CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Andie's sitting on a large rock near a river, and Daryl's knelt down in front of her as he uses his bandana to wipe blood from her face. He keeps rinsing it in the river, and she's wordlessly staring at the front of his vest.

"How did you get this bad?" He asks, leaning toward the running water to wash the blood out of the black fabric once again. "It doesn't look like any of this is yours."

"Carter was bleeding out... I was out of ammo in the rifle, and he saved me. But the other guy shot at him before I could get my pistol. Hit him in the chest." She tells him, and he pauses a moment as he looks at her; he didn't know Carter was dead, not for sure. "I'm so tired of losing people, and I didn't want to watch him die. I was trying to stop the bleeding... Stupid."

"You cared about him. Don't make you stupid."

"There was no saving him. Not where he was hit." She shakes her head as he starts wiping down her hands now. She knows she should take the bandana from him, finish getting cleaned up on her own, but she can't bring herself to care enough. "People keep dying to save me, and I'm not even worth saving."

"Stop it."

"I'm not." Her eyebrows furrow as she thinks about her old life. "Maybe I'm a decent person now, but I wasn't always. Actually, I used to be a pretty terrible person."

"Don't matter who you were before." Daryl says. "You've saved a lot of lives, done plenty of good. The people who've saved you knew what you're worth."

"I know you didn't like him...but he was a good guy."

"I know."

"He didn't deserve what he got." She grinds her teeth. "Losing his mom, getting sick, getting better just to die with a bullet in his chest. Nobody deserves that."

"The world ain't exactly fair anymore." He says, and she scoffs.

"When was it ever?" Andie looks down at her hands, seeing how badly they're still stained with Carter's blood. "I never should've gone up to him and Zoe that day."

"It wouldn't have changed anything. You said it yourself, he was a good guy." Daryl says as he looks up at her. "He still would've shot those guys to protect a girl from the group who brought him to the prison, still would've died the same way."

"Maybe... Or maybe he would've died to protect a girl who cared for him the same way he cared for her. He deserved to find someone who would've appreciated the things he did for her." She shakes her head. "Any other girl would've understood what he was doing that day on the perch, would've thought the gesture was sweet."

"You feel guilty for never watching romance movies?" He questions. "It wasn't who you were, you shouldn't be sorry for that."

"Romance was never really my thing. I watched monster movies...horror... Like I don't have enough of that in my own life." She scoffs. "You know, I honestly couldn't even tell you if I knew what Ryan Gosling looked like. Guess my life was never meant to be normal."

Daryl reaches out and places his index finger under her chin, getting her to look up at his face, meet his gaze. "Losing people sucks, and grief is a bitch...but don't go feeling sorry for yourself. I know you wouldn't have given a rat's ass about some actor in The Notebook if it weren't for what happened to Carter." He says. "You didn't feel the same as him — sucks, but it's life. He still had a damn good friend before he died."

The corner of her lips twitch upward as she looks into his bright blue eyes. "You remember what movie it was? You pay more attention than I would'a thought." She says, and he smirks as he looks down; he doesn't want her to know just how much he pays attention whenever she's involved. "Thanks, Daryl." She turns her hand over and curls her fingers around his hand.

—

It's after dark as Andie finishes tying up a string to a nearby tree. They have objects hanging from the thin wire that'll make noise to alert them if a walker tries to walk into their small makeshift campsite. She then walks over and sits down next to Daryl, leaning against a fallen tree trunk as she looks at the fire in front of them.

"We should try to find shelter." She says, her voice low. "It gets cold at night, and the tiny flames don't give off much heat."

"We'll pick up camp at first light." He says, and she nods. Wandering the pitch black forest won't do them any good, and they both know it. That's just a good way to get killed.

Andie pulls her knees up to her chest, and he glances over to see that she's trying to warm up her arms. He reaches out and gives a light tug on the short sleeve of her shirt, and she leans into his side. She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes as she rests her head on his shoulder.

"Favorite song?" Andie asks, and he smirks as he lifts his gaze to the night sky. This whole thing makes him think of the nights they'd sit outside alone before their group found the prison.

"Don't know that I ever had one."

"Band?"

"That's tough. There were a lot of good ones." He says, taking a second to think it over. "Listened to a lot of rock growin' up... Heavy metal bands. Merle usually had control over the radio."

She chuckles. "Of course he did."

"Metallica was good. Zeppelin."

"I knew there was a reason I liked you." Andie says, lightly nudging him, and he smiles.

"Your favorite song?"

"Promise you won't make fun of me."

He pauses a moment, confused. "Promise."

"I listened to a lot of the same music as you...but my favorite song wasn't by a favorite band. I always loved Simple Man." She tells him.

"Why would I make fun of you for liking Skynyrd?" He asks, and she shrugs.

"It's mostly the one song." The brunette says. "My parents weren't much for lullabies when I was little, my mom usually read a story or something. But every now and then, I could get my dad to sing me something. That one was usually it."

"Is that why it's your favorite? Because of him?

"Probably." She nods. "But I also like the message behind it — a mom asking her son to find joy in the simple things in life. I've never been one for the extravagant, material things. Honestly, I would've loved a night like this even before the world fell... Camping under the stars, no cell phone or technology, sitting by the fire with someone I can actually call my friend... I'd prefer a sleeping bag or two, but still a good night."

"Before the world fell. Too bad this is all we have now."

"I don't know about too bad. If we make it to morning without having to pack up and run because of the walkers, I'll still call this a good night." Andie says, and he smiles.

"While you try to thaw your fingers on my arm." He looks at her; her eyes are still closed as she chuckles.

"Sorry."

Daryl uncrosses his arms and holds his hands out toward her. "Here." He motions for her to place one of her hands in his, and her dark eyes open as he curls his fingers around one of her hands, enclosing it between both of his.

She keeps her gaze on their interlocked hands as she listens to their surroundings. There are walkers in the woods around them, but they're all oblivious to the presence of the two humans not far off. None are headed in their direction, so she's not worried at the moment. The closest thing to them seems to be the crickets they can both hear.

She's trying to think of more questions for the man at her side, any excuse to get him to say something. It's not just that she doesn't like the silence around them, or even that she likes the sound of his voice — she finds comfort in his presence, and it's hard to think about everything that can go wrong when she's listening to him talk.

"If you could have anyone in the world sitting here right now, who would it be?" Andie asks, lifting her head so that she can look at him as she then rests her chin on his shoulder.

"What, like, with us? Or instead of you?"

"I don't know." She shrugs. "Either."

"Naw, I'm good with my current company." He says, and she has to fight back a smile.

"Not even Merle?"

"Fuck no." He glances at her, and she chuckles. "He never shuts the hell up."

"Believe me, I know." She agrees, turning her head to rest on his shoulder again. "But then again, I'm not exactly quiet either."

"Yeah, but your questions ain't annoying." He argues. "Merle would be gettin' loud and bossing us around."

"Very true."

"What about you?" He asks, and she takes a deep breath as she thinks about it for a moment.

"No one."

"I thought you had a whole group of friends you missed." He says as he looks at her. "You wouldn't want any one of them here with us? Not even as a replacement?"

"I've already got my favorite person here with me." She smiles as she looks up at him, and he clears his throat as he turns his head to look back at the fire. She chuckles at his reaction.

"Favorite now that I'm all you got."

"Why do you have to sell yourself so short?" Andie questions, and his eyebrows furrow. "You're my favorite person no matter who I have standing next to me."

He pauses a moment, but decides to leave the conversation there. He then lets go of her hand before motioning for her to give him her other one.

"And not just because you're my own personal heater." She adds, and he smirks as he looks at her out of the corner of his eye.