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Of All These Yesterdays

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As soon as Daryl and I arrived back at camp, Daryl was informed that his brother, Merle had been left behind on top of a roof in the middle of the walker infested city once known as Atlanta.

At the news of this, Daryl went ballistic with the intent to seriously maim or kill, which was what I and the camp expected of him, no less, and if it had been me and it had been my brother, I probably would’ve acted the exact same way, too. See, I can’t blame Daryl for losing his cool. That was his brother, his family out there in that deathtrap of a city. Merle was about the only family he had left, and if Daryl lost him, well, he’d have no one.

After losing his cool, I did the only thing I could, I attempted, rather futilely, to calm Daryl down, and I told him to let these men explain the whole situation, but he just cut my head off, continuing to rage on and on. I decided the best thing for me to do then was to back out of the whole escalating situation with the rest of those that decided to steer clear of Daryl’s warpath and watch from a safe distance rather than come between the inevitable. I knew there was nothing I could say or do that would change Daryl’s mind or calm him down, but I knew that right then and there, I had to do something. I’ve seen Daryl like this before, and let’s just say it isn’t a pretty sight. Suffice to say; while Daryl was like this, it is best to leave him be until he finally cools down.

After my failed attempt to calm him down, it all went downhill from there. Daryl started hollering and throwing punches at the man he deemed responsible for Merle’s predicament, Rick Grimes. When Daryl pulled out a knife on Rick, Shane restrained Daryl in a headlock, while Rick tried to entice him into a calm discussion after disarming him of his weapon. Rick had been a sheriff of King County and was the husband of Lori, who I supposed was led to believe that Rick was lost to her at the very beginning when all of Georgia was being overtaken by the dead. I had been mistaken, Shane was not her husband.

Apparently, Merle had been intoxicated with God knows what, and he was very, very violent with the scavenging team. Rick had only been thinking like a law enforcement figure and did the only thing he knew that would resolve the problem and keep the rest of the team safe from harm. That was to handcuff Merle to a pipe on top of the roof. Personally, I didn’t blame Rick for how he assessed the situation, and it wasn’t his fault that the keys to the handcuffs were lost. The blame wasn’t on his shoulders for that one, but instead someone else’s. His name was T-Dog, and he profusely apologized for dropping the keys, which would’ve set Daryl’s brother free and back to the camp of Atlanta survivors. The youngest Dixon brother did not want T-Dog’s apologizes, even when the man tried to explain that he had chained the door shut with a padlock, so that none of the reanimated corpses could get in at Merle and tear him apart in his vulnerable state.

After T-Dog’s explanation, all Daryl wanted was to go back into the city and find Merle, and he didn’t care if any of those of the group came with him. He asked where he was, and Rick told him he would show him, take him there, so he could rescue his brother and ultimately, bring him back to camp. I think Rick knew he had to go back into the city because in some way the sheriff felt guilty for leaving the eldest Dixon brother behind in the walker infested city, chained to a pipe on top of a building with no way out, but death. Even if Merle was an asshole, I knew deep down inside, he didn’t deserve to be left for dead in a city full of ravenous flesh-eating freaks. No one deserved that fate.

Unfortunately, some of the group would disagree with this statement. Lori Grimes was one of them. She didn’t want her husband going back into the danger zone of a city called Atlanta once more, especially not after their heartfelt reunion. For all she and the camp knew, Merle was up there on that roof alive or he wasn’t. I understood her reasons for being completely against the whole idea of going back into the city and retrieving the hot-headed redneck of a man, but it would just be wrong not to try.

Shane was another one, who completely disagreed with going back into the city. He thought it was foolish to sacrifice yourself for a “douchebag” like Merle Dixon, and that Rick was taking perfectly able bodied men, who could be back with the group, defending it encase any of those drooling, flesh-eating freaks came through. Shane didn’t like the fact that the walker they had just killed had been so close to the camp. He thought if one was this close, what was stopping a crowd of them coming through to attack the prone, defenseless group. Most of the manpower for the group would be gone, back into the city. The camp wouldn’t last long. Rick knew this was true, but he counteracted Shane’s dispute by telling him that there was a bag of guns and ammo that he had conveniently dropped in the city when he first arrived there, and he wanted to go back and get them, bring them back, so they would have more guns to defend themselves with.

