A Survivor's Diary of the Apocalypse (TWD/Daryl Dixon)

S2Pt16 - Stranded

Rick thought it was best to head back to the highway where we first broke down. It made sense that everyone would think to regroup there.
"Did anyone see Daryl?" I asked.
Rick shook his head, and so did Hershel. No one saw him, and it was possible he was dead. I closed my eyes and silently cried. I went to clench my fists and instantly felt the pain in my right hand, where the horse stepped on me. I looked at my hand and it was bruised, swollen, and blood was covering my hand from the cuts. I tried to move my fingers but it hurt extremely bad. I had limited movement now and was pretty sure I had a few fractured bones in my hand.
We made it back to the highway where we were set up before and Rick parked the car. Everyone got out of the car but me. I didn't want to move or try anymore. I just kept thinking about Daryl, and what would happen if I lost him.
"I love you. I can't live without you." I replayed Daryl's voice in my head.
He said he can't live without me, but what about me? I can't live without him, and he just took off and left me.
I was wiping away a few more tears when I heard a car engine. I got out of the car and saw Glenn and Maggie together. Another truck appeared with T-Dog, Lori, and Beth. Hershel hugged his kids and Rick hugged his wife. Carl ran over to his mom and hugged her tight. Everyone was reuniting and laughing and crying, and I stood alone. Then I heard a familiar noise in the distance, the sound of a motorcycle engine. I saw Carol on the back of the motorcycle with him, and he parked his bike. Carol got off and I stared at Daryl.
"He's alive." I told myself. "He's alive."
I ran over to Daryl and he opened his arms. I jumped into his arms and he lifted me off the ground.
"Daryl." I cried. "I thought I lost you."
"I know, but I'm here. I love you." He said and hugged me.
I held his face and kissed him. He kissed me back for a long time.
"I can't live without you." I whispered.
He nodded and kissed my cheek. He let go of me and went to hold my bad hand and I yanked it away in pain.
"What happened?" He asked and gently grabbed my hand.
"The horse threw me off of him and stepped on my hand." I said.
"We need to fix this." He said.
"How? With what supplies?" I asked. "We lost everything."
Then we heard Rick call us all to gather around. Daryl grabbed my other hand and we walked over to the group.
"Is everyone here?" Rick asked.
We looked around and Lori noticed Shane was gone.
"Shane?" She asked.
Rick shook his head and Carl looked away.
"Patricia?" Hershel asked.
"They got her." Beth cried in his arms. "We had to leave."
"Where's Andrea?" I asked.
"She saved me, but then I lost her." Carol said.
"I'll go back." Daryl said and turned around.
I quickly grabbed his hand and he stared at me.
"Please.." I begged. "Don't leave. I can't lose you again."
Daryl nodded and grabbed my side. He pulled me close and embraced me.
"We need to leave. The walkers will be here soon." Rick said.
We talked about it, but eventually agreed that is wasn't safe here anymore. Rick got in a car with Lori, Carl, Glenn, and Maggie. T-Dog drove his truck with Carol, Beth, and Hershel. Daryl got on his bike and I sat behind him. Daryl led the way, and everyone followed us east.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was almost dusk when Rick's car ran out of gas. He pulled over to the side of the road and we gathered around the car.
"Mom. I'm cold." Carl said.
Lori rubbed his shoulders and zipped up his jacket. "I know. We all are." She said and hugged him.
When Carl said that I realized how cold it was getting and that winter was coming. Daryl hugged me from behind trying to keep me warm.
"Let's set up camp here for tonight." Rick said.
"Maggie and I will make a run for some gas in the morning." Glenn said.
"We could always go now." Maggie said.
"No." Rick blurted out. "It's too dangerous. We need to stick together. There's no need to get stranded."
"Rick, we're stranded now." Carol said.
He shook his head and sighed. "I know it looks bad, but we will survive this."
And with that he walked off into the woods. That ended the conversation and we all settled down for the night. We started a small fire at an abandoned camping spot we found at the edge of the forest. I sat down on a log when Hershel walked over to me and asked to look at my hand. I nodded and held out my hand, and he examined it.
