Oath
I sat on the bed staring at the prison wall, I felt like a caged animal, sad and alone, I was the only one that didn't share a cell well… there was also Daryl but he is on the perch and I highly doubt he will want to share with me. I considered for a moment and somehow got the courage to ask. I walked to the Perch and sat quietly beside him; he looked at me with his cobalt blue eyes and everything I planned to say disappeared. He cleared his throat and I realized I had been staring at him for a long time "um I… well… I was just wondering if… uh… you wanted to…uh" he arched his eyebrows in expectation and I lost myself again but before I knew it the sentence blurted out of my mouth before I could realize it "do you want to share a cell with me?" my cheeks turned red and I wanted to cry, his expression looked confused and I was about to make a run for it when he nodded his head and stood up "I didn't really like it up here anyway" a wave of relief crashed over me.
When night finally came my head was clear and I could talk again, which I was very grateful for. I walked into our cell and fell onto the bed "what the hell!" I scream in fear and try to get up but get tangled into the blankets until I am completely on top of Daryl's shirtless body I push myself off of him "I'm sorry didn't see you there" I say trying to get up but one of the buttons on my shirt is caught on his blanket and there is no way to unhook it "humph, here let me help you with that" he pulls me back on him and tugs lightly on my shirt to take it off just as he does that Glenn walks in "uh am I interrupting something?" he says barely able to stifle a laugh, my cheeks get red and I'm about to say it's okay but I'm interrupted by Daryl's booming voice "Glenn get the fuck out before I break your neck!" I lean my head down on Daryl's chest until I head the door of the cell close "I'm sorry" I hear Daryl say but in the softest whisper I have ever heard in my life, I look up to see Daryl looking at me with worried eyes "It's okay don't worry about it" he nodded going back to his normal self "so do you want the bottom bunk?" he asks "we could share" I say he smiles and leans his head back which I took as a good sign too tired by the day's events I fell asleep seconds later still on top of Daryl and my shirt somewhere on the floor.
The next day I woke up to Daryl struggling to get untangled from my arms and legs "oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake ya" he says "it's okay" I say scuttling back to give him more space but I got forgot that the bed is only meant for one person and fell onto the floor "ouch, that's gotta hurt" I heard Daryl say as his head popped up over me "ugh just shut up and help me up" I said "well someone isn't a morning person is she?" he helped me up and I sat on the bed he pulled my shirt off of the toilet in the cell which I guess it's where it landed when I took it off "you might wanna wash that" he said with a small smile I had never seen on him before "ew" I grabbed it with two fingers "I'm not wearing this" I said "I'll get you another one so you can take care of that problem you got there" he said and walked out, I dropped the shirt on the floor and wrapped myself in the blanket on the bed and almost fell asleep to the sweet scent of Daryl.
That afternoon I was finishing with the dinner dishes when I heard a soft knock on the kitchen door, I turned to see Daryl standing there "hey, I was wondering if you wanted to keep watch with me tonight?" I stepped closer to him "I'd love to" I said, he nodded his head motioning for me to follow him, I sat next to him in the watch tower. We sat in dead silence for a long time when I involuntarily reached for his hand and leaned on his shoulder, at first he was tense but eventually loosened up and we talked for a while but by midnight I had passed out and wouldn't wake up so Daryl carried me to our cell and laid me on the bottom bunk and started to get on the top one but I was still holding his hand and it woke me up so I pulled him toward me "no stay with me" I said "you couldn't have woken up 95 steps earlier?" he asked jokingly and got into bed next to me "I would never leave you" and would that I fell into a deep sleep with a smile on my face.
The next morning I woke up with the best feeling in the world. The day seemed to fly by: Daryl when hunting: he brought 5 squirrels, and a wild turkey. So we decided to set up a celebration in the cafeteria to celebrate any holiday that we've missed including birthdays. After the meal Lori suggested a game and Carl and Beth insisted on truth or dare, so we agreed… it was not the best idea to do that.
