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"𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮."

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.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"I... I knew you were comin' back, but that stupid voice in the back of my head kept sayin' you'd left me," Sunny admitted quietly, lying on her back as she stared at the ceiling. The dim light from the few candles flickered across the room, casting shadows on the worn walls. The night outside was still, but her mind wasn't.

Daryl sat beside her on the floor, his back against the pew. He let out a low sigh, rubbing a hand across his face. "I'd never do that, Sun. You know I wouldn't."

Sunny stayed silent for a moment, her eyes fixed on the dark wooden beams above. "Yeah, but it felt like it. Everyone's leavin', Daryl. First you 'n Carol, then Glenn and Maggie..." Her voice trailed off as she tightened her grip on the blanket. "I guess I just thought... maybe ya would be gone for good too."

Daryl shifted slightly, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked over at her. "I ain't goin' anywhere, not without you. Never was."

She glanced at him, the tension easing just a little from her shoulders. "I know. It's just hard sometimes. Feels like you're all I've got left." Her voice cracked, betraying the tough front she was trying to keep up.

He looked down, his expression softened in the dim light. "You got more than just me, Sunny. Rick, Carl, Michonne... they're here for ya too. We're all family."

She bit her lip, feeling the truth in his words but still battling the doubts in her mind. "I know, but it's different with you. You get me in a way no one else does. It's weird."

Daryl's gaze flickered, and for a moment, he was quiet. The weight of her words hung in the air, and he wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't planned on being that for anyone, but somewhere along the line, Sunny had become one of the most important people to him,

"Didn't mean to scare you," he finally said, his voice low. "But I had to go. Beth's still out there, 'n now we're gonna get her back."

Sunny nodded slowly. "I get it. I just— I thought I'd never see you again."

Daryl's eyes softened, his usual gruff exterior cracking. "I'm here now. And I'm not leavin' you, not for good."

She managed a small smile, though the fear still lingered in her chest. "Promise?"

"Yeah. I promise."

"I still think you're an asshole for leavin' without telling me," Sunny murmured. Daryl snorted, nodding along with her words.

For a while, they sat in comfortable silence, the distant sounds of the night filling the air. Sunny let her head fall to the side, watching the way Daryl stared into the darkness, deep in thought. He then noticed her stare and moved to brush hair out of her face.

"Get some sleep, Sun. Long day tomorrow."

Sunny nodded and slowly let her eyes shut, sleep hadn't been easy recently, but knowing Daryl was back made it a lot easier.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Daryl explained everything that had happened. He and Carol had spotted a car with a white cross, the same symbol on the one that had taken Beth. Without a second thought, they followed it, and it led them all the way to Atlanta. 

Beth was trapped inside a hospital—Grady Memorial. The name made Sunny's eyes widen instantly; she remembered  trying to go there near the beginning of everything, hoping to find her dad.

Noah, the boy Daryl had brought with him, had been at Grady too and knew Beth. He told them the leader of the hospital was horrible, someone who didn't let anyone leave. He and Beth had tried to escape, but only Noah managed to get out.

To make things worse, Carol had been hit by one of their vehicles, run down and kidnapped by the same people. Now, she was trapped inside Grady as well.

From the way Daryl described it, these people were twisted. They'd hurt people on purpose, then "rescue" them, bringing them to the hospital under the guise of helping them, only to trap them there. It was fucked up.

Tyreese, Sasha, Rick, and Daryl were preparing to head to Atlanta to rescue Beth and Carol. Sunny had begged to go with them, desperate to help, but they insisted she stay behind with Gabriel, Michonne, Carl, and Judith.

Before leaving, they all worked together to fortify the church. The pews were gone, chopped up and used to barricade the windows. The place looked more like a fortress now, with jagged metal organ pipes standing guard outside the entrance. It wasn't the same church, but it was safer—and honestly, a lot cooler.

Sunny had helped board up the windows, surprised by how swinging a piece of wood felt like swinging a hammer. When the group left for Atlanta, they waved them off, then quickly secured the door behind them, making sure no one could get in.

Judith started to cry shortly after, and without hesitation, Sunny scooped her up from the basket, gently rocking her in her arms. As Judith's cries softened, Sunny couldn't help but notice how much she resembled Lori. The thought tugged at her heart, filling her with a quiet sadness.