"The cuts are superficial, and the bleeding stopped. But I'm more worried about the bone structure." He said. "Can you move your fingers for me?"
I tried and moved all of my fingers but with extremely amounts of pain. Daryl was standing over my shoulder and rubbing my back. I cried and took a deep breath.
"Good news is that it doesn't look like you have any nerve damage. But we need wrapped your hand and let the bone heal." Hershel said.
I nodded and Daryl searched my bag and found a first aid kit.
"How long until it heals?" I asked.
"Well, normally it takes about 3 weeks, but given the circumstances of no hospitals, it could be longer." He said.
I sighed with relief and Hershel stared at me.
"Bad news is that your hand may never heal properly. You can have permanent damage to your hand. Maybe never have full mobility." He warned me.
I was scared but I didn't let it show. I just nodded my head and Hershel began fixing my hand. He cleaned it with peroxide and Daryl had to hold me still because it stung so bad. He then wrapped it with gauze, bandage, and bandage tape. I thanked him and that's when the rest of the group sat around for the night. Today was the first day in a long time that we didn't have anything to eat.
I sat down on the ground and Daryl sat on the log. I leaned against his legs and he played with my hair. Carol sat over by Daryl and I heard her whispering.
"He's not safe." Carol said referencing to Rick. "Why do you need him? He's just going to bring him down."
I started to get angry but bit my tongue.
"No." Daryl said. "Rick's done alright by me."
"You're his henchmen." Carol said.
"And you're his burden." I told her. "Rick is a good man. He's been through a lot. Give him a damn break for God's sake." I ranted.
I got up to walk away, but Daryl grabbed my hand. I wasn't in the mood to listen to her, so I shook his hand away. I walked off to get some distance when we heard a tree branch snap.
"What is that?" Beth asked, hugging Hershel close.
"Could be anything. A raccoon, a squirrel, a walker." Daryl said as he got up and walked over to me.
"We need to leave." Carol said and started to panic.
"No." Rick said. "The last thing we need is for everyone to run off in the dark."
"If it's a walker we can just kill it." I pointed out.
"What if it's the herd?" Glenn said.
"Yeah. We need to move now." Maggie said.
"No one is going anywhere." Rick raised his voice.
I grabbed Daryl's hand and rested my head on his shoulder. He grabbed my waist and pulled me close.
"I'm doing something to keep you guys safe. I'm keeping us together. Alive. I've been doing it the entire time. I didn't ask for this!" Rick ranted.
We all looked at him and saw he was breaking down. He sighed and threw up his hands.
"I killed my best friend for you people for Christ's sake." Rick yelled.
We stared at Rick as he tried to compose himself. I was shocked. I never liked Shane, he was a dick, but I never thought of killing him. Hell, I never even killed a person before, and I didn't want to. I heard Carl start crying and Lori was too, and was trying her best to calm him down. Daryl pulled me close and kissed my forehead. I leaned into him and stared at Rick.
"You saw what he was like. Pushing me, pushing you guys around." He said and pointed at us, then stared at me.
Out of the entire group, Shane had something against me and always showed it. Everyone even saw when he punched me.
"He compromised and threatened us. He staged the whole Randall thing, killed him to lead me into the woods to kill ME! He gave me NO choice!" Rick yelled.
Everyone was either looking at him or away from him.
"He was my friend, but he came after me. My hands are clean! Maybe you people are better off without me. Go on, see if you can make it even ten feet!" Rick said. "Maybe I'm fooling myself. Why don't you send me a damn postcard?! Let's see how far you live." He said.
We stared at him and Rick caught his breath.
"This isn't a democracy.." Rick said. "I kept you alive. You should be grateful."
Everyone remained silent and speechless. Carl was still crying. I looked at Daryl but saw that he wasn't worried. Me and him were in the same page.
"I'm grateful." I spoke up.
I saw everyone look at me, and Rick nodded.
"And all you should be too." I finished.
I walked back to the road away from the group. I needed to be alone. I needed to think and regather myself.
We were officially starting over and no longer safe. I intend on staying alive... no matter what.