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The Darkest Storm

Dead Man's Stretch

“Stop. You’re touching me. Don’t touch me.”

Darcy squeezed her eyes shut, desperately trying to erase all of Randall’s cretinous existence from her mind as she squirmed towards her side of the car as far as she could away from the blindfolded stranger. It had been a long, hectic night that quickly faded into the next morning. Her forehead was cut and ribs bruised from an unfortunate turn of events that erupted earlier that evening. The now five of them couldn’t wait to get back to the farm, to the place most of them now called home.

“I’m-I’m sorry I can’t help it.” Randall choked out, trying to sit up straight but without any luck. “I can barely keep my head up.”

“Well lean on Glenn, not me.” Darcy gripped his hair and pushed his head back the opposite way forcefully, getting an amused glance from Rick as he looked up into the rear-view mirror and a protesting grunt from the prisoner himself.

Darcy couldn’t help but stifle a laugh, gazing up into his friendly smile and relaxing instantly. If there was anyone’s company that truly made her feel calm it was Rick’s. The bond the two formed was unlike the one with Daryl, naturally. There was no other way to describe the friendship except complete trust and respect towards one another, basically implying that Darcy would follow Rick down any road and he would have her back while she did.

Hershel turned around, “Just lean your head back, son.” His once smooth voice was now raspy and full of exhaustion, retorting back to his drinking days and haphazard emotions was weighing on him heavily.

Darcy scrunched up her nose and muttered, “You smell bad.” She’d been taking in his scent of a mixture of old socks and something she could only describe as slightly deceased for the past hour. The latter, not too shocking.

“Everybody just calm down.” Rick shook his head, turning the corner that led them down the drive towards the farm. “We’re almost there.”

Darcy sighed heavily and rested her head on the window beside her, her amber eyes sparkled with the glittering reflections of the sunrise just over the horizon. A slight bump in the road made Darcy tap her head on the window, and she squinted at the pain in her forehead that she almost instantly forgot was there. She brought a few fingers up and touched the sore area, seeing it was still bleeding.

Glenn leaned forward, worried since Darcy had been complaining the entire ride back about Randall was suddenly quiet. “You alright?” He asked, holding two hands on the rifle standing between his knees.

She nodded, tapping the spot again with her finger gently, “Yeah, it’s just from the glass.”

-

“We need to go.” Darcy hissed, crouching down along side the front doors and towards the others, the same frightened look on their faces mixed with panic. Come to their dismay, Dave and Tony weren’t the only strangers that had wandered into the town.

There were three or four new men outside, yelling and searching for their two group members that now lay lifelessly amongst the floorboards of the abandoned bar. It was only a matter of time until they reached the building and found them – along with blood on both Rick and Darcy’s hands.

“Just wait.” Rick held out a hand to her, whispering harshly as they heard brisk footsteps around outside.

“What for? They’re not going to leave without them!” Darcy pointed her gun sharply over at the dead bodies, watching the gaze of Rick follow the barrel of her gun.

“She’s right, we can’t sit here for much longer.” Hershel muttered.

Rick let out a deep breath before he quickly formed a plan in his head, “Let’s head out the back and make a run to the car.”

Staying crouched and low to the floor, the four started to move with their weapons locked in their hands. Merely taking a few steps, the sounds of distant gunshots forced them to cower back down. Just outside, they could hear the strangers talking clearly to one another.

“What happened?”

“Roamers, I nailed ‘em.”

“They disappeared but their car’s still there.”

“I cleared those buildings. You guys get this one?”

“No.”

“Me either.”

“We’re looking for Dave and Tony and no one checks the damn bar?”

Darcy shut her eyes forcefully at the word that confirmed they were heading their way, breathing heavily as the men outside could be heard getting closer and closer to where they sat. When she looked towards Rick, he was clenching his jaw, preparing for the worst.

