Savage World •••Daryl Dixon•••

Trigger Fever

TRIGGER WARNING PLEASE READ WITH CAUTION!!!

Daryl was gone the second it was light enough to discern tree trunks from walker bodies. Rick said morning, but he never said he had to wait for the sun. Asher had to be found.

"But where do I even start?!" He leaned against a tree and glared at the sky like he was waiting for some all knowing old man in a beard to lean through the atmosphere and tell him what he wanted. Heaving a deep sigh, he pushed off and turned northwest and started to walk. He couldn't do much else but walk and leave markers for her to find them.

His cough got worse the further out he went, but he didn't care. A sore throat wasn't going to slow him down. Daryl walked for hours, stopping every so often to leave simulated animal scratches on tree trunks to help track where he had been. He stopped at noon after he had shot down a squirrel to clean and cook it for his lunch.

"I may have a base but this is still random as shit." He kicked dirt over the small fire and hefted his stuff on his back to continue trekking along. Encountering a few walkers along the way, he was forced to turn himself back and head to the prison so he wasn't left out in the dark on his first day searching. He threw open the gates and slammed them shut behind him in a rage. Rick was the first to meet him inside the fences.

"Where have you been?!" Daryl glared to tell him not to push the subject further.

"You said 'til morning. I left at morning."

"You can't just run off half cocked without telling me! You could've gotten hurt! Or worse!" Daryl growled lowly and brushed by the cop.

"Still playin king I see." Rick growled in his throat and turned to the man, words blurting our before he could stop himself.

"Still playing the moronic wild card I see." Daryl froze and slowly turned around, tired eyes blazing angrily.

"What did you just say to me?" Rick bit the inside of his cheek and walked by the enraged redneck.

"Just don't go running off without telling me where you're going. Tomorrow we take the prison. I need you here to help us clear it out. You can start again the day after." The Dixon growled at the ground before huffing out a sarcastic 'yessir' and moving back to his perch on the bus. He fought off sleep and coughed into his makeshift poncho until his ribs hurt and he felt like his throat was sandpaper. As hard as he fought off the darkness, he ended up passing out leaned against a tire and Rick shook him gently awake.

"You okay? You look a little sick." Daryl shook him off and pushed to his feet.

"Fine. Let's just clear this damn place so I can get goin again. I got better shit to be doin." Rick nodded and they spent all morning clearing out a whole cell block, deciding it was good enough and they can debate cleaning out another cell block another day.

"Alright. I'm off, I'll be back within the week. I think I'm gonna make a circle around the prison, find a few towns and leave somethin for Asher if she goes through 'em." Rick sighed but nodded to let him know he was alright to leave now that he had been informed. Daryl was packed and gone within an hour, this trip around he decided to use the motorcycle so he could cover more ground. In two days he only found one tiny town with no signs and one streetlight. He made his signal and continued on, stopping as the sun set at a small shack guarded by a couple of walkers. They were easily dealt with and he checked inside before busting open the door.

He shoved a chair under the doorknob in the case of a curious dead body or thief. Daryl was drenched in sweat and huffing out uneven breaths through gritted teeth. Whatever he caught had turned into full blown illness.

"No, I can't stop lookin. I gotta find her." He threw his gear and poncho off into a corner and fought to keep away the hallucinations. He blinked and Merle stood leaned up against the corner of the walls.

"Lookit there, baby brother Daryl all alone and feelin bad."

"You can shove your sarcasm, Merle. You ain't even real." The elder Dixon smirked and chuckled darkly before pushing off the wall to crouch a few feet from his brother.

"What're ya doin out here, baby brother?" Daryl rolled his eyes and glared at the man.

"Lookin fer Asher, she got pulled off my bike when the farmhouse fell. I need her back." Merle mockingly pouted as he spoke.

"If she got stuck in a herd then she's dead, ain't no debate. Yer chasing a dead girl while yer dyin yourself. Just give up."

"Not a chance in hell am I giving up. She's alive, she's strong. And I'm going to find her." Daryl coughed violently and shoved his arms into his armpits to keep them from shivering out of control. He felt a weight on his knee and he cracked open an eye to see a gun resting on his jeans.

"Why is that there?" Merle knocked it closer to him with a smirk.

"I figured if you're gonna be killin yourself by looking fer a dead girl then ya might as well end it now." Daryl grumbled angrily and closed his eye again.

"Fuck off, Merle. She ain't dead an' I'm gonna find her." A hand jerked him forward and forced the gun into his hand with a growl.

"Asher is dead! Do you hear me! Dead! There ain't a point ta this anymore! All you're gonna do is keel over from fever and come back as one of them walkers. Don't you go out like that, you do what yer big brother says and end this!"

"No! Asher's alive! Yer lyin'!" Merle bared his teeth like a wild animal and forced him to lift the gun towards his head. "Merle! Stop! I gotta find her! She's alone!"

"She ain't alive! Asher is long dead! She's dead and there ain't nothin left here fer ya here! Put this to an end! It's over, baby brother, everything left fer ya here is dead! Everything! Give up." Daryl felt tears stream down his cheeks and his hands started to shake not with the fever and sickness. He was scared. Scared that what Merle was saying had merit and truth. Scared that Asher was gone and he was truly alone. Merle's hands steadied his own and acted like a guiding force to lift the barrel and slide the metal between his teeth.

"That's it. That's the idea, baby brother. It'll be over before you know it. Just gotta pull the trigger." Daryl scrunched his eyes closed and sobbed around the gun barrel in his teeth.

With trembling hands, Daryl pulled the trigger.