Gabriel crouched down, his fingers digging into the wooden floor as he scratched at the surface. Sunny furrowed her eyebrows, watching him for a moment before realizing he was trying to scrub away the bloodstain left by the cannibals. It was clear the killings had deeply affected him.

An hour had passed, and Gabriel was still at it, scrubbing the floor relentlessly. He had even found a sponge and a bowl of water, determined to erase the bloodstain from the wood. Meanwhile, Carl had carefully laid out a few weapons next to him, ensuring everyone would be armed in case of danger.

"Pick one," Carl said, nodding toward the weapons. Gabriel, however, just shook his head, still scrubbing as if his life depended on it.

"You need to learn how to defend yourself. We can teach you," Carl added, his voice calm but firm.

Gabriel finally paused, looking up at Carl with a faint smile of disbelief. "Defend myself? They said they'd go," he muttered, referring to Gareth and his people.

Sunny's brow furrowed instantly as she glanced down at him. Was he really that naive? "Those people were cannibals, Gabriel. They would've come back and tried t' eat all of us," she said bluntly.

"Yeah, they were liars and murderers," Carl added without hesitation.

"Just like us," Gabriel replied, his voice barely a whisper.

Carl stood firm. "We protected ourselves. They wanted us dead. You're lucky your church lasted this long. You can't stay in one place anymore, not for too long."

Sunny sighed softly, her eyes dropping to the floor as she absentmindedly bit at the skin around her nails. The farm, the prison—none of it had lasted. No matter how safe they felt, it always fell apart. It wasn't fair.

"And once you're out there," Carl continued, "you're gonna find trouble you can't hide from. You need to know how to fight."

Gabriel looked up at Carl, reluctant but understanding, and eventually reached for a machete, holding it awkwardly in his hands.

"Good choice," Carl said, though he quickly noticed the man's grip was all wrong. "Oh, you're not holding it right. You've gotta be able to drive it down, 'cause sometimes their skulls aren't as soft, and you need to be able to—"

"I'm sorry," Gabriel interrupted, his voice strained. He stood up quickly, looking pale, like he might be sick again. "I need to lie down," he muttered before walking off.

As Gabriel disappeared from sight, Carl shook his head, staring at the machete still lying on the floor. Frustration was evident in his eyes, though he tried to hide it.

Sunny glanced at him and softly said, "It's not your fault, Carl. He just ain't ready."

Carl nodded, still staring at the empty doorway. "Yeah, maybe."

Sunny sat down next to him, her voice low as she shared a bit of herself. "When Daryl first tried to give me a gun, I said no. I hated the thought of it... hated the idea of even holdin' one."

Carl looked at her, surprised. "You did?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I just couldn't. But now... I get it. I get why he tried. But I didn't understand, now I do. Gabriel's the same. He just needs time."

Carl's shoulders eased slightly, and he looked back down at the weapons, giving a small nod. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Gabriel needed time to come to terms with the way things were. It had taken Sunny forever to grasp just how cruel the world had become. In a way, she almost hoped he could hold on to his naivete a little longer than she had—it was easier to face the world when you didn't feel so numb to it all.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

"How the hell do you even say that?" Carl laughed, pointing at the word Sunny had chosen for hangman. As usual, he hadn't been able to guess it.

"Garrulous," Sunny said with a smirk, enjoying her third win in a row. "Means talkin' too much."

Carl shook his head in disbelief. "How do you even remember these words without your dictionary?"

Sunny shrugged, doodling absentmindedly on the paper. "I dunno. Just remember a lot of 'em. Guess it's 'cause I read that thing every day since I was 9."

They hadn't played a simple game like this in what felt like forever. It was a break from everything heavy, and in that moment, Sunny felt a little more like herself again. The weight of the world lifted, even if just for a second. She smiled, thinking how much she missed this kind of normalcy, how something as small as beating Carl at a word game made her feel more human.

Carl chuckled, shaking his head as he leaned back. "You and those crazy words. Next time, I'm picking something impossible."

"Good luck with that," she teased, flipping the page to start another round.

Michonne was cradling Judith, and Gabriel was still asleep in his office. So, the two children had been occupying the time with playing either hangman or tic tac toe. Sunny hadn't let the boy win once.

Suddenly, they heard a voice yelling outside. "Help! Help! Please don't leave me out here!" They all snapped their heads to the door, all of their eyes widening.

