Chapter Thirteen

No.

NO!

Rick's heart stilled in his chest as three walkers latched onto his lover, tears blurring his gaze when the archer let out a pained gasp.

This couldn't be happening. He would've been able to handle it if it were anyone else, but not Daryl. The hunter had been his rock since the very beginning, even if at the time they'd met he'd had every reason to hate him. If it weren't for Daryl he would've given up when Sophia had gone missing, what little hope he'd had since the start of this nightmare vanishing with the little waif like girl. Now, almost ten years later, it was all flashing before his eyes and he knew that whatever sound left his throat wasn't human.

He raced forward, heart pounding when Daryl knifed the three Walkers attached to him, blood staining his skin like a macabre costume. The wounds left behind were deep, glistening in the high midday sun and it was all he could do not to cry.

There was no coming back from wounds like that.

His husband stumbled toward him, blue eyes clearer than they had been since they'd arrived in this time, and free of the shadows that had plagued them for years. He let out a choked sob and pulled the man into his arms, watching awestruck as a small genuine smile danced across the younger man's thin lips.

"Daryl?"

"Scared the hell outta Lil Asskicker…tell 'er I'm sorry?"

Rick shook his head, watching the eyes he loved so much, slowly cloud over. "Tell her yourself."

Daryl's lips quirked and he curled closer to Rick gasping in pain.

"Do it where they can't see?"

The former cop shook his head. "Not yet. Please." He whimpered brokenly, burying his face in his husband's hair. Shane looked away from the two, heart aching for his friend. Distantly, he could hear the calls of their family, but it didn't register as he took in the heart wrenching scene in front of him.

"I love you. I love you. I love you." His friend sobbed out, arms tightening around his dying lover and the hunter smile up at him, an expression Shane never thought would seem so at home on the man's face.

"I know." He whispered back, eyes sliding closed. "I know…"

For a moment all was silent, then Rick stood, curls shadowing his eyes as he cradled Daryl's limp body in his arms like it was the most precious thing he'd ever held.

Shane reached out to place a hand on his shoulder but was brushed off, his brother's lips curling into a savage sneer.

"Don't."

"Rick, man you gotta-"

"Leave me alone!" Rick roared angrily, pulling the corpse closer and Shane jerked away.

He shook his head, seeing the unstable gleam in his friend's eyes. There was no point trying to reason with him while he was like this, something he'd learned after the younger man's parents had died. Instead he sighed and turned to head back to the others.

"I hope you know what you're doing, brother." He whispered, before walking away.

When he reached the group he found them all unusually solemn, hope gleaming in their eyes and his heart sank.

Carol was the first to speak.

"Where's Rick?"

He swallowed. "He's with Daryl."

Merle frowned at him, then paled, faltering back a step.

"No…" He'd never known Merle Dixon could sound so broken.

"Merle-"

"Where's m' brother? Please Walsh, Shane, where is Daryl?"

"He got bit."

Everyone froze, then a low broken sound left Judith who collapsed to her knees sobbing. Carl looked eerily blank but held his sister in his arms tenderly.

Hershel, however, smiled.

Shane wanted to punch him.

"How can you smile like that? Daryl is dead!"

"You said he was bit."

Shane nodded.

"Then he'll be fine."

Merle glared at him, lips curled viciously.

"Explain."

The elderly veterinarian sighed.

"The way it was explained to me… the Governor wanted a weapon strong enough to survive the Walkers surrounding the prison, one that could withstand the bite. So while he had Daryl in captivity he experimented on him. He injected him with walker blood, using the virus as a vaccine but instead of turning Daryl into a walker it turned him into something else. Something more."

Hope built in everyone's gaze.

"What does that mean?"

Hershel gave a genial smile.

"Daryl might still be alive."

He felt numb.

The body in his arms was still warm, blood congealing around gruesome wounds and he knew he would have to do…it before his lover was reanimated into one of those things. He wouldn't be able to handle seeing his fearsome hunter like that, lifeless and mindless, not like Lori had in their first timeline.

Seeing Daryl as a walker would shatter everything he had left.

Slowly, he carried his lover's body to the roof where they'd first made love, paying the debris and dying flames no mind. Taking a seat against the wall, he repositioned the body carefully, taking a moment to stroke the soft locks of his beloved's hair.

Daryl always looked so innocent when he was sleeping and even now, with his body covered in dirt and blood, he carried that look. It was one reason why he'd always strived to wake before the hunter.

When he slept all the stress and tension drained from him, leaving him pliant and seemingly years younger, it was something he'd cherished as he watched the man grow wearier and wearier by the day. Now in death, that tension was permanently gone and he felt an echo of relief deep, deep down under the grief and emptiness encasing his heart.

With a soft broken sigh, he removed his knife from it's sheath, and leaned forward, pulling the still form up with him. Pressing his lips to Daryl's still warm ones, he froze, eyes wide.

A soft, warm flutter of breath touched his skin, and now with the still form so close to him he could feel a steady but slow heartbeat, almost unnoticeable to his human ears.

A wide smile crossed his lips and he sobbed in pure relief, dropping the knife to pull his lover as close as he could.

Daryl was alive.

He was alive!

It was all over and they…

They were free.

TBC...

A/N: Sorry for the wait, the ending of this chapter decided it didn't want to be written and I spent three days writing it over and over until I got one I was mildly satisfied with. Anyways, R&R!