A/N: Warning. Whatyou are about to read is some of the crackiest crack I have ever written and you will ever read. Takes place post MSF 5x08 Coda. I hope y'all enjoy the first chapter. I had one hell of a time writing it and planning things out. I hate Daryl but this idea sort of came out of no where a few weeks ago. I just thought of it and it made sense and now I need to write it because I am a college student and I need an escape from the real world cause shit sucks.
Title: How Far We've Come
Rating: M
Genre: Humor/Drama
Reason: Language, crude humor, violence, gore, sexual innuendo, alcohol use, weapon use, everything that makes the walking dead interesting
Characters: Daryl Dixon, Merle Dixon
Summary: Daryl Dixon has now lost everything. But when a familiar face arrives in a strange vehicle and a proposition, he's willing to do anything to fix his mistake. It's a race against time, his emotions, and God himself to save everyone. Crack.
Chapter 1: Best of You
Has someone taken your faith? It's real, the pain you feel
The life, the love, you die to heal
The hope that starts, the broken hearts
The trust, you must, confess...
-Foo Fighters
She was gone. There was no second chance, there was no saving her. She was gone before her body even hit the floor of the Grady Memorial Hospital and there wasn't a damn thing he could do to save her. It had all been a quick blur to him as she moved back to that bitch cop. Why the hell did she even do that? It didn't make a damn lick of sense to Daryl, but he kept trying to figure it out. Did she not want to leave with them? Did she really want to kill her? What the fuck happened there when he wasn't with her?
It was his fault he didn't make it out in time. Beth wanted to stay by him. If he hadn't shoved her out of the funeral home and kept her behind him when he had cornered himself off in the basement, they might of made it. Maybe if he hadn't told her to make it up the road, she would be right beside him at that moment. Sure they would both be thirsty as hell, but she would still be there. He would be watching every move she made, making sure she didn't wander off or go where he couldn't follow. For a moment that seemed a bit much to the archer, but it quickly subsided at the thought of her still being there for him to even see.
Sinking down to the ground in the quiet of the night he had gone for a short walk and stumbled into the endless woods along the road. All he could make out were the bugs buzzing and the occassional groan of a walker off in the distance. Not that any of that shit mattered though, it was all noise to him. Anything relating him to his present situation was worth nothing to Daryl. All that was worth the world to him had bled out on to the Grady Memorial Hospital two weeks ago. He could still see it vividly on the white tile. A small hand, one that fit so easily into his rough one, beside an oozing trail of blood. He could only look down and see reality and fiction blur in one quick swipe. Rick had confirmed what happened a few days later, most likely when the group thought they could approach him again. Daryl didn't want to think about it, but so much of it was fuzzy now, he couldn't make sense of what was real and what was the nightmares that repeated constantly.
He had shot Dawn, point blank, barely a second after he registered the gun shot. The look on her face was what surprised his closest friend. The woman had shot Beth, but she looked so confused and horrified. Though Daryl barely listened, he had heard Rick mention a cop's instinct. It was in her like clockwork to pull that trigger the second Beth stabbed her. Dawn didn't even register it until Beth fell into her and she looked up to the barrell of Daryl's gun. How quick it had happened only furthered Rick's conclusion and he left it at that. He didn't want to push it further, but to only give the man he called his brother some form of closure. That did not help Daryl's mourning or his resolve to continue looking to the future. If this was the future he envisioned, she'd be walking alongside Maggie with Judith in her arms, Daryl following behind to make sure no one came into his line of vision around her. The thought of her even being anywhere around him, breathing and speaking, forced his throat to catch a burning sickness he every day since.
Why did her voice have to be so damn sweet?
Why did her hand have to fit so fucking perfect into his?
Why did she make him feel so wanted and alive?
His future should have been the two of them sitting at a table eating pigs feet and her complaining about his eating. Hell, they would have had a dog and Beth would be singing to him while he melted into a world where shit didn't matter except her. God to think they could even get to a safe place with the others, they'd be all living together peacefully and he'd watch over her for the rest of his life. Apparently it was too much to ask for, to dream of. It always ended the same for him. Whenever things seemed to start going his way, something had to end up breaking. He lost Merle, twice, lost Sophia, Andrea, Hershel, and now he had lost Beth...twice. No one would admit it, but he knew deep down it was his fault. Deep in his heart he believed it and clung to it like a shadow on his back. Saving Merle was supposed to be their second chance. Merle would be by his side and wouldn't leave anymore. But no, he had to go and do the stupidest thing Merle had ever done; put his life on the line for somone other than himself. Then the prison fell, and he watched as Hershel died. If only he would have fired then. Michonne could of gotten herself and Hershel out of there while him and Carl shot the fuck out of those pricks. But he had gotten Beth out of there, and she saved him. That damn little angel had saved him and she would never know it.
