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

S8Pt2 - Morales

We met a group of three men from the Hilltop outside the gates of one of Negan's compounds. Rick shoved the gates open and we ran to the front door. Following Rick's lead, we began to search the building, and ready to kill anyone in here.
"Signal if anybody is inside. And then kill them." Rick told the guys.
They nodded and split off from us to clear the building.
"Come on." Daryl led the way. "Let's find them guns."
I followed the guys and watched their backs, and they continued on.
It was quiet here, empty, and something didn't feel right. I stayed on guard and kept a close eye on Daryl.
Rick was following a small map Dwight drew out for us.
"This floor is big, split up." Rick said.
We nodded and all went different ways, looking for the stash of guns. After 15 minutes, I felt like I searched everywhere and it wasn't here. I began walking back and entered a lobby where I surprised Rick. He gasped and raised his gun up at me.
I just looked at the gun then Rick. I tapped the barrel of the gun with my blade and Rick instantly lowered his gun.
"It's not this floor." I said.
Daryl saw what happened and walked towards us, and put himself between me and Rick. I gently touched Daryl's back and felt how tense he was. I sighed and rubbed his back and he slowly loosened up.
"Only option is up." Rick then said.
"High ground, good cover." Daryl said.
"Yeah I'd put them up there too." Rick agreed.
I looked around and pointed around the corner. "Stairs. Let's go up."
We walked around the corner where there was a locked set of double doors. Daryl instantly began kicking the doors, and we waited.
They finally busted open and we checked the next floor, and it was empty. Hours went by checking the floors, and everything came up empty. The stairs to the last floor were caved in, and the only option we found was an empty elevator shaft. It was a small climb and I could see the dim lights on the next floor. Rick climbed up first easily and Daryl followed, and Rick pulled him up at the end. I looked up at them and slowly began my climb. It was difficult using one arm to grab the sides, and it used all my body to keep myself up so I wouldn't fall.
"Kell, grab my hand." Daryl said.
I paused for a second to reach up but I was out of reach still.
"Ugh." I groaned in annoyance.
"Kelley, come on, we got you." Rick said and also held out his hand.
I sighed and took another step up, and my body was starting to get weak. I reached out my hand to Daryl and our fingers brushed over each other.
I looked down and I was about ten feet off the ground. The fall wouldn't kill me, but I would get seriously hurt.
"Kell, don't look down." Daryl said.
I looked up at his voice and he stared down at me. "Look at me. Come on." He said.
I nodded and took another step, gaining a few inches. I pushed my body against the wall and reached up as high as I could. Daryl reached too and finally had a grip on my hand. As soon as I grabbed his hand, my feet slipped out from under me. I screamed in a panic and Daryl tightened his grip on me.
"Kell!" He yelled.
My legs dangled in the air and I tried to catch myself on the wall, but I couldn't. I tried to stop swinging my other arm to keep from stabbing myself, but I was panicking.
"Pull her up! Up!" Rick said and helped Daryl pull.
They got me up a few feet and Rick laid over the edge.
"Grab her shoulder! Come on, grab her!" Daryl said.
Rick reached down and grabbed the strap of my prosthetic that went around chest and pulled. It hurt but it was better than falling.
Daryl scooted backwards and pulled me farther up, and Rick finally had a good grip on my shirt and pulled me up. Daryl then gripped all the way down my arm until he reached my shirt and helped Rick pull me over to edge. I finally touched the ground and collapsed into Daryl's lap. He wrapped his arms around me and I sat there catching my breath. I could feel him breathing heavy too and I heard Rick take a deep breath.
"I'm sorry guys, I'm sorry." I said, still panting.
"You're fine." Daryl said.
He pet my head and I took a deep breath. Daryl let go of me and Rick held out his hand. I took it and he stood me up, and I regained my balance. I then looked down the elevator shaft, and now it definitely looked like more than 10 feet.
"Holy shit." I said.
"Come on." Rick softly said.
We nodded and followed Rick down the hallway of the last floor, the top floor. We heard rapid gunfire in the distance and instantly brought up our weapons.
"The guns gotta be up here." Rick said.
"They better be." I muttered.
"He said they'd be here." Daryl said.
"Everything else he passed you is checking out." Rick said, defending Dwight.
"That guy's a piece of shit." Daryl muttered.
"Those guns get to the Sanctuary, they could cut through those walkers and free up an exit. We'll go faster us we split up." Rick said. "I find the M2s, you find 'em, we use them. Hit the courtyard right then and there."
"End this quick." Daryl agreed.
We all nodded and went our own ways. I followed Daryl down the hallway that split into two. He pointed to the right, and he went left. I began kicking in doors, searching rooms and scavenging what I could, but I didn't find any guns. I cleared the entire side of the building and ended up running into Daryl.
"Anything?" I asked him.
"Not a damn thing." Daryl said, and I could tell he was pissed at Dwight for it.
We then heard something crash and it sounded like Rick was getting into trouble. Daryl instantly held his finger up to his mouth and we moved quietly through the building. Down the hallway we heard the echo of a man's voice, and it wasn't Rick's. Daryl led in front with his crossbow drawn and I watched our backs, following Daryl's exact footsteps. We turned a corner and walked down a corridor where the noise was coming from, and then we heard the voice loud and clear. Oddly, it was familiar. I haven't heard that voice is many years, but it sparked my memories of Atlanta.
"'Cause we knew each other for a few days back at the start?"
"Look. I know—" Rick began to say. "I wouldn't— I wouldn't just."
"You want to know what I think?" The voice said. "I think you can talk all you want. You can say all the words. Lori, Shane, Andrea, Glenn... They're all dead, and somewhere along the way, Officer Friendly died along with 'em. Just like I did... with them. That's what I know, Rick."
Daryl approached the doorway and we saw a man with his back to us, holding Rick at gunpoint. Without a second thought, Daryl aimed his crossbow.
"Wait, no!" Rick yelled and put out his hand.
Daryl fired his crossbow and it went through the man's throat and he was dead. I looked at his body and I remembered who he was. It was Morales. The man with his wife and two kids at the Atlanta camp. I remember they left when we split up to go to the CDC. Looks like he was all that's left of them.
Daryl just huffed and stared at his body. "You good?" He then asked Rick.
Rick's eyes were wide open and he stared at Morales's body. "That— That was..." Rick struggled to say.
"I know who it was." Daryl said sternly. "It don't matter. Not one little bit."
Daryl ripped his arrow out of Morales throat and we left him to turn.
"But..." Rick said.
"Rick, he was a Savior. He was dead already. You know that." I said and ended the conversation there. "You find the guns?" I asked.
Rick grabbed his gun off the floor and shook his head while staring at Daryl.
"They're not here." Rick said.
"What?" Daryl said, pissed off.
"He called the Saviors back from the courtyard." Rick said and picked up Morales walkie talkie. "We gotta get out—"
Just then we heard a set of doors get kicked open, and muffled footsteps filled the hallway. I hid against the wall with Daryl and Rick stood up.
"They're here."