Nina looked up at the sky, feeling the cold water hit her face. For a moment she felt her body relax, felt her shoulders fall down— like the rain, flowing from above.
As much as this was a miracle to the group, the rain quickly turned into a dark storm, and it didn't look like it would stop for a while. it was dangerous for them to be out in the open.
"Let's keep moving!" Rick said running a shaky hand through his hair.
Daryl paused for a second, "There's a barn!" He pointed east towards the woods, "Just up ahead!"
Nina clutched her stomach and looked up at him. His attempt to reassure her came with a singular pat on her back.
The moment meant more than he realized, especially with Rick emulating the same anger he had when first meeting her.
She had to have played an evil trick on the universe to have these odds placed against her. The people who could easily take her out, are thinking she lied to them this whole time. A couple water bottles placed on the road could easily cost her, her life.
The group huddled their stuff together and began to run into the trees. With the rain beginning to pour heavily, making hard even to see what was in front of them, they had to find that barn quickly. Nina took a step forward, attempting to follow Daryl and the rest of the group.
Not before her arm was forcibly pulled away. "Do you think i'm stupid!?"
Nina struggled to pull away, wincing at the firm grip that Rick had on her arm.
"Answer me."
She shook her head, hitting his arm with her other hand. She wanted to scream, curse at him, tell him to let her go and, explain with the information that she could. But she couldn't even let out her own name when asked.
She didn't need to tell him anything frankly. He was insane, and she was better off starving herself in the woods like she had originally been, than deal with this group of sickos.
Her body began to grow numb from fright as she cried out, hitting his chest. Daryl looked over his shoulder, cursing under his breath.
The shouts coming from both of the men were inaudible to her, she could only hear the rain and thunder coming down from the sky. She had tried to make reason with these people, only for her sister. Only to find Vivian.
Two strong tugs helped her escape from his grip, falling onto the ground. She looked at them again, watching them yell at each other. The sudden flashes revealing the anger on their faces.
Daryl looked back two times at Nina, the way her mouth was molded into a frown as she breathed heavily, backing away. He inched closer to her and she shook her head, running off as quick as she could — into the other side of the woods.
"No!" Daryl shouted watching her go. "Shit!"
Rick gripped his gun, staring at Daryl. He reached him a hand, which was ultimately ignored. Daryl grabbed his crossbow from the ground and spoke once more.
"The hell's wrong with you?"
Daryl ran into the woods, following Nina.
She wasn't going to make it through tonight. She had to forcibly feed that information into her brain. She was done going hungry every night, she couldn't spend another day without her sister. The people she warned her about were real and she wasn't prepared to deal with them.
Nina ran deep into the trees, wiping her face every so often. The groans of walkers passing behind her were now louder than her footsteps. Everything felt heavy to her, she was too weak and tired.
Daryl felt almost possessed, going after this little girl. He couldn't stop thinking about what Rick said, but he just couldn't let her die. Even after wishing death upon many people, he still cared. In truth, he was still angry with himself, he was tired of failing people. He had to do something right for a change.
The woods were now pitch black with the occasional flashes of lightning. It didn't stop Nina from running, and it didn't stop Daryl from looking.
With one motion she grabbed onto a tree, trying to catch her breath. In the corner of her eye she could see them. Around a dozen walkers, inching closer to her.
As she was about to run, Nina saw one of them drop to the ground with an arrow struck into its eye.
She searched for the source through the darkness of the trees, but couldn't find anything. Nina suddenly yelped as she felt a hand grab her shoulder.
"It's me!" Daryl said with a shout, trying to keep her from running off again.
Nina stared at him with fear-stricken eyes, adrenaline pumping through her body as she stood there like a statue.
Daryl aimed at the small hoard and shot another arrow. "We gotta move kid, c'mon."
She said nothing, did nothing— until she saw the fear in his eyes. Which made her snap into consciousness.
Nina forced her body to run with him, looking back every so often. Why was he so adamant on helping her? What good could come from risking his life for her?
All these questions looped inside her brain as she ran. All Daryl was thinking of was making it out alive.
He took an opportunity to grab Nina and slide down into a divot when lightning struck. He then quickly began to cover himself with mud.
Nina observed with panic but didn't hesitate to do the same. She shut her eyes and waited, for what seemed like an eternity.
Finally, the faint groans of the walkers seemed to disappear entirely. They were lucky the storm drew them away.
Daryl stood up and motioned Nina to follow him.
She wiped the mud from her cheeks and slowly began to back away.
"Kid, You'll die out there, c'mon." He reached out.
She turned her head back to see nothing but darkness. He was right, but she didn't know what to do.
Daryl took a small step towards her, "I'm sorry about Rick."
She furrowed her eyebrows at the mention of his name.
"I gotta talk some sense into him." He began, "If you come with me, you have to be honest with me, I just have to know if that was your group that set out those water bottles."
She shook her head almost immediately, placing a hand over her chest. A signal of truth, of a promise.
"Okay." He whispered.
___________________________________
They both stared at the doors to the barn, having no courage or energy to open and explain to everyone the traumatic situation they'd just experienced.
Daryl pounded his fist against the wooden doors. Shouting out a few words, hoping they'd hear. After a few seconds, the doors shot open.
Nina and Daryl were practically yanked into the room. A dozen eyes turned to them, all confused with the sight of them covered in mud.
None of them were confident enough to speak up. As they rammed the door shut again, the grey haired lady shot a look towards Rick. She then, walked towards Nina and Daryl, checking for injuries.
The barn floors looked so good to Nina, she was bound to collapse any moment.
"Let's get you cleaned up." She said.
She lead Nina to a little corner of the barn and sat her down. She grabbed the bottled water beside her, which was less than half full and slowly raised it up to her mouth.
As Nina drank the water, she could finally notice the pain her body was in. She put a hand on her stomach while the lady brought a rag to her face.
"I'm Carol." She began, "What's your name?"
Looking forward, Nina opened her mouth and attempted to speak. She put a hand on her throat and made a sour expression.
"Don't hurt yourself." Carol said.
Nina could hear the muffled voice of the rest of the group, probably bickering about letting her stay.
"Why don't I find you something to eat?" She asked Nina.
This gave her a chance to take in the environment. She looked at the boy with the cowboy hat, cradling a cooing baby and the man whispering himself a low prayer. There was also a lady with a long sword and another group huddled against each other, which she then heard one say the name "Abraham."
These people were so different. She wondered how they ended up together.
"That's Eugene." Said Carol, giving her half of a granola bar. "I wouldn't recommend staring, he's not scared of a challenge."
She grabbed the same rag and dunked it into a bucket of rain water.
"I'm just joking, he couldn't hurt a fly if he tried."
Nina smiled and took a bite of her food. Carol was nice, and she needed nice.
"There, as clean as— well, one of us." She smiled, "Now, get some sleep, i'll be right here."
Nina laid back onto the floor and tried her best to drift off to sleep. Not wanting to think about what could happen to her in the morning.