Daryl's throat was so dry, the words coming out of his mouth weren't more than a whisper. His heart was pounding fast in his chest.
Was it really him? His brother? Did he finally find him after all these years?
Daryl's hands began to shake a little bit. He wanted to be sure and his knees were week as he walked towards the figure.
Daryl's group didn't see what suddenly caught his attention, but nevertheless they followed him.
It can't be that he's alive, can it? The thoughts were racing in Daryl's head.
The silhouette was standing near the edge of a hill with it's back to Daryl, so Daryl couldn't see its face. Daryl tried to brush away the hope, his friend was still alive, but nevertheless he called his name again:
"Rick?" Daryl's voice sounded scratchier than usual.
The figure turned around and Daryl could see it was a defaced walker. But still, he was not close enough to see if this was Rick, who turned.
Daryl aimed with his crossbow, hands still shaking, tears forming in his eyes.
"Daryl?" Henry asked quietly as he saw Daryl being so tensed and everyone else in the group was concerned too.
The walker started to walk towards them, but suddenly it tripped and fell and rolled downwards the hill.
"Damn it!" Daryl shouted and ran into the direction where the walker disappeared, followed by everyone. He stopped at the edge of the hill and looked down. The walker landed on the road underneath the hill with its face on the ground. And there were about ten walkers surrounding it. Daryl was enraged at not being able to see the face of the walker. The others were confused and Connie gave Daryl a questioning look.
"I think that's maybe..." He looked down and then at Connie again.
"Maybe that's Rick," he explained. "The person I've lost."
She nodded and looked down too. Then she aimed with her slingshot and gave Daryl an encouraging nod. He nodded back in answer and they started shooting the walkers down on the road from above with everything they had. When they finished most of the walkers they climbed carefully down and finished the rest. Daryl walked over to the "Rick-walker" who was lying there with his face on the ground, an arrow in his head. Daryl retrieved the arrow carefully and turned around his head with a touch of hesitation. He felt disappointment and relief at once, when he saw the face of the walker. It didn't resemble Rick's face at all. Daryl sat down on a ground with a groan, still staring at him.
Connie looked Daryl in the eye and he shook his head.
"It's not him," Daryl said. "It's not him."
They stayed there a couple of minutes, giving Daryl time to regain his composure. Then Connie helped him to get up and they continued to walk.
"I remember Rick," Henry told Daryl.
Carol told Henry once how Daryl was looking everywhere for Rick and that he kept doing it, even after many years passed by.
"He was a good man. It's sad that he's gone," Henry continued.
"Yeah," Daryl said depressed.
"Sorry, it wasn't him." Henry said then.
"Thanks."
Connie felt sorry for Daryl. She remembered how sad he looked when he told her he lost someone. So probably he was talking about Rick back then. She could empathize with that a lot. If anything happened to her sister… She couldn't live with that.
It was getting dark and they set up a camp in the forest. Daryl was sitting by the small fire, they made, while Henry and Lydia were sleeping. Dog was resting next to him. Connie prepared her sleeping place and watched Daryl. She could sense his pain. She almost felt it in her heart. Somehow seeing him sad made her sad too. She longed to comfort him. She wanted to hug him. To hold him close to her and maybe that would take his pain away. But she didn't know how to approach him and she didn't want him to feel uncomfortable.
She wrote Sorry about Rick on her notepad, went to him and showed it to him.
Daryl looked up and thanked her. Connie sat down next to him. He threw a couple of branches into the fire.
"I know he's dead," he told her. "Stupid heart just don't want to accept that."
This was so sad that she almost started to cry.
Connie laid her hand on his arm to comfort him. Daryl looked at her and slowly, almost like in slow motion put his hand over hers. His palm felt rough and warm.
They didn't do anything else, they just sat there, looking at each other and enjoying the touch. Daryl had tears in his eyes. Connie smiled to cheer him up and she was almost certain, there was a little sad smile on Daryl's face too.
The world was standing still for a moment.
Then something hit their alarm and Daryl could hear walkers approaching.