𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐒.
chapter thirty-four; Leaving Home
" No matter how far we go, or how long we're apart. I will always come back, Zep. "

  AFTER A NIGHT of medicine and a day of rest, Vex was almost back to normal.

At least, close enough that she refused to stay still any longer.

"Just help me," Vex grumbled, "I want to see my kid."

Daryl knew there was no arguing, watching the woman balance her weight on the wall beside her, holding a hand out impatiently.

  He sighed in defeat, wrapping her arm around his shoulders, supporting her weight as they began walking.

Vex had little energy, but she was determined to see Zeppelin after too long apart.

"Carol around?" Vex asked tiredly, "Bet she's pissed I've been slacking on laundry."

Daryl didn't speak.

"I'm kidding," Vex said after a moment, "I thought she'd be in here, though. With that Lizzie kid."

Daryl remained silent.

"Daryl?" Vex questioned, stopping her feet, "What happened?"

He had been told just that morning. And he'd been angry-- hell, he was still angry. But he hadn't told Vex.

Not while she was still tired, still recovering. He wanted her to at least feel better before passing the news along.

But he couldn't lie to her.

So Daryl spoke slowly, explaining that Rick had left Carol with a car, weapons, and supplies after discovering she had been the one to kill Karen and David.

And Daryl pulled her into a hug when a sob wracked her body.

She had no anger at that moment.

Only deep, guttural sadness, for losing someone she cared for so deeply.

Daryl had gone with Rick to find Tyreese and deliver the news, only after Vex had found Zeppelin.

The girl was sobbing, clutching her mother tightly for at least ten minutes before finally calming down.

"I was scared," Zeppelin admitted.

"Wanna know a secret?" Vex whispered, continuing her gentle action of braiding Zeppelin's hair, "I was, too."

Zeppelin fiddled with the stuffed rabbit in her hands.

"But Hershel took care of me," Vex continued, "Daryl brought those meds back. Our family took care of me. Just like we take care of them."

Vex secured the braid with a small elastic, pressing a kiss to the top of her daughter's head.

"I missed you," Zeppelin said, turning to face her mother, "It was. . . scary. Bein' without you."

"But we're together now," Vex said softly, cupping her daughter's face with her hands, "Just like when I go on runs or have to help out with somethin'. No matter how far we go, or how long we're apart. I will always come back, Zep."

"Never lost. Always found."

Vex smiled, kissing her daughter's forehead.

"Come on," Vex said, "I think, if we're real sneaky, we might be able to find somethin' sweet in the--"

A loud explosion rang out, Vex cradling her daughter to her chest in instinct until the sound settled. The woman looked around, spotting panicked people talking and rushing and moving.

And even though she didn't have the energy she normally possessed, Vex lurched into motion quickly.

"Stay beside me," Vex told her daughter.

Zeppelin didn't dare argue.

The woman exited the prison with her daughter on her heels, looking around only to see one of the guard towers up in flames. She rushed toward a group in the courtyard, met by none other than Daryl Dixon.

"The hell is--"

"The Governor," Daryl said, grabbing her arm, "He wants the prison. Rick's goin' to talk to him now."

"I could just kill him from--"

"He has our people," Daryl informed, his face falling slightly. "Hershel, Michone. . . Dean."

Vex felt her heart climb to her throat, looking past Daryl to the group just beyond the fence.

Sure enough, Michonne, Hershel, and Dean stood on their knees.

"I'm gonna--"

"Help," Daryl cut off, "You're gonna help me get this place and our people ready. 'Cause that's what we can do right now."

Vex's eyes left Dean, only to look at her daughter, whose face was wet with tears.

"You go inside," Vex said, crouching in front of her daughter, "Get your bow, get your gun. You sit on that bus until someone comes to get you."

"What about you--?"

"You get on that bus, and you don't come off unless someone you know tells you to," Vex said sternly, "Understand?"

Zeppelin nodded, her lip trembling.

"I love you."

"I love you, too," Zeppelin said quietly, pulling her mother into a tight hug before taking off back to the prison.

Vex looked to Daryl, who began discreetly passing out weapons to the group.

She lifted her rifle along with the others, focusing her eye on the Governor.

She heard Carl and Daryl's brief conversation, the boy wanting to take the Governor out right then, Daryl disagreeing in worry of what it might start.

"If you say the word," Vex whispered. "I'll take the shot."

Vex wanted so badly to hear what they were saying. To be right there with Rick, knowing what was happening.

But she wasn't. She couldn't.

Her finger hovered over the trigger when the Governor held Michonne's sword to Hershel's neck, but Rick kept on talking, so Daryl placed a hand on the woman's shoulder.

