Lost Too Much 【REDONE】 ║ Daryl/OC or Shane/OC

Chapter 89: Walsh cherishes the damn ground you walk on.

TRIGGER WARNING: TALK OF SUICIDE, DEPRESSION, MENTIONS OF SELF-HARM
As with most of my trigger warnings, I ask that you don't read any further if it could be damaging to your mental health. I can summarize the chapter over DM or in the comments, no questions asked.
(You probably wouldn't have read this far if you were sensitive to these topics, to be real, but the warnings are still active for most chapters.)

<<<
(12-212 AV) I did return the journal after the last time I wrote. The only reason I'm doing this again is that I was in Alexandria and grabbed the journals on my way home. It's been a weird day and I gotta talk about it.

We found another person from Cory and Daryl's life. Devon Garner was a Whisperer and he risked himself to join us. He's Bella's father, apparently. They seem to trust him, so I will, too. I listened to them talking and he seems nice.

We sat in a high school hallway, and I observed the three of them catching up. Daryl and Cory seem to be in a weird place right now. It's pretty clear they still love each other, and I think Cory would go back to him without hesitation but Daryl's a complete idiot. I don't think he deserves this much of her time after he's been avoiding her for years, but their past and their friendship is gonna overcome that no matter what.

It feels like there's space for change, though. It doesn't look like they're fixing things at the moment. Maybe now's the chance to intervene while I still can. At this point, I just hope she reads these and knows how I feel without having to explain it out loud.

- Shane Walsh
<<<

I was grateful to have kept track of each sunrise. It was our fifth day since we left Alexandria when we finally arrived in Porterdale. I'd guess it was before noon when we were riding past the old church, the same one Daryl and I had met at. We shared a look but said nothing.

The four of us cycled across the bridge over Yellow River, and it was barely twenty seconds before we saw the sign for Elm Street. My house was the second one on the corner, the second, slightly larger, yellow house of the two next to each other. Nothing had to be said for us to collectively stop in front of it. I could see the porch of the Dixons' house just around the bend.

"This is your house, Cory?" Alana confirmed, receiving a nod from me. I could only assume this was her first actual visit here.

"In all its glory."

We pulled our bicycles into the yard, leaving them to lay there while we headed inside. We had discussed during our ride here that we weren't just coming for the hell of it. We wanted to use our time here efficiently, and that meant searching for secrets wherever I hadn't looked the past two times I was here. I had a bad feeling things had been sitting in plain sight, at least in my room. I had so much junk that I hadn't touched once after my suicide attempt. I doubted Chad put in any effort to actually prevent me from relapsing.

I stood in the doorway as the rest walked in, peeking around each corner in a precautionary manner. I wasn't sure what I'd find on this trip and now that we were here, I was scared. I would be extremely disappointed if we went home with nothing, but I wasn't sure I was ready to flip my entire childhood on its head ---whatever bits and pieces I did remember.

I also hoped nothing important had been taken or ruined, but I really found it hard to believe someone would walk into a random house and just destroy stuff for fun. Still, people were out of their minds these days.

"Nothing in the kitchen," Clark said, coming around the corner. He placed his empty bag on the dining table, open and ready for anything we wanted to take home. Yes, carrying it on our back for the 650 miles and roughly 60 hours of riding would be agonizing, but it was the only way.