Double Crossbow (Daryl Dixon) [The Walking Dead]

Chapter 29 ↣ Kath?

"Come to me, squeeze my hand, know my loneliness, and give me the love, the strength to prevail on the perilous road before me."

- Dang Thuy Tram

↣ ↢

Daryl

I WALKED INTO the small hunting cabin where we were holed up. As I made my way into the living room, I saw everyone was accounted for but Kathryn. The group glanced up at me, but no one got the opportunity to ask me anything because I moved on quickly.

Something wasn't right. I had gone out hunting this morning alone because she had still been asleep. In that moment, I hadn't thought anything of it...but now worry had seeded itself in my stomach. I walked up the steps that led to a few bedrooms on the upper level. Everyone had slept downstairs, but if something was wrong, she would've separated herself from everyone else.

On the upper floor, there were three rooms. I checked the first one: empty. Moving on, I saw that the second door was slightly ajar. I nudged the door open with the toe of my boot, and there she was, curled up in the corner of the room with that stupid blue blanket.

"Kathryn?" I asked.

She held out a hand. "Ah, no. St-t-tay over there."

"What?" I asked, stopping in my tracks as confusion washed over me.

"I c-c-caught something." Her teeth chattered and her voice wavered so bad that I could hardly make out her words. I saw a shiver wrack her frame before she fumbled for a nearby bucket. I cast her warnings aside as I raced to her side and pulled her hair away from her face. It was only dry heaving though.

"When's the last time you ate anything?" I asked. She shrugged and tried to push me away. There was hardly any strength behind it.

"You c-c-can't get sick. They need you."

A scowl painted itself on my features. She was just as important as the others. "You ain't getting rid of me that easily."

She looked up at me. Her face was as pale as when she had gotten shot, and her eyes had lost the intensity in the green. Gently placing my hand on her forehead, she flinched away slightly. She was burning up and clammy. I quickly made my way back downstairs. Walking over to Hershel, I asked, "You got any Ibuprofen?"

Hershel grabbed his bag. "Are you okay?" he asked, handing me the meds and a bottle of water.

"I'm fine. Kathryn caught something. Gotta break the fever."

Hershel nodded. "Do I need to take a look?"

I shook my head. "It ain't serious." Turning on my heel, I headed back for the stairs. I was soon stopped by the appearance of Rick.

"That's why she's been up there all day?" he asked. I nodded. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I thought she was just trying to get space from us all. Tell her she's stupid."

"Will do," I said and started climbing up the steps. Kathryn was in the same spot I'd left her in. "Here," I grunted, holding out the two things. She cracked an eye at me and grumbled something. Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I asked, "What was that?"

"I don't need it."

"Don't be stubborn and take the damn Ibuprofen."

"Someone else might need it."

I crouched down to her level. "And you need it now." She glared at me. Which was actually quite funny, considering she was drowning in that blanket. It resulted in just two cat-like eyes glaring at me from a sea of blue. "Don't make me force feed these to you."

"You wouldn't," she said.

I raised an eyebrow. "You wanna test your theory?"

She was silent for a moment, and then a hand emerged from the sea of blanket. I smiled slightly at my victory. She took the pills with a swig of water and then handed them back to me. I set the bottles on the ground and then situated myself next to her.

"No," she borderline whined, "you're g-gonna—"

I cut her off. "Kathryn, shut it. Damn, you're a pain in the ass when you're sick."

"You're a pain in the ass all the time," she grumbled.

"Yes, I am."

She shifted and gave me a corner of the blanket. I saw the metaphorical olive branch in her gesture and pulled the blanket over me. I then wrapped my arms around her and rested my chin on top of her head. She curled perfectly into the bend of my side.

"Rick said you're stupid," I told her.

"How n-nice of him," Kathryn replied before she shivered violently.

"Mhmm," I hummed. She was sticky and clammy and hot. A small smile pulled at the corner of my lips. I suppose it could be worse.

Kathryn

"Oh how the tables have turned," I said evilly, walking into the room.

"S-shut it," Daryl growled.

I crouched down to Daryl's level. "Would it help if I said I told you so?"

Daryl glared at me. He tried to grab me, but he was slower than normal. I quickly evaded him. "Kath," he borderline whined.

I cocked my head to the side. "Kath?" He shrugged. His blue eyes were a paler shade than usual, even with the blue blanket wrapped around him. My resolve crumbled slightly. Making my way back to him, I sat down and stretch my legs out in front of me. No one had ever given me a nickname before. At least, not one that didn't make me want to vomit. It was...weird.

Daryl leaned up against me. "At least people won't bug us up here."

"Oh, that's good. We should take sick days more often."

"Only if you're the one that's sick," Daryl grunted. He shuffled around some more until his head was in my lap. He shivered, causing me to pull the blanket higher over him.

"We could always fake it," I said, brushing a stray piece of his hair back into place.

"M'kay," he mumbled. "How was it today?"

"There are more tracks than usual, but nothing was out to play," I said.

"Spring'll be here soon enough. I feel it."

"I sure as hell hope you're right."

It wasn't too long before his breathing became heavy with sleep. Looking back, it was still pretty unclear how the hell I ended up at the end of the world in a dusty hunting cabin with a sleeping asshole in my lap. A small smile pulled at the corner of my lips. I suppose it could be worse.