"Is that Gabriel?" Sunny asked quickly, confused since they thought the man was asleep in his office.

"Carl! Michonne! Sunny!" He yelled, desperately banging on the door.

The two children didn't hesitate to run towards it, trying to pull off the wood that they had barricaded it with. "Get back," Michonne said, then swung at the wood with an axe.

She managed to pry the wood from the door, then Carl quickly opened the door. There were dozens of walkers. "Come on!" Carl yelled.

Sunny and Carl began to shoot at the approaching walkers, Michonne pushed the two children back as she swung her katana, beheading two of the dead. More and more walkers began to flood through the doors, way too many for them to handle.

"To the Rectory! Come on!" Gabriel yelled. They all sprinted towards it, slamming the door after them, crushing walkers fingers by doing so.

They quickly put a chair behind the door as Gabriel tried to keep the door closed, but it wasn't doing a lot, there were way too many walkers.

Gabriel then pointed to a large hole in the floor. "That's how I got out! Crawl under to the back! Just go! Take the little one and go!" He told them.

Sunny had millions of thoughts racing around her mind, most importantly being, why Gabriel had made some strange escape route anyway as if he was a prisoner. But, they had no time. Carl was quick to grab Judith, then lowered himself to the hole in the ground.

"Hey! Hey!" Michonne stopped him. "You wait for me," he told him, Carl nodded then began to crawl to the back. Sunny followed him, giving a quick nod to Michonne.

They made it outside, covered in dust and dirt as the two children breathed heavily. Michonne then came out too, all of them stood as they waited for Gabriel. After a few moments, the man came out, looking up at them all. "I can't run anymore," he told them.

"We're not running."

They all made their way to the front of the church, taking out the walkers who had been impaled by the metal organs. They then made their way up the steps, closing the doors as the walkers inside saw them. Quickly, they barricaded the door from the outside, locking the dead in.

The five of them stood outside, staring at the church. How had things went wrong so quickly?

Michonne then stepped towards Gabriel, her expression serious. "Where did you go?" She asked the man.

"The school. I had to see. I had to know," Gabriel spoke.

"You thought we were lyin'?" Sunny asked, her brows furrowed.

Gabriel was about to respond, but then the doors began to creak, the wood breaking as all the walkers began to push against it. Sunny gripped her bat tight, looking around warily. 

"Where do we go?" Carl asked, his eyes wide. They had no place to go, there were too many walkers for just the three of them to take on, since Gabriel couldn't do shit.

Before they could even think about what they were going to do, the sound of a vehicle approaching made all of their heads snap around. A huge, fire truck drove straight through the steps of the church, blocking the walkers from getting closer.

They were all confused, right until Abraham jumped out of the drivers seat, the rest of the group who went to DC following him. Sunny didn't hesitate in running towards Maggie, embracing the woman tightly. Glenn joined the pair, giving Sunny's shoulder a squeeze.

Michonne then walked up to them, smiling. "You're back," she said.

"Eugene lied," Glenn spoke, his head slightly bowed. "He can't stop it. Washington isn't the end."

Sunny sighed, she had a feeling that what Eugene said wasn't the truth, that his scientific jargon was bullshit. Yet, a part of her had hoped that what he had said was true, that he could return them back to normal living. 

"Where is everybody?" Glenn then asked.

Sunny pulled away from Maggie's side, a smile pulling at her lips. "Daryl found Beth, she's alive." Sunny said excitedly.

Maggie's face immediately filled with an array of emotions, Michonne stepped towards the woman. "She's in  a hospital in Atlanta. Some people have her, but the others went to get her back." Michonne told her.

"Do we know which one?" Maggie spoke, her voice cracking.

"Grady Memorial."

Maggie's hands pulled through her hair, a sob of joy escaping her as she embraced Glenn. "Oh my god."

"Lets blow this joint, go save your sister," Tara spoke, a smile on her face.

Everything could only go up from there.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Sunny was sat in the back of the fire truck with Lincoln and Eugene, who was unconscious since Abraham had knocked him out. Deserved.

The girl was happy, the happiest she had been in a long time. Everyone was together and they were going to rescue Beth. Everything was truly falling into place. Plus, it made it all better since Sunny had never been in a fire truck before, it was cool as shit.

