Daughter of a Dixon ✔️

46: Saving a Preacher

That night, our reunited group gathered around a campfire, and I then learned who the new people of our group were.

There was Abraham, a strong, tall man, who was the leader over his two comrades, Rosita and Eugene. Rosita was a young woman with army experience; it was obvious by the way she carried herself that she was strong and independent. Eugene was a scientist, and I'm not afraid to say that my mouth fell open when I was told that he had a solution for the walker epidemic, and we needed to get him to Washington D.C. so he could cure the world.

Not having any other place to go, we decided to follow Abraham to Washington in hopes that Eugene could save us.

And finally, there was Tara. She was one of the Governor's people, but she helped Glenn escape the prison, and had earned her place with us. I trusted her enough, she was very nice.

When we were all seated around the fire, everyone was talking to each other, just trying to catch up, I suppose. I was seated close beside my dad, still in semi-shock that he was actually there, alive. I had been telling him about what had happened to Alex, Lea and I since the prison, and he was listening attentively.

"-and then I slammed his head against the hood of the car, knocked him out, took Judith from the other guy, and ran. I set up by Terminus' fence, and found those guns you guys had hid. I started shooting, and then Alex and Lea showed up to help. Then, we saw you guys' specific guns in the bag, and that's when we knew... and then we just waited until you all came. Now... here we are."

I averted my eyes from the blazing campfire over to Dad, and saw that he was looking at me with a mix of astonishment and, oddly, pride. "What?" I asked him, furrowing my eyebrows.

The smallest of smiles crossed his face, and he turned to look at the fire. He shook his head with slight disbelief, and said in a soft voice, "yer gonna beat this world, Sidney."

I smiled at him. "You are, too, Dad... this group, we're gonna make it. We're gonna be the last people standin'."

For some reason, Dad looked down at my statement, and I saw him let out a heavy sigh. "That's what Beth said 'bout me..."

When I questioned him about what he meant, he shared his story about how he'd gotten out of the prison with Beth. She'd helped him get away from the prison, and they went from place-to-place until they reached the funeral home. Then, Beth was taken by the car with the white cross, and Dad ran after her until he physically couldn't run anymore.

He told me about the Claimers, and I wondered if those were the people who kidnapped Alex, Lea, and I. Then, he talked about how he came across Rick, Carl, and Michone, and how the Claimers beat him (which is how he got a cut on his lip and a black eye), and how Rick chewed a guy's throat out and killed him, helping get rid of the Claimers.

When he finished telling his story, I exhaled slowly, and just shook my head. "Wow, that's-.... you went through a lot..."

He shrugged, a shy dismissal of the comment. "So'd you," he mumbled, fidgeting with a loose string on his jacket.

I scoffed. "Yeah, I guess so. I've got a bruise on my head the size of a baseball and you've got an eye as black as night... I'd say we're both pretty banged up."

He let out a dismal hum, and nodded once.

He was silent after that, and I frowned. I sighed, and carefully leaned over to rest my head on his shoulder. He looked down to me for a split second before gazing back into the campfire, and draping an arm across my back.