𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔽𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 | Daryl Dixon

23 | NOT A DEMOCRACY

Dawn broke over the highway where Rick, Carl, and Hershel had managed to drive to during the night. It was just the three of them, waiting all night for someone, anyone else in their group to arrive, but there had been no signs yet.

There had been walkers coming along every now and again, stray bodies limping away from the farm now that the fire had most likely died out. Right as the trio were talking about having to leave, get somewhere safe before the herd started passing through in bigger numbers, they heard the rumbles of not one, but several engines.

Rick's eyes widened, a smile gracing his tired features as he watched Daryl pull up on his bike, Carol sat behind him. Following them was Tori's blue truck, driven by T-Dog, and then Carol's green Cherokee, driven by Glenn. The rest of the group could be seen through the windows of the cars, their faces lighting up when they reunited.

Once the vehicles all came to a stop, Lori was the first in climbing out of the truck, running to her family. "Oh, thank God!" she cried as Carl ran into her arms, crying against her shirt. Rick knelt with them, wrapping his arms around his wife and son.

Beth and Maggie both ran to Hershel, the family embracing each other tightly, tears of relief streaming down their faces, all of them safe from the terrors of the previous night. Hershel held his daughters, clinging to them as if they'd disappear if he let go, even for a second. Not that he wanted to. If he had it his way, he'd never let go of them again.

Daryl swiftly climbed off of his bike, taking short breaths as he began looking around for the one face he needed to see. There was no sign of her. It felt like everyone was there except her, and he felt his stomach drop, dread making his heart heavy.

"How'd you find everyone?" Rick asked the Dixon, breaking him from his thoughts.

"Taillights zigzagging all over the road," he mumbled. "Figured he had to be Asian drivin' like that."

Glenn brushed off the comment with a dry chuckle, "Good one."

"Where's the rest of us?" Daryl asked, still looking around as if the missing ones would suddenly appear.

"We're the only ones that made it so far," Rick said.

"Shane?" Lori asked lowly, her arm around Carl as she stood up.

Rick just shook his head, his eyes averting to the ground as guilt spread across his face. The truth of what happened when he and Shane split off from Daryl and Glenn was not a story to tell right now. The group would need to hear it soon, and the sheriff needed time to figure it out himself. The pain in his eyes was clear, and Lori chose not to question it.

"Patricia?" Hershel asked.

"They got her too," Beth answered with a small cry. "I was holding onto her, Daddy, and she just..." the young girl sniffled, stifling a sob before asking the others, "What about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?"

"He was in the RV," Rick explained regretfully. "It got overrun."

"What about Tori?" Glenn asked. "And Andrea?"

"We saw Andrea go down," T-Dog replied quietly, and Glenn closed his eyes. "Tori was running with us, but we lost her."

"Lost her?" Carl asked worriedly, the boy stepping away from his mother. "How could you lose her?"

"Dead everywhere, it was dark, she ran ahead," T-Dog tried to explain regretfully. "Tried to look out for her, but we couldn't see anything."

"I'm going back," Daryl announced, already about to climb on his bike.

"Daryl, wait-" Rick tried, but the Dixon couldn't listen.

"We ain't leavin' if she's still there," he uttered, leaving no room for argument. "I won't."