Trust Me | Daryl Dixon

Part 44

"All right, new plan." Rick stopped us behind a bush, "Flares from a few guns aren't enough; too many walkers, too spread out. We aren't going to the armory anymore, we need our vehicles back at the quarry. All of us drive; we'll need to round them up. We leave, we come back."

"Rick, I can't drive." I quietly reminded him.

"You'll learn; you're a quick learner, I know that for a fact."

"What about Judith?" Jessie asked, "All the way to the quarry and back, I- I don't know."

Rick let out a sigh as he looked around, trying to come up with something.

"I'll take her." Gabriel suddenly spoke up, "I'll keep her safe in my church until you all lead the walkers away."

"Can you do this?" Michonne asked, skeptical of his loyalty.

"I'm supposed to.. I have to," Gabriel nodded, looking back to Rick, "I will."

"Alright." Rick hesitantly breathed, swiftly transferring Judith from Carl to Gabriel.

"I'm going to keep her safe." Gabriel promised.

Rick nodded a quiet 'thank you', before we went our separate ways.

***

We continued walking, hand in hand, as the skies only got darker with each step we took; the deafening groan of the walkers around us causing my heart to beat out of my chest and my palms to become sweating as I held onto the hands of Michonne and Ron.

Suddenly, the train of people in front of me came to a halt, causing me to worry about what was ahead.

"Sam?" I heard Jessie quietly say as Sam slowly walked out of line, "Come on, come on." She continued, "Sweetheart? Sam?"

"You can do it," Rick quietly encouraged, careful not to draw attention, "Come on, Sam."

"Sam." Ron whispered to his younger brother.

"Honey, you can do it," Jessie lightly tugged on his arm, "Please Sam, we have to go."

As everyone desperately pleaded with Sam to continue moving, the only thing that could be seen on his face was complete and utter terror as his eyes stayed locked on the dead around us.

"I want to.." The boy quietly whimpered, fear evident in his voice.

"I need you to be strong-" Jessie pleaded once more before, out of nowhere, two walkers grabbed ahold of Sam, biting and tearing through his flesh as he let out an, all too familiar, bloodcurdling scream.

"Sam!" Jessie cried out as we all stood, stunned with fear but knowing the screams were only going to draw more attention.

"Have your knife ready," Michonne murmured to me as she quickly glanced around at the walkers now heading towards us, "If they don't come at you, don't use it."

"Jessie," Rick said quietly, trying to get her attention, "Jessie."

"Jessie, come with us." Carl begged as he tugged at her hand.

I then looked away for a second, making sure that there weren't any walkers coming up from behind, and when I looked back, Jessie was covered in the dead; her face expressionless as they tore into her skin.

"God.." I said under my breath as blood gushed from the wounds on her body.

The air seemed silent as everyone stood helpless while a nightmare unfolded in front of us, before a voice brought us out of our numb state.

"Dad," Carl struggled, his hand still stuck in Jessie's grip, "Dad, help!"

I then looked back as Rick nearly stumbled over to where Carl stood, before raising his axe, and slamming it down multiple times into Jessie's arm, quickly severing it and freeing Carl.

I let out a shaky sigh of relief, turning back around to help keep watch before the sound of a gun hammer caught all of our attentions again.

"You." Ron said numbly, as he held a gun in Rick's direction, "You.."

And before any of us had a second to react, Michonne pierced her sword straight through his back, ending him, but not before he got a shot off in some random direction.
It wasn't till a few seconds later that we found out exactly where that shot went.

"Dad?" Carl breathed out, blood rushing down his face before he immediately collapsed to the ground.

"Carl.." Rick choked out as he watched his sons body drop; the thud causing my heart to stop.
"No!" He screamed out as I watched him scoop up Carl's near lifeless body.

Immediately, without hesitation, Michonne and I began clearing out any walkers in the way of Rick as we rushed to the infirmary.

Michonnes sword flew back and forth, taking out multiple walkers at once as I ran behind her, knifing any that threatened the lives of the ones I so desperately wanted to protect.

As we reached the porch of the infirmary, Michonne and I fell back, letting Rick and Carl go ahead of us as we tirelessly continued, before the front door miraculously opened, Denise waiting and ready on the other side.

"This is a gunshot?" Denise asked as we all ran in, Rick placing Carl on the metal gurney.

"Handgun; close range!" Michonne breathlessly let out as she closed the door.

"Please save him.." Rick breathed, the look of fear and helplessness drenching his face; a look I'd never seen on him, "Please."

My legs felt weak as I looked down at Carl, the adrenaline wearing off and the emotions flooding in. His face- his eye.. I didn't even know if he was still alive at this point.
My mind raced as it replayed the situation over and over again, trying to find a possible way that maybe I could have stopped this from happening. Maybe if I would have walked behind Carl instead of behind Ron, this could have happened to me instead, and not a kid who has his entire life ahead of him. Maybe if I would have paid more attention to what Ron was doing, I could have stopped him from grabbing the gun or- or maybe.. maybe it could have just been me.
Why couldn't it have just been me?

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Thoughts?