It didn't take Daryl long to figure out I was following him, even with his rage. If anything my following him only made him angrier, but what can I say? There's only room for one of us to be mentally unstable, and it's clear that's my role right now. But if he is going to be unstable, then at least one of us needs to at least act like they have their shit together. And I guess now, that'll have to be me.
We didn't talk as I was following him since we're still in Alpha's territory. The last thing we need is a bunch of whisperers to hear us and start running towards us to attack.
We ended up finding a singular whisperer and started following him, but after a while, Daryl apparently had enough of just following. He had hopped out of the trench we were both in and pulled out his knife while slowly following the whisperer. He is going to get himself killed if he's not careful.
I was about to follow him, but then I saw him jump back in the trench with me and hide when we saw Alpha come out. And behind her was the herd. She was leading them out of the cave.
Daryl and I followed them all the way to the river without being spotted. That's when we realized that Alpha is with only two other people while leading the herd. So I grabbed one of my knives out of my fanny pack and threw it into the leg of the person Alpha is with. I was kind of hoping for a win win situation. We get the herd to turn on the screaming man and then have them turn on Alpha. But only one of those things happened.
The person that my knife hit started screaming and the herd did turn on them and start eating him alive. Alpha and the other person started running away from the herd, but Daryl and I were quick to step in.
Daryl had immediately gone for Alpha's henchman, while I went for Alpha herself. The person who was with Alpha was quickly taken down by Daryl's knife while Alpha pulled a knife out on me. I had kicked it away from her when two more whispers came out of the forest.
I ran up to one of them and roundhouse kicked them in the head to make them drop to the ground before I crawled on top of them and stabbed them in the head. Daryl took out the other one by slitting their throat. But as he turned around, Alpha had cut his face with another knife.
Daryl stumbled backwards as blood now covered his face. That's when I tackled Alpha to the ground and stabbed her in the shoulder with one of my knives. I wanted to just kill her, but we need answers first. It's why we're still out here. Do I think she'll tell us anything? No, not really. But it doesn't hurt to try. I pulled out my knife before Daryl came over to us with a huge branch to help pin Alpha down.
"Where are they!?" He asked while she was screaming in pain. "Where are they!? Tell me!"
She continued only screaming so I spoke. "Tell us where they are, bitch!"
With her refusing to tell us where Connie and Magna are, the herd only got closer to us. We had to leave our positions of standing over Alpha to start fighting the herd. I had gotten my sword out and I was annihilating any geek to come near me while Daryl started killing geeks with his big branch.
As we were fighting, Alpha came up behind me and slashed my arm with the knife I had originally kicked away from her. I hissed from the pain before I continued taking out geeks. Daryl on the other hand turned around to defend me from Alpha since I have the better weapon to take out several geeks. But Alpha dodged his branch and instead had stabbed him in the leg.
I looked back at him and Alpha was walking way from us. I started helping Daryl up, knowing that we need to get the hell out of here. He is in absolutely no condition whatsoever to keep fighting. I probably could have taken out Alpha right then and there. But I didn't. I was too worried about Daryl. I looked back for only a second to watch Alpha pick up a gun.
He was clinging onto me while hopping along as I led him back into the woods and away from Alpha, her herd, and any whisperers. Eventually we came across a small gas station and ran inside.
We knew Alpha would be following us and would most likely be here any moment, so I got ready to fight. I know Daryl won't be able to, so it'll need to be me.
I placed Daryl behind a counter and was about to hide somewhere as well so Alpha couldn't see me coming. I then heard Daryl's voice. "Mae, check those." He said while pointing to a few lockers that were next to us.
"Why?" I asked quietly. "Have you seen the state of this place? There's not gonna be anything in there." The gas station we are in has definitely seen better days. There's no roof anymore. There's an abandoned broke down car in the middle of it and he wants me to check lockers?
"Just do it." He groaned at me.