She had to be the one to break through and call his bluff. Beth had to be the one to see him for all that he was at his worst and accept it. From all the struggles and losses, she made him have a reason to keep fighting. Daryl wanted to curse her for it, but he knew that he could never regret the time he had spent with her. Reflecting on every second made him want to do so much more in that time. To let her know his gratitude for saving him, so she could understand him more. It was never enough time. When people say to be grateful for the time a person had with someone, they don't truly understand their own words. Every second that he had spent with her, looked at her, talked to her, he wished he could re do. Trying to convince himself that he would have never even spent a second of time existing with her on the Greene farm when they met only made him feel worse. No. He knew he'd have spent more time with her even back then. To let her know someone was there when she had tried to end her own life. He'd stop her before she even tried.
There were so many things he'd do differently to change what how things had happened. Maybe something would have been different. Something could have been different, and maybe she wouldn't be dead right now. Holding on to the dream of a different future was the only thing that could help try to sleep at night. Of course sleep was something that had escaped him for a long time now, but it had only grown worse recently. Everyone's concerns for him had been growing constantly and he knew that they were only concerned out of love. They were his family. Despite Beth being gone, he still had them. He couldn't leave them, they were all he had left in such a horrible world he was forced to continue to walk. Even if he walked to all the corners of the planet with his heart shut, if it meant protecting them then it was worth it. Without dwelling on any other thoughts beforehand, his latter thought pushed him to stand back up and join the group again. They'd be settling in for the night again off the road a short ways. Water was still the top priority as they hadn't found any for a little while. Dehydration would only make them slower, and with a ways to go to get to Virginia they needed all the strength they could muster.
After returning to the group he marched on in silence in the back, away from the group for a little bit in his own world. Carol continued to look back at him, only to receive Rick's hand on her shoulder and promising her that he would be alright. The two didn't know if that was true or not, but they could only hope for him that he'd keep going. Daryl was loved, he had to know that. When he thought he could never be loved, he was proven wrong by their actions and dedication. They could only help him in their own way to stand him up again. Whether he'd ever be any way the same as before remained to be seen. What he had lost, they all knew was too much for anyone to really recover from. Rick walking as their leader was some beacon of hope that Daryl could come back from it. But Rick and Daryl were two separate people. Yes they were brothers in arms, and understood each other better than anyone else in the group, but they were still polar opposites in many ways.
They all witnessed it, Daryl and Rick's own reactions to Beth's death. As Rick looked on with tears in his eyes, he remained in control of his emotions throughout the entire exchange. Completely opposite of his friend, Daryl had stumbled over his own feet after shooting Dawn and fell to his knees in front of the young girl.
"You're not dead." He whimpered, the group and officers looking on. "You can't be dead." Leaning down he brushed the hair out of her face as picked her head up to cradle her. "Beth, you can't be dead. Please." Tears running down his face he began to sob, wrapping his arm around her. "Please don't leave me."
Carol covered her mouth, tears flowing freely as Daryl's sobbing grew louder, evoking emotion they had never seen out of him. Rick's eyes widened, halting any further discussion with the cops. Daryl clung to her so desperately, holding her up to keep her head from dropping back. None of them knew what had happened between the two of them in the time they were alone. The only person that knew anything was Rick, and all he knew was that the two of them got out together and he lost her.
The archer's body shook as he held her, forgetting the people around him as he held the snuffed light to him. Her body would go cold, skin white, and body locked. No more warmth, no more light. She would be put into the ground and that would be the last time he saw her. Each fleeting second he held her she would only fade out farther from when he last seen her movement minutes before. Had it even been minutes? It felt like hours.
He had finally picked her body up after minutes of silence. His chest was wheezing from the tears choking him, emotions brimming that he swore he'd never feel. Stumbled past Rick and the others he didn't utter a single word or response. The group left the cops standing in isolation as they moved out of the hospital and down to the ground floor. Emerging to the sunlight they saw the rest of the group. Carol looked back with Tyreese, knowing of what was to come. God Maggie's scream, it shattered what was left of their emotions. Everyone had turned to see Daryl's face twisting again, sobbing as he brought Maggie her sister's corpse. Falling to his knees Maggie had crawled over, reaching to touch her baby sister's face. It didn't matter if the cops were watching, hell if even God himself was watching. The world could see that people still could feel pain and love. They weren't too far gone, at least not yet.
