Daryl was doing everything in his power to find Sophia, but he kept coming up empty. It was tearing him apart- and honestly? No one else in the group knew he could care about something other than himself to that extent.

He took it upon himself to go out and make another round, farther into the woods. You and Rick had both offered to accompany him, but he grumbled something along the lines of ‘I work better alone.’, and the two of you knew better than to push.

While you, Carol, and Lori were prepping for dinner, the others working on their routine tasks, his search was going anything but well. He cursed himself the whole way down. A snake? Out of all things that could’ve bested him- a snake? When he hit the ground, one of his arrows punctured through his flesh, impaling his side. The shallow water beneath him tinged a deep crimson.

After passing out, many a hallucination of Merle, pulling the arrow out of his flesh, fastening a tourniquet, butchering and eating a squirrel, a scrap with two walkers, and making sure he could carry all of his shit- he trekked back up the hill. Again.

——————

“WALKER!” Andrea screamed from the top of the RV. Upon hearing that, everyone rushed to get a closer look. There was a figure, stumbling. But, it wasn’t a walker. You, Rick, Shane, and Glenn all ran closer, guns drawn. It was Daryl. Covered in blood, missing his sleeves, worse for wear, and wearing a necklace of ears. Something to signify he WASN’T a walker.

Right after Daryl threw a jab at Rick for pointing a gun at his head again, before anyone could say anything else, Andrea shot him. Luckily, the bullet just grazed the side of his head. Though, he still went down.

——————

After dinner, you walked down the halls of the Greene’s farmhouse, to the room where Rick and Shane had dropped Daryl to rest up, a tray of food in hand. When you pushed open the door, he instinctively pulled the blanket up to cover his chest. “How you feelin’?” You spoke gently, setting the tray on the nightstand .

“‘Bout as good as I look.” He all but mumbled, shifting on the bed, wincing at the movement. As he moved, you could see the bandaged gash on his side.