Savage World •••Daryl Dixon•••

Lonely Memories

"Asher, sweetheart, wake up." The girl shot upright, breath heaving her ribcage and filling the air before her with white vapor. Walkers growled outside, hands sliding against filmed glass to leave streaky handprints.

Time for her to get moving again.

Slinging on her bow and arrows, she climbed up into the upper levels of the small building and found a broken window to use and climb up to the rooftop. Before she left the relative safety of the building, she scooped up a ruined book reading 'The Neverending Story' across the dingy cover and a lighter she took from a convenience store a few miles back. Once on the roof, she flipped open the book to find the best page to catch fire. She found a clean and dry page, the print faded but still readable in some places.

"Don't let the sadness of the swamps get to you. You have to try. You have to care. You're my friend. I love you..."

Asher softly sighed and swiped at the runaway tears, her hand working to make the lighter click to life. She caught flame to the page and watched the words be eaten into ash before launching it out into the street where she had piled other flammable objects to act as her distraction. It didn't take long for the dead to start flocking for the flames, their rotting skin catching the fire almost as easily as the rest of the kindling. Turning to the building to her right, she took in a deep breath and a running start.

Slamming her converse into the edge of the rooftop, she felt her muscles coil up and shoved off the building with all her might. This was one of the largest gaps she's attempted to span, almost six foot in length. She landed on the rooftop with a grunt and a few rolls before she splayed out on her back to catch her breath. The next building was caved and unstable so she knew she had nowhere to go but down. Finding the door to the staircase, she cringed at the shriek the rusted hinges made but swung the door open anyway and sprinted down the steps as quickly as she could, fighting off the flashbacks as she went.

"Asher, baby girl, you awake?" She jolted up and scanned around her for an immediate enemy, stopping when she saw it was just Daryl gently shaking her awake. She had fallen asleep somehow as she waited with the others about Carl's surgery.

"Hey Dixie, anything yet?" He shook his head no.

"No, but you look like you're about to fall off that railing. C'mere." He held out his arms towards her, hands motioning back at himself for her to move towards him. Sleepily, Asher slid forward and snuggled up to the Dixon. "Attagirl. Get some sleep, I'll wake ya when they come out."

Stopping on the ground floor, she waited a second to see if any of the walkers had followed her over but she heard nothing except crackling fire and grumbling zombies as they burnt up. Opening the side door, she checked to see if the coast was clear before making her break for the parked Harley Davidson motorcycle she left at the corner. Throwing on the saddlebags, she kicked the bike to life and sped down the road before the noise drew more towards her. Soon the little town was a bump on the horizon and she was left with the wind, the sky, and her memories.

"Dixie, will you ever teach me how to ride?" She crosses her arms over the seat of the motorcycle and looked down at the man as he worked to repair a torn hose. He glanced up from his work and smirked at the girl who raised her eyebrows at him.

"You want to learn to ride a bike? They're pretty loud, and fast."

"I know, but you do so why not?" Daryl's smirk pulled wider into a smile and a chuckle.

"Looks like I'm rubbin' off on ya, sweetheart."

Asher shook her head clear of him and the group. She was on her own now it seemed. She turned a sharper corner and swerved around a few straggling walkers. As she was busy dodging walkers, she missed the line of tire spikes crossing the road. Her tires slammed into the spikes with a loud pop and hissing of escaping air before the front end slammed to a halt.

The back tire flew up with the momentum and she flipped through the air. Metal slammed against asphalt and she rolled another ten feet down the road before being flung from the ruined machine to slam into the dirt of a nearby ditch. Air dissipated from her lungs and she wheezed out her breath in pain.

"Son of a bitch!" She turned on her side and worked to force herself to breathe again.

"You alright?" She looked up from the ground at Daryl's smiling face. "I warned ya about the jolts."

"I know, just forgot how ass kicking it was." He crouched down and held out his hand for her to use for help up.

"You'll get it, just takes a bit of practice."

Asher blinked away the memory and she was met with a whole new face. One she definitely didn't know. Jet black hair slicked back over sparkling blue eyes and a surprisingly well-groomed bearded smile.

"Looks like we got ourselves a live one!" His voice faintly echoed in her ears as wheezing coughs shook her ribcage. "Bring around the van, we gots a new play toy!" Whoops and hollers were heard but she couldn't find the breath or impulse to fight back and run away. The man tapped her ribs with his boot, Asher jerking away from his touch with a weak growl.

"Leave me alone."

"Quite a fighter if you're this snappy after that tumble you just took. Good, makes this more fun for me." He reaches down and prods one of her bleeding cuts with his finger, a wicked smirk curling his thin mouth when she involuntarily moans in pain. Bringing his red coated fingers to his lips, he ran his tongue over them to lick the blood away.

"Oh yes, I'm gonna have so much fun with you."