Double Crossbow (Daryl Dixon) [The Walking Dead]

Chapter 20 ↣ You see it?

"Everything. Things you lost. Things you're gonna lose. Everything. Here's where it all ties together."

— Haruki Murakami

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Daryl

"YOU SHOULDN'T BE up and about," Kathryn said under her voice as we walked towards the group. 

"Too bad," I replied, nudging her shoulder. 

The group chorused 'good mornings' as we sat down. I sat next to Kathryn, but soon Carl appeared at her other side. 

"Hey, bud," she said, tipping his hat over his eyes. Carl then dove into a story of the dream he had the night before. 

Looking around the group, I tried to pinpoint what Kathryn had been talking about. My gaze fell on Glenn, and I saw that he was indeed looking very...guilty. Not a second later did he stand up and make his way to the front of the group.

He cleared his throat, now looking more nervous than ever. "Um, guys." The group fell silent. "So...the barn is full of walkers." 

I almost choked on my bite of food. I had not heard that right. Looking down at Kathryn, the expression on her face told me I had.

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"You cannot tell me you're all right with this," Shane said lowly to Rick, walking away from the barn. 

"No, I'm not, but we're guests here. This isn't our land," Rick replied sternly. 

"This is our lives!" Shane shouted. 

"Lower your voice," Kathryn bit out. 

"We can't just sweep this under the rug," Andrea said. 

"It ain't right. Not remotely," Shane said. "Okay, we've either got to go in there—we've got to make things right—or we've just got to go. Now we have been taking about Fort Benning for a long time."

"We can't go," Rick nearly shouted, stopping Shane for a split second. 

"Why, Rick? Why?"

Carol stepped up. "Because my daughter is still out there."

"Okay," Shane said. I swear I heard him laugh a little. Anger ignited in my veins. "Okay, I think it's time that we all start to just consider the possibility—"

"We're not leaving Sophia behind," Rick said, cutting him off again. 

"I'm close to finding this girl," I interjected. "I just found her damn doll two days ago." 

"You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll." 

Anger welled further inside me. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about." 

"I'm just saying what needs to be said." 

Soon it was an all out war. Both of us throwing words like daggers at each other. He tried to come at me, and I was ready to knock that son of a bitch out on his ass. Rick tried to separate us, but in the end, that's not why I backed off. It was the feeling of cold fingers wrapping around my wrist. It was like a shot of reality, and all my anger subsided for a second. I glanced down and saw Kathryn with her eyes afire with anger. 

Shane pointed a finger at Lori. "Don't you touch me." 

Rick tried to step in and be the voice of reason. "Just let me talk to Hershel. Let me figure it out."

"What are you going to figure out?" Shane yelled. 

"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land."