Life I Left Behind (A Daryl Dixon Story)

Chapter Forty-Six

Author's Note: Hello my lovelies! Just wanted to add a quick note in here to say thank you...almost 8,000 reads on this story and I can't stop jumping up and down! For months, I was stuck on 300 reads and all of the sudden the number keeps getting higher and higher and I am so happy to see so many people reading and enjoying my story. I would like to gain more followers though! So I was thinking maybe for every person that follows me, I'll dedicate at least one new chapter to that person when I update. What do you guys think? Anyways, enjoy the new chapter!

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Charlie

Present Day

Days passed, slowly turning into weeks. Rick seemed to bounce back and forth between sane and insanity. There were days he seemed to be almost himself again. This happened especially often when he was surrounded by his two children. Other days, though, he would disappear for hours at a time only to return silent and grave and giving absolutely no indication as to where he was spending his time. After the phone incident, I was worried about him almost all of the time. The others shared my concern after I relayed what had happened when I found Rick in the boiler room. We agreed, though, that not much could be done except to wait it out and see if time made him better. So far, it was still up in the air.

In the meantime, Daryl and Glenn seemed to have taken over Rick's role as leader, sharing the important task of taking care of the group and making all the serious decisions. It surprised me how well they worked together. The rest of us had no problem in following their lead. We were all just doing our best in trying to gain back some sort of sense of normalcy, like we had on the farm. I started giving lessons to Carl again, though he was more distracted now. I couldn't blame him, though, after everything he had been through. The other half of the time I was either trying to help out with the baby or finding ways to spend time alone with Daryl, which seemed impossible unless it was late at night.

"Rick's gone off again." Maggie's voice broke through my train of thought. I glanced over at her, watching as she made a bottle of the hungry baby. "I have no idea what he does all day, but him actin' this way…it sorta scares me." She admitted.

I nodded. "I know, Maggie. He needs to find a way to snap out of it." I watched her pass the bottle to Carol, who was smiling and cooing at the baby in her arms. "I'm gonna go try and find out what he's doing." I said abruptly.

"Good luck. I tried askin' once and he wasn't talkin'." Maggie shrugged. "I saw him go out that door, though."

I followed her eyes to the metal door that led outside the prison and quickly made my way out to the prison yard. It was warm, the sun blazing in the soft, blue colored sky. I filled my lungs with the fresh air as I headed towards the fence, keeping my eyes peeled for the sheriff. Unless he had left the grounds altogether, I was bound to come across him at some point. The door that led inside the prison suddenly slammed shut, making me jump a little. I glanced over my shoulder, a smile tugging at one side of my mouth as Daryl made his way over to me.

"Maggie said you were out here tryin' to spy on Rick." He said in an amused tone.

I snorted with laugher. "Somethin' like that. Just curious as to what he does out here all day. There's literally nothing out here." I said, shaking my head. "I'm just worried…he's acting crazy still and I think it's really starting to take a toll on Carl." The young boy had mentioned to me more than once that he thought his father needed to step down officially as the leader of the group, that he wasn't capable of helping any of us anymore. It made sad, hearing those words coming from Rick's own son. I didn't want to believe that Rick would be this way forever. My faith was diminishing little by little, though, with every day that passed.

I felt Daryl's arm slide across my shoulder, his thumb softly caressing the skin of my arm. I automatically leaned into him, breathing in his familiar, comforting scent. "It'll be fine. Rick's been through hell and back. Ain't no doubt he can come back from this too." His words succeeded in comforting me a little and I turned my head to brush my lips against the scruff on his cheek. He looked down at me, eyebrows raised in surprise. We still had been trying to be extra careful about keeping our relationship hidden, though it was becoming increasingly difficult. I wasn't sure how much longer I could do that, or wanted to for that matter. Before I could say any of this out loud, though, movement at the far edge of the prison yard caught my eye.

"Look, there he is." I said quietly, nudging Daryl's side.

