Living On A Prayer (Daryl Dixon/ TWD)

Chapter 11

We had to return back to the highway when night fell, but we were right back where we left off the next morning. Bells ringing in the distance had led us to a church, but what we saw when we reached it left us all confused and most likely right back to square one.

"That can't be it," Shane said. "There's no steeple. No bells."

But that didn't stop me. I took off towards the church, the others hot on my heels. I reached the door first and I barely gave the others time to catch up before yanking the doors wide open.
There were three people sitting in the pews when we entered. Three people I quickly realized weren't actually people at all.

The walkers caught sight of us, standing up from the seats as quickly as they could manage, almost as if they were smiling. Lori handed me a machete, and I snatched it from her quickly, flanking Rick on the left. We all spread out, each of us going for the closest walker.

I grabbed the fat one in the overalls and brought the machete down between his eyes, mustering as much strength as I could. I gave it one more unnecessary hit, wiping the blade on my pants, ignoring the blood already drying on my cheeks.

"I told you," Shane said through gritted teeth, yanking my arm to pull me towards him. "It's the wrong church. There's no steeple."

"Get your hands off me," I spat, snatching my arm away from him. I could feel the anger coursing through my veins, my skin starting to burn hot, my breathing coming in ragged huffs.

Another set of bells rang through the church, causing me to glare at him before rushing back outside. We did a check around the church, and quickly found the "bell".

It was an alarm set up on the side of the church, encased in a plastic box, taunting me. I felt like I could scream.

"Fuck," I shouted, bringing my hatchet down on the box as hard as I could do silence that damn ringing once and for all.

Everyone huddled up, discussing our next move and I kept my eyes trained off in the distance, hoping Ash would emerge from the woods at any second.

"Alright y'all," Shane announced. "Daryl's gonna lead y'all back to the highway. Me and Rick, we're gonna stay back and do a little more searching."

"Splittin' us up?" Daryl asked. "Ya sure?"

"Yeah," Shane breathed. "We'll catch up to you."

"I wanna stay too!" Carl piped up. "I wanna help. I'm Sophia's friend. And Ashlynn risked her life trying to save her. I wanna brave for her like she was for Sophia."

I smiled as he looked over at me, tears brimming my eyes. Carl was so young and already so smart .. and brave. But his childhood was slipping away, just like that. This cruel world was taking it away, just like it did everything else.

"You just be careful," Lori said, pressing a kiss to his forehead and drawing my attention away from him.

"Take this," Rick ordered, handing his pistol over to Lori. "You remember how to use it?"

"I'm not taking your gun and leaving you unarmed," she replied.

"Here," Daryl cut in, handing her a pistol from his pockets instead. "Got a spare. Take it."

Rick softly pulled me to the side, and just by the squint of his eyes I knew he was gonna piss me off. "Look - Adasyn, I think you need to head on back to the highway with the others."

"Like hell," I fired back. "That's my damn sister out there. I'll be damned if you're gonna try and pull the sheriff card on me, Rick. I'm an adult. I'll do as I damn well please."

"You're putting us at more of a risk," he replied, agitated with me. "You are reckless and I understand exactly why. But this anger you're being driven by - it's not doing anyone any good. Not even you."

"Tell me you'd be any better," I shot back, hot tears threatening to spill over my eyes. "Tell me that you would let anyone tell you to sit back while someone else looked for Lori and Carl."

She sighed, his hands on his hips as he looked at the ground. "Adasyn please. With me and Shane out here - I need you back at the camp. Just for today. Please."

"C'mon," Daryl said, suddenly appearing by my side. "I know ya didn't sleep none. Head back with us now and I'll comb through the outskirts of the forest with you tonight. And tomorrow you can get right back to it."

Tears finally spilled over the corners of my eyes as I snatched my bag from the ground, and I wiped them away hastily. I didn't have another word to say to anyone as I fell in with the rest of the group, somehow allowing everyone to talk me out of searching for my sister.
**

"You still worrying about it?" Andrea asked Lori as she stopped, looking behind us for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past hour.

"It was a gun shot."

"We all heard it," Daryl grunted, looking the opposite way.

"Why one?" Lori asked. "Why one gun shot?"

"Maybe they took down a walker," I suggested, trying to calm her down.

"Please don't patronize me," she snapped, catching on. "You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker. Or Shane. They'd do it quietly."

"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?" Carol's timid voice asked as she looked to Daryl and I.

"There's nothin' we could do about it anyway," Daryl replied. "Can't run around these woods chasin' echoes."

Lori looked back at him and in that moment you would've thought he knew all the answers to every question anyone had. "So what do we do?"

"Same as we been. Beat tha' bush for Sophia and Ashlynn and make our way back to tha' highway."

"I'm sure they'll meet back up with us at the RV,'' Glenn assured.

Right before we started walking again, I grabbed Carol's shoulder. "I'm sorry for what you're goin' through, I know how ya feel."

"Suppose you do," She said, a small smile on her face. "Thank you. It's just the thought of her out here. It's the not knowing that's killing me. I just keep hoping and praying that she don't wind up like Aralyn or Amy."

My eyes widened at the words that left her lips and I could see the guilt play across her features as she caught on to not only my expression, but what I assumed was everyone else's. "Oh god, that's the worst thing I ever said," she cried, taking my hands in hers. I shook my head, biting back the tears that tried surfacing yet again, and the urge to punch her in the face all at the same time.

"We're all hoping and praying with you," Andrea cut in. I could tell the same emotions were going through her, her eyes landing on mine as she spoke. "For what it's worth."

"I'll tell ya' what it's worth," Daryl said, taking a step closer to us. "Not a damn thing. It's a waste and time all this hopin' and prayin'. We're gonna locate that little girl, and Ashlynn, and they're gonna be just fine. Am I the only one zen around here? Good Lord."

I couldn't help but crack a bit of a smile at that and shook my head as he continued forward.

When I first met the Dixon's, I could hardly stand to be around them. But now that Merle was out of the picture, a different side of Daryl was slowly starting to break through that rough surface he had

In all honesty, he wasn't that bad.