Broken strings---➤ Daryl Dixon

23

I think I prefer stealth over guns. It definitely doesn't cause my ears to ring. As a group we move cautiously through an unguarded building, however by the looks of this town it's pretty huge and finding Glenn and Maggie won't be easy. Plus there seem to be people in the town still wandering the streets.

Michonne suggests different places to look but we are all anxious of being caught and don't want to make unnecessary trips. Our debate is cut short when a man enters the building. Rick is quick to subdue him but the man doesn't have any idea where our people are being held. Daryl eventually knocks him out and I glance out the window to see if there are any other people around.

"It's clear." I whisper to the group.

Out of nowhere, we all hear distant gunfire. My body tenses and I hold my bow ready. Rick leads us out into the street and towards the building with the gunfire. It's a dimly lit hallway but at the end, we hear voices.

"Get up, let's move."

Rick and I pull the safety pin of smoke grenades and throw them at the men. Once they're disorientated, we move in to recover Glenn and Maggie. I help my brother stand and as the smoke clears my fury only increases at the sight of my brother's bloodied and bruised face. I try my best to keep him steady but I can tell he's in a lot of pain.

We take cover inside a different building and Glenn collapses to the floor. For a while I'm too engrossed in helping him, I didn't even realize Michonne had left until Maggie points it out. I pull off my hoodie to give to Glenn and he coughs before managing to talk.

"Daryl," Glenn gains the hunter's attention, "This was Merle."

My eyes widen, who would've thought leaving him on a rooftop would have consequences? I look over at Daryl, whose face twists to something unreadable.

Glenn continues, "He threw a walker at me, he was going to execute us." Glenn looks at me and then at Rick, "I'm sorry, I told them we were at the prison."

I give his hand a gentle squeeze and try to reassure him that it's okay. Maggie and I help Glenn stand but before we go Daryl stops us.

"This is my brother I got to go see where he is-"

Before I know it I snap at him, "And look at what he did to Glenn. We are outnumbered and going to end up getting caught."

Rick thankfully agrees that now just isn't the time and we, as a group, need Daryl more than I think he realizes.

Using the cover of more smoke grenades, we make our way back onto the street. I raise my gun and stay close to Glenn. Bullets fly at us pretty soon after. The noise is overwhelming, and it's hard to tell which direction it's coming from. I aim my gun high at the men guarding the wall and pull the trigger. For a moment it dawns on me that I've killed a living person. I suppose with how everything has been it has become easy to kill walkers without thinking twice about it, but now I've killed a person but in all honesty, I'm too angry to care, so I aim at someone else who is shooting at us and I pull the trigger once again.

We take cover behind one of the walls, but the odds are stacked against us. Knowing that, Daryl says that the rest of us keep going whilst he covers us. We manage to push forward, reaching a weak point in the wall that has a place for us to climb over. Oscar helps Glenn up and over the wall but he is suddenly shot and Glenn falls.

"Shit." I mutter and try to help the prisoner but he is unresponsive. "I'm really sorry." I close my eyes and stop him from becoming a walker, and then turn to help Glenn and Maggie.

"Rick, Daryl we've got to go!" I scream over the gunfire.

Rick joins us but I can't see Daryl through all the smoke, I try shouting his name again but Rick pulls me away and we loop around to a different part of the town to wait. We hear a noise behind us and discover Michonne looking worse for wear. Rick pulls out his gun asking where she went.