The footsteps hit the porch with heavy thuds, briskly heading towards the door determined to find their friends inside, and alive. Rick raised his weapon as did the others, and as the door handle began to twist slightly open, Glenn took initiative to leap over and push it back shut with his back.

Fear shot through Darcy, but she had enough sense to keep still. After all, none of them knew exactly how many men there were. It could be the amount she counted in her head, deciphering the styles and tones of each voice she heard speak. But with her luck these days, what she thought was, unfortunately, most likely not true.

Given their circumstances, she guessed it didn’t matter how many there were exactly. They were trapped. Confusion had granted them a brief reprieve, but by the time the strangers figure out what was happening, they would have formulated a plan to take the smaller group out.

“What?” One of the men said.

“Someone pushed it shut.” Another responded. “There’s someone in there.”

“Yo, is someone in there?” A man shouted out to Rick and the others. “Yo, if someone’s in there, we don’t want no trouble. We’re just looking for our friends.”

“What do we do?” One whispered. “Rush the door?”

“No, we don’t know how many are there. Just relax.” The man turned back to the door, “We don’t want any trouble.” He repeated. “We’re just looking for our friends.”

Darcy thought if they were quiet, they might have been able to escape. Her eyes glanced one more time to the body near the piano, the pool of blood soaking through the floor. She looked to Rick, keeping her back flattened against the stonewall behind her and mouthed, ‘Let’s go.’

He shook his head, ‘Too loud’ and motioned the butt of his gun towards the creaking floor planks. Darcy let her head rest back in frustration against the curtain that covered the glass windows above her. She knew they had to wait and see how things played out, most likely though, for the worst.

“If something happened, tell us.” The man outside kept yelling. “This place is crawling with corpses. If you can help us not get killed, I’d appreciate it.”

Another man spoke up and whispered in a harsh tone, “You’re buggin’. I’m telling you nobody’s in there.”

“Someone guard the door. If they’re in there, they might know where Dave and Tony are.” The leader responded, hesitantly taking the first few steps to walk away from the front door and hit the gravel road with ease. It sounded quiet for a moment, and Darcy could see Rick struggling along side of her with certain unreadable thoughts clogging his logical state of mind.

“They drew on us!” Rick suddenly shouted, receiving wide-eyed stares from all Glenn, Darcy, and Hershel.

“God dammit, Rick.” Darcy hissed, placing her head in her palms.

The man who had started to walk away suddenly rushed back at the voice from inside. “Dave and Tony in there?” The man yelled back. “They alive?”

Rick hesitated. “No.” His breathing increased.

“They killed Dave and Tony.” A frantic whisper was heard from one of the three men.

“Come on, man, let’s go.” One said.

“No, I’m not leaving, I’m not telling Jane. I’m not gonna go back and tell them that Dave and Tony got shot by some assholes in a bar.” The leader retorted.

“Your friends drew on us!” Rick barked. “They gave us no choice! I’m sure we’ve all lost enough people, done things we-we wish we didn’t have to, but it’s like that now. You know that!”

Rick caught his breath, hearing no sounds from the outside and assumed they were listening to him. “So let’s just chalk this up to what it was—wrong place, wrong—“

The loud blast of the shotgun breaking the glass above them cut Rick off, shattering the pieces and nipping the skin on Darcy’s forehead before she had the chance to register what was happening and duck down.

Ignoring the pain, she leaned back away from the windows and laid on her back, firing her weapon against theirs before the chaos momentarily came to a halt. Rick stood then, firing a few distracting shots while telling the others to run. Darcy found her footing, running towards the back of the bar before more shots were aimed at them, hitting left-behind wine bottles and forcing them to duck back down and hide.

-

The truck came to a screeching halt, and Darcy was more than relieved to get out of the crowded vehicle with the prisoner left inside. She leaped out, putting the gun she held in her hand into her holster before turning around and shutting the door harshly, eyeing the man carefully as she did.

