infection | D. Dixon

chapter twenty-three

Devastation

Daryl threw another punch across Randal's face. "C'mon man! I already told you!" Randal screamed. Randal was the boy we had taken from Shane's crusade at the supermarket, we were trying to find where they were holed up, but all we had was the little information that Shane had given us during the fight.

"You haven't told me shit!" Daryl said forcibly sitting him against the wall.

"I hardly knew those guys! I met them on the road!" Randal screamed. Frustrated Daryl drew his knife. "Thirty! Thirty! Thirty! Thirty guys." he stammered as Daryl drove his knife to the ground beside him. I sat up straighter.

"Where?" Daryl growled.

"Uh..." Randal trailed off.

"C'mon guy! You're making Daryl out to be the bad one!" I groaned, motioning to Daryl's knife.

Daryl ignored me and Randal focused on Daryl's knife. "We were never in one place for one night. And it's not just guys! There's women and children, like you." He said. "The men would go out scavenging, one night we came across this campsite, a man and his two girls, teenagers man. Real young. Real cute. And they didn't even kill him after! He watched as his girls..."

Daryl and I made a second of eye contact before Daryl attacked Randal.

Once I dragged Daryl out of there, I followed him up the hill. "Shane's got a gang. Thirty men. They aren't looking to make friends." Daryl said as we walked towards the people of out camp. "They come through here, our boys are dead. Our women--" Daryl glanced at me from the corner of his eye, "they're going to wish they were." He said.

"What did you do?" Carol asked.

"Had a little chat." Daryl said. As if we couldn't see his bloody knuckles. Daryl walked off and I went outside. Through the open window I could barely hear Hershel speak to the group.

"I bandaged him up a bit. Rick said we wouldn't need to fix him completely because he will not be staying." Jasper said. "He said members of our group had met their group once before."

I glanced at Rick, knowing exactly what had happened.

+

I walked into the bar, right behind two men. I had killed the rest of their group, I had their blood all over me. But I pretended like it was because of a departed, I knew they had others on the way.

"Well who is this?" The first guy, asshole number one, asked.

I smiled pliantly, "my name is Reaper." I said.

He smiled, "I'm Dave." he said.

I nodded, "that's nice, I knew a Dave once." I said.

"What was he like?" His friend asked.

I smiled, "he was an asshole."

Dave's friend laughed. "My names tony."

"I'm Glenn." Glenn smiled, "it is nice to meet new people." he said.