My Choice, not your burden.
Disclaimer: Own absolutely nothing. The characters, the premise, the walkers - none are mine. Darn it.
This is my first Walking Dead fanfic. I've been obsessing over the idea in my head for a while and before it literally consumes my waking thoughts I thought it best to get it out. And as far as I am concerned, why bother writing unless you let someone read it. SO, here I am, hoping someone somewhere out there will enjoy it.
I am in two minds where to go with this..whether to actually leave it as a short and sweet one-shot or to extend it into a longer (albeit still short) story. I have a feeling a one-shot won't rid me of the want to write this!
If I do decide to carry it on I am after a Beta and not sure where to get one, so if anyone has some help on that one it would be greatly accepted! As you will tell, no amount of proofing helps me with silly mistakes. And I sure as hell need some help to make the writing better.
Set some time after Season 3.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Chapter One
It was a truly beautiful summer day.
A deserted factory sat in the middle of an overgrown field surrounded by flimsy metal fences, the shadows of the lattice looming on the grass was only interrupted where whole sections were collapsed in places. Trees lined one whole side of the area, stretching into a foreboding forest, whilst a single road snaked its way into fields that stretched into the distance on the other. At the entrance gate to the facility, next to a freshly cut hole in the chain link fence, sat a green Hyundai and black Bonneville, their owners nowhere to be seen.
The metal doors of the building burst open and four figures spilled out of the door, their outlines silhouetted in the doorway against to stark daylight they poured out into. Shadowy figures moved clumsily behind them; the unmistakable lumber of the un-dead licking at their heels. With no time to even turn and shut the doors the group made its way out into the open field, moving as one. They surged forward quickly despite one man being supported heavily by another, with the other two members taking out the few walkers directly in their path. Turning the corner of the building, they readied themselves to sprint to their vehicles on the other side of the fence before stopping abruptly. The field that had only half an hour ago been bare of any threats was now teeming with the incessant groans and shuffle of the walkers, the car and motorbike cut off from them. Everywhere was cut off from them.
Maggie grabbed hold of Glenn's hand as a gasp escaped her lips and he squeezed it quickly, pulling himself towards her. Daryl shifted himself slightly to get a better support of Rick's weight on his shoulder, adjusting his crossbow into a more comfortable position. Rick winced as Daryl's fingers slightly tightened against his bruised ribs.
"Shit!" Glenn spun quickly to check all angles surrounding them. It seems like a number of herds had happened upon one spot at once, some spilling from the woods while more came from the fields that stretched to the road. Why did it always happen to them? They were stuck between the building, the fence and a cluster of abandoned work vehicles. Cornered. Caged. Like animals. Their slow-moving enemy surrounded them, leaving them no spaces to manoeuvre out of their path. It didn't matter that they were not on top of them yet, that they had minutes until they would be at them, there was no way out. They had time, but what good was it when all they could do was to literally watch death coming straight at them. "Where the hell did they all come from?"
"That doesn't matter." Maggie raised her gun and took a clean shot at the head of a walker who was gaining quicker than his companions. She continued to shoot as she spoke, no longer caring about the noise. "How the hell do we make it past them like this?"
"We don't," Daryl almost growled. He lowered the injured Rick to the floor and made his way over to Glenn. He turned the young man around with the deftest of touches and delved into the backpack slung over the other's shoulder, quickly pulling out the items he sought.
"Daryl, what are you doing?" Glenn swung round as soon as he felt the zip refasten, raising his eyebrows at the items Daryl held. "Why do you need flares? We don't exactly need to draw any more attention over here, and I am pretty sure the local rescue services are decommissioned."
"Glenn..." Realisation dawned on Maggie a second before Glenn caught up.
"Daryl.." It came out as a pathetic whisper.
"Listen here. When I've drawn their attention, ya gotta grab Rick, he can't make it by himself, that tumble down them stairs gave his head a pretty big knock. Get all your asses back to the car and get yourselves the hell outta here. Straight back to that prison. You got tha'?" Daryl's eyes never met Glenn's or Maggie's as his hands worked quickly checking the flares that he held there. Once he received no response he continued, irritation dripping from his voice, "Glenn, do ya understand what I just told ya?"
"You won't make it out." Glenn's eye pleaded as they sought out Daryl's quickly darting ones, wanting to convince the other man not to make this decision. When the blue eyes finally made their to his Glenn realised it was already to late.
"Did ya understand what I just said to ya?" Low, threatening. So Daryl-like.
"Yes. But you don't have to.."
"Like hell I don't. You see another way outta this? You know as well as me that we ain't gonna be able to run through that. All you need is one gap, I can give ya that. I can draw enough with these away from the fence that you can make a run for it."
Glenn's mouth opened and he willed something, anything, to find it's way from his head to his mouth. He pleaded internally for some genius plan to magic itself from thin air and make the idea of Daryl sacrificing himself seem as ridiculous as it should. His shoulders sagged as he realised there was nothing.
"We can come up with something." Rick's shaking voice cut the tense silence. It was a silence that seemed louder and more oppressive than the collective groans of the approaching herds. He lifted his head from his chest, where it has been resting before the exchanges before him had battled its way into his foggy mind. Daryl turned and advanced quickly.
"We have no time. Shit, we're wasting time now. It's simple. Your children need you. The whole group needs you." Daryl's voice pitched out of anger and desperation that he didn't have the energy to fight back down. His strong finger suddenly pointed to Maggie and Glenn as he wheeled around. "Her daddy and sister need HER, and she needs you, Glenn. Those kiddies you two will no doubt be popping out soon are the future we've been fighting for all this time. All the kids are. They are the whole fucking point. Otherwise all this shit, everything that we've done, has been worth fuck all."
Daryl's chest was rising and falling quickly as his angry breaths filled the summer air. None of the others had any words left to argue. He took the opportunity to check the chamber of his gun and tipped three bullets into his calloused hand and then outstretched them towards Glenn. Glenn's eyes quizzed his friend.
"I'll only need one bullet." Daryl spoke matter-of-factly, not betraying the true meaning of his words. "You take these, you need them more".
With a quick pat on Glenn's shoulder and a nod to Maggie, Daryl turned his attention back to Rick. He bent down, grabbed the groggy mans chin in one hand and forced their eyes to meet.
Rick stilled as both men's breath evened to match the other. Their eyes held each other and a level of understanding was exchanged in no more than a few seconds. Rick dropped his eyes to the floor quickly, having to the break the connection before the tears that had begun to prickle the back of his eyes threatened to make their presence known. He picked his gaze back up to the icy blue stare of Daryl. The man had never faltered.
With one hand still on Rick's chin, Daryl leaned in closer, his other coming to rest gently on Rick's shoulder. Rick briefly wondered if this was the most Daryl had ever intentionally touched another human being.
"This is my choice. My choice. NOT your burden, ya' hear?" Daryl's voice was softer that Rick had ever heard it before, but it was as strong as ever.
"Daryl, please." Rick's hand reached out to the hand on his own shoulder and grabbed it, squeezed it. He didn't care how little Daryl liked touched, didn't care how he flinched at the affection the small gesture held. "I need YOU".
Daryl's head dropped and the air left his lungs. He felt his heart drop to his feet and he braced himself slightly. The earnest meaning coming from those three words had floored him, made him doubt for a second what he knew needed to be done. He searched in his head quickly for a way to make Rick understand what he needed to do, why he needed to do it. There was only one thing he knew that would do it.
"Family?"
The question was evident in that one word. That one word that meant everything to Daryl. It was the one word that relayed what this group of people have become to him over the past two years. It was the only way he knew to make Rick know how much he loved them. He would die for these people. He would die a thousand times over.
Their eyes met once again and Rick's expression betrayed him. One word. It was all it took to make him accept it.
"Family." Rick gripped Daryl's hand once more. He felt the hunter relax as a small almost-smile played along his lips.
"You take care of them for me."
Daryl rose and stretched his shoulders out. The dead were still advancing, drawing in tighter as a group as they closed in. All his friends needed was one gap to make it through. He could give them that. He had to give them that. He pulled the crossbow over his chest tightly and grabbed at the strap until his knuckles were white, like a young child would with their much-loved security blanket. He took a deep breath, drawing out a long and low whistle as he exhaled and gave one final glance back towards the sagging forms behind him.
"What the hell are y'all waiting for? A fucking klaxxon?"
And with that he turned and ran, lighting one of the flares as he made a wide circle around the three now-moving figures, drawing as much attention away from the group as possible.
He took off back towards the abandoned work vehicles, running straight into the heaving mass of soulless monsters.
One flare was thrown clear to the side, taking a group of walkers scurrying after it, as another was lit, Daryl never missing a stride.
"COME AND FUCKING GET ME YOU ROTTING PIECES OF SHIT!"
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
So, there you go, my first published WD fic. I hope that you enjoyed reading. I would appreciate any reviews.