Shattered

Chapter Thirty-Five: React

       Daryl sat back in the truck and ignored everyone's stares. He looked up one last time to see Grace laying in pain. Remorse hit him like a ton of bricks. He needed to run to her and die with her but he made a promise and he was going to keep it. The question that made him uneasy was why she acted like that before she walked away. Why was there so much rage? It didn't happen with anyone else he's seen turn. Rick sat in the front next to a crying Maggie. He didn't know what to do. He wasn't kind to her at all. All she wanted to do was keep everyone else safe. She might not have realized it but she was still acting like the Marine she always was. Everyone saw what she really was.. a hero. The gunshot shook them all to their bones. Maggie started to sob and Rick finally broke. He tried to keep his eyes on the road and avoid the urge to turn around. Daryl sat in the back wanting to scream and break down but he was in front of men he didn't know. He knew the group would've understood but they didn't understand his love for Grace. No one ever saw them really get close. Regrets and memories flooded everyone's minds. Rick didn't know what to tell Carl when they returned. If they came across Andrews and Greene again that would be difficult as well. They didn't know how close they were but they've known each other for a long time. Maybe that was the regret going through their heads that they didn't know Grace as well as they would've liked. The risks she took amazed them.

       They pulled up to the prison disappointed. The Governor was gone by the time they got there but he had a lab full of walkers. Carol was the first one to notice Grace's absence. "Where is she?" Rick was the first to step up. "She didn't make it. She was saving a girl and she didn't make it." Carol stood back and looked at Daryl tears already falling down her face. He didn't look up to meet her gaze. He left and walked in the prison holding her knife in his hand. Carol leaned against the wall and thought about when Grace saved her from the walkers at the farm. She risked everything to save someone she barely knew. Meanwhile she thought about the night that felt so long ago Daryl was in his cell staring at Grace's bag. He tossed it on the bed and opened it. He picked up a picture of them from Halloween and his shoulders shook. He laid it down and brushed his hand against Grace's scraps of her wedding dress. Daryl fell to his knees and cried into the mattress. His body shook as he struggled to pull himself back together. Never before has he wished to die so badly but he promised the love of his life to carry on. He stabbed her knife into the mattress and fell back against the wall.

        Rick sat Carl down and watched his son show the emotion he's been hiding for so long. "I'm sorry Carl." Carl looked at his father for the first time in a long time he didn't see a leader he saw his father. He put his arms around him and cried. Rick walked out of the cell with Carl next to him as they watched the group come together as a family once more. The Woodbury survivors have moved back into their own block leaving them to mourn as the family they were. As they looked at each other with the same knowing look Daryl walked in. They heard his cries but knew not to bring it up. It scared them to see him break. Everyone knew that everything was about to change. The thought of her death never crossed their minds. She seemed invincible. Now her death has brought them back together. They didn't feel so alone anymore. Grace's death made them realize once again they weren't invincible. Their differences were put to the side as they walked down to their small graveyard. They dug a foot down and put a few things inside the hole. Daryl stood off to the side looking down at the shallow hole. His fingers brushed something cold. He pulled out her dog tags and smiled. "Damn woman.. Still surprises me even after she's dead." The group smiled at Daryl who's small smile warmed their hearts knowing they could make it through this even if it seemed impossible at the time. They placed a flower on her grave and put the cross in. Daryl kneeled in front of it and looked down. "Be careful Grace. Sleep soundly."