Stand By Me (Daryl Dixon)

T w e n t y

The ground was rough under my palms. The smell of iron and musk fill my nose. Disgust wipes over me when I feel liquid against my cheek. My head is pounding and my hair is in a matted mess. The overwhelming pain in my lower spine sends me into convolutions.

"She's seizing, Carol! You have to take her back!" Daryl yells as the darkness swallows me whole.

•Yesterday•

We make it in time to The Kingdom before the sun fully sets, Ezekiel waiting for us at the gates. Everything secure, we hop out and greet him.

"Shay and Daryl, it's a pleasure to have you here again. We have everything you need ready to go for your mission as Rick has already radioed us about, he didn't give great details about it, hoping you will shed some light." Ezekiel says as we walk to the theatre.

"We'll need a few of your men to help. You understand that?" Carol speaks up from behind us.

"Yes, I do understand. I just clarification on what this plan is about, we're allies."

I look over to see Morgan in the gazebo practicing with his stick, "Is Benjamin awake? I want to thank him for lending me Rose. I'm sure he'd want me to bring her back."

Ezekiel stops and turns to me a saddened look on his face, "Rose is yours. Benjamin is no longer with us."

My heart drops, "What do you mean, where is he?"

"He's dead, Shay." I hear Carol whisper. The suppressed anger when she's the one who tells me, when I wanted Ezekiel to. The suppressed anger was pushed so deep in my being that I wanted to explode right then and there.

"How?" My voice barely a whisper itself, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"He wasn't bit, if you're wondering. He was shot by one of Negan's men on an exchange." Ezekiel tells me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

Benjamin is dead. He was just a kid. A kid! A grown man shot and killed him and I'm here taking a deep breath in, pushing passed Ezekiel in the direction of the theatre. Nothing, I feel sadness and anger but it's not coming out. I feel it on the inside but I feel numb on the outside. It's like crying on the inside.

Once inside the theatre, we all sit down and discuss the plans and how they are going to be executed. With the approval from Ezekiel we move forward and head back to the vehicles. Four of Ezekiel's guards join Carol and Aaron in the van, and I'm back in the truck with my hood up with my head against the window.

We were about half way into the night when the vans high beams flashed and we pull over into an empty field. I hopped out and made my way to the van and grabbed one of the jerrycans to fill the trucks tank to the rim for morning. Returning the can back to it's place, I turn to see Daryl's face.

"Take a walk with me."

We walked to the end of the field before stopping, no words were said before we stopped.

"What's buggin' ya?" He asks.

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't say a word the whole way to the Kingdom and we've been driving for a while and you didn't say one word." He was right, everything was bugging me.

"I just want this whole thing to be over, Daryl. Is there any possible way that it's going to go the way it's supposed to? I want peace! I want peace of mind! I want my brother to be better! I want this," I motion between us, "to work! I want everything to be fine! But, I've been disappointed so many times! I don't want to be disappointed again."

I really care for him, and I know he cares for me. The back and forth is would be pointless if there were no feelings towards each other. I can see it in his eyes when he looks at me. Every time we touch an electricity runs through me.

"I'll make everything fine." He replies.

"How!?"

He pulls me into a hug and says, "I don't know, but I promise that I'll protect ya with every thin' I got. I don't want to lose everything, again."

I smile into his dark button up shirt before pulling away and step towards the camp. His hand wraps around my forearm and I stop to look at him. He looks into my eyes before looking down to my lips. Rolling my eyes I move in and press a gentle kiss on his. Smiling, I make my way back towards our make shift camp.

•

Bang, bang, bang!

I roll onto my back and rub the sleep from my eyes. I swear I only had ten minutes of sleep, and someone is banging on the walls of the truck!

"We got walkers coming, get up!" I pull my knife out before sitting up and making my over the door, sliding it upward. The heavy metal sounds echoes through my ears. Shots are fired from one of the guards.

"Put that down!" I yell at him and he gives me an angry questionable look, like he doesn't want to listen, "put it down! You want to draw more in?" He listens and dropping his weapon and pull his own knife from his waistband.

I peek around the back of the truck opposite of where majority of the walkers are coming from. I bang on the side of the truck to gain attention of two walkers, I take a deep breath in and wait for the first to come close enough for me to make my assault through the temple. The second was quicker than I thought and grabbed a hold of my sweater toppling on top of me. The flesh barely holding on to the jaw, dangling over my face. The snapping of its jaws inching closer to the side of my face. I can't leave the world like this. The dangling flesh hits my right cheek and I shutter, yelling as I push my hardest to smash the skull into the wheels well corner. The muddy blood drips over my closed mouth and down to the back of my neck.

"Shay! Shay, are you bit!?" Daryl rushes over, sliding to his knees to check me over.

"I'm okay, my sweater is ruined. Now I stink like you." I chuckle, and all he does is gives me a slight smile.

"Here," he pulls out his canteen and pour the water onto a bandana and hands it to me.

A/n: Thank you.

Briena x.