"Fine." I rolled my eyes and walked over to the lockers. After opening up the last one, I sighed. I wasn't at all surprised that there was nothing in these lockers. "I told you there was-" I turned around to face him again, but the next thing I knew he was throwing me into the locker and slamming it shut. I Immediately tried to open the door but the door was jammed shut. "Let me out, Daryl!" I screamed at him. "Let me out!!!"
"Nah."
"Daryl!" I yelled. "This isn't a fucking game! This isn't funny! Let me out!" I begged him while screaming. And soon I felt the walls closing in around me, I know they aren't but that's what it feels like. I hate tight spaces. I was surprised I made it through the tunnel in the cave, but that's because I knew I had someone there to help me get out. But now I'm stuck in here and the only person here with me that I trust is the person who threw me in here. "Please.." I whined.
"'m sorry." I heard him softly say as I looked through the vents and saw him sit back down. "If ya stay out here, you'll get yerself killed. I ain't lettin' that happen."
"It's you who will die!" I argued with him. "Daryl, please."
"Nah."
I whined again while trying to kick myself out of the locker. But soon all I could hear was my panicked breaths. Realizing that there is no way out of this locker without Daryl or someone else freeing me, I stopped fighting to get out and focused on my breathing.
A few minutes later, I heard banging coming towards the entrance of the gas station. I looked through the vent to see Daryl is still in the same place behind the counter, which can only mean one thing. Alpha's here.
The banging near the entrance lured a few nearby geeks here. I couldn't see them through my little hole yet, but I could hear them. And I knew they were getting closer to where Daryl is. But once I could finally see the geeks, I also witnessed Daryl crab crawling to the bench in front of him and start kicking it with the leg that isn't stabbed.
"Daryl, let me out!" I pleaded with him again. "I can help you!"
Daryl ignored me when a fire extinguisher fell. He picked it up and smashed it into the head of a geek that looked like it had trees starting to grow out of it. The next geek crashed on top of Daryl, but I saw him stab it in the head with something before the third geek walked over.
This geek had mushrooms growing out of it's head and shoulders, and I had no choice but to watch as it tackled Daryl. He was trying to kick it way from him, but it just kept coming. I started kicking at the door more to try and escape so I could help him, but then I heard a scram come from him and stopped kicking the door to look through the hole again.
He had stabbed the geek in the head with the knife that was previously in his leg. He had pulled it out, and now blood was squirting out of him. "No!!" I screamed while trying hard not to cry. He could die because of this. "Let me out! Let me help you!!" I begged him while watching him cling to his now gushing stab wound. He ignored me as he found something to tie around his leg, but he still kept intense pressure on it, which is good because otherwise, he'll die.
A few hours later, It was now dark and I couldn't see anything. I was surprised Alpha hadn't made her way to us yet. She must be struggling as well with the nice hearty stab I gave her earlier.
I'm still worried about Daryl though. I can still hear his breathing along with small grunts to let me know he's alive. I wish I could help him. I just want to make sure he'll be okay. I can't lose anyone else. I can't lose him.
A few minutes later, I heard Alpha's voice. It was quiet and I could barely comprehend what she was saying."Can you see beyond the darkness? Into the light?"
"Nah." Daryl replied to her.
"I'm tingling with joy." Alpha started. "I see the ones who broke me all around us, standing there."
"Sounds to me like you're going crazy." I commented. "Which I didn't think was possible considering you're already the most insane person I know. And I've seen a lot of shit."
She ignored my comment as she started whispering, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for making me strong."
"Fucking weirdo." I groaned.
"Pain made me." She commented. "Pain made the both of you. Pain made my Lydia."
"You lost her." Daryl spoke. "You drove her away. Because you didn't love her."
"What did you say?" Alpha questioned. "What did you say, boy? I can't hear you." Daryl was breathing heavily, but he wasn't replying. I then heard Alpha get up from her spot and walk over to us. It was clear she was struggling to move with the way her feet were dragging. "I'm all ears." I then heard her collapse. But soon I heard more footsteps which was followed by Alpha's voice. "Are you really here?"
