We don't even have time to fall asleep. A gentle knock on the door triggers me into a sitting position. Daryl opens the door. I sigh with relief at the sight of him.
"Is it over?" I ask even though I don't really want to know the answer. Beth and Maggie both sit up, curious to hear his answer.
"No. We couldn't...Carl was watching. He told Rick to do it. He wanted to watch while we...Rick couldn't set that kind of example. I didn't disagree. Shane on the other hand is pissed." Daryl tells them.
"Does Dale know? Did anyone tell him? He'll be relieved to know you didn't go through with it." I say, focusing on someone else's reaction so that I don't have to think about my own. He shrugs.
"Dunno."
"We should find him, let him know." I say.
"Yeah sure, maybe Andrea's seen him we could ask her." I nod and climb out of the bed. I send the girls a grateful smile before heading outside with Daryl to find Andrea. I don't particularly like her especially not after what happened with Beth, but she's the closest to Dale.
"Have you seen Dale?" I ask her, cutting straight to the chase.
"Well hello to you too...No I haven't not since he stormed out of the house after the decision to.." She stops, shifting on her feet. "Why? What's going on?"
"We didn't go through with it." Daryl tells her.
"I thought he should know."
"He took the rifle with him so he's probably walking the perimeter. He does that when he needs space sometimes." Andrea tells us.
"Thanks." I mumble as I walk away.
"So he could be anywhere." Daryl says, pointing out the obvious.
"He'll come back sooner or later." I reply with a shrug. Just as we turn to head back toward the house a horrifying scream erupts through the air. "Oh god." I mumble fearfully.
"Was that Dale?" Andrea asks in a panic as she comes running over to us. "Where did it come from??" Daryl points in the general direction of where the sound came from and we all start sprinting, dashing through gates leaving them wide open as we race against time. Before long the source of the screams is right in front of us. A walker claws at Dale as he fights desperately to keep it away from himself. But we're too late. The metallic smell of blood meets my nose even before the stench of the dead. Daryl tackles the walker off of him using a knife to silence it.
"Dale!" Andrea screams hysterically at the sight of him. His entrails spilling out of his abdomen, the heat of his blood sending little spires of steam into the cool night air.
"Help! Over here! Help! Run!" I cry out to Rick and the others that aren't far behind us. I don't know what to do. I stare at Dale in shock as Daryl kneels beside him in the wet grass.
"Hang in there, buddy." He says to Dale, trying to give the man some sort of comfort.
"Who is it?" Some calls from the back of the group still running to catch up. Rick and Shane make it to us first.
"Oh, my God. Oh, God." Rick mutters emotionally. As he squats down, taking Dales face into his hands.
"Rick!" Lori cries out, lagging behind the rest of the group, still unsure what's going on.
"All right, just listen to my voice. Listen to me, all right? Just listen to me. Okay, hold on now." Rick says softly. Dale moans and gasps for air, his eyes wide and terrified. He stand and walks towards the group still running towards us. "Get Hershel! He needs blood. We gotta operate now." Andrea takes his place kneels beside Dale.
"Hang on, Dale. Hang on. Listen to me. Come on-- Okay, just listen to my voice. All right, please." She whispers to him:
"Hershel! We need Hershel!" Rick screams as he comes back to the injured man's side.
"Look at me." Andrea encourages gently as the man looks desperately around at the group gathered around him.
"Dale, we're gonna help. We're . Just hold on-- hold on." Rick tells him.
"What happened?" Hershel asks as he joins us.
"What can we do?" Rick asks him.
"Dale, it's gonna be okay." Andrea tells him as tears stream down her face, dripping onto his blood soaked shirt.
"Can we move him?" Rick asks Hershel.
"He won't make the trip." Hershel explains quietly.
"Then You have to do the operation here." Rick insists.
"Glenn, get back to the house and..."
"Rick." Hershel puts a hand on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
" No!" He shouts in denial. No one wants to admit that there's nothing we can do, but we can all clearly see that there's no turning this around. Dale gurgles and chokes, his entire lower abdomen torn wide open. Nothing could fix this.
"Oh, God." I mumble, tearfully. Daryl wraps his arms around me. I bury my face in his chest, sobbing into his tank top. I didn't get to know Dale as well as the others but nothing could ever make losing a human life any less horrible. Especially someone so pure and kind.
"He's suffering. Do something!" Andrea screams. I hear the safety of a gun click and brace myself for the shot, but it doesn't come. The night is silent except for Dales desperate gasping and the sounds of our crying. I turn my head just far away from Daryl to see Rick with his gun pointed at Dales head. Dale stares directly into the barrel of the gun just watching, waiting. Ricks hand shakes. Daryl slowly pulls away from me, approaching Rick gently. He takes the gun from him as Rick watches, clearly in shock. Daryl squats down beside Dale and aims the gun. Dale lifts his head with the last of his strength, pressing his forehead to the barrel. Almost as if he's begging for release.
"Oh God." I cry again. I turn away as Dale closes his eyes, ready for the suffering to end. I can't bare to watch.
"I'm sorry, brother." Daryl whispers before finally pulling the trigger.
YOU ARE READING
Haven (A Walking Dead fanfiction)
FanfictionThis is the story of Hailey Ann Walsh, a teenage girl orphaned by the outbreak of an unknown virus that reanimates the dead. Her older brother Shane was no where to be found so she was forced to survive on her own. After the loss of her companion sh...
