#not a single survivor ever spoke the exact wording of the book

[astrowarr]

i actually don't think it would've made sense for martyn to get the boogey task.

it was literally.. a boogey task. you know, the mechanic where greens and yellows were forced to kill against their wills? because it wasn't actually a zombie apocalypse, remember. not to mention it would've completely destroyed the enter gimmick of the typical red life tasks, which are meant to be fun creative new ways of hurting/killing. also, I think red tasks are set up the way they are in part to increase the survivability of red names, which was super important this session seeing as there was only one left.

also, we all saw how low gem got leading that army through several kills. she died eventually, and even if it was scar killing her accidentally, she was so low at that point it was guaranteed she was going to die for that task. if that was martyn, he wouldn't have even been able to go get a new red task and get some hearts back you know?

"martyn didn't get to do anything because of it!" that was also his choice though! he could've said hey, you guys are slaughtering people? awesome let me tag along. instead he made the decision to stay far away from that because he was very concerned about the way that was going. he purposefully excluded himself from that; there was no stipulation in the book saying "red names can't be involved or help you kill people". I'm not sure if martyn thought that was the case, but it certainly wasn't

idk, I think the fact that it was referred to as "the zombie apocalypse" all session made people forget they weren't actually zombies. they were boogeymen. that distinction matters a LOT

[aisling-beatha]

You were never gone [SFW]

A standalone story #2

Based on a request by @mindfreakswaggy :

So one of my favorite things to see is when Daryl reunited with carol and gets hella emotional😩 so can you do one where the reader and Daryl are close around season one, ending up having a crush on each other and gets split up when it’s overrun and the reader ends up reuniting with the group at Alexandria and they’re all back together??

A/N: I got carried away, sorry. What was supposed to be a short drabble, turned into a standalone story. Moreover, I took the events a little bit further than s1, hope you don’t mind! Also, let me know if any of you want to be tagged in my future works.

P.S. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

The Walking Dead | Daryl Dixon X Reader

You met when Dixon brothers appeared at your quarry camp one day. Daryl’s quiet and observant nature caught your attention right away. He wasn’t like the other men in your group, not like Shane or Glenn, but neither was he the same with his brother. Merle Dixon was an asshole. While Daryl mostly looked like a wild animal locked in the cage.

He watched your people with squinted eyes, never letting anyone come closer or touch him. He didn’t talk to any of you but argued with his brother. You saw them bickering a few times, but even then he wasn’t the one starting the fight. He followed his brother anywhere and everywhere he’d go, never saying anything, while Merle did whatever he wanted, mocking Daryl, calling him names, not giving a shit about his brother. And you didn’t get it. 

Though Shane let the brothers stay, everyone kept their distance from them. Merle was rough and even violent but Daryl constantly provided for the group, going hunting, so nobody could find the courage to make them leave. Daryl was strong, smart. He was a survivor. And every time you watched him, you couldn’t help but think that he was practically built for this world. His hunting and tracking skills made him fast and silent, and his ability to shoot a crossbow made him one of few who could protect themselves in the world like that. 

You never really spoke to Daryl, only making sure both his brother and he had food and a spot to sleep on, which always resulted in Merle constantly teasing and catcalling you. Daryl, though, never said a single word. But once that new guy, Rick Grimes, joined your group and Merle went missing, you felt the urge to somehow support him, to tell him, it was gonna be okay. Everybody had lost something or someone. Now, you had to stick together to survive, and that meant being there for each other when one needed it. With Merle sticking around it was simply impossible. But once he was gone, you felt like it was the right time. What you didn’t expect was Daryl snapping and shouting at you, basically telling you to back off. 

Even without his brother Daryl wasn’t friendly, he wasn’t open about his feelings and that made him a damn mystery you couldn’t help but wanted to solve. Though, while you tried your best to know him, Daryl seemed to hate you.

When everything started to go south, your relationship seemed to change though. Your camp was overrun. Amy died. Jim was bitten. And Carol had to kill her husband. You lost control over the situation. That’s when the realization of how scary the world had become dwelled on you. 