Glenn went first he dared Carl to tell a secret he would never tell before the apocalypse "once I was riding in the police car with Shane and he had to go to the police station and told me to stay in the car and I wanted to drive it but I couldn't reach the break so I crashed it into a mailbox, he promised not to tell my parents if I promised not to tell them he left me in the car alone" Lori started to lecture him but Rick interrupted her "it doesn't make a difference now just forget about it". We went around until Lori asked me I knew if I said truth she would ask about me sharing a cell with Daryl so I went with the more limited option and said dare… turns out I should have gone with truth "I dare you to kiss Daryl".
My cheeks turned blood red and I felt Daryl tense beside me "come on you have to do it you chose dare" Maggie said, but became silent when Daryl gave her the death stare. I looked slowly over to him; I heard T-Dog's voice from across the room "come on live a little" I felt Daryl's eyes on me and I knew he just wanted this to be over and the only way to do that was to just kiss. I leaned in and pressed my lips to his, I heard the cheers of the group throughout the cafeteria after a few seconds I started to pull away but felt Daryl's hand on the curve of my neck pulling me back towards him.
I don't really remember much of what happened after that but I know that after the kiss ended Daryl quickly excused himself and pulled me behind him, there were whispers and giggles from everyone but he just ignored them and walked into our cell, I wasn't sure what he wanted but I did know that, that was the best kiss I had ever experienced and I wanted to be by his side for the rest of my life.
That night was the most amazing night of my life I can't even find words to describe it; it was a feeling like never before. The next day Nobody woke us up or bothered us, the only person we saw all day was Maggie to bring us food and she wouldn't even make eye contact "we should get up we aren't being very useful to the group" Daryl says trying to get me up "ugh who cares I don't want to get up I'm fine right here" he sighs loudly making no attempt to move "ok just this once".
The next day I woke up early having slept all day the previous day to feel Daryl's side of the bed be long since cold, I got up and got dressed quickly, I looked around the prison but he was nowhere to be found so I went up to the watch tower to ask T-Dog if he had seen Daryl, he said he had seen him leave at about 5:30 that morning, I nodded my thanks and walked to the kitchen to get breakfast ready, after a few hours people started waking up, by then my food was ready and everyone was happy to have food made by me again since Lori isn't much of a cook and Maggie and Beth have limited knowledge of what to do in a kitchen.
I waited all day for him to come back but he didn't return until 5 or 6 and by then I was stuck in the kitchen making dinner "so did you sleep well" Lori asked hinting toward the obvious fact, just as she said that Maggie walked in "you must have, you guys were louder than turkeys on thanksgiving" we all looked at her in confusion "what do you expect I grew up in a barn my whole life" she said walking out of the kitchen, we all laughed and went back to the our tasks but Lori wouldn't drop the subject all night so by the time everything was about ready I had enough "STOP! Lori I'm NOT going to describe it to you" I walked past her toward the door when I was almost out I stopped and looked at her "there are 15 minutes left on the timer. Don't let anything burn".
I went to our cell but he wasn't there so I walked around until I found him in the washrooms but the door was locked and I had no key so waited for dinner but he never came down so I excused myself early and went to our cell he was laying on the bed with his back to me so I walked over and gently shook him I knew he was awake but he wouldn't acknowledge me in any way "Daryl?" I whispered "what's wrong? Why have you been avoiding me?" I tried to get closer but he shook me away. I tried to stop them but I couldn't the tears streamed down my face like a waterfall "is that what it is just a onetime thing to you?" I choked out, he turned to me with a changed expression almost horrified "no" he tried to reach for me but I stepped back collapsing to the ground, he kneeled in front of me trying to explain but I wouldn't hear it I didn't want to be around him anymore, I pulled away but he caught me in his strong grip, he loosened a little when he thought he might be hurting me and then pulled me closer to him "that's not what it is at all I love you more than anything in the world, you're the only thing that's ever mattered to me and I just don't want to hurt you" he said lifting my chin so my eyes met his "then why are you pulling away?" I asked, my voice hoarse with sadness "the thing is I'm not good at things like this: relationships, love. I've never felt like this before I didn't know what to do so I panicked I'm sorry, I just couldn't let you down" I warped my arms around his neck and softly pressed my lips to his "you could never let me down Daryl Dixon" I paused letting my breath graze his neck softly "I love you".
