my angel ➶ ➶ daryl dixon

t w e n t y s e v e n

Daryl's POV:
I watched Aspen sprint away from me and into the woods. I stood there, shocked at what she had just said. I sat down on a log, ignoring everyone and just took it all in for about an hour.

Once I composed myself, I got up and leaned against a tree. I looked for Aspen but I didn't see her. I wasn't too worried until I saw the group start to pack up their stuff. I looked around and still didn't see Aspen. I grabbed my crossbow and walked up to Rick.

"Hey man, what are we doing?" I asked.

"We're getting everything ready so we can move out at first light." He said, turning around and moving stuff into the back of the truck. I sighed in relief and walked over to the woods where I saw Aspen take off. I leaned up against a tree and waited there for while until people began to doze off. It looked like Glenn and Rick had first watch, although I doubt Rick will sleep at all tonight.

I still saw no signs of Aspen. Finally, I couldn't take it any longer and began to follow her tracks into the forest. The longer I followed, the thicker the forest got. I expected at any moment for her to show, but it never did. Soon I became worried. Aspen didn't know how to track. She had now gone way past the point I felt comfortable with her going and her tracks still didn't look like they were even close to stopping.

I continued following until I heard the sounds of a walker. I quietly followed the noise, which led to a walker on the ground hunched over what I thought was a deer but I soon saw it was a person. I saw the walker tearing at the flesh and then I saw the hair... blonde hair... in a ponytail...

I dropped to my knees and began to cry. I never thought I could have felt so much pain, but at that moment I felt like my heart was tearing in two. I saw the walker continuing to tear the flesh from her limbs and with each moan from the walker, my sobs got louder.

Soon the walker noticed me and it turned around and started to crawl towards me. I let it come close until I could feel its sticky breath on me. I pushed it away. "Leave me alone. I said leave me alone!"

I took out my knife and began to stab it. But I didn't immediately stab it in the head. I stabbed it in the legs so it couldn't walk. Then I stood up. I let the walker try to follow me in it's sad little way. Then I stabbed its arms, limiting it to just moaning and snapping at me.

I hadn't stopped sobbing, and this just made it worse. I pictured Aspen when she first arrived at the camp. The way that she was naturally beautiful and had an air that radiated off of her. I thought about how she had a fierceness that not many people saw. And the kiss. If I knew her fate, I would have never pushed her away. Drunk or not, I would have continued it. But it's too late now.

"Ahh!" I screamed as I finally stabbed the walker in the head. "Huh? Ya like that? Huh? Well she's dead because of ya! YA KILLED HER!" I lost it, stabbing and screaming at the walker. I finally collapsed to the ground once the walker's head was smashed and you could no longer tell what it had been.

I collapsed into myself and hugged my knees to my chest. I could literally feel my heart breaking piece by piece. I never said my feelings for Aspen to her, or to anyone, and now she would never know. In the one moment that mattered, I wasn't there to protect her. She died a painful death by being eaten alive by a walker.

I heard a moan and realized it was coming from Aspen. "No. No, no, no, no, no!" I screamed as I realized she had come back. I tried to ignore her but she just continued to moan. She couldn't move though because the walker had eaten parts of her legs.

I began to sob again as I stood up and stormed over to Aspen. I took my knife out but hesitated before I sunk my blade in. I knelt down beside her and felt the tears streaming down. They blurred my vision but I could see enough. The walker had managed to tear off most of her face, and blood was streaming out. She would be dead soon from blood loss.

I pushed back a piece of her hair that was on her forehead. I laid my hand on what was left of her forehead as I slowly inserted the knife into the back of her skull. I pulled it out as the moans stopped. I pulled her body into my lap, blood and all, and rocked her back and forth. I shut her eyelids and pretended that she wasn't half eaten, she had just fallen asleep in my arms.

I sat like that until the sun started to peak out over the treetops. I took a shaky breath and slowly set her on the ground. I took one last look at her body before I walked back to the camp with head down, fully aware that I still had her blood on me.

I will never forget you Aspen Walsh. Until the day I die I will always love you.