Scars (Daryl Dixon FanFiction)

||Chapter Thirty Two||

I saw Carl in the corner of my eye, grasped his shirt, and pulled him close. His hat was smushed against my body making it nearly fall off his head. "You don't know how worried we were," he sniffled while I felt his tears make it way through my blouse. I put my head on top of his and whispered,"You don't have to worry no more."

People started to seperate to let Rick through. He then stood in front of me while I still held Carl's shoulders. We stared at each other for what seemed like forever before he marched into my arms and shoved me into his chest. I started to breath heavy knowing our little hate for each other was gone.

I'm home.

||That Night||

There was only a few hours left in the day. Beth and Maggie had cooked an almost Thanksgiving meal when they heard Daryl and I were coming back. We put all the picnic tables together and ate like a family. We talked about what had happened in the past month; the herds, the sleepless nights in the orphanage, the journal, and all in-between.

Then the question came.

"What about the Governor?" Glenn asked. All heads turned to me. I looked towards Daryl and noticed he avoided my eyes. His gaze then locked with mine before I wet my lips and sighed,"He captured me while I was asleep. Knocked me out and took me back to Woodbury. He took me to Milton so he could test on me, but Milton let me escape and gave me a knife to kill the Governor. And I did."

There was silence for several moments. Rick was the one to say something,"It's not over. It's never over. I'm expecting them to come for us. Soon."

The rest of the meal we ate in silence. Well, I guess there goes the happy moment.

After I finished my meal and helped with cleanup, I immediately went up to my room. It was just like the way I left it before we trekked on our mission to save me. The bunk beds were stripped of their sheets and only had the plastic mattresses on top. My bags lay in a heap in the corner of the room from my rush to talk to everyone when I got back. The doors curtains were pulled back to reveal the emptiness of the room. This was the first thing I could call mine since I first became part of their group. I remember when Carol first brought me here. It was right after the fight between Rick and Daryl over letting me stay. She had told me Rick was a little off key since his wife had just died in childbirth. I was supposed to help her cook, but ended up cleaning out the tombs with Daryl. And that's where we found Carol. She was a walker just like what maybe someday I will be.

I then heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Daryl with a small book in his hands. The journal. "I picked this up before I left that house. You deserve to know," he sighed handing me the battered book. I took it from here a hands before throwing it on the bed. He furrowed his eyebrows at me in question. I just shook my head, kissed him, and hugged him. His arms snaked around my back and pulled me closer. We stayed that way for a few moments before he broke away. I looked into his eyes and he did the same.

What was he thinking? What was I thinking? What are we to do now? There's no more threat at least that we know of. We're safe in the prison. We can grow here. Is this the happy ending?

"I'll let you finish it," Daryl sighed before letting go of me and walking down the staircase. I stood still until he reached the bottom. I then sat down to the journal and stared at it like it was my pure and only enemy. It soon found itself in my hands.

I was on the last entry and the apocalypse had started. I had never got a call from Ms. Darlene or any sign of communication that day or week everything went to shit, but I guess I'll soon find out.

'August 23, 2010:

Well, it started. The children are starting to get antsy and the older ones are understanding what's going on. I told them while the little ones were asleep that they cannot mention a word of this to them. If they ask, tell them different than the truth. I can't have them scared out of their pants all day.

The government has us taken care of. We are supposed to go to Washington D.C. It's ironic, I've always wanted to go there, but when I get the chance I don't want to walk out the door.

They say there's a sanctuary over there with electricity, food, water, supplies, and even housing. That's what they said about all the major cities, but Washington is the Capitol so it's bound to have the best. This is the damn end of the world! This is not your average change of the century, bible date bullshit! All this is real. So this will be my last entry. If some survivor somehow decided to read this to the end, I'm either dead or alive. Or maybe worse. Infected.

~Darlene Martin'

I gently closed the book. My heart was beating faster than my brain could process thoughts. It's been about a year since it all started. Wherever they are it might not still be there. And if it was, it probably wasn't in good shape.

I set the book down and sat up. I heard talking downstairs and decided to go check it out. Below was Maggie and Glenn in a heated discussion in the middle of the floor. I didn't want to disturb them so I walked to the end of the walkway to Daryl's room.

He lay in his bed twisting the point to his bolt on and off. I leaned against the door frame and just stared at him. He looked up at me and we locked gazes for a few moments. "They went to Washington D.C.," I sighed. He nodded his head and sat up,"So that's the end of it?"

I nodded my head.

"There could be something there. It's Washington, it's the capital of mother fucking America. The president lives there. There has to be something," I said. Daryl got up from the bed and walked over to me.

"Avery, we don't need to. We got this place that has fences and space. I don't wanna go risking our lives for something that may not be there when we have a sanctuary right here."

"I know. I know. It's just that the kids are there. The ones that I lived with for most of my life,"I sighed looking down at the floor. I could hear the whistle every time Daryl took a breath because he was so close.

"Goodnight, Daryl," I mumbled before going back to my room to sleep.