Heat, Smoke and Dust

The night air was still and cool, the kind that made you want to sit outside just a little longer. Daryl and I leaned against the porch railing - the end of his cigarette glowing orange - as I was still wrapped in the warmth of the evening - and first dance - we'd just shared.

I looked at him, his features soft in the dim light.

"Thank you." I spoke quietly.

Daryl looked confused, adjusting himself against the railing. "For what?"

I smiled. "For dancing with me. I know it's not your thing."

His fingers enveloped mine, where they rested on the wood. "Ma wife wanted a first dance." He shrugged.

I turned fully toward him, stepping into his space. He watched me with those sharp blue eyes as I reached for his vest, gripping the worn leather lightly. "Think of all the nights like this we could have here, all the new memories we could make..."

Daryl smiled wryly, admitting "I think I'm startin' to see it."

I leaned in to kiss him, just as the front gate creaked open.

A chorus of loud, stumbling voices filled the street, and suddenly, our moment was drowned out by the unmistakable sound of our group-drunk and rowdy.

Clearly, they'd let themselves enjoy the party despite their collective reservations.

"I'm tellin' ya," Merle's voice boomed, "Rick wouldn't last a day in a real poker game. Man bluffs like a goddamn pussy."

Carol snorted. "You lost half your chips to Eugene, Merle."

"Yeah," Tara cackled, "Eugene! The man who took twenty minutes to decide if he had a straight or a flush."

"I was ensuring statistical accuracy," Eugene slurred.

The group reached the porch steps, stumbling over each other in a mess of limbs and giggles. Rosita had an arm slung around Abraham, who looked two seconds from toppling over. Michonne was carrying Noah piggyback style, while Sasha and Glenn were leaning on each other, whispering conspiratorially. Gabriel, of all people, had a wine bottle in hand, and Maggie-poor Maggie-was trying to corral everyone like some desperate shepherd.

"Ain't this precious?" Merle drawled out, loud and smug, as he spotted us. "Lovebirds havin' a moment?"

I barely had time to react before he barreled up the steps, arms wide. "C'mere. Family hug!"

The rest of them took this as an invitation.

Suddenly, I was being crushed from all sides. Carol had an arm around my shoulders, giggling like a teenager. Glenn and Michonne were squeezing me from either side. Sasha had practically climbed onto my back. Daryl grunted, trapped somewhere in the middle, cursing under his breath as his brother slung an arm around him.

"I will stab all of you," I wheezed.

"Aw, lighten up, sis," Merle grinned. "You know ya love us."

Beth and Carl weren't even drinking, but they still joined in, Carl ruffling Daryl's hair like an annoying little brother while Beth laughed so hard she nearly collapsed against Hershel. Baby Judith, completely unaware of the chaos, clapped her little hands from her spot in Beth's arms.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the dogpile loosened, and I could breathe again.

"That was disgusting," I giggled, shoving Sasha off me.

"That was family," Rick corrected with a tipsy grin.

But it was when we all moved inside that the antics truly began. It was like the church party all over again, thanks to Tara's announcement that we "hadn't celebrated Mr. And Mrs. Dixon's wedding yet."

Daryl had rubbed his face, reaching again for our bottle of stolen whiskey.

It may have been another ill-timed hootenanny. But my lord - we had fun.

Tara stole an old, half-deflated football from someone's yard and proclaimed, "Drunk football! First to drop it has to take a lap around the house!" She immediately threw it at Noah, who caught it, only to be tackled by Rosita and Abraham simultaneously.

Carol and Merle started an impromptu dance-off, which mostly involved Merle flailing his arms like a deranged scarecrow while Carol actually had rhythm.

Sasha and Michonne attempted to race each other up the stairs-both determined, both stumbling. They made it about halfway before Sasha tripped over her own feet, taking Michonne back down with her in a fit of pained laughter.

Glenn and a much more sober Maggie found a deck of cards and started a game of high-stakes blackjack, where the winner got bragging rights and the loser had to wear whatever ridiculous outfit the group chose. Glenn lost almost immediately and, to his dismay, was forced into one of Carol's floral aprons.

Hershel, drunk off wine, kept trying to give fatherly wisdom but repeatedly mixed up his proverbs. "The early worm gets... no, the patient bird eats... oh, to hell with it."

Finally, Beth grabbed a guitar and started strumming an old country tune. She sang with that sweet, lilting voice of hers, and despite the chaos, everyone started to settle. Even Merle, who had been laughing his ass off moments before, went quiet.

Daryl and I sank onto the sofa again, watching as Beth played, her voice carrying softly through the night.

"We're surrounded by idiots," I murmured.

Daryl exhaled heavily. "Yup."