This was enough for me, personally. More guns meant more of a chance of surviving this thing. Shane and Lori thought otherwise.

To this Rick argued that he owed a debt to a man and his son, who were responsible for saving his life. He explained, specifically to Lori that this man, his savior was the only reason why he was alive now and able to reunite with her and Carl. And for this reason alone, Rick said he had to warn them of the dangers of entering the city, so the father and son wouldn’t end up in the same boat as he.

Then it was all settled, the rescue group would be leaving.

“Let’s get packing.” I simply stated as I followed Daryl to where he was to begin making preparations for the mission of rescuing his brother – his tent.

“No, ya ain’t going, ain’t safe out there. Stay here in camp, safer that way, Elena.” Daryl didn’t turn to look at me as he began to pack his things for the journey ahead.

Predictable, I thought with a huff of exasperation at his answer, which I should have known was coming. I knew once we were alone, he would do this, but it wasn’t gonna happen. I could take care of myself thank you.

Daryl has always been a bit protective of me, even before the world went to shit and the dead started getting back up and walking around. The man, even now, insisted on keeping me safe, even when he knew very well I wasn’t defenseless. I had managed to escape the city unscathed and by damn, I could very well do it again.

Rolling my eyes and standing my ground, I crossed my arms. “No, you don’t get to choose if I say or go, Dixon. I am going. You need someone to watch your back, and who else would do it besides me?” I looked at him pointedly with smirk on my lips.

“This isn’t a debate. Ya are staying, no ifs, ands, or buts about it, Elena. I don’t want your stupid ass getting yourself killed. You’ll only slow us down. Stay here.” He slung his bag over his shoulder and began to walk way. I followed at his heels, irritated with him. I could protect myself just fine. Wasn’t I alive now? That had to count for something, if nothing would.

“I made it out of Atlanta alive once, Daryl. I can do it again. Take me with you for the love of God. I’m not a kid anymore, and by damn I ain’t helpless. I’ve made it this far.”

“Ya ain’t even slept, you might get so tired you’ll make a stupid decision and get yourself killed.”
“Don’t give me that shit, Daryl! You haven’t slept either, and besides, I can sleep on the way there.” I countered, smirking.

The man grunted while eyeing me, and then he sighed, “Ya ain’t gonna stop pestering me until I say yes, are you?”

“No, remember, Dixon, pestering you is my duty.”

Daryl rolled his eyes, and mumbled rather sullenly, “Ya can go, but ya have to stay close to me at all times, you got it?” He leaned forward, toward and cut his eyes at me. “No wondering off, don’t attract any attention to yourself, and above all, keep ya mouth shut unless you are being attacked by one of them dead people. You got it, ya hear?”

I nodded profusely in response. “Crystal clear, bro,” I said, giving him a fake salute like a solider would give a sergeant. “What’s the worst that could happen?” Daryl just shook his head as I continued to follow him to the vehicle that will be taking us to into the city. I had my stuff already packed; I had been ready to go.

At our approach, Daryl informs the rescue team that I was coming along. No one objected to this, which was what I expected. No one at the camp really wanted me here. If I was to leave with the team, they wouldn’t care. Like I said, I’ll keep close to someone who’s familiar, who I know- that someone being Daryl Dixon. We were outcasts in this group of survivors. No one ever gave us the time of day, always thinking the worst of us, it seemed. I know there are some bad traits Daryl and I have, like our tempers, for instance, but deep down we’re decent people. You just have to get used to us first.

Once, all five of us were in the U-Haul that would be taking us into the city, I attempted to get some shut eye. The last couple days, I would admit, I hadn’t been getting adequate sleep. But considering that the dead were walking around eating people, who wouldn’t be? In the city, I had seen a lot death and destruction. I was there when the dead breached the city, and everybody was running for their lives to get out, and I had been one of them. I was one of the fortune few to escape when the dead swarmed and the army nuked the place in an effort to contain the infection, which hadn’t helped at all, just added to the body count, and made more of those things.

Drifting off, head lolling to the side, I found myself asleep in no time.

