Beauty and Her Beast (Daryl Dixon Fanfic)

68

I cannot express enough how absolutely crazy this was. We made our way through the hundreds of walkers until we came to a clearing. "All right," Rick kept his voice low. "New plan. Flares from the few guns aren't enough. Too many walkers, too spread out. We're not going to the armory. We need our vehicles back at the quarry. All of us drive. We'll need to round 'em up. We leave, we come back."

I nodded. It was a solid plan. "Okay," Jessie said. "But Judith and Faith." She shook her head. "To the quarry and back, I..."

Rick and I exchanged looks, neither of us knew what to do.

"I'll take them." Gabriel piped up. "Keep them safe in my church until you all lead the walkers away." Carrying both of them all the way there?

"Can you do this?" Michonne asked what I was thinking.

"I'm supposed to." He nodded. "I have to." He turned to Rick and I. "I will."

I nodded and took a deep breath. Carl handed him Judith first, then I gave him Faith. He shushed the fussy girls quietly.

"Take Sam." Jessie put a hand on Sams shoulder.

"No." Sam shook his head.

"Yes. Sam, it'll be safer."

"I'm not leaving you."

"Sam-"

"Mom, I'm not." I had to admit, the kid had balls, but that doesn't mean he can fight if we get into trouble. "I can keep going."

"Sam-"

"I can keep going." He persisted. "Please." Jessie was quiet. "Please. Let's just go."

She finally nodded. "Ok."

Gabriel looked at Rick and I, seeming very determined. "I'm going to keep them safe."

I smiled at him, feeling my heart pounding out of my chest. "Thank you." Rick whispered.

I watched Gabriel walk away slowly, bouncing the girls as he went. I closed my eyes, praying that I didn't just send my baby to die. Rick looked worried too. Jessie reassured him that he would make it. Then we were linking hands again and moving through the walkers.

~*~

It was dark now. Things were going well. That was until Sam let go of Ricks hand, crying suddenly. "Sam...come on, come on." Jessie whispered, trying to pull him back into line. "Sweetheart? Sam?"

"You can do it. You can do it." He shook his head.

"Yes, you can." Sam was still pulling away. "Sam, Sam, come on."

Please don't let him die. Please don't let him die. "Hey, you can do this." Ron whispered. "Sam, just look at mom."

"Honey, you can do it. Sam, you're gonna get-Sam, honey, I need you to come with me." Sam started crying and I prayed they wouldn't hear him.

"I want to..." He whimpered out.

"I need you to be strong."

"Sam-"

Out of nowhere, Sam was attacked, walkers digging their teeth into his head and shoulder. I felt tears in my eyes as he cried for his mom.

Jessie wailed, still holding his hand. Walkers were coming for her now. "Jessie...come, come with us." Carl urged. "Come on, we have to go."

I gasped as the walkers attacked her, screaming as she fell to the ground. I looked at Carl, who was struggling to pull his wrist from her still tight grasp. Rick walked up with his hatchet, clearly not wanting to do this and chopped her arm off. I helped Carl to his feet and we turned to see what Rick was looking at.

Ron had his gun aimed at Rick. "You..." He has tears in his eyes. "You."

Michonne rammed her sword through his back and Ron's arms spread, pulling the trigger. I sighed in relief and we all looked at Carl. My jaw hit the floor. He looked up at Rick, the right side of his face dripping with blood, the spot where his eye should be...had a hole. "Dad?" He collapsed.

Rick picked Carl up and Michonne and I killed walkers left and right, getting him to the infirmary as fast as we could. We got there fast, and Denise opened the door as soon as we got on the porch. "This is a gunshot?"

"Handgun. Close range." Michonne answered.

Rick backed away once he set him on the gurney. "Please, save him. Please."

I pulled the sheet off and threw it in the pile with Michonnes and Ricks. This can't be happening . This can't be happening. Not to Carl. Please let him live. He deserves to live.

I turned when I heard the door open. "What are you doing?" Michonne and I asked at the same time. Rick ignored us, heading out the door, hatchet in hand.

"Michonne...we have to help him. He'll die."

She looked at Denise, who was working on Carl. "Ricks out there."

"Hold on."

"He needs our help."

"Just one more suture."

"But he's out there!"

"This is his son. Give me a second."

"He's taking them all on. We have to go get him."

I shook my head. "Stay here if you want, I'm going."

I pulled out my knife and ran to Rick, quickly followed by the others. We stood in a circle, killing walkers left and right. If we had enough people, we could do this. We could kill them all. "Knock 'em away! Drive 'em down!" Rick yelled.
More people were coming out of houses, joining us. "We can beat 'em! We can beat 'em!"

I thought this was the end. Maybe not. I was getting tired, but that didn't matter. This was our home. Not theirs. We were getting backed into a wall, when there was a sudden explosion in the distance, flames rising from what I think is the pond. It lit up the whole town, walkers started turning away. "Don't let up!" Rick yelled.

We started killing them again, pushing them back now that they were going the other way. We're doing it. We're actually doing it. A lot of the walkers were going into the pond, but we had to kill most of them. This is the first time we've been able to take back our home. The first time we've been able to salvage what was left.

~*~

Smoke and bodies filled the streets when the sun rose. We were killing them all night. Now drenched head to toe in blood. I would be smiling, but Carl's fate still hung in the balance. Luke was still asleep. Faith was alive. Liz was alive. Daryl was back. He was the one who set the pond on fire. Denise was stitching up a stab wound in his back. I kept a tight grip on his hand, kissing the back of it every so often.

I looked up at Denise. "Uh...do you have...pregnancy tests?" I asked quietly. Daryl and Denise both looked at me. "Don't...don't mention this to anyone, please?"

She nodded. "Yeah we have those. Your secret is safe with me."