I leaned my head against his shoulder, laughing as the song ended and the group immediately devolved back into ridiculousness-Tara chasing Noah around with a Judith's diaper, Sasha challenging Abraham to a handstand competition, Merle drunkenly attempting to teach Gabriel how to curse properly.

We'd needed this - to let loose, to relax. All of us.

~

There were a lot of groans as the group roused the next morning, our heads thick from the previous night's drinking. Rick paced up and down the kitchen, rubbing his rather grey looking face.

"We shouldn't have let ourselves get like that. We're meant to be showing these people what we can do." He mumbled to Michonne.

"Relax, Grimes." She tried to reassure him. "Half of the Alexandrians were just as wasted as us."

"Besides..." Merle piped up, emerging from the yard where it appeared he'd slept. "We showed 'em that what we can do - bring the party."

Rick shook his head as he rifled through the cabinets in search of Aspirin. "Well we need to get out there today, show 'em they need us here."

"Don't make me go outside." I muffled to Daryl from beneath his arm.

He chuckled. "Ya did it to yurself."

"Daryl." Hershel called from the dining table, his eyes bleary. "Aaron was looking for you. Wanted to invite you and Athena for dinner at their house tonight."

Daryl stiffened. He didn't answer.

"Why?" I asked.

"I have no idea." He replied, resting his head back on the table.

"Deanna wanted to see you as well, Athena." Beth spoke, bouncing Judith in her lap. "Said it was about your job."

"Great." I mumbled sarcastically, hiding back underneath Daryl's arm.

I eventually dragged myself to find Deanna, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"Athena." She smiled as she answered the door. "We missed you and your husband last night."

"Yeah. Cocktail parties aren't really his thing." I replied honestly.

"I did get a little out of hand." She admitted. "Even I had far too many wines in celebration."

I raised an eyebrow at her. "What are you celebrating?"

"You lot being here." She told me seriously. "I know some of the residents are a little... unsure. But we need people like you, people who've been out there, seen it. We can learn a lot from you... We just need to convince everybody else of that, now."

I bit my lip, processing her words.

"I assume you're here about your job."

"Mmhmm." I mumbled nervously. "I am."

"Athena, I want you to take charge on training some of the residents in combat."

"Me?" I asked, surprised. Sure I knew my way around a weapon or seven, but she hadn't seen me do that, yet...

"Yes, you."

"Why?"

"More than one of your group mentioned your capabilities. Particularly your husband."

"Daryl?"

"Yes. I think he was telling me in a 'don't mess with my wife' sort of way. A warning. But he told me nonetheless how well you're able to hold your own. I think you're the woman for the job."

"Uh, okay."

"So will you do it? We don't need to start yet, I've still got some work to do to convince some people that they need this. But when we're ready?"

"I guess I can. Yeah."

"Great." she smiled. "Oh, and Aaron's been looking for Daryl."

~

Aaron had collared me as I left Deanna's house, insisting Daryl and I come for dinner. I was too hungover to protest - the promise of spaghetti luring me further.

We sat across the table from Aaron and Eric, enjoying what was probably the most delicious spaghetti I'd ever tasted. I inhaled the lot. So did Daryl.

After our meal, and Eric's awkward attempts to get my husband chatting, Daryl and Aaron ventured out to the garage, probably bonding over bike parts and walker stories, leaving me and Eric to make sense of this dinner table normalcy. I glanced at him and smirked. "We should probably be worried about whatever's going on in there."

Eric chuckled, shaking his head. "Oh, I gave up on that a long time ago. Aaron and his projects... If he gets an idea in his head, I just let him run with it." He sipped his wine before adding, "I imagine Daryl's the same way."

I smiled softly, thinking of Daryl's determination when he got focused on something. "Yeah. He certainly gets the job done."

"Stubborn men," Eric mused, taking another sip. "But good men."

I nodded, glancing toward the window that overlooked the garage. "Good men."

Eric studied me for a moment, then leaned in slightly. "You look out for him a lot."

I shrugged. "He's looks out for me. It's just how we are."

"I get that," Eric said. "Aaron's the same. I always worry about him when he goes out recruiting, but he worries about me staying back. I think it's how we show love, in our own way."

I agreed with him. Daryl and I never needed big speeches or grand gestures. Love, for us, was in the quiet moments, the instinct to protect, the way we moved through the world together.

Eric smiled, warm and understanding. "You and Daryl... you remind me of us."

I raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Oh yeah? I don't see Daryl being much like Aaron."

He laughed. "No, definitely not. But the way you just... get each other? That's the same. Some people need the words. Others just know. Where you together before the outbreak?"

I leaned back slightly in my chair. "No. We met after. A couple of months in. I had such a thing for him, but we were just friends for ages. Then it just kinda happened. We've only been married a couple of weeks."

Eric tilted his head. "Well, congratulations."

I didn't have time to respond before Daryl and Aaron returned. Daryl looking very pleased.

