The four of you head towards the small tower that sits about a mile outside of the community. All of you are armed. You walk through a dense forest and the trees are slowly thinning out ahead, giving you a good view of the watchtower. Aaron suddenly stops.
"Damn it."
I grip my sword tighter.
You all see the tower. It's on top of a small hill, so you can get a good view of it. You can see a group of walkers around it..and... a body on the ground? Aaron gasps as he looks at it. Daryl is furious. Carol steps up to him. "Who is it?!"
I notice Daryl gets tense. I grab his shoulder gently to silently remind him to stay focused and not rush into anything.
You notice that he's still grabbing your hand. He's glad you did that. Carol doesn't notice and she's just staring at the scene in front of her. "No..."
Aaron's voice, on the other hand, is filled with anxiety. "Oh no... It doesn't look good."
Daryl turns around and heads towards the walkers and the body on the ground. Carol and Aaron try to stop him. "Daryl, wait!"
“D…hold on. We gotta plan this out,” I said quietly as I followed.
Daryl turns around, he doesn't listen to you. He ignores all of it and heads straight towards the walkers. The others follow him.
You see about ten walkers gathered around the body. It seems like they've been feasting. Daryl gets closer and closer and now you can see the body fully. You almost don't recognize him. It's Brandon, one of the guards. The walkers still haven't seen you yet.
I take a deep breath. I put my sword back in its sheath on my back, then grabbed my bow that I also carried on my back. I knocked one of my homemade arrows, aimed at the nearest walker, and shot it straight through the head silently.
Your aim is on point, you hit it right in the head. It is a silent kill, the walkers don't even turn to look over at you. You just took care of the first one, and you know you might be able to take out a few more with the same tactic.Daryl keeps walking forward, he walks right next to Brandon's body, completely ignoring it while he looks for something.
"What are you doing, Daryl?" Carol whispers, her voice full of anxiety.
I stay right by his side. “What are you doing?” I asked in a whisper, echoing Carol’s thoughts. “You’re being more reckless than normal,” I added quietly as I kept scanning the area, ready for if the walkers noticed us.
He doesn't answer you. He ignores you and Carol completely. Carol whispers, "Daryl, is there anything here?" Daryl stops when he is about ten feet close to the two closest walkers at Brandon's body. He is looking at something. You have no idea why he stopped and what he's looking for, but he's ignoring Carol too now.
“Hey, talk to me. What’s going on? This is dangerous with this many walkers around. We need a plan,” I continued to urge quietly as I kept watch.
Carol whispers to you. "I think... I think he's in shock."
You start to notice something. Daryl is staring at Brandon's neck, like... like there is something there, something he's looking for. His hand even moves slightly towards it, as if he wanted to grab it. You have no idea what's going on here, but something tells you that this is personal for him. He keeps ignoring you and Carol, and he is about to touch Brandon's neck.
I quickly hand my bow to Carol and grab Daryl’s hand before he touches Brandon’s neck. “D, stop. He’s…gonna turn any moment and he could bite you if we don’t end this properly first,” I reminded him, pointing to Brandon’s head with my other hand.
Daryl doesn't look at you. He keeps trying to go for Brandon's neck, but you keep stopping him with your hands. But he's pushing back, he wants to touch it so badly. Carol whispers again. "I think this is really personal for him... I have no idea why."
The two walkers move a little closer and start to smell you and Carol. You see the walkers turning towards you two and they start to get hungry. Carol looks at you in panic.
“Carol, Aaron, take out those walkers. I’ve got Daryl,” I say with a nod before grabbing my dagger. “I’m really sorry Brandon…but for your own good and our safety…” I said quietly before plunging my dagger into his brain.
You stab Brandon in the head, killing him quickly. The two walkers are distracted with this and look at you both for a moment. Carol and Aaron quickly react, they draw their weapons and kill the walkers. As the walkers fall, Daryl finally snaps out of it and breathes for a moment. He backs away and then he finally talks to you. He sounds serious. "Thank you... thank you for stopping me." He still holds your hand.
“Hey, I told you, I’ve got your back, D. Let’s go home so we can talk about this, and get a team over here to rebuild this watchtower,” I say, holding his hand back.
