Always (A Daryl Dixon/ The Walking Dead Fanfiction)

Chapter 17 - Nebraska

"Don't look." I hear Daryl say to Carol.

I glance over towards them and see him helping her up when she pushes him away, running away from the barn towards the campsite with tears streaming down her face. He stares after her for a moment before following after her. I stare after them before I see Hershel with his hands covering his mouth as he looks towards the barn in horror, Maggie holding a hand to his shoulder to comfort him. Patricia looks on sadly and Beth sobs in Jimmy's arms before she steps out of them, walking towards the walkers.

Rick holds out his hand to stop her, "Shh, wait. Wait!" He begs but she walks past him amongst the bodies. She pulls a walker off of the top of another and kneels down, touching the body of a female one laying on the ground. She rolls it onto its back and looks down, "Mom?"

Suddenly the walker reaches up and grabs at her and she starts screaming, the rest of us kicking into action. They try to pull her away and I notice a scythe off to the side. I run over and pick it up and I turn to see Beth pulled away with Glenn holding onto it as it snarls at them. T-Dog proceeds to kick it in the head and I rush over and swing the scythe, it slicing through the brain of the walker. I pull it out and Glenn drops the body to the ground. I drop the scythe to the ground and let out a defeated breath.

I turn and see Hershel and his family walking away from the barn and back towards the house. Rick, Shane and Glenn follow after them while the rest of us stand around and look at the massacre surrounding us. The wind begins to pick up around us, dark clouds covering the sky. I turn and see Andrea laying a blanket over the body of Sophia and I wipe at the tear forming in my eye. She was a strong little girl, just not strong enough for this world. We all wait around for the others to come back, to decide what we need to do. Eventually I see Shane and Rick coming back, Carl and Dale walking back towards the house.

"Want us to start burying?" T-Dog asks.

"We need a service. Carol would want that." Andrea states and I nod my head in agreement, "Yeah, we all want that."

"Let's um, dig a grave for Sophia. And Annette and Shaun." Lori says, looking around before pointing off to the side, "Over by those trees. And we'll need a truck to move the bodies."

Jimmy nods, "I'll go get the keys." He says, turning to leave but Shane holds his arm out, preventing him from going, "No, I got the truck."

"And the others? That's a lot of digging." Jimmy states.

"We bury the ones we love, burn the rest." I say and he looks at me for a moment before nodding his head.

"Let's get to work." Lori says, walking forward and we follow after her.

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Hershel says a final prayer and the service is over. We all stare at the graves for a moment before we turn and make our own ways. I turn on my heel and make my way back towards the camp and I notice Daryl walk away angrily. He's upset because Carol refused to come to the funeral. I sigh to myself, knowing it's not just for that reason. I stare after him when I feel a tap on my shoulder and I turn to see who it is.

"You coming?" T-Dog asks, Andrea looking at us from not too far away.

I turn and look back at Daryl once more before I nod my head, "Yeah, I'm coming."

We turn and make our way towards the barn to clear up the walkers and burn them. Dale catches up to us and soon enough we reach the mess. I walk over with T-Dog and pick up the arms of the walker, T-Dog the legs and we walk it over to the truck and toss it in. Dale and Andrea pick up another while T-Dog and I do another. This continues for awhile, Dale and Andrea driving off to dump them at the burning site before coming back. After a third wave of loading I notice Rick coming from the distance as Andrea and T-Dog place the last one in the truck.