Norman Reedus Imagines

On My Mind (1) (Daryl)

This same story was posted on @Mendusbabe account from a contest I won! Thought I might as well post it on here too - enjoy! :)

Things haven't been the same. The overall feeling of the family bond melted away when we split up. Rick and them, haven't seen them since.

It started with high hopes. Maybe one day I would wake up and see them downstairs or i'd walk around the neighborhood and bump into them occasionally. But that was only a dream far from reality.

The governor took a toll on all of us. Ripping Hershel away from us as well as our home, taking several others down in the process. The last I remember was seeing that terrified look on Carl's face as he skimmed the smoke in hopes of finding someone he knew. Before I could call out it was too late and I was out cold.

They tortured me, in more ways than one. But after a year or so, I walked out from under their hands with the scars that show I survived.  Leaving the governors men as bait to the walkers, hearing their cries for help didn't even phase me as I escaped, it wasn't like it was then, it wasn't like it is now.

"Natalie?" I heard Aaron call me, snapping me out of my thoughts. "You okay?" He said with a small smirk. All I could do was nod at this point. I don't think any of them have ever heard me speak other than an occasional hello or when I'd be spoken to. Their hearts were in the right place, while mine was still trying to find its place.

We stood near one of the walls surrounding Alexandria. People had small bowls of black paint next to them or whatever substance they mixed to act as paint. Some on ladders, others practically hugging the ground to get their loved ones names on that sheet of metal. To them it meant something, even if it was just temporary.

"Hand me that bowl please?" Aaron asked while I stared off into the distance. Practically standing on my toes to reach him, he met me half way and took the bowl. He wrote several names on the wall, making me wonder with that many people he's lost how he can be so happy all the time.

Deanna
Jessie
Sam
Ron

One by one I read them to myself as he added them, wondering what they were like, what they meant to him.

"You know, you can add some, if you wanted to." He said while giving a sympathetic look. With nothing more, I distanced myself from him and the wall. Taking my mind and my memories somewhere else.

I tried not to think of the others, the thought of simply not knowing can tear one up from the inside. We were all so close, and life was better than ever. Every moment spent with them, whether it had been running for our lives or staying up and talking back and forth, they were special.

People here try to understand, but they just don't know what it's like beyond their precious walls. It's almost as if they didn't know the world ended a long time ago. They were nice, and tried to be friendly, but they weren't what I call family.

As the day went on, everyone retreated back into their homes to prepare for another one of the parties they would throw for no apparent reason. I sat across the way on the lookout platform, seeing all the girls dressed in their nicest clothing and laughing with their smiles that stretched from cheek to cheek. The warm and social atmosphere flooding from the house they entered was almost too much. Peering in I saw many people, basically everyone in the neighborhood, all except for one.

"Not going?" Aaron said walking down the sidewalk dressed in somewhat formal, yet casual clothing. I shook my head no and offered a small smirk in return. "So you can smile!" He said with a shocked face. He noticed I was uncomfortable and lightly placed his hand on my shoulder before going up the steps into the swarm of others.