𝙴𝙿𝙸𝚂𝙾𝙳𝙴 𝚂𝙸𝚇𝚃𝚈-𝙵𝙸𝚅𝙴 - 𝙱𝙰𝙱𝚈
𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙽𝚎𝚡𝚝 𝙳𝚊𝚢
It was the next morning for the Dixon family and Madelyn was snacking on a cereal bar when she noticed a record sitting on one of the shelves. She smiled and remembered they had a record player in their living room and she just had to play it. Daryl was still upstairs, getting ready for the day. He was putting his usual angel wing jacket on when he heard music coming from downstairs. He tilted his head in confusion and made his way downstairs where he saw his wife dancing and singing along to a record that was playing.
I had all and then most of you
Some and now none of you
Take me back to the night we met
I don't know what I'm supposed to do
Haunted by the ghost of you
Oh, take me back to the night we met
Daryl smiled as he leaned against the door frame when Madelyn turned around and smiled. "We ain't never met during the night. It was during the day." Daryl said.
"Come and dance with me." Madelyn said as she came towards him but he backed away.
"Nah, I don't dance." Daryl said.
"Well, too bad. You're dancing today. We got married and never even had our first dance." Madelyn said as she took his hands in hers.
"I...uhh...I don't know how to dance." Daryl admitted as he looked down. No-one had ever taught him. Sure, he knew how to defend himself, how to hunt, how to take care of himself but when it came to dancing, that was a big no.
"It's easy. You place one hand here." Madelyn said, guiding one of his hands to her waist. "And the other hand stays in mine."
"What about my feet?" He asked.
"Just move them along with mine...like this." Madelyn said before moving her feet, making Daryl copy her. "Yeah, just like that."
When the night was full of terrors
And your eyes were filled with tears
When you had not touched me yet
Oh, take me back to the night we met
Daryl smiled as he started to get the hang of dancing with his wife and decided to twirl her, making her smile and laugh. Before the song could even finish, there was a knock on the front door, making Daryl quickly step back. He didn't need anyone else seeing him dance. That would be embarrassing and the relentless teasing would never stop. Madelyn laughed as Daryl quickly left the living room and went to the kitchen to get something to eat before they both left for work. Madelyn opened the door and saw Glenn.
"Hey, Glenn." Madelyn said.
"Hey, Mads. Just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing." Glenn said.
"We're doing great." Madelyn said as the pair looked at Daryl who was eating an apple.
"Did you get a job yet?" Glenn asked.
"Yeah, D and I are Alexandria's recruiters. Pretty exciting. We're starting today." Madelyn explained. "What about you? What did you get?"
"Oh, I'm a supply runner. I'm still good at getting in and out of places." Glenn said. "Glad I didn't get anything boring. Anyways, I should get going. See you around."
"Bye." Madelyn said before Glenn left. "D, ready to go?"
"Yeah, come on." Daryl said. The couple both grabbed their stuff and left their house. They met Aaron on the street before getting into their vehicles and leaving Alexandria.
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When the three got to the woods, they found bodies cut up into different pieces. They had found a light which suggested it had to be from a person and they followed it, only to find body parts. "Whoever did this took what was left with them." Daryl said. "This just happened."
"What kind of sick person would do this?" Madelyn asked Aaron as Daryl moved forward.
"I don't even know what to think." Aaron shrugged before they followed Daryl. As they looked around a little more, they saw a body tied up to a tree. It was a woman.
"Oh my god." Madelyn gasped. The woman had blood all over her and her guts were spilling out.
"She's tied up and they fed on her. Tore her apart." Aaron said. "This just happened?"
"Yeah." Daryl nodded.
"How the hell did this happen?" Aaron gasped as Daryl lifted up the head of the woman as he and Madelyn saw the letter 'W' carved on her forehead. The woman then opened her eyes. She was a walker but Daryl quickly killed her.
The group walked away but Madelyn couldn't help but wonder what 'W' meant. Daryl and Aaron clearly didn't think much of it so they decided to keep moving to see what else they could find.
"Some came through here a while ago." Daryl said as they walked through the woods.
"If we see them, we hang back." Aaron said. "Set up the mike, watch and listen."
"Like you did to us, right?" Madelyn asked with a smirk, making Aaron look away.