Darcy stood in the shadow of a large oak tree at the far edge of the group from the farmhouse. She and the others had felt like they’d been running and fighting for their lives for the past few hours to get back here and now she found herself exhausted, sweating from the morning heat wave that the start of September seemed to drag on.

Darcy turned her back to the house as she shifted her weight between her feet. Facing the edge of the woods where she couldn’t help but flicker her amber eyes towards the particular spot among the tree-line. She felt a familiar tug on her heart that made her start to wonder about him, if he was okay, and if after everything that had been said between them, if he worried about her and if she was coming back.

Then suddenly, she scoffed at herself, taking a few steps away from the side of the car and pushing aside those feelings that she expected would tare her apart. She wiped her hands on her jeans to get rid of the sweat forming on her palms and watched the group she called family come out and greet them with relieved eyes.

As Rick embraced his wife, a familiar figure suddenly stepped out from behind them, crossbow over his shoulder and a wandering pair blue eyes lingering on hers. Her heart got caught in her throat at the sight. She knew then, in that moment, those feelings would never truly go away.

The sound of Hershel’s voice broke the trance, “Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery.”

T-Dog pointed toward the vehicle, wide-eyed “Who the hell is that?”

All eyes shifted to the stranger, and Darcy crossed her arms and leaned her back against the vehicle as they did.

“That’s Randall.” Glenn sighed.

Hershel turned back before he reached the doory and glanced at Rick, “I need someone to take him there while we get things ready.”

Rick nodded and let go of Lori as he turned to the group and glanced between all of them when two in particular caught his eye. “Daryl, Darcy. Would you mind?” Rick asked, raising his brow.

Darcy gave a single nod and uncrossed her arms as she pushed herself off the side of the truck. Opening the door, she heard Daryl’s footsteps grow closer as the rest gathered inside the large farmhouse. Darcy stepped aside when he stood next to her, reaching in and roughly snatching the already ripped collar of the prisoner.

“Where-where are ya takin’ me!” He called out.

“For a stroll ‘round the block.” Daryl muttered sarcastically, pulling Randall out of the car and shoving him forward while watching the injured boy stumble over his own weak footing. “Keep on ‘im.” Daryl whispered to Darcy.

Darcy nodded, pulling out her pistol for what seemed the millionth time in just a few hours, lifting it and keeping it steady with the boy’s movements. Daryl picked him off the ground when Randall fell, gripping his shoulder and leading him in the direction of the shed. She walked cautiously behind the two, not really expecting Randall to try and make a break for it since he wouldn’t get too far, but there was no time to take chances.

The path was desolate, a dead man’s stretch. There was only the sound of the wind and the whimpers emitting from Randall’s steps and it agitated Daryl with every stride.

The ground was drier there, and the three entered the area hiding the shed along the broadest of two dirt paths that crossed the grounds. They followed the path deeper into the large stocks of grass, the two hunters keeping a watchful eye out on everything around them. Naturally, they saw a squirrel that ran along the branch of an oak.

Daryl glanced back at Darcy unintentionally, secretly just wanting to look at her. Darcy’s eyes got caught in the morning light, the amber tint glowing brightly as her eyes kept locked onto the threat he held onto.

Diverting his gaze Daryl looked at the ground and turned forward again, the path ending in a crescent-shaped clearing. From there he could see the rusted locks on the shed. The grass and bushes had reached their knees.

Their eyes caught the open shed door before their minds did. The decay of the small structure gave an air of gentle melancholy. Daryl crossed the clearing and climbed the few small steps whilst tugging Randall inside in front of him, and Darcy quickly catching up from behind.

The door creaked when Daryl had pushed it, but the hinges held. Inside, a stock pigeon flew up from the corner a few feet away, they were too busy to startle though. Taking in the small area, the air smelled of dust and leaves, but the floor itself was whole and promising.

