Chapter one hundred and one
"Just me and my siblings now."
The group safely regrouped at Alexandria, but safety was short-lived. Beta—the boogeyman—was still out there. With Hilltop already destroyed, Alexandria was next on his list.Evacuating the community, they made their way to a hidden sanctuary inside an abandoned tower. Since the night of the Whisperer attack, Daryl hadn't spoken a word. He kept his distance from his siblings, standing off on his own, silently staring down at his gun. The weapon carried a heavy history; many years ago, it had belonged to his late older brother, Carl. Nearby, his sisters and younger brother watched him anxiously, while Dog lay curled at their feet.
"He saved us," Caroline whispered, breaking the silence. "And now he won't even talk to us."
"Because the ones he killed may have looked like walkers, but they weren't," Judith explained softly. "They were people."
"If I had just stayed back like you wanted..." Rick muttered, looking down.
"No," Judith interrupted gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. "If you weren't there, it would've been one of us instead. Same outcome."
A heavy silence fell over them once more as they waited out the coming storm.
Out in the woods, Uncle Daryl held the walkie-talkie that kept them in contact with Scarlett.
"I know you ain't coming back," he said into the receiver. "But I just thought I'd let you know we got a plan to end this. One you'd have come up with yourself if you were here."
He let go of the talk button, stepping over a fallen branch as he continued to walk. He pressed the button again. "Man, being on the run like this, barely scraping by... reminds me of the old gang."
He released the button, but only empty static hissed through the speaker. He pressed it down one more time. "Seems like ages now."
Letting go of the button, he listened closely. When no response came, his brows furrowed. He pressed the button again, his voice tighter this time. "Scarlett? Can you hear me?"
He let go, but the radio remained stubbornly silent, offering nothing but white noise. Sighing heavily, Uncle Daryl clipped the walkie back to his belt and walked off into the trees.
Back at the tower, Dog was barking fiercely at a stray cat, which hissed right back at him with its back arched.
"No, Dog, no!" Rick cried out, straining against the leash. He, Judith, and Caroline all worked together to hold the heavy hound back.
Lydia walked up quietly and scooped the cat into her arms, calming it down.
"We're sorry about your mom," Judith told her gently, looking down.
"You don't have to be," Lydia replied, her voice flat.
"Do you miss her?" Caroline asked softly.
"No," Lydia shared, looking at the siblings. "Not everyone gets to have a mom like you guys."
The three of them turned Dog around, leading him away to give the cat some space. But as they guided the dog back toward their corner of the tower, they looked around and realized their brother was gone.
Out in the woods, the silence was shattered by the raspy snarl of a walker stumbling through the trees.
Daryl raised his gun and fired a single shot, sending the walker's body hitting the forest floor with a heavy thud.
"Hey. What are you doing?" Uncle Daryl asked, stepping out from the brush.
Daryl let out a frustrated huff. "What does it look like?"
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Safe haven | Rick Grimes
FanfictionScarlett Avery has had a rough life between her abusive father to her abusive husband, she ends up running away to a small town outside of Georgia wanting to keep a low profile and continue her medical career with fear of him finding her and her nee...
