Life I Left Behind (A Daryl Dixon Story)

Chapter Fifty-Two

Author's Note:

I don't think it's possible for me to contain my excitement right now...YOU GUYS, IT'S HAPPENING! A new chapter! Ah! The crossover between LILB and PWF has begun. I've written it in a way where you should be able to read just one if you'd rather not read them both. I highly recommend, though, that you read both stories because you'll be getting more out of it. Anyways, here it is. Ah! I'm pumped. Updates should be a lot more regular than they were before. So that's it from. Thank you again for the monumental amount of love this story has gotten. It makes me so incredibly happy. Thank you, seriously, from the bottom of my heart. Read on, biscuits.

-Nikki

Charlie

I dug my hands into ground, dirt slipping in between my fingers as I tried like hell to hold myself together. I jumped as another loud crack of gunfire came from the other side of the wall and all I could think about was Daryl and the fact that I should have been over there with him because god, if anything happened to him I didn't think I'd live through it. I tried to stagger to my feet, but suddenly realized I couldn't move. Gabe had both his arms around me and was holding me close to his chest. There was more gunfire, louder and closer.

"I need to go after him! Gabe, let me go!" I shouted through gritted teeth, trying desperately to shrug off my brother's iron like grip. He held on tighter.

"Stop, Charlie! I'm not letting you go out there and get yourself killed! Daryl can take care of himself out there!" He argued. He spun me around to face him, gripping both my shoulders tightly in his hands. His eyes were wide as he looked at me, dark brown like mine and I felt my heart clutch in my chest when I remembered thinking that I'd never get to my little brother again. "Listen, it's a god damn miracle we found each other. We're the only family either of us has left now. I'm not letting you follow him. Daryl asked me to keep you safe." He said slowly.

I suddenly stopped struggling, breathing heavily. I felt tears stinging behind my eyes and couldn't tell if I wanted to cry out of frustration, or fear, or relief at seeing Gabe…I felt like I was being torn into a million different, tiny pieces and wondered how much longer I'd be able to hold it together.

"Charlie?" I heard the familiar gruff voice saying my name and looked over my shoulder to see Rick hurrying towards us, T-Dog at his heels.

I let out an unexpected cry of happiness as I untangled myself from Gabe just in time for Rick to grab me in a bone crushing hug. I winced, a hiss of pain escaping my lips. For a minute, I had forgotten the bruised, sad shape I was in.

Rick let go quickly and held me at arm's length, his dark eyes roaming my face and his forehead crinkled with worry. His mouth set into a grim line as he took in my bloodied lip and the dark bruises around my eye. "You alright?" He asked quietly. I nodded, swallowing hard. I didn't trust myself to speak, the dam behind my eyes threatening to break loose at any second. I watched as the older man's eyes drifted towards Glenn, who I knew was somewhere behind me with Maggie. His gaze grew even stormier before he moved past me and I turned, watching as he set a gentle hand on Glenn's shoulder. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you two alive."

"I'm glad to see you too, Rick." I said quietly. I suddenly felt T-Dog's arms around me, holding me like I was a fragile doll and might break at any second. I forced a smile at him when he finally pulled away. I watched as his eyes came to rest on Gabe, suddenly looking uneasy about his unfamiliar presence.

I reached behind me to grab Gabe's arm and pulled him closer to me. "This is my brother, T-Dog. He's been here this whole time. This is Gabe." My own voice still sounded full of disbelief, mirroring exactly what I saw in T-Dog's eyes as he looked from me to Gabe.