Beauty and Her Beast (Daryl Dixon Fanfic)

10

Daryl ran over to the door, throwing the whiskey at it, the bottle shattering into pieces. "Open the damn door!" He yelled. Shane ran passed us, something in his hands. An axe. He started slamming it against the door, getting nothing but sparks. Daryl joined him.

I sat next to Carol, Lori, Carl and Sophia. Maybe Jenner's right. Rick came over. "You should have left well enough. It would have been so much easier."

Lori scoffed. "Easier for who?"

Jenner leaned forward. "All of you. You know what's out there- a short, brutal life and an agonizing death. Your- your sister- what was her name?" He asked Andrea.

"Amy."

"Amy." Jenner repeated her. "You know what this does. You've seen it. Is that really what you want for your wife and son?" He directed the last part towards Rick.

"I don't want THIS." Rick said, turning to Shane.

"Can't make a dent." He said. I looked over at the door, where Daryl was still trying.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner told Daryl.

Daryl ran over, lifting the axe. "Well, you're head ain't!"

Rick, T-dog and Dale held him back. Jenner stood up. "You do want this. Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead." My jaw dropped and I stared up at Rick with shock.

"What? You really said that? After all your big talk?" Shane asked.

Rick focused on Lori. "I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?"

Jenner sighed. "There is no hope. There never was." Jenner shook his head.

"There is always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but somebody somewhere-"

"What part of 'everything is gone' do you not understand?" Andrea interrupted him.

"Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event." Jenner looked around.

"This isn't right." Carol sobbed. "You can't just keep us here."

Jenner leaned towards her. "One tiny moment- a millisecond. No pain."

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this."

"Wouldn't it be kinder? More compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?"

I shrugged. "Maybe he's right."

I looked up to see Daryl pushing through everyone and crouch in front of me. "Don't. Don't you dare say that. You don't get to say that." He shook his head.

"Daryl, I've lost everything. My mom hated me. My dad died years ago. My sister might be dead...My-my son." I stuttered.

Daryl shook his head. "You can't do this. You didn't lose me. I'm still here. I just got you back. Please. I can't lose you. Don't make me go through that again." I looked up at him, shocked to see tears in his eyes. I had no idea he was that affected by me leaving. He's right. I do have him. I haven't lost everything.

I sighed, staring into his baby blue eyes. "Don't make me regret this, Dixon." I stood up and grabbed my bag, slinging it over my shoulder.

I heard a gun cock and turned to see Shane pointing his shot gun at Jenner. "Shane, no!" Rick yelled, trying to push Shane back.

"Out of the way, Rick!" Shane yelled, his eyes on Jenner.

"Stay out of my way! Open that door or I'll blow your head off. Do you hear me?!" Shane yelled, the barrel of his gun between Jenner's eyes.

Rick walked up, grabbing Shane's arm. "Brother, brother, this is not the way you do this. We will never get out of here."

"Shane, you listen to him." Lori chimed in.

Rick nodded. "He dies, we all-we all die!" Shane let out a scream, shooting computers. Sparks and glass flew everywhere. "Shane!" Rick yelled, battling him for the gun, accidentally shooting the lights.

Rick got the gun from Shane and hit him in the face, knocking him down. He stood over Shane, aiming the butt of the gun at him. "Are you done now? Are you done?" Rick asked.

Shane lifted his head. "Yeah, I guess we all are." He panted. Rick shook his head and walked away, handing T-dog the gun.

Rick stood there, looking around at all of us. He turned back to Jenner. "I think you're lying."

Jenner looked up at him. "What?"

Rick got closer to him. "You're lying about no hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?" He asked.

Jenner shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

Rick bent over, leaning a hand on the desk Jenner was seated at. "It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?"

Jenner stood up. "Not because I wanted to. I made a promise...to her. My wife."

Lori and I exchanged looks. "Test Subject 19 was your wife?" She asked.

Jenner sighed. "She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no?" I turned my head to the door, where Daryl was hitting it with an axe again. "She was dying. It should have been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein. Me? I'm just...Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me." I noticed his eyes glossing over.

Rick shook his head. "You're wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's- that's all we want- a choice. A chance."

Jenner, turned, looking at Rick. "Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori begged, her voice cracking.

Jenner sighed. "I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those." I sighed in relief as Jenner went over to a panel and pressed a few keys.

The door opened. "Come on!" Daryl yelled. We all ran after him, shouting and yelling, making sure everyone got out. Daryl grabbed my arm pulling me down the hall.

We all ran up the stairs as fast as we could, pushing open the door that leads into the first floor.

"Get those doors open!"
"It doesn't work!"
"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" T-dog pressed buttons on a panel. "Try it! Try it! Try it now!"

"Daryl!" Rick and Daryl started banging on the Windows with the axes. Nothing. T-dog grabbed a chair, slamming it against the glass. Nothing. Shane shot at the glass. Nothing worked.

"The glass won't break?" Sophia asked, scared.

Carol stood up, rushing over to Rick. "Rick, I have something that might help." She said, digging through her bag.

"Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it." Shane said.

Carol ignored him, continuing to dig through her bag. "You're first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform I found this in your pocket." She pulled out a grenade, handing it to Rick.

He took it and pulled the pin, throwing it at the window. "Look out!" Daryl yelled to everyone, shielding my body with his. The grenade went off, the sound of shattering glass following. We all got up, jumping out the window and running to our cars. Shane, Rick and Daryl killing a few walkers.

Daryl and I got in the truck quickly, and I looked at the building, seeing Dale and Andrea running out, but no Jacqui. "Daryl, look!" I pointed at Dale and Andrea.

Rick started honking the horn. "Get down!" Lori yelled. Daryl once again shielded my body with his. There was an explosion, shaking the ground. I felt the heat on my face, despite Daryl shielding me. It seemed to last forever, but it was over in a few seconds. We sat up, seeing nothing but a pile of rubble and fire where the CDC once stood.

Daryl started the truck and we followed the RV, driving back the way we came.