"Yes, Mama." I heard Lydia's broken voice. She was crying.
"Don't call me that. You know better." Alpha scolded her. "You came home. I am you. And you are me."
"No she's not!" I screamed while banging on the locker door again. "She's much better than you ever will be!"
Alpha then started singing a song to Lydia. "Lydia. Oh, Lydia. Say, have you met Lydia. Lydia the tattooed lady. She has eyes that folks adore so. And a torso even more so. Lydia. Oh, Lydia."
When she was done singing I heard Lydia cry again. "Mama, I-"
"Oh Lydia. Push, baby, push."
What the hell is going on? I can't see anything. I wish I could get out of this locker.
"Mama." Lydia cried more.
"Push." Alpha instructed. "Push, push. You're ready, baby. I made sure you're ready. They're waiting for you to lead. They're waiting."
Wait, is Alpha telling Lydia to kill her?
"I'm not here for them." Lydia told her mother. "I'm not here for you." There was then a heavy silence that filled the air before Lydia spoke again. "They're human. Not perfect. Just Human. It's all I ever wanted. It's what you never gave me." Soon there was more silence, along with footsteps.
"Lydia?" I asked. "Are you still there, Sweetie?"
"Yeah." She replied before I head whatever was holding the door to my lockser shut drop to the ground. Lydia opened the locker and instantaneously, I hugged her. I then looked over to where Daryl is. He had completely passed out.
I crawled over to him and placed my head on his heart while placing two fingers on his neck to try and get a pulse and I sighed in relief when I got one. I then let my eyes drift over to Alpha. She was on the ground, also passed out.
I debated whether or not I should get up and end Alpha. But two things stopped me. One was Lydia. I don't want her to have to watch me kill her mother. And reason number two is Daryl. We need to get him out of here. He needs help. If he doesn't get help, he will die. And I refuse to lose him too.
Lydia and I dragged Daryl for a while until we were back on our side of the border. We stopped for the night though, realizing it's too dangerous to keep moving around with an injured person.
I had stayed up all night to make sure Daryl was still living. My eyes didn't stray from him once, not even as I filled Lydia in on everything that has happened at Alexandria lately. She's one of us, she deserves to know.
Daryl jolted awake the next afternoon and I grabbed his hand. Lydia and I possibly could have continued carrying him once the sun came back up, but we had decided against it, in fear of making him worse. "Easy, easy." Lydia spoke to him.
"You're okay, Dare." I added before he finally settled down and leaned his head back on the tree we had propped him up against.
"How long I been asleep for?" He asked us.
"Most of the day." Lydia answered him.
"You were just out here?" He asked her.
"Yeah." She nodded. "Just watching you. Watching them. Deciding."
"What were you trying to decide?" I questioned her. She then looked at me with a face that gave me the answer I needed. She was trying to figure out where she belongs.
"Did ya kill her?" Daryl asked Lydia yet another question.
"If it was your father, could you have?" She replied to his question with a question. Daryl stayed silent so I answered in a way I was hoping would lighten the mood.
"He may not have killed his father, but I found out his father was actually the first person I killed." I laughed before looking at Daryl. "By the way, if you ever shove me into another locker or tight space like that ever again, you can join your father six feet under."
"Yeah, whatever." I saw a tiny smirk on his face. "Why didn't you kill her?"
"I was more worried about you. We fight for each other and our future, remember? Not revenge." I squeezed his hand. "You scared the shit out of me. I thought I lost you."
"Now you know what life with you in it is like." He quipped. "A heart attack waiting to happen."
"You love me, don't act like you don't." I laughed.
"Never said I didn't."
I stared into Daryl's eyes for a moment as he looked into mine. I honestly don't know how long we were like that but it was long enough for Lydia to clear her throat and make us look to her instead. "We should probably go." She informed us. We agreed and started traveling again.
