alone
i stood there silent, honestly feeling the most heart broken i ever was. words usually didn't hurt me, but this time. it stung.
"daryl, just stop" beth pleaded, reaching out to grab his arm, only for him to turn away, "no"
my sister, moved to where i was, rubbing my shoulder as she tried to comfort me. though my eyes never left daryls figure.
"the governor rolled right up to our gates. maybe because i gave up. that's on me."
even after the things he said, my heart softened for him, hearing the cracks of sadness in his voice as he held back the tears.
"and hershel. maybe- maybe i could have done something." daryl whimpered, causing beth to step to him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
she held him while he cried, me and davina stood back, watching the two until he was done.
me and daryl gave each other a sorry look before moving to the porch, davina stepped inside for a moment, soon returning with the crate of moonshine.
"i get why my dad stopped drinking" beth mumbled, breaking the silence as she sat beside me, daryl and davina across from us.
"you feel sick?" i questioned, turning so i could look at her.
"nope" she started, placing down her glass, "i wish i could feel like this all the time. that's bad"
"hmm, you're lucky you're a happy drunk" daryl muttered, carving stuff in the wood post with his knife.
"yeah, she's lucky. melanie is an angry drunk while i'm a sad drunk." davina smiled, glancing around at everyone.
"i'm a dick when i'm drunk." daryl started, pausing to think about something, "you want to know what i was before all this?"
beth nodded a bit leaning her head on my shoulder, "i was just drifting around with merle... doing whatever she said we were gonna be doing that day. i was nobody. nothing."
"you miss him don't you? merle." i questioned, fiddling with my ring, "i miss glenn. i miss his smile and how he'd always make sure i was safe."
beth smiled from beside me, raising her head off my shoulder, "i miss maggie. i miss her bossing me around and my dad."
she paused, fiddling with her fingers just like i do, "i hoped he'd just live the rest of his life in peace, you know?"
i nodded, glancing to where davina was, most likely beating herself up about being with those people.
"i thought you and glenn would have a baby. and he'd get to be somewhat of a grandpa. we'd have birthdays and holiday. and he'd get really old and it's happen but it'd be quiet. itd be okay."
i turned to look back at her, seeing her let out a small chuckle, forcing back the tears, "that's how unbelievably stupid i am"
i moved my hand, grabbing hers, giving it a little squeeze as i looked sadly at her.
"that's how it's supposed to be." daryl muttered, glancing between the two of us.
beth sighed, looking up at the ceiling, "i wish i could just...change"
"you did" me and daryl mumbled in unison, looking at the small, blonde haired girl.
she shook her head, "not enough. not like you guys. it's like you were made for how things are now."
"we're just used to things being ugly. growing up in a place like this" davina stated, causing memories of my childhood to flood my mind, remembering when we lived in a trailer and how our mom was to us.
"well, you got away from it."
she shook her head, "i didnt"
"we didn't" daryl corrected, turning to glance at my sister before turning back to us.
"you did" beth protested, earning a shrug from daryl, "maybe you got to keep on reminding us sometimes."
"no, you can't depend on anybody for anything, right?" she asked, crossing her arms over her stomach.
she hesitated for a moment, almost like she was thinking over what she was about to say. "i'll be gone someday"
"stop" we all scolded her, our eyes staring at her as she talked.
"i will. you guys will be the last people standing." she started, earning blank faces as we stared at her, "you are. you're gonna miss me so bad when i'm gone, daryl dixon."
my eyes moved to daryl, almost having the urge to cry as i listened to her.
"you too, melanie rhee"
i scoffed, "you aren't a happy drunk at all"
she smiled, "yeah, i'm happy i'm just not blind."
"you guys got to stay who you are, not who you were. places like this, you have to put it away"
daryl looked away, eyeing the dark woods and sky, "what if you can't?"
