The guard - Tom - halted Sherry in a shadowy corridor outside Daryl's cell.
"Wait, Sherry. Can you please tell me what was that about? Why did we pretend in front of the prisoner that you went down on me and bribed me to get inside that cell? It doesn't make any sense."
Sherry shrugged.
"Negan's orders. You heard him yourself. Best not to know too much, trust me. We have to do that again very soon. Keep on pretending in front of Daryl I mean. No one else can know this is just a show. That's all you need to know."
"But…"
"No buts. Ask Negan if you don't believe me." Sherry said indifferently and walked away feeling guilty.
This is a horrible thing to do to Daryl. He seems so beaten, so miserable. And something tells me this is just the beginning.
She walked around the corner only to meet Dwight. Her ex-husband was clearly waiting for her on purpose.
"Sherry! Wait! I need to talk to you. Now!" His tone was desperate, angry too.
Sherry couldn't just ignore him, so she obeyed, sighed impatiently and leaned against the wall.
She lit a cigarette and offered another one to Dwight just to do something. Thanks to Negan, Sherry had an endless storage of cigarettes.
Dwight took one and lit it. After greedy first suck he looked at Sherry suspiciously.
"I heard some shit. You going to Daryl's cell. What the hell? And what happened there?" He asked and touched her lower lip lightly with his finger. His tone was harsh at first but softened when he noticed her injury.
Sherry closed her eyes. She had no choice but to lie. Dwight hated Daryl so much that he could easily slip something to him if he knew what was really going on.
"Negan happened. And you heard right. I'm interested in Daryl so I convinced Tom to let me in. I wanted to talk with Daryl. Please don't tell anyone."
"What? Are you crazy? Negan will kill you. Me too, probably. And Daryl… what makes him so special?" Dwight asked jealously.
Trust me, I've been asking myself the same thing.
"You also think he is kinda special. You took his gun, his bike, his vest, right?" Sherry asked sharply.
"That bastard. For some reason Negan likes him. And you too, obviously. I'm not allowed to torture him anymore. On the contrary, Negan wants to move him into a nicer room. Guy tries to escape, he refuses to say his name - and he is getting rewarded. This doesn't make any sense. What's really going on?" Dwight hissed angrily.
"Stay out of it, D. I'm telling you." Sherry said with a serious face and walked away.
xxx
Negan was waiting for her impatiently in their rooms.
"Well, did he buy it?" He wanted to know.
Sherry shrugged.
"Hard to say. At least he agreed to talk to me this time. Not much, but still."
"Good. Did he believe that you had to make some kind of sacrifice in order to get in there? And what about the lip? Did he notice that?"
Sherry closed her eyes remembering Daryl's worried gaze. She nodded.
"I think so, yes." She said in a whisper.
Negan smirked.
"Good girl."
He took something out of his pocket. A pack of cigarettes. He tossed it to Sherry with one swift motion.
"Little somethin' for my darlin' "
Judas got thirty pieces of silver, Sherry thought feeling guilty.
xxx
Daryl woke up when the door of the cell opened. After the meal he had slept well for the first time in days.
Dwight rushed in the little room. He was furious, out of balance somehow. The bright light from the hallway blinded Daryl for a second so he didn't see what was coming before he felt it.
The first kick hit his ribs.
"You a-hole! Why does everybody think you're so special? You're not. You're just one miserable prick among all the others!"
The second kick hit his lower back.
"You're jeopardizing Sherry, get it? Stay away from her, hear me!"
Despite the pain Daryl managed to reach out and grasp Dwight's right ankle. One forceful wrench, and he lost his balance and fell down on the cement floor with a thump.
This unexpected failure only fueled his anger. He cursed and kicked Daryl one more time. Because of his horizontal position it wasn't as forceful as the previous moves, but bad enough.
He hit Daryl's temple.
After that - darkness only.