Remember Me (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter Thirty-Six: Darkness

"Woah, don't shoot," the kid begged as Carl and dad aimed their guns at him.
This poor kid looked so lost. I heard Judith coo at Beth as she held her tightly.
"Drop the weapon," dad spoke in a calm voice. I was certain the kid would hand over the weapon with ease.

"Sure," he agreed as he held his gun out to Carl, "here."
Carl kept his gun level with the kid, not willing to negotiate.
"Take it," the kid continued offering. I knew that Carl wouldn't agree to this. Carl had learned how bad people were at a very young age.

I turned my head away as I heard a single gunshot fire out followed by a body hitting the ground.

I rubbed my eyes as I flushed away the memory in the forest. The last thing I needed was another death lodged into the back of my mind. I had plenty of those to dwell on, I didn't really need more.
My eyes drifted to the buses pulling into the prison, loaded with all of these people.

After emerging from the forest, Rick and the others went to take care of the remaining troops of Woodbury. We were all regretfully informed of Andrea's death. But even though she was gone, we now had many people to join us.

We needed numbers. We needed more people to help us keep this place safe...keep our home safe. I had made the prison out as such a bad place all of this time, but it was truly the only place I felt safe. I longed to be back at the farm, but that could never happen. Not anytime in the near future, anyways.

I watched the people exit the buses. Small children jumped off with hope in their eyes. They were our future. Judith was our future. When we were all dead and gone, Judith and the children would be the ones to lead this world. That's why we had to set it up for them.

I had hopes that we would be able to repair this world. I had hope that she living would reclaim their land and make it pure again. That may not happen while we are alive, but I knew it would happen eventually. I used to diss the idea of hope, but all of these people were keeping it alive for me. These people may have been our second chance.

I watched as a little boy began bouncing around, pulling on his mother's sleeve. She ushered him off as she spoke to one of the men who had gotten off the bus. The boy frowned and began bouncing over in my direction. I smiled brightly as he stopped in front of me, his eyes wide with curiosity.

"What happened to your eye?" he asked as his mouth formed an O.

I shrugged and motioned to it, "This old thing? I got it defending my treasure."

He looked up at me with excited eyes, "treasure? Are you a pirate?"
I shrugged at him with a small grin. "I may be. That information is classified."

"Can you show me your treasure?" he asked with a toothy grin. I smiled at him, but images of Merle quickly began flooding into my mind. "Maybe someday," I replied quickly.

He smiled at me once more before running back to his mother. She shot me a quick glare as he told her about my story. Kid, you don't know the half of it.

I felt a presence walk and stop next to me. I knew that it had to be Daryl. I still got butterflies around him the same way I did when we first met. He didn't speak, he simply stood there.

He didn't have to speak, I understood. Daryl did love me in some sense. And he did want me there, despite what he said. When I first met this man, I had no idea he would be so important to me. He was my rock, he was my second chance.

"Full house," I said as I motioned to all of the people. He nodded at me as he gazed into the distance, "more mouths to feed."

True, but it was also more survivors. It was more chances at making a sanctuary. It was more chances at making a future. I saw Rick look up at the catwalk with a small smile. He had told me in the past he had hallucinations of Lori. That was when he was going down a dark path. I was happy that he was in a better place now. The look on his face told me that he no longer saw the visions of her.

I smiled at the sight of him as I felt Daryl's fingertips touch mine. Our hands locked together rather tightly. I imagined my knuckles were turning white due to the squeezing, but I didn't mind it at all. It let me know that he was on my side and he always would be.

And I knew I would always be on his side. I wasn't sure about a lot of things in this world, but I was certain about how I felt for him. This world will turn you to shit with it, but that doesn't mean you can't try to stay positive. I glanced over at him with a grin.

He formed some kind of a smile. I'm sure it was his version of a smile, but it was enough for me. It let me know that he really didn't mean those horrible things that he said.
I looked down at the ground for a moment as I got a weird feeling inside. It was a pang of sorrow, almost guilt. I was feeling so positive before, I didn't know why I was getting this feeling now.

My body began getting hot and I could feel my palms sweating.

I slowly looked up at the catwalk where Rick had previously looked to see a vision of Merle standing there. He was staring right at me.

Rick's darkness was finally over, but mine was just beginning.