The Next World

Chapter 28

We got back to the cars just as Glenn and Heath were making their way back with two walker heads. Daryl took a seat on the hood of the car we'd driven in.

"You good?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Just glad you're alright," he said moving me closer.

"Hey. I'm still here," I said looking over at him.

I grabbed his hand and kissed it. I leaned my head against his knee. Rosita had gone to fix up the heads that were found. Jesus and Andy had joined her to determine which looked better. The rest of us had gathered around to hear what Rick had to say.

"We're gonna take a look around, try to get a feel for how many people are in there. We like how it looks, we go in. A couple of hours before dawn. The guards outside'll be tired. Everyone inside'll be sleeping. We don't like what we see, we head back, make a new plan. They don't know who we are. We'll keep Jesus in the shadows. This is how we eat. This is how we eat. We roll out at midnight," Rick said.

We all nodded then dispersed. I looked at Daryl. He was about to pull out a cigarette but I stopped him.

"Not around Maggie," I said.

"Right. Sorry," he said.

He got off of the car and walked to the next one.

"Is he okay?" Glenn asked.

"I hope so," I said.

"Well what happened?" he asked.

"A walker knocked me down. I think it may have shaken him up a bit," I said.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. He put an end to it. I should probably go talk to him though," I said turning around to head over to him.

He was smoking behind the second car.

"Hey," I said.

"Hey," he said back.

"You gonna tell me what's bothering you?" I asked leaning against one of the car doors.

"Nah," he said placing the cigarette back in his mouth.

"Don't do that," I said.

"Do what?" he asked defensively.

"Push me away. Look if this has something to do with what happened with that walker..." I began.

"You could have died," he said in a harsh whisper.

"I could have. But I didn't. You should know by now that our lives aren't guaranteed in this world," I said.

He scoffed. He sucked on his cigarette once more then dropped it, extinguishing it with his shoe.

"Daryl. Will you talk to me? You can talk to me, you know. Please don't shut me out," I said.

He was looking down. I gave him a few minutes.

"For a split second...I thought I'd lost ya...for good," he said softer.

"Hey. Look at me," I said placing my hand on his cheek and having him look at me.

"You didn't lose me. I'm still here," I continued.

"Up til now, I didn't know what that felt like. It was hell. I can't lose you," he said.

"And so you won't," I said.

"Thought you said our lives aren't a sure thing," he said.

"I know what I said. If I died, a part of me would live within you for as long as you lived," I said.