Penance (Book One): Daryl Dixon x Sage Wilson

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     Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. I couldn't even pay attention to the ache in my side, but instead the rounds of gunfire going into a herd of walkers. Women, men, children... they slowly walk out in packs as they drop as dead as they emerged.

     I hear Beth and Maggie screaming in the background alongside Hershel. We were sleeping on a property filled with walkers this whole time? Was that why Otis was out in the woods that day? Looking for walkers for Hershel to "cure?" I look behind me, seeing Daryl stand beside me and shooting at the walkers.

     My ears ring when suddenly a familiar shirt catches my sight. Blue, with a rainbow. A short brown/blonde bob, and familiar skinny stature. There was a bite on her right upper arm, and her skin was a pale off white.

    "No," I breathe. I stand up, straggling to maintain my weight. I walk towards the little girl, tears forming in my eyes. "Hold your fucking fire!" I try to choke back my despair, but instead I am staring into the eyes of a little girl we have been searching for for weeks. A little girl who has probably been in this barn for as long as we've been looking for her

     "No, my baby! No!" I hear Carol cry in the background, and I look back to see Daryl catch her by the chest as she falls to the ground.

     Sophia gains her distance in on me, her child like groans hungry and wanting flesh. I close my eyes, looking back to the group who is now as astonished as I am.

     "It's her," I project to the group. I feel for my pistol on my back right pocket, thumbing the trigger and pulling it out slowly. Her arms reach out towards me, and I hold up my gun to her head.

     "No!" I hear Carl scream, and Lori try to calm him down.

     "I'm sorry, sweetheart..." I whisper. The distance closes in on the both of us the gun just inches away from her forehead. She didn't need to suffer on this earth any longer. Within a second, my finger squeezed the trigger and a singular gun shot seemed to shake the earth.

     I watch as her head flings back, her lifeless body collapsing to the ground, eyes open and groans stopped.

    "Shit," I whisper. I look down to my hands and arms, seeing a dark blood matter spattered on them. I turn around, trying to escape the scene. I look at Daryl who looks at me with disappointment and rage as he lets go of Carol, who rushes up to her now twice as dead daughter.

     "No, mom!" I hear Beth let out a blood curdling scream as she runs over to a woman.

     Fuck this.

     I wipe my forehead with the back of my hand, trying not to smear blood on it. I feel a tear escape my left eye, a burning sensation. As I come to a tree, I kneel down and slam my back into it trying to process the events that just occurred.

     Footsteps sound beside me, but I don't bother to look and see who it is.

     "You didn't have to do that," Rick. It was always Rick.

     "I had to." I purse my lips, looking up to a man who is still in shock. "I might have to one day.. you know?" I swallow hard as I try to think of Ava being out there, being one of those.. things. Could I do it? Could I shoot my own flesh and blood and watch her body fall lifeless to the ground? Could I see someone who once knew me so well not know me at all?

     "You guys tried. And hard, Carol knows it.. she just needs some time to process things." Rick says quietly as he rubs his beard.

     "So what now? We pissed them all off I'm sure, and we just found out a little girl is dead." I almost snap, trying to regain my composure. I'm sure Daryl was as frustrated as I was.

     "Don't worry about it. I'm going to go talk to Hershel, see what we can work out. An eye for an eye, he had our girl." Rick had a point. Even though Shane went batshit crazy, he was the reason Sophia was in there.

     I sigh, nodding and throwing my hair behind my back. "Sounds good. I'm going to go talk to Daryl." I stand up, my knees cracking and my side feeling like it's on fire. I look to Rick and offer him a smile as we split ways.

     The only place I think I could find Daryl is in the RV outside. Away from everyone and everything. Just how he liked it.

     I approach the RV, knocking on the loose metal door and the screen. The sound vibrates the trailer, but I also knew he was in there just from hearing the sound of glass breaking.

     "Daryl. Let me in." I don't ask, I demand. And when it came to Daryl you were a fool to even try to ask. I knock harder with my fist. "Let me the fuck in Daryl Dixon!" Instead of waiting, I kick in the door and walk inside, seeing him hunched over the bed with a broken glass in hand.

     "We are not doing this," I walk over to him and grab the broken cup, tossing it onto the corner of the bed. "We fucking tried, that's not on us. Her death? Not on us." I point out to the window, seeing Carol cry over Sophia while the women comforted her. I feel tears start to form in my eyes but not out of guilt- our of anger.

     "How the fuck you know, huh?!" Daryl stands up, his figure towering over me by a whole foot. His fists were clenched as they bled and his face was smothered in sweat and dirt.

     I step closer, looking him dead in the eye. "I know because we almost fucking died doing it. That's called dedication. Just because you haven't saved your brother doesn't mean you have to prove yourself to yourself. I still haven't found my fucking sister and I'm not going to sit here and fucking wallow, Dixon. Man up." I grind my teeth, seeing his stern expression waver in and out like a wave.

     "Don't talk to me like I'm some fool, Wilson. Watch your mouth." His breathing labors as he shifts his footing.

     "Then make me." I raise my eyebrows and cross my arms, his body hitting my shoulder harsh as he leaves the RV. I cup my hands over my mouth as I face the exposed door. "Coward!"