72. up in the woods

QUINN

     SHE KEPT HER EYES FOCUSED ON THE GROUND beneath her feet while she all but stomped through the forest. Ignoring Daryl his annoyed sighs and grunts was easy enough seeing as her thoughts were only focused on one thing.

It wasn't fair.

Tyreese had been an example to all of them. He was kind, decent and basically everything she wasn't. She was a liar who was betraying everyone close to her. So, what she couldn't understand was why the world had taken Tyreese his life and not hers. The man deserved to be happy, to have a future, to see a brighter tomorrow.

It wasn't fair.

And what only fueled her anger more was the fact that there wasn't a drop of water in sight. The earth was completely dry. Sand and dust blew into the air with every angry step she took. It hadn't rained in weeks so it wasn't strange there was barely any water. And with the sun shining its heat down so mercilessly even the biggest rivers were starting to become dryer with each passing day.

The only thing left to eat were a few nuts and mushrooms and some of that deer flesh she and Daryl brought back yesterday. Food wasn't an issue. They needed water. And she was determined to find some. But through her angry and miserable state she could hardly think straight and just walked around like a mad man. She was too proud to admit her emotional state however and refused to stop and let Daryl take the lead.

It was kind of funny to her actually how when Rick ordered them to make pairs, the two of them hadn't even looked at each other and just walked off into the forest together. It had been just the two of them for a while and even though she still felt like he a was mystery to her, maybe she understood him better than she gave herself credit for. She knew what he thought with only one look at him, knew what he was going to do in almost every situation and also knew that no matter what, he'd have her back.

And so she also knew he was letting her stomp around like an idiot because he understood she needed to get this out of her system. He understood her anger, her grief for a man she barely knew but wished a much better life for. What he didn't know, however, was how with every step her body felt like it would fall apart. Her skin was still a painting of blue, purple and yellow bruises and sometimes she'd wake in the middle of the night because her bones were aching so bad she thought she might die. The healing process was coming along way too slow and she couldn't wait until she could run around without pain again.

Suddenly she was pulled out of her thoughts when Daryl took her arm and roughly pulled her down a slope and all but threw her on the ground before she even realised what was going on. He lay down next to her, so close that she could feel the heat radiating off his body. Her back was pressed against a fallen tree, her hands having no other place to go than curled up against his chest.

She opened her mouth to ask him what the hell was going on but the alert look on his face stopped her from doing so. Frowning slightly she closed her eyes and listened. That was when she heard the growls and moans. Her breath hitched and a shiver crawled down her spine. The sound of feet shuffling along the floor was painfully loud and together with the many groans and moans she realised that it was quite a big herd passing through. Way more than they probably could've fought with just the two of them. She had been so lost in thought, so mad with herself and the world that she hadn't even heard or smelled a herd coming through.

Daryl had reacted just in time by pulling her along and finding a good place to hide or else she'd be chewed up and dead.

Opening her eyes again she suddenly realised just how close they were. Pressed up against each other to fit beneath a fallen tree that had formed a little cave. Beneath her hands she could feel his steady heartbeat and suddenly her throat turned dry. She swallowed to try and get the feeling away but she couldn't. A burning glow spread through her body and the harder she tried to deny its existence, the more she felt it. Her heart was beating way too fast, turning her slightly jealous when she could feel his beating on steadily.

He wasn't looking at her, his gaze focused on their surroundings, his hands firmly around his crossbow but she could tell that being this close to each other didn't make him all that comfortable either. She could see his fingers turning white from holding his weapon too tightly, she felt how his entire body was tense. And the fact that he was deliberately not looking at her said enough.

Her memories took her back to the moment in that van on the bridge when he pulled her on his lap. This felt the same. He reacted without thinking, pulled her close to protect her and only realised afterwards what having her so close actually meant. Though she doubted it meant the same to him as it did to her. She was still trying to figure out what that weird glow she felt in her heart every time he came too close actually was. She had never felt anything like it before. But whatever it was, he probably didn't feel the same thing. Quinn wasn't sure how she felt about the man but knew that Daryl for sure didn't think about her that way

Which made it only that much easier to not think about it at all.

Though with having him so close, her hands pressed against his chest and her eyes unable to look anywhere else but at him she couldn't stop herself from thinking about it. The glowing feeling spread from her chest to her entire body. She bit her lip and closed her eyes, anything to keep herself from doing stupid. Yet her mind would not stop torturing her with images of what would happen if she leaned just a little bit more forwards.

She opened her eyes again and noticed his gaze had now drifted to her face as well. There was something in his eyes...some kind of warmth she had never seen there before. It made a shiver crawl down her spine.

