FALLING APART daryl dixon

FORTY - HEARTACHE'S LULLABY

Alycia Grimes stood in the middle, looking like her entire world was over. She glanced to the side and saw her father, having some sort of panic attack on the floor, then turned back to Carl, who still stood close, looking for an answer she couldn't give him.

Conversations buzzed around her. Glenn held Maggie, casting concerned glances at his best friend, who seemed so out of place, so alone.

- Let me see the baby - Hershel spoke up, breaking Alycia out of her thoughts. She noticed Maggie wasting no time walking towards Hershel, with Alycia's little sister wrapped up in Carl's jacket, cooing and reaching for the air.

Daryl asked if the baby had anything to eat from the prison. Glenn briefly left Maggie, returning to ensure Rick was okay, but the man was in his own little bubble, ignoring everything around him—like Alycia, who couldn't manage to give even Carl a look.

- The good news is she looks healthy. But she needs formula soon or she won't survive - Hershel informed everyone as he opened Carl's jacket to examine the baby in Maggie's arms.

Alycia felt empty, lost. She couldn't look at the baby, at Carl, or even back at her father freaking out.

- Nope, no way - Daryl denied. - Not her. We ain't losing nobody else - He declared, deciding to go for a run.

- Want me to back you up? - Glenn asked, moving away from an immobile Rick and heading towards the maskman.

Glenn shook his head, pointing towards Alycia, who still looked like she was on the verge of fainting at any minute.

- She needs ya here - He told Glenn, who nodded, realizing he had to stay behind for Alycia, his best friend.

- I'll go - Maggie decided, knowing she could be a good help on the run too.

Alycia turned for a moment, hearing a noise. She noticed Rick making a sudden movement, grabbing the axe on the ground and storming back into the prison, leaving his children there. Alycia moved to follow him, but he didn't look back, abandoning her and Carl.

In her head, it felt ten times worse than it already was—the loneliness, despair, the feeling that the world was done, that it would devour them, take Carl away, take her father, Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, everyone. Even the baby.

Alycia took a glance at her hands; only then did she notice the blood coating them and under her nails. Her eyesight began to blur. All she saw was blood—her mother's blood. She couldn't take her eyes off them; her mother died under her hands.

- Aly - Carl whispered her name. She looked back at him, and noticed Beth coming closer with the baby. Almost instinctively, she stepped back, shocking Carl, Beth, and everyone else. After the panic subsided, she picked up the knife she had thrown to the ground, retrieved it, and left. At this point, she could be running, leaving everyone. She couldn't cope anymore.

Alycia couldn't think of anything else at that moment, just her mother, lying lifeless in that position, dead.

She deliberately avoided thoughts of Carl, the baby, or the fact that Rick had abandoned her. She abandoned them.

Running, she found herself in the middle of the courtyard, surrounded by walkers. Without hesitation, she started hitting every undead figure in sight.

Daryl Dixon, as soon as Alycia ran out, followed her. He informed Maggie they would leave soon, spotting the girl in the courtyard ruthlessly battling her inner demons. He didn't call her back; he didn't insist she return. He knew she needed it, so he raised his crossbow and skillfully eliminated any walkers that dared approach her.

As the last of the undead fell, Alycia collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. Emotionally and physically drained, she seemed to have given up in that moment, enveloped by overwhelming loneliness.