Before I Fade Away~ Daryl Dixon Fanfiction

Chapter 31~ The Devil is Knocking

{Daryl's P.O.V}

      It's been so long since Sylvie and I shared the bed, so right now everything feels right with her in my arms and sleeping soundly. God how I missed her, I can't believe I was stupid enough to let her go in the first place. 

"Daryl! Daryl!" Athena hisses, standing in the doorway. 

"What?" I ask her. She looks awfully pale and her eyes are all sunken in. 

"I don't-" She starts to say then falls to the floor. 

"Thena'?! Thena!" I say, hurrying out of bed and getting to her side. I lift her into my arms, and all the commotion has awaken Sylvie.

"Daryl? What's going on?" She asks sleepily.

"Thena' passed out. Somethings' wrong with er'." I tell her in a panicked tone. 

      Almost instantly, Sylvie jumps out of bed and examines her daughter. For the first time in a while, she looks confused and doesn't know what to do. 

"H-Hershel!" She yells out. It's pretty early in the morning, so I'm sure all these people won't appreciate a rough wake up call.

      Once Hershel is awake, we hear screaming coming from the other cell block. Rick and Glenn get up and hurry over to me.

"We need help in the other cell block, come on!" Glenn tells me. I feel torn up, I don't want to leave Sylvie and Athena but I know they need help.

"Go Daryl, it's okay." Sylvie tells me, grabbing both sides of my face and nodding. I give her a quick hug then follow the guys.

       Chaos has broken out in the other block, someone died and turned overnight and attacked a few people. It's like dominoes now, people keep turning and eating more people. I see a young child about to get bitten; he's screaming and crying so I run and grab him before the walker has a chance to sink its teeth into him.

       I lost track of how many of our reanimated group I had to kill, but each one of them made my heart sink just a little bit. I'm sick of people dying, I thought things were going good with all the new changes and the fences around us to protect from the walkers outside. When is all the death and heartache going to end?

"Daryl." Glenn sighs. I look up from the ground and I can tell that he too feels the same way.

      In one of the cells, we have Dr. S look at one of the dead people to see if he can figure out what it is. I know I've never seen anything like this before. They're bleeding out the eyes and blood has trickled out of their mouths.

I'm hoping like hell right now that Athena doesn't have it too.

___________________

      Later in the day, after all the bodies have been disposed of, Sylvie and I stand outside in the courtyard. She appears to be holding herself together pretty well, but I know she's breaking down inside. How can't she? Athena could be on the verge of death and no one seems to know how to fix it. 

"C'mere." I say, grabbing her and pulling her into me. 

     I run my hand through her hair and rub her back. Still she refuses to cry or freak out. I envy her, she's so strong and beautiful. She's a goddess, a warrior, the love of my life.

"I love ye'." I tell her, to remind her that I'm never letting her go. She looks up at me with a weak smile and then raises up on her tip toes to press a gentle kiss against my lips.

"Athena will get through this. She's my baby, she's tough." Sylvie tells me with confidence. 

"Hey sweetheart, how you holding up?" Her mom asks. 

"I'm alright, and Athena will be too.." She tells her. Penelope tilts her head and gives a sad doe-eyed look at her daughter.

"I told you, she's gonna be fine!" Sylvie blurts out then storms off. 

"Daryl, if something happens to Athena-" I cut her off, I don't like to think about that.

"I'm never leavin' yer' daughter again. And like she said, Thena' is gonna be fine." I say, then walk off to try and find Sylvie.

          Those of us who are sick are being quarantined in a different area of the prison, we don't want to risk anyone else getting sick. I feel bad for them, they're stuck feeling like they're dying and the rest of us can't go and touch them or speak to them without being behind a wall. 

"How is she?" I ask Sylvie, joining her in the 'visiting room' as we like to call it. She turns around and smiles sadly at me.

"Hey baby, say hi to Daryl." She says to her. Athena presses her hands up to the glass and forces a smile.

"I miss you mommy, I don't feel good." She cries, then breaks out into a coughing fit. 

     That's when Hershel steps in and takes her away. Sylvie screams and cries as she claws at the glass, begging him to let her in. I pull her back and let her cry and kick and scream.

"My baby is dying in there and there's nothing I can do about it!" She sobs.

"Hey, she's gonna be just fine. Ye' can't think like that." I whisper to her. She sighs and wipes her tears.

"We gotta do something to help these people, we need to find medicine or something. I can't just sit back and let them suffer." She says with certainty. She's gonna be on a mission now, and wherever she goes, I go too.

A/N- Yay I updated! I'm gonna try and keep this story going as long as I can. I hope you enjoy it.