Cupid's Arrow | Daryl Dixon

𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚏𝚝𝚢-𝚜𝚒𝚡 - 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚎

𝙴𝙿𝙸𝚂𝙾𝙳𝙴 𝙵𝙸𝙵𝚃𝚈-𝚂𝙸𝚇 - 𝚃𝙸𝙼𝙴 𝙾𝙵𝙵 𝙲𝙾𝙻𝙻𝙴𝙶𝙴

Madelyn was frozen in her spot. She couldn't move. She couldn't do anything but stare as tears pricked her eyes. Her heart was beating rapidly and her chest hurt. It was Landon. Landon was standing in front of Madelyn as a walker. She recognised him easily based on the clothes he was wearing. A blue suit and black tie, a white shirt that was now very dirty and covered in mud and blood. He had the bite marks on his neck and arm as well as on his gut. "Maddie, he's a walker. We have to go. Please, listen to me, baby." Daryl said as more walkers approached them.

Madelyn stepped back when Landon spotted her and started approaching her, growling softly. "I'm so sorry, Landon. I'm so sorry." Madelyn whispered as she backed away from him.

"Maddie, we really need to go." Daryl said in urgency. Walkers were starting to surround them from all directions. Madelyn wiped her tears and nodded and just as they were about to leave, the couple heard gunfire but none of them were aimed for them. They were aimed at the walkers but Madelyn nor Daryl could see the gunman. Since Daryl and Madelyn were pretty much backed into a corner, they had nowhere to run so they had to watch as all the walkers fell to the ground, one by one until they were dead.

"I-I'm so sorry, D." Madelyn said. "I just...seeing Landon like that."

"It's fine. You were overwhelmed. It happens. I felt like that when I saw my brother." Daryl said as he wiped her tears. He understood completely how she felt seeing Landon as a walker. When he saw Merle as a walker, it broke him inside. "We just need to get out of here."

Madelyn nodded and the pair started to pick up their arrows from the walkers they shot. Once they had everything packed up, a man with a machine gun on his back ran out onto the road in front of them, making Daryl and Madelyn quickly take their crossbows out and point it at the man. The man was wearing a mask that covered most of his face. He also had some protective gear on that would be good to protect yourself from walker bites.

"Hey, I think a thank you would be appreciated." The masked man said as he raised his hands before looking at Madelyn. His eyes widened in shock. "Madelyn? No, it can't be."

Madelyn and Daryl looked at each other in confusion before looking back at the man. "How do you know my wife?" Daryl asked.

"Wife? You married this guy?" The man asked Madelyn.

"Who are you?" Madelyn asked, ready to shoot the man. She was creeped out. How did this man know her?

"I'm gonna take my mask off, okay? Don't shoot." The man said before slowly taking his mask off to reveal his face. Madelyn gasped and dropped her crossbow on the floor, making Daryl look on in utter confusion.

"No." Madelyn said as her heart began racing.

"Well, I was finally able to get some time off college." The man said with a smile.

"Oh my god, oh my god." Madelyn said before running over and hugging him tight, sobbing. "You're alive. You're alive."

"Can someone fill me in?" Daryl asked, his crossbow still raised just in case.

"Daryl, this is my little brother, Miles. Remember, I told you about him." Madelyn said, making Daryl lower his crossbow. "Miles, this is my husband, Daryl."

"Huh, so I have a new brother in law? Well, nice to meet you." Miles said, his hand extended. Daryl looked at Miles' hand before looking at Madelyn who nodded. He sighed and shook Miles' hand.

"How....I thought-"

"I'll explain later. We should probably get off the street first." Miles said as more walkers started approaching.

Madelyn looked at Landon's body. She had to bury him. There was no way she was going to leave him on the street and so Miles and Daryl both picked up Landon's body and left the street. They found a nice little area to bury Landon. Miles and Daryl put Landon down and Madelyn crouched down to his body before taking her chain off that had Landon's wedding ring. She slipped the ring back on his finger before the three buried him. Madelyn was glad she was able to put Landon to rest. His soul was free and hopefully at peace with their son.

"Where have you been hiding out?" Daryl asked Miles.

"I managed to secure an old warehouse. Come on, I'll take you both." Miles said. The couple followed Miles to a warehouse where they saw he had boarded up all of the windows and had some wooden spikes sticking out to trap walkers.

"We've been looking for a girl, blond hair, blue eyes. You seen her?" Daryl asked Miles.

"Are you talking about Beth?" Miles asked, making Madelyn gasp and nod. "Yeah, we met."

"Oh my god. D, tell Rick." Madelyn said and Daryl nodded. He pulled out a walkie and contacted Rick, telling him to come to Atlanta. "What happened, Miles?"

It's kinda a long story." Miles said as Daryl joined them both. "I was in my dorm at college when shit started going down. People were running around and eating people. I had no idea what was going on. I tried calling home, I tried calling you but all the phone lines went down. I stayed in my dorm for a few days, until my food and the hot water ran out so I had to leave. There were walkers everywhere. I went to Mom and Dad's house first to check on them but....."

"God." Madelyn mumbled as Daryl squeezed her hand tight.

"I killed them and buried them in the yard. Since the house wasn't safe, I tried your apartment but nobody was there so I had to leave. I went out onto the streets and stayed on the streets for a day or two until some police officer shot me in my leg. He said it was an accident but there was no need to fire a gun. There were no walkers around. Just me. I didn't even have any weapons on me. Anyways, he took me back to this hospital and made me stay there for years. They said, in exchange for 'saving my life', I had to work for them. Just a week ago, I couldn't take it anymore and I left. That hospital place is where I met this Beth girl. She's probably still there. They won't let her leave." Miles said.

"Can you lead the way?" Daryl asked.

"As long as you don't make me stay there." Miles said.

"Of course not." Madelyn said.

"You're Maddie's brother. You come with us." Daryl said.