The Third Dixon [The walking dead OC x OC]

Epilogue

For a long time, nobody moved.

The forest was still.

Too still.

The kind of stillness that came after something irreversible happened.

Rick couldn't hear anything except the ringing in his ears. The voices around him blurred together, the Saviors, the trees, the distant sounds of people breathing. Everything felt far away.

Because Measi was gone.

And somehow, the world had kept moving.

Nathan was still kneeling next to her body.

That was what bothered everyone the most.

He wasn't screaming.

He wasn't fighting.

He wasn't trying to throw himself at Negan.

He was just staring.

Like his mind hadn't caught up yet.

His hand was still stretched out slightly, fingers open, like he was waiting for hers to reach back.

Daryl was the first one who reacted. A sound left him that barely sounded human. "No..." It was quiet. Not the anger everyone expected. Not rage.

Just disbelief.

He had spent years losing people. His parents. His friends. His family. But Measi had been different. She was the one person who understood him without him having to explain.

The kid who somehow grew into someone just as stubborn, just as broken, and somehow still managed to care.

His sister.

And he hadn't been able to protect her. Daryl lowered his head, jaw clenched, fighting something he refused to let show. Negan watched all of it. Watched the way the group reacted. The way the loss settled over them.

And somehow, that seemed to be exactly what he wanted.

"That," he said quietly, looking around, "is what happens when people don't listen."

Nobody answered Because nobody could Carl stared at the ground His face had gone pale, but he didn't cry Not yet Because Carl knew what Measi would say.

She would tell him not to let them see.

She would tell him that crying didn't make him weak, but giving someone like Negan power over your fear did But she wasn't there to say it.

And that was the part he couldn't accept.

Maggie looked at Glenn Then at the spot where Measi had been She knew loss She knew what it felt like to have someone ripped away while everyone stood helpless.

And seeing Nathan there made it worse. Because Glenn would have moved. Glenn would have fought.

Nathan hadn't.

Nathan had trusted that Measi would still be there. That she would always come back. Maggie's eyes filled.

Not for herself.

For him.

For the person who had just lost the person who kept him grounded. Rick finally forced himself to look away. He had spent years making choices. Hard ones. Impossible ones.

He had convinced himself that every decision was necessary.

That every death had a reason.

But standing there, looking at Nathan, he wondered how many pieces of people they could keep losing before there was nothing left.