In the middle of the room sat the familiar barrels of hay stacked high surrounding a barn table and a few abandoned baskets lying on top. Daryl shoved Randall towards it and Darcy put her gun back in her holster as she walked over to meet them. It had been a long time coming, but Randall’s weight finally gave way and he toppled to the floor, unconscious from blood loss and undoubtedly the pain that ached in his ripped muscles.

“Lift ‘im up.”Daryl said, grabbing the man from under his arm as Darcy did the same.

It was for an instant Darcy forgot that she had hit her ribcage pretty hard during the mayhem back in the bar, but she was quickly reminded when the sharp pain struck her side and shot through her body.

-

The four hid down low at the sound of a truck revving up around the corner in the middle of the now crowded street. There was a man on the roof, armed with a rifle that spotted them exactly where they kept cover. Darcy and Hershel stayed in the back doorway of the bar while Rick had gone to recover Glenn behind the rusty old dumpster.

“Let’s get out of here!” The man driving the truck yelled to his group member on top of the roof. “Roamers all over the place! Hurry up! We gotta get out of here!”

“What about Sean? Mark?” The rooftop hider yelled back.

“They shot him! We gotta go! Roamers are everywhere!”

“We’re leaving?”

The man in the truck yelled, “Jump! Hurry up jump already!”

Bangs were heard, but not gunshots. It reminded Darcy of the time where she’d fallen asleep in a tree and woke up hitting the ground. The man on the roof bounced off his landing spot, hitting something in the alley and landing on the rusty spearheads finials of the gate blocking the pathway.

“Help me! Help me!” He started to yell to his friend in the truck.

“I’ve gotta go.” He replied, panicked. “I’ve gotta go! I’m sorry!”

“No, no, don’t leave!”

The screams of pleading from the boy who was now intertwined with the fence made Darcy cringe, never wanting to experience the feeling of being left abandoned by anybody. The truck rolled past them, ignoring the cries of the younger man by fleeing the area completely, not looking back in the slightest.

Darcy watched Rick once again, battling his own thoughts as he stared of fin the direction of one who got left behind. Glenn stood, motioning for the two to follow and Darcy urged Hershel to move forward with her close behind.

“The gunfire must’ve attracted the walkers.” Hershel said to Glenn as they caught up to him, Darcy a few paces behind. “Where’s Rick?

“He-he ran across.” Glenn looked towards Rick’s current position.

“Well, hell, we can’t go without him.” Hershel sighed, slightly panicked as the walkers were gaining fast.

As he and Glenn picked up their pace to see where Rick was, something had gripped Darcy’s arm then; another man came out from behind their vehicle, crouched down low with only his knife at the ready.

Darcy was thrown, hitting her side on the hard surface of the brick building, tripping over the pots that only shriveled and heat-ridden plants deep into the dry soil. She held her side as she dropped to the ground in a crumpled heap, mind whirling and disoriented.

Suddenly, Darcy’s mind shot back the incident in those few weeks she was by herself. Once, when she was in a blind tree, waiting motionless for any type of food to wander by, she dozed off and fell ten feet to the ground, landing on her back. It was as if the impact had knocked every scrap of air from her lungs, and she lay there struggling to inhale, to exhale, to do anything.

That’s precisely how she felt then as she slammed her side into the jagged wall, trying to remember how to breath, unable to speak or call for help, totally stunned as her mind bounced from instincts to demands around the inside of her skull.

There was no time for her to sit and recuperate her lungs. The same man picked her up off her feet and threw her against the wall once more, making her head bounce back off the brick as he reached his hands around her neck with his knife firmly in place against her soft skin.

No one could help her right now, the other three were still trying to gather themselves and leave. Darcy’s eyes filled with the teary liquid, her whole body in pain from the abuse. She saw the man in front of her in a haze, speaking to her but she couldn’t understand a word even if she tried. The world was unfocused and silent around her.

Suddenly one thought connects to another and she manages to scoot her right foot upwards against the wall and grab her knife. The man saw and shifted his weight quickly, Darcy only getting the chance to swipe the blade towards him as he dropped her to her knees.

