Epilogue
10 YEARS LATER
"Shh!" Carol hushed me. I was grabbing my knife strongly, ready to strike. Carol slowly placed her bow on her back and pulled her knife too. She nodded for me to follow her and I did. She launched an attack on the walkers coming towards us. I pressed my back against her back and we stabbed and stabbed and stabbed the heads of those walkers.
"Is there any more?" I asked quietly.
"I don't see more," she replied. She moved fast and kicked in the door. I glanced back above my shoulder, then I followed her. Suddenly I heard that way too well-known sound of a walker growling right beside my right ear. I turned in an instant and stabbed its head while another one crawled towards me and grabbed my ankle. Its lower body was missing, pulling its organs after it. I stepped on its head with all my strength, crushing the skull. I learned that move from Daryl. Carol glanced at me and nodded. We hurried further inside the building.
"Are you sure it's here?" I asked.
"Yeah... it was here a long time ago... and honestly, how many people need glasses in the apocalypse? It must be untouched," she said.
We were hurrying along a corridor when Carol suddenly stopped. I stopped too. And that's when I heard it. They were coming from both sides. Carol grabbed her bow with one move and shot the ones coming from the front, and I turned back for those which were coming from behind, taking them out one by one. It went on for a little while till we finished and continued our way, through the dead bodies, avoiding them.
"This better be worth it," I said.
"He needs those glasses," Carol stated.
"He will never wear them," I said.
"I will make him," said Carol simply as we continued. Unfortunately, Daryl's eyesight deteriorated. He started missing his shots and then it happened more and more often. Carol noticed it and knew something was wrong. Daryl would have never admitted. He said he was tired and that he didn't pay attention really and so on... always coming up with an excuse. Even Judith noticed something was off. And of course, Daryl felt ashamed that he is not perfect, so we had to keep it a secret. And here we are, Carol and I, trying to find glasses for him. Carol opened another door and finally, we found the shop. She broke the glass doors without a second thought.
"You always knew how to make an entrance," I said, she chuckled. The glasses in the shop were covered with thick dust. They were sitting there for over 20 years.
"We can't clean these. The dirt will scratch the lenses," she said and kept looking.
"Yeah... what about the store?" I asked.
"We should check that door," she said. The door was locked but Carol managed to open the lock. There were several piles of glasses in boxes. Carol opened one and there wasn't any dust on them at all.
"Bless plastic boxes," she said sarcastically.
"At least they were good for something," I said. She started looking at their descriptions.
"How will we know which ones to take?" I asked.
"No idea... We will bring as many as we can. One of them must be a fit," she said and packed the boxes in her bag. I did the same. We filled four large bags with boxes of glasses and hurried back outside the way we came in. No more walkers. We loaded the bags on our horses and off we were back towards Alexandria.
"I know already what I will say to make him wear one," said Carol proudly as we were trotting back home.
"What?"
"He wants to see the wedding," she said proudly.
"Ooooh, that's a good one," I said happily. I couldn't wait to see Daryl in glasses. "Grandpa..." I chuckled to myself. Carol smiled too.
"Don't ever say that to him, because that would definitely make him NOT wear one."
"Why? He is a cute grandpa," I said still very entertained. Carol chuckled too.
"Wouldn't Negan want one?" she asked.
"Hmm... I don't know. Maybe he should," I said.
We arrived back in a good mood. We brought all the bags to the hall. Daryl appeared immediately like he smelled our arrival.
"Where've you been?" he growled.
"Raiding," said Carol simply. Daryl looked at the bags suspiciously.
"What's in those?" he asked.
Carol put a box in front of him.
"No! Hell no... uh-uh... never," he said and wanted to leave but Carol grabbed his arm.
"Oh, come on Daryl, don't be childish. It will help you," she said.
"I'm never gonna wear that thing," he stated.
"Daryl please, it's for your own good," I tried too.
"Nope," he said while Carol was still hanging on to his arm. She flashed her big puppy eyes with an angelic smile.
"Don't you want to see Lydia and Henry at their wedding?" she asked gently. Score. Daryl hesitated. I could almost hear the wheels turning in his head, thinking hard. He glanced at Carol and then at me.
"I hate you," he stated and grabbed a box. He put on the glasses, squinted, took it off, grabbed another box. He tried some of them till he found one he could see better with. Carol was smiling contented.
Daryl looked at me with the glasses on.
"Can you see?" asked Carol.
"Yeah..." said Daryl grumpily, he was offended.
"It looks good on you," I said smiling. He shot a killer glance at me. He put the glasses in a case and slipped them in his pocket, then left without another word. I exchanged glances with Carol and we burst into a quiet giggling.
"I knew that was going to convince him," said Carol.
"He looks cute I don't know why he feels like this," I said.
"He thinks it's a weakness. And he is the strong, invincible Daryl Dixon," said Carol theatrically.
"Oh, yeah. Of course. I almost forgot," I said chuckling.
"There you are," said Negan appearing by the door. "I was looking for you everywhere."
"Hi, darling," I said and pecked his cheek while he was looking at the boxes.
"What's all this?" he asked.
"Glasses," said Carol.
"Really?" he asked and started checking them out.
"Maybe we should try some too. Who knows?" I suggested. So Carol, Negan and I, we all tried some glasses on and realized we all needed one.
We left the hall with the three of us wearing our new glasses. Rick was coming along on the street with Judith. They looked at us surprised.
"Why are you wearing glasses?" asked Judith.
"Because we're old," said Carol.
"Hey, talk in your own name," said Negan. I just chuckled.
