We're The Ones Who Live | The Walking Dead (2)

Part 29 - End of the Whisperers

The battle was a total blur. Most of what Daryl saw was just fire, walkers, more fire, and more walkers. 

It only came to an end when he realised there was nothing left to fight for. The Hilltop was well and truly destroyed. Flames were tearing down the structures within the walls, the house was being blown to bits, and the horde was flooding in through the burnt gates.

By sunrise, most people had run. Daryl ended up escaping with Rosita, Jerry and Nabila, and a few others. There was a small scare when they made it to the agreed rendezvous point, only to find that nobody else was there. 

Jerry and Daryl went back to the Hilltop, and the sight was abysmal. The once beautiful manor house was blackened with ash. The walls were breaking down. Smoke from the dying fires filled the air, making it tough to see. They found Ezekiel in the destroyed community, and he was able to lead them to where he had left all the children after the fires started and he got them out of the Hilltop alone. 

Daryl held RJ and Judith's hands as he walked them back to the rendezvous point. Aaron wasn't there yet, so he kept an eye on Gracie too. He was only able to sigh in relief when they got back to find that most of their people had made it back by now. 

"Go sit down, guys," he mumbled to the three kids. "I'll be right with you, okay?"

"Okay," Judith replied quietly and took her brother's hand in one of hers, and Gracie's hand in the other. "Come on, guys." 

A faint smile played on Daryl's face as he watched the three kids settle down on a couch in the corner of the room. RJ and Gracie looked scared, and although he could tell Judith was scared too, she was trying to be tough for the others.

As he walked through the house to check on everyone, he suddenly froze when he saw Jerry hugging Magna. 

Magna was alive. She had gotten out with the herd. He could tell just by looking at her that she was tired, and the journey back to Hilltop had been hell for her. But if she got out, maybe CJ and Connie did too, even if they weren't with her. That was all Daryl could think about as he found himself walking over to one of the three missing women.

"Hey," Magna breathed out with a thin smile when she saw Daryl.

"Thought we'd lost ya," Daryl mumbled as he hugged Magna briefly. "Good to see you."

"You too," Magna replied, playing with her fingers and looking down at her hands, already knowing what Daryl was thinking about. "You wanna talk?"

"Yeah," Daryl nodded, feeling an uneasy sense growing in the pit of his stomach at her nervous tone and stance. The pair stepped outside the house and sat on the bench. "Did you see them?" he asked quietly.

Magna sighed softly and shook her head. "When the ceiling caved in... we were stood together," she began, her voice a broken whisper. "It was dark, but I could see Connie. I-I was sure I heard CJ calling out to us, but the horde was so loud, my ears were ringing. Then there was a scream and... We tried... Connie and me, we tried to find her. But it was just so dark and dusty. We couldn't see anything."

Daryl felt his heart drop at the picture Magna was describing. It was bad enough when he thought the three women were trapped or lost together. But this was so much worse. 

His wife got lost down there alone. She had cried out, screamed for help, and no one could get to her.

"Connie and I held hands for as long as we could as we got through the horde," Magna whispered. "There was just so many that we got separated. I tried to find her. I tried to find both of them but... I couldn't. I'm sorry."

"It ain't your fault," Daryl assured her. "You got out. They probably did too. They're still out there."

He wanted to believe his own words, but it was a struggle. Connie and CJ were strong. But he could see how dazed and tired Magna was from walking with the horde for nearly two days until getting to the Hilltop.