"Yeah, what the hell is he doin'?" Daryl said under his breath. It looked almost as if the other man was talking to someone, the way he was gesturing with his hands. Only once again, there was no one there.

"I'm gonna go talk to him." I said. I shrugged Daryl's arm off me as I headed through the field. I could hear Daryl's footsteps behind me and we had reached the other fence in just a matter of minutes. Rick must have heard us coming because he abruptly stopped talking, although he didn't turn to face us right away.

"Rick, why don't you come back inside with everyone?" I asked gently, lacing my fingers through the chain link fence. The man kept his back to me. "What the hell are you doing out here anyways?"

I heard him let out a heavy sigh and he finally wheeled himself around, though he avoided eye contact. "I got…I got stuff…out here."

I raised my eyebrows, exchanging a look with Daryl. "What kind of stuff?"

Rick shrugged his shoulders. "Just stuff. I'll be back inside soon."

"Okay…" I replied unsurely. His answer didn't do anything to reassure me and I almost wished I hadn't gone out looking for him. It reminded me of the exact same way I had found him just two weeks earlier. I opened my mouth to say something else, to get more of an answer out of him, but the words didn't come. I wasn't sure what exactly to say to this man.

Daryl shook his head. "Come on, Charlie. Leave him be." He said gruffly, turning and heading back towards the prison. After a minute I followed, catching up with him. As we got nearer, I could see Herschel outside, waiting for us on his crutches. The look on his face made me worried.

"How's Rick?" He asked.

"Crazy as usual." Daryl answered.

Herschel's eyes sought out Rick at the far end of the field, where he still hadn't moved. "Well, we got more important matters right now. We're all out of formula." The older man said when he finally looked back at us.

"Already?" I asked.

He nodded. "Already. I told you we'd go through it fast. Glenn's gettin' ready to head out on a run. Thought I'd see if maybe you'd wanna go with me."

I nodded. "Yeah, sure. I can take him back to that town Daryl and I were in. See if there's a pharmacy or something."

Herschel said he would go let Glenn know I'd be joining him before disappearing back inside. When I looked back at Daryl, his jaw had set and his mouth was drawn into a thin line. It was an expression I recognized. "No, don't even. I'm going and there's not much you can say to stop me."

"Goin' into those damn tunnels was one thing, but goin' out there?" He argued.

"I won't be alone, Glenn will be there too."

"That supposed to make me feel better?" He rolled his eyes. "Somebody else can go. Hell, I'll go!"

I placed my hand gently on his arm. "That's the thing, though! With Herschel out of commission and Rick pretty much out of his damn mind, if something were to happen here everyone would be screwed…You're better off staying here." I said, trying to make him see reason. "This is important."

Daryl shook his head. "No, what's better off is you not gettin' killed. I feel like I spend all my damn time worrin' 'bout your ass."

I stepped closer to him, closing the space between us. "I know you do, and I worry about you too. But I can handle myself out there. I'll be back before you know it." I said, wrapping my arms around his middle. After a minute, he let out a heavy sigh and the tension in his rigid muscles subsided. I felt his lips on the top of my head.

"I don't like it. I gotta bad feelin' 'bout this one, Charlie." He murmured into my hair, but I could tell that he had already given in to the idea. "You're fuckin' stubborn as hell, you know that?"

I let out a laugh, burying my face into his chest. "I think I've heard that before."

Daryl pulled away, his hands on my waist. "I'll be pissed as hell if I don't getcha back in one piece."

I smiled, creeping up on my tip toes to place a kiss on his lips. "You worry too much."

Glenn and I were ready to go within the hour, loaded up in one of the SUVs. If all went well, we planned to be back at the prison before nightfall. Maggie slid open the prison gate as Glenn turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. The others lingered in the yard to see us off. I caught Daryl's eye and gave him a small smile. He returned it, though it looked too forced. I knew he still was struggling with the idea of letting me leave the prison without him. I was half expecting him to march over to the car and force me to switch places with him. He didn't, though. Instead he stood by with the others and watched with a worried expression as Glenn and I rolled through the prison gates and were off. I finally tore my eyes away from the rearview mirror as the concrete fortress as we reached the main road and the prison began to grow smaller and smaller behind us.

