All That's Left (The Walking Dead FanFiction)

Chapter 25

I clamp my hand over his mouth and shake him awake.

When his eyes flutter open, I put my finger to my lips. “There’s people here. They’re trying to get in.”

The room is completely dark and I can hardly see him. All I can do is feel. I feel my heart lurch inside my chest. I feel my knees go weak. My body starts to shake. My vision goes blurry.

I take my hand off his mouth.

“Get Sam. Grab the gun out of the closet. We’re gonna climb out the window,” he whispers, his voice far calmer than mine.

I go to the closet, my legs nearly giving out from under me, and quickly locate the gun I found when I rescued Sasha. My pulse races, allowing the adrenaline to course faster through my veins. The adrenaline kicks in and I feel less afraid.

I go to grab Sam off the bed, silently praying he doesn’t wake up. By the time I have the small child in my arms, Daryl is at the window, opening it with his good hand.

I hear the front door open.

We both freeze; my eyes lock on his. 

We’re going to die.

He takes Sam from my grasp. “As soon as that door opens, you shoot,” he says.

The color drains from my face.

“Don’t hesitate. Just do it,” he instructs again.

I hear their footsteps. I turn the safety off. I watch the handle to the door twist. I breathe.

When the door finally opens, I don’t hesitate; I shoot.

The sound is like an explosion. My ears ring, my body stumbles backwards. Sam starts screaming. A dark silhouette falls to the floor. Blood pools on the ground. I remind myself that there’s probably more. He didn’t come here alone. I rush into the living room. My finger steady on the trigger.

A force comes at me from behind, making my body crash into the floor. The gun flees from my grip. I try to fight them off, desperately clawing at them with my finger nails. A hand collides with my cheek. I’m so stunned that everything goes black. The right side of my face ignites in pain. My energy to fight is depleting more and more by the second. Whoever this person is, they’re going to kill me.

Abruptly the weight on my back goes limp. I feel liquid seep through my thin shirt. I finally manage to crawl out from the underneath the body that was attacking me and when I look up, I see Daryl hovering over me with a bloody knife in his hand.

“You were right,” he whispers, despite Sam’s screams coming from the bedroom.

“Right about what?” My voice comes out labored.

“That guy in the woods. These were probably his people,” he says.

Guilt clouds his eyes as he drops the knife in his hand.

“Daryl, there’s no way you know that for sure. Besides none of us got hurt,” I explain, doing anything I can to ease his pain. I attempt to regulate my breathing even though adrenaline continues to flood my veins. The room is still completely black. I can feel the darkness starting to affect me.

He picks up a handgun from off the floor. “I should of listened to you.”

“These people could be anyone, and odds are they probably don’t even know the guy who tried to kill you.” I eye the gun in his hand. He spins it around in his hand twice before pressing the barrel against his head.

“Daryl, what the hell are you doing?” I scramble to my feet. 

“I just –“ he chokes on his words; tears pool in his eyes. “I can’t live without her anymore, you know?”

I search his gaze, my heart lurching in my chest. “Why now? You’ve lived without her for so long. Why would you give up now?”

My thoughts race as I contemplate a world without him. I can already see it happening: parts of his brain flying everywhere; his blood pooling on the carpet; him leaving me; taking away the only ounce of happiness I’ve been lucky enough to get in this world.

 I have to keep him alive.

“You don’t know what it’s like,” he snaps.

“Daryl, Sam needs you. I need you. Please don’t do this,” I murmur.

He flicks the safety on and off.

“You have two people who love you. Please don’t,” I beg.

“Prove it,”

My voice shakes as I speak the first thing that comes to my mind. “I’d rather be beside you in this world than with someone else in the world the way it was before. You can’t leave me, and more importantly you can’t leave your son.” I begin walking towards him, hoping I can knock the gun from his hands before it’s too late.

He tosses the weapon onto the floor; everything inside me deflates. I run to him, my arms wrap around his neck as he softly cries into my shoulder.

“We promised each other no more leaving, remember?” I manage to say.

His arms tighten around me.

We stay like this for a few moments before he gently pushes me away to go get Sam. Long after he leaves my grip, I still feel his touch on the small of my back. I try to remind myself to breathe—thinking of a world without him made me forget how to live.

The house is coated in blackness and blood. My entire t-shirt is drenched in red. I need to ask Daryl what we plan on doing. Grabbing my knife, I approach the bodies lying on the floor and drive the weapon into their skulls. The last thing we need is them turning.

Daryl returns—I see his silhouette leaning against the bedroom door, holding Sam with his good arm—and he clears his throat before he speaks.

“We need to leave. Right now,” he murmurs.

Reaching for my backpack off the floor, I nod, realizing I’d leave anywhere if it meant leaving with him. “Let’s leave.”

We walk in almost complete darkness. We thought about using the flashlights the intruders brought with them but soon decided against it in case there were more of them close by. When we went to use the car, every single tire had been slashed.

 Sticks crack beneath my feet, sending my anxiety through the roof. I keep waiting for a walker to appear in front me. To sink its teeth into my neck. I think no matter what I’ll always be waiting to die.

My eyes constantly wonder to Daryl. I need to make sure that he’s here. That he hasn’t left me. Ever since he tried to kill himself my mind continues to picture a world without him. The ache in my heart doesn’t leave.

“That house at the end,” Daryl nods. “We’ll stay there for the night.”

Using a rock, I break the glass on one of the windows, creating a hole big enough for me to climb through. Inside the house is silence. Darkness threatens to swallow me. I listen for any other breathing besides my own. The house feels off—like my presence isn’t alone.

“Get the damn door, Macy!” Daryl shouts.

My heart lurches in my chest at the sudden volume of his voice.

I clench the gun tighter in my palm and quickly make my way to the door. Daryl brushes past me, setting his gear on the floor while holding Sam with his good arm.

He turns towards me. “Welcome home.”

Just as I’m about to respond, I hear a familiar voice say my name.

“Macy?”

*** Again, I'm so sorry that my updates take forever! It's really hard for me to write and do all my schoolwork, I apolgize for this update being really short too! But fall break is coming up so I should have more time to write. Thank you to all of those who have stayed with me and continue to vote for my story, it means everything to me!!

-Jaimie