Penance (Book One): Daryl Dixon x Sage Wilson

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Daryl and I were walking in silence for what seemed like eternity. It was just the sound of crunching leaves below our feet and the eerie crickets. To divert my attention, I looked at the stats and how the trees branched over the sky.

"Why do I feel like you hate me?" I look over to Daryl, who's in a protected stance with his crossbow out. His gaze is fixed ahead of us, as if he was anticipating anything to pop out at any second. I sigh, trying to speak again. "You just have never once talked to me. Not even in the roof really. And you can relax, you know. You're so uptight." I had no reason to want Daryl to talk to me but a part of me was curious of everyone around me- especially Daryl Dixon.

"Have to be." His raspy voice sounds in a low tone. He clears his throat, his eyes still fixed ahead.

"I mean yeah, but not all the time." I shrug as I look into the shrub ahead of us, shoving my hands into my pockets so I wouldn't focus much on my awkward hand placement.

"That's what gets ya killed out here. Don't ya have a sister? Why aren't you looking for her?" He almost says it in an accusatory tone, which triggers my fight or flight. I knew his brother Merle was on the loose somewhere, but that's all we knew.

"I have, Dixon. For weeks. All I can do is hope the training I taught her pays off." I sigh. "She's fourteen, she's a strong and agile girl. She barely even blinked an eye when this all started. I'm twenty seven, and I believe in her more than me. It's bad enough I blame myself everyday for her escaping." I rub my face and look at my boots.

"Hm." He says quietly. "How's the hand?" He gestures to my bandages and I lift them up, examining the peeling tape.

"Fine. Sore, but fine." I return my hands back to my pockets and I feel Daryl's gaze on me.

"Well you don't hit like a girl. Takes balls to do that. I've been wanting to beat the shit out of him since the day I met the bastard. Reminded me of my-" he cuts off, as if maybe he has said too much. I ignore the cut off and try to pursue the conversation more.

"Yeah. Ed reminds me of my dad and ex- the mirror image, actually. I have no regret; what needed to be done for done." I look over to Daryl unsure of how the conversation would go on between two people who had no chemistry. "Anyways, where is this trap at?" I try to switch the subject, hoping the conversation would dissipate.

"Over here." We continue deeper into the woods, the uneasy silence making me want to bolt in the opposite direction. The woods already tripped me out enough, especially with walkers roaming or lurking all over the place.

Daryl stops in front of a tree, setting his crossbow against it. He kneels down, biting his cheek.

"Shit!" He hisses as he stands up kicking the leaves.

"What?" I walk over closer, kneeling down. There was a chopped off foot inside of the teeth of the trap.

"Can't reset that shit, damn walkers got to it." He throws his arm out and picks up his bow.

"Can't we just scavenge what's left of it? Make a make shift one with rope?" I stand up with my knees cracking in response.

"Yeah, but them fuckers will slip right out of that." He grunts and sighs. I sit in silence trying to think of any possibility we could create a trap.

With just a few moments of silence, the sounds of bloody murder sounded throughout the woods. I snap my head to Daryl, who's eyes shot wide open.

"The group," I breathe. We both take no hesitation in bolting to the source of the sound.

"Shit! We were gone for ten minutes!" Daryl yells. I pant as I try to maintain my footing on loose ground.

"We just have to hope it was a false alarm and not a whole ass herd," I say. But a part of me started thinking otherwise, my judgement getting the best of me. It didn't feel right. The fire, the smoke, the chatter; of course it could attract a herd of walkers from outside of Atlanta.

We eventually see the camp from the clearing, the fire still going and smoke parading around the perimeter. Daryl and I take cover behind a bush, trying to see what was going on.

Within seconds, I see Amy, Andrea, and Dale run out of the RV. Amy seemed confused and lost, Andrea was stabbing walkers with Dale left to right. I look over more and see Glenn, Rick, and Shane shooting at the walkers while they protected Carl, Lori, Sophia, and Carol. I knew they were okay. I didn't know where the rest were- Jackie, Jim, they were not seen.

I look to Daryl. "Shit. We have to help Andrea and them!"

He nods to me and we both burst out of the woods, my gun in hand and his crossbow in his. I run over to Amy, Andrea, and Dale with Daryl. I raise my gun and start shooting, killing walker after walker. Daryl was a little behind me, watching the tree line from where they emerged.

I snap my head over to Amy, knowing out of Andrea and Dale she was probably the least experienced. Next thing I know, a walker appears behind her.

"Amy, behind you!" I cusp my hands over my mouth hoping she would hear me in time. I run over to her, while I aim for the walker the best I could.

She looked behind her and within the next moment my ears were filled with blood curdling screams. Of murder. The walker had a tight grasp on her arm, tearing skin off bit by bit. My heart drops. I shoot the damn thing, and look at the shock in her eyes.

I rush to her and hold her as she falls down, in tears and screaming. We were both now on the ground, and my head was in a haze. I look down to Amy, who's profusely crying.

"Oh God, oh God, I'm so sorry," I feel tears in my eyes, trying to come to terms with the fact I could have saved her if I had gotten to her in the nick of time.

She looks at me, shaking her head. "Don't." I look down at her arm, the blood pooling everywhere on the ground. The screams from the camp seemed to stop, and the next thing I knew, a body falls next to me.

"Amy!" I look over to Andrea, blood spattered on her face and tears rolling down her face. My chest tightens as I slowly back away on my back from Amy. I was now propped up on the bloodied dirt with my elbows, trying to register what happened.

"Sage!" I hear two voices yell my name, and I look up to find Rick, Glenn, and Shane. I look up at them, then to Amy.

"I tried, I promise-" I feel my words choke.

"Are you bit?" Rick asks as he kneels down next to me.

I shake my head, my head still rapidly spinning. I've never seen anyone bit in front of my face before; and the fact that this could happen to Ava made it worse. The pain, the blood..

"We just got back from our run, came back and immediately heard the screams-" Glenn cuts off. "Holy shit." He says as he looks at Amy.

"Daryl and I tried, we did." I look over to Daryl who was standing to the right of me with his head down.

"It's okay. Was anyone else bit?" Shane asks as he kneels down next to me.

I shake my head. "No, not that I know of... just Amy." I look over to Andrea who's holding her little sister, crying and wiping the hair from her forehead as Dale held her.

     "Well I'm clean!" T-Dog exclaims.

"Ed was." Glenn says flatly. My head perks up at the statement, while Glenn looks back. "Carol and Sophia don't even look phased." He sighs, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Holy shit," Shane breathes.

"We can't stay here, guys!" Glenn says.

"We need to leave. By morning. Give Andrea some time to process, time to bury Amy. Give time for Carol to bury Ed. We don't just leave 'em here." Rick says flatly.

"Man, fuck this." Daryl tosses a rock in anger, and storms off into God knows where.

And this was the beginning of hell.