The sun was setting on Alexandria, it had been a very long day devoted to taking care of the injured, burying the dead and getting rid of the walkers. The battle was won at the crack of dawn, they had fought all night and no one had gotten any rest since.
Yet, after spending the day clearing the dead outside the walls, Daryl remained wide awake. His energy was driven by the post battle adrenaline and his unfulfilled desire for revenge. He walked up the street to the building housing their one and only prison cell, he knew Rick would be there and he needed to talk to him about this whole prisoner bullshit.
But just when he reached his destination, Rick got out of the building.
"I don't know why we don't put a bullet through his damn head and move on" Daryl barked at him. At first, he had not contested the idea of putting Negan in the prison cell because they simply had too much to deal with but now was the time to tell Rick what a dumb idea that was.
"No," Rick sighed. "Dying is too easy. We would be doing him a favour."
"So he's just gonna stay'ere and we gonna feed his ass ? For how long ?" Daryl asked.
"That's what we do for now," Rick answered, categorical. But he knew from the look on Daryl's face that he was not done arguing this decision.
"Look, I know you don't like this. But if we kill him, it's not… it's not punishment, it's an escape. It would just be over, he wouldn't be paying for anything. But in there, isolated, locked up with no freedom he is paying for what he did." Rick concluded.
"Your call," Daryl muttered, only half convinced because he was sure of the extreme satisfaction everyone would feel from Negan's death. He sure would be satisfied but he could not help but wonder if revenge would ever be enough. They had won the war and yet the anger was still there, eating him up inside. So much so that he had not been able to rejoice yet, not even slightly.
He left Rick alone in front of the building and instinctively headed for the infirmary, Carol would be there, helping Rosita and the doctor from The Kingdom taking care of the injured. As annoyed and angry as he was, Carol was the only person he knew he could put up with. He opened the door and spotted her changing a bandage on Eric's arm next to a worried-looking Aaron. She looked exhausted and he wondered if she had taken a break since the battle. She had been redoubtable on the battlefield, lethal. This was one of the things he admired about her, she was a woman to be reckoned with but she was also this extremely kind and loving person who put everyone before herself.
He still had not moved from the doorway when she noticed him. She smiled at him and because he was lost in his thoughts, he had forgotten to find an excuse to justify his presence in the infirmary.
"You okay ?" She worried.
"Yeah, hmm…" he mumbled. "Do you need a hand ?"
"No thanks, we got it covered."
He looked around the room and indeed, it did not look like they needed help. Most patients were sleeping, Rosita was stitching Tara's eyebrow arch and the doc was cleaning a bad burn on one of the Kingdom's knight.
When Carol was done with Eric, Daryl followed her in the other part of the infirmary where they kept most of the drugs and other medical supplies. She was putting away some of the supplies which were lying around on the counter.
"I could take over for ya," he insisted. "You look like you could use some sleep,"
She smirked. "You don't look better yourself…" She looked him in the eyes to reassure him, "Go home Daryl, I'm fine."
He nodded but did not listen and sat on one of the counters. She shook her head but did not insist. He was still pissed off but he knew that having her around would somehow help. He never really understood how she could both calm him down or make his heart beat faster. All he knew is that she felt like home, so he quietly watched her clean some of the surgical instruments. But the peaceful moment did not last long for somebody else entered the room. His fury grew like an out of control fire at the sight of Dwight.
"What do you need ?" Carol asked sharply.
Dwight startled at the question for he had been looking at Daryl. The man was a living reminder of everything he hated about himself. He was a reminder of all the things he had fucked up. He finally looked at Carol and remembered that the first thing he had noticed about her was how similar she was to Daryl, though she was harder to predict. She was like an extension of him and vice versa. Therefore, she resented him as much as Daryl did.
"Hmm… do you got any pain meds ?" He asked.
Carol nodded and looked in one of the cupboards to get him some. Dwight felt relieved that Daryl was looking -a little too intensely- at the wall. Carol gave him a painkiller and a glass of water.
"Thanks," he said and swallowed the pill.
"Are you injured ?" She asked. And Daryl wondered who the fuck cares ?
But he knew why she asked. he had helped them, given them precious information about Negan. He had played a significant role in the war against the Saviors. But Daryl also knew that Carol did not know what Dwight had done to him while he was a prisoner at the Sanctuary. If she did, she would probably take one of the surgical instrument she had been cleaning and take Dwight's eyeballs out.
"No, just got hit on the head. Pretty hard."
"Go see the doctor if you develop any other symptoms, it might be a concussion," she said imperturbable. Dwight thanked her again and left.
"Asshole." Daryl mumbled and Carol smiled.
"I"ll see ya at home," he said standing up from the counter. He had spoken much too casually and she frowned at him.
"Don't do anything stupid" she warned as he left the infirmary.
The streets of Alexandria were extremely quiet at nightfall and this was one of the rare moments when he kind of liked this place. He watched Dwight walked down the street and then turned left to a smaller one. As he turned, Daryl sprinted towards the man he so vehemently hated, the man who had put him through so much.
"Gave me one reason why I shouldn't kill ya," he said and Dwight turned around.
Daryl was holding him at gunpoint.