About ten people of different ages were present in the room. An elderly man with white hair and stern eyes approached you and touched the left side of your head. His hand was warm, soft, moving skillfully and deliberately. He knew what he was doing. He looked at you for a moment, right in your eyes and smiled lovingly.

“The wound is not completely healed yet, but in a few days it will disappear. Come, sit down with us.”

The man pointed to an empty chair next to a very serious and silent man. So you sat down and lowered your still aching head slightly.

“I’m Rick Grimes, nice to meet you.”

“I am Y/N and it is also my pleasure.”

“Those you see in front of you are some members of our group, others watch out that Walkers do not approach this building. After breakfast, I’ll wait for you outside, I have to ask you a few questions.”

He got up, put his revolver to the side of the window, followed the old man and both went out of the door. You were alone in a room full of unknown people and Daryl was not there. As well as visibly tense and worried you didn’t know what to do, what to say and above all, what to expect. It took less than ten minutes for the atmosphere to spread, thanks to the girl who kindly explained where you were, her name was Maggie. You started to listen to the people sitting in the kitchen and in that short time you could understand many things. Lori, Rick’s wife, was a very strong woman, determined and very protective of her son Carl, who followed her movements attentively. Maggie was the old man’s daughter, Hershel, and the sister of a blond, silent girl named Beth. Dale, a very nice and sociable man, introduced you to the Korean boy, Glenn, and he started to ask you a few questions.

“So…”

“You can call me Y/N.”

“Alright, where are you from?”

“I lived in a small town a few miles from Atlanta.”

“And how did you land up here?”

“I don’t know, I went a long way looking for accommodation and a group of people, but I didn’t meet a human, only the living dead…”

It was quiet in the room, nobody knew what to say in the face of this brutal truth. Lori got up from the chair she was sitting on and walked slowly towards you.

“Come, let’s go to Rick, he’s probably waiting for you.”

You agreed and went out without saying a word. You could feel the warmth of the sunshine stroking your face. A long green field stretched out in front of you and had almost no limits. Under the big oak, on the right, some people were outside the tent, sitting around a faint fire and others on a camper. Unknown faces, but nowhere the shadow of Daryl. Why did you always think about him? Inside, while he was still there, you felt something that made a strange and unusual sensation at the beginning of your stomach. But suddenly your thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.

“Hey Y/N, come here, we have to talk to you.”

Rick and Hershel wanted to study a map on the porch of the house. You went to them, leaned against the pillar and watched the dense forest that rose around the house.

“I have to ask you a few questions…

How many Walkers have you killed?”

You noticed a grimace on Hershel’s face, almost annoyed from the question of his friend.

“I don’t remember, I’ve always tried to avoid them so as not to waste the few remaining powers.”

“How many people have you killed?”

“People? During my journey, I haven’t found a living soul! Nothing! Only these damned dead…”

“Do you belong to a group?”

You paused to think, or better said, to remember, and immediately the melancholy and the sadness took over your heart like a great burden.

“No…”

You painfully thought about the answer you had just given. And now? What would have happened? Would they send you away? Left again on the side of the road in the midst of desolation and death?

“Good Y/N, we talked a lot to Hershel and came to that conclusion, if you want, you can stay with us, it’s always convenient to have another member. I also saw that you have a bow, so I guess you know how to defend yourself safely.”

In fact, he was not wrong. This weapon belonged to your father, he had been a hunter, especially for some legends whose characters could bravely handle a bow. He had exhibited it in the living room next to the fireplace and he was proud of it. Very often you both had fun during the summer days, to make long duels with the bow. He had taught you some very special techniques and he kept telling you that one day he would give you his beloved bow. Unfortunately, this day came too early…

“Y/N, did you hear me?”

“Sorry, I was distracted.”

“You can stay, but you have to take on tasks! You have to help, take care of the watch, take care of the animals, in short, the necessary, have we got along?”

“Yes, you can count on me!”

You had become a member of the group, had already made acquaintance with some members, and soon you would have known the others. After a long time you were happy, now you could finally rely on someone… You thanked Hershel and Rick and went to the front door, ready to be useful, but stopped promptly. At the back of the field you saw a figure take a quick step towards the house. This kind of gait was immediately familiar to you, it was decided and powerful. So you went down the porch steps and approached the small pump dripping with cold water, wiping your face to look better… You saw him, it was Daryl. He wore a green camouflage shirt, sleeveless and slightly unbuttoned, which caught a glimpse of the bony clavicles. His pants were slightly dirty with blood and a knife dangled from the buckle. His hair, disheveled and slightly damp, fell on his face, emphasizing his pointed features. The ice-blue eyes, slightly open by the sun, looked like two small slits. His beard and mouth were stained with blood and gave him a wild look. For that he held five squirrels in one hand, and on his right shoulder he held the crossbow, the same one he had put on you a few days ago. He approached the camp and sat on the trunk of a felled tree, laid the squirrels on the ground, grabbed the knife, and began to skin the squirrels. You stopped to look at him. Maybe you ought to have thanked him, if he had not been, you would probably have been prey to it through the lamentations of the living dead. So you did not hesitate and approached him.

“Hey Daryl!”

He did not deign to look at you.

“What do you want?”

He looked up and looked threateningly at you, looked down again, grinned and continued with his work.

“Well, I just wanted to thank you for saving me.”

He did not answer, he was too busy shedding those damn squirrels. You were quiet for a few minutes, waiting for an answer. Silence… You only heard the blade of the knife penetrate the animal and how the intestines of the motionless, animal body were cut. You grabbed your shoulders and headed for the house. Why was he behaving like that? You didn’t do anything to him! You don’t deserve to be treated like a puppet. Suddenly you felt a presence behind you and a warm breath on your bare neck, a pleasant feeling pervaded your body and you closed your eyes briefly to enjoy this moment.

“You’re welcome.”

You stopped abruptly and Daryl surpassed you after he turned to look into your eyes and toward the house. You were confused, you really couldn’t understand his behavior. Usually, it was enough for you to exchange a conversation in order to frame a person and thus continue to attend or avoid it. But not with him. You could not find an explanation for his behavior. So you just shrugged and moved on.

However, you didn’t notice that behind the big oak two threatening eyes had seen the whole scene…