to her cell until three hours after she left the man standing there. And when she did, the only thing she could bring herself to do was lay down on her mattress and stare at the ceiling blankly.

Hours upon hours had been devoted to trying to dissect and comprehend each and every part of the conversation she had with Daryl.

Only, the more she thought about it, the more her head hurt.

It wasn't until the early hours of the morning, no doubt just before the sun would begin to rise, that her eyes finally closed and she was allowed to slip into a slumber filled with complete nothingness.

Daniel emerged from his cell the same time that Evelyn did, hair tousled in a way she could bet hers was too.

"What-" The man started, his gun grasped tightly in his hands.

"Walkers!" Someone screeched from the floor below.

The two flew to the railing at once and looked over with wide, terrified eyes at the gore and horror taking place below.

Walkers and people alike took up the entirety of the bottom floor, the formers attacking the helpless living.

At once, without so much as a glance of confirmation at each other, both people flew back into their rooms and had their packs slung securely over their shoulders in seconds.

This was no different than any of their other groups. It always went to shit in the end.

Part of their escape plans for when it did was to grab their supplies pack as the first thing they did.

No place was safe for long, ever.

Not showing a single ounce of hesitation, the two flew down the stairs, immediately taking out the dead with their respective weapons.

After losing her gun the day before in the store, the knife Evelyn always carried around was all that she had left. But she made due.

With great speed, she was creating a path of taken out walkers as she tore them off of people and ushered them out of the cell block.

Gun fire was quick to join in alongside Daniels, meaning it hadn't taken long for news of the outbreak to spread and backup had arrived.

All around her, people were screaming and crying out for their loved ones as she stabbed walker after walker in the head.

"Evelyn!"

Someone was shouting her name.

But it couldn't be...

Her eyes met Daryl's from across the room, and despite everything- despite all the words spoken last night- the man still sagged in relief at the sight of her, alive.

Evelyn didn't have time to dwell on it as a nearby walker began reaching for a screaming child, and she was quick to wrench the thing away from him, letting out a grunt as she reeled her arm back and quickly ran the knife through its eye.