Chapter Text
“Ma, let me go with you”, My fifteen-year-old daughter pleaded with me to let her join the scavenging trip I was packing for.
“Thea, no. I’m quicker if I go by myself, maybe next time”, I gave her a quick kiss on her forehead.
“But Ma, how am I ever gonna learn how to kill those things”, she spoke a little too loud for my liking.
“Thea, I said no and that’s the end.”.
“Fine”, She slumped in the chair at the kitchen table and started to chew at the lips. She looked just like her father when she did that. My daughter may share my eyes, hair, and skin color, but she acted like Daryl. I love her with every fiber of my being but sometimes I couldn’t look at her when she reminded me of him.
“Thea, stop biting your lips. They’re gonna get chapped.”, I kept my head down while filling a ziploc bag of grandola.
“This is some bullshit”, Thea mumbled under her breath.
“Dorothea Ester Murry, watch your mouth.”, I snapped at her.
“I’m sorry, but ma you gotta understand you can keep going out there without backup. What if something happens?”.
“If you’re that worried, I’ll ask Maggie to go with me”, but that didn’t seem to satisfy her. She stood up and walked over to me.
“Let’s hope that barn door doesn’t break down because we’ll all die with just you defending us.”, she whispered.
“I wouldn’t be the only one, but if you want me to train you that bad. We’ll start when I get back.’.
“And the monster in the barn? When are we gonna deal with that?”.
“Thea, stop it. There is no dealing with it. No one knows what’s going on or what those things are. Hershel is just taking precautions, just in case they can be saved.”.
“They’re monsters, mama. I was the one with Shawn and Annette when they got attacked. I saw what they do to people, they rip them apart. There is no saving them”.
“She is his wife and he thought of Shawn as his own. Just try to understand that he’s holding on for a little hope. If they got you too that night, you would be in that barn with them.”.
“If I ever become one of those things, don’t try to save me. Take my head off.”, she walked away and went to her room. I shook my head at how headstrong my daughter was, ready to fight, something she got from both of her parents. I finish packing my bag of supplies for a quick run into town. I do most runs into the shopping center, for the necessities we don’t have at the farm. I didn’t have many run-ins with the dead so I didn’t carry many weapons, but I keep a sickle just in case. Maggie would join me sometimes, but rather work on the farm. I head up the stairs to see Thea before I head out.
“Hey, Libby?”, I see Beth standing at the top of the stairs.
“Wassup Beth, I’m about to head out . You need anything?”.
“Um I put a small list together of what everyone wants.”, she handed me a small piece of paper.
“Ok, I got it. Is Thea still in y’all’s room?”.
“Yeah, she’s still upset that she can’t go”.
“Okay, Thank you. I’ll go talk to her”, I walked up to Beth and Thea’s shared room and knocked on the door softly. “Thea I’m about to leave, I wanna see you before I go”. I waited and listened for a response but one wasn’t given. It’s okay that she’s still mad at me. I spent plenty of days mad at my mother.
“I love you, baby girl. I’ll see you later, okay?”, I talked through the door before walking away.
I walked out of the house, and to the stables where Maggie was waiting for me with her horse ‘Minnie’. “Ready to go”, Maggie passed me the reins to the horse.
“I’m ready to get back. I hate going out there”.
“Maybe next time I’ll go and you can stay here on the farm.”, Maggie helped me climb on the saddle.
“I’m gonna hold you to that”, I laughed.
“I will, I promise.”, she laughed along.
“Um, did Otis leave yet?”.
“No, he was supposed to leave about an hour ago, but he found some dead ones on the property, and had to put them in the barn”.
“Oh”, I gave a heartbroken tone. More bodies in that barn just means someone lost a person they love.
“I know it seems crazy, but it gives Daddy some hope”.
“Maggie, I understand. Hope and each other is all we have these days.”, I patted her hand.
“You’re right. So please be safe out there”.
“I will”, I rode off the farm.
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I went between the shelves of the pharmacy, picking up items and crossing them off the list Beth gave me. Grabbing things like bandages, rubbing alcohol, and pads.
Once I was finished, I exited the building and started to tie the bags to the saddle. There were three dead ones slowly making their way toward me. They were far enough for me to take my time properly securing the bags. I was about to mount the saddle when I heard loud cars and men’s voices.
“Shit”, I looked around to see if I had enough time to get on the horse and ride away. The men’s voices started to get close enough for me to hear what they were saying.
“That fucking bitch scratched me!”, One of the men laughed.
“Didn’t think she had any fight in her, did you?”, another responds to him. I had to hide, they don’t seem to be friendly to strangers. I quickly cut the rope I tied a moment before, grabbed the bags, and ran into the alleyway beside the pharmacy. I slide to the back of the building to hide from the men.
“Look, there’s a horse. Still tied up too!”, one of the men spoke with a young-sounding voice.
“That means the owner is probably still here, maybe even hiding.”.
“So you want us to look for them”, the young one asked.
“Nah, if they want their ride back, then they’ll come and get it. And If it's a girl, I call dibs”.
Hearing the men discuss their plans if they came across a woman made me too fearful to move. But I couldn’t just stand here, they could notice me or dead ones could come back here. I could probably take out one of them but a whole gang, forget about it. I knew I had to be smart about my next move.
