Double Crossbow (Daryl Dixon) [The Walking Dead]

Chapter 41 ↣ Some reunion, huh?

To my surprise, he chuckled. "No, dear, but an old man can dream."

I unbuttoned my shirt once we were inside his cell. The black fabric pooled on the ground as I dropped it.

"Did I ever tell you about my first wife?" Hershel asked as he got out his needle and thread.

"I heard bits and pieces..."

"Well my Josephine was...utter perfection. I, on the other hand, was a complete, well...jackass. The bottle had gotten me, just as it had gotten my father. When Maggie was born, I gave it up and she gave me a second chance." He laughed. "It was more than second, but we'll just stick with that." I narrowed my eyes at him, seeing where he was headed. He gave me a little smile as he saw he'd been caught. "I am forever grateful that she gave me that second chance."

"Not everyone deserves a second chance," I replied.

Hershel nodded. "That is true, but think long and hard before you shut that door completely."

Daryl

She looked different. She walked different. All the differences were piling up in my head, making it spin.

Once Merle was squared away, locked up where he couldn't start a fight on the very first night. I cautiously began my search. By the way the group members avoided eye contact, and a rather intense glare from Carl, I could tell they all knew something I didn't. I had feeling I wasn't going to like it either.

I nearly ran into Hershel as he stepped out of his cell. He spoke in a low voice. "We are all happy you're back, son." He placed a hand on my shoulder. "Some of us are just a little more reluctant to show it." Gesturing over his shoulder into his cell, a sense of dread started to sink in.

I mustered up whatever courage I had left, and pushed passed him to face her. I stood quietly in the doorframe, with my head bowed. Peering up at her, I saw her torso was covered in bandages. Only a few parts of her skin could be seen, and they weren't her normal pale complexion but the purple and green of healing bruises.

She avoided all eye contact as she grabbed her shirt and started to shrug it over her shoulders. Her stony expression flickered as her injuries were no doubt bothering her. Instinctively, I took a step inside the cell to help her but stopped myself there. She finished fastening the buttons of her black shirt. I shifted as my nerves were going to strangle me.

"You can save your words," she said in a dead voice. "There of no use to me."

Chills ran up my spine. "Kath—"

"Don't call me that."

It was a punch to the gut. Where did I even begin? All I wanted was to hold her, but I didn't feel like losing a tooth or being choked out. I opted for one step closer and corrected myself, "Kathryn, Rick told ya what went down, right?" She rose to her feet and kept her eyes straight ahead as she approached the door. I saw she was going to leave without one word, I quickly grabbed onto her wrist. She froze, and we remained like that, her not even looking at me. "Don't walk away," I pleaded.

"What? Like you did?" she growled.

All the air left my lungs. She was right. "Sixty seconds," I pleaded, standing my ground despite the fact my legs felt like Jell-O.

For the first time in such a long time, her green eyes met my gaze. I flinched away as the anger behind them was unparalleled to anything I'd ever seen. "So you get to walk away whenever you goddamn please, but I'm supposed to stay put and wait for your sorry ass?"

And just like that, I could feel the remains of whatever was left in me break into tiny pieces. She ripped her arm from my now loosened grip. She raised an eyebrow, expecting an answer. She gave an awful laugh that made my insides knot themselves and sneered at my silence. "What? Kat got your tongue? Here's the answer." She took a step forward; I could feel the heat radiating off of her. Her voice was venom as she said in a low voice, "There is no more time to waste on you. This...this is your last second." She waited a beat before pushing past me.