In a desperate attempt to stay alive, she kept going. Darcy leaped herself towards him all the while stabbing her knife into the back of his thigh, causing his cries to echo throughout the small town.

The man lurched forward, murder in his eyes, as Darcy maneuvered around him and released the blade back into her grasp, kicking him in the sore area before he even had a chance to react.

As he fell, Darcy heard the familiar sound of Rick’s pistol taking it’s aim and shot as the noise echoed around them. Darcy’s eyes had not left the man who had threatened her, watching when his eyes went blind and the sight of fresh blood drizzled down from his forehead.

-

Daryl eyed her carefully, “Ya alright?”

Darcy gave a hesitant nod, releasing her side and tugging Randall up on the barn table. They laid him flat on his back and would wait until Hershel arrived with Patricia to begin his calf repair.

“We were ‘bout to go ‘n look for you this mornin’. Bring ya back.” Daryl mumbled, he leaned on his arms that were stretched out to easily grab the sides of the wooden planks of the table. He wasn’t looking at her.

Darcy brings her head up slightly and narrows her eyes in thought. The two were standing on either end of the creaky table, ready to have it out for the last time on that particular discussion.

“Part of me thought you were actually going to show.” Darcy mumbles bitterly. “Although it’s no surprise you didn’t.” She doesn’t move but waits silently for his response, although she already knows exactly what it’s going to be.

Sure enough, after a moments pause the gruff voice answers her back. Daryl walks around the table toward her and narrows his eyes, “What do you want me to do? Huh?” He scowls down at Darcy, close to her so he can feel her hot breath on his cheek.

Darcy hadn’t given a direct response, this makes Daryl scoff and turn around. “I don’ need this.”He mutters gruffly as if some other, very different words were trying to battle their way out instead.

“Don’t pretend like you don’t care.” Darcy said sternly, causing Daryl to face her slightly once more. “You want your friendship back? Take it. Every kind and smart thing you’ve said? Take it all back I don’t care, I’ve lost worse. But don’t stand there and tell me you were going to come look for me, and pretend you don’t care.”

Darcy’s iris’s are reading his every move and tone of his deep voice. Straightaway, her thoughts were linking to each other and she wonders if Daryl’s actions are a misrepresentation of not being careless, but careful.

The silence starts picking him apart and makes him question his sense of self and his past. But behind the noise and the stories, there is something constant and unchanging: the woman in front of him, the natural explorer and lucid dreamer.

Daryl nods, bringing down his arrogance as well as his attention to his dirty fingernails. “Alright.” He said suddenly.

Darcy blinks her eyelids and tilts her head slightly, “What?” She half expects this to be a con on her emotions, just like when he brought their unexpected kiss in the argument before.

Daryl folds his arms and repeats himself. “Alright.” He shuffles awkwardly. Daryl hadn’t quite thought about what he would say when the discussion was once again brought up but he never imagined Darcy would’ve been so direct and to the point about it either. Oh, who was he kidding? Of course he knew.

Darcy stays quiet. Through a direct experience with and recognition of this silence there is a relaxation of the worries and fears in life.Although, she is desperately trying to stay furious at him and yet as she looked into his eyes, all shy and sincere, all she really wanted to do was let go of Randall’s boot, run over to him and—

“Time for you two to clear on out now.” Hershel’s soothing voice echoed through the empty shed, Patricia behind him with all the necessary medical supplies that were needed to rebuild the young boy’s calf muscles.

“Rick asked for a meeting inside. I’ll be there in a short while.” He nodded. “Daryl, give me a hand would you?” Hershel motions for Daryl’s strength as the old man struggles with setting up a few things to prepare for the surgery.

Darcy hadn’t hesitated to slip out – she wants to be there for whatever Rick has to say, but Daryl watches her as she does and hesitates with giving a helping hand to Hershel.