You were sitting on the ground, Sophia sleeping on your lap. The poor girl had been crying for hours before she finally dozed off in your arms from exhaustion. Carol needed time to calm down too, so you decided to look after the kid on your own, though your mind was a mess too. You still couldn’t believe that they died. You knew Amy and her sister right from the start of your group, Ed too, though you never liked him. And now they were gone. Jim was going to die too, as he was getting worse in a matter of hours. You couldn’t help a shudder running down your spine. How you were even supposed to survive? You barely made it out alive that night and there were more nights like that coming. 

You were lost in your thoughts, watching Glenn and Rick drawing geeks’ bodies to the pile. Somebody insisted on burning them. A gruff voice coming from behind made you jump.

 “Ya a’right?”

 You didn’t believe your eyes, as you blankly stared at Daryl. He was standing a few steps away from you, watching you with narrowed eyes, though he didn’t seem hostile or mad. 

You shrugged, looking at Sophia. She lightly stirred in her sleep but didn’t wake up. You were afraid she wasn’t gonna pull through after what happened.

 “What are we going to do?” you blurted before you could stop yourself.

“Rick wants to keep going. Head to Atlanta”

You frowned, “What for?”

“CDC” he muttered, looking closely at you.

 Center for Disease Control, right. That could be your second chance. 

You hadn’t thought of it before, but now with Daryl mentioning that to you, you felt hope rising in your heart. Maybe you could make it out alive, maybe there still were doctors, maybe the cure existed. In that case, Jim could still be saved. The thought of it made you smile and pull Sophia closer to you. You wanted to ask Daryl whether he was alright too but it was too late, you saw him already walking away. 

His sudden behavior surprised you. He never talked to you, let alone checking on you. But something in his voice made you think he actually cared. But more than that, it made you think that maybe all of your attempts weren’t a waste.

 ***

Jim died. He killed himself with a gun that Rick had given him, before you could get to CDC. You didn’t think it could be any worse. 

Sophia was clutching into you, shaking and crying when you were staying in front of the metal doors, walkers surrounding you. Shane and Daryl were shooting dead ones one after another while Rick was trying to reach out to anyone alive behind those doors. And you couldn’t stop tears of relief streaming down your face when you finally made it in. That’s when you caught Daryl looking at you. He did that on the stops during your ride too, watching you closely, much rarely asking if you were doing okay. It wasn’t much but you were grateful for those tiny pieces of conversation you had. You finally felt like Daryl was one of you, despite Shane trying to prove the exact opposite. And Daryl seemed to get that as well.

No matter how hard he tried or wanted to, he couldn’t explain it to himself why it bothered him so much. Merle was gone and he had every right to leave your group behind, to be on his own as he had always been. But he didn’t leave. Instead, he started watching you. You were one of few, if not the only, who still tried to know him. Ever since Dixons joined the group, everyone seemed to be afraid of them, never talking, always avoiding them. And Daryl was a-okay with that. But then you started talking to him. You were bringing dinner, always making sure both he and Merle had enough to be able to go hunting the next morning, you’d make sure both of them would come back to the camp uninjured. 

You had always been kind. You cared. And Daryl didn’t understand why. No one ever cared for him, and even his elder brother, if he cared, did it in a special, sometimes cruel manner. So when, after Merle's disappearance, you tried to talk to him, Daryl didn’t know where to go. He was afraid. And your behavior made him want to go into the woods and never come back. Daryl honestly wanted to. But then for some reason, he’d remember your sad eyes, looking after him, and again he’d go back.

Merle saw the changes in his brother and didn’t miss the opportunity to poke or make fun of him. But when Merle no longer hung around, Daryl suddenly felt completely vulnerable in a vast expanse. That night when your camp was overrun, Daryl found himself unconsciously looking for you in the crowd of people and the dead. Hoping you were safe.

He was drawn to you like a magnet, and he couldn’t stop. Every time he saw you caring for Sofia, or helping other women in the group when you laughed and smiled, his heart would skip a beat. Daryl still couldn’t solve one simple riddle. He still couldn’t understand why you weren’t afraid of him. Why didn't you hate him?

 ***

As they say, nothing lasts forever and the CDC was left behind.

When Dr. Jenner revealed all the cards, when the truth came out, it seemed to you that the earth had gone from under your feet. Everything you aspired to turned out to be a lie. There was no magic cure for the virus. No one and nothing could save those who were infected.

 For a second, when the CDC building started the process of self-destruction, you wanted to stay. Like Jackie did. Everything seemed meaningless.

