Chapter 31 - Blood

                                    

                                          
In the pulsating silence of the house, it was taken quite literally to say that even a pin drop could be heard.
                          
It was Daryl who had first heard the footsteps from upstairs, inside the ransacked kitchen where he and Rick stood. Those four lone footsteps, each after another had confirmed the pairs' worst fear. 
                          
There were people here.
                          
It was bad enough to come into contact with other people after what had happened at the farm, let alone the fact that the tension was so thick even with familiar people. After what Daryl had heard from that kid's tales, there weren't many good people left in the world.
                          
But it was the perceivably thunderous clattering of a weapon falling to the floor, the repetitive sound of metal against wood that stiffened the hairs on the back of Daryl's neck.
                          
His already tight grip on his crossbow only tightened further, his knuckles turning white as he kept his finger tightly on the trigger. The only thought that dominated his racing mind was this:
                          
Amy was in the hallway.
                          
Amy, who had almost definitely dropped that weapon in her clumsiness, was probably standing in the open, awaiting the incoming footsteps of whoever was upstairs.
                          
He had no idea why he was so aware of where Amy was, but it seemed he had just realised that it had been on his mind lately. The woman had been plaguing his thoughts since they first met, with her soft features, and that small determined look in her eyes.
                          
These thoughts were only making Daryl's heart beat faster than he could justify. Just the thought of her waiting, unprotected and out in the open, as whoever it was upstairs made their way down, set him on edge.
                          
Daryl had already spun on his heel, prepared to race into the hallway himself, when Rick's heavy hand tugged back on his shoulder.
                          
He had this strange feeling in his chest, like his lungs were compressing too tight, while his heart was beating much too hard. He didn't understand it himself, but it was certainly something he had never felt before, and it was something he didn't like. As much as he hated the thought, he seemed to have gained a sense of responsibility for Amy.
                          
The look of complete discomfort was clear on his face as Rick stared solemnly into Daryl's alert eyes, almost in warning.
                          
The impatient hunter was about to growl at the man who, in Daryl's muddled mind, was the only thing preventing him from going into that room and stopping whatever was about to unravel. He didn't know who was up there, whether they were good people or not, but he wasn't going to wait to find out.
                          
The piercing quiet was creating an even bigger pressuring feeling in Daryl's chest, when Rick raised a finger in silence, urging him to listen.
                          
Daryl didn't have the patience for this. He took another step towards the door, only to have Rick's grip on his shoulder tighten.
                          
It was only the sound of a door shutting that kept Daryl from swiping, in a fit of frustration, at Rick's hand.
                          
In this silence held a huge amount of tension. Whatever was going on out there was certainly not silent, as a hushed scuffle seemed to be going down in the hallway. It only brought Daryl's sense of danger to an even higher peak, as the footsteps continued to tread down the hollow staircase.
                          
"What the...? Whose knife is this?"
                          
It was at that moment Daryl decided to step in. Rick knew his intentions as he shrugged the man's hand off of his shoulder, this time making no attempt to stop the man. Even Rick himself knew that nothing was going to stop Daryl when he had his mind set on something.