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Winter time had come quickly. The cold meant fewer walkers, and the ones that were around were slower, but the danger was still there. They all knew that, and they couldn't afford to let their guard down. They had lost so many already.
Including Maggie.
That's what had Glenn in this predicament. He was staring right at Maggie, the woman he loved. He hesitated, even though the others told him that he should put her out of her misery. That Maggie wouldn't want this to happen to her. A walker had taken her from him. She had been careless, after losing Beth. It happened so suddenly.
He had promised to put her down when she turned, but here he was, hesitating. “I'm sorry, Maggie.” he said, tears pooling in his eyes.
“I know I promised, but I just can't.” he said again, watching as Maggie shuffled just the few inches more to get to him. She seemed to stare at him, her eyes clouded and unrecognizable. She grabbed onto his jacket, her lips seeming to graze his shoulder before he heard a shout and Maggie go completely limp. It was then that he realized that there was blood covering his face, and a bullet hole in Maggie's forehead.
“What did you do?!” Glenn turned and shouted, eyes alight with anger and hurt. Maggie was gone, and his only chance to be with her again was stolen from him. His eyes focused on Daryl, and he was angrier than he had ever been.
“Are you fuckin' stupid?!” Daryl hissed, grabbing onto Glenn's jacket and twisting. “You let her bite you?!” he hissed again, eyes full of hurt.
“What does it matter?!” Glenn seethed. “I lost the woman I love, how could you ever understand?!” he almost yelled.
“You're not in your right mind right now, and now you're dead!” Daryl yelled, attracting the attention of more walkers. He promptly killed the remaining four, and stared at Glenn.
“Fuck, you're an idiot.” he said, wiping some of Maggie's blood off of Glenn's face. He looked at Maggie, who was slumped on the ground. “We can't just leave her here.” he said, features softening. “We need to bury her.”
He lifted Maggie easily, looking to Glenn for a moment. “Look. I know more than you think, alright? Maggie was one of us. We can't just leave her in the street to rot.”
Glenn nodded numbly, following Glenn into the woods on the other side of the street. They found a beautiful spot, and buried Maggie there.
“I think she'd appreciate being buried in such a pretty spot.” Daryl said after a moment, placing a hand on Glenn's shoulder. “I'll let you say your good byes, if ya want.” he offered, Glenn shaking his head.
“We already said our good byes. She's gone, and I need to accept that.” he muttered, staring at the wooden cross that stuck up from the ground. Around it was a chain, with two wedding rings. His, and Maggie's.
“Come on. We need to get back to camp and see what we can do about that bite.” Daryl said, tugging at the sleeve of Glenn's jacket.
“I wasn't bitten.” Glenn said, turning and following Daryl.
“Bull shit, I saw her bite you!” Daryl returned, angry.
“I wasn't bitten!” Glenn said again, raising his voice a bit. “You think I'd be that careless?” he asked, staring at Daryl incredulously.
“You certainly weren't keepin' your promise and puttin' her down!” Daryl shot back, earning a punch to the face. Glenn certainly had balls. He'd come a long way from the meek, walker bait he had been the year and a half before.
“You think you know how I feel?!” Glenn seethed. “She was the love of my life! How can you just act like she was nothing to me?!” he asked, tears welling up again.
Instead of retaliating with violence, Daryl sighed and pulled Glenn close into a hug. “Look. We all cared about Maggie. None as much as you, or Beth, or Hershel. But right now, my main concern is you. We need to make sure you're alright.” he said.
“Keep pushing forward. Do it for Maggie. She wouldn't want you to live out the rest of your physical existence in this world as a walker. Got it?” Glenn nodded, face buried against Daryl's shoulder, finally returning the hug.
“Thank you.” Glenn said, voice weak and strained from tears. “You're the only one that's reached out to make sure I'm okay.” he said.
“Yeah, well. Don't let anyone tell you that I don't care.” Daryl returned, patting Glenn's shoulder. Together, they made it back to camp, in a comfortable silence.
It was then that Daryl discovered that Glenn had been right.
Maggie hadn't bitten him. He thanked whatever God was watching, knowing that for just one more day, at least, they hadn't lost anyone else.