Make it Till You Don't

Separated

After a few days of recovering, Hershel and Bob thought it was too soon to move back into our cells in C block, as we were still showing some symptoms but I was just glad to feel better than before.

The day Daryl came to check on me, I found out that Carol was gone... that she killed Karen and David. I wasn't happy she was gone, but I couldn't help but wonder if I had gotten sick when they did... if I would've been killed along with them.

I get that she was trying to protect everyone, thinking it was the best option to stop the virus from spreading, but it wasn't her call or anyone's. If she didn't, they probably would have still been alive. My thoughts were cut short from an explosion and not wanting to sit around, I got up and made my way out of the cell.

I made my way outside and saw the others looking out to the fields, several cars at our fence. I walked closer to the gate and I could make out the Governor standing on top of a tank. "Rick! Come down here, let's talk."

"It's not up to me!" Rick shouted to him. "There's a council now, they run this place."

"Is Hershel on the council?" The Governor spoke up, gesturing to a woman who brought Hershel out of a car. "What about Michonne?" She was pulled out next. "She on the council too?"

"I don't make decisions anymore." Rick told the Governor as Hershel and Michonne were forced to kneel on the ground.

"You're making the decisions today, Rick. Come down here. Let's have that talk." He replied, leaving no room for discussion. Rick and Daryl shared a glance before Rick assured Carl, walking down towards the Governor. I took a step closer to Daryl, nudging his arm to let him know I was here.

He gave me a nod in acknowledgement, before speaking up. "We can't take 'em all on. We'll go through the admin building, through the woods like we planned. We ain't got the numbers no more. When's the last time someone checked the stash on the bus?"

"Day before we hit The Big Spot." Sasha replied, tense at the situation we found ourselves in. "We were running low on rations then, we're lower now."

"Yeah, we'll manage. Things go south, everyone heads for that bus. Let everybody know." Daryl told Sasha and Tyreese.

Tyreese looked at him. "What if everybody doesn't know when things go bad? How long do we wait?"

"As long as we can." Daryl told him, before looking at me. "I want you to go with them."

"No." I shook my head. "If things go south, I'm not separating from you."

He shook his head as well. "Nah, you've barely just recovered. You don't have your strength back." He shot down my decision.

"I don't care." I whispered, giving him a look to show how serious I was. "I can't do it... I won't do it." I glanced and saw everyone's attention was on the Governor before I turned back to Daryl, mustering up the courage to place one of my hands on the back of his neck, pulling him into a kiss. I pulled away and held his face in my hands, staring into his eyes. "Not going anywhere, remember?"

He stared back into my eyes, several emotions swimming in his own. I saw he recognized those words I told him that night in the watchtower, bringing a small smile to his face. He glanced out to where Rick was, hesitating before looking back at me. "Fine, but stay close."

I nodded, looking towards Rick as Daryl went over to one of the baskets with guns, handing them out. I aimed my gun, waiting for some kind of signal from Rick.

The Governor jumped down from the tank, putting Michonne's katana to Hershel's neck. Shit, we can't risk shooting Hershel from this distance. "Be ready." Daryl whispered to us.

Whatever Rick was saying, caused the Governor to slowly bring the blade away from Hershel for a moment before he brought his arm back, swinging into Hershel's neck.

"NO!"

I didn't waste a second and started firing at the Governor as I watched Hershel's body fall to the ground as all I could hear were the screams from Beth and Maggie. Rick hid behind the bus as Michonne rolled out of the way as everyone joined in on the gunfire.

Where did he go... I glanced around as I shot aimlessly, trying to set my sights on the Governor. The tank moved forward, tearing down our fences as they advanced. "Come on!" Daryl shouted, pulling my arm as the tank began shooting, coming in our direction.

As Daryl began shooting at a few men in front of us, I heard growling coming from behind us as I turned around to shoot a few. "Daryl, we can't stay he-!" I was slammed to the ground by a Walker I failed to notice.

I reached for my knife, sticking it in the Walker's head. Daryl reloaded his gun, grabbing a Walker and stabbing it as he held it in front of his body. "I got an idea. Follow my lead."

Nodding, I stood back up. I held the Walker in front of me, walking behind him, flinching as the body was shot at as Daryl threw a grenade at the men's feet. "Let's go!" Daryl threw the body as I followed after him, taking another grenade and stuffing it into the barrel of the tank as I killed any Walkers coming near us.

A man jumped out of the tank as it exploded, Daryl already having his crossbow trained on him. Not hesitating, he shot an arrow into the man's chest as I looked for any survivors.

"Beth!" I shouted, gaining her attention.

Seeing Daryl and I, she ran over to us. "I was trying to find the kids to get them on the bus."

"The bus is gone, maybe they got out in time." I told her, throwing my empty gun to the ground.

"We got to go, Beth." Daryl told her, knowing we can't stay any longer. "We got to go." He took hold of my arm, leading us away. I tried to keep up the pace as we ran through towards the woods, still not a hundred percent from being sick.

As we neared the woods, a group of Walkers came towards us. We began to fight them off, attempting to keep moving before more showed up. I braced myself against a tree as the two pushed their way forwards, seeing a few Walkers coming in my direction.

Letting out a sigh as I pushed off the tree, swinging at a few, as Daryl came and grabbed hold of my arm and pulled me along.

I glanced behind us as the three of us ran through a field, seeing the Walkers had fallen behind. Taking the moment, we collapsed onto the ground, attempting to catch our breath.

"What..." I gasped out between each breath I took, rolling my head in their direction. "...now?"

It was silent for a moment before Daryl stood up, picking up his bow. "Come on." Not waiting, he began to walk off towards the woods.

I sat up, glancing over to Beth and receiving a small nod of reassurance before we got up and followed. It was like this for a few hours; walking aimlessly and killing any Walker that got close, until we found a small clearing to set up camp for the night.

I sat down after getting the fire started, staring into the flames as I processed the day's events. "We should do something." I glanced over at Beth as she looked over to Daryl. "We should do something."

I glanced over to Daryl, seeing he had completely ignored her statement. "She's right... we need to do something."

He glanced up to the both of us as Beth spoke up again. "We aren't the only survivors. We can't be. Rick, Michonne, they could be out here. Maggie and Glenn could have made it out of A block. They could've."

He didn't say anything as he looked back down. "Daryl..." I trailed off, standing up. "You know better than anyone what our group is capable of."

Still not getting anything, Beth stood up. "You're a tracker. You can track. Come on. The sun will be up soon, if we head out now, we can-" Seeing he wasn't making a move to get up, she sighed. "Fine. If you won't track, I will."

I watched as she took Daryl's knife and stormed off. I squatted in front of Daryl, placing a hand on his arm. "Let's go."

I watched as Daryl brought his gaze to mine as I stood back up, holding a hand out to help him up. Taking my hand, I pulled him up and let go as Daryl stomped out the fire and grabbed his bow. He looked over at me, giving me a small nod before we went after Beth.

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Published: 08/24/2024