My Desire - Daryl Dixon (1)

Otis' Funeral

Chapter 34

The next morning, we all awoke and began gathering rocks for Otis' funeral. I hadn't been to many funerals before. The only one I could ever really remember was my dad's when I was eight. I remember standing there and watching as my mother cried while I stood there, staring at the body going into the grave. I didn't shed a single tear the whole time because every time I ever tried to think of my dad's death as something sad, I only saw the bad. All of the bad he had ever done. I guess it sounds bad that an eight year old didn't cry over her dad's death but I guess that's what you get when you get tortured by your own dad at the age of four till the age of eight. So, considering all of this, I was kind of new to the idea of a proper funeral.

After some time of collecting rocks, I began to hear the sound of a motorcycle approaching and I instantly realized that it was Daryl with the others. I suddenly began to feel a rush of relief to know that Daryl was arriving before we all headed back to the house. Once we did this, Daryl and the others finally parked and I said...

"Daryl," I sighed with relief before rushing towards him and into his arms.

We continued this for a while before we began to kiss, feeling so happy to be together again. This continued for a while until we finally stopped and I began to rest in his arms.

"It's been so hard without you," I said.

"Only been a few days," Daryl said.

"And a lot has happened in those days," I said.

"Yeah, like what?" Daryl asked.

All of a sudden, Alicia came out of the house and rushed over to Daryl and I before hugging him.

"Missed you too Ali," Daryl said.

Alicia then let go and just then, Rick and the others began to come out before Dale said...

"How is he?" Dale asked.

"He'll pull through. Thanks to Hershel and his people," Lori answered.

"And Shane. We would have lost Carl if it weren't for him," Rick said.

Everyone then began to hug one another before Dale said...

"How did it happen?" Dale asked.

"Hunting accident. That's all, just a stupid accident," Rick answered.

After saying this, the rest of us continued to catch the others up before I saw Jason walk towards us.

"Daryl, there is someone I think you should meet," I said.

I then walked towards my brother and walked him over to Daryl and Alicia before saying...

"Daryl, this is my brother, Jason. I found him here just after Carl got shot, and Jason, this is Daryl. He's my boyfriend," I said, introducing them.

"Nice to meet you," Jason said.

"Likewise," Daryl said.

I then walked over to Maggie, Beth and Hershel before bringing them to Daryl so they could all meet.

"Daryl, this is my adoptive family. Hershel adopted me as his own after my mum and I began to stay here, shortly after my father died. I've known him my whole life, and these are my adoptive sisters, Maggie and Beth, and guys, this is Daryl. He's my boyfriend," I said, introducing them.

"Nice to meet you," Hershel said.

"Same here," Daryl said.

"Glad Skye found someone after all these years," Maggie said.

"Thank you," Daryl said.

We then all began to smile before we all headed with the others to the empty grave where Otis' funeral was...

After a while of placing rocks on Otis' grave, Beth finally did it before Hershel said...

"Bless it be God. Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," Hershel said.

Beth's boyfriend, Jimmy, then placed a rock on the pile.

"Praise be to him, for the gift of our brother Otis. For his span of years, for his abundance of character. Otis, who gave his life to save a child's , now more than ever, our most precious asset. We thank you, God, for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived... in grace," Hershel said.

Once he finished, I began to look around and saw everyone's sad faces but I finally stopped looking around as I reached Shane's. He looked like he had been scarred. Physically and mentally. I noticed this same look last night. He didn't look right. I knew that what happened to Otis must have been bad but this look, made me wonder things. Made me wonder what exactly happened to Otis, because I knew that this look had only one meaning. This meaning was responsibility of death. It was the kind of look soldiers would have coming home from the army after being responsible for another soldier's death. My dad had this look often. It was very familiar to me.

"Shane. Will you speak for Otis?" Hershel asked, pulling me instantly out of my thoughts.

"I'm not at it. I'm sorry," Shane said.

"You were the last one with him. You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning," Patricia sobbed as she begged Shane.

"Okay," Shane said, sounding very uncertain about doing it.

He then began to pause for a little while, thinking about what to say before he finally said...

"When we were about done. Almost out of ammo, we were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up. 'We've got to save the boy'. See that's what he said. He gave me his backpack, he shoved me ahead. 'Run' he said. He said 'I'll take the rear. I'll cover you'. And when I looked back..." Shane said before pausing a long while.

We then watched as he suddenly began limping towards the wheelbarrow of rocks before saying...

"If not for Otis... I'd never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis. He saved us both. If any death ever had any meaning, it was his," Shane said as he faced Patricia.

Patricia nodded before Shane picked up a rock and placed it on the grave, making him the last person to say goodbye to Otis...