CHAPTER TEN

"You ask a lot of questions." Daryl shakes his head as he glances over at Andie. "And you're not helping me keep watch."

"Yes, I am." She argues. "I have a better vantage point on top of the car."

"You're laying down, looking at the sky."

"There are crickets, Dorothy. You'd hear the walkers if they were close." She reasons.

"Stop calling me that." He grumbles, and a smile tugs at her lips as she turns her head to look over at him. "At least sit up."

The teenager moves so her legs are hanging over the edge of the car as she faces him. Daryl was supposed to be the only one on watch, but she likes to come out and talk to him when everyone else is asleep. He won't admit it, but she thinks he likes the company.

"Favorite flower?" The brunette asks.

"Ain't got one."

"Everyone has a favorite."

"Do I look like everyone to you?"

"No, you're one of a kind for sure." She smirks as he shakes his head at her again.

"What's your favorite flower?"

"I don't have one." Andie says, and he turns to look at her with narrowed eyes. She chuckles as she looks at the annoyance on his face. "I don't care what kind of flower it is as long as it's blue."

"You said your favorite color was red." He says, and she nods.

"It is... It was. Blue's been growing on me a lot." She bites her bottom lip as he scoffs, knowing that she's referring to his eyes like she often does. "No, seriously though... I like them both, but I like blue on flowers. Any flowers, all flowers."

"What made you change your mind?" He asks, and she shrugs.

"I used to hate the color blue, everything about it. It seemed so...cold. Most people use the word icy when describing something that's blue... It was an association in my head, but things change... Eventually, I realized that anything in life is what you make of it." She tells him. "A new perspective can change the world."

Daryl's making his way through the corridors of the prison when he hears something in the distance. The voice pulls him out of his thoughts, and he starts running when he realizes that she's yelling at walkers. He knows that voice, he'd know it anywhere.

"You want me, you sick son of a bitch?!" She yells as three walkers back her into a corner. "Let's go! Come and get me!"

The brunette swings her hatchet, losing it when it embeds itself in the walker's head. The corpse drops, and she's left unarmed. The other two are advancing on her, and her jaw tightens as she looks at the one that's closer to her. She's about to rush forward, try to knock them off their feet when one of them suddenly collapses.

Andie sees Daryl behind the last walker, and relief floods her body. She lurches forward and pulls his knife out of the back of the second walker's head before flipping it over in her hand and swinging it at the third corpse. She drives the blade into its head under its chin, and it drops as soon as she pulls the knife free again.

Daryl runs forward, stepping over the dead walkers to get to her. He wraps his arms around her waist and lifts her off of her feet; she hugs him back, her arms around his neck as he squeezes her tightly.

"I thought we lost you." He says, choking back his tears. "I thought I lost you."

"You almost did." Andie says, her voice low as he sets her back on her feet. He pulls back and looks down at her as tears well up in her eyes. "T sacrificed himself for me. He was already bit, so he... I saw them..." She squeezes her eyes shut as he brushes her hair back, it's sticking to her forehead in some spots from her sweat.

"You're okay." Daryl says as he leans down and rests his forehead against hers. "You're okay." He repeats, and he's not sure if he's trying to reassure her or himself.

"He brought me as close to the cell block as he could, but I got cut off. They pushed me farther in, and I couldn't get past them." She tells him, pulling back so she can look up into his eyes. "I ran out of bullets and I lost my knife. I thought I was gonna die in here."

"You ain't dying." He promises. "Come on. I'm gonna get you back."

Daryl leans down and pulls her hatchet out of the walker she killed before helping her situate it in the belt she wears with her sheaths, then he slides his knife into his own sheath. After making sure his crossbow is secure on his back, he holds his gun in one hand and takes her shaky hand in his other.

The teenager's only slightly bothered by the fact that she's not carrying any weapons in hand, but even without words, he made it pretty clear that he's not letting her near any more walkers tonight. So, she intertwines their fingers as she leans into his side, starting to feel more and more exhausted now that she's with someone who makes her feel safe.

There aren't too many walkers that he has to kill before they make it back to their cell block, and then Daryl's yelling for Hershel and Carol. They both rush over with Carl not too far behind, and the younger boy uses the keys to let the pair into the common area with the rest of their group.

"She got pushed pretty far in. No bites, but she's weak." He tells them as Andie sits at the round table.

Hershel does his assessment, which isn't anything surprising. Her body's weak and she's dehydrated, but she doesn't appear to have any injuries. So he tells Daryl to take her up to her cell so that she can get some much needed rest.

