I hate to say this, but this will be the last chapter. It brought me to tears, thinking about it. There is not a second book. I know this sounds cheesy, but I thank all of you guys from the bottom of my heart for reading this and giving me tons of love and support!
The first story for Wattpad that I wrote was a Supernatural fan fiction. I deleted it, however, soon after I wrote the first chapter because I thought it was crap. Then, the same thing kept repeating itself with all my other stories. When I broke the news to real-life Cassie that I was writing a Walking Dead / Daryl fan fiction, she said, "Are you going to keep it this time?" And I did! I've grown so much as a writer because of you all. My future in the entertainment industry is owed to you walker killers!
If you are thinking about writing a book or a fan fiction, go for it! I never thought that I would enjoy writing. Fun fact: I was actually held back in the first grade because I was a terrible reader and writer. You never know something, until you try it. Without further ado, I present to you, the last chapter:
Karen and David laid in front of Daryl, Carol, Rick, Tyreese, and me, burnt. I tried to keep a poker face, though the aching holes of sadness screamed out inside me.
"Wait, somebody burnt them because they had the flu?" Carol wondered, but no one answered her.
"You found them like this?" Rick asked Tyreese.
"I came to see Karen." Tyreese was hypnotized by Karen's burnt flesh. "And, I saw the blood on the floor and I smelt her." He paused for a second, then he put more life into his words. "Somebody dragged them out here! They set 'em on fire!... They killed them and set 'em on fire!" Tyreese's strong and sharp movements to Rick made everyone stand on their toes. Daryl and I positioned ourselves to get ready to strike Tyreese if it was needed. "You 'a cop; you find out who did this, and you bring them to me, do you understand? You bring 'em to me."
"We'll find out-" Daryl put his hand on Tyreese's shoulder, wanting to break the eye contact of Tyreese and Rick. However, Tyreese immediately pushed him off.
"Do you need me to say it again?" Tyreese kept his stance to Rick.
Rick was back in his old position again: the group's leader. He decided it when things started to get hectic again. Yesterday, cell block 'D' got attacked overnight... by Patrick and Aubrey. Patrick died of some kind of flu, we think. Aubrey, though, Patrick turned her. Overnight, Aubrey and Patrick feasted on the sleeping. When I saw her, I didn't feel anything. Well, I made myself not feel anything. All I had to do was take all my emotions, compress them into a tiny ball, then stuff deep down. I guess that's why there's so many holes in my heart right now; they want life again. That's not going to happen. This world isn't made for life anymore. It's made for survival.
"I know what you're feelin'." Rick tried to calm him. "I've been there. You saw me there, it's dangerous."
"Karen didn't deserve this. David didn't deserve this. Nobody does."
"Alright, let's-" Daryl tried again to break the eye contact between Tyreese and Rick.
Tyreese grabbed Daryl's hand and pushed him up against the brick's, saying, "Man, I ain't goin' nowhere."
Daryl put his hands up to let Rick and I know to not intervene. He lowered them and stared Tyreese in the eyes. In a calm voice, with rasp, he said, "We're on the same side, man."
Tyreese and Daryl didn't break eye contact, while Rick said, "Look, I know what you're going through. We've all lost someone." I kept my hand on my knife. "We know what you're going through right now, but you- you've got to calm down." Rick tried to move Tyreese, to get him to look at him, by touching his shoulder.
Tyreese let go of Daryl and pushed Rick away from him. "You step the hell back."
"Hey!" My voice strained, as I slightly stepped in between them, losing my breath.
"She wouldn't want you acting like this." Rick told Tyreese how Karen would feel.
Tyreese didn't take kindly to that. His fist slammed into Rick's face, deja vu striking me. Rick's knees touched the ground. In the wrong moment, I threw myself over Rick, thinking Tyreese would stop hitting him. I was wrong. Tyreese's fist slammed into the back of my head. Like a bobble-head, my forehead slammed into the side of Rick's face.
"Stop!" Carol screamed out. Everything went blurry for a moment. I didn't know what was going on. When it got clear again and the tingly feeling in my head started to stop, I saw that I was laying on the ground. I pressed my hand to the back of my head. "Are you okay?" Carol was to my aid and moved me up against the wall. "Ami, can you hear me?"
I forgot that I didn't reply, "Yeah."
"Let go of me!" Rick's voice calmed out for sanity and pushed Daryl off of him. Tyreese was on the ground almost in a fetal position, blood was on his face and knuckles. Rick held his hand, while staring down at Tyreese, then he put his hand on his head, where I assumed I hit him.
"C'mon." Daryl helped raise me to my feet. I didn't realize he was there, until he was touching me. "Are you dizzy?"
