The Journey Ahead | Daryl Dixon

The Journey Ahead (2)

- Authors Note -
Hey guys! The video above is just a song I really like! I might do that throughout the Imagines, most of the time it will relate to the Chapter itself, other times it will just be there for whatever. Hope you enjoyed the first parts, thanks so much for reading! :)
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The day passed by almost instantly. Already the stars were hanging over our heads. I still felt numb from what happened a couple hours ago. Everything went to shit so quickly.

The Sparks emanating from the campfire before me danced into the atmosphere and faded away into the night. Beth was resting her head on my shoulder, slowly falling asleep. She was drained from the amount of tears she shed throughout the day. Her face was pale and the stains of tears were marked on her damp cheeks. She wanted to cry, she just couldn't anymore.

Daryl stared into the fire with an empty look in his eyes. Almost as if he wasn't here with us. He occasionally glanced up to look and see if we were awake, but then quickly switched his gaze back to the fire. I was thankful that he dragged me out of that mess, but honestly, I would've been fine just being left there, being left to die. My heart hurts too much. Sure it would hurt Beth greatly, I would have that hanging over me constantly. But I couldn't handle the feeling of loss so frequently. Is this what this world has come to? Losing people one by one until we all are gone? Humanity is lost, and this group is, as Dale said, broken.

I was ripped from my thoughts by the sound of Daryl clearing his throat. I looked up and saw that he was looking right back at me, with the same empty look in his eyes. He nodded towards Beth, noticing that she dozed off. He started to stand up and dusted his pants off of the dirt that covered the ground. He offered his hand out to me to help me up. I slowly picked up Beth's head and lied her down next the fire. I took Daryl's hand as he lifted me up with ease.

We went to take a walk in the woods and escape for a while. He was looking for more to hunt while I stalked behind him, as distant as I could make myself. It was eerily quiet, surprising that there were no walkers anywhere in sight.

"Ya know, you're father was a good man." Daryl said looking over his shoulder back at me. I just continued to trail on behind him, like a lost puppy. He darted his gaze back to in front of him and continued on, avoiding the awkwardness that grew between us. He used to never be so concerned over anyone else, so this was a big step for him. He fell back and walked my side. The only noise that filled the silence was the sound of twigs breaking and leaves crunching beneath our feet.

Occasionally, he would look over to try and catch my expression, but my hair covered my face so it was hardly recognizable. All of a sudden, I felt him reach for my hand and entwine his fingers with mine. I quickly flicked my gaze up to him, my eyes wide and filled with confusion. He just smirked and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. "It'll get better." He said.

"I don't know if it ever can." I mumbled. He stopped and released my hand, swinging his crossbow off of his back and aimed straight at a noise coming from a bush not too far away. He inched closer until he saw the top half of a walker claw its way out of the shrub. "Dammit" he said under his breath and shot the walker in the back of the head.

"Seems like the same reoccurring shit keeps happening. We get our hopes up and it just falls apart." I said stepping forward, motioning to the walker. "We need to stay together, we can get through this." He said placing his hand on my arm. I looked up,and caught his gaze. The emptiness that was once there was gone, his eyes were filled with some sort of reassurance. Like he truly and wholeheartedly believed that this would get better.

Apparently, we stayed out way later than we anticipated. The faded blue of the morning sky was almost upon us as we headed back to the spot we camped up at. Daryl's hunting expedition was somewhat successful, two rabbits, four squirrels, it was enough to get through the next couple days.

As we trudged through the forest, the silence that fell around us was instantly shattered. A gunshot rang through the air and pierced the calm state of the new day. Daryl and I looked over to each other, his eyes evident with fear as he sped up through the woods, I followed soon after. Just as we stumbled over the fallen trees and piles of decaying leaves, another shot made its way into the void. "BETH!" I screamed, I ran past Daryl and pushed the twigs and leaves past as I practically tripped over myself trying to reach what family I had left. "Y/N wait up!" Daryl called behind me, but I kept running.

As soon as I made it out of the cluster of trees and brush crowding the campsite, I saw the dirt scattered about. The fire was out, leaving a heavy trail of smoke to linger in the air. Our bags were scattered about, the contents spilling out all over the ground, and Beth... Beth was gone. My heart was officially ripped out of my chest and thrown to the dust and dirt. I am barely coping with the loss thus far, why does this have to happen? I clutched my chest and collapsed to my knees, soon falling over on my side. The tears that threatened to shed earlier came pouring out like a stream. I can't, I can't hold it back anymore.

I heard rustling from behind me, it could be Daryl, or a walker. Either or, whatever it was I just wish it could come and take me away. Take me away from the constant heartache.

"Y/N?!" I heard Daryl yell. He ran over to me and flipped me over so I was facing him. "Are Ya hurt?" He asked, his tone was shaky and unsettling. I looked at him through my clouded vision and just lied there, limp. He looked around the camp to see what happened and then, realized Beth was nowhere to be seen. He looked back down to me, hoping for answers, but I shook my head in response.

Our thoughts and sorrows were interrupted by the sound of a roaring engine not too far away from the camp. I struggled to get up and investigate, but Daryl grabbed my arm and pulled me back a ways. I ripped my arm away and stumbled to my feet, sprinting to the road just past the tree line. I pushed past the twigs and branches blocking the way until I made it through a small clearing at the edge of the woods. Only to see a black car speeding down the road, causing an uproar of dead leaves to swirl behind it. On the back windshield was a white cross, possibly painted on. Without even thinking of the consequences, I ran after it with all I had. "BETH!" I constantly kept screaming her name until my throat went raw. The car only distanced itself from me more and more. I was then brought to a stop by somebody wrapping their arms around my middle and pulling me to the ground. Daryl held me close, keeping me from pulling away and continuing to run.

I sat there, helpless and alone. I had Daryl, but my entire way of thinking was tossed around. We were once safe, happy, actually rebuilding a life. Then the governor came, destroyed that little piece of life we had to thrive off of and ripped our family and friends away. It's was like the devil himself decided it was time for a rude awakening. I closed my eyes and buried my face in Daryl's shirt. He held me close as we sat there in the middle of the road. Wanting and wishing that this was all a dream. A horrible, horrible dream.