"Is this because of uncle Daryl?" asked Judith again.
"No, it turned out we actually did need them. Finally, I can see your pretty face," I said as I pinched Judith's cheek. She chuckled.
"Don't you need one too, dad?" she asked. Rick looked at us smiling.
"My daughter just called me old," he stated, making us laugh.
"Noo, I didn't mean like that!" said Judith.
"Yeah, you did, I know... It's okay... you know what? I'll take a look," said Rick pretending to be offended but actually he noticed for quite a while that his eyesight wasn't as good as before. They disappeared in the hall. We didn't realize Daryl was watching the entire scene, leaning against a tree. We returned home. The wedding will be tomorrow, so we should get ready.
Henry and Lydia are getting married... time flies so fast.
As Negan and I stepped in our house the kids came downstairs in a hurry, greeting us and getting surprised.
"What the hell are you wearing??" asked Carla in the same tone as Negan usually talks which made me smile. We explained to them what glasses were for and they were so surprised.
"See? We can make them happy with such everyday items," I said. Negan scoffed.
"Hey, Glenn, don't break it," said Negan and gently took the glasses from our son's hands.
"I wasn't gonna break it," he said offended. "I was just checking it out."
"Yeah? Like bending it?" asked Negan scoldingly but still smiling.
"It can break easily," I added gently.
"Sorry, mom," said Glenn.
"Do we need to wear them too?" asked Carla.
"No, darling, your eyes are perfect," I said.
"Alright, we should be getting the dinner ready," said Negan putting his glasses back on.
"Can we go to Uncle Daryl for the shooting lesson?" asked Carla excitedly. She and Glenn really liked Daryl's crossbow and they wanted to learn how to use it. So Daryl started teaching them.
"Are these kids mine or Dixon's?" asked Negan joking.
"Shut up," I pushed Negan playfully, chuckling. "You can go. Come back for dinner time, okay?"
"Alright, mom!" said Carla and they were already out.
They were really excited about the wedding though. The shooting lesson might keep them occupied in the meantime. Carla was at Aaron and Jesus' wedding, but she was still a toddler. The same goes for Carol and Daryl's wedding. So this was the first wedding in a while and everyone was very excited. The whole of Alexandria was buzzing. A lot of people came from the other communities too. Eugene and Max arrived with Rosie today. Eugene couldn't stop laughing when he saw Negan in glasses, but then he realized he might need one too. What can we say? We were getting old.
...
Everyone took their seats and the old farts were all wearing their glasses. Carol, Negan, I, and even Rick and Eugene. Daryl glanced around uncomfortably. Not that he had to wear a suit again, but now he should wear glasses too? It was the worst day of his life.
Eventually, he let out a deep sigh and put his glasses on. And we clapped for him.
"Okay, stop it, I'm taking them off," he said grumpily. I patted his shoulder smiling. Gabriel started the wedding and the glasses stayed on.
It was a happy day and we had our own little ongoing joke about the glasses. As soon as the ceremony was over, Daryl quickly got rid of his glasses and slipped them in his pocket.
At least we made progress. Carol smiled at him and rested her head on his shoulder. Finally, Daryl smiled a little.
We had the greatest party ever. Carla and Glenn finally saw a wedding and it was a really good one too.
Probably you are wondering at this point what Maggie said about naming our son after Glenn. Of course, it made her emotional. But also, she was happy about it. Hershel wasn't as understanding as her, but he was moved too.
After all we have been through, seemed like peace finally remained. Ten years without losing anyone. Ten years without war. Ten years in peace. And we were about to keep it up. Till the day we die. We managed to build a place where our children can grow up safely. And that's all a parent can ask for.
All that crap we have gone through with Negan... seemed so distant. Like it never happened. But somehow... I cherished the painful memories too. Because it made me stronger. I learned something from them. And without pain, there is no happiness. Actually, there is... but we feel happiness so much stronger if we experienced pain before.
If I wasn't separated from Negan... I would have never experienced the moment when I saw him again. When he was waiting on that meadow by the spikes with Alpha's growling head beside him... When he looked so moved and when my heart wanted to break out of my chest with every step I took towards him... If there is pain, you can feel happiness stronger. Making it more meaningful.
And I watched my children, Carla and Glenn, dancing with the other kids, making me smile. Negan looked at me and I turned my eyes to him as I sensed it. He smiled at me and kissed my lips, like he read my mind. He rested his hands on my waist as he backed away a little bit.
"Can I have this dance?" he asked.
"You don't even have to ask," I said smiling, pecked his cheek and we joined the others, dancing slowly.
And we lived happily ever after.
Just like a fairytale... with zombies.
...
Author's notes: For one last time, listen to the theme song of the fanfic:
"I fell in love with the devil" by Avril Lavigne. ❤
Well, dearies... that's it. I would like to Thank You very much for reading it all the way through. I have been writing this for 3 years... It was quite a bit part of my life, my routine. I really loved writing it, but it's time for me to move on.
Thank You very much for reading this. ❤
And now, I would like to say Goodbye with my favorite videos. The ones that inspired me very much to write this fanfic. Unfortunately, links aren't allowed, so you will have to search for them on Youtube.
For Daryl:
Daryl Dixon | On My Own | The Walking Dead (Music Video) by Mate Gamez
For Carol x Daryl (video made by my dear friend):
Daryl Dixon: Smalltown Boy by Cataclysm
And finally, let's go out with a blast with our dear Negan:
Negan Monster Skillet The Walking Dead Music Video by AmberAfton_Gold
Thank You for everything! ❤