Sunny hadn't truly realized how much she had missed Beth until now. It felt like a lifetime since she'd last seen her, and the thought of finally being reunited filled her with a warmth she hadn't felt in ages. She could barely wait. But as she basked in that hope, the atmosphere around her wasn't as light.

Beside her, Lincoln sat quietly, staring out the window, his shoulders slumped in defeat. The silence between them was thick, and his mood clearly weighed heavier than usual.

"You okay?" Sunny asked softly, glancing at him.

Lincoln shrugged, not tearing his gaze from the passing scenery. "Yeah... it's just shitty that Eugene lied, ya know? Like, all that talk about saving the world and he's just some coward hiding behind a story."

Sunny nodded, understanding how much that had stung for all of them. She looked at him, his jaw clenched in frustration. "Yeah, it is."

Lincoln finally turned to her, a small sigh escaping him. "But I guess it doesn't matter now, does it? We still gotta keep moving forward. Doesn't matter why anymore... we just survive."

Sunny frowned at his words, seeing how much the weight of everything had shifted his usual boyish attitude. "Maybe," she said quietly, her voice thoughtful. "But it still sucks to find out people aren't who you thought they were."

"Yeah," Lincoln muttered, his tone edged with bitterness. "I guess everyone's just trying to make it out alive, no matter what they have to say to do it."

For a moment, they both sat in silence, the reality of it all hanging heavy in the air. Sunny hadn't noticed how much the journey had beaten down even the strongest spirits. Lincoln wasn't wrong. It didn't matter anymore.

"Is Big Ginger okay?" Sunny asked, Abraham was very quiet, not like himself at all. He had been the one person defending Eugene no matter what, it had hit him a lot harder clearly.

Lincoln sighed, his gaze dropping to his hands. "No, I don't think so," he muttered, his voice low and tired. "Eugene found Abe right when he lost his family. I think that whole mission to Washington gave him a purpose, y'know? Gave him something to hold on to, like some big, important thing to fight for. And now... he doesn't got nothing."

Sunny frowned, letting Lincoln's words sink in. She hadn't really thought about how much the mission had meant to Abraham. To all of them. The belief that they were headed somewhere that could fix things had kept them going through the worst of it. Now, it felt like the ground had been ripped out from under them.

"He'll be okay. We all will," Lincoln said, his voice soft but hopeful. "I guess we're all some kinda dysfunctional family, huh?" He tried to lighten the mood, his lips curving into a small smile.

Sunny nodded, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Mhm, and you're part'a this weird-ass family now, too," she teased, her tone warm as she nudged him lightly with her elbow.

Lincoln chuckled, the tension easing from his shoulders as her words sank in. "Lucky me, huh?" he replied, the smile finally reaching his eyes.

After what felt like an eternity, the truck finally came to a stop. Sunny's heart raced with anticipation, the thought of reuniting with Beth filling her with hope. Everything was about to get better. Maggie would see her sister again, and they'd all finally have something to celebrate. As they climbed out of the vehicle, weapons raised just in case, Sunny's excitement grew.

They moved towards the building, taking down any stray walkers in their path. But as they neared the entrance, the door creaked open. Rick stepped out, and immediately, everyone lowered their guns. Sunny's smile widened, ready for the relief of seeing everyone safe.

But something was wrong. Rick wasn't smiling—his face was tight with grief, and his head gave a subtle shake. He wasn't happy or relieved. There was no joy in his eyes.

Behind him, Sasha, Tyreese, and Carol appeared. None of them looked like they had good news. They seemed stunned, shocked, as if they had seen something they couldn't quite process.

Sunny's chest tightened. What was going on? Her mind raced for answers, trying to make sense of the scene. Then Daryl came into view, and she saw him—holding Beth in his arms. At that moment, Maggie's gun fell to the ground with a metallic clatter, a gut-wrenching sob tearing from her throat.

Sunny's brow furrowed in confusion. Was Beth hurt? Was she just unconscious?

But then she noticed something that sent a chill through her—Daryl was crying. And not just a few tears. He was weeping, broken in a way Sunny had never seen before.

That was all it took for everything to click in her mind.

Beth was gone.

A sob tore through Sunny as the reality hit her like a punch to the chest. Tears streamed down her face as she stared at the lifeless body of the girl who had been nothing but kind and gentle in this cruel world. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right.

Beth was dead, and nothing would be okay again.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞

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Beth's death was the first death in a series that made me cry :CCC