Marching With the Dead (Daryl Dixon FanFiction)

•Chapter 24•

•Chapter 24•

•Grace's POV•

I rushed out of my room and down the stairs like a bat out of Hell. Every stomp was a crack in your ear since my anger was boiling. All eyes turned to me as I neared the bottom of the staircase. I didn't bother to look at them as I raced to the door. I heard someone get up from their seat in the living room, but didn't bother to see who it was.

I threw open the exit and marched onto the porch. I was about to slam the door shut when a hand stopped the force. "You're serious?" Daryl's raspy voice scoffed. I let out an irritated sigh and trudged down the wooden steps.

"Grace, c'mon. Jus' hold up." I didn't bother looking at him since he knew why I was leaving. We just had a fight about it and he's still on my ass for it.

I turned around abruptly once I reached the tree line by the railroad and shouted,"Yes, I'm fucking serious! You see me leaving, don't you?"

Daryl snapped back slightly. I noticed that he had his crossbow in hands in case anything got jumpy while he was trying to confront me. I took in a deep breath through my nose before storming farther away from him.

"You can't do that. You can't just make us care and then leave. It ain't right!" Daryl stomped closer to me making the leaves under his feet crunch from his weight.

I stopped in my tracks,"What?"

Daryl sighed in frustration and repeated,"You can't jus' make us care and leave."

I let out a scoff before turning to him. I took a step closer calming my tone down slightly,"Who is this us, Daryl? You, Merle, Joe, and his people? Just you an Merle? Or the us you're talking about is you?"

Daryl swallowed a lump in his throat and froze. That's what I thought. "Daryl, look at us. We're fighting all the damn time between you and Merle and me. I mean, were better off this way. We have a bunch of cannibals on our ass that wanna kill us any chance they get!"

"You're safer with us. We have all those people. You can't make it out on your own for that long. Especially when there's someone tracking you."

"You know, Daryl, I actually can. I have you to thank for that because if you wouldn't of murdered all those people, I wouldn't be able to live alone. Every second I was watching my back and not only for walkers, but for someone like you to show up. I waited for someone to take me in and tell me it was alright, but you were just a stab in the back."

"Grace," he whispered taking a small step closer. "Don't. Daryl, just don't," I said in the same tone putting a hand between us. I closed my eyes not wanting the tears to spill like they should've long ago. My feet were turning away from him when I heard the clatter of metal and plastic falling in the leaves and felt my hand being pulled on. My eyes fluttered open before I felt a pair of lips crash onto mine. I immediately shut them again and waited for something else to happen.

Daryl's hands snaked to my back pulling me closer to him. My fingers grazed over his vest so I clutched it tightly not wanting to let go. Daryl opened his mouth slightly and I followed with the same motion. We continued for about another ten seconds until I broke away. I rested my forehead on his and tried not looking at him.

"I love you, Grace," he whispered. I glanced back up at him trying not to tremble in his grasp. "Daryl," I whispered, but he cut me off,"Stay, please. Grace, we need you. I need you. Just stay. We can work it out. I'll keep you safe like I promised."

"Daryl, I can't. I'm sorry."

The grip he had on my wrist loosened as I nudged him away slightly. He was frozen in place as I turned from him. I watched the ground roll under me as I left him there.

---

My heart ached. Tears spilled. My stomach churned. Sobs were made. My body trembled. Walkers were called to feast upon the broken me.

I've never been so torn apart in my life even after the beginning of the end. I've learned too much the past few days. The information I found was too much to digest. The person who murdered my family, friends, people I rarely talked to had admitted he loved me. It only made me shiver to think about him and what I left behind.

The leaves crunched under my feet as the sun started to set. I know I should probably set up camp soon, but all I want to do is walk. It will give me time to think about what I've done. I only stared at the ground. I didn't care if a walker was going to come and attack me at any second. I didn't really care about anything at the moment.

There was a crunch in the leaves behind me. At first I thought it was paranoia getting to me, but it might be some randomn animal. My heart then started to beat faster realizing that it wasn't like the old days anymore. It could be anything. It could be a walker, an animal, a stranger, Daryl, or David.

I turned around when I felt a hand clasp over my mouth making my stifled screams mute. "Shhh," a harsh voice snarled. The body was behind me, but I immediately knew it was David. The chances of it being someone else was not likely.

I tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but he was too strong. David threw me around trying to get me off balance when a pine tree near me scraped my arm leaving a searing pain. I felt the blood trickle down my left arm as tears weld up in my eyes.

Maybe I should've went back with Daryl.

•Daryl's POV•

I stared at the ground of the porch as I leaned against the outside wall. I rarely blinked with the thought of Grace running through my mind. My throat clenched and so did my stomach. Every time I thought about her sent a shiver down my back.

I heard the front door open, but I didn't glance up to see who it was. There was a clatter of boots that stopped right in front of me. I looked at who my visitor was to see my brother leaning against the wooden railing of the porch.

"You couldn't get her back?" he asked. I let out an irritated sigh since the answer was obvious. I shifted my weight to one foot and waited for more of his dumb questions.

"I tried, Daryl. I really did," he said looking at me with empathy. I narrowed my eyes at him not knowing what to say.

"I told her that I loved her," I whispered.

Merle's eyes widened. My heart felt like it had been soaked in poison and was being wrung out. I didn't like that look. It was the same one I got from him when I did something wrong that I could get a beating for. "Oh," he mumbled.

My crossbow was propped against the wall like me. I grabbed it just beneath the unloaded string and heaved it up to my chest. "I'm going after her," I sighed while strapping it across my back.

"What? You jus' got back and now you're gonna risk gettin' killed for her? If you told her you loved her and she still didn't stay then why waste your time?" Merle scoffed pushing off the railing. That was the most concern I've ever seen him have for me.

"The answer's in the question, Merle." I nodded towards him before trudging down the porch steps.