Stray // Daryl Dixon

A Hard Pill to Swallow

It has been a couple of days with Randall in the shed. People have been talking circles around what we were going to do with him and a lot has seemed to happen in that time frame. I tried to distance myself as much as I could from the topic and the decision.

Originally Shane and Rick were going to let him go, but that didn't go as according to plan due to the overwhelming number of walkers that crowded the nearby towns. When they brought him back was when we found out just how brutal Randall's own group of people is. I could already figure out that much though from one of his buddies trying to kill me with his bare hands. Every night since I've woken up in a cold sweat from the dreams I have about it. Up until now, I have seen my fair share of horrors, but that was the first time I've had another person try and kill me.

Randall confessed that he was with more than thirty other men and most of them were not just in the mindset of trying to survive this new world but killing anything that crossed their path. They would slaughter the men and leave the women wishing they were dead. That had made the decision for us, we had to eliminate Randall for our own safety. He is just a kid though, which left Rick not able to go through with it. Dale was the only person pleased with this outcome, he had been fighting for Randall's life from the moment he stepped foot on this farm.

So that brings us to now, still just as confused as we were the very first day. The only person that seemed to have his mind made up was Shane, he wanted Randall dead and that was putting him and Rick at odds, leaving the entire group feeling like they had to walk on eggshells around the topic.

I was currently making my way up to Daryl's campsite, ever since we found Sophia and Roy's bodies in the barn he seemed to separate himself from the group as much as possible. Even though Herschel moved all of us into his house now, Daryl still insisted that he wanted his own space. I hadn't talked to him much since we blew up on each other when I got back from town, but I wanted to go hunting and he was the best person to accompany me.

The sun was beginning to set now so this would be the best time to go hunting for rabbits, which was what I wanted. There weren't many foods that were accessible to me now when I had a craving. I couldn't just go grab a tub of ice cream from the freezer when I wanted it, but knowing how to hunt at least granted me the option to get a few things that I desired. From afar I could see him sitting down on an old stump and hacking away at a piece of wood with his pocket knife.

"Hey, do you mind coming with me to hunt?" I asked, approaching where he sat. He stopped what he was doing and looked up at me. "I want to make a rabbit stew for tonight's dinner," I felt the need to explain myself. He didn't say a word, but he simply got up, walked over to where his crossbow leaned up against a tree and took off towards the forest. I took that as a yes and followed in suit. We walked quite a ways in and the silence he created between us was making me uncomfortable. I knew he didn't want to talk but I couldn't help myself. "How's your hand?" I asked, referring to the bloodied-up bruises he accumulated on his knuckles from hitting Randall.

He side-eyed me, taking his time before he answered, "How's yer neck?" he asked.

"Sore, but fine now," I answered, knowing how to hold a proper conversation.

"Same," he finally answered my question. The air fell silent between us again, we had now begun to step around the forest floor gently, trying not to make any sudden movements and listen for anything that came our way. "What was your brother like?" he asked softly, still trying to stay relatively quiet. I was taken aback by his sudden question for a moment. I thought about it and smiled.

"I think you would have liked him actually, he is--" I cut myself off, "was... a lot like me, we shared a lot of similarities in how we went about things," I explained.

"You mean stubborn and cocky?" Daryl asked, I think he was trying to make a joke because he tried to hide a small half-grin.

"Yes," I confessed, "but that's not what I meant. He was driven and always managed to put everyone else's well-being before his own."

"So that's how you put it." Now he was definitely smiling. Just then we heard a rustle come from the bushes to our right, we immediately stopped moving and waited for whatever was inside to show itself. "You take it," Daryl said, handing me his crossbow. I steadied the weapon in my line of sight hoping it would be a hare that would scurry out from the bush. Unfortunately, it was just a squirrel. I still took what I could get and shot the arrow, hitting it in its left shoulder.

"This is not what I wanted," I said as I picked up the dead squirrel.

"I'll go a little way up and see if I can find any tracks, you go down that way and see what you can find," Daryl said. I nodded my head and went to give his crossbow back to him. "Nah, you keep it in case you come across what you want."

I continued walking off in the direction I was told while Daryl walked along the trail we were on. Leaving the trail I could hear much more movement in the forest, it wasn't long until I heard more crunching of leaves, and this time the little steps sounded heavier than the squirrels. I was hoping that I was about to come across a chunky rabbit gearing up for the winter months ahead. I stayed quiet and still as I waited for the animal to show itself, I was not going back without this rabbit.

It was dark now and I knew they would all be coming out to look for food. I raised the crossbow again and focused on my target, I was ready. I was right, the biggest rabbit I had seen all year hopped out from its hiding place and I could feel my pulse rise with excitement. I was just about to shoot off the arrow when something grabbed at me from the side, tackling me to the ground. The crossbow went flying out of my hands above my head and I was winded by the body of a walker that crushed me beneath it.

"Daryl!" I screamed as I used all of the strength I had in my upper body to push the walker's head away from me. I had both my hands pressed against its neck as it growled and chomped at the air trying to get to me.

My eyes widened when I saw it was Randall hovering above me. His skin was only pale, not rotting away yet, and his eyes were glossed over in a murky grey. He had only turned a few hours ago. He was strong, too strong for me. Thinking fast I grabbed the dead squirrel attached to my belt and shoved it in his mouth, buying me some time. He immediately bit down on the dead animal, opening up the squirrel's stomach and sending a pool of blood down onto my face, I couldn't see a thing. I was relieved when I could feel Randall's body lifted off of me as Daryl threw him to the ground, immediately sinking his knife into his forehead. I wiped the thick coat of blood off my face.

"What the hell," Daryl breathed out, helping me up. He handed me his red bandana to clean my face as I tried to quickly pull myself together. Slowing down my breaths to try and steady my heart rate. I didn't even hear him coming. I looked down at Randall as Daryl examined him, feeling around and flipping him over to look for bite marks. He lifted his shirt and pant legs, "He's got no bites."

"Yeah, none you can see," I responded, still trying to wipe the blood out of my eyes.

"Nah, I'm telling ya he died from this," he said pointing his flashlight at Randall's neck. He looked over at me, "Someone snapped his neck."

"How is that possible?" I asked. If Randall has no bites or scratch marks, then how'd he turn into a walker?