"I had to know if you were good people. You are." Aaron said.
"For how long though?" Daryl asked.
"Till we know." Aaron said. "We have to know."
"Have you ever sent people away before?" Madelyn asked as they crossed a little stream.
"Yeah." Aaron said.
"What happened?" Daryl asked.
"It was early on." Aaron said. "It was three people. Two men and a woman. Davidson was their leader. Smart as hell, strong. I thought they'd work out. They didn't. I brought them in and I had to see them out. So me, Aiden, and Nicholas, we drove them out far, gave them a day's worth of food and water and left them."
"They just went....like that?" Madelyn asked.
"We had their guns. We had all the guns." Aaron said. "I can't make that kind of mistake again."
"And you won't." Madelyn said.
"Maddie and I got this." Daryl said. The three carried on walking until they made it to an old factory where food used to be produced. There were walkers in the courtyard but the group were luckily behind a steel fence.
"We checked the forests. We checked the roads. We can't find him." Aaron said. "Sometimes they slip away. It happens. But, you don't come across something like this everyday."
"We do this now, it means we're giving up." Daryl said.
"Home is fifty miles back. It's time to go." Aaron said. "There's bad people out here."
"And that's why we need to keep looking for the good ones." Madelyn said.
"We need more people and we'll find them but when we do, we'll need to feed them." Aaron said.
"Alright." Daryl said before pulling his knife and hitting it against the fence to get the walkers' attention. Once they reached the gate, the three killed the walkers before heading inside to see if they could find any food. There were large trucks parked and the group hoped there would be plenty of food inside.
When they got to the back of the truck, Madelyn and Daryl had a look around as Aaron crouched to the shutter of the truck. "Whoa, never thought I'd see one of these." Aaron smiled as he took his bag off and tried to open the shutter. "By the way, I don't like giving up either, but the guy is in a red poncho. You can see him from a mile away." Aaron then pulled the license plate off to add to his collection. "We've got a lot of miles here. No sign of him but we come away with a trailer full of cans, I'd say that's a good trip."
"I think I'd use a better word than good, Aaron." Madelyn said as Daryl opened one of the shutters of the truck. To their surprise, the truck was filled with walkers. All the shutters were opening, releasing tons of walkers onto the three. Daryl quickly grabbed his wife's hand and the three ran as fast as they could but there were walkers coming in all directions. Daryl pulled a knife out and Aaron and Madelyn pulled a gun out and they all began killing as many walkers as they could.
There were too many walkers for the three of them to handle so they went to hide under one of the trucks until they could figure out what to do. The walkers were starting to crawl under the truck and Madelyn noticed the same 'W' on their foreheads.
Daryl grabbed a chain and the three of them climbed out from under the truck. Daryl used the chain to kill the walkers as Madelyn grabbed Aaron and pulled him away with Daryl following. They managed to escape into a car that was in the courtyard and watched as walkers surrounded them.
"Glass will hold for a while, right?" Aaron asked, making Daryl nod.
"Maybe. Maybe we make it so they can't see us." Daryl said. "In a couple hours, something will come by, they'll follow it out. There's gotta be something we can use to cover the view. Maybe cut up the seats."
The three looked around until Aaron found a note which said, 'TRAP. BAD PEOPLE COMING. DON'T STAY'.
"I knew there was something going on." Madelyn said as they all sat back and waited for the walkers to leave. Daryl chuckled slightly.
"What?" Aaron asked.
"I came out here to not feel all closed up back there." Daryl said.
"The irony, huh?" Madelyn said as she played with his hair.
"Even now, this still feels more like me than back in them houses." Daryl said. "Pretty messed up, huh?"
"You were trying." Aaron said.
"Yeah, you really did. I noticed." Madelyn said.
"I had to." Daryl said. "For Maddie, for the group."
Madelyn squeezed his hand. She saw how hard Daryl was trying to feel more comfortable in Alexandria and she appreciated that. She was proud of him. It's never easy being thrown into a new surrounding and that fact that Daryl was trying so hard, for her, for the group, it meant a lot.
"Listen, I saw you with your group out there on the road." Aaron said. "You went off with Miles to the barn and the storm hit and you led your people to safety. That was it. I knew I had to bring you people back. We should've kept looking for that guy in the poncho. I shouldn't have given up."
