Survive

Hannah

When I woke up, I was alone in bed. I could tell it was late in the day from the way the sun shined into my room. I slowly got out of bed and made my way into the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror. Eyes puffy and red. Great. I didn't get much sleep last night. Images of last night and past victims I used to know all came crawling back into my mind. My head still hurt from the fall from the watch post. I forgot about it with all the events going on yesterday.
"Are you awake? Is that you Hannah?"
I poked my head out of the bathroom into the hall. I could see Daryl downstairs all sweaty and dirty. That was normal.
"Ya." That was all I said quietly.
He ran up the stairs towards me, stopping right in front of me.
"I was out there helping everyone move the dead."
"How's Carl?" I ask quickly.
Daryl looked at me. I could see he was searching for the right words.
"Um, he's still unconscious. You should visit him, It'll make you feel better."
I shook my head, turning back into the bathroom.
"I wasn't close to him."
I said as Daryl entered the bathroom
"Still I think you should go. He's gonna make it so it's not another death on your mind."
I placed both hands on the sink staring down at them.
"Fine, but come with me."
"Rick will be there."
I looked up at him
"I want you there too."
He shifted and then nodded in response. I grabbed the large jacket hanging on the chair and made my way to the front door. I didn't know who's jacket it was, but I didn't care. Daryl hesitated before he finally followed me. I was speed walking to the infirmary to get this over and done with. When I walked in, I saw Carl still unconscious and Rick sitting right beside him. Rick's head shot up when he heard Daryl close the door behind me.
"Hey, Hannah. How are you?"
"Fine."
Rick stared at me for a while before deciding not to question me any further. Daryl stood beside me before making his way to the far side of the room. Denise entered going right over to Carl. I couldn't look at him. I didn't want to see another dead person, even though he was alive now, it could change.
"Denise can you check Hannah, she had dry blood on the back of her head yesterday and bruising all over her back," Daryl called out.
I looked up at Daryl, angry that he even said anything. Is that why he wanted me to come here?
"Daryl I'm fine."
He shook his head as he made his way back over to me grabbing me by the arm before I could get away.
"Denise can you just look?"
She nodded and walked over to me. I fought for a little bit until I knew it was no use in Daryl's grip. He lifted my shirt when Denise got close.
"Oh my."
She said. I trying to look over my shoulder to see my back but I could get a good look.
"What happened?" Rick asked. I shuffled out of Daryl's grip once I felt it loosen.
"I fell out of the watch post by the front entrance when the intruders came in."
"Well there's nothing I can do about the bruising, that has to heal on its own, but I do want to look at your head."
My hand rose to the back of my head. It didn't hurt as much anymore but there was still some pain. I nodded and turned back around. She looks at it quickly and walked away.
"It's not bad, just a cut.  It might need stitches though."
Daryl grabbed my arm and pulled me to sit down so Denise could get a better look.
"I ducking cracked my skull?" I said in disbelief
"Looks like it. It's not bad and your body seems to be dealing with it alright." Denise said back.
When she was done looking at my head wound, I went over to Rick and stood next to him. I looked down at Carl for a second before leaving the infirmary. Daryl followed me.
"I'll be back Daryl. I have to get something."
I broke out into a jog back to the house. When I go there, I went upstairs and grabbed the box Carl had given me. I pulled out a piece of the blue ribbon and ran back to the infirmary.
"What's that?" Daryl asked as I pushed past him.
I took Carl's hand and placed the ribbon in it.
"Not much, but it'll show we are all counting on you, Carl. To recover."
Rick looked up at me and nodded as I headed back out. Daryl stayed with Rick this time, giving me some space.
When I got back to the house I went upstairs again. I decide to take a nap. I was sore from the fall I took the day before and just wanted to sleep the pain off. When I finally go to bed, I heard the front door open.
"Hannah?"
"Ya up here," I yelled before rolling back over in the bed. I heard footsteps go up the stairs and enter the bedroom.
"You ok?"
I sat up at his words.
"Ya, I am. Just a little sore, nothing I can't handle."
He nodded coming over to my side of the bed.
"We can't catch a break. Something happens every day."
He laughed a little before going silent. I reached out to turn his face to face mine. I pulled him in for a kiss. He kissed back right away and brought his hand to my cheek. I tried to toughen up the kiss, but Daryl kept trying to keep a slow pace.
"Daryl please," I whined. He awkwardly shifted before he let me pull him on top of me as I laid back on the bed. He made sure not to put all his weight on me. I tugged at the hem of his shirt to signal him to take it off. He pulled away from our kiss and looked me in the eyes to make sure there was no hesitation. I began to take off my shirt as the kiss got more heated. Daryl's hands went up and down my body as he took in every one of me. He leaned down and started to kiss my neck and chest. I moaned in response cause him to smirk at me. I pulled his lips back up to meet mine as I fumbled with his belt. He chuckled as his hands replaced mine to take off his pants. I reached down and took mine off too. Daryl pulled away one last time to see if there was anything hesitation.
"I love you, Daryl."
I said looking back into his eyes. He leaned down and kissed me hard. I could feel how much he loved me even without him saying it.
*Later On*
Daryl and I lay there on the bed with my head on his chest and my pointer finger tracing little circles on his chest. It was nice to have this alone time so we could have some... fun.
"I really don't know anything about you. I only know about your brother."
I sighed as I continued drawing little circles.
"A new life has started. This isn't the same world we used to live in. It's a new one and this is a new life. I wanna forget about all the old stuff." I could tell Daryl didn't like my answer
"What do you wanna know?" I said with a sigh.
"Whatever you want."
I thought for a second.
"It's gonna belong."
He placed his arm around me instead of having it lay on the bed beside me.
"I can take it."

"Well, I'm actually from up North. We lived in a small town close to Washington. The winters were so bad so after experiencing one during the apocalypse, we decided to head down south. We lost a lot of people, but once we got to Georgia the winter was worth it. People started to go crazy though. Just always worried. My brother Matt and this other girl Grace decided to just leave. We ended up finding another group but there were so many herds of the dead to avoid that we figure we did not want to see any more deaths so we left that too. Grace and Matt were close, closer than Matt and I and we were blood. My parents got divorced when we were younger and he never forgave me for staying with my dad and not going with him to our mothers. Anyway, one morning when Matt when for a run, I slept in. I heard this weird noise and when I looked out of the tent, she was being ripped apart by the dead. I never really got over that. Just the look on her dead face was haunting. My brother Matt never forgave me for that too. When I got hurt falling off the cliff, I think he was happy about it. I don't remember much after that, just being left behind. Then you found me."
It was silent after I finished talking. I stopped tracing circles and just placed my hand down on his chest.
"My childhood was not that great either. I was abused by my father and left behind by my brother who was in and out of Juvenile detention. That's all I really wanna say. It's hard. I was the one that had to put him down when he turned. We have lost a lot of people in this group. It's hard not to forget."
I could tell that it was hard for Daryl to open up. When he stopped talking, I choose not to push him further. The past is the past and now in this apocalyptic world, you have to learn to move on.
We just stayed like this as I listened to him breathing. I slowly started to fall asleep as Daryl began to rub his hand through my hair.