(We DO NOT own The Walking Dead.)
Tara sat in her house waiting. Denise hadn't come back yet. Where was she? She went out with Daryl and Rosita earlier... but was she alright? Would she come back? It was then a knock was heard at the door. Tara perked up, thinking that maybe Denise had come back. She quickly built up her composure for her girlfriend as she walked to the door... But when she opened it, it wasn't Denise. It was Abraham.
"Abraham? What're you doing here?" Tara asked, feeling confused.
"Tara... We need to talk. May I come in?" he asked seriously. Noticing his tone, Tara moved aside and let the ginger haired man in.
Abraham sighed as he took a seat in a chair while Tara sat on the couch. "Why isn't Denise here? Is she checking out the medical supplies?" Tara questioned.
Abraham directed his gaze to Tara, a serious expression was plastered on his face.
"Well, uh... There's no easy way I'm gonna be able to say this... But... Basically, shit happened. Denise... she died." Abraham sighed.
Time seemed to stop for Tara as the news settled in. "What...?" Tara breathed.
Her girlfriend was dead...? No... No, it had to be a joke. "Sorry, Tara. But it's true. She was shot in the head by a Savior while talking to Daryl and Rosita. She was killed by the same people who shot Eugene. She's gone..." Abraham told her.
Tara's look of shock was replaced by one of devastation. "Oh god..." Tara muttered, so horrified that she proceeded to fall down onto the porch.
"Tara?!" Abraham asked, sitting next to her out of concern.
As Tara laid on the wood of the porch, she blankly stared up at the ceiling. Denise was... dead? First Alisha, now Denise...? Why? The last thing she said to Denise earlier this morning was 'I love you'...
...she wouldn't be able to say 'I love you' back now...
"I'm... sorry, Tara." Abraham told her. Tara sat up slowly. "Where... where's her body...?"
"We... had to leave it behind."
Tara's eyes widened. "What?!"
"We had to! We needed to get Eugene up so we could treat his wounds. Since she was the medic here, we had to find a way to stop the bleeding. But I promise that we are gonna go back, get Denise, then give her a proper burial." Abraham promised Tara. She only stared ahead blankly.
"...G- Go get it." Tara muttered.
Abraham nodded in confirmation, getting back up on his feet as he saw Maggie approaching.
"I'll leave you to your thoughts..." Abraham replied, sympathetically.
The ginger haired man then left. Maggie knelt down to Tara's side with sympathy in her eyes. "I... heard about what happened to Denise. I'm so sorry..."
"... why'd she have to go...?" Tara asked distantly.
"I don't know..." Maggie answered truthfully.
"...First Alisha, now Denise...?" Tara asked again.
Maggie rubbed her back, also feeling saddened by Denise's death... By the next hour, everyone in the community had found out what happened to Denise... They thought the Saviors were all killed at the satellite relay, but apparently not. The one who killed her, Dwight... He needed to pay. The majority of the Alexandrians felt that way, a notable exception being Morgan.
Carl sat on the porch of his house, deep in thought. Denise had saved his life... he never got to repay the favor. Denise was the ONLY person in Alexandria who had medical practice. Now that she was gone and the Saviors were becoming a larger threat... who'd take her place? Daryl, Rosita, and Abraham had all decided to go out to fetch her body since they were the last to see her alive. Daryl, especially. Daryl sat in the driver's seat as Rosita sat in the middle and Abraham sat by the window. Abraham and Rosita only exchanged a silent look, but Rosita nodded. She was still hurt by Abraham breaking up with her, but this was something they had to do together.
Gabriel and Glenn opened up the gate for them before Daryl drove the truck out. He could only stare ahead as they drove. Denise was starting to become a friend to him... hell, she outright stated that he reminded her of her brother... But now she's gone... It was a big shame it happened. He knew he should have killed Dwight in the burnt forest... He should've left him behind, he should've done something...
He felt like it was his fault... It was HIS crossbow that killed Denise. If he hadn't spared Dwight in the forest two months ago, then maybe... just maybe... Denise might still be here. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he kept driving. He tried getting that thought out of his mind. He tried as much as he could but he failed...
Denise died because of his choice... That's how he was starting to see it.
It was then they arrived at the railroad tracks. Daryl slowed the vechile to a stop. Denise's body still laid there on the tracks with the arrow going through the back of her head and through her eye. Her undamaged eye was wide open with shock, still... The three solemnly stepped out of the pickup while Abraham and Rosita got the tarp out from the back. Daryl trudged over to Denise's corpse. Abraham and Rosita opened the tarp on the grass next to the rails. Daryl picked up her body and put it down on the tarp, gently. But he noticed something fell out of her hand as he did...
It was her keychain with her brother's name on it...
He knelt down and picked up the 'Dennis' tag. He stared at it for a moment, thinking of his own brother. Merle was important to him, just as her brother was to Denise. He wasn't going to leave this behind. This belonged with her... He also picked up the can of Crush soda, looking down at it with sadness evident in his eyes, remembering his little quest to find soda for her before. He put the soda cans in the cooler that Denise died for. Someone could use it, he reasoned. She died for it, so it should have been used.
Abraham and Rosita gently wrapped the tarp around Denise's body before they put her in the back of their truck. They then climbed back into the truck before driving back to Alexandria...
The ride back was silent, like before. The Saviors were responsible for this... those murdering psychopaths would get what they deserve, soon... The Saviors needed to be destroyed... but was their leader, Negan, still alive? Or did Rick execute him at the satellite relay? They would need to be on their guard at all times, now...
After at least an hour of driving, they arrived back at Alexandria. The mood was solemn as Daryl pulled up through the gates. Tara was sitting on her porch, but when she saw them pull up, she immediately stood up. As the truck halted near the cemetery, she jogged towards it. She wanted to see Denise one last time...
As Daryl and Rosita carried the tarp out, Tara caught up to them. They silently looked at the woman before removing the tarp from Denise's face. Tara felt sick to her stomach seeing the arrow through her eye.
"No... no..." Tara whispered as tears began to roll down her cheeks. Why did she have to lie about going out to help take the Saviors down...? Daryl felt sick seeing his own arrow in Denise's head like that, so he gently pulled out the arrow out, trying not to cause more damage to the face. Tara quickly looked away as Daryl pulled it out... She didn't want to see that at all. Daryl put the arrow aside as Abraham patted Tara on her shoulder, signalling it was now safe to look.
Tara shakily looked back at the corpse of her girlfriend and mentally cringed, seeing where her right eye once was. She sadly took hold of Denise's cold, dead hand and held it in her own. "I'm... I'm sorry, Denise..."
She should have told her the truth of going with them... now she never could. A fresh hole had been dug for Denise while Daryl, Rosita, and Abraham retrieved her body earlier. Daryl gently closed Denise's undamaged eye and recovered her head in the tarp.
He and Abraham then lowered her body into the pit. Tara sniffled as she walked away from the scene... She couldn't watch this. On the way out she passed Carol but didn't stop to talk. Carol noticed the hole as Daryl began to fill the hole up, so she decided to help him. He placed it atop the tarp before resuming filling the hole up.
"... you were right." Carol sighed to the grave.
Daryl paused in his work, taking in Carol's words she said to the grave... Denise WAS right. She was right about a very many things. She was useful, friendly, kind... but now she's gone. Forever... He went back to work, being silent. When they finished burying her, Daryl silently placed the can of Crush soda by the homemade grave marker.
After a few moments they left... Daryl took the keychain with him...