"I'll go." Daryl said. "I'll lead them out. You take Maddie and make a break for the fence."
"Um, no. That's not happening." Madelyn said before looking at the windows and still seeing tons of walkers surrounding them.
"No, this was my fault." Aaron said.
"D, you're not going." Madelyn said.
"It wasn't a question." Daryl said. "It ain't any of your decisions. Ain't nobody's fault."
"No, you don't draw them away. We fight. All three of us together." Aaron said.
"Now, there's a plan I actually agree with." Madelyn said.
"Maddie, if something were to happen to you, I wouldn't be able to live with myself." Daryl said.
"And you think I would if something happened to you, Daryl?" Madelyn asked. Daryl sighed as he looked outside. There were too many walkers for one person to handle.
"We go for the fence. We do it together." Aaron said. "Whether we make it or not, we do it together."
"We have to, D. Please, don't do this by yourself." Madelyn begged. Daryl looked at Madelyn and sighed. He didn't want to risk her life but maybe they did have a better chance of getting out if everyone fought together and not just him by himself. "I love you, Daryl and I'm not losing you today."
Daryl nodded and gave her a light kiss. "Alright. But if anything happens to me, you take Maddie and you run. You don't look back. You don't come back." Daryl said to Aaron.
"Yeah." Aaron nodded.
"Nothing is going to happen to you." Madelyn said.
"Let's hope so. Ready?" Daryl asked the two, making them nod before they each grabbed their weapons. "We go on three. One, two-"
Before Daryl could say three, Aaron noticed a walker being killed by his window. "Who the hell was that?" Madelyn asked as the door opened. Everyone stepped outside and saw a dark skinned man with a backpack and a stick fighting off the walkers. Together, the four of them began fighting the walkers before running for the fence and making it out alive.
"You okay?" Daryl asked in a panic as he checked his wife.
"Yeah, I'm good." Madelyn said as she did the same with Daryl. Everyone then turned to look at the mystery man.
"That was-" Aaron said before looking at the man. "Thank you." The man just nodded. "I'm Aaron, this is Daryl and his wife, Madelyn."
"Morgan." The man said.
"Why?" Daryl asked.
"Why? Because all life is precious, Daryl." Morgan said.
"Well, we can't thank you enough, Morgan." Madelyn said, making him nod.
"Whoever set that trap, they're coming." Aaron said. "But I have good news. We do. We have a community not too far from here. Walls, electricity, it's safe. If you'd like to come join us-"
"I thank you." Morgan said. "But I'm on my way somewhere. Fact is, I'm lost so if you could tell me where we are." Morgan pulled out a map and handed it to Daryl. Daryl opened the map and both he and Madelyn saw a note written on it.
Sorry I was an asshole, come to Washington. The new world's gonna need Rick Grimes.
The couple looked at each other before looking at Morgan. "You know Rick?" Daryl asked.
Morgan scrunched his face in confusion. "You know Rick?" He asked.
"I think you should come with us, Morgan." Madelyn smiled.
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When Madelyn, Daryl and Aaron brought Morgan back to Alexandria, they led Morgan to where he would find Rick. When they found him, Rick was covered in blood. He had just shot a man to death in front of the residents of Alexandria. Madelyn had no idea what went down while they were gone.
"Rick?" Morgan asked, making Rick look up in shock when he saw Morgan with Aaron, Daryl and Madelyn.
"Let's leave them to talk. We'll catch up with Rick later." Madelyn said to Daryl who nodded. The couple went home and got themselves cleaned up after the rather eventful day they had. "That was a stupid thing you did, volunteering to go out there and distract those walkers by yourself."
"I had to get you out of there, Maddie. I couldn't let anything happen to you." Daryl said.
"Do you really think I could let anything happen to you? I would die, Daryl. I would. I can't lose you. I can't." Madelyn said as she began to think of a life without Daryl. It was a rather scary thought.
"I'm sorry." Daryl said before hugging her tight. "I'm just still getting used to this place. I know this place is the one, Maddie. I know it is. That's why I'm ready."
"Ready for what?" Madelyn asked as they pulled away.
"I'm gonna put a baby in you."