Light | TWD | Daryl Dixon Fanfiction

032

It was a strange thing when time suddenly meant nothing. Juliana was unsure of how long she had been in the small, dark, damp room. Sometimes a larger man would open the door, the dim light from the hallway cutting into the dark, and would push in a small plate with a piece of bread and who knows what else on top.

"Negan says you need to eat."

Her tongue darted out, trying to wet her cracked lips. While her stomach twisted and turned with uncomfortable hunger, she couldn't give in. It was just the principle of it. As she shifted slightly to turn towards him a little more, her shoulder shot a sharp pain up and down her entire arm, causing her to wince.

"Negan can fuck off."

A loud bang against the metal door caused both of them to jump, and out from behind the door came Negan, swinging that barbed wire wrapped bat around menacingly. The large man bowed his head, wordlessly stepping out of the way of him. He may have been larger than Negan, but Negan towered over him in every other way.

"Oh, I know you did not just mouth off," he twirled the bat in his hand, pointing the end at Juliana's face. She cowered slightly, and Negan took notice. A toothy grin crossed his face, "Oh shit. Are you scared? Fuck. They all break sometimes. Even those with the biggest of balls! And you, hot stuff, have some massive fucking balls!" he bounced back slightly on his heels as he spoke. Finally, Negan lowered the bat and took a few short steps into the cell. He crouched down, moving the bat to lay across his lap so he still had a grip on it.

His head cocked to one side slightly, "You get scared, but you don't scare easy; do ya?"

At this point, Juliana had been trying to avoid eye contact with him. Her gaze flickered up to him, catching his own gaze. Negan's grin widened, "All because you don't want to give up your friends, you get to suffer. Fuck. That's some deep shit."

He pushed himself up from his crouched position, turning his body slightly towards the open doorway, "Fay Joey!" he shouted. The larger man came scurrying in, "Let's take our guest to get a fucking front row view of what happens when rules are broken," he twisted back around to Juliana, "Those people we were looking for when you got shot have been found, and boy, and they in some deep fucking shit! I think you'll get a kick out of it."

Negan exited the room and Fat Joey made his way to Juliana, carefully reaching down and grasping her uninjured arm, pulling her up. "I'm sorry," he mumbled under his breath. She wanted to say something, ask him why he was sorry, maybe even beg him to let her escape, but somehow, she knew he wouldn't do either of those things. Even the most innocent and sweet people could become corrupted by evil all in the name of surviving.

Fat Joey pulled her out of the room and down the dimly lit hallway. At the end, there was what used to be an emergency exit door that was slightly propped open. With his free hand, Joey pushed open the door which led outside. The bright sun hit Juliana sharply, and she squinting, almost wincing as they stepped out into the sunlight.

"Jes-us Christ! You look even shittier in the day light! I can't help but imagine you look fine as hell when you're not fucking disgusting!" Blinking, as her eyes adjusted she saw Negan standing in front of her, along with a couple dozen men and two people who were also being held out front with their arms behind their backs. "Meet the fucking reason why you got all fucked up!" Negan slapped the shoulder of a blonde man next to him. Juliana watched as he visibly winced from the slap, "Ole Dwighty boy here really, really fucked up, didn't you Dwight?"

Dwight nodded, swallowing hard, "Yes sir."

"You broke a shit ton of fucking rules, and that shit doesn't fucking fly, does it, Dwight?"

"No sir."

Negan's hand dropped from Dwight's shoulder and extended out towards a motorcycle that was parked just outside of where everyone was standing in a semi-circle, "But at least you brought us back some nice fucking shit, I have to admit."

Juliana's heart stopped when she noticed the bike. While Negan spoke, she felt like she was underwater. It was the motorcycle Daryl had been working on. Unmistakable anger surged through her as she turned her attention to Dwight, furious.

"Where the fuck did you get that?!" she shouted, interrupting Negan's rant. Everyone fell silent, including Negan, as Juliana struggled against Fat Joey's grip. "I asked you where the fuck you got that bike, you son of a bitch!" she shouted, spit flying from her mouth.

Dwight's mouth opened, but nothing came out. Juliana twisted her arm against Fat Joey's grip before she cocked back her arm, elbowing him in the ribs. With a groan, he doubled over, releasing Juliana. With a burst of energy she shot forwards to Dwight, and with only inches to spare, was pulled backwards by two men.

Negan stepped in between the two, an amused grin on his face, "Are you going to answer the fucking lady, Dwight?"

"He had a crossbow."

It was all the confirmation Juliana needed. She lurched forwards again, like a dog on a short chain, "I swear to fucking god, I will kill you!" her voice stained against her shouting, "If you hurt him I will kill you!"

Sighing, Negan motioned to the men holding Juliana back, "Get her back to the fucking cell. She can't kill Dwighty boy here until he's gotten punished for breaking our rules," turning, her reached out, grabbing a hold of Juliana's chin and pulled her attention to him, "Don't ever interrupt me again." He warned, roughly letting go before turning his attention back to Dwight and mentioning something about an iron as Juliana was hauled back into the building and down the hall.

When the door slammed shut behind her, she pressed herself up against the cool wall, sliding her back down until she hit the concrete floor. Burying her head in her hands, a sob escaped her, and memories of her and Daryl rushed into her mind like a flash flood.

It was the night she and Daryl had shared their first kiss in the middle of Alexandria. She was the one who suggested he stay with her for the night. It was awkward at first, Daryl stood in the doorway on the room until Juliana assured him she wasn't pressuring him into anything. He eventually came in, sitting on the end of the bed as Juliana had curled up onto the bed.

"Ya think it could be like this all the time?" he mused, looking over his shoulder at her.

"What?"

"Ya know," he mumbled, shrugging. Juliana watched as he lifted a hand to his mouth, chewing on his finger nail, "Us. This," he dropped his hand and motioned around, "A place to stay."

"There's an us?"

"Don't act stupid."

Juliana sighed, sitting up and scooted towards the end of the bed where he was sitting. Sliding up next to him she reached out, grabbing his hand and began to trace random patterns on the back on his hand, "Someday," she whispered to him. Daryl leaned closer to Juliana, slinking his arm around her shoulder and placed a soft, lingering kiss on the side of her head.

"Someday."

With a heavy heart, Juliana took a deep breath in, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. She tilted her head upwards, leaning against the back of the wall, "Someday," she whispered to herself as her eyes fluttered closed.