"Which way?" Glenn asked.

"Go right and keep going for a couple of miles. Shouldn't take us too long." I said, nodding towards the seemingly infinite stretch of road in front of us.

"Man, it feels good to be outta that prison." He said, giving me a slight grin as he hit the gas pedal a little harder. We shot forward, the trees beginning to race past us in a blur.

"Agreed…think about what it would have actually been like to be a prisoner there. To not be able to leave whenever you want to and just be stuck staring at the same four gray walls all the time." I replied, suppressing a shudder.

"Wow, aren't you a bright ray of sunshine." Glenn said sarcastically. "That was a little morbid, don't you think?" He joked.

I rolled my eyes, but felt a grin stretching the corners of my lips. "We live in a prison, Glenn. That's what's morbid."

"Good point." He let out a laugh.

I settled back into my seat, propping my feet up onto the dashboard. I had almost forgotten how much I liked Glenn's easygoing, laid back personality. He was so easy to get along with, it felt neither one of us really had to make much of an effort. In a way, he reminded me a lot of Gabe. They probably would have made pretty great friends. I had me so many different people throughout the past few months and most of them I had grown to care about and admire. It was strange to think about how if the world hadn't of ended, I met never have crossed paths with any of them.

"So…you and Maggie." I asked, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled in.

I noticed Glenn's cheeks heat up, though it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. "What about me and Maggie?" He asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know…I guess I was just thinking about how crazy it is that a zombie apocalypse brought us all together. And I think it's sweet that you and Maggie found each other in the midst of all this shit." I said, vaguely waving my hand.

Glenn nodded. "I know, I think about that too sometimes. How I came pretty close to never meeting her at all. It doesn't make me glad that all this happened…but I guess I'm just glad it all unfolded the way it did. You know what I'm saying?" He asked, glancing at me sidewise.

"I know. I completely understand." I replied, my mind wandering to Daryl. I had had almost the same thoughts as Glenn many, many times. Especially in the past couple of weeks. I had been so certain I'd never see that man again. I wasn't really a big believer in fate or anything cheesy like that, but there was some part of me that found it extremely lucky that somehow our paths found a way to cross. For that, I was thankful.

It grew silent in the car once again, as both our thoughts trailed off down different roads. I was almost glad I had time to just sit and think, allowing myself just this small piece of time to let my thoughts wander to wherever I wanted instead of being worried about everything else that was going on. It wasn't too long, though, before Glenn began to slow down. I broke away from my thoughts and glanced out the window to see we were at a crossroads.

"I saw a sign about a mile back for a little town just down this road. Think we should check it out? And then if there's nothing there we can keep going and hit up that town you and Daryl found before." He suggested.

I nodded slowly, peering out the window towards the country road though there wasn't much to see besides trees and fields. "Why not? We have time. Plus, there's a good chance it's another small town that hasn't been picked clean yet."

Glenn was turning down the road before I had even finished my sentence. We didn't have to go very far before the ghost town loomed up ahead. It looked almost the same as the place Daryl and I had found the daycare, very small and southern looking. There was a small town square with run down shops lining the street. I pointed out a sign over one shop that read 'general store'.

"That might be a good place to start." I said, looking over at Glenn.

He nodded before sliding the car up against the curb and putting it into park. I opened the door and climbed out onto the sidewalk. It was quiet, which always threw me off no matter where I was. I never got used to these towns and cities being so silent and empty. It was eerie and always made me feel like I was on the set of some sort of horror movie. I brushed these thoughts aside as Glenn and I carefully picked our away around the broken glass of the shop window and headed inside. As we examined the shelf, it was clear that someone had already been there but it must have been a small group as there was still plenty of things left. Luckily, the baby formula seemed almost untouched and I began shoving canister after canister into one of the empty book bags we had brought along.