You see the tension go out of him a bit. He nods. "Yeah, good plan. We do have to come back here too. For Brandon."
The four of you head back towards Alexandria. Carol and Aaron ask Daryl about what he wanted to look at Brandon's neck for, but he ignores them again. As you get closer to the community, you feel a slight pressure on your hand. It is Daryl's hand holding yours.
He smiles at you and squeezes your hand. "You're sweet, kid." He sighs.
"You want to know why Brandon's death made me so desperate to grab his neck? The truth is... I knew something was off. There was something on Brandon's neck."
“Like what? Like he was a spy or something?” I asked curiously but gently.
He stays quiet for a moment, looking at you. "You remember that night after we left the prison? We met a man on the road. He had a black bag in one of his hands. He asked us if we wanted to help him. I told him no at the time." You can see the guilt in his tone. The regret.
"I said no and he just walked away. He didn't do anything. But if I had only said yes..." He doesn't finish the sentence.
“Yeah I remember that. That doesn’t have anything to do with Brandon though…does it?”
He nods and he looks even more regretful. "Yeah, it does. As he walked away, I saw what was in the black bag. It was a severed human limb. It looked like... a human hand."
He looks you in the eyes. "I never put two and two together. But Brandon's neck... there was something there. Some kind of mark."
Daryl looks at you in anguish. "If I had only paid attention then, Brandon might still be alive."
“So…are you thinking Brandon was part of another group? Were you able to see if that same mark was on the severed limb?” I asked, trying to keep Daryl focused on the facts instead of the what ifs.
He nods again. "Exactly. I knew there was someone else when Carol told me that we found Brandon's body, but the thing is... I knew before that..."
He sighs, deeply. "The mark on Brandon's neck has been on the back of my mind since that night. And it matched what I saw on the severed limb. I never said anything though, I wish I had, but back then there were other things on my mind. I just forgot."
Daryl looks at you almost pleadingly. "I hope you're not angry with me, kid."
“Of course I’m not angry with you. Why would I be? Listen,” I paused and turned towards him, looking at him in the eyes. “I understand your pain, I struggle with the what ifs daily. What if there was a way I could’ve saved Hershel, or T-Dog, or even my mom somehow? But the fact is, wondering what we could’ve done differently won’t help. All we can do now is keep them alive through us, and continue to grow and learn. After all, that’s what they’d want us to do, right? Why do you think I have this notebook?” I explained as I pulled out my notebook where I wrote down the names of all those we’d lost and how. I took out my own and wrote in Brandon’s name.
You see a tear roll down his cheek as he hears you speak. "Kid, you're right. There's no point in these what ifs. I keep blaming myself for so many people who are gone now. I can't let Brandon go that way. It's not healthy for me. And you keep that notebook because it helps you keep the memory alive. You honor them that way. I should do the same."
He nods at you and smiles. "You know, Carol was right. I can talk to you about anything. I should have told you this way before."
“Exactly. And you don’t have to have a notebook if you don’t want to, you’ve gotta find your own way to honor them,” I encouraged.
“And thanks. Like I’ve told you, you’re my family. We’ve gotta be there for each other in this messed up hell. As long as we stay together and take care of each other, we’ll be alright,” I smiled back.
"I think I should do the notebook. As a way to honor so many people that I loved and lost. Just like you do. And yeah, family should always be there for each other. No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you. Just like you're there for me. We'll make it through all of this." He smiles at you again.
Then he suddenly looks around, checking the scene around you. Suddenly, he has an idea. "Do you ever want to go on a run sometime?"
“Thanks, D. And yeah, that sounds fun! You know I’m always down for going outside the walls,” I chuckled lightly.
"Yeah, I know, but this time it's a little different." He smiles at you again. "You're fast, with your bow... you'd be very useful on a run." He has that idea in his mind.
"How about a short run? Today?" He looks around as if to check if the timing is right for one. "I know this might sound odd, but trust me, we need to do this now."
“Sure,” I shrug and smile. “Who knows what we’ll find, and getting extra supplies is always good. I trust you, I’ll follow your lead.”
ns 15.158.61.8da2
