It Comes With The Name

Chapter 28: Stranger Danger

As the sun peaked over the horizon the following morning, Daryl, Shane, and T-dog were finishing gearing up to head into town and find the others. They had just thrown the last bag in the trunk when T-dog suddenly spoke.

"Is that them?" She asked, squinting down the dirt driveway. Sure enough, the red pickup came rolling up the pathway. The vehicle skidded to a stop and Rick and Hershel emerged from the front seats. Glenn and Lauren came out the back doors. Maggie, much to her father's surprise, brushed right past him and went immediately to Glenn, wrapping her arms around him.

Tank bolted out of the house behind Carl, who ran straight to his dad before moving to his aunt. Shane followed up behind him, hugging Lauren before pulling back and looking at her. The front of her shirt was stained with blood along with both her hands and arms. "What the hell happened to you?"

Lauren shrugged him off, looking utterly exhausted. "I'm fine."

"Like hell you're fine, you're covered in blood." Shane pressed, scanning her body for the source.

"Not mine." She mumbled, barely sparing him a glance.

"The hell you mean it's not-"

"Who the hell is that?" T-dog cut their conversation short, pointing to the truck where someone could be seen sitting up in the backseat, a blindfold over their eyes and arms tied.

If it was possible, Laurens seemed to look even more drained. She took a deep breath before rolling her eyes. "That's Randall."

She huffed and took off towards the small well on the side of the house, leaving Rick and Glenn to explain the situation. Tank followed her, nipping playfully at her ankles. She gave a tired laugh. "Hey, buddy. Miss me?"

They finally reached the well and she sighed before hoisting up a bucket of water and balancing it on the edge of the well, dipping her arm into the water she did her best to wash off the dried blood that was staining her skin.

"You got a death wish or sumthin'?" She jumped when she heard the voice behind her, knocking the bucket off of the edge and spilling the water out onto the grass.

"Aw, man." She groaned, picking up the bucket and whipping around to face the person who had caused the spill. "What the fuck, Dixon?"

"Are you out of your mind?" He scolded, taking a few more steps towards her. Lauren barely paid him any mind as she turned around to fill the bucket once again and continue her task. "Goin' into town, riskin' your ass for that old man, bringin' back some stranger? What the hell?"

"Wasn't my choice." She grumbled, turning her head to look at him. "And if I remember correctly that 'old man' saved your life. Stitched you up after you stole his horse. Remember that?"

"That ain't the fuckin point." He said gruffly.

Lauren huffed. "Then what is your point, Daryl? Cause I feel like we have this conversation every other day and frankly it's getting redundant."

"My point is, seems like you're tryna get yerself killed."

Lauren laughed. "Seriously? That's coming from the man who almost killed himself on his own arrow and then tried to get back out there and search again the next day? I don't think you're the one I need to be taking self-preservation tips from."

"Well, at least I ain't dumpin' my dog on everyone else to watch while I do it." He snapped back. "If you quit running into dangerous shit and makin' me watch him every five minutes maybe I coulda use that time to find Sophia."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Means maybe if I wasn't so busy keepin' track of yer damn dog for ya she woulda been found a lot sooner!"