Marching With the Dead (Daryl Dixon FanFiction)

•Chapter 28•

•Chapter 28•

•Grace's POV•

"Oh my God," Joe breathed once he caught sight of me. He stood up from sitting on the log and took a step closer to me still overcome with shock. The rest of the men smiled as I emerged from the woods. Daryl pulled me closer to him since his arm was draped around my side making sure I didn't dissapear.

Joe looked at him and his small smile turned back to a straight line,"Where's Merle?" I immediately glanced back at Daryl seeing if he would answer them. It was only about thrity minutes ago that I had told him the news. Daryl simply shook his head and stared at the ground. "Oh," Joe sighed. Everyone stayed silent for a few minutes and tried to avoid each other's gaze. They barely knew the man, but it was still hard on them. Losing people noawdays is harder than it was before. You grow stronger connections with them since they are your lifeline. They keep you from becoming a monster and you do the same for them.

Daryl let go of me so I could get my bearings straight. He stayed where he was as I put down the bag I had from the sniper and his gun. I had recognized him as being one of the men that had helped Merle search for Daryl and I. He had a five o'clock shadow and wore dark clothes. I wanted to forget his face, but he's dead now and it's hard to forget someone who killed someone you knew.

"Where'd you get that from?" Tony asked pointing to the assault rifle I had just set down. I took in a deep breath and glanced at Daryl. I just wanted to make sure if it was alright to bring up that I was the only one by Merle in his last moments. "From the guy that killed Merle," I sighed. Tony immediately avoided my gaze and went back to rubbing his hands in front of the fire they had in the middle of the campsite. I stared at the weapon and despised it.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and was about to shake it off when I realized it was Daryl's. I saw the veins running from his arm to his knuckles which pulsed his blood. I knew his heart was beating hard, but slow. It was almost like I could feel it. Or it just might be my heart pounding in my ears.

I was hollow inside. I couldn't save Merle despite all the things he's done to me. He nearly raped me, taunted me, and just been plain mean. Although, his heart sort of changed when I said I'd leave. When I stormed to my room, he came to confront me and asked me to stay. Instead of taking his brother out of that shed, he took me. He knew that Daryl cared about me so he decided to keep me safe knowing Daryl could make it. I had to hand it to him, Merle kept himself somewhat sane through all this. Except for the murders, wanting to eat people, and all the other things he did. On second thought, maybe he wasn't all that sane. The thing is, Merle never lost sight of what was important, his brother.

"C'mon, why don't we head back to the cabin. David's dead so I think we can settle down for now. Those other bastards wouldn't dare mess with us now," Daryl said, but only loud enough for me to hear. I nodded my head and let out a heavy sigh. Daryl grabbed the orange bag the sniper had and heaved it to his chest.

"Did you look through this?" he asked furrowing his brows together. I shook my head. I had too much on my mind to think about what was in the bag. Who knows, there might have been explosives in there I didn't know about.

Daryl unzipped it and spread the two walls of the bag further from each other. I couldn't see in the bag from my point of view, but Daryl stared inside with his eyes darting from one place to another. He stuck his hands inside and pulled out a package wrapped in foil. It was crinkly and had no definite shape giving me the impression it was food. Daryl peeled away the metal to reveal a dark red, slab of meat. Blood pooled in the cracks of the foil which made me want to barf.

"I guess they like to-go meals, too," Lou scoffed before taking the human meat from Daryl and throwing it in the fire. I can't believe I had that on my back all this time. My stomach churned forcing whatever food I had in my stomach to come up. The vomit burned my throat and left a weird after taste. A hand rubbed my back and Daryl made a shushing sound. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and stood up. "I'm alright," I said holding up my hand with my other one still over my mouth.

"C'mon," Daryl sighed after zipping up the bag and loading it onto his shoulder. I nodded my head knowing we should pack and get back to the cabin.

•Two Hours Later•

"You can go take a shower. I'm gonna go talk with the boys about what are next step is," Daryl sighed before pulling me to him and placing a kiss on my forehead. He left the bedroom I was in when I first got here leaving me by my lonesome. I let out a deep sigh and ran my hand through my hair.

Too much has happened in one day. I lost Merle, I killed someone, I found Daryl, I threw up, and we came back to some type of sanctuary. At least it's sanctuary to me. Warm showers, neat beds, and a little bit of food is paradise nowadays.

I glanced around the room not knowing what to do next. I could take a shower, but I wasn't up for it at the moment. Yes, I'm missing out on a shower, but that would leave me with too much thinking time.

I opened the door Daryl had just closed and trudged down the steps quietly. I heard muttering, but it wasn't distinct until I had nearly reached the ground.

"We could go back to Terminus. They're weaker now," Joe sighed.

Daryl's voice then bursted in,"No, they're probably putting up more guards since most of their people didn't come. I say we keep moving in the opposite direction. Maybe back towards Macon."

"I'm gonna have to agree on that. We can find us a car and head down that way. Who knows, we might find another sanctuary," Tony sighed.

My head was hurting from all the debate. I didn't need to talk about the next move anymore so I stepped up,"How about we just stay here. It's safe. We could put fences and there's running showers. We can find food and stay here."

Everyone's heads turned to me after I stepped out from the wall that blocked the living room from the kitchen. Daryl blinked a few times trying to comprehend what I had just said. "Grace, I ain't gonna risk those pricks coming after us. You said it yourself when you left," he sighed pinching the bridge of his nose with his arms crossed.

I narrowed my eyebrows at him in surprise. I bit my bottom lip with my canine before turning on my heel and marching back up the staircase. I had lost again. The majority ruled and I don't know why I said that. I guess it was just an excuse to talk. I guess I was looking for something to call home no matter the people I share it with.

I stormed to my room and stood with my back against the door. My eyes darted around the space trying to find something to occupy myself with. I then felt the door open behind me before I stepped away to let whoever was coming through. Daryl looked at me with a confused expression. I shrugged my shoulders and waited for him to say something.

"You know we can't stay here. We stirred up things too much and there's no other choice," Daryl said crossing his arms again. I noticed that every sentence he said that he let out a huff of breath after. I shook my head and stared at the ground. Daryl's hands grabbed my shoulder and shoved me to his chest. My arms immediately went to go under his limbs and grasping his shoulders from behind.

I buried my head into his chest and took in his scent. He smelled of musk and dirt. After a while of sitting there my nose adjusted to the scent making it the same as everything else. Gone, only letting it to be enjoyable for a second.