The moans were fading and yet neither of them moved. It felt as though the air was loaded with electricity. She could almost hear it crackling. The shuffling footsteps slowly faded until the quietness of the forest returned. Suddenly Daryl crawled away from her, as if he had burned himself and jumped back on his feet.

Her heart ached in her chest by his sudden absence but she ignored the feeling and crawled after him out of their little hiding space. Standing back on her feet she looked around but there wasn't a walker in sight. A shaky breath left her lips and she clenched her fists, noticing that her hands were trembling. Neither one of them spoke and the silence lay like a heavy weight on her shoulders.

Taking another deep breath she started making her way back up the hill. Quinn couldn't hear him following her but she refused to look around. She was terrified of what she might feel if she were to look at him. Once she was back on top of the hill she took one look at the tracks and headed into the opposite direction. They still needed to find water. She refused to believe there was nothing left. It simply wasn't possible. This horrible heat hadn't been going on for that long.

Her heart was still beating impossibly fast in her chest and she cursed softly under her breath when even her hands wouldn't stop shaking. She moved her hands to her daggers and wrapped them around the hilt, hoping to steady herself with the comfort of her weapons.

With her eyes turned to the ground she walked for another few minutes before finally coming to a halt and turning around. She wasn't going to find any water because her eyes never managed to pick up the details out here. With dread filling her stomach she turned her gaze to Daryl, who hadn't been walking all that far behind her.

'Maybe you should take the lead,' she mumbled.

His gaze turned to her and immediately her hands itched to reach out to him and have him close again, but she remained still in her spot and tightened her grip on her weapons. She saw his eyes flicker to her hands but his face remained emotionless and he simply nodded.

She watched as he walked passed her and made his way through the forest with confident steps. Walking behind him was possibly even worse. Her eyes were drawn to the back of his angel wings vest like a moth drawn to a flame. She had no idea what had suddenly come over her but she did not like it all. She felt vulnerable and her heartbeat kept speeding up everytime she looked into his general direction.

Shaking her head she tried her hardest to stay focused on the task at hand. She refused to return to the others without water.

Shuffling footsteps broke through the silence of the forest and the smell of death and rotten flesh reached her nose. Dread filled her while her eyes were already searching the trees for any sign of the dead.

'Duck!' Daryl's voice rang out, sharp and commanding.

Without a doubt she let herself fall on the ground, catching herself at the very last second. His arrow flew over her head and found its target into the skull of a walker that had been right behind her. Quinn jumped back on her feet, leaned down and pulled the arrow out. When she stood back up however another walker came stumbling right at her. With a scream she raised the arrow and plunged it through the corpse its eye. Immediately its body went limp and it fell down next to the other walker.

Quinn stumbled backwards while her hands reached for her daggers and pulled them free. Walkers came stumbling through the treeline, straight towards them. She counted at least twenty. She had no idea if they were part of the herd that had crossed the forest not long ago but it hardly mattered. There was nowhere to hide this time. And they both knew it. Without having to look at each other they took a stand, letting the walkers stumble towards them.

Daryl shot the one closest down, while her dagger found its target into the head of another one. Immediately she reached for a new dagger, storming forwards while he kept shooting his arrows. A shout left her lips when she pushed the blade into the decayed flesh of a female walker, only to pull it back out again, spin around and push it through the eye of another corpse. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Daryl had abandoned his crossbow and was now using his two knives to bring them down.

A snarl close to her ear pulled her thoughts away from him but it was too late. The walker was too close for her to raise her arm and kill it. Its body slammed into hers, sending her down to the ground with the corpse right on top of her. She hissed in pain when her elbow hit a rock but there was no time to dwell on it. Yellow teeth were snapping right in front of her face and the stench of death was filling her nose, making her gag. One hand desperately searched the ground for the weapon she dropped while the other was busy keeping the walker away from her. Dread filled her when her hand slowly started sinking into the rotten skin of the corpse. Panic took over her disgust when she could feel its bones against her fingers. Far in the distance she could hear the angry grunts of the redneck as he fought the rest of the small herd but he was too far to help her. Groaning with effort she reached for another dagger that was still attached to her belt.

Cramp flamed through her arm from being in such an uncomfortable position but she pushed through the pain, screaming in anger but it turned into a victory scream when her fingers closed itself around the hilt of her weapon. She pulled it free, realising her mistake too late. The dagger came free from its sheath and the sudden lack of resistance made her arm snap back, the blade dragging across the stomach of the walker on top her. It sank into its skin like a knife went through butter. Blood gushed out of the slash, followed by the intestines. She groaned in disgust, swallowed the bile that had risen in her throat while finally managing to free her dagger from beneath the walker its body. With a scream she pushed it through the corpse its skull, just when her hand went through its skin completely, dropping the now dead walker on top of her.

