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

S5Pt5 - City Officers

It was the next morning and we all knew it was Bob's time. It was hard, seeing one of our own suffer like Bob did, but it was even harder saying goodbye.
Tyreese was helping Sasha bury him and I saw Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene packing up their things in a small bus. Then I saw Maggie, Glenn, and Tara leave the church with their bags and put this in the bus.
"So, that's it? You guys are really leaving?" I asked Maggie.
She slowly nodded and I saw she was emotional.
"We made them a promise that we'd go with them after Terminus." Glenn said.
I nodded and looked at Maggie and hugged her. I rubbed her back and sighed, fighting back my tears. I then looked at Tara and hugged her too.
"You guys be safe out there." I said.
They nodded and soon boarded the bus. I saw Abraham walk over to Rick and give him a map.
"Here's our map to D.C. If you change your mind, you'll know where we went. Once Eugene flips the switch, things will start to bounce back. Hopefully we'll see you after that." Abraham said.
Rick nodded and shook his hand.
"We will." Michonne said for Rick.
Abraham then got on the bus and closed the door. He turned on the engine and we watched as they drove off.
I told Rick I'd take watch for the afternoon and he didn't mind. So I sat on the steps of the church and thought for hours.
I remembered what Gareth said to me in the church and it was getting on my nerves, because he was actually right.
"How rude. A husband leaves his pregnant wife alone in the middle of a horrible time like this." Gareth's voice echoed in my head.
I sighed and shook my head, trying to forget about it. I took out my hunting knife and began carving the wood of the steps out of boredom.
Then, in the distance, I heard the hum of an engine and it was getting closer. I quickly stood up and pulled out my rifle. Rick opened the doors because he heard the noise too and he stood by my side.
Soon, a large truck drove down the road and parked in front of the church. I saw two figures sitting in front and they opened the doors, jumped out of the truck, and landed on the ground. They closed the doors and behind the drivers door, I saw it was Daryl.
At that moment, the rest of the group walked out and smiled at his appearance, but not me. I was shocked, happy, relieved, but at the same time, I was angry. I walked over to him and he opened his arms for a hug when I pushed him away. He stared at me as I walked closer and pushed him again.
"Where the fuck were you!" I raised my voice at him. "Why the hell did you leave?"
He raised his arms and allowed me to get angry and take it out on him. Tears started falling from my eyes and I grabbed his vest.
"Kell, I-" He began to say.
I pulled him in for a hug and held him tight. He slowly wrapped my arms around me and I kept crying.
"You said you wouldn't leave me again." I said. "You lied to me."
"I'm sorry Kell." Daryl said.
Daryl pet my hair and I soon calmed down. I looked down at my stomach and sighed.
"Damn hormones." I thought.
I took a deep breath and looked up at Daryl, who looked like he'd got beaten up. I felt a cut that was on his lip and then held his cheek.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Nothing. Just an accident." Daryl said and held my hand.
I then looked behind him and saw the young man he brought with him.
"Who's that?" I asked.
"This is Noah." Daryl said loudly so everyone could hear. "He knows where Beth is."
I backed up surprised and looked at Noah. I then looked back at Rick who walked up to Daryl.
"Where's Carol? And where's Beth?" Rick asked.
"Carol was taken by the same people who took Beth. They're at a hospital in Atlanta." Daryl explained.
"Let's go." Rick said.
No one argued or hesitated. This was something we had to do for Beth, it's the least she deserved. We gathered a small group, just me, Daryl, Rick, Noah, Tyreese, and Sasha, and prepared to leave. We grabbed everything we thought we needed, knives, AK's, and silenced weapons. Then we got in the truck and Daryl drove us to the city, which was a long drive.

~~~~~~~~~~

We finally reached Atlanta later in the day and parked a few blocks away from where Noah told us the hospital is. We climbed up a few flights of a halfway finished building, and laid out our plan to get Beth back.
