Bleeding Souls (Daryl Dixon)

18. Winter Is Coming

         Just so that you all know, this is a long chapter. And the title is a little nod to my other favorite show, GOT.

Last night Dale had died. Daryl had put him out of his misery. Dale and I might had different opinions on Randall... but it didn't matter. Dale was family and now he is gone. That night, after it all happened, Daryl took me back to his tent. From the headache that had formed from all the crying and from the heartbreak I felt, I fell asleep pretty quickly. When I woke up, Daryl was sitting up in the tent and was just staring out into space. I stretched my body and sat up beside him.

          I gently grabbed his bicep and looked at his face. I could tell that he was having a hard time about what he did last night. I took a deep breath and removed my hand from him. I stood out of my sleeping spot and lowered to my knees in front of him. He looked at me and I gave him a genuine smile. I grabbed his hands and kissed them. "What happened last night... don't let it eat you away. All right? You did something that no one else had the guts to do. In a way... you helped Dale. There was no saving him. You did him a favor." I softly said to Daryl. He looked from my eyes down to my feet.

          I gently grabbed his chin and made him look at me. I leaned forward and pushed my lips to his. It was short, sweet kiss... but I think it meant a lot to Daryl. When I pulled away, I saw that he had tears in his eyes. Daryl wasn't someone who ever wanted to cry in front of people. Or be affectionate. So I decided to give him some space for a bit. Let him grieve in peace. "I'm gonna go help whoever needs help with Dale. I'll see you later. Okay?" I say to him. He didn't answer me or acknowledge me, but I knew that he was listening. I kissed his hands one more time before I sat up and exited the tent.

          It had been a few hours since I had left Daryl in the tent. I had helped Shane and Rick with the grave. Once Dale was in his grave, we covered him up. Rick went and woke everyone up for the funeral service. I on the other hand, just stood there. Looking down at his grave. How many more people are we going to lose? How many more deaths can I take? Those questions kept repeating themselves in my head. Over and over again. I heard someone walking up beside and when I looked up, I saw it was Daryl. I gave him a little smile and looked back down to Dale's grave.

          "June." I hear someone say. I look to my right and see Shane. I turn my body towards him and cross my arms. "What Shane?" I say with an attitude. He walks closer to me and looks over at Rick and Lori waking up Carl. "The boy... he still needs to die. Just 'cause Dale died doesn't mean we need to follow what he wanted." Shane said. I hadn't been told that we were letting Randall live. I looked over at Rick and I sighed and looked back over at Shane. "Shane... I may want the kid dead... more than you actually think... but... I follow Rick. I trust Rick. If he says the boy lives... then he lives. I'll just have to learn to accept that." I say to Shane.

          I'm actually a bit surprised in myself for saying that. I would have thought I would agree with Shane on this... but truth is... I'm not the leader of this group. I'm the leaders sister... but I trust Rick and I'll follow him to the end. I looked around and saw everyone coming towards us. I took a deep breath and got closer to Daryl. Daryl and I... I'm not sure what you would call us right now. All I know is that I want nothing more than to be in Daryl hug and let myself and himself grieve... but I know Daryl and that isn't him. I respect that and I will respect him.

          "Dale could... could get under your skin. He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave. Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale... he'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another. I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us... the truth, who we really are. In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety... our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale." Rick's speech was beautiful in more ways than one. By the end of it, I had tears falling down my face.