Penance (Book One): Daryl Dixon x Sage Wilson

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(I honestly wanted to put my own spin on season two's finale, so plz enjoy! I hate writing verbatim because I feel it makes the story so repetitive it's almost predictable.)

Within moments, Daryl and I approach three figures on the field. Two stood side by side, while the other was across from them. One was small, the other two were tall. I squint my eyes as we approach, keeping my hand on my gun.

Then it registered. "Holy shit," I breathe. I look over to Daryl, who looks at me with a confirming nod.

"Carl?!" I yell out. Besides Carl holding and aiming a gun was Rick, who was bent over and seemed to be in pain. I look at who the gun was directed to, seeing Shane standing with blood caked all over his face.

"Sage!" Carl looks over to me, almost in a panicking tone. I run up to them, seeing Rick try to grab the gun from Carl but Carl resisted.

"What the hell is going on, Rick?" I look to Shane, who looked like a mad man who had just murdered ten men.

"He's crazy! He's gone crazy!" Carl points the gun to Shane, who's hands were held up in a surrendering position.

"Carl, you don't wanna do this," Rick says in a warning manner.

I look over to Daryl and nod, as he slowly takes a position behind Carl to lower the gun.

"Carl, please. You do not want to be a murderer, not like this." I plead knowing this would haunt him for life if he tried.

"I know he hurt you! I know it! I heard you and Mom!" Carl yells as he raises the gun with his right hand. I swallow hard, looking to Rick who tilts his head.

"He hurt you?" Rick asks with a crack in his voice.

I look to Shane, who shakes his head. I bite my lip and look to Daryl, who nods his head. I close my eyes, trying not to break down.

"Yes." I say promptly. I feel as if a huge lump formed in my throat and my head suddenly felt light.

"How, when?" Rick walks towards me, rubbing his beard.

"CDC." I say abrupt. "Came in my room. Drunk. Daryl stopped it..." I look away, trying not to give details to the child standing in front of me.

"That mother..." Rick whispers harshly. "You fuck my wife and then you try to take advantage of a woman?!" Rick yells.

"Calm down, man we can talk this out," Shane weans.

"There is not talking shit out, man," Rick says with a laugh.

I look to Daryl who stays silent as Rick distracts Carl. Intentionally or not, he was doing a good job. I would just have to pay the price for not saying anything.

"I need to protect my mom," Carl says as he chokes back tears.

"Hey, me and your mom? We're done! Done!" Shane says as he claps his hands.

Suddenly, Daryl comes up behind Carl and grabs his hands, swiping the gun away. But of course, a shot had rang into the air. It seemed to reverberate throughout the meadow, and within the few seconds of silence you could see the herd of walkers starting to slowly creep from beyond the horizon.

"How the hell are walkers here already?" Daryl looks out.

"That." Carl points to behind use

Then, by the next second, I notice the flickering of orange reflecting on the grass. I slowly look over to see the barn was lit aflame.

"Holy shit, we need to leave like now!" I start to bolt towards the farm with everyone behind me, yelling out to the farm. "Fire! Walkers! We need to fucking book it before we are caved in!"

Almost immediately, everyone emerged onto the porch bearing pistols and shot guns in hand. I look back to Shane, his eyes still in kill mode.

"Make any fucking move Walsh and I'll feed you to these damn things nice and slow," I snap.

Daryl looks at me as he nods and runs over to the RV to grab Carol.

"What do we do?" Carl cries.

"We fucking run. If we can't run, we fight." I say. I grab my gun out, putting the safety on and bearing it against my wrist just in case one came out of nowhere.

"What the hell happened to my farm?!" Hershel cries looking to the burning casket.

"It doesn't matter, Hershel we need to go- now!" Rick says.

Hershel shakes his head, pointing to Rick. "No, not with that monster. He killed Otis!" I look to Shane who shakes his head manically, noticing his entire head was shaved clean along with a nick at the top. Needless to say, I wasn't shocked. Shane looks down, his eyes wide as if he had dementia and had no clue on what was occurring around him.

"We can take care of that later, Hershel. But we need to go!" I yell.

"She's right, we have to." Glenn says as he exits the house. "They're coming at us from all ends, you could see it clear as day from the window."

Hershel hobbles off of the porch with Glenn and Maggie, grabbing a shotgun that was leaning against the railings.

"I have a truck. It can fit me, Maggie, Beth, Jimmy, and one other. Where do we meet?" He loads the gun, cocking it back.

"The highway, figure out our next plan." Rick says.

"Holy, fuck!" T-dog emerges from the house. I had barely seen him in days, totally forgetting he existed.

"Holy fuck indeed. Weapon up, you're riding with Hershel." T-Dog nods, rushing back inside.

I head towards the RV to meet with Daryl, but instead see Lori running around frantically.

"Have you seem Carl?! I can't find him!" She had tears rolling down her face, her eyes searching in panic.

"Yes. He tried to blow a hold through Shane's skull. He's with Rick, now go! We need to go!" I push her forward, immediately revealing a walker emerging from the tree line.

"Shit," I whisper. I hold up the gun and close my left eye, aiming and shooting the thing smack dab in its head. However, behind that wasn't wasn't just one or two, but instead twenty.

"Where is everyone?!" Andrea runs up next to me with Dale, shooting alongside.

"Evacuating. Exactly what we need to fucking do right now," I look at her and she nods.

"There's a truck out back I can maybe jump or wire, give me a few!" She runs to the back, Dale following her steps.

I start to walk backwards, shooting for the heads I could see by the illumination off the fire, seeing the flames engulf the grass and the wood. Ash fell down on my face as I tried to aim. We were a literal dinner bell for all of the walkers in Georgia right now.

"It's fucking busted! I lost Dale, have you seen him?" Andrea comes up next to me, shooting again.

"No, I thought he went with you-" suddenly, I feel my arm being pulled back. I turn around, being met face to face with a walker. I take my gun, shoving it in its mouth, and pulling the trigger. A high pitched painful ring vibrates through my ear canal, making them feel as though they were bleeding. I hold them and wince, trying not to scream.

"Sage, we need to run! There's no fucking way out!" I look to Andrea, nodding in agreeance. I look around to find Daryl, but the farm was swept clean.

"They all fucking left," I breathe.

"So we need to book it." I look to Andrea, putting a hand on my side to stabilize my side wound as we start booking it onto the main road.

Running away from a bunch of walking zombies- how ironic was that? A shelter we could have possible called home? How idiotic of a dream was that? Very.