The next moments happened in slow motion, and Vex would never forgive herself for pulling the trigger a moment too late.

The Governor pulled the sword back, and in one swift motion buried it in Hershel's neck.

Vex pulled the trigger as Hershel's body slumped over, her bullet landing in the abdomen of the Governor.

It wouldn't kill him instantly, so she aimed again.

Gunshots rang out, along with the cries of Maggie and Beth Greene, and Vex kept on shooting.

They were far from the people, but Vex had been further.

She focused on her brother, watching Dean run quickly, tears streaming down his face as the Governor decapitated Hershel fully.

Vex killed anyone who was too close to Dean, watching the man attempt to saw his binds off with a car door.

She stayed there even as the tank began moving in, even as shots whizzed past her.

"Vex, fall back!"

The woman moved as Daryl pulled her, though she didn't stop shooting until her gun clicked.

She lowered the weapon to reload, watching as vehicles and people raided her home.

"Help cover the bus," Vex said, "I'm heading toward C block--"

"Vex--!"

"Go, now!"

Vex took off, finding a small alcove to hole up in. She was entirely relentless, ducking for cover only when her bullets ran out, before popping up to take down walkers and people alike.

Bullets stopped flying at her, so the woman moved to the door, attempting to ensure everyone had escaped.

And then she felt a blinding white pain in her leg.

She gritted her teeth, falling back into the alcove, looking down at her leg.

Vex attempted to control her breathing, feeling an exit wound on the back of her thigh.

It was fixable, at least.

So she lifted her gun and kept on shooting.

She wouldn't stop.

She'd die trying.

She would go down fighting.

Daryl felt an unexplainable lump in his throat at the sight, at the idea of it all.

He pushed it away, whilst also running toward it.

"Vex, get down!"

The woman complied as if it was second nature, ducking behind the wall and checking behind her only to see Daryl closing in, shooting over her head as he approached her.

She turned back, peering over the wall just as Daryl's legs brushed against her back.

He fired off more arrows before ducking alongside her.

"You're shot."

"Been shot before, worse than this," She said, out of breath, "Cover me—"

Vex went to stand, but her leg gave out beneath her.

She winced, allowing Daryl to catch her weight and lower her back to the ground.

"Worse, huh?"

"If they get past us, they get to the kids," Vex gritted through clenched teeth, "They get to my kid."

Daryl stood momentarily, shooting more bullets, before ducking back down.

"You told her to get on that bus," Daryl assured as he carelessly took the flannel off Vex, though the woman allowed this, before tying it over the gaping wound in her left thigh. "I saw Dean, he's alive, too."

Vex breathed, leaning her head back.

"Aerosmith, really?" He questioned in reference to the tank top she was wearing.

"Dude, I named my kid Zeppelin, I have a thing, okay?"

The corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile, shaking his head at the woman.

"Dixon. . ." Vex said, just barely audible over the sound of gunfire, "I need you to find Zeppelin. I need you to make sure she got out of here okay."

"You quittin' on me?"

"I can't even stand," She said shortly.

Daryl looked around him for a moment, realizing there was no quick escape here.

"We just gotta get you on that bus—"

"The one that already left?" Vex questioned with a dry laugh.

Daryl felt his heart rise to his throat, looking around once more.

"Stay right here."

"Daryl," The woman said, grabbing his arm, "You have to go."

  "I ain't leavin' you--!"

  "Please," She said quietly, pulling him closer, forcing eye contact, "Just find my kid."

  Vex let out a breath, staring into his eyes for a moment longer. The ones that she'd told her past to, joked with, lived alongside.

  She pressed a kiss to his cheek, before turning back to the Governor's people, shooting whoever she could see.

  "Go!"

  Now, Daryl Dixon left with the intention of returning to Vex. He left to find a quick way out, a way he could go carrying her weight-- he had no intention of leaving Vex Williams behind. Not now, not ever.

  But he had no idea the kind of determination that was inside Vex Williams, so he had no way of knowing she'd take out the men and walkers closest to her, and drag herself out of the alcove and eventually out of the prison.

  All he knew was that when he returned, minutes later with Beth Greene, that the spot he had left Vex in was bloody and empty.

  Because while Vex had said she couldn't walk, she had managed to limp her way to the cover of the forest. She had known he wouldn't leave her. Not if there was a chance, no matter how slim.

  Vex wasn't sure if she'd be able to make it out, even if she did, she wasn't sure how she would fare with a hole through her leg.

  But she needed to know, firsthand, that someone alive was looking for her kid.