Coughing and groaning she pushed the corpse away from her and slowly got back on her feet, hissing in pain when she moved her left arm. The rock had been sharp and left a cut on her elbow. She stood up straight, her nose wrinkling in disgust when she noticed the amount of blood and gore that covered her shirt and arms.

'Ya good?'

She looked up, her brown eyes meeting a pair of concerned blue ones and she cursed her heart for skipping a beat.

'Yeah,' she mumbled, taking a deep breath to settle her stomach. 'Yeah, I'm good.'

His eyes went over her body, checking her for any potential wounds. His gaze lingered on her elbow but he simply nodded curtly. They both knew she knew what she had to do, keep it clean. For that to happen, though, they'd have to find water.

Daryl nodded curtly and then turned around, heading back into the direction they'd been going before the walkers showed up. Quinn sighed before following him, not even bothering to try and clean her sticky hands that were completely covered in blood. She probably looked like a mess but it wasn't like she got any fresh clothes laying around.

They walked through the forest and she lost track of time. Sometimes Daryl would stop and look at the ground, even dig a little. It wasn't until the third time that she realised he was checking if the soil was moist. And apparently it was because he didn't change direction.

The sun was beating down on them as they walked on in silence. It wasn't the same uncomfortable silence as before, though. It was calm and relaxed and even Quinn didn't feel as nervous anymore. At least she could look at him again with her heartbeat speeding up. No, it wasn't the silence that bothered her. It was the smell of blood and death that covered her like a thick odor that she kept choking on. Never before had she wished for fresh clothes and a shower this badly.

Just when she thought she wouldn't be able to keep anymore in this heat and without water, a new sound reach her ears. It was the rush of water splashing against rocks. They sped up their pace and soon the trees made way for a small but steady stream. She couldn't help a small smile from appearing on her face. Though even she could see the stream had to suffer under the immense heat that did not dim her happiness. At least there was some water.

Without wasting another second she sprinted forwards towards the water edge but froze when she arrived there. 'Turn around,' she ordered, looking at Daryl.

He opened his mouth, probably to ask why but when she started taking off her shoes and removed her belt with weapons he turned so fast it surprised her he didn't stumble over his own feet. Her jeans were next and her shirt followed suit. Daring a glare over her shoulder she watched as Daryl had turned his back to her and in order to keep himself busy he had taken out their water bottles and was now starting to fill them. But even from this distance she could see his ears turning bright red.

Shaking her head with a smile she jumped into the water. It wasn't very deep but she hardly cared. It was incredibly refreshing and everything she needed at this moment. She allowed herself a few minutes to just float there, face turned to the sky and a smile on her face. There were no sounds but the rippling water, the whistles of a few birds and the soft wind brushing through the leaves. And just for a moment all her worries were washed out of her mind. Just like that she was just a girl taking a swim. Not a killer, not a wounded animal, just a girl enjoying the water and the sun on her face.

With a deep sigh she forced herself to open her eyes again and snap out of the feeling of peaceful bliss. She swam back to the shore and took her shirt out of the grass. Pushing it under water Quinn slowly but surely washed out all the blood and gore away. She rather walked around in wet cloth than bloody clothes. Besides in this heat it would dry soon enough.

'Ya done playin' mermaid?' Daryl's voice called out.

She looked up, a small smile appearing on her face when she noticed he still wasn't looking at her. His eyes were focused at some point above her head and it amused her to realise he was now the uncomfortable one.

'All done,' she replied, slowly walking out of the water.

She took her time getting dressed again, just to mess with him. When she was finally done and he could finally look at her again, she noticed his ears were still red and it took every ounce of strength she had not to burst out laughing. She'd teased him enough for one day but she couldn't help but to pay him back for making her so uncomfortable earlier with the hiding place he'd chosen.

Letting her wet hair fall lose over her shoulder so it'd dry sooner, she finally finished gathering her stuff and nodded at him, a sign she was good to go. When he turned his back to her and started making his way back, she couldn't help the wicked smirk from appearing on her face. Turned out this day wasn't all bad.

A U T H O R 'S  N O T E

I'm back ya'll!

First off, I'm so sorry it took me so long to update. I started school again and I have a real important test which I had to study for. But, hopefully, the little hiatus ends today and I will be back on schedule!

Second, I think this is my favorite chapter in this book so far. I love writing chapters filled with Daryl and Quinn tension. The most amazing thing is that they don't even need to have entire conversations to communicate. Their actions speak much louder than their words which I love so much about their relationship.

Third, Alexandria is coming closer with every step they take! I'm so so so excited for what's coming and believe me when I say you guys are not ready.

Thank you all so much for your continued support, the questions for updates and the love for this story. Especially you You are an amazing reader and friend and I am so happy I got to know you!

Much love,

xXx

UYM