SURVIVE.
❝ Let the end of the world be
inside you, then you don't
need to fear the end
of the world out there. ❞
THE WALKING DEAD.
DARYL DIXON.
BOOK ONE of the LANCASTER SAGA.
[ SEASONS 1 - 3 ]
******
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[ xvii. a choice ]
october 27th, 2010
➸➸➸
"YOU AIN'T STAYIN' HERE. Get up!"
Daryl Dixon's furious growl sliced through the room. Astrid's once-pounding heart had steadied, as she sat on the cold, hard ground, her knees pulled tightly to her chest. She heard the hunter continue to yell at her from above, but she was unresponsive. She had made her choice, and nothing would sway her from it. She wanted to stay behind in the CDC. It was the only place where she could be reunited with her dead brother and parents—and no longer have to suffer in a corrupt world without them. It was her decision—her only chance to be with her family again, and she was willing to bear any consequence.
"For once, I agree with Dixon," Shane muttered. He brandished his shotgun and marched toward Jenner, putting the gun directly into the doctor's temple. "Now you open those doors before I blow your goddamn head off! Do you hear me?"
Jenner's blank stare seemed to intensify Shane's rage even more, pushing him closer to the edge of his sanity. Rick, knowing it was only a matter of time before his friend took it too far, stepped in, and tried to wrestle the loaded gun away from Shane. "Enough!" He shouted. "Brother, this is not the way to do things! If you do this, we will never get out of here!"
"Shane, you listen to him!" Lori ordered.
Desperation clawed at Rick's voice. "Put the gun down, Shane!" He tried again. "If he dies, we all die!"
Shane's finger remained dangerously close to the trigger, the air tense with the potential for catastrophe. Then, a release of fury, like an eruption of a volcano, surged through the man. Shane abruptly turned his anger towards the computers that lined the wall behind the doctor. A storm of bullets rained down upon the devices one after another, and sparks flew high into the air. Astrid barely flinched as the destruction unfolded around her.
Rick, like a force of nature, tackled Shane to the ground, finally managing to overpower him. The sheriff quickly ripped the gun away from his lower deputy, and hovered over him, breathing hard. "Are you done now?" He demanded. "Are you done?"
Shane answered with a hollow chuckle. "Yeah, man. I guess we all are."
Astrid remained silent, her thoughts a tempest all their own. She could feel Daryl's eyes burning into her, but she refused to meet his gaze. Astrid knew this part would hurt. She had just not expected it would hurt him.
Astrid's heart was torn, and it ached with the weight of her decision to stay behind, knowing that her choice would shatter the ties that bound her to the living. But it was not enough to convince her otherwise.
From across the room, Astrid's daze was pulled by Carol and Sophia Peletier. Both of them were crying. Astrid could almost not bear to hear the soft cries that fell from the little girl's mouth. She was only twelve. She did not deserve this. This was not her choice.
