S u r v i v o r s [ Daryl Dixon ]

Chapter 27

We sat outside the prison because the weather was perfect. I was holding Little Ass-Kicker, who was sleeping peacefully. I saw Rick coming over to us. He looked thoughtful for a moment, but finally cleared his throat.

"When I met with the Governor, he offered me a deal. He said--" he stopped for a moment and I took a deep breath. "He said he would leave us alone if I gave him Michonne. And I was gonna do that... to keep us safe. I changed my mind."

I sighed in relief, but Rick continued.

"But now Merle took Michonne to fulfill the deal and Daryl went to stop him and I don't know if it's too late."

I slowly stood up and felt Carol come over to me and take the baby from me. I stared at Rick without blinking.

"I was wrong not to tell you. And I'm sorry. What I said last year, that first night after the farm... it can't be like that. It can't. What we do, what we' re willing to do, who we are, it's not my call. It can't be. I couldn't sacrifice one of us for the greater good because we are the greater good. We're the reason, we're still here, not me. This is life and death. How you live... how you die-- it isn't up to me. I'm not your Governor. We choose to go. We choose to stay. We stick together. We voted. We can stay and we can fight or we can go."

After that he left and I quickly ran over to him.

"I'll go get him."

Rick stopped abruptly. "No."

"Rick, I won't leave him alone."

"He'll find Merle and come back."

"Merle must have gone to see the Governor!" I grabbed his arm. "I'm not leaving him."

Rick wanted to say something but he must have seen something behind the fence because he took the shotgun and started aiming somewhere.

"It's Michonne" he said to me. "She's alone."

I waited another two hours for Daryl. I didn't move away from the gate and kept an eye out for him. Until he finally came out of the forest. Carol, who was on watch, opened the gate and I ran out to help Daryl with Walkers. When we were on the prison grounds I finally got to see him. And when I saw the pain in his eyes, I didn't have to ask. I saw others wanting to say something, but they chose silence, which made me happy. I didn't hug him, didn't touch him, I followed him silently to his cell, and when he sat down on the bed, I sat next to him. Only then did I grab his hand.

"Do you wanna me stay?"

Since he didn't say anything, I got up to leave. That's when I felt his hand on my hand. He was standing right behind me, I didn't even hear him move. I looked at him, and seeing the tears in his eyes, I felt like I was crumbling.

"Come to me" I whispered and hugged him. He buried his face in my neck, I could feel his tears. He was shaking. I stroked his hair gently and he pulled me even tighter. I didn't say anything, I didn't whisper comfort, because I knew it was useless. I was with him and that was all I could give him.

I woke up next to Daryl. I knew it was the middle of the night, so I wanted to go back to my cell. But as soon as I tried to pull away from him, Daryl just hugged me tighter. I smiled and gently pushed the hair out of his eyes, which he immediately opened. I stroked his cheek. I knew he was still in pieces, but he didn't look completely destroyed anymore.

"I'm sorry" he said finally. "I didn't mean to fall apart."

"He was your brother" I whispered. "I'd be surprised if you didn't react in any way. I don't even want to imagine how you feel. If I lost Glenn..."