The apartment complex we had taken refuge in was being taken over, and we had mere minutes or much less to escape the city or be devoured by the oncoming multitude of reanimated corpses. The dead were swarming the apartments, much like the rest of the city, trying to seek out their next meal. Jordan and I had narrowly escaped, and now, we were running for our lives down the streets of Atlanta. Chaos was ensuing all around us, citizens bumping into each other this way and that in a crazed desperate attempt to escape the grabbing hands and snapping jaws of the rotting, walking corpses, who longed to feast upon their flesh. The army was trying to put down the infected as the roiling turmoil unfurled around them, but the dead were proving too much of a battle to be silenced. In big groups the dead were indescribable, unthinking machines that came at you from all side. Trapping you, until they were finally feasting upon your insides and you were being torn limb from limb, your life’s blood draining.

Jordan and I had witness a few deaths since our escape from the diner we worked at, none that we desired to relive. Those brutal deaths kept me up at night, making me think I’d be the next to go out just the same as those poor unfortunate souls who didn’t have what it took to stay alive. Some of those deaths I blamed myself for, thinking maybe if I hadn’t froze up in panic, I would have been able to save a life or many more, but sadly, I was just one person. I knew not everyone could be saved.

“Come on, Jordan,” I yelled over the screams and cries for help as I yanked a bit too hard on her wrist, so I could get her moving faster. We had to get out of here, out of Atlanta before we too were victims of the walking dead.

“Elena, you’re hurting my wrist?” Jordan winced at the tight grip I had on her wrist.

At this, I loosen my grip, “I’m sorry, but I can’t have us gettin’ separated. Remember we stick together.”

We rounded a corner and into an alleyway, almost running straight into a walking corpse, and it lunged at me, but I, on pure instinct sidestepped it and brought my knife out of its sheath at my side. As soon as I made this move, a few more of those drooling freaks appeared, far too many for just Jordan and me to take out.

“Shit,” I hissed, flitting my eyes this way and that, weighing my options. Could we escape this? Yelling over my shoulder at Jordan, I said, “Jordan, you have to leave me, run! I’ll give you time to escape, go now!”

“No, I ain’t leaving you, Elena!” She cried back as we began backing up, attempting to put some distance between us and the three to five walking corpses that continued to advance. “We stick together. No parting ways, you die, I die.”

Someone was shaking me. I heard them vaguely from the depths of my hazy mind, which was in between awareness and sleep. I grunted, turned away from the voice, and then realized whose voice it was. It was Daryl’s.

“Elena, get ya damn ass up. We’re stopping. I ain’t gonna say it again. We’ll leave your ass behind if ya don’t get up.”

Snapping my eyes open, I slowly took in my surroundings. We had stopped the U-Haul. Glenn and Rick were already out of the front seat, and they were now, opening the back for me, Daryl and T-Dog to come out.

“Damn, how long was I out?” I turned to them, yawning.

“The whole ride,” Glenn answered before Daryl could. “You sure are a sound sleeper.”

“You was mumblin’ in your sleep too.” Daryl grunted as he got out of the U-Haul, T-Dog and I following.

Flustered and embarrassed, I scratched the back of my neck. I didn’t reply, not sure what to say to this. The dreams I’ve been having weren’t exactly dreams, more like memories and nightmares - memories of my escape from Atlanta and my survival before meeting up with the group of Atlanta survivors. I hadn’t slept well in quite some time because of them. I would always end up walking up, crying or screaming or both.

Daryl gave me a look, which I avoided meeting. “Whatever. Let’s get a move on, time to save my brother.”

Notes

Sorry for the huge ass wait, but my Writer's Block has been a bitch to me, and I kind of got burnt out on what to write for this story, so it took me a long, long while to come up with something. Once again, readers I am truly sorry for the delay! I'll try to update quicker next time, but no promises!

Comments

this is good

Nina Nina
5/6/14

@dixiewolf
Thanks so much for the comment!:) Glad you enjoyed the update!XDD I was afraid this update wouldn't be good enough for my readers. I had really, really bad Writer's Block, and that was the whole reason why I had not updated in quite awhile.

I was so excited to see that you had updated! I'm glad Elena and Glenn are starting to interact. I'm sure he'll be able to break down the walls she's putting up around herself. Can't wait for more! :)

dixiewolf dixiewolf
5/2/14

@Blakeray
I am about to update right now!:) I hope you enjoy!:D Sorry, I haven't updated in quite awhile! I've been having terrible Writer's Block!:/

dracovengeance dracovengeance
4/30/14

please update

Blakeray Blakeray
4/18/14