In The End | Daryl Dixon

Chapter 22: Solitary

I was currently standing in-between the two prisoners we had left, knelt on the ground. Rick had taken off after the third after he tried to attack me with a bat for killing his friend. I looked down at the body of the man who tried to kill several times today, blood was pooling around his head as he laid there with his eyes still open.

"We don't have no affiliation to what just happened." I heard the mustache man say from beside me as he knelt on the floor beside his dead leader. "Tell 'em Oscar."

I shifted my cold gaze to Oscar who had his hands up in surrender as Daryl pointed his crossbow at him. "Stop talking, Axel."

I wiped the sweat and blood splattered on my face off and knelt down beside Axel, "So, you're telling me that you and Oscar here didn't know about this?" I gestured towards the man on the ground beside him.

He nodded quickly, "Y-yes, yes ma'am. That's exactly what I'm sayin'."

I scoffed, "Now you know how hard that is to believe, right? Cause the way I see it, all of you knew." I whispered, jabbing the point of the bloodied machete into the mans chest. 

I stood up straight, backing away from the man as he pleaded for his life. Rick coming back into the room aiming his gun at Oscar.

"You saw what he did to Tiny! He was my friend! Please we ain't like that miss! Please I swear to God! I want to live!"

I looked down and saw a wet substance forming around the mans knees as he sobbed, looking back and forth between T-dog who was holding a gun on him and me holding the machete with blood still dripping from the end.

"Pathetic." I muttered in disgust.

"What about you?" Rick asks as he pointed his gun at Oscars head.

"I ain't never pleaded for my life. And I ain't about to now. So you do what you gotta do." Oscar said with no fear in his eyes.

Rick paused for a moment, staring at Oscar. "On your feet." He jerked Oscar to stand up. T-dog doing the same with the blonde man.

Daryl led them to cell block B, Rick pushing Axel and Oscar into the cell block. Lined up in the cell doorways were deceased inmates tied up and bullet holes in the back of their heads.

"Oh man." Axel said taken back in horror.

"Let's go." Rick said to the group.

"So you're just gonna leave us in here? Man, this is sick." Oscar said.

"We're locking down this cell block. From now on, this part of the prison if yours. Take it or leave it. That was the deal." Rick explained flatly, before exiting the cell block. "Consider yourself the lucky ones."

"Sorry about your friends man." Daryl nodded towards the men before exiting the cell block as well.

"Word of advice, take the bodies out and burn them." I said to the men behind the cell doors before following Daryl, Rick and T-dog back to our cell block.

On the way back to the cell block, I kept feeling this overwhelming feeling of guilt, like I had done something so unforgivable. I never was one to be religious, but I felt like God was going to damn me to hell for killing a man, regardless if it was in self defense. This overwhelming feeling was eating me alive, so much so that I almost ran into the cell doors leading into our cell block.

"Watch it, Jo." Daryl's voice snapped me out of my trance, I placed my hands in front of me to stop myself from hitting my head.

"Sorry." I muttered, walking around into the doorway.

"Hey." He reached out and grabbed my arm causing me to look up at him.  "You did what you had to, Jo. You could've died."

"Still doesn't make me feel better about doing it." I whispered, shaking out of his grip, entering into the cell block.