Zedler, M.D. // Daryl Dixon

Chapter Fifty-One: Back to Where I Belong

fifty-one

Beatrix

The four of us walk in silence for a good few hours, wandering aimlessly in the woods with Daryl in the lead, until Merle had to stop and take a pee break.

"There ain't nothin' out here but mosquitos and ants," Daryl grunts. I roll my eyes at the sound of Merle's pee hitting the tree behind us.

"Patience, little brother," Merle says. "You'll find a squirrel or two sooner or later. One of 'em's bound to scurry across our path."

"That isn't much food," Baxly shakes his head. "We have four people to feed. We have to figure out a game plan."

"We need to go raid one of the houses we passed back there," I suggest, only to see Baxly roll his eyes. "What, Baxly?"

"Nothing," he shrugs, and I notice he's unarmed. I sigh and reach him my gun.

"You sure that's the best idea?" Daryl asks, causing me to raise an eyebrow at him. "Giving up your gun, I mean."

"He was unarmed, Daryl," I mutter, looking away from him. "We could see if we could find a stream, maybe catch some fish if we're lucky."

"If I didn't know any better, little sister, I'd say you were trying to take us back to that prison," Baxly smirks at me.

"I'm not," I shake my head. "But it wouldn't be such a bad idea. We have food, weapons, medical supplies. I even have an IV pole," I smile, going off topic. "Two, actually. One is Daryl's and one is mine."

"Maybe for you three. They won't be so welcoming to me," Baxly scoffs. "And goddamn, if you aren't still on that medical bullshit. Might as well let it go, though, because it's all in Woodbury by now."

"Baxly, stop," I warn, turning to stare him in the eyes. Out of the corner of my eye I can see Daryl and Merle staring, waiting to see what will happen and probably waiting to see if they'll need to step in.

"They're all dead by now," Baxly shurgs, causing rage to flare up in me. There are two babies there. Literal infants. I can't imagine what he'd do to them.

"How can you be so sure?" I raise an eyebrow at him, crossing my arms.

"Because I know how The Governor works," he simply answers.

"Let's go catch some fish," Daryl says after a few minutes of tense silence. He walks beside me, placing his hand on the small of my back as he leads the way.

"This your new boyfriend?" Baxly asks from behind us. I tense and jerk away from Daryl, stopping to glare at my brother. "You got Lucas back at your camp?"

"How do you know who Lucas is?" I stop walking, stunned by what my brother said.

"Your life wasn't very private, little sis," he chuckles. "I followed your social media. I read the articles and watched the news clips about you. You were a star."

"Not really," I shake my head as a sudden wave of anger takes over my body. "And if you followed me so closely, you would have known when Mom and Dad died, right? So why didn't you come to their funeral?"

"Beatrix, I–"

"No! You don't get to make up excuses," I yell, drawing my hand back. I feel Daryl grab my elbow, but I jerk away. I need to do this. "Our parents died and you didn't bother to show up. I had to go through that alone."

"You're gonna attract the biters, Beatrix," Baxly says calmly, causing my blood pressure to rise.

"You piece of shit!" I scream, landing a punch on his jaw, the same place I did last night, so I know it will feel extra bad. "You've been gone for ten years, and you knew everything that happened, but you didn't bother to come back around? Seriously fuck you, Bax."