Norman Reedus Imagines

Damsel (1) (Daryl)

Requested

Watching the fiery sun rise in the morning was one of the few joys I looked forward to when waking up to a world of living corpses. Life had its perks, not having to worry about bills, work, schooling, any stress of the sort. But with that, came several downsides as well.  Fearing every second that you might not make it to the next, it's terrifying to say the least. But for a short while we're able to forget all that. Like life never ended.

I examined each nick on my hunting knife. Remembering each significant flaw from a certain time, going back even before shit hit the fan. Smiling at some, holding back the tears from others, never allowing myself to forget any of them.

I nearly sliced the tips of my fingers upon hearing the screen door slam against the doorframe.  Revealing my half asleep brother who stumbled onto the porch and fell back into the white wooden rocking chair.

"I'll never know how you do it, waking up this damn early." He said in a slur.

"Military my dear brother, early bird gets the worm." My alert and upbeat attitude was too much for him this early in the morning. He let out a small laugh and shook his head in denial as we sat in silence for the remainder of the morning. Just like every morning.

After the jobs were assigned to everyone for the day we all dispersed. Lori and Carol headed towards the house while Andrea and Glenn made their way for the RV. As usual, I was given watch. Having experience in areas such as focus and being alert at all times I guess locked me in place for this job. I didn't mind it however, I liked isolating myself from everyone. Just to get away for a bit.

With each day of watch, also meant a daily visit from none other than Shane. He makes it a habit to say hello and also tries to persuade me into dropping by his room.

While setting up my equipment and gathering anything I needed in order to be prepared for the day, the noise of shuffling feet over the coarse dirt path caught my attention. And right off the bat I knew what I was in for. "Good Morning Shane." I said without even turning around.

"Getting predictable am I?"

"Just a little bit." I poured all my focus at the moment into making sure everything was in order. Going over the supplies and making sure I was set.  All of a sudden my brain went from one task to another by the feel of a hand just above my hip.  Almost as a reflex, I spun around and had my knife ready by my side. He backed off as soon as he saw the warning. With his hands up in surrender he smirked and took a step back.

"Woah, easy."

I took a deep breath, channeling everything I had to not let loose on him and retracted the blade before making any rash decisions. "Shane, I know what your intentions are, and I don't have any problems putting you back in line." He laughed to himself, proving that he didn't believe me.

"What was that? You think you could put me  in my place I suggest you try it." He said while flashing a smirk, acting cocky.

I wanted nothing more than to show him what he was dealing with, but just before I could a loud, high pitched whistle cut the tension between us. We looked to the side to see Daryl standing in the distance talking to T-Dog. He nodded for me to come over but I hesitated.

"Better run, Dixon's callin' for ya." My blood boiled but I refused to let him get what he wanted. He would love to get a rise out of me, but no matter how hard it was to fight back I wouldn't give that to him. So, I smiled, turned away and made my way towards Daryl and my brother without saying another word. As I walked away it was easy to tell his eyes were on me, but I ignored him nonetheless, until tomorrow for another daily greeting.

Daryl didn't say a word except look to the woods and motion for me to follow him. Before I could protest he started walking. Looking to my brother I only received a look of pity and annoyance. Probably from witnessing my daily dose of Shane. He turned and walked in the opposite direction. As if I was at a crossroad, I debated on which way to go. Ultimately my gut yanked me towards the redneck wielding his crossbow.

For a while now I've grown quite fond of the youngest Dixon. That secret however, would be kept for the grave. We walked side by side, every now and then one of us would walk ahead of each other, not even sure of the main destination. After a while of endless walking I spoke up.

"So, where is it we're going exactly?" I asked while looking down to see where I was stepping. Just then he stopped and put his hand behind him, getting me to stop. He maneuvered his way through the trees until he found a spot comfortable enough to take the shot. In an instant, the bolt left his crossbow and straight into the back of a squirrel, leaving him lifeless. Daryl picked it up and added it to the chain of others on his belt. Although it wasn't a pretty sight, it was considered beautiful when we're all starving.

"Wanna try?" He asked while looking back. Taken back considering he never let anyone touch his precious weapon, I eagerly grabbed it from his hands.

"Now, what you're gonna wanna do is-"

Before he could finish I adjusted my stance as well as the placement of the bow in my hands and shot at the tree ahead in between two branches. He stopped for a moment, unsure of what to say. As I marched up to the tree and claimed the bolt, he stormed up to me and ripped the crossbow from my hand.

From there, we spent the rest of the day outdoing each others' skills. He would kill more than me, but whenever it came to a precise target he was always just a little off. After a while we started taking on the walkers, every few adding to our personal scores. I ended with twenty, Daryl finished with seventeen.

As we walked out of the woods past the tree line we saw the sun setting, realizing how far we'd been out there. I smirked and walked with him back to the farm house emitting light.

"Whatcha smirking about?" He asked.

I stopped myself before continuing. "Thank you, for today." His stern glare relaxed a little as he continued to listen. "This is the most fun I've had since being here."

He nodded and started walking again. "Figured you needed help with your situation." He said as he gestured to the camp, referring to Shane.

"Nothing I couldn't handle."

"Then why didn't you?" He asked sincerely.

"You think I'd let someone like him walk all over me? I'm just giving him chances before he realizes what he's messing with."

Daryl smirked back at my comment, I even think I got a small, barely audible laugh out of him. The closer we got to the house the slower we walked until we stood at the base of the steps. I took a step forward and gave him a side hug. Even the small gesture surprised him as he stood still, unable of how to react. He put his arm around me just before I backed away.

"See you in the morning." I said and walked up the steps. He nodded and turned the opposite way, walking back into the dark of the night towards his camp. I felt bad he was all alone on his own, but that's how he is, and I wasn't gonna push him in any way he didn't want to go or try to persuade him to come inside with the others.

The next morning was spent the same way as always, I was sharpening my tools, my brother was complaining about the early morning hours which you think he'd be used to by now, and we watched the sun stretch above the horizon. Except, my focus wasn't aimed towards the sun. Daryl was moving things around, helping Glenn and Rick when he caught me staring at him. I smirked and waved, him sending a small smile in return before going back to what he was doing.

After our outing, we ended up going on more runs together, and showing each other our techniques as well as how to use the different weapons we used. Even though I knew how to use the majority of the ones he showed me, it was funny having him teach me everything I already know.

The daily visits from Shane dwindled down next to nothing, and life was good again. After a while he realized I didn't want anything, and was never going to want anything.

It was all in balance, everything was better now.

Sorry this one is shorter and not as detailed as the others, I didn't want to write something that would not coincide with the main character being it was a request.  :)