 And exactly when only seconds were left before the explosion, Daryl was there. He tugged at your hand, dragging you behind him. The blast wave subsequently threw both of you through a broken window. Daryl, not knowing why himself, saved your life.

It was strange and impossible, but you and Daryl got closer after that, while you were on the road. Daryl looked after you every time you made the next stop. And you kept wondering why he had saved you. You still barely spoke, but even the silence between you now felt differently. You trusted him. And Daryl seemed calmer when he was around you.

Then Sofia disappeared. A common tragedy made you join others to find her. And no matter how Daryl was indignant, you still followed him into the forest, feeling incredibly guilty. You hadn’t watched her. You didn’t save the girl. And Daryl seemed to read you like an open book.

 ‘’s not your fault” he once said when your group was left far behind and the two of you went forward.

 Then Carl was shot. You found Greene farm. Renewed your searches for Sofia. Daryl almost died in the forest when he fell on his own bolt. The barn full of the dead. Sofia….

You didn’t think it could be worse. Carol hadn’t been leaving the house for days. And you still couldn’t fall asleep. You were coming to Daryl at night. There, where he put his camp away from everyone. But even then you couldn’t fall asleep. Daryl's gaze, full of malice and guilt, was imprinted in your memory, making your heart hurt mercilessly.

And again you were forced to flee. The farm has fallen. Patricia was torn apart right in front of you. Andrea never made it back. You barely made it out alive.

On the road, things got worse. The nights got colder, there were more and more of walkers stumbling their way to you.

On especially chilly nights, when you couldn’t stop the trembling in your body, you were coming to him again, lying down closely next to him. And Daryl allowed. He no longer flinched at your touch, didn’t scowl, didn’t sneer. He just looked like a beaten dog who didn’t understand how could anyone love him.

You realized that you were falling for him by the time you occupied the prison. You were almost physically hurt by the fact that Daryl didn’t see, didn’t understand why he was loved. He would run off to the forest in the morning, spending most of his time hunting. The only people he allowed closer were Rick, Carol, and you. He scowled at the others with an unkind grin, as if expecting the worst.

He was different with you. He was soft and vulnerable. For all the time that you were together, Daryl had never let anyone get so close to his soul. You made him open up. You made him feel something that he couldn't explain at all. He was afraid of these feelings to the point of weakness in his knees. Like a wild beast afraid of fire. But he couldn’t stop it. He didn’t want to.

He was coming into your cell at night, sitting down, and sometimes lying on the floor, listening to your stories about life from before.

And on especially cold nights, when you were left alone at the guard tower, he would come to keep you company. He always came, no matter how much he got tired after hunting or a recent supple run.

Daryl often gave you his poncho. And each time he saw you wearing it, his heart did strange things in his chest. Something that heart shouldn’t do. He let you fall asleep on his shoulder; because very soon Daryl realized that there was nothing more beautiful than your sleepy and slightly gloomy face when you wake up. Well, perhaps only your calm face, when you’d accidentally fall asleep on his chest, curled next to his side.

And most of all, Daryl was afraid that sooner or later you would leave. Come to your senses. Remember who he was. And you would never talk to him again. Daryl figured he wouldn’t have pulled through if that ever happened.

 ***

Virus. Cold. War with the Governor. Hershel. Merle. Fucking freak Merle...

The prison fell before you could even enjoy having the roof over your head. Daryl saw you in one instant, in another - you were gone. He ran after Beth, looking around, again and again, screaming your name. But the answer was nothing. He returned there a few days later, only to find your handkerchief, which you so loved to tie on your wrist, and to understand that you were gone. Right from that moment, Daryl knew he was a goner.

***

You didn’t know how much time you had been wandering from one place to another. A few weeks? A month? A whole year? It felt like infinity and you were completely alone. 

The pistol you had found ran out of bullets a long time ago and was useless. You were beyond exhausted, starving, weak. After the prison, you managed to join a group of survivors but they didn’t last long. You were surprised they even made it that far. Since then, you were alone. Going from one town to another, hoping it wouldn’t be overrun and plunderers hadn’t got their hands on it yet.  

One day would slowly turn into another, as it was the same scenario. As time passed, you learned that it was no longer safe to stay the night on the ground in your state. Now you’d climb a tree, your hands bleeding and in bruises, prop yourself against its trunk, tying the rope you had found around your middle to keep you in place. That was the closest to safety you could provide to yourself. You were too weak to fight off a group of five, let alone larger herds. You couldn’t run either. So instead of risking, you’d stay in that position for hours, letting yourself fall back in and out of conciseness.

