Silent warrior: A Daryl Dixon Fan fiction

Chapter 38: When Darkness Falls

The night comes through the town and I remember what Daryl said the first night I met him "it's safer to rest in the dark." I thought about it a couple of times since then, realizing each time I was out there how true it was. Only now, as I walk the town surrounded by them, I don't feel safe. I feel exposed and vulnerable, and just wish for the sun to come back out. We stop moving though, and my attention is pulled forward to Jessie calling to her son. He's standing in place, like a stone, looking through his mother.

Rick lets go of his hand, looking between the woman and the son while staying aware of those around. "You can do it." she encourages him in a low voice, almost a whisper." His head kind of shakes and she responds "Yes, you can." Ron continues to hold my hand, his grip getting tighter. Although it's uncomfortable, I allow him to do it, he's afraid, even if he's not showing it. "Sam hey, you can do this." she continues to try and get him to move along.

"Sam, just look at Mom." His older brother tries to help out now.

"Honey, you can do it." she keeps trying. "Sam, you're gonna get-- Sam, honey, I need you to come with me." she keeps her hand forward for him to take. Out from behind him a deadhead comes over and bites on his shoulder, and as he starts to open his mouth to scream out of fright, fear, and pain, another one comes to gnaw on his forehead. He calls out for his mommy, who grabs his hand instinctively to try and protect him.

"Sam!" she cries out for him "Sam, NOOO" she cries louder, echoing through the dark.

I hear Ron try and get his mothers attention "Mom. Mom?" but she continues to cry out for her youngest.

"Jessie." I say her name, trying now to get her attention. She is drawing more attention to us and we have to get moving.

"Jessie. Come with us." Carl whispers to her, sort of hunched over. He tries to pull her arm but she is as stiff as a board. "Come on. We have to go." he urges more.

Her cries become muffled when a few of the dead surround her and begin to eat. My eyes widen, unsure of what to do next. Two of the people we were just with are now meals and we are not any closer to being safe. Ron no longer has a grip on my hand and I jerk my head to find him. I hear a cracking sound and turn my head back to see Rick hacking on Jessie's arm, trying to free Carl from her literal death grip. I rush over to the young teenager and grab a hold of his arm, attempting to pull it a part from her grasp as well. One more wack and Jessie's hand is freed from her body. Carl and I stumble to the ground but quickly regain our composure. As we stand up, we hear the click of a gun and turn to find Ron pointing it towards Rick.

"You." he says with nothingness behind his eyes. "You." he repeats again. Just then, Michonne's katana is thrusted into his chest and he's choking on his own blood. A gun shot rings out as he stumbles to the ground. I duck instinctively into a crouch but quickly realize I wasn't hit. I stand up and turn to look at the Grimes'. I see Rick look from Michonne, nodding at her with gratitude to his son who just called out for his father. Rick turns a shade of white I've never seen and his eyes show nothing but fear.

"Carl" he cries out and his son falls to the ground in a heap "No!" he says running to sweep him off the gravel. I notice then that his right eye is missing, a bullet wound had entered through it. I move quickly, stepping forward besides Michonne, moving quickly to kill any that dare get in our way. As we take them down one by one, we make our way to the infirmary. They open the door quickly as we get close and Rick walks in first, the two of us making sure any of the one's close by get a wack to the head. Denise starts listing off the things she needs as Michonne explains what happens. I shut the door behind me and when I turn around I see Spencer handing over medical supplies to Denise but staring at me with concern.

He walks over to me quickly, grabbing a hold of me at my arms "are you alright?" he searches me for injuries and stares into my eyes.

I shake my head "I'm fine Spencer, but your mother" I tell him, trying not to look away. He deserves to know now. It takes a moment for him to register what I said but his eyes soon droop down with sadness.

"when?" he whispers looking at the ground.

I move my hand to his cheek, pulling his attention to my eyes "after the walls fell. She went to help Rick and.." I trail off, letting him come to the obvious conclusion. He nods his head accepting what I told him and I pull him in close for a hug "I'm so sorry" I whisper. He lifts both arms around me, squeezing just a little. I take that chance to slip in the note his mother wrote to him into his jacket pocket.

When we release from our hug he lets his arms droop down. We look over to Denise who is just about finished with stitching Carl's eye. "He's taking them all on" Aaron says to everyone in the cramped room.

"We have to go get him" I respond, knowing what they were talking about.

"what?" Spencer asks me, not wanting to go outside the doors.

"we have to." I respond with determination "he's in charge now, your mother wanted that" I say. Just as I finish telling him that, Denise informs us that she is done with needing us and that we can go. Michonne kisses Carl on the forehead and I quickly give his hand a squeez. I follow her out of the house and into the street. As we make our way closer to Rick, he's surrounded. I raise my arm high into the air and slam it over a walkers head, it's skull cracking and it falling to the ground. I yank it hard from it's head and swing behind me at one coming. I get it in it's neck but it keeps coming forward. I kick at it, sending it backwards and jump on top of it to finish it off. I stand up and go to turn but one reaches for me from the side. It pushes me on the ground and I push against it's face to keep it from biting me. I try and force my fingers through it's eye but if I move it from it's throat it can reach me. As I struggle for my life, the body is lifted off of me and a knife stabs it through the temple. Spencer quickly helps me up and continues fighting the dead along side the rest of us.

As we kill them together, more and more of the townspeople come out to join us. Together, we start to take out 6, 8, 11 at a time. As I kick stomp on the head of one of these monsters, I look up and see Maggie on top of a guard post, the walkers tracking towards it, making it shake. She's screaming out for Glenn for help. I change the direction I'm going in to head towards her. As I make my way over there, I see the young girl Enid climbing on top of the metal wall with what appears to be a rope over her shoulder. I gaze to the side and see Glenn, causing a distraction to save is wife, pulling them to the side. Even from where I am standing, I can see the desperation on Maggie's face to be reunited with him again and I know I need to help them. I go towards Glenn now, stabbing as many as I can along the way. I try to clear a path for him, but as I make my way closer, more seem to pile together. As I reach him, he tries to smile to show his gratitude but I already know why he can't. They are surrounding us on all sides, both of our backs facing the wall as they get closer and closer. I take out the pistol I have and start to shoot them in the head. As Glenn's gun runs out of ammo, he starts pushing some backwards, doing his best to stay alive as a distraction for Enid to save the one he loves most. My gun soon runs out as well, and we are both pushed up against the wall, punching and pushing them away as much as possible. I thought I'd be more afraid, but a feeling of calm rushes through me.

I close my eyes and prepare for the end for the second time that night. My heart aches to see Daryl one more time, to hear his familiar low rumble say my name. His face flashes in my mind and I smile contently, happy for that to be the last thing I see. As I enjoy the memory of his face, I hear someone shout my name over Maggie's cries for Glenn. I open my eyes, naturally wondering who said it. The grumbles of the dead are no longer being heard, and their bodies are dropping to the ground in sets. The gun shots going off so fast I know it's a machine gun. I instinctively crouch down, covering my head with my arms. Glenn does the same, using one of his arms to try and help protect me as well. The sounds stop, only one or two shots now being heard from another location and I look up to see who made it to the armory. My eyes find Sasha and Abraham over the wall "Can you get the gate?" He hollers out towards us "Appreciate it, pal!" He adds on, and a laugh emits from his stomach as he pulls the trigger again.

__

He's back!! Ugh, what took him so friggen' long!?

Q: Thoughts on Carl loosing his eye?

A: Well, we had Hershel with one leg (gone), Merle with no hand (gone), the Governor with no eye (gone), maybe some foreshadowing here!