For Daryl Dixon [part 1]

There always are (92)

I walked slowly behind the group now as we walked up to the gates. It was hard to tell what was going on through Nolan's mind but every time I looked at him I could tell losing Stephen really messed him up. Taylor and Glenn were guiding Tara inside with her hurt leg when the others saw us returning. I looked up and nodded at Sasha to let her know it was ok as she looked at Tara worried. She seemed to become less tense and look back towards the woods. I saw Rick and Michonne running over with a few of the other new people. 

"What happened? Tara your leg." Michonne said taking Taylor's place to help her along. We all shuffled towards the house they used for medical reasons and once we were inside Glenn and I dropped the bag's of equipment down. A young girl started tending to her leg with another man as we stood back and waited. I heard Tara wince but she gave me a reassuring smile. 

"I'll be fine." She said as she looked at the worried faces around her. Michonne gave her a smile and Glenn looked at Rick and nodded to go outside. "You guys can go."

We all stepped outside the door and onto the sidewalk. Rick could tell we looked upset and he didn't hesitate to ask what happened. Glenn gave him a quick rundown of what happened and Rick was furious. He looked inside the glass door now at Tara and I knew he put the blame on Nolan for running away like that.

"This is why we can't trust them to protect themselves out there alone." Rick said with hatred in his voice. He turned and saw Alison coming towards them. She looked panicked and I saw Nolan walking towards her. 

"We should probably get over there." I said and we all hurried to make sure the right side of the story was told. 

"What happened? Why does everyone look so upset?" Alison said in a uneasy tone. This was the first time her voice didn't seem so controlled. She looked to Nolan who had obviously been crying.

"We ran into some complications while we were on the run." Glenn said. "We did everything we could but one of our people got hurt and..."

"Stephen didn't make it." I finished for him knowing Glenn didn't want to be the one to tell her. She looked at me with a blank stare for a moment and then looked at Nolan.

"Is that true?" She asked him and he nodded. I watched her try to catch her breath as she began to cry. She leaned over and then I saw Michonne begin to rub her back for comfort. I felt awful that she lost her son but also frustrated that Nolan stood their like a coward not admitting that it was his fault. Rick followed me as I headed towards the house we were staying in. 

"I don't think nows the best time to tell her that her people won't make it if they continue to live like this." Rick said as he walked with me. I glanced back at Glenn and Michonne comforting Alison and saw her turn away from them looking angry. She went inside her house and slammed her door shut. 

"No, probably not." I said and saw Morgan sitting on the front porch drinking a bottle of water. He was reading something in Japanese and he nodded at us as we walked towards him.

"Complications on the road?" Morgan asked and I nodded still unsure of how to feel, angry or sad. He just shook his head and looked straight at Rick. "There always are."

Rick ignored him and headed inside with Cara and Judith. I wondered what Morgan meant by that but decided not to ask. I sat next to him and put my head in my hands finally letting the realization of what just happened sink in. I sat there with him for what felt like hours not saying a word when the gates began to open up. I felt my heart drop when I saw Luke come in first and didn't see Daryl with him. 

"Who is that?" I heard someone say as they stood on the sidewalk across the street. 

I looked closer at who was standing with Luke and couldn't believe what I was seeing. Graham and Lauren were with him. I stood to my feet as quickly as I could and ran over to them. I was only yards away when I saw Daryl and Sasha bringing a man's body in, but not just any man's body. It was Abraham's and he was alive.

********