 Your situation came to the worst when you ran out of all canned goods and water you’d managed to scavenge. And right when you felt the panic overwhelming you, you saw it. The gates. 

 “Alexandria Safe Zone. Mercy for the lost. Vengeance for the plunderers”

 You stumbled to the doors, feeling your heart beating somewhere in your throat. If that wasn’t your chance, then you could already consider yourself dead. You wouldn’t last any longer. You saw a slight movement on one of the guard posts. It was so invisible, blink-and-you-miss-it kind of shit. But you saw it and cried without thinking twice, calling for whoever was there.

 “Who’s that?” you heard man’s voice from inside, and you almost died right here and then. It had been too long since you heard anyone’s else voice.

“Please!” you begged your voice hoarse, scratching down your throat. “Please, help me!”

Silence followed. You tried again. And then again. But nothing happened. Whoever was behind those walls seemed to disappear. 

Hot tears streamed down your cheeks as you fell on your knees, hitting the ground with your fists, screaming from pain and desolation. It could not be happening. After everything you had been through, you could go crazy, sure, but it couldn’t happen that way. You poisoned mind simply couldn’t give you hope only to take it away and destroy you to the bones. 

 Groaning and shuffling from behind made you turn around. Walkers were getting closer. Lots of them, they probably came to the sound of your cries. You whipped away your tears, glancing once again to the gates, getting up. Anger mixed with resentment and pain boiled your blood, as you pulled out your knife. Tears were still falling when you tried to get yourself together. You were barely holding on. 

One of them got too close but fell on the ground before it could bite you, a katana stuck in his skull. You lifted your gaze from it just in time to see a woman practically screaming to your face, “Go. Now!” 

You ran, grabbing your backpack, stumbling and almost tripping over. Once gone through the gates, you fell, your body giving in. You didn’t see people gathering around you, as you closed your eyes and the only thing you could do was whispering “thank you” over and over again. 

 “She can’t even stand!” somebody said.

Your hearing wasn’t good either; you thought you went deaf as suddenly all the noises became muffled by the sound of blood in your ears.

 “Come on now. What’s your name?”

“Y/N… Name’s Y/N” you managed to say, finally opening your eyes. The same woman that saved your ass a few moments ago was now sitting in front of you. She watched you with squinted eyes, but then nodded, helping you to get up.

 “Alright, Y/N, I’m gonna get you to the infirmary. You need medical attention”

 You whispered another “thank you”, not trusting your voice anymore. You wanted to ask the woman for her name, but another voice didn’t let you do that.

 “Michonne, are you alright? What’s going on here?”

 Even with a sharp pain throbbing in your head, you managed to make out the words. You focused your misty eyes on the man approaching you. His voice all of the sudden was oddly familiar, and your eyes widened in pure shock as you stared at him once he was close enough.

 “Rick?” you managed to say, your voice breaking.

 Rick Grimes, who was standing in front of you, tilted his head, startled. He was taking in your features and you could tell the exact moment his expression turned from confusion to realization. 

 “Y/N?” 

 The next thing you knew, Rick was squeezing you in his embrace, pulling away to look into your eyes. 

 “Goddamn, how’s that even possible?” he muttered under his breath, nodding to the woman, whose name, you figured, was Michonne. “I’ll take her. She’s good”

 Rick walked you down the place, his arm wrapped around your middle. He was glancing worryingly at you from time to time, clearly still shocked. As for you, you couldn’t believe it either. You made yourself believe that your family was long gone, and you’d never find them again. Ever. But here you were. Rick was flesh and bone present next to you.

Thoughts piled in your head, haunting. But no matter how much you wanted to ask about the place where you ended up, about how Rick got here, you felt like your head and your eyelids were becoming heavy with every minute from experienced emotions. You were on the verge of physical and emotional exhaustion. And the only thing that you still had some strength for was to move your legs so that Rick didn’t have to carry you on him.

 “Shit, there’s so much I gotta ask you, but let’s get you to Doc first, alright?” Rick asked, seeing you nodding weakly. “You look like you gonna pass out.”

 “Rick? The hell’s goin’ on, man?”