Eventually, we made our way to Hilltop and Lydia had told us how her mother will most likely be coming to attack soon. But when we arrived, I was notified that Hilltop isn't the only community that was getting attacked. Apparently last night, Beta somehow snuck into Alexandria and killed many of our people. My children are okay though, thankfully. Avalon and Theo are here. Dad, Michonne, and Aaron brought them here along with Judith.
We all gathered for a meeting in Maggie's office on what we should do about the attack Alpha is planning on Hilltop.
"You heard them out there. We have to go." Lydia spoke up. "Even if you took out half the herd in that cave, she's got thousands left. You can't stay here."
"The skins could march straight to Alexandria for all we know." Earl argued.
"Yeah, we're right in their way." Daryl said.
"Maybe she goes around us." Earl continued.
"She doesn't need to go around you." Lydia stated. "She'll run through you."
"I'm not running again." Jerry told us all. "Hell no."
"Lydia's right." Diane told us. "We can rebuild anywhere."
Earl shook his head and scoffed. "Come on. We can't." He then turned to Aaron. "How many scouting missions have you been on, son? Hundreds? Have you ever seen a place like Hilltop?"
"No." Aaron replied quietly.
"We have maybe a few dozen fighters here." Maggie finally chimed in. "I don't like those odds."
"We don't have to die here." Aaron told everybody.
"We're going to have to fight." Earl argued again. "And if we die, we die fighting for a place that means something. Can you think of a better way to go."
"Yeah." I scoffed. "With my childrens lives intact. I will do anything to make sure they live. And every other child too, not just mine."
"Let's get the kids out of first." Daryl suggested. "Everybody pack up. We're going to Oceanside. Grab weapons, food, whatever you can. We'll regroup there."
All of us dispersed and started loading all of the kids into a caravan. As we were loading the twins into the caravan, I watched Daryl take off his angel winged vest that has one of the wings torn off, and slip it onto Theo. I smiled at the little scene before both the twins glared at us.
"I want to stay and fight." Theo complained.
"I do too." Avalon stated. "You know we can."
"I know." Daryl said while shaking his head. "Don't argue."
"Kids," I sighed. "Your dad and I are leaving too. Which means you are coming whether you want to or no."
"Whatever." Theo grunted just like his father does before jumping into the caravan.
Avalon however stayed standing in front of both Daryl and I was a scowl on her face. "I'm stayin'." She argued. "I'm gonna help fight."
"Get your ass in the wagon." I groaned. "None of us are staying to fight."
"Well I am."
"Nah." Daryl groaned at our daughter before kneeling in front of her. "Look, I know ya wanna help. But that horde will rip this place up. I can't let 'em rip ya apart with it. So I'm gonna need ya to move that tiny ass of yers into the wagon." She stood her ground, not wanting to leave. "If ya don't move. I'mma pick yer ass up and toss ya in there myself. Ya have five seconds. Five.... Four.... Three.... Two...."
"Fine." She finally said before turning around and starting to climb into the caravan. As Daryl was helping her in, I walked away.
But as I was walking away my father called me over to him. So I walked away from everyone to meet him near the stables. He looked at me with sad eyes before grabbing my arm and lifting up my sleeve. I was confused because he's already seen my scars. I then heard him sigh before looking up at me again.
I pulled my arm away from him and pulled my sleeve down. "The hell was that about?"
"Just wanted to make sure that you haven't done this again. After everything that happened at Alexandria with Siddiq-"
"So instead of a 'Hey, how are you?' I get you searching my body for new scars?" I scoffed at him. "Really?"
"I'm sorry." He nodded when he realized how rude that just was. "How are you doing?"
"Pretty shitty. My husband just died."
"Look, I know how it feels, alright?" Dad stated. "It's hard."
"Mom died during childbirth." I reminded him. "My husband was murdered by someone we thought was on our side." I shook my head. "We may have both lost our spouses, but the circumstances are different. It's not the same."
"You're right. But it still hurts the same, Nora." He said while placing a hand on his hip. "What happened to Siddiq is a tragedy. I just want you to know that you can talk to me."
"I know I can." I replied.
