The line of graves still sits beneath the grove of trees, except now, there's one more.
"Dale could get under your skin, but that's only because he was never afraid to say exactly what he was thinking. That kind of honesty is rare and brave," Rick says. Tears roll down my cheeks, and Daryl has his arm around my shoulders. "Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it at one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us. The truth, who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honour him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety, our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on, we do it his way. That is how we honour Dale."
Rick goes silent and we continue to stand. Slowly, one by one, people leave, until I'm alone with Daryl by Dale's grave.
I pull my knife from its sheath, the knife Dale gave me my first night at camp. I look at it closely for the first time. It has a smooth white handle that looks delicate, but isn't. It's blade still shines in some spots, and I breathe deeply. This knife has saved my life numerous times, and although it killed the walker that attacked Dale, I couldn't save him.
The last thing I said to Dale before he died was "Be safe". It feels like the irony is mocking me now.
Dale knew that Daryl had a soft spot for me long before I noticed. He was perceptive like that.
Tears drip off my face and fall to the ground, making dark spots in the freshly laid soil. I should've gotten to know him better.
"That knife..." Daryl says behind me. "Where'd you get it?"
"Dale gave it to me, my first night at the quarry camp. He wanted to make sure I had something to protect myself with..." I answer, my voice thick.
"I just wanted to see how you were holdin' up," he says, looking at the farm house. "Also, a few of us are goin' on a run. We're gonna look for some stray walkers, check the fences, that sorta thin'."
"Okay." I place my knife in its sheath and stand up. "Be careful."
He glances around quickly before placing a hand on my waist and pressing his lips to mine. He breaks away and heads to the blue truck parked a little ways away. Shane, Andrea, and T-dog are already there. He climbs into the back and the truck starts up, moving forwards.
I watch as the truck disappears over the ridge, leaving a cloud of dust.
Carl walks over to me and sits down. He's wearing Rick's hat, like he has been for a while now.
"Hey Carl," I say.
"Hey," he says sadly. "Can I tell you something? Promise not to tell anyone?"
"Of course," I reply.
"I went for a walk in the woods yesterday," he starts. "I found this walker stuck in the mud, and I started throwing rocks at it. Then, it got out and started chasing me, and instead of killing it, I ran back to camp..."
"Ok...what's the point of the story?" I say. Carl stares at me with those big blue eyes. His eyes are watery.
"That was the walker that got Dale. If I had killed it, Dale would be alive...I was gonna shoot it. Right in the head," he says, tears starting to run down his face.
"No Carl. Don't say things like that. It isn't your fault."
"I didn't shoot it. If I had..." he repeats.
YOU ARE READING
Daryl's Angel (Book One in the Apocalypse Angel Trilogy)
Fanfiction"Why're you bein' so nice to me?" "I would want the same if I were you." Hope Starling was alone when the dead started rising. She had always been alone, with parents that had disowned her and no friends to help her. Inside the department store in...
