daryl dixon imagines

twenty-five

You hold your's and Daryl's daughter in your arms as you walk through the forest, darkness beginning to take over the previous daylight. You know you have to find somewhere to set up, soon your legs won't be able to walk any further. When the prison went down, you and Daryl got separated. Along with the rest of the group, of course. Your three year old daughter Eva was sick, and still is, with the sickness taking over the prison and you were inside with her when shit hit the fan. It was all a big blur but you hadn't seen Daryl once before leaving, causing a deep worry and an awful feeling inside your stomach all the time. But your poor daughter is still struggling with this deadly illness, and she's been asleep for almost the entire time since the prison. And by her even heavier breathing, you can tell she's still fast asleep on your shoulder. You weren't even sure if her being asleep was good or bad anymore. Being asleep meant she didn't have to suffer, but you also didn't want her to start choking on her blood, unable to wake up. You keep walking further into the forest, freezing when you see people in the close distance. You slowly step closer, your eyes widening when you see two guys holding a gun to Rick and Michonne's head who are sitting on a log in front of a fire, a bunch of other gang-looking men surrounding them as well. You squint your eyes to see the vehicle next to them, Carl standing next to it as a man gets very grabby with him, an evil smirk on his face as he holds a knife to Carl's neck. But, you're even more shocked when you see Daryl come out from the shadows, Rick and Michonne also looking shocked like this is also the first time they're seeing him. Thank god he's okay. How the hell did they run into trouble already? Daryl starts to talk to the man, but it doesn't look like a pleasant conversation. Your eyes widen when Eva starts coughing, quickly pressing her head into your shoulder to try and muffle it. But, everyone's heads immediately turn your way, some of the men pointing guns towards the both of you as you lurk in the shadow.

"Step out! Lift your hands above your head!" the guy who seems to be the leader says, but his gun still aimed at Rick's head. You nervously look around, seeing that there's no other way out before slowly stepping forward, the small glow from the fire revealing you and Eva. Daryl's head snaps over, looking like a mixture of surprised, relieved, happy, and worried after seeing you walk out.

"Are these guys with you?" the man asks Rick. Rick pauses, like he doesn't know what the right answer is to say.

"No," Rick says, making eye contact with Daryl.

"Please, my daughter is very sick. Don't hurt her," you beg, tears welling in your eyes.

"Give the kid to the boy," the leader guy says, pointing over to Carl.

"Back off for a sec, won't ya?" he asks the guy holding a tight grip on Carl. He slowly backs up as you start to walk over, glancing at Daryl quickly before placing Eva in Carl's arms. You carefully fix the rag covering her mouth before backing up, now in the middle of the circle.

"John, hold her," he orders, one of the men coming over and holding your hands behind your back.

"Now we've got two women," John says in your ear, loud enough for everyone to hear but still fairly quiet. Shivers send down your spine and Daryl steps forward, holding his hands above his head.

"Hey, you want revenge. You want blood, I get it. Take it from me, then. Just please, leave these people alone. They've got kids," Daryl says, slowly placing his crossbow on the ground in front of him.

"Teach him, boys. Teach him all the way," The guy says, most of the other guys surrounding daryl, immediately starting to beat him up. You squint your eyes shut, panting slightly before opening again, seeing the terrifying scene in front of you. Everything seems like a blur as the scene unfolds in front of you, Rick head-butting the guy behind him and his gun going off, Rick turning to punch him in the face. But, the guy regains himself and pushes Rick to the ground, aiming his gun at him.

"It's alright, boys. Oh, this is gonna be so much harder for you now!" the leader yells to Rick.

You look around and see that no one is looking at you except for Michonne and most likely John. Michonne gives you the slightest nod, and you quickly grab the gun from your pocket, using Ricks technique to head butt the guy behind you and shoot one of the men beating Daryl, then turning to shoot John. You quickly run to hide behind the tree, seeing Michonne succeeding at doing the same thing and shooting one more guy, Rick turning to bite into the leaders neck and blood squiring everywhere. Once you've shot everybody, just the guy next to Eva and Carl left, Rick slowly walks over, pushing the guy away. Daryl quickly regains himself, running to grab Eva and holding her tight in his arms. You come back out from your hiding spot, daryl opening his one arm and bringing you into the hug too, a large wave of relief washing through you from the much needed reunion. Michonne holds Carl as Rick brutally stabs the man who was threatening Carl. This night has been very eventful.

-

You slowly crawl out of the trunk, shutting it softly behind you as Eva still peacefully sleeps in there, knowing she'll be okay and safe because the trunk is attached to the back seats.

You step around the side of the car to see Daryl and Rick sitting on the ground, leaning against the blue car. Daryl looks up at you first, followed by Rick afterwards.

"Rick, you should clean up before Carl sees you," you say, walking over to sit next to Daryl. Rick nods, Daryl holding out the red rag from his pocket towards him. Rick accepts, attempting to wipe the dried blood off his face.

"It's a miracle the timing we had meeting each other again," Rick says. You nod, looking over at Daryl's bloody and bruised face.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure how much longer I could make it on my own. And I was nervous because Eva is so sick and- it was awful," you say.

"Was eating me alive not knowin' where you two were," daryl mumbles, fiddling with his hands as his elbows rest on his knees.

"Michonne found Carl and I a couple days back. I was pretty roughed up, felt like I was leaving Carl on his own," Rick admits.

"You're still a good dad, Rick. You were injured, and Carl's getting to the age where he's learning to care for himself. Even if he isn't now, he'll be thankful one day for all you've done for him," you say, Rick smiling up at you.

"Where were you headed?" Daryl asks Rick.

"We were gonna follow the tracks this morning towards that sanctuary, terminus. We figured that's where the rest of the group would be," he says.

"Cool, hopefully it works out," you say, leaning your head on Daryl's shoulder. He kisses the top of your head, both of you happy to have your little family together again.