Last One Standing ~ TWD Daryl Dixon

13

Jo

I stalked off into the woods without looking back. If I looked back I wasn't sure I would have the resolve to keep going and do what needed to be done. I could feel a faint trembling of exhaustion in my muscles but I pushed on anyway. I needed to get away from those people.

Any doubt that I had about how far gone I was had been obliterated in the face of how I reacted to that girl with Rick. All they were doing was trying to give me water...

I scrubbed at my eyes as I walked. If not for Daryl distracting me I might have attacked them both. After all I had been through I couldn't trust myself around people, not anymore. I couldn't trust that I didn't see Them instead of the faces of the people around me. I ran a hand through my short hair, feeling it stick up, but I didn't care.

Trust no one, keep moving, stay alive.

I let that mantra chase itself around and around in my head all day while I hiked through the woods. I was doing the right thing. Trust no one, there was no one left but me. Keep moving, I had no idea where I was headed and it didn't really matter. Stay alive, it was all I had left, all I had done for months now was keep myself alive.

I found water when the sun was high, scooping it with my hands out of a small stream but I didn't have a bottle so I followed the stream until nightfall. I prowled through the woods, careful to keep my steps light so I didn't attract any attention from either people or Them. To be honest I was more worried about the other people than I was Them. I knew I could handle Them.

As the sun started to set I found a large tree. I climbed up to a junction of branches and settled myself in for the night. I could hear the quiet hoot of an owl and the gentle rustling of leaves in the wind. I realized for the first time I was well and truly alone. As I waited for the moon to rise I finally let the tears flow. I couldn't remember how long I had been holding them back, since Kate died and I refused to let my enemies see...since we left Rick's group the first time and I couldn't let Kate see how afraid I was of letting people get close...since Thomas and I had to show my family I was strong and could make it without him...but there was no one to be strong for anymore.

By the time I cried myself out the moon had risen, it wasn't full but it was bright enough for me to see. I didn't actually think I would sleep, I never did anymore. Not since...well I was lucky to get twenty minutes here and there in my cell before I startled awake, convinced this horrible life I was living was nothing but a nightmare. I was always disappointed.

I pulled out Daryl's knife and held it. Telling myself it was so I could become accustom to the grip. The leather handle was well worn, molded for a hand much larger than my own. I owed him for this...I owed him for a lot of things and I didn't like how that thought sat with me. I would need to settle up before I did what needed to be done. I just wasn't sure how I could do that. He told me how to find the prison, but if I was well and truly honest with myself I would admit that I had no idea where I was, had no food, no supplies and no idea where I could find any of those things.

But by god here I was, not trusting anyone, on the move and surviving...

<><><><><>

Daryl

Merle and me were less than a mile from the prison when we heard the gunfire. We hadn't said a word to one another the whole day it took us to get back. We had both said enough that morning and I was still pissed at him and pissed at myself.