"I don't need help walking." Andie says as she gets to her feet. "I'm fi—"

Daryl catches her as she starts to collapse, and she sinks into him. He reaches down and gets his arm under her legs, scooping her up into his muscled arms before he starts into C block. Her forehead rests against his temple, and he's careful as he carries her up the stairs, but he doesn't go into her cell. Instead, he sits with her on his mattress right outside.

"I'd be dead right now if it weren't for him." The brunette chokes back a sob as her fingers curl around Daryl's shirt. "I can't stop watching him die."

He just holds her tight as he rubs her arm, knowing he can't say anything that'll bring her any comfort right now. She leans into him, fighting back her tears as she squeezes her eyes shut, and he rests his head on top of hers.

—

Andie woke up the next morning alone on Daryl's mattress, but he wasn't too far. After she'd fallen asleep in his arms, he laid her down and then moved to sleep on the floor beside her. Not that he actually managed to sleep much.

The group's eating now, and she hasn't said much since they told her that Lori died giving birth to the baby. No one's really said much; they all feel the losses from the day before too heavily for their usual conversations.

"Everybody okay?" Rick's voice gets their attention, and they all turn to see him walking in from the entrance to the corridors.

"Yeah, we are." Maggie tells him as he shuts the gate behind him.

"What about you?" Hershel asks.

"I cleared out the boiler block."

"How many were there?" Daryl asks.

"I don't know. A dozen, two dozen." Rick says. "I have to get back. Just wanted to check on Carl."

"Rick, we can handle taking out the bodies." Glenn says as he gets to his feet, speaking up before their leader can turn to leave again. "Okay? You don't have to—"

"No, I do." He argues before walking over to Daryl. "Everyone have a gun and a knife?"

"Yeah." He nods. "We're running low on ammo though."

"Maggie and me were planning on making a run this afternoon." Glenn tells him. "Found a phonebook with some places we can hit, look for bullets and formula."

"We cleared out the generator room." Daryl says. "Axel's there trying to fix it in case of emergency. We're gonna sweep the lower levels as well."

"Good. Good." Rick turns to leave, but his footsteps falter when he finally notices Andie sitting next to Hershel. "I thought they said..."

"T saved me." The brunette explains as she stands up. "Daryl found me last night."

"She put up one hell of a fight in there too." Daryl says as Rick walks over and hugs the teenager; she wraps her arms around his neck. "She was taking on three walkers when I found her."

"Tough as nails, kid." Rick pulls back and looks down at her. "I'm glad you're still with us."

"Me too." Andie smiles.

Rick disappears back into the prison, and they finish their meals.

The teenager heads up to her cell not long after and finds Daryl there sitting on her bed. "What are you doing in here?" She asks as she walks over to grab her shoulder bag.

"I wanted to check in on you, but I wanted to do it where Carol wasn't around to hear you answer." He says, and she offers him a weak smile.

"Am I really that transparent?"

He shrugs. "She lost her daughter not long after you lost your mother, you call her Mama Bear — it's not hard to put the pieces together."

Andie takes a deep breath as she sits on the edge of the bed beside him. "It just never gets any easier, you know? It doesn't matter how many people you lose, how many friends you bury... Truthfully, I think it gets harder with every grave you dig." She tells him, and he nods. "Especially when they die to save you."

"T was gonna die anyway. He made his death mean something more." Daryl says. "That's not on you."

"But I should've had his back. I should've covered him better."

"Carol and Beth told me what happened. He ran to shut the gate so more walkers couldn't flood the yard, and you went after him. You two were surrounded, there's nothing more you could've done." He tells her. "T died to save all of us. That was his choice, not our failure."

"Thanks, Daryl." She smiles as she looks into his bright blue eyes. "You know, you keep saving me, and I may have to figure out a proper thank you."

"You thank me every time you save my life." He says, and her smile widens.

"Hey, uh..." She clears her throat as she looks down for a moment. "I talked to Glenn and Maggie, and she's gonna stay here while I go with Glenn."

"Are you sure that's such a good idea?"

"I can't stick around here and do nothing all day, I need to do something productive. If I don't get my mind on something else... My fault or not, I keep seeing him when he was holding the walkers off so that I could get away." Andie says as she looks at him with tears in her dark eyes again. "So I need to do something, keep myself busy... Besides, I'll be with Glenn. I'll be safe. We work pretty well together."

He nods. "I get it. Be careful out there."

"I'm always—" She cuts herself off before nodding as she looks into his eyes. "I will, promise."