Till Death Do Us Part: A Daryl Dixon Story (The Walking Dead)

26

Double update bc I can. Go back and read 25 if you missed it x.
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My words shocked Merle into a stupor. Not even I was sure I wanted this. He lowered his gun and shot me a confused look.
'The hell are-'
'Help me find Daryl.' I said, my voice loud and clear. Having Merle by my side might just benefit both of us.
'Erin you know yourself he's good as gone. With no lead, nothin', there ain't-'
'I'm not going to ask again.' I cut him off. I didn't care that the whole world stood between Daryl and I, and all the odds were against us. All I knew was that he was out there somewhere, and that he loved me. That was enough to convince me to cross oceans if I had to.
Before Merle could answer, one of his buddies joined him, looking dazed and confused. Michonne appeared out of thin air and pulled her sword back.
'Move!' Merle yelled as he dodged Michonne's near lethal blow.
I pulled my dragon sword out its sheath and sliced the approaching walkers to pieces. Michonne and Merle continued to beat the shit out of each other. I stood over the kid, Merle's friend, and decided he was just that -a kid. I wouldn't drive my blade through the heart of a living, breathing kid. When I looked up again, Merle was up and Michonne was missing. I spun around and spied her figure waiting in the trees. Her eyes were frantic as she waited for me to join her.
I turned to face Merle. 'Are you with me?'
Merle's face darkened. That was enough of an answer. I took off running after Michonne. We sprinted through the woods, but Michonne was badly wounded. I slowed down and slung her arm over my shoulder to help steady her.
'I'm fine,' she gritted her teeth. I rolled my eyes at the stubborn woman. Four or five walkers noticed us and approached. I let go of Michonne, drawing my blade and cut the head clean off the first one to approach me. One slipped passed me as I sliced through the other two. I turned to help Michonne when I realised she didn't need my help. She was drenched in walker guts, and it caused the walker to shuffle straight past her -just like Rick and Glenn had done almost a year ago. I swung my blade in an arc and it met the head of the walker with a sickening swish. The tip of the head slid off and the walker crumpled to the ground. I kicked it over and slashed open its stomach. I gave Michonne a shrug, deciding I might as well join her in her choice of defence. We trekked through the woods, much slower than we ever had before on account of Michonne's bad leg. I had to get her help, and soon.
We approached a building, and I told her to check out the front while I took the back. She hopped off, very angry and pissed off, at what I wasn't sure. I entered the back of the building through an unlocked steel door. The floors were strewn with discarded papers and other random junk. But I searched through the storeroom and behind the counters. You could never be too sure. I heard a gunshot and froze. Michonne didn't even carry a gun on her. I rushed outside through the back, and joined Michonne at the front. She appeared to be fine.
'What happened?' I asked, looking around, my sword in hand.
'Merle,' she simply whispered. 'Kidnapped two people. They spoke of a prison and they were carrying this basket of formula.'
I spied the formula in the basket. The couple had a baby. I suddenly felt it my duty to return it to the prison.
'Well let's take it to them. Where's the closest prison? They ought to know two of their own were kidnapped by one of ours.'
Michonne shot me a murderous glare when I referred to Merle as one of us. I understood where she was coming from though -the man did shoot her after all.
'Maybe they could help with that gunshot wound.' I said as means of apologising. Michonne gave a quick nod.
'The only prison is up the highway. We can get there before dusk.'
I glanced at the abandoned cars in the parking lot. Surely one of them had some fuel left. I didn't want to risk Michonne walking the whole way. At least Merle was good for something: he was the one who had taught me how to wire a car. I checked each car's fuel tank and picked one which was almost full. The wiring took me quite some time to get right seeing as I was a bit rusty. But I got the car started with a triumphant smile. Michonne was lounging in the backseat of the car, looking weak and relieved. I let Michonne lead the way. She was slowly losing her strength but she willed her eyes to remain open as she guided me down the roads. She was one tough cookie, but I kept that to myself. Calling Michonne a cookie would do neither of us any good, I thought with a smirk.
I wondered if the prison survivors were as friendly as the Woodbury people. Whoever they are, the least the prison folk could do was patch Michonne up, give us food and send us on our way in exchange for the formula and what we knew about two of their group members. We turned down a road and the prison, all vast fences and huge concrete buildings, stared at us from the distance. I gave Michonne a weak smile from the rear view mirror, but found she had finally let her eyelids droop close. I pulled up to the prison fences. Slinging my dragon sword around shoulder, I got out the car and leaned against the opened door. I peeped inside the grounds for any sign of life and my heart fell into my stomach when I saw a green Hyundai parked in the courtyard. I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat -there was no way. It was too much of a coincidence. I started to doubt the existence of any survivors living in the prison. No one was even posted on guard, so surely this was a dead end. But I gave one glance towards Michonne and realized she needed help either way. Prisons had infirmaries, and infirmaries had medical supplies, something Michonne was in dire need of. One way or another, we were going to have to break into the prison.
Before I made any drastic moves, like reverse and then ram through the gates I pounded my fist against the hooter. The car blared in response. If there were a group of survivors living inside the prison, they were bound to have heard that. But then a group of people caught my eye. They were walking too upright, too normal to be dead. One of them was even on crutches. One of them spotted the car too, because he walked down the trail, his arm shielding his face from the sunlight. There was something oddly familiar about the manner in which the man walked.
No, it couldn't be.
I gasped.
The man stopped dead in his tracks, also coming to the realization of who I was. His face was a picture of shock and disbelief. Mine probably mirrored his exactly. But there he was.
Rick Grimes, in the flesh, alive and well.
'Brother,' I whispered.
//
Okay... WHO IS AMPED FOR THE REUNION BETWEEN ERIN AND DARYL BC I AM. Sorry for shouty capitals couldn't help it lol