Note: I've been sitting on this story for a while and even though it's not finished and I have to study this week, I wanted to post it...I've taken it in one direction already but depending on what you all think, it might go somewhere completely different...so let me know what you think...Enjoy! (p.s. I'm not good at writing an accent like Daryl's so there isn't much of that, plus it's a bit easier to read when it's not all redneck-y...)
Neither of us cared that we had a crowd watching us. His hands let go of my shoulders and cupped my cheeks.
"We have a son?" he asked.
"He was the smartest boy I knew. He took to everything he was taught right away. Always trying to learn more or get hands on experience. He loved the woods and camping. He caught his first rabbit when he was 4. He would haveā¦" I explained as tears fell down my cheeks.
"AJ, what happened to him? Did a walker get him?"
"It was just a scratch and when this all started, they only said not to get bitten. He wasn't bite, I swear, but he started to burn up. I couldn't get his temperature down and nothing was helping with the pain. He told me he loved me before he died. I couldn't move. I had just watched our son die. I couldn't let him hurt anyone else. Oh, Dix, I told him I loved him as I killed him. I killed our son," I sobbed.
My body crumpled to the floor and I cried. My body hurt not just from the wound but also from the wracking sobs as my heart broke again. I curled up on my side, bringing my legs as close to my chest as I could. Dix was still standing over me for a few moments before he sat down beside me. He gathered me into his arms and held me.
"I'm so sorry, Dix. I should have been watching him better. I shouldn't have allowed it to happen but he wanted to come with me as I looked for food. I got the walker before it could bite him but his arm was scratched. I let my little boy get hurt and then I had to kill him. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."
The group dispersed as Dix held me. One hand held my face close to his chest and his other arm was wrapped around my stomach, carefully because of my wound. It must have taken me nearly 10minutes to calm down. Tears still flowed down my cheeks but I wasn't sobbing or hyperventilating. I curled more into Dix and grabbed onto his shirt.
"He looked so much like you and always wanted to hear stories of his Daddy. Every night before bed, I'd share a memory of you with him. Sometimes it was something small but sometimes it was something big, like that time you and Merle hunted down a stag when you were 13.
"For his 8th birthday, I gifted him with the exact same knife you gave me on my 8th birthday. That's the knife I wouldn't give up. I've never let anyone else touch it except for our son. He wanted to hear all about how you gave it to me and then took me hunting."
"AJ, what was his name?" Dix asked, raising my chin with one of his fingers.
"Travis. Travis Nicholas Dixon," I said as I reached for something hanging down my shirt.
I unwedged the locket from between my breasts and pulled it out. I opened it to show Dix the picture. While I had others in my backpack, this was the closest one. On one side of the locket was a picture of Dix that I had taken before I moved and on the other side was Travis on his 9th birthday, three weeks before I had to kill him.
"He's perfect, AJ."
"I wanted you in our life. I brought him when I went back but no one knew where you had gone off to. Merle was in jail again for beating someone up in a bar and I wasn't going to take a baby to the prison. I had even thought about moving back in case you would return some day but then Dad got sick and I couldn't leave."
"Sorry I wasn't there for ya. But ya said ya wrote. I got no mail."
"Then they're lost in postal land somewhere because they never came back 'Return to Sender'. Dix, I'm so sorry that you couldn't meet your son. I have more pictures and I'll tell you everything you want about him."
I felt Dix nod his head before he helped me up. He told me to rest and with a quick kiss on the forehead, he left the cell. I caught a glimpse of Carol stopping him to talk. She placed a hand on his arm and I knew that life definitely wasn't the same any longer.
As the sun rose the next morning, I was already up and prepared to go. The only downside of being a person who learned to rise early for hunting was that no one else was up. My things were in Rick's cell and I knew he wouldn't hesitate to shoot me if I tried to get them. I passed a bit of time using the pull up bar that was in the cell. Since my weight was being supported by my arms, my side wasn't hurting and as long as I didn't try to incorporate a crunch it wouldn't be so bad.
"Knew ya'd be up. Didn't expect ya to be doing that, like a harden criminal," Dix joked.
"What can I say? I'm no one's bitch, let alone those walkers out there. Even with all the running and such, I've made sure to stay fit."