I gave him a suspicious look.

What had happened in that garage?

"It's been great having you guys here. You're welcome anytime." Aaron expressed.

"Thanks for having us." I replied politely, eyeing Daryl. "It was delicious."

As we walked back to the house, Daryl was quiet, but there was a different energy to him-his brooding silence replaced with something lighter, almost eager.

"Aaron's been collectin' bike parts. Said he meant to learn how to build one, but never got round to it." He looked at me, a glint of something close to excitement in his eyes. "Told me I can have them, build a new bike."

I knew how much this would mean to him. How much he missed the bike he'd lost at the prison. "That's amazing." I told him, taking his hand.

"And..." He hesitated, his tone becoming more serious. "He wants me to be Alexandria's other recruiter," he glanced at me. "Says Eric shouldn't be risking his life anymore."

My stomach twisted.

"But it's okay for you to risk yours?"

"He said I know my shit more than Eric."

I looked up at him, studying his face. "That's true." I tried not to let on that I didn't like the idea, mainly because it would mean us spending time apart often.

He stopped, sensing my uneasiness. "Asked me to go out with him tomorrow. Trial run."

My throat tightened, but I tried to hide it. Maybe this would make Daryl feel more settled, having a role in Alexandria - especially one that meant he wasn't trapped behind the walls. As much as I didn't like the idea, it wasn't up to me to decide this for him.

I forced a smile. "Then I guess we both have our jobs."

~

I leant against the car the next morning as Daryl and Aaron checked their supplies before heading out.

"Ya good?" Daryl asked me as he closed the trunk.

"Yup." I lied.

I hated this idea.

"I'll be back by tonight." He took my hand. "Don't worry."

"I just don't like being apart." I confessed.

"I know. Me neither." He pulled me into him.

"Come back as soon as you can... we finally get our own space tonight." I insisted.

Rick had finally agreed that we didn't all need to be squashed into one house anymore - it seemed safe for us to split between the two homes. We'd be sharing with Merle, Carol, Glenn, Maggie, Hershel and Beth, but at least we'd have our little basement sanctuary and our own bathroom.

"Hell, yeah." He smiled, pressing a lingering kiss to my lips before pulling away.

I wasn't having that. I pulled him back into me, kissing him hard. I didn't care that Aaron looked on awkwardly.

" I love ya." He told me as he squeezed my shoulders. "Be safe while I'm gone."

"I love you." I replied. "Come back to me in one piece, okay?"

"I will." He promised as he climbed into the passenger seat.

I watched as the car disappeared through Alexandria's gates. My stomach in knots. Daryl couldn't promise he'd be back unharmed. Nobody could know that anymore.

The last couple of years had proven that nobody ever really knew when they were safe, when they'd be attacked or injured.

I tried my best to swallow down my anxiety, heading to the house, planning to make our room as romantic as possible for Daryl's return later. I couldn't wait to start spending every night sharing a bed in our own space.

Not that I could imagine much sleeping happening.

"You're not going anywhere with them!" I heard Maggie screaming as I entered the house.

"Deanna wants us to help them check out the warehouses. They haven't been able to get in before now." Glenn tried to reason with her.

"No." She crossed her arms.

They both looked up as they noticed my presence.

"Who else is going?" I asked, intrigued.

"Aiden and Nicholas." Maggie spat, as if their names tasted bad on her tongue.

Glenn sighed. "Plus Tara, Noah, Eugene..."

"Eugene?" I laughed. "Shit. Must be desperate."

"She wants them all out there together again to try make them friends." Maggie sneered. "Smooth things over." She turned to Glenn. "You're not going."

"I'll go." I offered, just as Glenn was about to continue protesting.

"There you are. Sorted." Maggie huffed at Glenn smugly.

"You sure?" Glenn asked me. "Aren't you supposed to be organizing weapons training?"

"No rush. Deanna still wants to talk more people around first." I said. "Besides. I could do with occupying my brain today."

"Okay. It's settled then." Maggie smiled.

"Yup. Fill me in on the plan."

~

It was eerily quiet, the kind of quiet that gnawed at you, the kind you knew never lasted long in a world like this. The wind stirred dust in the air, whipping past broken windows and rusted metal signs. I could hear the distant moans of walkers, the hollow thud of their shuffling feet. I gripped my knife tighter, eyes scanning the lot, the twisted wreckage of a once-bustling place now left to rot.

We hadn't been at the industrial estate for long, searching for materials to reinforce the walls, but the two Alexandrians were already getting on my last nerve.

The others moved ahead of me, talking in low voices. Aiden walked with his chest puffed out, like he was playing soldier. Nicholas followed, his every move trying too hard to impress Aiden, showing off like he had any clue what he was doing.

It was abundantly clear he didn't.

