Chapter 22: Better Angels
"Dale, he could get under your skin. He sure got under mine. It's because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale and he'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could always read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us, the truth about who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity, he said this group was broken. The best way to honour him is to un-break it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves, take control of our lives, our safety, our future. We're not broken, we're going to prove him wrong. From now on, we're going to do it his way. That is how we honour Dale."
*
"Well, it'll be tight, fifteen people in one house," Rick says to Hershel as they talk about the rest of the group joining the Greene's in staying in their house for the winter.
"Don't worry about that," Hershel says. "With the cattle dying and the creek drying up-," Hershel says but Maggie cuts him off.
"With over fifty cattle, it's like ringing a damn dinner bell."
"She's right," Hershel agrees. "We should've moved you in a while ago."
"Alright, let's move the vehicles near each of the doors, facing out towards the roads. We need a look out in the windmill and another in the barn loft, that should give us sightlines to both sides of the property," Rick says to the group as we start disbanding from our circle.
"I'll stock the basement with food and water," Hershel says. "We could survive there for two days if need be."
"What about patrols?" Andrea asks Rick.
"Let's get this area locked down first, after that, Shane will assign shifts while me and Daryl will take Randel off sight and cut him loose."
"We're back to that now?" Shane asks Rick as the rest of us put supplies in the back of Otis' old blue pick-up truck.
"It was the right plan first time around, poor execution," Rick says to Shane.
"That's a slight understatement."
"You don't agree with this that is happening, swallow it, move on," Rick says stepping towards Shane.
"You know that Dale's death and the prisoner are two separate things, right?" Shane questions. "You want to take Daryl as your wing man, be my guest."
"Thank you," Rick says, walking off.
"You got it," Shane bites back.
"Well, I am going to take that as my cue to leave," I say to myself and make my exit.
*
I'm at the shed with Daryl as he nails down wood to the tops of the shed.
"So, we never finished our conversation two nights ago," I say to him, looking up at Daryl, blocking the sun with my hand.
"What conversation?" he asks, focusing on the nail and wood.
"You're going to make me say it? Because I'm not afraid to bring it up," I ask him.
"Well, I don't know what you're talking about, so, you're going to have to be more specific," he says, looking at me with a smirk.
"Daryl, are you going to make me propose to you?" I ask, smirking back at him.
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Revival (The Walking Dead)
Fanfiction-Seasons 1 and 2- Catelyn found a group she felt safe with. They had guns, ammo, bodies, and Daryl Dixon. #689 dead