"Good." Dad then pulled me in to hug me, and I slowly wrapped my arms around him.
When we pulled away away from each other, we joined everybody that is leaving Hilltop. I climbed onto the back of Daryl's motorcycle and wrapped my arms around his waist before he twisted the throttle and started leading all of us out of Hilltop.
A little while later we were stopped by a huge tree in the road. We then looked up when we heard growling. There were two geeks that were hanging by trees. But these weren't random geeks. They were two people that used to live at Hilltop.
Daryl then informed us that there's no way of getting through. And then he said something that's even scarier. This is the work of Negan, which means he's with Alpha now. And if he's with Alpha that can only mean that James found his way back to his mother as well. So now our problems just went from big to ginormous.
We ended up going straight back to Hilltop. When we got there, Gracie ran right up to Aaron and hugged him. He sent her into the house before walking up to Daryl and I and asking us, "What happened."
"She blocked all the roads." Daryl explained. "Means they're closin' in on us. If we had a window to get out, we just missed it."
"But we can't stay here." Kelly argued while thinking of Connie. I know she wanted to get out of here to help look for her. "You all said we can't stay here."
"We can call Alexandria, and they'll get fresh fighters here, right? And it's not gonna be just us." Luke spoke worriedly. And he has every right and reason to be concerned.
"Oceanside and Alexandria won't be able to get here in time." I explained. "We're on our own."
"We've got some catapults up on the walls." Glenn started speaking. "We also have a great militia." He nodded to Aaron. "This is what all of us have been practicing for. So do whatever you all need to do to get your heads on straight, 'cause this is gonna be one hell of a fight."
A few hours later I saw Lydia sitting on the front steps of barrington house, and I decided to sit down next to her. I saw her tracing a heart that Henry had carved into one of the pillars with their initials inside.
"I missed you, kiddo." I told her honestly. "I was worried about you. I heard about what Merle did, and it pissed me off. He shouldn't have used you like that. I would've hunted you down sooner, but I was sick and then everything with Siddiq happened."
"I get it." She replied.
"You know, I'm surprised you don't hate me." I stated. "With how much I want to kill your mother."
"It's hard to hate someone who already hates themselves way too much."
"One day, I will kill your mom." I said. "Are you gonna hate me then?"
"I won't even be thinking about you." She shrugged.
"You're honest." I smiled at her. "I like that."
"People don't know how to be honest anymore." She said while looking straight ahead. "'I'm sorry your kid and husband died and now you hate the world'. 'Sorry your mother is a monster'. So instead, they stay away and let you feel lonely."
"No.." I shook my head. "I have a few people that aren't afraid to call me on my bullshit. They're nothing but honest with me, and I'm thankful for it." I then turned to her. "I promise to always be honest with you, even if you don't wanna hear it, okay?"
She nodded before I wrapped my arm around her and let her place her head on my shoulder. I keep trying to tell myself that she's not my kid. Because technically she's not. but at the same time, she is. I took her in, she's my responsibility. I want to keep her safe. Just like I want to do with the twins and Seb. Just like I wanted for Sophia.
A little while later, Yumiko, Kelly, and Luke ran back into Hilltops gates, informing us about how the herd is officially on it's way. They know this because thousands upon thousands of rats ran out of the forest towards Hilltop.
When we were getting ready to fight, I overheard a conversation that Daryl was having with both my Dad and King-Step-Dad. They all agreed that if anything happens during the fight and any one of them goes down, the others will protect the kids and get them out of here.
After their conversation was done, I was about to make myself known but then I heard Daryl start speaking to our daughter. "Ya should be with the other kids." He told her.
"Well, I wanna help. I wanna fight."
"I know ya do. And I know ya can." He replied. "I'm sorry 'bout today. Ya didn't need to see those bodies like that."
"They were just walkers, Dad." She stated. "I've killed plenty."
"I know." Daryl sighed. "But they weren't just walkers."
"I'm not scared."
"I know yer not, Sweetpea." Daryl told her. "Maybe I am, a little bit."
