A Survivor's Diary of the Apocalypse (TWD/Daryl Dixon)

S6Pt22 - Out For Revenge

It was a quiet night. Daryl didn't want to speak a word to me. He didn't want to hold Lee. He wanted nothing to do with the world right now, but I knew he had something on his mind. I laid down in bed and pulled the covers over me. I sighed and looked to my left, only to see Daryl's back to me. I took a deep breath and rolled over, facing my back towards him and slowly fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up and saw that Daryl wasn't in bed, which I kind of expected. I got dressed and ready as quick as I could, but struggled to put my hair up. Daryl wasn't here to help me, like usual.
"Fuck it, man." I muttered to myself.
I brushed my hair, leaving it down, and went about my morning. By now Lee was fine for the day and I went outside. I began wondering around, trying to find Daryl, and noticed that his bike and crossbow was gone.
"Where the hell is he?" I thought.
I then heard a motorcycle engine rev and saw he was parked at the gate, and Glenn, Michonne, and Rosita were all there. I jogged over just as Daryl finished opening the gate.
"Where are you going?" I called to him.
"Out." He just said and got on his bike.
"The hell you are?" I said and got closer, but he just sped off. "Shit!"
I ran after him but stopped at the gate. I instantly turned around and ran over to a van that was parked there. I yanked on the door, but it was locked, and I jiggled the handle.
"Kelley, calm down." Michonne began to say.
"He's going to get himself killed. I have to follow him." I said and yanked on the door again. "Where are the damn keys!"
No one answered me, and I was running out of time.
"Is no one going to help me?" I asked and looked at them, but they just stared at me.
"We want to Kelley, but we have to think about what he's doing." Glenn tried to reason.
"He's going for revenge. He's gonna get himself killed." I said, but they still didn't move. "Fine."
I then turned around and punched the window with my cast, shattering the glass. I unlocked the door from the inside and grabbed the spare set of keys from the sun visor.
"Hey! Hey!" They all called out.
I got in the van and started the engine. Glenn ran in front of the car before I could drive off.
"Okay. I'll go." He said.
"Me too." Michonne said.
"I'll come too." Rosita said.
I slammed my hands on the steering wheel and waved towards them.
"Well, come on. Hurry!" I said.
They got inside the van and I slammed my foot on the gas pedal, leaving only a cloud of dust behind me.

~~~~~~~~~~

We arrived back at the tracks, where Denise died, and where I saw Daryl ditched his ride. I found his footprints leading into the forest, and they were easy to find, meaning he wasn't being careful out here. We followed his trail towards an empty field and I knew he was following Dwight's trail, there was nothing else he'd be following. We were at the edge of the treeline when Michonne stepped on a twig. Out of nowhere, an arrow hit the tree right behind her and Daryl stepped out of cover.
"Watch where you're pointing that." Michonne said.
"I was." Daryl said and reloaded his crossbow. "You shouldn't have come."
"You shouldn't have left." I said and stood in front of him.
I just threw up my arms in confusion and he stared me down, and everyone else just observed.
"When we were out there with Sasha and Abraham, in that burnt forest, he put a gun up to my head, tied me up!" Daryl vented, all pissed off.
"So was I." I said and waved my hand. "Remember me? I went through the same shit. Why are you being so selfish?"
"Selfish?" Daryl repeated.
"Yeah." I said and nodded my head. "You didn't talk to me this morning. You just left. Didn't even say goodbye to your son!"
"I helped that fucker! And look what he's done!" Daryl yelled in my face.
"Daryl, I don't want to fight with you." I began to say.
Glenn then stepped in front of me and gently pushed me back. I just bowed my head and let them talk.
"And you think it's your fault." Glenn said.
"Yeah. I know it is." He said and began walking away. "I'm gonna do what I should've done before."
Glenn moved in front of him and Daryl stopped moving.
"What? For her..." Glenn said and Daryl nodded. "She's gone man. Your wife is right here. You're just doing this for you."
"Man, I don't give a shit." He said and walked past Glenn.
"We have to get back home and figure this out." Glenn said. "Our home."
"Daryl please. We need you now." I said, as calmly as I could.
He stopped and bowed his head, slowly turning around. "I can't. Not right now." He said.
He turned back around and we watched as he walked away. I just sighed and realized I was tired of his bullshit.
"Fine." I said.
I took out my pistol and tossed it on the ground. I took off my belt that held my hunting knife and dropped that too. Daryl slowed down and soon stopped, but he didn't turn around yet.
"I'll act like you then." I said.
He slowly turned around and saw me standing there with my arms crossed, and I kicked my weapons away.
"What are you doing?" He asked through gritted teeth.
"I'm acting like you." I said and tilted my head. "Delusional. Sad. Unsafe. Almost pitiful... Weak." I spat the last word.
"Watch yourself Kelley." He told me.
"Oh, okay." I said, almost laughing, and pointed my cast at him. "You know what Daryl, you are still as stupid as the day we met."
"Excuse me." He said and walked towards me.
"You don't think clearly when you're mad." I said and tapped my head. "Don't you get it? You're grieving and you want revenge, and you're angry, but I can't lose you to that. I want my husband back!" I cried out.
"This is me!" Daryl said and stood in front of me. "You're stuck with this!"
"Don't you yell at me Dixon!" I yelled back and pointed my blade at him. "You. Do not. Yell at me." I said and shook my head. "What happened to you? Dwight's not the first guy to threaten you, but you wanna decide that this time it's personal?"
"It is. I've always been this way." Daryl argued.
"No. This is not you." I said and took a step back, shaking my head. "I'm just... confused on who you are anymore."
I just sighed and picked up my gun and put my belt back on. I looked back at Daryl and saluted to him.
"I'll make sure to tell OUR son that his daddy died a coward." I said sarcastically, and began walking away. "I'm done."
"Kelley Dixon! Get back here." He called out.
"Hah!" I scoffed. "What a funny name."

