my angel ➶ ➶ daryl dixon

s i x t y

Daryl, Tyreese, Sasha and I had spent all day breaking down anything we could to help fortify the church. We mainly used pews and parts of the organ, much to Gabriel's dismay. Rick, Michonne and Carl were currently working on boarding up the windows.

Rick had explained his plan to everyone that morning, which involved part of the group going to the city to get Carol and Beth back from Grady Memorial. Although I pleaded with Daryl and Rick to let me go, both of them argued that I was in no condition with my ankle the way it was. 

"Alright everyone. Let's head out." Rick called out as he finished the last window. I put down the machete I was using, and followed Daryl out to the truck. Tyreese, Noah and Sasha piled in behind Rick. 

"You promise to be careful?" I asked Daryl as he slung his crossbow over his shoulder. 

"Ya know I always am." He smirked as I scoffed. 

"Daryl Dixon you are the furthest thing from careful." 

"I'll be back." He gave my hand a small squeeze before hopping in the back of the truck. I watched them drive off until they were nothing but a small speck in the distance. 

Sighing, I turned around and made my way inside. I found Gabriel on the floor, scrubbing profusely at the blood stain in front of the alter. 

Carl pointed to a row of weapons in front of Gabriel. "Pick one. You need to learn how to defend yourself. We can teach you." Gabriel stopped scrubbing, and sat up, looking at Carl. 

"Defend myself? They said they'd go." He responded. 

"They were liars and murderers." 

Gabriel scoffed. "Just like us."

"No." I interjected. "We were protecting ourselves. They were going to kill us. In this world you kill or be killed. In fact, you're lucky your church has lasted this long. You can't stay in one place. Not anymore." I took a deep breath, running a hand through my hair. "And once you're out there, you're going to find trouble you can't hide from. You need to know how to fight."

Gabriel bowed his head, considering what I was saying. He slowly reached for a large machete. "Good choice. But you're not holding it right." Carl said, and I smiled as I walked away from them, sitting beside Michonne in one of the pews. 

"They're going to be ok." She said. "I know you're worried about Daryl, but he's always careful. Especially since getting with you." 

"I know, I know." I sighed. "There's just so much that can go wrong out there." 

She patted my arm as we both leaned back, trying to get comfortable as we began the never ending wait for the group to return. 

—————

"Please! Help! Let me in!" I woke with a start to yelling outside the church doors. Carl quickly raised his gun as Michonne pulled out her katana. I couldn't see Gabriel anywhere, and I let out a sigh. 

"What the hell? What did that preacher get himself into now?" I scoffed, turning to the others. Michonne just shook her head while Carl looked at me with wide eyes. 

"Please! They're close!" Gabriel began to bang on the front doors of the church. "Please don't leave me out here!" Michonne placed Judith into her holder on her back while Carl ran to the front door. "Aspen, Michonne, Carl! Please!" 

"Carl, wait! We don't know what's out there." I called out to him.

"We can't just leave him out there to die." He responded. I sighed, making my way over to the front door. I took a few swings at the boards, loosening them enough for Carl to wiggle a few free. 

"Get in here!" I yelled, as Gabriel pushed his way past Carl. My eyes widened as a group of walkers were making their way past the spikes we had surrounded the stairs with. Carl began to shoot at the few making their way through the door as Michonne and I used our knives to take others out. However, the rest began to push their way inside, quickly overwhelming us. 

"The rectory. Come on." Gabriel motioned for us to follow him as we all ran towards the back of the church. 

We slammed the door shut, and Michonne blocked it with a chair. "That's how I got out." Gabriel pointed to a hole in the floor, where he had clearly loosened a few boards. "Crawl under to the back. Take the little one and go." 

Michonne, Carl, and I all looked at one another before Carl swaddled Judith and made his way under the church. Michonne quickly followed him, but I paused, turning around to face Gabriel who was holding the door shut. 

"I'm not going anywhere until you're gone." I nodded, and pushed my way through the hole. Carl and Michonne were waiting for me as I crawled out from under the church. 

"Is Gabriel coming?" Carl asked, holding Judith to his chest.

"I think so. He gave me an extra minute." As I finished saying that, a bloody machete appeared from under the church followed by the preacher. Michonne quickly pulled him to his feet.

"Come on."

"I can't run anymore." He said, breathing heavy. 

"We're not running." She clarified as we made our way to the front of the church. After killing the walkers stuck on the spikes, I grabbed a wooden board. I held it up to the doors while Carl nailed it into place with the butt of his gun, locking the rest of the walkers inside the church. 

"Where'd you go?" I turned to Gabriel after we made our way out into the clearing, keeping our eyes on the church. 

"The school." He mumbled, leaning against the fence. He had walker blood splattered across his face, and looked quite shaken up. "I had to see. I had to know." 

Banging sounded from the church as the walkers continued to try to force their way out. We backed up further towards the trees. "Where do we go?" Carl asked. The door began to crack further just as I heard an engine in the distance. 

I spun my head around, hoping to see the truck that had taken Daryl with it. Instead, a firetruck drove straight towards the church, shattering the stairs, and blocking the door. 

Abraham, Maggie, and Glenn piled out of the front while Rosita, Tara and Eugene climbed out of the back. Maggie gave me a quick embrace, before Glenn did the same. "You ok?" Glenn asked. 

"Now that you're back." I smiled, giving him another hug. He gave me a small smile before motioning towards Eugene. 

"Eugene lied." I felt my smile drop, as I turned towards the overweight man. "He can't stop it. Washington isn't the end." Blood rushed from my head, and my shoulder's dropped. Although I was trying not to think about it, I had hope that Eugene would lead to the end of this terrible epidemic. That somehow life would return to the way it once was. But it was all just another lie. 

"Where is everyone?" Maggie asked, snapping me from my thoughts. 

"Beth's alive, she's in a hospital in Atlanta." Michonne smiled, sharing the good news with Maggie, whose eyes filled with hope. "Some people have her, but the others went to get her back." 

"Do we know which one?" Maggie asked. 

I nodded. "Grady Memorial." Her face lit up with joy as she embraced Glenn. I felt a smile grow on my own face as I watched the sister fill with hope. 

"Let's blow this joint and go save your sister." Tara remarked as everyone laughed. Time to go get our people.