Lost Too Much 【REDONE】 ║ Daryl/OC or Shane/OC

Chapter 111: I'm gonna save them.

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(12-287 AV --- 4,667 AV) Two days until Lance comes to escort me to the Commonwealth. I have time for a few more letter.

Dear Noah,

You've been gone for a long time. I wasn't even in town the day you died. I just remember hearing about it from Glenn, hearing the horror he felt when he watched you die. I know he would've saved you if he could've. From my understanding, Nicholas wanted to save himself and you were the price. I wish it hadn't happened. You had big plans here.

I remember when we met. We were on opposite sides of the hallway at Grady. Dawn wanted you and you were willing to suffer in order to let me go. I tried to do the same for you. We were strangers but we tried to sacrifice ourselves for each other. You didn't deserve to go through what you did there. I know you had to be an amazing person for Beth to fight for you the way she did. We might not have talked much, and that's something I'll always regret.

Dear Alden,

I have no idea where to start. We left you at that church knowing the risk. It was your idea, yet I feel so guilty for supporting it. Even so, we know that if we had brought you along, you might've just died anyway, and maybe more of us would have. You got so badly hurt in that fight. And I know you didn't want to leave your son without a father, but it was very honorable that you stayed behind to give us a better chance.

I didn't know much about you, but I know you were a Savior before you were at Hilltop. You had been taken hostage in the middle of the war, but you understood you were on the wrong side and fought to help Maggie and everyone else at Hilltop. I wasn't around for much of that, but even when it was over, you stayed with Maggie and helped her through it all. She was distraught when we had to leave you behind, even more when she went back and learned you were dead. We all hurt to hear that news. You didn't deserve this, but I hope you know it didn't get any prettier after we left you. I think you made the right choice in the end. And I thank you for being selfless.

-CJ
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The stakes felt higher than they had ever been. This wasn't like the Whisperers' horde or the walkers at the farm. There wasn't a second option for us right now. We were blocked in on both sides, surrounded by the dead, and most of us were down to handheld weapons.

The only thing giving me hope was seeing Daryl and Shane making off with Judith, disappearing around the corner holding the little girl that had thrown herself in front of a bullet for me. The guilt would eat me if we didn't save her.

I took a second, just a minuscule, tiny second to look behind me and make sure my son was still okay. He had stuck toward the center of the crowd with Harriette, the two of them fighting the walkers together. I was terrified that letting the kids come along would result in losing both of them in one go.

I stabbed down another walker with my dagger, glancing back at Eddie and Harriette once again. Each time my mother moved to kill a walker, she only jolted forward for a second before moving back to Eddie's side. I couldn't decide if she was genuinely protective of him or just trying to get on my good side after abandoning me, but either way, I was grateful that another set of eyes was watching over him.

I focused forward again, deciding that there was no sense in focusing on anything else right now. We were trapped. Even if something happened to Eddie, we were in the middle of a horde. There was no getting him help, or anyone, for that matter, until we cleared most of the walkers out.