Survivor - TWD (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 24 - Four Walls and a Roof

Nelly

I don't know how long I've been pacing. Just the same few feet back and forth, trying—desperately—to convince myself he is dead. It's possible, right? Maybe someone got him. A walker. Something. But my mind keeps circling back to that night, the last time I saw him alive. He was asleep, so vulnerable, and I had a knife in my hand. I could've ended it all.

But I didn't.

The memory burns in my chest, my hand tightening around my hair in frustration. After all he did, after all the lives he destroyed—including mine—I couldn't do it. 

Coward. I'm such a coward.

A snap of a twig drags me out of my spiral. My muscles tense immediately, my instincts kicking in as I draw both swords in a swift, fluid motion. I stand, silent and still, poised to strike as the footsteps slow and a faint shadow moves through the trees.

"Bob?" Sasha's voice cuts through the stillness, a whisper carried on the wind.

I don't move, waiting for her to step closer. Her figure emerges from the trees and the second she spots me, she jerks back, gun up in an instant, her breath catching in her throat. But then she recognizes me, and her tense posture relaxes, her weapon lowering as she exhales sharply.

"What are you doing out here?" I ask, my voice low and suspicious.

Her wide eyes scan the area nervously, darting between the trees. "I'm looking for Bob. Have you seen him?"

I shake my head, but then realize it's too dark for her to see. "No," I mutter, voice tight.

Another twig snaps behind us, sharp and sudden. We both react instantly, spinning toward the sound, weapons raised and senses heightened. The forest falls eerily silent again, but something feels off. There's someone there—I can feel it. My grip tightens on my swords as Sasha, with her rifle ready, scans the area through the night scope.

"What do you see?" I ask, my voice barely a whisper.

"There's someone out there," Sasha breathes, her focus intense. But then, behind us, two snarls rise, closer than they should be. Before the walkers can lunge, I move, one clean slice across the neck of the first, and with a swift turn, my second blade arcs through the other's head, silencing the growls in an instant. The bodies crumple at my feet with soft thuds.

Sasha gasps behind me, and I whirl, swords raised, ready for more. But then a voice.

"Shh, it's me," Tyreese says, stepping into the clearing, his large frame silhouetted in the moonlight. Rick follows, flashlight beam cutting through the darkness as he moves quickly toward us.

"Tyreese, he's getting away," Sasha pants, her voice still edged with urgency.

"Who?" Rick asks, flashlight shifting toward where Sasha was focused just moments ago.

"Somebody was watching us," she replies, breath coming fast as she struggles to keep calm, still worried about Bob.

Rick shines the flashlight in the direction she was aiming, but it's just shadows and silence now. Nothing but trees.

"If we go in there now, some of us aren't coming back," Tyreese says gravely, his eyes scanning the dark dense woods.

"Bob is out there somewhere. Scared, alone," Sasha presses, her voice tight with worry.

Rick's face hardens. "Maybe not alone. Daryl and Carol are missing, too." His gaze cuts to me, sharp. "We thought you were too. What are you doing out here?"