"Not really," I lied, my head was aching, I felt like I was going to throw up, and there was a taste of blood in me mouth. Daryl opened the cell block 'A' for us. "Where are we going?" I removed Daryl's supportive grip around me.
"Dr. S."
"What about me?" He appeared.
"She hit the front and back of her head. You mind checkin' her out?"
"I'm fine."
"No, he's right, you might have a concussion." He turned around, facing his cell again. "Alright, come in."
Daryl attached himself to me, again. If a dizzy spell hadn't have hit me again, I would have protested his grip. However, his grip was the only thing keeping me steady. Plus, a ringing had started in my ears. I tried to hide it, but the pain must have been too great for me to hide, without Daryl suspecting it.
"What's wrong?" He sat me down.
"Oh, my God," I couldn't hold it in. I threw up, getting some on my shoes. When I stopped, I cradled my head in my hands.
"Put this on." Dr. S said, I looked up to see who he was talking to. He was handing a bandanna to Daryl.
"What's wrong with her?" He asked, as Dr. S covered his own face.
"I think she might have the flu Patrick had." He stood me up. "Get everyone out of the cell block." He started moving me, but he looked back at Daryl. "Put it on! And get everyone out!"
*
The room spun, as I was sitting in the corner of the room, waiting for Daryl to come back and feed me information about what happened in the council room. I didn't like the silence in the room, it made me think of the death I'm soon to come to and all the things I, now, regret doing. I didn't question that I had whatever flu that Patrick, Karen, and David had. I was ready to die, anyway. I'm tired of being strong and pretending that we're 'blessed.' I'm tired of pretending there's a God watching over us. Because, if he is, he's a fucking jack-ass, not holy at all.
An un-expected cough came out, carrying blood with it. I almost gagged at the strong taste of blood in my mouth. I was getting worse. Sweat was beading down my face, which I had to wipe away with my shaking, blood covered hand. I stared at it, trying to get it into focus. When I did, it reminded me of how Rick stared at his hand after he got done hitting Tyreese. I couldn't help it, tears started running down my face. It's the scariest thing in the world: not knowing. You always wonder if there's a heaven, but when it's almost time for you to get there, you get scared. What if there is? If there is, I'm not going to be there. I've done things that would make the devil scared, since the end of the world.
My mind couldn't stop running, not taking more than a few seconds on one subject. What do you do when you're about to die? Luckily, Daryl walked in. He had his face down and stopped when he reached the middle of the glass. Then, he looked straight forward. Not being able to see him very well, I tried to stand up. My shaking body struggled, but, for Daryl, it stood up and walked over to him. I sat in a chair next to the window. My vision took a second to get in focus, but when it did, I could see Daryl's puffy eyes and eye lashes were wet. I couldn't help but feel his pain. The pain grew in my heart, masking my other pains and holes. Then, the pain made tears start coming down my face again.
"It's okay," I lied.
"There's a veterinarian college that Hershel thinks might be still stocked. It's about fifty miles, though." He covered his pain up. "I'll be back tomorrow, okay?"
I looked at him like he was crazy. "Hell, no." My tears seemed to stop.
"I'm going to get antibiotics for you."
"No, I'm going to allow you to waste fuel and risk your life for me."
He punched the glass and turned around, leaning against the window again. "Why are you being so selfish?"
"I just think it's time to accept the fact that I'm going to die, Daryl." Another cough came out with blood. I wiped it off on my pants.
"Accept it!?" He turned around, tears on his face.
Instantly, tears started building up, looking into his ocean-blue eyes, knowing this was one of the last time I was going to see them. "Listen to me," my shaking voice started, tears now rushing down my face. My tears stopped me from talking, coming too much. I wanted to be able to wipe his tears away. "Sooner or later, there's fights you can't win."
He broke down, while his head touched the glass. After a moment of watching the person that I would kill and die for, he lifted his head, wiped the snot away, and walked out of the room. I stared at him as he walked out, not knowing what to say. Then, he opened the door to my room. He had a bandanna over his mouth and nose.
"Get out!" I covered my mouth and stood up.
He wrapped his arms around me. I tried to push him back, but I felt him shaking, both of us were. Plus, I didn't have the strength to push him away, mentally and physically. I needed to hold him, as much as he needed to hold me. Our heartbeats aligned with another. Then, his forehead touched mine, making one of his memories drop on my cheek and role down my chin.
"I'll be with you soon." He assured me.
"No," Sweat and tears got into my mouth. "Later rather than sooner, you hear me?" My head began dizzy, my knees were giving out, due to my lack in strength.
"I love you, Ami."
"Don't ever think I don't love you more." I said right before my knees hit the ground.
A huge gasp of air went into my lungs, making me jolt foward. Cassie pushed my feet off her legs. She was watching I Love Lucy. The door bell rang twice.
"Ami, get the door, damn." She tried to move closer to the TV, while still sitting in the same place.
"What? What time is it?" I could taste the warm breath in my mouth, telling me I've been asleep for about an hour or more.
"Oh, my God, can you get the door, please?" Cassie turned her head around to look at me. Her eyes begging me, like always, to do something for her.
"Fine," I stood up and threw my pillow at her.
"Fucktard." She told me, throwing the pillow back at me. I laughed as it hit me, even though I dodged out of the way.
The door bell rang another time. "Alright, shut up!" I opened the door.
Aubrey stood in front of me and said something. I wasn't paying attention to her. My eyes were curious about the man standing next to her. He stood awkwardly. His face was almost cat-like, with a storm settling in his eyes. It was almost like deja vu. He looked so fimialiar.
"This is Daryl," Aubrey gestured towards the man.
"Hi," I said, still trying to figure out where I knew him from. He looked into my eyes. "You look so familiar. Where do I know you?" I thought out loud. He just shrugged, wandering if he should look at me again. "Come in," I told Aubrey and him. It was killing me. I knew him from somewhere.
"Where's Cassie?" Aubrey asked, walking without me leading.
"Living room." I followed behind Daryl and Aubrey.
"Hey, Cas," Aubrey greeted her.
They can't standing, so I past by them and sat down next to Cassie. She turned off her TV and looked at Aubrey. "Hey, who's that?"
"Oh, this is Daryl. He's leaving soon, though." Aubrey informed us.
"Oh," Cassie looked like she was upset that she had to turn off I Love Lucy.
My mouth hit me for a sudden need of a cigeratte. I tried to resist the urge, while Cassie and Aubrey talked, but I couldn't. I stood up and started walking out of the room to the front door, hoping to go unnoticed. Cassie didn't really like me smoking.
"Where're you going?"
I was like a child that got sneaking a cookie. "Uh, just goin' outside to enjoy some air." My voice sound convincing, I thought.
"My ass," She put her legs under her, standing up then sitting back down.
"I'll bang that later," I gave a smile and a wink then walked outside.
The refreshing air was destoyed by my cigeratte smoke. The taste was sour, but loving to my tastebuds. I stared and enjoyed the truck the Daryl owned in mine and Cassie's driveway. Then, the door next to me opened. Daryl came out and shut the door. He just stood there, waiting, I guess. He, then, pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one. Daryl looked at the ground, giving me a chance to glance at him. I couldn't place him. Where have I seen him before?
"I like your eyes," I hope that didn't come off as flirtatious. But, I really liked his eyes. They were bright blue, with secrets and pain in them.
He looked at me, acknowledging that he heard me. His mouth remained shut, besides taking and letting out smoke.
"How'd you and Aubrey meet?" I didn't like silence.
He waited to answer. "I was at a gun show with my brother. She was helping."
"Oh," I didn't care. "Hey, you're tall, come here." I started walking toward a tree. When I turned around, he was behind me. "Do you mind gettin' that ball?"
He looked up. "With what?"
"Here," I handed him a rake. He took it and started at it. Then, the ball fell to the ground. "Thanks," I reached for it. Our hands just barely touched, yet my heart yearned for more. I didn't give it what it wanted, though.
A motorcycle's engine peered through the quiet street. It stopped in front of the driveway and waited. The motorcycle gave me deja vu. Daryl looked over and raised his hand, holding his cigeratte, then he turned back to me.
"Bye," his lightly rasped voice told me, as he started walking away to his truck.
"Hey, Daryl," he turned around, as he gripped the truck handle, to look at me. I couldn't let him leave without knowing I'd see him again. "There's another gun show next weekend. Uh, if you're going to go, tell me, I'll come, too, okay? I can get ya' some deals; I know a lot of people there."
He lookes at the guy on the motorcycle, almost like he was trying to think of something to get him out of going with me. "Yeah, uh, okay," his response shocked me. "Um, I'll come over Friday, 'bout 6?"
I nodded my head. "Alright," I couldn't help it. A smile, all on its own, appeared on his face. Then, Daryl removed the cigarette from his mouth, showing a smile, quickly removing it, though. He got into his truck and started it. It purred like a cat, then he backed up and followed the motorcycle.
I started to lift the cigarette to my mouth again, but I stopped it, looked at it, then dropped it. My foot crushed it. With a smile still left on my face, I walked back into the house with Cassie and Aubrey.