~~~~~~~~~~

I was sitting on the ground, leaning against a tree, and wiped the last of my tears. Glenn, Michonne, and Rosita showed up, and I slowly stood up.
"He left." They said.
I nodded. "I know." I said, and Michonne hugged me. "I'm sorry." I said and wiped another tear.
"It's okay." Rosita said. "He's strong. He'll be fine."
Glenn nodded and put a hand on my shoulder. "Come on. Let's go home." He said and we began walking away. "He'll come back. He always comes back."
We then heard a whistle from the forest and instantly got surrounded by Negan's men. They pointed their guns at us, and I knew this wasn't going to go well. I then saw Dwight and he just shook his head when he saw me.
"So... Daryl has a son?" He stated.
Next thing I knew, sacks were placed over our heads and I couldn't see anything. Everything happened so quickly, because next thing I knew we were at their small camp and the bags were taken off our heads.
They tied our hands behind our backs and put gags in our mouth, and I hated being in this position again. I started looking around, trying to find anything to escape, until my eyes landed on Daryl.
He was hidden in the forest and made eye contact with me. He held his finger up to his lip, and I just shook my head no.
"Don't. Just go." I thought.
This was dangerous. He was alone. One against many. He didn't have a chance. I wanted him to run to save himself.
Next thing I knew, Daryl raised his crossbow, ready to shoot, but it was too late. Dwight was behind him and held a gun up to Daryl, again.
"Hi Daryl." He said and cocked his head.
Daryl slowly lowered his crossbow and turned around, facing Dwight. He just smiled and no one could stop him from pulling the trigger. Daryl collapsed to the ground and Dwight put his gun away.
"You'll be alright." He said.
"You son of a bitch!" I cried and looked at Daryl, who was clearly weak and in pain.
"Hey! Hey!" Dwight yelled at me. "We are just getting started!" He said and had an evil look in his eye. "Things are only going to get worse from here."
They sloppily patched up Daryl, who got shot in the shoulder, and they threw a blanket around him. They picked us up and threw all of us in the back of a van. As we began driving away, I crawled over to Daryl.
"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice shaky.
He just groaned, but nodded.
"I'm sorry." I said and rested my forehead against his. "I'm so so sorry."
He just looked at me and kissed me, which I didn't realize I needed.
"I love you." He said, and I saw he was getting teary-eyed. 
"I love you too." I said, tears starting to blur my vision.
Just those three words... they meant so much. Little did I know that this was probably the last time I would ever tell him those three little words.