You and Me (Daryl Dixon Love Story)

Chapter 3

Kaitlin's POV:

We were all sitting around a camp fire, telling stories and having a good ol' time.

"Disoriented. I guess that's what comes closets. Disoriented, fear, confusion... All those things... But disoriented comes closest," Rick said.

"Words can be meager things. Sometimes they fall short," Dale said.

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while, I thought I was trapped in some coma dream. Something I might never wake up from," Rick said.

"Mom said you died," Carl said.

"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it," Rick said.

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta. And it never happened," Lori said.

"Well I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell. From the looks of it, the hospital got overrun," Rick said.

"Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know," Shane said.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you Shane. I can't begin to express it," Rick said.

"There go those words falling short again. Paltry things," Dale said.

Ed puts another log into his fire. "Hey Ed, wanna rethink that log?" Shane says.

"It's cold man," Ed argues.

"The cold don't change the rules. We need to keep our fires low. Just embers. We don't wanna be seen from a distance, right?"

"I said its cold! Mind your own damn business for once."

Shane got up and walked over to Ed's separate fire. "Are you sure you wanna have this conversation?"

"Go on! Pull the damn thing out!" Carol stood up and pulled the log out of the fire. Shane stomped on the flames.

"Hey, Carol, Sophia, how are y'all this evening?" Shane asked.

"Fine. We're just fine," Carol said.

"Okay."

"I'm sorry about the fire."

"No no no. No apology needed. Y'all have a good night, okay?"

"Thank you"

"I appreciate the cooperation." Shane comes back over and takes his seat next to me. "Has anyone given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother got left behind,"Dale said.

"I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me," T-Dog said.

"I cuffed him that makes it mine," Rick said.

"Guys it's not a competition. I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy," Glenn said.

"I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him," t-dog said.

"Or we could lie," Amy suggested.

"Or tell the truth. Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd gotten us all killed. Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it's nobody's fault but Merle's," Andrea said.

"And that's what we tell Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from this. Word to the wise.. We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt," Dale said.

"I was scared I ran. I'm not ashamed of it," T-Dog said.

"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point," I asked him.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break that... Not that chain.... Not that padlock. My point.. Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us."

---

We all went back to our tents. I later down on my sleeping bag and closed my eyes. Thinking about the events of today. Dale was right. We were gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt.