Remember Me (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter One: Pilot

"Elizabeth, are you feeling alright?"
My head snapped away from the field to find my sister staring at me, concern on her face. Alright? Was I feeling alright? Well, aside from the apocalypse occurring, I was just peachy.

I observed her face for a moment before finding an appropriate answer, "Yes, I'm fine. I just feel...off."
Maggie sat her drink on the ground beside her and observed me. She was making the "tell me everything" face, but I didn't feel like talking. The feeling I was having wasn't something that I could throw into words, really.
"Off? As in you feel sick? I can get daddy to look at you if you don't feel well."

Since when did off mean sick? If I felt sick, I would tell her I was feeling ill. I wouldn't tell her I was feeling off. It wasn't really me that felt off, it was everything around me that felt off.
"No. I don't feel sick. I just feel like something is coming. You know that feeling you get when something isn't right?"

Maggie nodded and smiled, "I feel that way everyday. I guess it has something to do with the zombies everywhere, just a guess."
I smiled at her and gazed into the distance. I often imagined what my life would be like if this entire thing had never even started. Would I still be as strong as I was in that moment? I didn't know the answer. I just knew that I shouldn't have fight for my life at the age of sixteen.

I should be going to parties and making mistakes, not killing lifeless creatures.
I got lost in my thoughts before noticing something in the distance. There was movement, so I assumed it was a walker. Maggie noticed it a few moments after I did and made a face of confusion. That's when I realized it wasn't a walker. It was way too fast to be a walker. This was a person...and they were running straight for the house.

"Dad!" I yelled, standing up from the steps. It only took a second for my dad to burst out of the house followed by Patricia, Beth, and Jimmy. My eyes noticed Jimmy's baseball bat before I noticed him. I guess he was prepared.
Maggie pushed my behind her and everyone stood on the porch, waiting for the running man. As he got closer, I noticed that he was cradling a small body in his arms. My eyes quickly looked down.

"Was he bit?" My dad asked with great urgency. I noticed the man was wearing a cop's uniform.
"No, shot. By your man," he replied, struggling to get air as he walked towards us. I made a sound of disgust and looked away from him once more. Looking at the motionless body made me sick.

"Otis?" Maggie asked, shock crossing her face. Otis? No, not Otis. He would never intentionally kill a young boy. But how did this sort of accident happen?
"He said to find Hershel," he said with panic rising in his voice. "Is that you? Help me! Please, help my boy!"
My dad gestured for him to get inside quickly. I often cursed his kind heart for helping everybody, but this was our duty to help him. I followed them into the house and listened to my dad give everybody orders. "Patricia, I need me full kit. And Elizabeth, painkillers, coagulants. Grab everything, understand?"

I gave him a quick nod as he continued. "Clean towels, sheets, alcohol." He continued to give orders as I rushed into the bathroom and almost broke the cabinet due to how fast I opened it. I grabbed every bottle of pills my eyes could see and began rushing back into the room. I sat the pills on the bed and watched as dad moved around in a rush. "Put pressure on the wound," he ordered the man. Without a word, he obeyed my father as he tried to find a pulse on the boy.
"I've got a heartbeat, it's faint," he continued. "Maggie, get an IV." Maggie quickly stepped to his side and pushed the cop away.

"We need some space," she said. My dad continued, "Your name?"
"Rick," the man answered with his voice wavering.
"Rick?"
"I'm....I'm Rick," he said with a nod. I could see the panic on his face and sympathy rang through my body.
"Rick, we're gonna do everything we can to save your boy, okay? You need to give us room. Now," ordered father. Rick started at him for a moment before walking out of the room slowly. I felt for him.