Light | TWD | Daryl Dixon Fanfiction

022

Tension filled the space between Daryl and Juliana. It was so thick you could cut it with a knife, but the two still walked silently next to each other. Juliana would cast glances in Daryl's direction as the two of them shuffled behind Rick and Michonne and Carl ended up falling behind the four of them taking up the rear. Juliana watched as Rick meandered off to the side, noticing a fallen down piece of plywood covered by leaves. He wandered over to it, using his boot to kick off the debris: it was another sign for Terminus.

The entire group slowed, finally coming to a stop where the sign lay on the ground. "We're gettin' close," Daryl mused out loud, "Be there before sundown." His words caused Juliana's gut to twist. While she had carried on the hope that Beth had instilled in her that the rest of the group was still alive, her intuition was telling her something was off about this place. It just didn't seem right.

Rick nodded at Daryl's observation, looking at all of them, "Now we head through the woods. We don't know who they are."

Without anything else spoken between the five of them, they followed out after Daryl through the woods. Juliana fell back to Rick's side, letting Daryl go on ahead. "Are you sure this is the right thing?" Juliana questioned, looking over to Rick as they made their way through the woods, leaves crunching loudly under foot.

Rick raised an eyebrow to her question, "You think it's not?"

Juliana offered him a shrug, "It doesn't feel right."

"We have to try, Jules," he told her, his gravelly voice oddly comforting in this moment.

She let out a heavy sigh, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as they kept on but she didn't speak anymore. Rick had saved their asses more than once, and from what Juliana had heard before the prison, he'd kept the group alive for quite a while.

A chain-linked fence appeared, contrasting against the nature that they had been surrounded by. The group went on defense mode, weapons at the ready. Juliana had finally acquired a weapon, a handgun that they had taken from the group of men. Her fingers gripped it tightly, raising it slightly in front of her as they made their way up to the fencing. Peering through the fence, the word: TERMINUS was written in paint against some boarded up windows.

Rick took a step back, looking between the rest of them, "We all spread out; watch for a while, see what we see, and get ready. We all stay close."

Daryl and Juliana took off together, even if they were upset or frustrated at each other, they had become so accustomed to being alone together it felt natural to them to automatically go off on their own together. They did a quick scan of the fence line before Daryl mumbled something about 'going to get Rick', and they headed off back in the direction they came. Rick had dug a hole and had thrown the duffle bag full of weapons they had kept, into said hole. Daryl and Juliana watched in silence as he zipped up the bag. "Just in case," Rick told the two of them and begun to bury the bag with dirt.

Rick had decided that they were going to jump the fence, not wanting to come in the main way out of worry they would be ambushed. In his mind, it was going to be better if they were the ones who could do the ambushing. Juliana couldn't help but still feel that uneasy feeling deep down in her gut. Just before they started to make their way towards the fence, she reached out and grabbed Daryl's arm, tugging on the fabric of his sleeve.

"I'm staying."

His eyes narrowed, "What?"

Rick, Michonne and Carl turned around at Juliana's statement. Rick strode up in her, his eyes also narrowed in her direction and she couldn't tell if it was worry or annoyance. Before Rick could ask why, she spoke up: "You'll have someone on the outside in case it goes to shit. And if it doesn't.." her gaze flickered over to Daryl and she gave his arm a squeeze before dropping her hand, "I'll be here waitin'."

"Are you sure?" Rick inquired. Juliana nodded, now looking between him and Michonne and Carl. She could feel Daryl staring at the side of her head, and she swallowed hard, not wanting to look at him.

He nodded at her in agreement, not arguing with her decision before the four of them made their way over the fence, the metal clinking together as they pulled their bodies up and over the top. Daryl was the last to go over, and Juliana noticed him hesitating, his head turning ever so slightly over his shoulder. It was enough that Juliana caught his eye and she nodded, "I'll see ya' soon, Dixon." She assured him, and Daryl silently hooked his foot into the fence and pulled himself up and over, disappearing over the side.

She saw them for a few moments before they disappeared into the large warehouse building, her breathe caught in her throat as she watched them go out of her sight, suddenly hoping she had made the right choice to stay behind.

**

It was quiet for a while and all she heard was the wind and the crunching of leaves and branches around her or when she shuffled her feet back and forth. It was suddenly interrupted by the sharp sound of gun fire coming from Terminus. Juliana's grip around her gun tightened as she took off to the fence and was unable to see anything but could hear yelling and gunfire still. She cursed loudly, unsure of what to do. She wasn't sure where they were or what type of weapons the other people had. Her heart began to race and her palms became clammy.

Just then, the four came running out from the warehouse and Juliana noticed the men with guns on rooftops, surrounding them. She cursed again, realizing they had become surrounded by the other group. Juliana felt helpless, watching as they were forced to drop their weapons and herded into a train car. She watched as Michonne's and Carl's eyes flickered up to where they knew she was at, followed by Daryl and Rick. As the doors closed behind them, her helplessness formed into rage. She had to think fast.

Remembering the train tracks that led to Terminus, her first thought was to run back to see if anyone would be on their way to Terminus. More bodies to help her get the rest of the group out of there. The next thought was to try and physically shoot her way in herself, though she figured that would be a suicide mission.

She ran towards the tracks, and was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of figures walking in her direction. "Hey!" she yelled, waving her hand down the tracks from them, unable to make out their faces. They weren't walkers; Juliana noticed the weapons they were carrying and a bundle of something the larger figure was carrying. As she came closer, Juliana's heart stopped and so did her feet. Her eyes widened as she saw who was in front of her.

"Carol?"