Stray // Daryl Dixon

Bear the Pain

Gabriel led us to the little white chapel he had been residing in for the entirety of the apocalypse. All this time we had been fighting to survive, moving from place to place, encountering the darkest side of human nature. And he has just been here, hiding. The white wood panels began to fade with age and lack of upkeep and the steel roof had now almost entirely rusted over. Although, the structure still remained secure. From what we could see from the outside he had managed to board the windows up tightly and the large oak doors could be locked by a key that only he held.

The perimeter around the church seemed still, quiet. As we waited for Gabriel to unlock the front doors to let us in, the only sound I could hear were the birds that whistled from the trees.

"Hold up," Rick stopped him, "Can we take a look around first?" He asked. Although you could tell it was more of a statement rather than a question. After everything we've gone through, no person could be trusted outside of this group, even if that person was a priest.

Gabriel took a step back willingly, allowing us to enter into the church first. I followed in after Glenn, my gun held out in front of me. It took my eyes a second to adjust to the dim room's light compared to the sun from outside. We moved up the centre aisle quickly, headed to the front of the chapel that split into two separate halls on either side of the stand. I went to the right heading down a hallway, before latching my hand onto a doorknob. I looked back at Michonne who followed me. She nodded her head, signalling that she was ready for me to open it.

I swung the door open, entering into what looked to be Gabriel's office. Michonne was hot on my heels, the room was empty. He had Bibles sprawled out over every inch of his desk. I fumbled my hands through some of the pages when I reached his notebook. Every inch of every page had words scribbled on it. He recited the Bible's text and what seemed to be his own thoughts written down here and there. "Thou shall not kill," was written the largest in the middle of the page. I immediately slammed the notebook shut, the words hitting me like a punch in the gut.

The last time we had stepped foot in a church was when we were searching for Sophia. That seemed like a lifetime ago. That day was also the last time I saw Roy alive, a memory I still failed to share with Lincoln. In my mind, it was better that he didn't know. Part of me thought it was because I wanted to shield him from the same pain I felt that day, but really I was scared he'd be disappointed with me. Disappointed that I didn't try harder to find him. Maybe if I did, he'd be here with us right now.

The sound of Rick whistling drew both Michonne and I back outside, the rest of the chapel was clear. Gabriel waited for us outside, along with the remainder of our group.

"I spent months here without stepping out of the front door," Gabriel said as Rick handed the keys back to him, "If you found someone inside, well, it would have been surprising."

Rick stared at him questioningly. "Thanks for this," Carl stepped in, carrying Judith in his arms.

"We found a short bus outback," Abraham mentioned. He was eager to get back on the road again. Learning that his mission was to get Eugene, the scientist with the mullet, to Washington. Eugene claimed he had confidential information on how to create a cure to end the apocalypse. I thought his claims were a stretch, but it gave Abraham hope, and for the short time I have known him he seemed like the type of man to always act for the greater good. "It doesn't run, but I bet we could fix that in less than a day or two. Looks like we found ourselves some transport." Rick was silent for a moment. "You understand what's at stake here right?"

"Yes, I do," Rick gritted his teeth.

"Now that we can take a breath--" Michonne fought.

"We take a breath, we slow down, shit inevitably goes down," Abraham cut her off.