"That ya have," he leered as he checked out my body.
"Enough, Dix. Like you said, things have changed but I'd never let you cheat on Carol with me. Besides I'm leaving this morning."
"Not until after you pay us back for helping you with helping us clear the prison," Rick interrupted as he stepped towards the cell.
"Of course. How selfish of me to use an unoccupied cell and some of your precious thread without offering to help clear a place that I'm not staying."
"It would probably be easier if I put a bullet in your head now," he growled, his hand inching to his gun.
"Normally I'd suggest you get laid but if anything like that happens, that kid's going to be born right quick."
Rick shared a look with Dix and left the cell.
"How'd you know about Rick and Lori?"
"Doesn't take a genius to see there's an issue between them. Plus I heard them talking last night."
"So ya know, me and Carol are nothing."
The group shared a small breakfast before those going armed up. I shared some of my weapons with the others, even left a few behind for Lori, Carol, Maggie, Beth, and Carl to keep. Dix was out front and he slipped his arm through to put the key in the lock. I was in the middle with Glenn and Hershel while Rick and T-Dog were behind us. Maggie had offered to come but Rick wanted someone extra to stay behind.
"I'm watching you," Rick said before we left the cell block.
"I'd charge you with stalking if there was such a thing as police anymore," I smirked back at him.
As we moved our way down the hallways, Glenn marked the walls with arrows pointing back the way we came. I understood the logic in case we got lost but my focus was more on what was up ahead. I slowly inched my way up to the front to Dix and at one junction, he looked left while I looked right.
"Clear on this side," I whispered.
"Same here."
"Go left. We can always double back later," Rick ordered.
We did run into walkers eventually. They were old residents of the prison or in some cases, people who looked like they had worked here. We took them out quickly and mostly quietly. The group had hit the end of the hallway which led outside. Doubling back we went down the hallway I had cleared and heard noises from one of the rooms. Since I was closest, I grabbed the handle and waited while they got into position.
I pulled the door open and the few walkers who were standing there were killed. The room held nothing significant so we continued on. Hershel stumbled over a walker and made a large ruckus as his axe scrapped against the wall. It drew the attention of a large group of walkers.
"Keep tight."
Survival kicked in for me and I took down any walker who got close. Two attacked at the same time and while it was a struggle because of the close quarters, I managed to get my Bowie into their heads. I tried to keep the group in my sights but as more walkers came from behind us somehow, we had to battle them on both sides.
"Fuck! Glenn, Daryl, get Hershel. T, get the door."
I killed the last walker on my side and turned to find T-Dog hacking at a locked chain on a door. Glenn and Daryl were supporting Hershel as he bled from a bite on his leg. I provided cover as the chain gave way and they hurried into the room after opening the door. I stabbed another walker before following the others through the door. T-Dog and I found a few things to block the door as Rick collapsed at Hershel's side.
"Damn it. I'm sorry, Hershel."
Dix was taking off his belt to tie around Hershel's leg when there was a large bang at the door. He immediately raised his Horton at the door. I dropped my weapons and pulled his belt through the buckle. I knelt at Rick's side and secured the belt around the leg.
"You'll need it to stem the blood flow," I said as I pulled off my shirt and handed it over to the leader.
I held the belt tight in my hand and leaned on Hershel's shoulder to hold him down. Rick gave me a look and I nodded back. Rick raised the axe that Hershel had been carrying and brought it down on the leg just below the knee. It took a few whacks before the bitten limb was free. Hershel had screamed throughout the amputation but had now gone quiet. Rick had pulled off the checkered shirt he was wearing over a T-shirt and pressed it into the wound as well as my own top. The more layers and pressure we could do would be beneficial. We would need to cauterize the wound to stop the bleeding soon though. I caught something out of the corner of my mind.
"Dix. Rick."
I tilted my head to the right and watched as everyone turned. There standing behind a barred partition were a handful of people dressed in prison jumpsuits and holding weapons. T-Dog, Rick, and Dix were quick to line up in front of us. I grabbed onto the bloody stump to apply pressure since Rick had let go.
"Damn, man. You just hacked off his leg," one of the prisoners announced.
