Marching With the Dead (Daryl Dixon FanFiction)

•Chapter 19•

•Chapter 19•

•Daryl's POV•

"Alright, baby brotha, you ready?" Merle smirked as he hit the clip of his AK-47. I let out a sigh before pressing another assault rifle against my shoulder. We were hidden behind heavy brush and trees. Below was a camp that we were planning on robbing. Since having the high ground, we could easily snipe them from our point of view.

"You know how I feel about this," I snarled. My brother rolled his eyes at me,"Why are you such a pussy? I told ya that they have guards up day and night so joinin' 'em and taking their shit overnight is impossible unless you wanna get shot. We're jus' gonna shoot at 'em to scare 'em off and then take their supplies before the walkers get in it."

I ground my teeth as I waited for his go. I looked down the sights of the barrel and matched it up with the ground next to one man's foot. "3....2........1."

My finger instantly jerked the trigger and gunfire rang out. In the corner of my eye I saw a body drop. I immediately stopped firing and glared at my brother,"What the hell, man? I thought we were just gonna scare 'em."

"The bastard was about to shoot me," Merle smirked. My hatred towards this deed was growing. I almost stopped firing, but I knew that I needed to do it to survive. I don't know why we just don't join them. Who the hell knows, they might turn us away since we really don't look like the friendly type.

We finished with about twenty fatalities all done by Merle. We were about to pack up and get down there when I saw a figure start to come out of the brush. It stood over another blonde girl who lay dead. It was small and feminine. Her brown hair blew gently in the wind as she stared down at the corpse.

Merle was about to raise his gun and kill her before I stopped him,"Hol' up. I got this." Merle nodded his head thinking I was about to commit a murder.

I shouldered my rifle and looked down the sights. A single shot rang out and the girl ran off unharmed like one of the very few deer I missed in my lifetime. I felt myself being shoved as Merle scoffed. I guess I just saved her life.

---

"Why the hell did you do that?" I shouted at my brother after Grace hurried outside. Merle stood up and gave me a look like he was pissed at everything I am.

"Don't you put that bullshit on me! She needed to know! Do you think you could go and fuck around with her while she was clueless about it? If you ask me, I did you a favor."

"You know what, jus'......" I snarled not knowing what threat to spit at him next. I had given up on trying to better him. He was a selfish bastard that needed to learn a few lessons. I turned away from him wanting to find Grace and apologize.

"You love her, don't you?"

The small assumption made me stop in my tracks. I turned my head slightly to catch him in the corner of my eye. "I can see it. You were never this way for any girls except for Heather, man. You love her," he said as he stood up. He was more calm now, but I was still seething with rage.

I now fully turned to him. He gave me a look of sympathy like he was about to cry for me. "Look, I know most of why you don't wanna do it is because you want her safe, but she can be if we do it. They have fences, food, and all that. We jus' gotta do it, Daryl."

I nodded my head in agreement. Maybe I do love her if I'm going to these lengths for her.

•Grace's POV•

Tears blurred my vision. I barely saw the man that stood in front of me. I wiped my eyes to see clearer only to realize Joe was staring at me.

"You alright?" he asked reaching for my shoulder. I shook my head as an answer. Why was he even asking that question? Did he see me breaking down? Did he see that every sense of hope and trust I had in people was shattered? I wasn't alright with knowing that I'm sleeping under the same roof as the murders that kills the first people I knew that wanted to protect me. I grew a close relationship with some of them and it broke me when they were ripped away by a person I thought I could trust.

"What is it?" Joe asked crouching to get into my vision using my shoulder to support himself,"What the hell could've happened within the two minutes I was out here?"

"The truth was told," I gasped. It was hard not to push him away and weep in the back of the garage. I wanted to murder someone, but none of them had done me wrong except Daryl and Merle. I wanted to kill Daryl more than his brother. He tricked me into trusting him enough to make me escape with him. Now, he's dragged me into this mess.

"Once we finish with Terminus, I'm leaving," I said wiping my eyes with side of my fingers. I thought the salty water would stop coming down, but only more fell. "Grace, you know that's not a good idea," Joe said. He was right, but I had my reasons.

"It's better than staying here with those murders on my ass all the time!" I shouted making Joe's grasp on me loosen. My chest felt like it was caving in every time I took a breath. I wished it was all a dream.

"Look, think of Daryl as an outside cat and his brother is a big bulldog always chasing him up a tree. You see, the cat is influenced by anything the dog will make 'im do. Once the bulldog is bored with him, he'll jus' leave giving the cat to be his own independent self. You see what I'm saying?"

I glanced up at Joe with my vision still blurry. "You knew?" Joe's sympathetic look turned into one of worry,"He told me last night."

I furrowed my eyebrows at him before throwing my hands in the air. I was speechless now. "That's amazing. You know, if he trusts strangers more with that information more than he does with me then I..... I......"

I turned away from Joe and stared at the ground before me. That's when I noticed that Len's corpse was still there tied to the metal post. It reminded me of when Daryl was lashed which made me have pity for him. I ignored my feelings towards his old self for a moment and shoved my combat boot in the corpse's side. I let out a scream as I continuously kicked the body.

"Grace. Grace. Grace!" I heard Joe try to calm me down. He grasped my shoulders firmly and shook me trying to get me back to my calm self. "What did I do, Joe? I'm just a piece of shit! That's it!" I shouted before collapsing on the side of the corpse. Joe stood over me not sure of what to do.

"Grace, just don't...... don't get yourself killed when you leave, okay," Joe sighed as he crouched beside me. He still had his grasp on my shoulders. My head was in my hands and I nodded in answer. He grunted as he got back up.

I didn't raise my head until I heard the door click shut. I stared at Len's corpse. His skin was sunken in over his cheekbones and his hair was greasy. It had only been almost a day since he was murdered, but he was already deteriorating. Being in the state he was before didn't help with his looks either. His pale skin was turning into a sickly green color as his eyes were blank.

Just observing the corpse made me think of the afterlife. One day, this might be what I will look like. I'll slowly be eaten away by age and only my bones will be left. There won't be any more brown eyes or auburn hair. I'll just be blood, grime, and a memory that no one will remember when in gone. Not even Daryl.

We are all practically walkers inside. Once it all started, we lost who we were and reanimated into something different, something dangerous. It's what happened to me. We follow the same path to nowhere changing people who tried to hold on to who they are and were. I guess now I'm marching with the dead never being able to get out.