my angel ➶ ➶ daryl dixon

t h i r t y o n e

Maggie's  POV:
I woke, finding Glenn's side of the bed empty and cold. I sighed and slid my legs of the bed, so I was sitting on the edge. I layed my head in my hands and thought about what I was going to do to get through today. With the death of Aspen, it was hard to keep going.

I finally got up and walked out to eat something. People were sitting in little groups, eating breakfast. I grabbed a bowl of oatmeal and sat down with Glenn, Rick, T-Dog, and Dad.

Normally I would go over to Carol and Lori, but I couldn't even look at them after what they said about Aspen.

The men were talking about clearing out more of the prison, but I zoned out. I couldn't care less about getting more space.

I didn't see Daryl anywhere though, so I walked into the field to see if he was out there. When I opened the door, I had to pause and blink for a while until my eyes adjusted to the brightness.

Once I could see again, I saw Daryl sitting out in the field. I walked over to him, sitting down beside him once I saw he was in front of Aspen's grave. I let us sit in silence for a while until I couldn't take it anymore.

"Daryl..." I started.

"Stop. Just stop! I know what ya gonna say and just don't. I know I need to let her go, but I can't!" He didn't look at me, but I could see tears in his eyes.

"It's okay, I under-"

"Nah! You don't understand! None of ya will ever get it! I was supposed to protect her! She was mine to watch and I didn't. I let her get hurt and now she's gone."  He stopped and tears slipped down his face as he furiously wiped them away and stood up, heading back towards the prison.

"Wait! Daryl! Where are you going?" I asked, but he didn't respond, he just disappeared into the prison.

Daryl's POV:
I stormed into the prison, ignoring the group's calls after me. I continued all the way into the catacombs.

I soon was in a sprint, running past turn after turn. I didn't see walkers for a while, but eventually I reached the end of where we had cleared. I soon turned a corner and saw a lone walker. It was a female and all I could do was picture Aspen's face. I saw the brown eyes and pictured her green ones. I saw the brown hair and pictured her blonde. I couldn't get her out of my head.

She started grabbing at me as I kicked her away. She came right back, moaning and growling as I kicked her again. The next time I took out my knife and stabbed her in the neck, I knew it wouldn't kill her, but I didn't care. I finally delivered the kill blow, but didn't stop, I continued to stab the walker viciously in the head 2, 3, 5, 10 times until, panting, I rolled the body off of me.

I was sobbing at this point, which attracted more walkers. They came streaming down the hall and I slowly pulled myself up and attacked each one. Normally I don't think I could have taken that many down by myself, but I was fueled with emotion. I killed so many I couldn't keep count, but each was the same. They all looked like Aspen.

I finally reached a lull in the walkers. I was soaked in blood, but I managed to catch my breath. Then I heard a noise from down the hall. I knew the walkers would eventually come to me, but I didn't want to wait. I took off after the sound, and soon found a group of walkers surrounding something.

I saw her face again in the snarling teeth as they turned to me. I saw her beautiful face smiling at me until it filled with horror as a set of teeth bit into her neck and tore the skin from her bones. Her blood-curdling screams filled my ears as I saw the teeth continue to bite into every inch of her perfect body.

The once dried tears began to stream again as she disappeared from my view and the growling walkers filled her space. But her screams didn't stop. They continued as the walkers turned and came at me.

"Aspen?" I yelled, feeling stupid since I knew she wasn't there.

"Daryl?!" But then she responded, and my heart surged. I felt her there. She was in the room! She was alive! But then the walkers took on her face again and I knew I was imagining it. I would have smacked myself if I wasn't to busy killing the walkers. She wasn't here. She was dead. I just wanted her to be here so badly that I imagined her voice.

The walkers kept coming and coming. I soon became tired, but my brain wouldn't let my muscles stop moving. I went on autopilot as my body seemed to know what to do without me having to tell it. As the last walker went down, I stumbled but caught myself on the wall. I walked through the bodies, feeling the blood flowing off me. I must have been a sight, walker blood covering me from head to toe.

I didn't stop though, I continued down the hallway until I heard the tiny voice. "Daryl?" It was almost a whisper, but it was enough to get me to turn around. I searched the ground, only seeing walker faces smashed in and bloodied. I sighed, thinking I imagined it again and turned around to keep walking. Until I heard it again.

"Daryl?" The voice was a little louder this time, but it was hoarse and cracking. I turned slowly and then I saw her. She was sitting against the wall, covered in blood and her hair was mangly and greasy, but it was the most beautiful sight I had seen in a long time. Her eyes were wide with fear, but a little bit of hope. I started to walk towards her when my knees buckled and I crumpled to the ground. I quickly sat up and looked to where I thought I saw her before, but she wasn't there.

"Damn it!" I screamed, and began punching the wall. I had imagined her again. She's dead! Why can I not get that through my brain?! I kept punching the wall until I felt a hand grab my back. I quickly pulled my knife out, ready to kill whatever walker was trying to make me it's next meal when I spun around and saw it wasn't a walker at all. In fact, it was her. The one who had been haunting me ever since that fateful night. She reached her hand to my face when all of a sudden her nails began to dig into my skin.

Soon, her face began to decay and it wasn't her anymore, it was a walker trying to take a bite out of me. I quickly stabbed it in the head and crumpled up into a ball. I sobbed for what seemed like hours until I couldn't take it anymore.

I screamed as loud as I could, and stood up slowly, using the wall as my crutch. I began to hobble away when I saw a chest slowly moving up and down on the floor. I pulled out my knife and staggered over to it. I wasn't leaving a single walker alive. As I turned its face to look at me though, I saw her face again. But it wasn't just her face, it was her face. It wasn't another hallucination.

As she slowly opened her eyes, I felt my eyes swell up and began to sob again. She opened her chapped lips. "Daryl?" She asked softly.

"Ya, I'm here. Ya are safe now." I whispered. Her lips turned up slightly as her eyes shut again. I slowly picked her up, cradling her in my arms.

I remembered the last time I did this, I thought she was dead. That moment was the worst moment of my life, but I felt this was the happiest. I was so weak, but seeing her gave me the boost of strength I needed. I picked up her thin body and carried her towards safety.