Cult » Daryl Dixon

sixty one

sixty one.

I sat outside in the gloomy afternoon in the corner of the porch, waiting for Daryl to come back with the chocolate he promised to get me from the pantry a few minutes ago. I haven't had chocolate since the before the outbreak and ever since I found out the pantry had some, I was craving to finally get a piece or two. I used to sneak Penny and I chocolate chips that my mom used for baking from the freezer after my mom and dad went to bed. We would eat them together in Penny's room as she told me all of the school drama that was happening and let me tell you, I was so glad I wasn't that age anymore. We kept sneaking them until we got caught by my mom one morning, because Penny woke up with crusted chocolate in one of the corners of her mouth. It was honestly hilarious and only so because my dad was already at work. If my dad was home, god knows how he would've punished me.

A motorcycle engine revved from inside the walls which caught my attention. I stood up, Daryl speeding past me in the direction of the gates. What the fuck was he doing? I sprinted after him only to be met with the sight of him speeding off down the road. I glared at Rosita who was currently in charge of the gate. She stood towards the corner, silent.

"Why the fuck didn't you stop him," I snapped at her. She looked like she was about to say something, but I turned my attention to Michonne and Glenn who were frantically hopping into a van behind me, beginning to roll forward once they closed both of their doors as if they didn't even notice me standing there. I jumped out in front of them. "Wait!"

"Goddammit Aften, I could've hit you," Glenn hissed out the window. I ran around to the doors that lead to the backseat, sliding it open and sitting down. "He's gonna be pissed when he sees you."

"I don't care," I growled. "He didn't even fuckin' tell me he was leavin'. Just drive."

We sped off down the road for a while, later stopping at some train tracks. Seeing them sent a shudder through my body, my muscles beginning to tense up. I shook the negative thoughts of Terminus from my head by looking around at the different things that were littered on the tracks, hoping they were clues to finding Daryl. The three us climbed out of the van. Glenn nudged my arm, handing me his handgun. I took it from him. We walked down the tracks, looking for anything Daryl might've touched. I spotted a biter devouring a man's body. I looked away as Michonne stabbed it. I couldn't stand seeing that shit anymore. It filled me with despair and pity for people I never even knew. Glenn nudged another freshly kilt biter with his foot which laid next to a fallen, leafy green tree.

"He must've been here," he said. I lifted up the branches to look underneath just in case. The branches revealed Daryl's motorcycle lying in the gravel.

"Shit," I cussed to myself. He was on foot somewhere now. "He was," I called out to Michonne and Glenn. "We gotta find him."

"This way!" Michonne waved us over to her, leading us through a clearing. A figure was moving in the woods ahead of us. I squinted my eyes, staring hard to observe it. A flash of angel wings came into view. I began to run towards them. "Aften," Michonne hissed, trying to get me to stop. I entered into the woods, the leaves crunching beneath my feet. An arrow hit the tree next to my head. I gazed up at Daryl, disgusted.

"Watch where you're shooting," I spat at him in annoyance.

"You shouldn't have come," Daryl glared at me, angrily retrieving his arrow.

"You shouldn't have either," I retorted. "You never even told me you were coming out here! I was sitting on the porch waiting for you to come back and you just up and leave?" I shook my head in disbelief. I couldn't believe he was doing this. "We finally get to spend the day together and you just throw it away."

"I got shit to do," Daryl mumbled in response.

"So what," I almost hollered. "You were fine an hour ago!"

"We all got shit to do," Glenn said, butting into the conversation. "But you're gonna get yourself killed all over her." He wagged his finger in Daryl's face.

"He tied me up," Daryl yelled back at him. "Knocked me out, stole my bike. I tried to help them. I shoulda killed 'im and now I'm gonna." Daryl had run into some trouble on the road a while back and later on witnessed the death of Denise by the same man who terrorized him. Now he felt responsible, but I had a sick feeling that this situation was way bigger than he thought it was.

"Leave it be, Daryl," I spoke up, my voice stern. "Come home."

"Leave it be," Daryl said in exasperation, like I was insane. "He killed Denise! I don't want him killin' anyone else, especially you." Daryl motioned to me, his eyes lowering into slits. "I need to be out here."

"I can't," Glenn whispered. "I can't afford to watch you waste your life like this."

"Me either," Michonne chimed in, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Look, it's done. It happened. No need to make things worse than they already are," Glenn continued. "It's gonna go wrong out here!"

"Then leave if ya wanna! I don't give a shit." Daryl stomped away from us. I sighed, eyeing Michonne and Glenn. I wasn't gonna leave him out here by himself no matter how hard we were about to butt heads.

"I have to go with him," I told them before following after Daryl.

"You're gonna get yourself killed," Glenn hollered after me. I stopped, turning around.

"Yeah? Well, you do crazy shit for the people you love. You of all people should know that." I turned back around, hustling to catch up to Daryl.

"Why the hell're you out here," he said to me once I caught up with him. "Told ya it was better for you inside the walls."

"How do you think I felt when I saw you zoom past me on your motorcycle when you promised you were coming back to me? I hate being helpless in Alexandria all day and night while you go risk your life and watch people die."

"It's better for you inside the walls," he repeated in a stern voice. "You don't need to keep seein' all this shit."

"You don't even know all the shit I've seen in Woodbury," I snapped. "And what I've had done to me? Don't tell me I don't need to see shit 'cause it's inevitable. These motherfuckers are gonna pop up anywhere and everywhere."

"I don't want what happened to ya out in the woods that night to happen again," Daryl fired at me. "I don't want ya to be crippled by flashbacks of what those disgustin' bastards at Terminus did to ya for the rest of your life! Everythin' you've been seein' after bein' there destroys you from the inside out and you don't realize it. It's been happenin' to everyone but you, Aften, you let it manifest and eat away at your brain. You just haven't sat down to think about it yet. You haven't sat down to think about how hard I'm fightin' for you to stay safe, have whatever peace of mind that's left."

I was struck silent by his speech. The both of us stared at each other with fire in our eyes. Before Daryl could say anything else, a yelp ripped through the silence. We raised our weapons and hustled to the location of the sound, staying low while keeping quiet. Through the trees, Michonne and Glenn sat with their hands tied behind their backs and gags in their mouths. I cussed to myself. No one should've came out here today. The two of them caught our gaze. Daryl held his finger up to his lips, hushing them. Glenn tried to signal for us to turn back before it was too late, making noises for us to get the hint. A gun cocked behind us.

"Hi, Daryl," a haunting voice greeted the both of us. A man stood behind me, pointing a gun at my head. I slowly put my hands up in surrender. My eyes cautiously flickered behind Daryl. A tall, skinny man with stringy, long blonde hair stood behind him. The left side of his face was burned. He pulled the trigger on his gun once Daryl had turned around to face him. Blood sprayed everywhere, sprinkling the side of my face. My eyes widened, tears immediately flooding them. I opened my mouth to scream but I was silenced by him. "Don't make me shoot you too, sweetheart." I closed my mouth, trembling in my spot. My eyes crept over to look at Daryl, but stopped myself when I felt sick to my stomach from all the blood I could see; Daryl's blood dripped down my cheek. "You'll be alright."