Thoughts continued to swirl in his head as Daryl lied on the ground, watching the trees sway to a light breeze in the humid night. His eyes were wide open, watching for some sign of life around them. The man wasn't even on guard duty, but he felt the need to be awake. Sleeping would only bring him nightmares, things he feared to see or dream of that would only in turn hurt him. A man could only take so much when he's at his limit. Daryl had passed his limit a damn long time ago and was running on fumes, holding on to all the positive hopes he could muster.
Watching the night pass over his head he saw clouds drift by without any hesitation. To drift that freely, it probably felt amazing. No fear of things trying to eat you or losing people you love. If only he could close himself up to that degree, but that was no longer possible.
Out of no where he was surprised at a sight he had never really seen before. A rapid falling star shot down through the sky, going diagonal across the dark open sky at a ridiculous speed. Maybe there was a meteor shower? If it was that, he was tempted to wake Carl up and show him. The boy deserved to see something good.
During that train of thought he sat up on his elbows. What he saw looked like the same star coming down again in an opposite diagonal direction. The damn thing was zig-zagging? Daryl Dixon may not be the smartest guy in the world, but he knew stars didn't do that shit. Following the zig-zag he fully sat up at the sight of the star coming down through the sky. It was flying down, and it was coming toward the earth. Grabbing for his crossbow he stood up and tip toed his way around Rick. A thought then occurred to him: why the hell hadn't Rick seen this and come to get Carl to show him? Rick loved showing Carl this type of stuff, especially when there actually was a meteor shower one time at the prison.
It had been a night late in the summer and it was humid as all hell. Rick and Daryl were on guard duty, watching the area before Rick nudged him and pointed up to the sky. "Daryl, look." Rick pointed out the first few in the hour before he asked him a question that left an impact on him even now. "You like meteor showers? I think they're beautiful."
"Never really watched 'em before." Daryl muttered, remembering the nights he would spend out in the woods when he didn't want to be around his father. He was concerned with living then. Watching falling stars wasn't something he gave a rat's ass about. But watching those stars fall for the first time with someone he cared about, it felt so strange. Rick had stood up and left his gun there. "I'll be right back. I'm gonna go get Carl. He never saw this before."
It was only a few minutes until Carl had returned, Beth in tow as they climbed to the top of the lookout tower. Rick had sat down, allowing the two drowsy young ones of the group to sit down between him and Daryl. Rick had begun pointing out all the stars to Carl, who sat and watched in awe and asked his dad as much as he could about them. Daryl watched Beth's reaction, a smile on her face as she watched the heavens reigns down over the forest covered horizon. She had caught him staring after a little bit, he wasn't the most subtle man in the world when it came to interpersonal communication. After a few minutes of awkward hesitation she had spoken up. "Ain't in beautiful Daryl?"
"Yeah. It is." That was all they had spoken about it and they returned to watching the show with Carl and Rick. Daryl didn't care much now for the stars shooting across the sky, when he could watch her face light up just as bright in excitement. He bit down on his thumbnail and relaxed a little more, watching her nudge Carl and point out a few things that Rick didn't know.
"Yeah it happens because the stars die out, some even explode, and they fall through space because of the pull of our planet!" Beth laughed at Rick's expression, he was taken aback by her knowledge of space.
"How do you know all of this?"
Carl turned to look at Daryl, he was listening. He could tell by the corner of his mouth turning up. "Rick I'm seventeen, I went to high school. Daddy didn't like the new science things but I loved space."
"I wish I could have learned about that stuff in school..." Rick frowned as Carl had spoken up about something that he wasn't too sure of since he got back to Carl and Lori in Atlanta. Carl's writing skills still weren't fully fluent. Carol and Beth had worked with him now and then to help him improve, but he had lost most of the time he could have been learning more. But that didn't matter anymore. They were all there, alive, enjoying a beautiful show that they didn't believe they could take the time to see anymore.
Daryl had been watching closely as the star came bellowing closer, until finally ripping through the sky and to the ground. It had made a resounding noise before shaking the ground all around. "What the fuck is that?" He cursed, unsure of whether or not he should go forward. He had only taken a few paces forward before his question answered itself.
"God damn piece a shit car!" The voice made him stop and he could only stand frozen as it registered in his head. "Supposed to got the best shit but it's a fuckin' lemon!" It didn't take long for him to respond as Daryl's legs gave the only response necessary. He ran as fast as he could, moving through woods with all he had. Registering the voice forced tears to prick in his eyes, unsure of what the hell was going on. Was he dreaming? Hallucinating?
