Double Crossbow (Daryl Dixon) [The Walking Dead]

Chapter 48 ↣ Was anyone hurt?

"My heart is a beating split personality. One side is a warrior, constantly kicking ass and swallowing the names that dared to venture there. The other side is a child, stumbling, stuttering, awkward, and unsure of everything I've ever loved."

— Stephanie Bennett-Henry

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Daryl

MY LUNGS WERE coated in debris. I gasped for air as I made my way out into the light. Blinking away the sheen of dust that covered my eyes, I saw that the group had made it safely to the otherside of the lot. I picked up my pace when I saw Michonne had someone pinned to the ground.

"Kath?" I coughed out. Michonne looked at me in disbelief and quickly got off of Kathryn, who scrambled to her feet and stared at me from across the way.

"You asshole," she hissed.

I shrugged. "Would've been a bang, right?"

She stalked up to me. "No." But in the blink of an eye, the anger melted into relief. "I thought—"

"I'm sorry," I whispered back, plucking a twig from her hair and tucking the strand back behind her ear. She leaned into my touch, but stopped herself as if remembering we had an audience.

I looked over her head at the rest of everyone. "Zach," was all I had to tell them.

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Kathryn normally rode with a tight grip, but as we journeyed back to the prison. She held on as if we were about to plummet off some edge. I suppose for her she almost had. I knew what it was like to think my other half was dead. Before the thought could fully come to form, I pushed away that night beside the dying fire. I hadn't meant to scare her. I had meant to ensure Zach got out okay. I had failed on both accounts.

Rick met us in the courtyard. Kathryn didn't even spare him a look as she hopped off the bike and disappeared into the prison. Rick and I both looked after her.

"How'd everything go?" Rick asked suspiciously.

"There were...some problems," I replied, slowly getting off the bike.

"Was anyone hurt?"

"Zach."

Rick cast his gaze down. Even though he no longer held the title of leader, he still cared for the people here. "And Kathryn?"

"I was the last one out." With that, I walked my bike back to the garage, deciding on my way that I would talk to Beth first and then Kathryn. She had been skittish the whole week, and I didn't like it. I was hoping that if I didn't mention it, she would come to me when she was ready. However, that plan had so far yielded nothing from her, so it was time to change course.

Walking up the stairs to Beth's cell, dread started to pool within my stomach. I wasn't one for delicate words. It should be Kathryn here or Maggie. I squashed the feeling as I stood in the Beth's doorway. I had organized the run. I had let Zach come. I had to be the one to tell her.

Beth looked up from the notebook she was writing in. "Hey," she greeted.

"Hi," I replied.

"What is it?"

"Zach."

"Is he dead?" I didn't need to answer that. Her face said it all. I prepared myself for the worst. She would hate me. It had been my fault after all. But all she said was, "Okay." She then rose from her bed and changed her sign to read zero days without an accident. As she looked back to me, she asked, "What?"