The Ðying Liƒe. »A Walking Dead Fanfic«

14. Make Things Right

The next few nights were horrible on me. My insomnia had returned and it didn't help that every time I closed my eyes all I would see was Daryl's face. When I did manage to fall asleep I had horrid nightmares about walkers chasing me down a dead end ally. As I ran, there would be numerous doors on either side of me. I would run up to each one and yank on them as hard as I could, but they were always locked.

With the walkers gaining on me, I'd reach the very last door at the end of the ally. Pulling on it, it would open just a crack and then someone on the inside would slam it shut. I would yell at whoever was inside, begging them to let me in. Daryl's face would appear in the small window of the door and I was always glad to see him.

"Daryl! Daryl!" I would call to him, "Please let me in! Please!" Tears would stream down my face. He would only look at me with his stone expression and shake his head. I could feel the color drain from my face as the walkers crept up behind me and pulled me to the ground.

The last thing I would see was Daryl's cold expression as the walkers started tearing into my flesh and then I would wake up covered in sweat. Sometimes I would have to hurry and run from my tent to vomit in a bush.

I had no idea what I was going to do about the mess I'd created. I never meant to hurt Daryl. His outside was a brash roughness, but I knew it didn't go very deep. It was the only way he knew how to show me he cared, but my temper threw it right back in his face. Even though I never cared for Merle, he was Daryl's brother, his blood, his kin and I didn't even know what he considered me.

I was standing outside one night after I had gotten sick and was looking up at the moon. It was bright and full and it illuminated the farm land like a big spotlight. In the eerie light of the moon, everything had a blue wash over it. There were so many stars out, it was beautiful. I ran both hands through my hair and twisted it at the base of my neck. I knew I had to make things right with Daryl. I had to. I cared about him so much and, if I was lucky, he would still care about me.

The next morning I woke up with a splitting headache. Times like these made me miss modern medicine. I trudged up to Andrea pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and middle finger. "Dang, you alright?" She asked taking in the condition I was in and trying hard not to laugh.

"No, I feel like shit," I replied as I dropped down on the picnic table. I looked up and Lori's eyes darted next to me. Through the grogginess of my headache, I hadn't noticed Carl sitting at the table. I looked at him and grimaced, "Ah, sorry, Carl. I meant to say I feel like crap."

He looked at me and grinned, "Its OK, I've heard worse." I winked at him. Lori looked at Andrea and she only shrugged as I laid my head down in my arms.

I felt Carl get up from the table only to be replaced by another body. I lifted my head with as little effort as I could spare and peeked out over my arm. It was Glenn. He had a sunshine of a smile on his face. "Can I help you?" I grumbled at him. His smile never wavered as he held out his hand. In it were two small pain relievers, in the other hand was a cup of water. I looked down at his hand, "Where did you get those?" I asked.

"Maggie had them. She got them from Patricia." Glenn was once again my savior. "Here, take 'em," he grabbed my hand and dropped the two white pills in it. I tossed them into my mouth and drank from the cup.

Glenn watched me as I did this, rolling his tongue around in his cheeks. I looked at him, "What?" He opened his mouth to speak then snapped it shut, then opened it again. "If you have something to say, then say it!" He blew out his cheeks.

"You and Daryl, have you, um.. Did you guys.." he tried to say. "Did we what? Have sex?" I asked and his face went red. "Uh, yeah," he looked so embarrassed. "Have you and Maggie?" I tried to throw him for a loop. I took a gulp of water and raised a questioning eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, we have," he answered boldly and I almost chokes on the water. I wiped my mouth with my sleeve and glared at him. He looked right back at me trying to match the intensity in my eyes. We looked at each other for a moment and then broke out into laughter.

I couldn't stay mad at him, he was too nice to be mad at. "So, what are you gonna do about Daryl?" he asked after we calmed down. I sighed, "I don't know. I didn't mean to say what I said."

"Really? What you said about Merle? I think you said what everyone had always wanted to say, but were too afraid to." He raised his eyebrows at me.

"Eh, I never wanted to say it out loud, mean. Especially in front of Daryl, but he just made me so angry. I don't know why he would say what he said." I rested my forehead between my thumb and index finger and traced the knots in the wood of the picnic table.

"You really care about him, don't you?" I shot my eyes sideways at him, his head was cocked to one side. "You should talk to him. You may not think he'd listen, but I think he would." My eyes went blurry as they lined with tears. "You deserve to be loved too Nora," he smiled at me and rubbed a hand on my back.

I sniffled and gave him a half smile, "Thanks."

"So, did you guys do it?" he asked completely ruining the nice moment. I laughed at him and bumped him with my shoulder, "wouldn't you like to know?"

"That's why I asked," he replied with a serious face.