"you have to... or it kills you... here" she replied, placing a hand on her heart, the other one squeezed my hand.
i coughed, covering up my tears as i stood up, "i think we should call it a night"
beth looked up to me, smiling cheerfully, "we should burn it down."
daryl stood up too, moving by my side as he eyed the smiling girl, "we're gonna need more booze."
she let out a chuckle, quickly standing up to grab some moonshine, me and davina following them inside, soon drenching the place in it.
once we stepped a good distance from the trailer, i grabbed the lighter out of daryls hand, motioning for beth to take it, "you wanna do it?"
she smiled, taking it out of my hand, "hell yeah"
daryl held out a stack of money he had taken from the country club, letting beth light the stack on fire before throwing it on the porch.
the orange and yellow flames grew, mesmerizing my eyes as i watched. daryl pulled me back, moving farther away from the flames.
beth stuck up her middle finger, causing the rest of us to follow her league, doing the same until walkers started to appear, forcing us to leave.
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"it's a walker" beth smiled, referring to the tracks in the dirt as daryl tried to teaching her how to track.
"i'm getting good at this. pretty soon i won't need you guys at all." she stated, causing me and davina to smile.
"yeah, keep on tracking." daryl mumbled, motioning for beth to keep moving.
i walked by beths side until we got to an opening in the woods, seeing a walker feeding on some kind of animal.
"it's got a gun, davina needs one" she whispered, earning a small nod from me as we slowly started to walk towards it, daryl and davina close behind.
i heard a small click chime, and soon beths gasps as she fell to the ground, catching the walkers attention.
she still fired daryls crossbow, sadly missing, causing me to grab my knife out of my holster, running towards it before it got to her.
i grunted, stabbing my knife through the walkers head like my life depended on it, which technically it did.
daryl rushed to beths side, kneeling to help her get the animal trap off of her ankle.
"can you move it?" i questioned worriedly, rushing to her side, "yeah" she breathed out, trying to roll it.
"come on" daryl mumbled, slinging her arm over his shoulder, me on the other as davina led us out of the woods.
my eyes landed on a cemetery, along with a building that was most likely some type of funeral home.
"can- can we hold up a sec?" beth questioned, releasing me and daryl from her grip to bend down.
"you all right?" daryl questioned, glancing between us, unsure if we could keep going any longer.
"i just need to sit down" she explained, earning a nod from daryl as he handed me his crossbow, motioning for her to get on his back.
"are you serious?" she asked, looking at daryl as if he was crazy, "yeah, this is a serious piggyback. jump up"
she sent me a smile before hopping on, causing daryl to grunt, "you're heavier than you look"
we slowly started making our way to the building. davina opened the door, banging on the walls, just in case there were any walkers.
after a minute of waiting, we made our way inside, scoping the place out. "it's so clean."
daryl nodded towards beth, "someone's been tending to it. may still be around"
i shrugged, moving down the stairs and into a different room, seeing two corpse laying on gurneys.
i blinked, trying to shake the imagine from my head as i opened one of the cupboards, grabbing out a wrapping for beths ankle.
"let's get that ankle wrapped" i mumbled, moving towards her. daryl looked down at the corpse, unfazed by it all.
"looks like somebody ran out of dolls to dress up." he muttered, causing beths eyebrows to knit together, "it's beautiful. whoever did this cared."
i nodded, glancing between the three, "come on" i mumbled, ushering for beth to follow me into the next room.
after i wrapped her ankle, we all decided to head to the kitchen, rading the cupboards.
"peanut butter and jelly, diet soda, and pigs feet. that's a white trash brunch right there." daryl commented, looking up at all the snacks.
"looks good to me." i smiled, grabbing the snack i wanted, moving them to the counter, soon chowing down on everything.
