Light | TWD | Daryl Dixon Fanfiction

03

Things had turned into a shit show soon after Juliana arrived at the prison. Just when she had begun to become comfortable with the group, the man who they had accused her of working for when she first showed up, destroyed it. They were all thrown into chaos, starting with The Governor decapitating Herschel. The agony of Maggie and Beth's screams soaked into her veins. It was something she had never witnessed before, and the memory of it was burned forever into her skull.

Rick had trusted her enough to lend her a gun, and she fought alongside them. After all, they had given her food and shelter. She felt obligated to help them out.

The tank was just an unexpected bonus.

She had been shooting through the fence at the handful of them that were speeding up to them in pickup trucks. A hand reached out and grabbed her shoulder. Juliana spun around, gun aimed at the head of her would-be attacker to see Daryl there. He yanked her by the arm, shoving her behind stacked up filing cabinets as the tank aimed and hit a corner of the building. Juliana cringed at the impact that sent her shoulder slamming into the side of the cabinet. Daryl had disappeared for that moment, and when she peered from out behind the filing cabinet she saw him holding up one of the dead in front of him as he was shot at. From where she stood, she wasn't able to see the grenade in his hand until it went off.

Juliana took this opportunity to dart out from behind the cabinet. Tucking the butt of the gun under her armpit, she readied her finger at the trigger, shooting at a walker that stepped out in front of her. The bullet shattered its skull; pieces of bone and brains spewing out onto the concrete behind the corpse as it crumpled down onto the ground.

Picking up her pace, she jogged to catch up to Daryl who had swung his crossbow around, smashing the face of a walker. Juliana followed up by taking a shot at another walker who was ambling up from Daryl's left side. He paused for a moment to glance behind his shoulder, shouting at her to hurry up as he ripped off the end of another grenade, shoving it into business end of the tank. The tank rumbled as fire spewed out from the top part. Juliana jumped at the bang it made from inside the steel machine.

Finally catching up with Daryl, she reached out a hand to his arm when she stopped. A man wearing a camo hat and cut off shirt, who Juliana didn't realize had been the one operating the tank, stood in front of them. She was hesitant to raise her weapon at the man, but Daryl was not. With his crossbow raised he took a step forward and pulled the trigger. She was expecting him to show some mercy and aim for the man's head. Instead, the arrow pierced him near his heart. He cringed and wavered backwards at the impact of the arrow.

Juliana stared at Daryl through the haze of gun fire and smoke that erupted around them. He stared back, unflinching at the range of emotions that filled Juliana's eyes.

Beth was suddenly at her side, bringing her back to reality. A surge of sound flooded back to her ears and she shook her head as if she had been underwater the entire time.

Grabbing at Beth's arm, the two of them and Daryl took off. There was no more hope here, and as far as the three of them knew, no one else had made it.

The three of them ran as hard and as fast as they could. Shrubs and branches reached out and scratched at exposed skin. Juliana had to tug at her gun from time to time in mid-run, freeing it from being caught up in the overly thick brush. Her lungs were heavy, and it hurt to breathe. She was sure Daryl and Beth were feeling the same way.

Finally, the woods opened into a field. The three of them broke through the timber. Daryl and Beth fell onto their backs while Juliana fell to her knees. She could hear the other two breathing just as heavy as she was. Gathering as much strength as she could, Juliana swung the gun behind her back and crawled on all fours over to Beth's side. Nudging at the girl, Juliana softly spoke her name, but Beth didn't look. Following Beth's gaze, she looked up to the sky, noting the circling buzzards that soared above them.