He didn't care. He wanted answers.
The answer was quick as he emerged into a clearing and saw what he could swear was the result of a heavy trip.
"Piece of shit delorean!" It was a strange looking vehicle, sleek and with doors that opened upward instead of out like every other vehicle he knew. "Ya ain't got breaks worth a damn! Gotta speak to his big ol ass about this..." Opening the hood the man almost fell in and began to fiddle with something, it was too dark for him to tell. He could see lights buzzing underneath the hood. Whatever the hell that was, it was nothing he had any clue about whatsoever.
Slowly he approached, crossbow raised. When he got closer he was stopped by the voice again. "Daryl, what the hell you doin' pointing that damn thing at me?" The figure turned around, showing an all too familiar face. His hand raised to swat the crossbow out of the way. "Ya ain't gonna give your ol' brother Merle a hug?"
Merle snickered as Daryl dropped the crossbow to the ground. The older brother was beyond shocked as Daryl flew into him, wrapping his arms around him tightly. Merle didn't know what to do, he didn't think his brother would actually hug him. Dropping his arm he wrapped the other one around his little brother's neck. "Ain't we both gone soft lil' brother?"
Daryl held back his tears, pulling back to wipe his face with his arm he looked at the vehicle and back at his older brother, who was trying to regain his composure as well. "Damn ain't we the biggest bitches on the planet now?" Merle chuckled at the realization. "Look at that. Can't be helped. Turned into softies cause of people."
"Huh?" Daryl picked up his crossbow, utter confusion now taking over all of his senses. "Wait, hold on, Merle...what the hell?" Merle leaned against the vehicle, only to shock Daryl as he noticed his brother having two hands again. "I'm shitfaced ain't I? Yeah I probably took Abraham's shit and-"
"Nope little brother. You're sober as a christian school girl." Daryl shook his head, only to get a laugh from Merle in response. "Look, I'm here cause you and me, we gotta fix some shit."
"Fix some shit?" Merle had opened the door to the driver's side, Daryl watching in awe as the door raised up and he pulled out a sack. Opening it he felt around for a few tools that Daryl couldn't recognize and he threw the sack to his brother.
Merle dove into the machine, fiddling with a few things as he carried on his explanation. "Yeah, we gotta fix some shit."
"Ya gonna explain to me what we're fixing?"
"Hold on! Impatient little bitch ya still are!" Standing up for a second he pointed at the bag. "Do something instead of standing around and open that bag."
Grumbling under his breath Daryl opened the bag and reached in. He felt a book and pulled it out. It was pink, with a gold clasp on it. When he opened it he froze at the first entry. "This is Beth's diary." His hands began to shake, sweating over the item in his grasp. This was hers, he had seen it last when she had hugged him in the prison. Why did Merle have it? Why was Merle here? Why was he alive?
There was no way he could read it, opening it had already made him feel sick to his stomach. Putting it back in the bag he saw Merle stand up again and crack his back. "The man upstairs can give me my damn hand back but I still feel old as shit." Merle slammed the hood shut and snatched the bag from his baby brother, shock still written on his face. "The hell you making that face for?"
The archer looked back to his brother and blinked a few times before even conjuring a response. "I sure as hell gotta be drunk right now. I ain't got no clue what the fuck is going on! Why the hell you here? I put you down!"
"Yeah and I get headaches still from that shit ya little prick. Gotta remember to kick your ass before this shit is done." Opening the car door again he pointed at the other side. "Get in."
"I ain't getting in the damn car!"
"Get in."
"No-"
"Daryl!"
"Merle!" The two seemed frozen in a stand off before Daryl finally groaned and moved to the passenger side. "How the fuck does it op-" Daryl was smacked by the door opening up and he stumbled back. Falling back on to the ground he glared at his older brother, who was laughing hysterically at the sight. "I'm gonna kick your god damn ass!"
"You wanna save Beth or not?" Merle's laughter had finally died down, turning serious as Daryl remained on the ground, unsure of how to process the question. "Well?"
"What?"
The door now open he saw Merle through the lights of the car turning on. The devil's smirk was back on a man that just said he got his hand back from God. What Merle was saying, what was happening, it all made no sense. "Ya heard me." Merle gripped the steering wheel and revved the engine. "Get in Daryl, we're gonna go save ya girlfriend."
P/A: There we go, the first chapter. Just a reminder, this is crack. At times this crack will get serious, but it is PURE FUCKING CRACK. I'm writing this simply out of enjoyment. If you want to see more, you know the drill.