There was an inn that shared the alleyway with the pharmacy. I went to the door of the inn as quietly as I could. I hid behind the large grey door as the dead ones trickled out. It was easy work getting past them and into the building. I didn’t want to stay in the rooms because if the gang outside wanted to stay there for the night I would surely be caught. I noticed an opened hidden door behind the front desk, I decided this would be my residence for the night.
Once I got in the room I was able to catch my breath. It was a quick one because the smell that radiated from the room caused me to gagge. I couldn’t risk going back out there because it was getting dark and I would have to use my lantern and this was the only one without windows. I closed the door and lit my lantern to get a feel of my surroundings.
It was an office. At the desk was a body that I assumed was the owner or at least a manager who sat still in the chair. I walked closer with my lantern in one hand and my sickle in the other. I flashed the light onto the face and was met with a pale man with a bullet hole in his forehead. I jumped away from the body as the flies flew off. I can’t stay in this room with this stench, I have to get this body out. I grabbed the blanket off the couch. Wrapped the body and quietly dragged the body out. When I returned to the room, I secured the door by pushing the couch in front of it. I settled in the corner of the office and stood guard for the night.
The next day, I grabbed my bags so I could find a way to get back to the farm. I peeked out the door and could see through the glass front door that the men left. But I wasn’t gonna take any chances, so I headed out the back, and In the alleyway, the dead ones had cleared out. It was hot and the sun was at its highest point, they had probably finished half their chores on the farm and maybe started lunch. I cautiously walked back up the alley to find the men had taken Minnie too. It would be stupid to walk 10 miles back home, especially if those men are still on these roads.
Across the street, I notice an untouched Camry begging to be driven. I swiftly ran to the car, slowly opening the door, hoping the alarm wouldn't go off. Luckily it doesn’t and the keys were in the cupholder. This was a sign that today was gonna be a good day. I put the bags in the back and sat behind the wheel. Once the car started without any issues, I did a small celebration dance and drove to the farm.
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As I pulled up to the farm I noticed an R.V. parked in front of the house. I parked near the stables, where I saw Maggie walking out. I see Maggie squinting her eyes trying to identify the driver, but her face softens when I get out of the car.
“Oh Thank God, Elizabeth. You’re back, I thought we were gonna have to send somebody after you”, she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me.
“No I’m fine. JUst had to hold up somewhere for the night. I was gonna make it back to y'all.”.
“Good, we can’t lose anybody else”.
“What do you mean, anybody else?”.
“Yesterday after you left, Otis-
“Mom!”, Maggie and I both snapped our heads toward the house to see who was yelling. It was Thea running towards me with both her arms out. Once she reached me, she wrapped her arms around me and squeezed as hard as she could.
“Thea I can’t breathe”.
“Oh sorry”, she let go. “I was so scared something happened and after Otis-
“What happened to Otis?”.
“When Otis went out hunting he acedently shot a little boy. Those are his people on the porch.”, Maggie informed me.
“Did they kill him?”.
“The dead ones got him when he and one of their men went to get surgical supplies so Daddy could save the boy.”.
“Is the boy gonna be okay at least? Where’s his parents?”, I could imagine how scared that boy must be. And to be a parent in that situation is unthinkable.
“Daddy said he’ll pull through, his mom and dad are in there with him.”.
“Ok, that’s good. Who’s the rest?”, Thea grabbed one of the bags from my arm and Maggie grabbed another.\
“Let’s go meet them”, we walk to the front porch of the house. As we got closer I could make out the people in front of the house. There was a bald black guy with a bandage on his arm, a young Asian guy, a blond lady, a lady with a greying haircut, and a man with a buzz cut wearing overalls too big for him. I looked at the last man and made eye contact with the blue eyes I let go of fifteen years ago. Seeing Daryl Dixon after all this time made me realize emotions that I didn’t know I had toward him. If you had asked me fifteen years ago, if I hate Daryl Dixon, my answer would have been no. Even after he decided not to stay with us, my answer still would have been no. Back then I couldn’t find it in myself to hate him. But see him standing on the Greene's porch made me want to choke the life out of him. I stopped in my stride toward the house and stared at the people standing there starting to dislike them too just because of the association with him.
“Ma, What’s wrong? Why did you stop?”, Thea grabbed my arm. I snapped out of my hateful glare at Daryl to notice the young Asian man walking down the steps. He held his hand out,
“Hi, I’m Glenn”.
I shook his hand, “Hello, my name is Elizabeth. Hershel is my uncle and I’m Thea’s mom.”. I pointed at my daughter standing beside him while returning my gaze to Daryl. He looked away, avoiding eye contact, he walked to the bike I recognized as Merle’s. I hoped his brother wasn’t here too because I don’t think I can take loud-mouth Merle Dixon at the end of the world. Glenn must have noticed my eyes following Daryl, “Oh that’s Daryl. Don’t worry about him, he may look mean but he can occasionally care.”.
“If you say so”, I politely laughed.
“Well, that's T-dog, Andrea, Carol, and Shane. The rest of the group is inside. Rick, Lori, and their son, Carl, they’re inside with Hershel. Dale is around here somewhere, you won’t miss him, his an old man with a fishing hat on”, Glenn joked.
“Thank you for all the introduction, but I have to get inside and get off my feet.”, I shook Glenn’s hand once more before walking to the front door.
Before I walked inside, I turned my head to look for Daryl and there he was standing by his brother’s bike staring at me. We both quickly looked away as soon as we made eye contact. I shook my head and walked into the house.