Remember Me (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter Fifty-Three: Together Again

"No!" I screamed as I rushed to the door, trying to pry it open.
This is what happens in this world. You do good and you get repaid by people trying to kill you. I come back for this man and he locks me in here to die? Who's the hero in that story?

I cursed to myself as I turned to face the walkers with my knife in my hand. I was going to have to take them out if I wanted to survive this. There was no way the others would get to me in time. The first one approached me and I was able to kill it with ease. But the other two were coming at me together.

"Elizabeth?" I heard Rick shout from outside the car.

"In here," I screamed back, banging on the door once. I heard Rick struggle with the door as the other two came at me. I tried to shove my knife into one of their skulls, but the other one bumped into my hand and caused me to drop my knife. That's when I realized I was really in trouble. All at once, they both piled on top of me with their teeth inches from my neck.

"Rick," I screamed as I tried to keep them off of me. The walkers began pushing against me and I could feel myself losing this battle. If he didn't hurry, I was going to die. I felt my arm growing weaker by the second until I wasn't able to keep them off anymore. When I finally gave up, the door opened and a bullet went through their heads.

I pushed them off of me quickly as Rick grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the car. You cheat death once again, Elizabeth.

"Get to the fence," Rick ordered me as he pointed in the distance. I could see the others already jumping the fence, so we would have to be very quick. I pushed past all the walkers, running as fast as I possibly could to the fence. When I reached it, an unfamiliar man helped me up and practically pushed me over the side. I fell on my ass which caused me to frown.

I watched as Rick came over the side and finally the strange man behind him. At that point, I knew we were all here and okay. The man offered his hand to me and I took it quickly.

"Abraham," he said with a stern voice.

"Elizabeth," I replied back breathlessly.

Just as I pulled my hand away, I felt someone grab me and hug me tightly. The hair touching my cheek told me that it was Maggie. I held her close to my body as I trembled with sobs escaping my lips. It felt so good to know she was alive and well. It felt so good to know we were all back together. Once she pulled away from me. I quickly moved my gaze to Daryl. His eyes were already on me when I looked over at him. I felt my heart skip a beat as I rushed over to him and wrapped my arms around him tightly.

He pulled me close to him in a way that he never had before. But I understood why. We both just spent what felt like an eternity thinking the other didn't survive.

"We need to get moving," Rick declared, causing me to break away from Daryl. I saw the glimmer of tears in his eyes as he looked down at me. From that moment I knew we would start fresh. We would have to leave our past behind us. The prison was taken over at a tough time for both of us, but I had to let that go. We were both here. We were both together. That was all that mattered.

Once we reached the edge of the forest, Daryl began pointing at the ground.

"Right here," he said as he began kneeling down. He tossed Rick a shovel and Rick began digging a hole in the ground.

"The hell we still around here for?" Abraham asked as he walked over to us.

"Guns. Some supplies," Rick answered as he continued digging in the ground. I assumed he was looking for the bag that Gareth was so eager about. "Go along the fences, use the rifles. Take out the rest of 'em."

"What?" Bob demanded as he walked over to where Rick was digging.

"They don't get to live," Rick added as he glared at Bob for a second.

"Rick, we got out," Glenn interrupted the conversation. "It's over."

I watched as Rick pulled a bag from the ground and began plundering through it. He pulled out one of the many guns in there and cocked it. "It's not over until they're all dead."

"The hell it isn't," a woman said, cutting him off. "That place is on fire. Full of walkers."

"I'm not digging around with this crap," Abraham replied in an irritated voice. "We just made it out."

"The fences are down," Maggie said as she nodded at Rick. "They'll run or die."

I nodded with Maggie before a moment before my eyes moved to someone behind him. My jaw almost dropped when I saw who it was. Carol.

Daryl moved his gaze to her once he saw me staring in the distance. I smiled as he ran over to her, taking her into his arms. This caused the others to turn around and they were just as shocked as I was. When I saw her standing there, I realized that she was the one who saved us. Carol was the one who caught Terminus on fire.

I followed Rick and Daryl to where she stood and smiled deeply at her. Her eyes moved to me for a split second and she smiled, happy that I wasn't losing my shit anymore.
"Did you do that?" Rick asked her, referring to Terminus.

Carol bit her lip before nodding. Rick embraced her in a hug, causing her to cry into his shoulder. Daryl laced his fingers with mine as we both watched the scene unfold. As I looked around more, I couldn't help but notice that Judith was nowhere with us.

"You have to come with me."
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From the time I saw Tyreese in the distance, I knew that something good was about to happen. And when he turned around with Judith in his arms, I was right. Tears filled my eyes as I watched Rick and Carl run over to Judith as fast as they possibly could. Then Sasha running to Tyreese made the tears fall.

The entire time this scene was unfolding, I couldn't help but wish Beth was with them. It was selfish to think of myself in such a beautiful time, but Beth was what I needed. I found everybody but her and I couldn't stand it.

I stood next to Daryl as we both watched the others find the ones they loved. Daryl noticed that I was a bit off and turned to me. "What's wrong?"

I shook my head at him before pausing for a moment. "I just wish it was Beth."

"So do I," Daryl nodded after a moment. I could tell that there was something he wanted to say, but I wasn't going to push him about it. He would tell me what was on his mind if he wanted to.
Rick walked over to me, offering Judith to me. My eyes filled with tears once more as I took her into my arms and held her close. Daryl smiled at the sight of her but didn't ask to hold her.

"I don't know if the fires still burning," Rick said as he observed the sky behind us.

"It is," Carol replied to him.

"Yeah, we need to go," Rick announced as he turned around to face us.
"Yeah, but where?" Daryl asked as he wiped his hand on his shirt. Judith cooed as she pulled my hair. I guess her habits didn't change at all.

"Somewhere far away from there," Rick said as he pointed in the direction of Terminus. We all nodded as we began walking on the rail road tracks. We didn't know where we were going, but we knew we would get there eventually.

Even though we were all together, something felt very off.

I couldn't help but wonder if Gareth was still alive. And if he was, would he be back?