I'll Take The Pain (A Daryl Dixon Story)

Hold On

"We're not leaving," Rick said as he walked along the cells. Hershel was quick to reply, "We can't stay here"

"What if there's another sniper?" Asked Maggie. I leaned against the wall by the stairs and I could feel Daryls stare on me. I hadn't put my hair down since he got back. I knew he liked it down so there was no reason for me to keep it down. Maggie then continued to speak, "A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds."

"We can't even go outside," Beth said as Carol added, "Not in the daylight."

"Rick says we're not running, we're not running," Glenn argued. Merle then spoke up and said, "No, better to live like rats."

"Ain't no one talking to you, Captain Hook," I said to him. Rick then asked him, "You got a better idea?"

"Yeah, we should have slid out of here last night and lived to fight another day. But we lost that window, didn't we?" Merle said. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest and said, "There's no 'we' that includes you. Doesn't matter if you used to be with them or who you may be related to, but you were with the enemy."

"Were. He ain't now," Daryl argued with me. I ignored him as Merle continued, "I'm sure he's got scouts on every road out of this place by now."

Daryl then walked down the balcony towards Merle saying, "We ain't scared of that prick."

"Y'all should be," Merle said, "That truck through the fence thing, that's just him ringing the doorbell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers. And if he takes the high ground around this place, shoot, he could just starve us out of he wanted to."

"Lets put him in the other cellblock," Maggie said, just to be cut off by Daryl, "No. He's got a point."

I scoffed and said, "Who's side you on, Robin Hood? You gotta choose. You can't keep flip flopping to whichever side suits you."

Daryl just glared at me as Maggie said to Merle, "This is all you. You started this."

"Whats the difference whose fault it is? What do we do?" Beth said quickly as Hershel responded, "I said we should leave. Now Axels dead. We can't just sit here."

Rick started to walk away, making the old man stand up from where he was sitting on the stairs and yell, "Get back here!"

I flinched at his yelling and walked a little farther away from the man. I moved so I stood under the perch and I leaned my shoulder on the wall, watching from a distance. My reaction wasn't missed by Daryl. He was carefully watching me once I flinched. Rick had stopped walking away and Hershel hobbled towards Rick, "You're slipping, Rick. We've all seen it. We understand why. But now is not the time. You once said this isn't a democracy. Now you have to own up to that. I put my family's life in your hands. So get your head clear and do something."

Rick just sighed and nodded. I just got up off the wall and said, "It'd be best if we prepare for another attack. If Hook here is right, the Governor is going to come back and attack, this time actually trying to kill us. We need a solid plan and we need to do an inventory check. See how much ammo we have for what guns, see what kind of guns we got, and see if we would be able to withstand another attack. No matter what, we need to make sure we are ready. At all times."

"Damn, girl. You really know your shit. Ya military?" I heard Merle ask. I just glared at him as Daryl said, "She's Army. Master Sergeant."

I scoffed and said, "That's only half of the story."

Rick then looked at me and I shrugged, "I lied to you back at the farm. I did make it to the Master Sergeant ranking, but that isn't the whole story. In fact, Daryl knows a lot more than he's letting on because I told him. Now, I'm regretting telling him."