"Found some formula." I said, glancing over at Glenn who was looking closely at whatever medicine was left on the shelves. He walked over closer to me and grinned when he saw how many canisters of the baby formula I had managed to shove into the backpack.

"This is perfect. I'll go put it in the car and grab another bag." He offered, as I held up the heavy bag for him to take.

I stood up from my crouched position and surveyed the rest of the aisle. I smiled a little when I caught sight of a small, colorful stuffed animal half hidden behind some empty cardboard boxes on the ground. I scooped it up, brushing off the layer of dirt and grime as best I could. It was cute and I couldn't part with the idea that baby Grimes needed to have it. Every kid needed a first toy. Maybe she was too young for it now, but someday she could play with it. I headed back towards the car to stow it away.

"Hey Glenn, check out this cute, little toy I found!" I said, a smile on my face as I headed out onto the street. As I lifted my eyes, I was stopped dead in my tracks. The toy fell limply from my hand.

"Hey there, sweetheart." The Hispanic man gave me a cold grin, gun pointed right at Glenn's head. I felt my gut clench and my hand automatically went to the revolver at my side. "Ah, I wouldn't do that if I wear you. Drop the gun onto the ground, or I swear to god I'll put a bullet in his head." My mind was racing as I slowly removed my gun and lowered it to the ground, my eyes never leaving the stranger standing in front of me. Where the hell had he come from? 'We should have been more careful.' The thought crept into the back of my head. "That's a good girl."

"Let him go." I said quietly, my voice shaky. I couldn't see Glenn's face, but he to have been just as terrified as I was. "We don't want any trouble." I kept my hands held up in a peaceful gesture, letting him know I wasn't going to try anything. At least not yet. I took a tentative step closer until I was standing side by side with Glenn.

"I don't want any either, sweetheart. I just wanna know how many in your group and where your camp is." The man with the gun said.

"I already told you it's just us. We lost everybody else a while ago." Glenn spoke up. His tone was surprisingly strong and unwavering for the fact that he had a gun point at him.

I nodded. "It's just us."

The man cocked his head to the side a little, a sneer forming on his lips. "Now why don't I believe you? Might have somethin' to do with this bag of formula." He said, kicking at the open pack at his feet. "Or maybe that toy you dropped back there. You can't tell me that was for you, honey, was it?"

Glenn and I were both quiet, knowing we had been caught in a lie. I had to get us out of this. If something happened to Glenn, or both of us, and that formula never got back…I couldn't even think about it. I raced through our options, though there weren't many and none of them were good. I needed to get that gun out of his hand, though. If I caught him off guard and at just the right angle, there was a chance I could do it and not get Glenn killed. God, but could I really risk those odds?

"How 'bout we all get in the truck and go for a little ride, huh? You guys can take me to your group. I just wanna talk to them. That's it." He said with an oily smile. I could have smelled his lie from a mile away. He wasn't even trying. He knew he had the upper hand here. Glenn started to answer and the man's eyes shifted away from me for a split second. That's when I took my chance. I took off and barreled into his middle, grabbing him around the waist. I reached for his arm and pushed it back as a shot rang out. I hoped to god it had missed Glenn. We hit the ground hard, my head banging against the cement. I didn't stop fighting, though, desperately reaching for the gun that had fallen from his grasp when we slammed to the pavement. He was too strong, and a second later I was on my knees and something cold and sharp was pressed to my throat. My chest heaved with every single breath, my heart pounding erratically behind my ribcage. I glanced up to see Glenn standing over us, my gun in his hand.

"It'll take me less than a second to slit her throat." The man growled in my ear. I felt the blade press closer to my throat and winced in pain. "Now drop the weapon and get in the damn car." The last thing I saw was the gun clattering to the ground before I felt his hand on the back of my head and my face meeting the side of his truck.