The Journey Ahead | Daryl Dixon

The Journey Ahead (36)

After trudging through the thick Georgia brush all night, we finally made it to the gates of Alexandria. I was so exhausted that Daryl had to practically drag me half of the way back. Aaron and Morgan remained quiet throughout most of the trip back, but if I sparked up a conversation, they would then join in.

"Somethin's not right." Daryl said in his usual, gruff tone. I was confused as to what he was referring to, but once I followed his line of vision I saw exactly what he was talking about. The gate that sealed off Alexandria from the apocalyptic world was slightly propped open, just enough so someone could squeeze through. Aaron pushed past Daryl and I and quickly made his way over to the gate with the rest of us following shortly behind him.

"The gate is never open, not without permission, and it definitely wouldn't be open at night. Aaron said with a slightly panicked tone. We all looked to each other as if trying to comprehend what had happened, but before we could decide on what to do, Daryl took it upon himself to push through the gate and scope the area to see if it was clear. I firmly gripped my knife in my hand, while Aaron was armed with his rifle and Morgan with his staff. We followed close behind, and prepared for the worst.

Once we made it inside, Aaron slammed the gate shut, causing a loud, rattling noise to sound out throughout the area. We all cringed at the noise, and glared at Aaron. All of a sudden, the sounds of moaning and groaning made themselves known. I turned around and saw six, maybe seven walkers shuffling towards us. I scanned each and every corpse to see if it was someone we knew, and thankfully it wasn't.

Daryl immediately took out two of them, Morgan went to take care of two more, while the last three charged towards us. I store up to a tall, lanky Walker and jammed my knife in the side of his skull. It collapsed to the ground. Not a second later, the other one ran right into me and knocked me off of my feet. My knife was lodged into the one's skull, and I was weaponless. I shuffled back to try and escape the Walker, but ended up hitting he wall of the gated community. I expected the worst, but before that could happen, Aaron grabbed the Walker by the back of he shirt and held it back while Daryl disposed of him. He fell to the ground, and stayed there. Both Daryl and Aaron helped me up and dusted me off. I looked around to see if there were anymore, but only saw dead bodies lying around.

I was breathing heavy after that event, and became the main priority of both Aaron and Daryl.

"You need to take a break Y/N?" Aaron asked. I shook my head no and brushed them off of me.

"I'm, I'm good." I said. Daryl nodded and looked around, almost as if he'd lost something.

"What's wrong?" I said while shuffling behind him. He followed a trail of Walker blood leading to the bonfire pit. He area illuminated from the rising fire and until we got close enough to hear voices, That's when it hit me. The town was having a gathering to discuss Rick's place in Alexandria and whether he should stay or leave. I picked up the pace and barely just got by Daryl.

The bonfire place was protected behind walls. As I it closer and closer I saw the embers from the fire flicker into the sky. Since it was night, it only made the fire look brighter and bigger. I saw Morgan standing there at the entrance to the bonfire area and saw a horrified look on his face. He had no emotion behind it, just shock value for the most part. I whispered his name two, three times, but he didn't pick up on it. Finally, I rounded the corner and joined him at his side wondering what he was so horrified about. Just as I met at his side, I saw Rick turn and pull the gun on someone held down by Abraham. With no hesitation, he pulled the trigger. I jumped at the sudden noise and watched in horror as Rick didn't even flinch. He was drenched in blood. It was all over his face, his bandages, everywhere.

I heard off to the side Aaron and Daryl darting across the street to catch up with us. Once they did they too saw Rick standing over a lifeless body with gun still in hand. I looked around and saw Jessie in tears. He was crying and shaking while one of the Alexandrians turned her away from the murder at hand. I looked down and saw Pete's lifeless body. Blood pooled at the bottom of my feet, causing me to quickly walk backwards. I bumped into Daryl who held me in his grasp and tried to keep me standing. Rick has killed people before, but he has never showed no emotion when doing so. Whether it was anger, sadness, he at least showed something. This time, it's as if he wasn't there.

"Rick?" Morgan said loud enough for him to hear. Rick's head darted up and once he laid eyes on Morgan and the rest of us, his facial expressions softened and he relaxed his grip on the gun. It was at this point that both Rick and Morgan were only staring at each other.

I was still shocked by the brutal assassination of Pete, but I still heard faint sounds of crying. I assumed it wasn't Jessie, being someone took her out of the area. I looked past Rick to see Deanna covered in blood, she held her husband Reg close as she tried her best to cope. His throat was slit and blood irked all around the body. Reg and Pete's blood almost conjured together, but remained distant.

I saw Michonne's bloody katana kicked off to the side and automatically looked to Rick. He saw what links I was making and started shaking his head. He gently reached out to me but I shuffled away as fast as I could that Daryl practically had to keep me from pushing him over. Tears started trickling down my cheeks and I didn't know what to believe anymore.

"Y/N, I-I didn't-"

"...murderer" I cut Rick off with a whisper.

"Y/N please-"

"Murderer!! You killed Reg and now Pete?!"

"You're not listening to me, I didn't-"

"Murderer!!" I yelled on last time before running. Daryl tried to stop me but I shoved him away and darted for the house.

I ran up the steps and practically ripped the door open. Slamming the door behind me, I locked it and slid down so my back was against the door, and I was huddled at the base of it. I started shaking and crying. I didn't know what to do anymore. This wasn't the Rick I knew, and this sure as hell wasn't what he was a couple days ago.

"Y/N open up!" I heard Daryl's raspy voice sound from the opposite side of the door. I remained in my spot and tried to calm myself of the events that had just taken place

"Y/N open the damned door! Let me talk to you!" I unlocked the door, but still remained in my spot. He jiggled the door handle and slowly pushed the door open. He poked his head in and looked down to see me huddled up into a ball on the floor.

He set his crossbow down and joined me on the floor. I was all out o tears, but managed to shed a few more once Daryl pulled me close to him. He kissed my forehead and held me close. I jammed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. For some reason, whenever Daryl had me in his arms I felt safe and secure. Like nothing could touch me.

"I talked to Carol and Abraham. Rick, didn't kill Reg." I looked up to him and dried my eyes in the process.

"Pete killed Reg on accident and Abraham held him down." I looked straight ahead and listened to Daryl explain.

"Deanna told Rick to kill him, and he was more then ready to." I looked back to him and shook my head.

"And how do you know they're telling the truth? How can you trust anyone anymore?" I said with my voice breaking at regular intervals. He paused for a moment, but then looked to me.

"Because I know." Was all he said. I hesitantly nodded and rested my head on his shoulder. If there was anyone I could trust it would be Daryl. He sat with me for the rest of the night at the base of the door and calmed me down, lifting a lot of the stress off in the process.

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Thank you to all of those who stayed with the story! I know I haven't updated much, but since this story follows the main timeline of the show, there wasn't much I could write without jeopardizing what season six would bring.

This is a sort of teaser chapter to hopefully keep you guys until October!!

Yes, this story will continue!! I will keep season six in this book, just because I don't know if people would find the sequel. Plus it makes it more convenient for me.

So until then, vote and comment! I love to hear what you guys have to say!

And I know I say this a lot but I am truly grateful for all of the attention this book has gotten. Thanks again!! :)