The Lost Dixon // The Walking Dead

Ch. 80

The Lost Dixon

Ch. 80- Power of a Switch From a Burch Tree

Daryl's Point of View:

I enter the cell again, holding onto a thin, skinny branch- a birch tree switch. I walk around the corner and find the girl sitting against the wall. I look down at the switch, braking off a few branches and tearing off some leaves.

"You know, some dads would come up with any excuse...just to beat the shit outta they're kids. Maybe they're drunk. Maybe they can't get drunk. Belts are good. But these assholes, they ain't picky. They'll use whatever's layin' around. But a good switch from a birch tree...that'll work. Your sounds like a lot like one of those dads. Except the part where he sang to you when you were scared. Those dads...they like it when you're scared. Thing is, that's the only part of your story that didn't sound like bullshit. Now, you knew exactly what this was when I walked down here. And those bruises on your arm, they come from a beating. So let me ask you, if your dad's dead, who gave 'em to you?" The girl inhales deeply and looks me in the eye.

"My mom." She answers. 

"Where is she?" I ask.

"Be glad you don't know." She shrugs. 

"Where is she?" I demand. "Where's her camp? Why you protectin' her? Huh? You're safer here." 

"This place isn't real." She shakes her head. "The world changed, and you're all acting like it's gonna change back. My mom walks 'cause that's what the dead do. It's their world, and we have to live in it. And what my mom does, she does for a reason." She rolls up her sleeve and reveals the bruises again.

"Your mom beats you 'cause she loves you?" I ask. "That's bullshit." She shakes her head.

"No, it isn't." She says. "When you stay soft, people die. That man my mom killed, he turned. My dad tried to stop him from getting me, because I just stood there like an idiot. Because my dad was soft. He died, because of me."

"You were just a little girl." I shake my head. "It wasn't your fault."

"I was stupid." She argues. "I deserved to die. But my dad was soft, and now he's the one that's dead."

"What was he supposed to do?" I ask. "Just watch his little girl get bit?"

"When you can't bend, you break." She says. "He broke."

"That's not true." I shake my head. "We're making it better. We're building it back up again, changing it back."

"Yeah? Then your sisters an idiot for getting knocked up." She says. "You don't belong with these people. Maybe you used to, but not anymore. You're hard, they're soft. Your sister is soft." 

"You don't know shit about me." I growl.

"So tell me." She nods. I pull away from the cell and walk away from her. "Hey, I told you what happened to me. Tell me what happened to you." I turn the corner and made my way towards the stairs. "Hey! Tell me!" She shouts after me. I step out of the cellar and push the doors open. I turn towards the front of Barrington House, deciding whether I should go check on Reece or not. I wanna. I do, I wanna sit and talk to her, maybe bring her outta this state she's in. But it's hard for me. I can't bring myself to sit there and talk to her. To look her in the eyes. I mean, her 22 year old son is sitting in that room, hoping and praying she comes back. Me? I'm avoiding her as much as I can. Using the girl as an excuse to check in on her, to sit with her.

"You could've just asked me to help." I turn my head and see Henry sitting next to the doors of the cellar. I ignore him and continued to walk. "Hey! Daryl! Where are you going?"