"jesus, woman. are you pregnant?" daryl asked, watching me shove the food into my mouth.
i paused, thinking about it for a moment before quickly shaking my head, "no"
davina and beth laughed, earning an eye roll from daryl before moving into the next room.
i grabbed a spoon and peanut butter before leaving, taking a seat as i listened to beth play piano.
my sister took a seat next to me, "i have a question..." i started, causing her to look at me, letting out a mhm, "how'd you end up with them? the governor"
davinas eyes moved away from mine, staring down at my ring, "do you remember tara? my friend from college."
i slowly nodded, remembering the girl who would come over to my house on saturday nights and binge netflix shows with me and my sisters on the couch.
"we got trapped in together with her sister and niece. brian found us, made us feel safe. we never expected him to be that cruel."
i paused unsure what to say as i fiddled with my ring. "what about you? how'd you end up married and with these guys?" she asked, gesturing towards my ring and then to daryl and beth.
i huffed out a smile, looking up at beth, watching her fingers slide across the keys. "that's a long story"
she scoffed, "okay, give me the main points then."
"okay, um. glenn found me and rick, we met with glenns group, traveled to the cdc, found out there wasn't a cure, ended up on a farm, became best friends with beth, fell in love with glenn, the farm got overrun, ended up at a prison, got proposed to, and now we're here."
my sisters eyes widened, causing me to chuckle, nodding my head, "yeah, a lot happened while you were gone."
davina nodded as i watched her facial expression go from a smile to a frown. "what's wrong?"
her eyes looked up my ring and to my face, "do you know what happened to ken-" before she could finish, daryls shouts came from the other room.
i hopped out of my seat, davina on my ass as we ran to where it came from. my eyes widened, seeing daryl pushing up against a door, struggling to keep walkers out.
"run! run!" he yelled, causing me to push davina in beths direction, "get yourselves out of here, i'm gonna help daryl."
they both nodded, running to the door, disappearing from my vision. "come on!" i yelled for the walkers to follow me, hoping to draw some away from daryl.
i grabbed my knife out, moving to where they were coming, stabbing as many in the head as i could.
"melanie?! i told you to pack your shit and run" daryl started, grabbing my arm to lead me outside, "don't you ever listen?"
"daryl dixon, when have i ever listened?" i questioned, watching as he pulled my out the door, "yeah, you're right. never."
i forced out a laugh, scanning the place for beth and my sister. "come on" he stated, earning a nod as we ran towards where the road was.
my eyes landed on a bag with money and jewelry spilling out of it, knowing beth had it on her back when i last seen her.
"daryl, i-" before i could finish, tired squealed against the road, turning my attention to a car, quickly pulling away from the scene.
"davina! beth!" i called out, running towards the car, daryl followed, yelling their names over and over again.
we both ran until we couldn't anymore, causing me to break down. "no. no!" i shouted, falling to my knees in disappointment that i had lost them that easily.
daryl fell to my side, grabbing my shoulders so i would look at him, "don't do this, kid. we'll find them."
i forced a nod, trying to calm myself for daryl. "okay. okay" i mumbled, wiping the tears that fell from my face.
cowboy boots came into my vision, causing me to look up in hope that it might be rick. sadly, all i saw was an unfamiliar face.
"well, look it here." the man mumbled, my eyes watched as more men surrounded us, closing me and daryl in.
the man reached down to grab daryls crossbow, only to be punched by daryl, knocking the man to the ground.
i quickly stood up along side daryl, holding out my gun. "damn it, hold up."
"i'm claiming the vest, maybe the girl too." another guy stated, causing me to whip around, aiming for his head, just in case he tried anything.
"hold up" the guy on the ground mumbled, soon chuckling as he stood up , "a bowman and his chic."
i knitted my brows at his words, still never taking my eyes off the other guy. "you pull that trigger these boys are gonna drop on you and the girl several times over. is that what you want?"
daryl ignored him, still staring the guy down, as did i. "names joe" the man informed, causing daryl to hesitate, soon lowering his crossbow, "daryl"
"what about you, huh? what's your name?" the guy i was holding at gunpoint asked as i lowered my gun.
i looked him up and down before opening my mouth, "melanie rhee."
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3/4/2021