I heard my daughter sigh sadly. "Well, maybe if I was scared it would be for all the little kids includin' RJ." I wanted to laugh at that statement. Since when isn't she a little kid?
"I get that." Daryl grunted.
"And maybe," Avalon continued. "Maybe I'd be worried about you and mom. Maybe I'd be scared that you two would get hurt and I'd lose you both."
"There ain't no shame in that." Daryl informed her. "Ya know who yer fightin' for."
She pressed her lips into a thin line before turning around and grabbing something off the couch. "I made you somethin'." She then held up Daryl's leather vest. She had painted another angel wing onto it to replace the one that had been torn off. "It's for luck."
"No way." I could hear the small bit of joy in Daryl's voice. "I love it." And then without wasting one singular moment he put it on and turned around to show her. "How do I look?"
"Ya look great, Daddy." He chuckled. My heart melted when she called him Daddy. It's not something she does much anymore. The last time she did, she had gotten hurt. So I'm happy to witness her calling him that for a positive reason.
Daryl then turned around and knelt in front of our daughter. "There's one other thing. If durin' the fight, Grandpa or Ezekiel come lookin' for ya and Theo, ya go with them, whether ya know where I am or not. Okay?" She didn't reply to him right away so he said, "Hey. Ya gotta promise me."
"I- I promise." She said while frowning. "I love you, Daddy."
"I love ya too, Sweetpea." He told her while wrapping his arms around her.
After he let go of our daughter, I saw him walking towards the front door of Barrington house. But before he put his hand on the door, he turned towards me. It was obvious by the expression on his face that he wasn't expecting me to be standing there.
I was expecting him to walk outside anyways, but instead he walked right over to me and grabbed my arm before leading me into Maggie's office. He closed the door behind us so we were alone.
He kept staring at me like he wanted to say something, but nothing was coming out of his mouth. So instead, I finally spoke. "What's going on, Robin-Hood?"
He opened his mouth to speak but again nothing came out. He then shook his head at me and said. "Fuck it."
I was confused as to what he meant until he completely closed the distance between us, grabbed me by the back of the head and kissed me roughly. I stood there in shock for a moment before he pulled away from me.
"If somethin' happens. I never woulda forgave myself If I didn't do that. I know ya just lost Siddiq, and I'm sorry. But I still love ya. I always have and I always will, Mae"
I continued standing there in shock as he turned around and started walking back to the door. "Wait.." I said softly as he lifted his hand to the door knob. He lowered his hand back down before turning back to face me.
I'm not at all over Siddiq. I probably never will be. I know that because I'm still not over Liam. But one thing I do know is that I'm also not over Daryl. I've been trying to stop wanting him, and thinking about him, but I can't. I never thought I'd be able to fully forgive Daryl for cheating on me. But we could be a few minutes away from meeting our doom. I don't want to be mad at him any more. I want to love him.
"Catch me." Is all I said to him before running over to him. Once I was close enough to him, I jumped into his arms and he caught me just like I had asked of him. Then I did something I never thought I would do again. I smashed my lips against Daryl's as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
He deepened the kiss as I moved my hand up to play with his hair. Our tongues were swirling around in each others mouths for a moment before he pulled his lips away from mine and smiled at me.
"I love you too, Dare." I told him as he placed his forehead against mine. "I love you so much. I never stopped. But I'm scared. I can't lose you. I- I just can't."
"I know, Princess." He said softly before putting me down and kissing the top of my head. "I'm scared too. I don't know what's gonna happen. But it's you and me against the world. We got our future to fight for." He told me. "God, I love ya so much."
"To the moon and back, Dare."
************
I originally was not planning on them getting back together right now especially since she just lost Siddiq. But with the fight they are about to face, I felt like it would be a great time for them to finally kiss and make-up.
I know that the conversation Daryl had with Avalon was supposed to be between him and Judith. But I think there's something even sweeter about it now since the conversation was with his daughter.
Please remember to comment and vote :)
-Queenie*B