 That was the last straw. Your knees simply couldn’t hold you any longer as you leaned on Rick completely.

That voice. After prison, you made yourself forget him forever. Thinking that he died, like the others. You heard him in your nightmares and the dead silence of the forest, losing your mind over and over again. And here it was again. You heard him again. Tears poured out of your eyes with new force, as soon as you raised them.

 Daryl stood a few steps away from you and Rick. All the same vest with wings and a crossbow behind, unless his hair seemed much longer now.

He looked from you to Rick; his eyes were wide open as if he was afraid that if he closed them even for a moment, then everything would be gone.

 “Daryl” you called, and that was enough for him to come out of his stupor.

 Rick hardly had time to let go of you, when Daryl's body crashed into yours. He squeezed you in his arms. Pain with renewed vigor gripped your body, making you groan, but you couldn’t think of anything else but the heat radiating from the body in front of you.

You couldn’t help but started to cry again, bringing your arms to hesitantly hug him back. Daryl hid his face in the crook of your neck, his whole body shaking with quiet sobs. He pulled away from you, his arms never leaving your body, only to catch your eyes. His own were full of tears. 

 “I… I thought… the prison, it fell… and I…” you tried to bring yourself to talk, but there wasn’t enough air. 

 Daryl pulled you into him so that your head was pressed into his chest, stroking your hair with one hand, the other wrapped tightly around your back. His eyes were closed. 

 Daryl was a coward. But only in a sense that he couldn’t bring himself to open them again. For months now he had been thinking about you gone, and he couldn’t forgive himself. And now, just when he started to slowly lose his mind, you were back. Weak, pale, injured, but alive and back. Daryl was afraid to open his eyes only to find himself lying down in the bed in one of Alexandria’s houses. Alone.

 “Brother” Rick’s soft voice brought him back to reality.

 You closed your eyes, feeling how the darkness gradually enveloped everything around. Already in a semi-conscious state, you felt how Daryl picked you up in his arms. He made it so easily as if you didn’t weigh more than a child. You only managed to hug him by the neck, snuggling closer to his body when Daryl's quiet, hoarse voice pierced through.

 “’M here. I gotcha. I gotcha, girl"

 After that, everything sunk into the darkness.

 ***

You barely opened your eyes. Consciousness returned slowly and reluctantly. It took you a few minutes to finally come to your senses and remember the events of the previous day. Or a few days? Your heart started to beat faster.

You turned your head, a stupid smile immediately spread over your face. Daryl sat leaning in a chair next to the hospital bed you were lying on. His eyes were closed. One hand laid on his knees. The other held yours. His fingers were laced with yours.

You took the moment to look at his features. Daryl was still the same Daryl that you knew from the time of the camp near Atlanta. His hair was a little longer now, the circles under his eyes were darker, but he was still pretty darn cute.

You gently squeezed his hand in yours. Daryl instantly opened his eyes, straightening up in the chair and scanning the room for any danger. Only after a few seconds did his gaze finally fell on you.

“Y/N?”

You smiled weakly, still not trusting your voice, afraid to burst out crying the moment you say his name.

 “Ya scared the shit outta me,” Daryl admitted. His hand never left yours as his thumb was rubbing circles on your skin.

 “I’m sorry” you whispered back, shifting on the bed, Daryl instantly helping you to sit up.

His face was suddenly inches away from yours. You couldn’t help but bite your lower lip at the thought of how long you’d wanted you to be together. How you wanted him to finally kiss you.

All your emotions and feelings were flooding back at you once you saw him. 

Daryl fell quiet, he watched you as if trying to decide something in his mind.

But then, his hand was cupping your face so gently, as he leaned closer to you to the point where you could feel his breathing on your skin. Daryl searched for your eyes, giving you enough time and space to move away. Not like you wanted to.

And then finally, his lips touched yours. 

You kissed as if the world ended on the two of you. As if it was your last day on Earth. And when you finally pulled away for air, Daryl tilted his head just the slightest so that his forehead touched yours.

 “I’m back and I found you” you whispered to him, feeling your eyes fill with tears.

 Daryl shook his head lightly, pulling you into him, hugging and whispering back, “Ya were never gone”.

 A corner of your handkerchief was sticking out from the back pocket of his pants. The one you had dropped, trying to escape what you used to call your home.