Hershel notices instantly. “She can go on by herself for now, don’t worry. The way she handled herself out there today, I have no problem putting my life in her hands if it came down to it.” Daryl blinks slowly, and nods – his way of communicating with anyone who spoke to him about her. He was shy.

“Now come on, I’m not as strong as I used to be. Help a grandpa out.” Hershel snickers at his own joke, and Daryl steps forward to aid him while giving a slight smirk that played at his lips while he did.

-

Time passes rather quickly and in no time Darcy climbs the steps to the white house and reaches out for the screen door as she hears the familiar voices on the other side. She had retreated to the RV where her things where now placed to wash herself up and check the bruises that lined her side.

“We couldn’t just leave him behind.” Rick said as Darcy entered. He gives her a nod and she returns it, standing off to the side behind the rest of the group who is huddled around the dining room table. She crosses her arms and ankles as she listens carefully.

“He would’ve bled out, if he lived that long.” Rick continued.

“It’s gotten bad in town.” Glenn says, almost in a whisper. Maggie looks at him worryingly.

“What do we do with him?” Andrea questions.

“I’ve repaired his calf muscle as best I can,” Hershel came from behind Rick, and it is then that Darcy realizes how long she must have been absent but when she glances around, she doesn’t see Daryl. “But he’ll probably have nerve damage. He won’t be on his feet for at least a week.”

“When he is, we give him a canteen, take him out to the main road, send him on his way.” Rick finished.

The screen door opens behind to the side of Darcy and she glances over to Daryl walking in and standing next to her. He gives her another nod and she poorly hides a blush that rises to her face.

“Isn’t that the same as leaving him for the walkers?” Andrea prods.

“He’ll have a fighting chance.” Rick responds.

“Just gonna let him go?” Shane interrupts. “He knows where we are.”

“He was blindfolded the whole way here.” The group looks to Darcy, who narrows her eyes at Shane. He has been really agitating her lately, the sudden change in character gives her an uneasy feeling.

“He’s not a threat.” Rick nods.

“Not a threat.” Shane huffed. “How many of them were there? You killed three of their men, you took one of them hostage, but they just ain’t gonna come lookin’?”

“They left him for dead.” Rick raises his voice and sends a threatening glare. “No one is looking.”

“We should still post a guard.” T-Dog says.

“He’s out cold right now. Will be for hours.” Hershel nods.

“You know what?” Shane starts to yell. “I’m gonna go get him some flowers and candy.” He walks away towards the front door. “Look at this, folks – we back in fantasyland.”

“You know, we haven’t even dealt with what you did at my barn yet.” Hershel pointed, walking up to Shane with confidence and anger in his voice. “Let me make this perfectly clear, once and for all – this is my farm. Now I wanted you gone. Rick talked me out of it, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. So do us both a favor – keep your mouth shut.”

Darcy watches as Shane shakes his head, pursing his lips to keep his rebel tongue out of the way. He walks away, swinging the door open with unnecessary force and letting it slam itself back into its frame, leaving the entire group uneasy and feeling at risk with a new threat on their doorstep.

Notes

Phew! That was a lot of work and one of those updates where it seems like nothing sounds the way you want it. Let me know though for sure what you readers think! I've been loving this feedback I've been getting. I get so excited about it!

Jane.

Comments

Please update this is such an amazing story and I'm dying to know what happens next!!!

Ash8 Ash8
1/22/19

@LoriG
Part 66 is up ;)

@aphishinthec
Argh you got my hopes up- I saw an update, but it was you replying to my last messaege! Please can you update @bikingthroughflowers ? Thank you!

LoriG LoriG
6/25/18

@LoriG Right?!?! Need to know how she would handle Negan.

I'm also desperate to know how Darcy would fare in the storyline now. Pleeeeeease don't give up on this fic, I'm reading it AGAIN! <3<3<3

aphishinthec aphishinthec
4/6/18

I’d love to know how Darcy would deal with Negan... you need to update surely?! Still love this story, and just read it again!

LoriG LoriG
7/31/17