Beauty and Her Beast (Daryl Dixon Fanfic)

67

Things were slow after finding out Deanna was bit. She was cracking jokes. I couldn't stay in that room anymore, so I went to put Faith in the crib with Judith. As I set her down, I heard glass shattering downstairs. Oh no... I rushed downstairs with Rick and Jessie. We could hear Carl and Ron in the garage. It sounded like they were fighting. Did the walkers get in? How did the glass break?

We started banging on the door, begging them to let us in. "Back up!" Rick pulled his hatchet out and started hitting the lock and the doorknob. Just as the walkers were breaking in, Rick got the door opened and both boys rushed inside. He slammed the door and we held it closed while he went to get something to block it. He came back with the couch and we helped push it against the door.

"We need more, and we need to be quiet."

"I'll see what I can find." Michonne whispered, rushing into a different room.

Gabriel went to look too and Jessie and I helped with the couch. "What happened in there?" Rick asked Carl.

"We were looking for tools and knocked over a shelf." Thats a lie.

"We heard yelling." Jessie said.

"Yeah, Ron saw them break through the gates. We had to move. That's what happened."

Ron leaned forward. "Carl, there's a nightstand in my moms room. We can brace the couch with it."

"Hey, it sounded like you were fighting." Jessie looked worriedly at her son.

"Yeah, we were fighting them." He went up the stairs.

Carl started following him. "Carl," Rick called. "It's okay?"

Carl nodded. "It's okay."

Once Carl and Ron brought the nightstand and we had the door barricaded, there was a crash from the front porch. "They knocked the sculpture over." Jessie said.

"All that noise, it's drawing more." Michonne was peaking through the curtains.

Judith started crying upstairs, causing Faith to cry as well. "I'll get them." Rick ran upstairs and I followed him.

When we got upstairs, Sam's music was still playing, so Rick went to open the door. Both girls stopped crying. I glanced into the room Deanna was in and felt my chest tighten. "Rick, she's gone."

We walked down the hall and he pushed the door open. Deanna was on her knees, reaching into the crib. Rick unsheathed his hatchet and went to kill her. "No, it's still me!" She hung her head, panting.

I sighed in relief, putting a hand on my chest. "I'm so-I'm sorry." He breathed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

She lifted her head, looking at the girls. "I-I wanted to see them one last time. I thought I could make it. My legs had other plans."

Rick put his hatchet away, wrapping his arm around her and putting her arm over his shoulders. He picked her up, setting her on the bed. "I...I'll take them somewhere else." I picked up the girls and nodded to Deanna. I turned, leaving the room.

When the girls were settled and Rick and I went downstairs, the others were barricading the front door. We rushed in as they tore down the wooden slab that covered the door, pushing against the mattress. "It's just too many of them." Gabriel said, not bothering to keep his voice down.

I looked at Michonne as she turned, pulling out her sword. "Everyone get upstairs now!" She yelled. We ran for the stairs and Michonne and Rick blocked the hall with the couch.

Rick pointed at the walkers. "I got this one, you get the one behind it. We're gonna need at least two."

"Ugh, not this shit again." I mumbled.

When Michonne and Gabriel dragged one walker down the hall, I helped Rick get the other one, bringing it upstairs and into one of the rooms. "We're gonna need bedsheets, enough for everyone."

"Bedsheets for what?" Jessie asked.

"We all go to the armory." Rick pulled his knife out.

"How?" She asked.

"We're gonna gut these things. Cover ourselves with the insides. It'll mask our smell, make them think we're like them." Jessie and Ron looked shocked at Ricks idea. "I've done it before. We stay calm, we don't draw attention, we can move right through them."

Gabriel had come back with the sheets. The three of them didn't seem convinced. "They're in the house, they're making noise. More are coming."

Michonne jammed her sword into the walkers gut, slicing up. The others looked absolutely disgusted. "Anyone who stays here is gonna die." Rick said.

"What about Deanna?" Gabriel asked the question none of us wanted to address. Rick didn't answer, instead he turned back around and continued ripping apart the walker.

~*~

We were all wearing sheets, covering ourselves in guts. No part of the bedsheets were clean. Jessie and Ron took some convincing, but they eventually did it too. "Mom?" We all looked to the doorway, where a horrified Sam stood. We continued covering ourselves in guts. All I could think was how unbelievable it was that I had to take my baby girl out there, and that Luke better still be alive after this.

Once we were finished, Michonne peeked downstairs. "We have to go." She whispered.

Rick and I went and got the girls. Carl carried Judith and I carried Faith. Very slowly and very quietly we went downstairs and made our way out the front door. We all stood on the porch, taking in the scene around us. Rick and I had done this before, but this time it was with a lot more people and there were a lot more walkers. This, by far, was the most dangerous thing we've ever done.