𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬, 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 | TWD [Book 1]

IV. The Battle for Existence

In the distance, Madeleine notices Lori, Rick, and Shane indulging in a conversation about Andrea, who is kneeling over her sister's dead body. She looks around, the survivors of previous night's events cleaning up the bodies. Madeleine can't help but feel a heightened sense of confusion as she meets Daryl's intense gaze, the man strolling toward her.

As Daryl finally finds his voice, the tension in the air seems to thicken. "You had Dale check that up?"

Madeleine rolls her eyes with a scoff, entering the RV to grab a clean pair of gloves for herself to clean up the bodies with the others, but Daryl follows after her.

"It's just a black eye." She deadpans, turning around to face him, a hand on her hip as she signals for him to move out of the way.

"You don't know if it's just a black eye." He points out, the women rolling her eyes at him.

"And Dale isn't a doctor." She replies, brushing past him and placing the gloves on, her annoyance growing when Daryl insists on following her. "What?"

"I see the bruises peaking through your shirt. He beat you up pretty good. Why did you let him?" He accuses, the women arching an eyebrow, scoffing in offence at his words.

Madeleine instead of becoming self-conscious of the visibility of her wounds, she takes a dangerous step closer to Daryl but he's not known to be easily intimidated by others, he simply stands his ground.

"Didn't exactly have the upper body strength to take him down." She states in a mocking tone, Daryl staring at her with a look of disbelief.

"Bullshit. You had your knives." Daryl confronts, pointing at the knife on her waist which he knows she keeps on her at all times.

"I wasn't going to kill him."

"I know, but you could've defended yourself. Like usual. You beat Merle up when he arrived at camp and was insulting everyone. You took me down pretty easy couple days back. Nothing stopped you." He emphasises, both of them staring at each other before Madeleine raises a finger to point at his face, wanting to make sure her point comes across clear as air.

"Stop. Stop trying to figure me out. Stop trying to get to know me. Stop trying to know my past. Just stop!" She demands, pushing past him and walking toward Glenn to help him move the body.

Glenn watches her with a defeated expression, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his forearm. "You okay?"

They move the walker's body and drop it on the pile of bodies they are going to burn. She looks at him, not saying a word as she moves on to move the next body with T-dog.

"I'm your friend-."

She cuts him off. ''No, you are not. You are simply the least annoying person in this camp who I can tolerate." She breathes out, dumping the body down on the pile before she helps Glenn move the next one.