Dean's Dixon

Old habits

"June wake up!" the voice urged, sounding almost as though someone was yelling into an empty cave, the way it echoed in her mind. "Wake up!"

"The hell?" She cracked one eye open but when she wasn't in the place she'd fallen asleep, she bolted up and looked at her surroundings. She knew this place and she knew that voice but why... "Maggie?"

"I tried letting you sleep a little but they're coming." Oh no. Nonononono... this wasn't happening. They'd escaped Terminus, they were safe in Alexandria. "Come on, I know this is hard but we need you to help us fight."

June wanted to fight against something but it wasn't the people she knew were already dead. She knew because she watched Terminus fall, she'd helped bash the survivor's heads in. Whatever this was, she'd already lived it and she had no desire for a repeat demonstration.

"June bug! Head in the game, just like I taught ya... go for the eyes."

"Daryl what-"

Her questions were cut off when the door opened and several men came in, okay so this was different. Last time they used gas grenades but now she was fighting them hand to hand... and losing. She felt someone grab her by her hair and slam her head into the floor, felt the blood run down her forehead before she was thrown onto the ground and her hands were bound. They were brought into the place Daryl and Rick had described and it was just as horrible as they'd said, nothing was missing from this scene and she had to fight back the bile rising in her throat. Inside the big room she could see the cut up corpses on various tables, the metal trough stained with blood, men in plastic coats: one with a knife, the other a bat and Garret with his smarmy grin and air of importance.

"Hello June, we've missed you."

"What's all this?"

"This? This is what should have been, what would have been if your people hadn't stopped us. This is your own, personal slice of hell." He nodded to the guys and she watched in horror as they bashed in Abraham's head, followed by Glenn, Maggie, Tara, Michonne... one by one her family fell until there was only one left. "We saved the best for last."

They drug Daryl forward, his eyes filled with fear but she didn't know if it was for himself or for her. It was all happening too fast, she hadn't had time to react or to save them, she'd only been able to watch as they sped through murdering her family like they were shooting fish in a barrel.

"Please don't do this. Don't..."

"Oh this is precious. The brave June Dixon is begging, where was this urgency while the rest of them were dying? Must not really care for them as much as you claim."

"I didn't know. There wasn't time, I would've taken their place."

He snapped his fingers and things went in reverse, now she was face to face with the members of her family. They were begging her to save them, to do something to keep them from this fate but she didn't know what to do. Would one life save all of theirs?

"Time to choose June."

"Me. Take me."

"No!"

"Now Daryl, she's an adult. She can make her own decisions... just one problem with this June."

"What?"

"Your agony is simply too delicious, better than Bob's leg even."

"No! NO... take me, TAKE ME!"

Her cries fell on deaf ears and when the bat came down on her brother's head, she fell to the ground with a bloodcurdling scream. There was nothing she could do, he'd been toying with her and through her tears she saw the moment his eyes turned black...