TWD ~ Daryl + Reader ~

Reasons

You open your eyes to find yourself against the back wall of the pharmacy. You sit up and see that your head was on a stack of unopened sterilized cloths. You look down at your right-hand to see your index finger is back in place and is taped to the other fingers.

"How many times have ya done that?" You look to the medicine cabinets and in front of the ones on the left sits Daryl, rifle in hand staring at the door that leads to the rest of the store.

"Only once-"

"By how easy it was ta snap the finger back inta place it was more than once." You shift so your back is against the wall and your knees are up in front of you.

"It happens when I try to fight a panic attack." Daryl looks over at you, "Small spaces with walkers banging on stuff all around me, it sets the whole thing in motion."

"Do ya think we're gonna die?"

"No." You drop your head, "It just reminds me of my mom." You look back at Daryl whose eyes are wide.

"What happen'd?" His voice is low with a slight gravelly texture to it, you find it soothing.

"For the first three months of this shit, I was with my mom and brother. We found out about my Uncle Gregory, having a safe place where walls were being built." You draw your knees closer to your chest, "We were heading there, with nothing keeping us alive but pocket knives, crackers, and my pop's bow." Your right-hand grabs your left index finger, "We got about halfway there when we were stopped by three men, one yelled 'claimed' towards my mom, another yelled it at me. We didn't know what it meant until my brother and I were stuffed inside a car watching each man rape our mom, then one killed her cause she started fighting back." Daryl looked away from you, "They were making their way towards me and my brother when a giant group of walkers came past, making the guys run off, but leaving my brother and me to listen to the sound of them eating out mom and them banding on the car trying to get us."

"Small spaces n walkers bangin' on your surroundin's, it makes ya go back to that moment and relive it." You nod. "Fuck that." You look back over to Daryl who's starting to stand up.

"What?"

Daryl walks over to you and helps you up, "If ya wanna survive out here ya gotta be able to channel that and not let it control yah."

"How?" Daryl picks up the packages of the sterilized cloths and stuffs them into your bag and hands it to you.

"By takin' all your anger out on the fuckers outside o' here." You wide-eyedly look at Daryl, "Ya fight until your all-out then ya feel your feelin's"

"So, we're getting out of here I take it."

"Ya were out for a few hours, they'll be spread out a lil'."

"Alright," you pull out a knife for each hand as Daryl gets ready to open the door, "let's go."

You both run for the door, killing every walker that gets close to you on your way. When you're both out, Daryl pulls the doors shut.

"It won't hold'em for long, let's go." Daryl says as he climbs on his bike and you jump on behind him, sitting closer to him than expected.