Imagines // Daryl Dixon

safe

adj. protected from or not exposed to danger or risk; not likely to be harmed or lost.  

"GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!" You shot up and turned to face the door, a group of a dozen or so walkers stumbling to make their make through. Grabbing your backpack, you darted out the back door behind the others. Glenn and Maggie jumped into the ute just as three walkers approached them. The vehicle roared to life and they sped off down the road. Your heart was beating a million miles an hour as you took out a walker, before slipping into your car. You twisted the keys but nothing happened. You tried again, and again before slamming your hand on the steering wheel. 

"You've got to be fucking joking." Walkers were starting to collect around the exterior of your car, banging and pawing to get in. Turning to face your door, you took a deep breath and flung it open. 

Two walkers lunged at you and you took the first down with no problem, but as you tried to pull the knife from its skull, it wouldn't budge. Your grunts attracted the attention of several other walkers nearby, and they started stumbling toward you. Placing one hand on its chest, and the other gripping the knife, you pulled as hard as you could, stumbling back onto the frame of the car. You had successfully retrieved the knife and plowed it through the second walkers head. Grabbing your backpack, you sprinted down the road, the opposite direction the walkers were coming from. The way you were going, you were getting farther away from the prison but there was no way you could turn around, the street was quickly filling up with the dead and there was no way you could take them alone. 

After you ran what you thought was a fair distance, you turned and saw a couple of walkers still heading your direction. You bent over and your hands gripped your knees as you tried to catch your breath. The groaning was growing louder and despite your aching lungs, you continued running. The heat beating down from the sun was leading you to sweat like crazy, and without water, you knew it was dangerous to keep going so intensely. Ahead of you was a crashed car, with clothes strewn around it. You stumbled forward thinking of how Maggie and Glenn had just left you. You weren't made, and you didn't blame them. You had your own car, how were they to have known something would've gone wrong?  

Peering into the windows of the car, you saw it was empty except for an esky on the passenger seat. Sitting in the drivers seat, you leant down and attempted to hot-wire the car, something Daryl had taught you. It spluttered for a few seconds before cutting off. Dead. Leaning back in the seat, your thoughts wondered to Daryl. The two of you had been a 'thing' for a while, neither of you feeling the need to define what you were. The rest of your group knew, and when they first saw Daryl embracing you back at the Atlanta camp, they all seemed to subconsciously agree you'd be good for him and they were right. Over time, Daryl was still reserved, but he was more open to communicating with the group. Last night, however, the two of you got in a fight, It was stupid and you knew you had been in the wrong, yet you had stormed out of your shared cell and spent the night on the floor of Beth's cell. You hadn't seen him since, and it pained you to think that could've been the last time you saw him.

Running a hand through your hair, you shook all thoughts of him from your mind, and turned you attention to the esky. Unclipping it, you pulled the lid off and an absolutely putrid smell wafted out. You gagged before slapping your hand over you nose. It smelt as though a thousand corpses were rotting in the small container. You hastily combed through the packets of meat inside till you found a bottle half filled with water. Pulling it out, you slammed the lid back on the esky, before opening the passenger door and pushing it out. You closed the door and leant back on the seat. Raising the bottle to your  mouth, the exterior of the bottle retained the smell from inside the esky, but considering your lack of options, you didn't have the luxury of being picky. Taking small sips you placed the bottle in a cup holder and stared out the front windscreen. A lone walker crossed from one side if the road to the other, entering the forest and disappearing. You needed a plan, a way to get back, but due to the setting, you decided your best bet was to spend the night in the car, and head back in the morning when the walkers had hopefully cleared. 

Curling up on the backseat of the car, it was surprisingly comfortable. It was quiet outside, not a walker to be heard, and it gave you a sense of security. You had locked all the doors and covered yourself in a seat cover for a source of warmth. 

"Who.. who are you?? Please don't, just go away!" Menacing eyes just stared down at you, lips curly back over a toothy grin. A hand wrapped around your throat and another covered your eyes. "Please... I'm begging you, stop!" A gunshot in the distance caused you to jolt upright, heartbeat racing and a tear slipping down your cheek. You attempted to take a deep breath but you ended up coughing, covering your mouth to be as quiet as possible. Was the shot real, or had you imagined it? Keeping your head low and pulling the seat cover over your head, you peered out the window. The sky was a pale orange and you saw the sun glimmering through the trees. It was morning, internally congratulating yourself for making it through the night. You hadn't had a nightmare in what seemed like ages, they seemed to have stopped when the group had arrived at the prison. 

You took a few more sips of your water when you heard the faint sound of voices. You couldn't make out what they were saying, but they were getting closer. You grabbed your knife and looking out the back window, you couldn't quite make out who it was. The sun was casting shadows over their faces, but as they neared you heard one of them say something about the car you were currently occupying. 

"Oh dear god, please keep walking." You whispered to yourself. You slid to the side of the backseat, so you were closer to the forest should you need to run. You pulled the seat cover over you once more and held your breath. You could hear their footsteps now and their conversation had ceased. Their footsteps stopped and you gripped your knife tighter. There was silence for a few seconds before you heard a voice lowly mutter

"She isn't here Daryl, we should keep going." You waited till you heard their footsteps moving away before you pulled the seat cover off of you. You leant forward to look out the front window, and sure enough you saw Rick and Daryl, walking away. You unlocked the door and shoved it open, leaning down to grab the backpack of supplies you'd gathered the previous day. The door creaked loudly causing the two men to turn around, Rick with his gun drawn and Daryl with his crossbow aimed at the car. 

"Who's there? Show yourself." You groaned at the stupid door and slowly stepped out, arms raised. 

"It's me, guys."

"(Y/N)?" You grabbed the backpack and stepped away from the car, arms still raised.

"Yeah." They lowered their weapons and slowly walked towards you.

"You alrigh'?" You knew Rick was asking if you were bit, it was a fair question.

"I'm good." Daryl slung his crossbow over his shoulder and ran to you, picking you up in an embrace. You wrapped your arms around his neck as he held you. You heard Rick laugh and Daryl put you down, planting a kiss on your lips. You placed a hand gently on his cheek and when he pulled away, he quickly kissed your forehead before stepping back with a smile on his face. 

Arriving back at the prison, Maggie ran up to you, apologizing profusely for leaving you. You tried assuring her it wasn't their fault and pulled her in for a quick hug, before heading to the cells. You sat at one of the tables downing a bottle of water and some rice leftover from the night before. It was quiet in the cells aside from a distant conversation presumably between Beth and Hershel. Standing, you cleaned you plate and headed into your cell. You sat on the end of the bed and rested your forehead on your knees. Daryl hadn't really said anything on the ride back to the prison, making you wonder if he was still mad. You didn't realise how long you sat there, lost in your thoughts, when someone sat on the bed next to you. You jumped slightly before you realised it was Daryl. You didn't look up at him, instead reaching for his hand and holding it between the two of yours. 

"Thankyou for saving me." He didn't respond, instead wrapped his other arm around you. "I'm also sorry about the other night, when I yelled at you. I shouldn't have, you hadn't done anything wrong, was just in a shitty mood and took it out on you."

"S'okay. Just glad ya back."

"I had a nightmare again.. last night. The same one." He froze for a second, then kissed your forehead and whispered in your ear;

"Ya safe now, I got ya, and I ain't ever lettin' ya go again."