The End of a New Beginning // Daryl Dixon

Part 38

Meredith

Ty and I went off to find some water, keeping Harley with Judith and the girls. Ty talked to me about staying here, claiming we didn't have to go to Terminus. It would be nice to stay here, we could make it safe. But having Rick's baby, knowing there are others out there who could be alive still, I don't wanna miss out on them. I wanna be able to get back together with them. And Sasha, Ty can't possibly think she's dead. There's no way.

As we made our way back to the house, we heard frantic screams in the distance. Ty and I dropped the buckets of water and ran for the house. We turn to the backyard and find the girls stuck on the wire fence, a walker pulling on Mika's leg. More walkers getting closer to them. I paused for a moment, firing my gun at the walker fighting with Lizzie for Mika's leg. We demand the girls behind us and we have a quick shoot out with the walkers, taking them out. I turn my head and find Mika firing her gun. And on my left, Lizzie raised her gun and fired at the walkers.

As soon as the last one dropped down, we were safe again. I turn to Lizzie, giving her a tight hug and praising her for overcoming the craziness in her head. It probably wasn't easy, but she was easily able to kill the walkers, when in reality, she tries befriending them.

"Is everyone okay?" Harley asks, standing at the door and holding judith. "If anything happened, I wanted to make sure I had her." I walk over to Harley and gave him a small hug.

"We're okay. Thanks, Harley." I tell him. He nods his head and we all head inside. The girls remained inside while Ty and I headed back to collect more water again. Once we were inside, the girls had taken a short nap. It was dark once again, ending the long eventful day.

Lizzie and I sat at the table, making away with dinner for the night. She wasn't helping much, more like siting in her head once again.

"I had to help and stop them." She says, noticing me staring at her.

"Do you understand what they are now?" I ask her. She turns to me.

"I know-I know what I have to do now." She nods. "I know."

"It's ugly and it's scary and it does change you." I tell her. "That's how we get to be here. That's the cost. That's growing up now."

"I don't wanna hurt anyone." Mika chimes in. "I don't wanna be mean."

"You have to be sometimes." Lizzie explains.

"But just sometimes." Harley nods. He looks down. "Somebody tried killing me. I wasn't going to let him. So...I had to do the unthinkable- I had to kill him to save me." Mika looks down.

"Well, we have a lot of pecans here." I fill the silence.

"A ton." Lizzie smiles.

"You getting sick of them yet?" I ask Mika.

"Nope." She giggles. The girls help me crack more pecans and laid the nuts down on a pan. We had three bowls laid out for us- sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg. The girls dipped the pecans in the spices and laid them on the pan. Once I felt we had plenty, I allowed them to pop them in the oven.

*****

The next morning, Ty and I went off on a walk. Harley kept watch of the girls and Judith. I wanted to talk to Tyreese about Lizzie, what we should do with her. I'm getting the feeling she's beginning to understand everything- the walkers. But we're gonna have to help her better understand. We need to help Mika, too. She's gotta understand what it means to survive. She has to.

"The girls like it here. Harley, too." I tell Tyreese. "We could build it up, plant more food. All that work at the prison with Rick paid off for me. We could find a car for an escape route just in case." I huff out a breath.