The next few weeks felt like if they were taken out of a movie: a perfect life with no worries, in exception from living in a prison, having the chance to die at any moment and being surrounded by dead people who walk around and want to eat you. Yes it was all fine until T-Dog gave us the news "I'm going to look for Andrea, and I'm not coming back until I find her dead or alive" he said "I've thought long and hard about this but it doesn't seem right she could be out there suffering and I want to end that. I will be leaving tomorrow morning anyone who wants to join may come but I understand that all of you have something tying you here so I will understand if you want to stay".
After a long discussion with Daryl that I needed to go because Andrea had saved me and it was only right for me to save her I finally gave in to him and stayed in the prison but Maggie and Glenn went along ignoring Hershel's pleadings to stay behind. The next morning we said our sad goodbyes as Glenn, Maggie and T-Dog got in truck and drove away probably never to be seen again.
After that we thought things had started to get better when Lori gave birth to a beautiful baby girl but we weren't prepared for her. Hershel tried his hardest but we had nothing in preparation for her arrival and soon after Lori died of blood loss.
Rick left the group for a while he lived in a different cell block and encouraged Carl to come with him, sometimes Carl would go but he spent most of the time with his baby sister, who everyone had agreed to name Sophia, since her passing affected all of us not only me and she was very much missed this would be a different way to have her around as a memory, but the peace didn't last long because Rick's anger finally burst out, blaming everyone for Lori's death then taking Carl and leaving with as little as a goodbye, and leaving Sophia behind blaming her the most, Carl wanted to stay but Rick didn't give him an option so with tears he sadly said goodbye to the group who had become his family and to his little baby sister.
I sat with Daryl quietly crying into his shirt as he tried to comfort me "I'm scared Daryl" I said looking at him with blood-shot eyes "Our group is falling apart too fast this won't last" I said griping the fabric of his shirt harder "shhh" he whispered "everything is gonna be okay" I nodded feeling safe once again in his arms.
"Carrroooooolllll!" I heard Beth scream from her cell, we rushed to find Beth kneeling on the floor crying into Hershel's motionless body and Sophia's sobs coming from her crib, as if on instinct Daryl rushed to Sophia to Calm her down while I checked on Hershel, but it was too late his skin was icy and he had no pulse.
We had a memorial for Hershel in the prison yard and buried him beside Lori's grave "in memoriam to Hershel Greene, he was the center of our group, he kept the faith alive in all of us in a way I have never seen someone do so eloquently, thank you Hershel for all you did for us you will be missed, .Peace" Daryl's words were short but meaningful as we departed of our beloved friend.
The weeks passed by, every day filled with melancholy as it dragged slowly by. The three of us barely said a word to each other in the passing time. Our group was dying with the rest of the world.
One day as I was walking to Beth's cell to clean out some of the things she dragged in there I smiled to myself as I heard Daryl talking to Sophia and her oft giggles floating through the hallway and thought maybe things could change but all that changed when I got to Beth's cell.
I let out a scream I didn't know I had in me as I saw the form of her body hanging tightly from a rope; seconds later Daryl was by my side "what happened? Are you hurt?" I shook my head unable to look away when Daryl finally realized what I was staring at she pushed me toward our cell put Sophia in my arms and told me not to move.
I sat for hours watching the little baby wiggle around and giggle and I thought to myself of how much this little baby reminded me of my daughter who was long since gone. After what seemed like years Daryl finally returned to my side took Sophia from my arms and placed her in her crib, he walked back over to me and without saying a word he helped me lean back and soon I was fast asleep.
The nightmares they all came rushing back Sophia walking out of the barn, Lori's body going limp, Hershel's icy skin, and Beth's body hanging. I awoke not able to breath and with Daryl at my side my head pounded, and my heart was racing, I couldn't live like this anymore, how would we survive?
The weeks passed and slowly my strength came back and we were happy again but the prison still brought back too many memories so we loaded what little we had and left the safety of the prison. For weeks we were hungry and without a home as we always did we found a way to be happy again, we found a place we could call home and raise Sophia right.
"I love you Carol, you and Sophia are the best thing that ever happened to me, I would never let anything hurt either of you and I consider myself very lucky to have found you and I will never leave you that is my oath to you"