Last One Standing ~ TWD Daryl Dixon

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I have no words (which is saying something) we reached 100,000 views today. I would have never imagined this to be possible. All I can say is a heartfelt and very humble thank you. Thank you to all my readers the active comment/voters and our silent friends alike. Thank you. So, in order to celebrate...I present the first of two updates today! (Okay I managed to come up with a FEW words 😜) I really hope you guys enjoy this one!

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Jo

I looked back and forth between Rick and Michonne as I tried to wrap my head around what they were saying. They were serious. We, as a group, were actually going to do this. Tears burned the back of my eyes as I realized what this meant. We were going to get Daryl away from the psycho. And I was going to get Daryl back. 

Michonne's eyes were suddenly sad as she stepped towards me. "We're gonna get him back," she promised me and I had to sink my teeth into my lower lip to keep from breaking down right there. I hadn't realized until that very moment just how hopeless I had felt the situation was. How sure I had been that I was never going to see Daryl again. That this would all end in ruin. I closed my eyes for a moment, centering myself. 

"We're going to fight." My voice came out just barely above a whisper. I felt if I spoke too loudly I would break whatever spell had convinced them this was the right thing to do. I opened my eyes to see Rick looking at me with concern. 

Rick nodded, understanding clouding his eyes. "We're going to fight." He said the words like a promise and I closed my eyes once more and let myself believe them. And for the first time since ...maybe even as far back as Denise's death. I felt hope.

There was a sudden clatter from the kitchen that had my eyes snapping open. I whipped towards the noise in time to see Carl crouching behind the island. Somehow, in trying to eavesdrop, he had knocked over one of the bar stools at the breakfast counter.

I gave him a disappointed look. Rick and Michonne were wearing similar looks, but I had a feeling their's had more to do with being disappointed in him for spying on us during a private conversation. I was disappointed in him for getting caught. No student of mine should be so obvious.

He jumped to his feet, snatching up the chair and righting it. "Are you serious?" He asked looking from Michonnne to his dad.

Like me, he realized the ultimate decision for the group rested with the two of them. As much as people claimed I was a leader and people looked to me, I knew the truth. I was too far gone, too damaged to ever be able to lead. There were other things I could do however. And some of those things I was able to do better than anyone else in the group. Fighting was one of them.

Rick pressed his lips together thoughtfully as he regarded his son. "Yeah we are," he drawled cautiously.

Carl's face lit up and his eyes swung to me. He looked like a kid on Christmas, not a kid who had just been told his group was going to war. But that was Carl, he was a tough kid, and this was the world we lived in now. The sooner we could accept that and not lament the loss things that would never be, the sooner we could all move on and do our jobs in this world.

Rick rocked back on his heels and stared down at Carl. "But we are going to do it my way," he warned his son. "No more of this running off on your own crap. I mean it, you're gonna get yourself killed doing that," when he finished speaking he was no longer looking at Carl, but at me.