Rick finally decided and told us what he wanted to do.
"At sundown, we fire a shot so the patrols will be looking around. Then we sneak into the building while the rooftop spotters are off task. Go to one of the stairways to the fifth floor and Daryl takes the guard out." Rick explained.
"How?" Tyreese asked.
"Slice his throat..." Rick said bluntly. "It's all about doing this quietly. Having the upper hand."
"What if there's a different way?" Tyreese asked.
Rick was about to disagree when I got an idea.
"There is." I said and they listened to me. "We take hostages, make a fair trade. Beth and Carol for their guards. No killing needed." I said.
Tyreese liked my idea and Daryl sided with me.
"Fine." Rick gave in and formed a new plan. "Noah, you will fire shots in the streets and lead attention to you. They follow you and we ambush them, and bring them back here." Rick said.
We all agreed on the plan and headed out. Myself, Daryl, Rick, Sasha, and Tyreese all hid in an alleyway that Noah was going to lead the officers. In only a few minutes, we heard gunshots and sirens blaring. The sirens were getting closer and stopped once they entered the alley.
"Hands up Noah." We heard a woman order.
I peeked around the corner and saw two officers holding Noah at gunpoint. He saw and and we nodded at each other.
"Okay." He said.
He slowly turned around to face the officers and that's when we all moved out of cover. We aimed our weapons at them and they looked confused.
"Drop your weapons." Rick ordered.
They listened and slowly got on their knees with their hands up.
"Just tell us what you want and you can have it." The male officer said. "Nothing has-"
"Shut up." Rick said and zip tied their hands behind their backs.
We watched at Rick practically "arrested" them and the cop noticed his demeanor.
"Can I ask you something?" The male officer asked.
Rick turned him around and looked at him.
"The way you are, the way you carry yourself. Were you a cop?" He asked.
Rick stayed silent and motioned Daryl and I to take them away when we heard tires screeching. We turned around and saw a black car speeding straight towards us. We fired our guns and ran out of the way before they could hit us. The two officers quickly got in the car and it drove off.
"Damn it." I yelled and chased after them.
Sasha aimed her gun and managed to shoot one of the tires. It turned the corner with a flat tire and we followed it. Around the block we found the car but it was empty. There were molten walkers stuck on the ground and we carefully walked around them.
We began carefully searching the area when we heard metal crash. The two officers started running away and we chased them down another alley. They ended up tripping over a walker and landing face first on the ground.
Rick grabbed the man's arm and pulled him up, and Tyreese grabbed the girl.
"Let's go." Rick growled.
I began following them but turned around when I didn't see Daryl.
"Daryl?" I called out.
I got no response and tried not to panic.
"Daryl?!" I called a little louder.
I heard loud grunts coming from where we came from and ran towards it. Back to where the molten walkers were, I saw Daryl getting beaten by a third officer. He pushed Daryl's head close to a walkers face and was inches from getting bit.
I ran over to them, shot the walkers, and kicked the officer off of Daryl. I held him at gunpoint and rage filled me. I was so tempted to pull the trigger and everyone knew it.
"Kell." Daryl said.
Rick came into view and saw me ready to kill the officer.
"Kell... Three is better than two." Daryl said.
I hesitated but soon nodded and let Rick zip tie the officer. He pulled him to his feet and we walked back to the building to regroup with the others.
Once we were back, we only saw one officer and Sasha was pacing the room with a cut on her forehead.
"I was stupid. So stupid." She muttered.
"What happened?" I asked.
"The officer knocked me out. He's gone." Sasha said.
I heard Rick sigh with frustration and he left the building to go after the officer. I walked over to Sasha and grabbed her shoulders. She looked at me and I saw she was flipping out, not only because of this but because of what happened with Bob.
"You're going to be okay." I told her. "You're okay."
She slowly breathed in and out and I sat her down in a chair. I cleaned up her cut for her while we waited for Rick to return.