I growled, irritation creeping up my throat. "Stay sharp," I directed at the pair, but they barely even looked my way.

Aiden threw a smirk over his shoulder. "Relax, Athena. We've got this."

"We've got this." I gritted my teeth. If they only knew how many times that same cocky attitude had gotten people killed.

We pushed deeper into the estate, past a few rusted-out trailers, a broken-down truck, and finally, to the warehouse at the back of the lot. The roof was half collapsed, and the walls-stained with age and blood-leaned at odd angles.

A perfect place to find supplies... and a perfect place to get swarmed by walkers.

Noah was the first to catch the sounds. "Movement inside," he murmured.

I tensed, nodding. "Stay quiet. Don't give 'em any reason to know we're here."

Aiden nodded like I was the one who needed to be reassured.

But as soon as we opened the warehouse doors, the smell hit me. Rot. Mold. Death.

A wave of walkers stumbled into view, dragging their rotting limbs toward us. I tried to gage their numbers - thirty? Forty? Too many.

"Stay together!" I yelled, panic clawing at my throat. I knew Tara and Noah could handle themselves - but Eugene, Nicholas, cocky Aiden - they might as well not even be here.

I barely had time to pull my knife from its sheath before the first walker lunged at me. It smelled like decay, its face caved in from a bullet, but its hands still reached, grabbed, pulled.

I stabbed it, twisted the blade, and it fell. But there were more. So many more.

"Cover me!" I yelled to Tara as I moved in, dispatching the closest walkers. She drove her knife beside me, us working together to disable as many as we could.

Noah swung his machete, his movements steady as he attempted to clear a path.

Nicholas, though, was stumbling back, his eyes wide, his mouth gaping open in a soundless scream.

"Nicholas, get your shit together!" I yelled, noticing him doing absolutely fuck all to help Noah who was being surrounded beside him.

He turned and ran, abandoning Noah, who was trying to fend off the walkers. Tara and I started trying to make our way to him, but before we could reach him, a walker's teeth sunk into his shoulder. His screams of pain made my blood freeze.

"Noah!" Tara cried out.

I lunged for him, my hand outstretched, but a new wave of walkers hit us. Another grabbed my arm, and I twisted, cutting it free with my knife.

I looked back, just in time to see Noah fall. He was already gone, the walkers tearing into him.

He was just a kid.

Fuck you, Nicholas.

I swung my knife wildly, felling two more walkers, but I couldn't shake the horrific image of Noah, gone in an instant.

Aiden started shooting his gun. Wildly. Aimless. He kept firing, one shot after another, hitting everything but what needed to be hit.

"You said there were no bullets!" I yelled at him.

He ignored me.

The little shit had lied, keeping the small amount of ammo Alexandria had stashed for himself. I felt anger course through me. If I'd been able to use my gun, I could probably have saved Noah.

"Stop wasting it!" I roared at him. "Or at least fucking aim properly!"

He shot at an armed walker wearing a rig, something strapped to its chest.

A grenade.

"Aiden, stop!"

It was too late.

The explosion shook the earth beneath my feet. I was thrown to the ground, hitting the concrete hard, my ears ringing from the blast.

Heat, smoke, and dust flooded my senses. The warehouse crumbled around us. I couldn't see. I couldn't hear.

Then, pain.

A sharp, searing pain shot through my side as metal and concrete rained down. Something heavy, something solid, crashed down on me. I tried to move, to push it off, but everything around me was so heavy. My limbs felt like they were made of stone, my breath coming in shallow, desperate gasps.

I tried to yell, but my voice cracked. I coughed, and blood filled my mouth.

The pain was unbearable. Every breath felt like I was suffocating, like the weight of the world was crushing me slowly, painfully. I gasped again, but it wasn't enough.

My legs were pinned, my body crushed beneath the debris. Every movement I made only sent more pain shooting through me. The darkness crept in at the edges of my vision.

I couldn't fight it.

The world felt so far away, like I was watching it through thick glass. The pain was endless. Each breath felt heavier than the last.

I thought of Daryl. His face - his eyes, warm and fierce - like he could carry the weight of the world and still protect me. I pictured him returning to Alexandria and finding me gone, being told he'd never see me again. It would destroy him.

Tears came.

Not for me, but for the pain Daryl was going to suffer. In that moment, I wished he'd never met me, never fallen for me, so he didn't have to grieve his wife of just a couple of weeks. I couldn't bear him experiencing that torment.

"I love you," I whispered, my voice barely a breath.

I could almost feel him beside me. I could almost feel his arms around me, holding me, pulling me back from the edge.

But I wasn't going anywhere.

I could already feel the cold creeping in. The darkness was swallowing me, and I was so, so tired.

My eyes were closed now, my ability to open them gone.

All I could see were those beautiful blues in my mind.

As I felt myself slipping away.

A/N: 😭😭😭

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