He wakes alone. The thin curtains over the window blow in the gentle breeze.
Daryl sits up, realizing he's still naked, he notices she has folded his clothes neatly and placed them on the chair.
He's never spent the night with a woman naked.
He's never spent the night with a woman he had sex with.
Moving to get dressed, he catches sight of her on the roof. She sits quietly, thinking, smoking, watching the sun rise. Zoned out of the present, she replays the previous night in her mind.
His kiss, and the way he touched her. Grabbing her hair and kissing her neck. Her skin, flushed and warm with arousal. The pressure. Her orgasm, and the way she pulled his from him. The way their bodies fit together.
Every night he holds her, chasing away the darkness in her mind. And every night she's grateful for his presence. Last night, he never let go.
A soft smile on her face, she's pulled from her thoughts by Daryl climbing out the window. He sits beside her, and she passes him her cigarette.
"You okay?" He asks, taking a long pull.
"Yeah. Are you?"
He nods. Looking out over the mostly sleeping town. He looks at her timidly, hoping she won't catch him staring. Her bruises are dark clouds over her otherwise pale skin, and her hair is a wild mess framing her head and shoulders. In the grey morning, he's euphoric in her company.
His mind races. Between their mission and their previous night together, he knows lines have been crossed, things are changing.
Fast.
"We got that meeting after a while." He says. And her mind comes back down to earth.
"Let's just… sit here. Right now." She answers softly. Relishing the ache between her legs, and wishing she could respond to the spreading warmth that originates there.
He turns his focus to her, and his half smile does sinful things to her thoughts.
"Alright."
And they do.
"These Saviors, they almost killed Sasha, Abraham, and Daryl on the road." Rick says
Most of the fighters in the town gather in the church. Ali sits between Daryl and Aaron, struggling to focus on Rick's words.
She wonders if he's struggling next to her too.
"Now sooner or later, they would have found us. Just like those wolves did. They would have killed someone, or some of us. And then they would try to own us. And we would try to stop them. But by then, in that kind of fight, low on food, we would lose. This is the only way to be sure, as sure as we can get, that we win. We have to win. We do this for the Hilltop. It's how we keep this place. It's how we feed this place. This needs to be a group decision. If anybody objects, here's your chance to say your piece."
The church is quiet. Somber.
Eventually, Morgan stands. And most everyone turns to look.
"You sure we can do this?" He asks.
"What this group has done… what we've become, what we've learned… yes I'm sure." Rick answers confidently.
"Then all we have to do is just tell them that." Morgan counters.
"We try and talk to the Saviors, we give up our advantage, our safety. We have to come for them before they come for us."
"Where there's life, there's possibility."
"Alright, Morgan thinks we should talk to them first. I think that's a mistake, but who else wants to talk to the saviors first?" Rick asks, addressing everyone.
Aaron stands.
Ali looks up.
"What happened here, we won't let that happen again. I won't." Aaron looks directly to Morgan when he talks. Then he takes his seat again.
He notices Daryl tap on the side of Ali's knee. He hands her a cigarette and his lighter.
She looks up at him and Daryl nods to the door. Ali smiles.
He marvels at the subtle affection, having not spent much time with the two recently.
He knows Daryl spends the night with her most nights, some of his belongings even coming to reside in her room.
Seeing her, healthy and okay, makes his heart swell. He had stopped his sister from being dragged to hell just a few short years ago. He pulled her from the blackest depths of her beautiful mind. He pulled her out of the self destruction she is all too capable of spiraling into. He had saved her life.
"Well, looks like it's settled." Rick says, snapping Aaron's attention back to the present. He makes his way out of the church. "We don't all have to kill, but if people are going to stay here, they're going to have to accept it."
"They're going to attack one of the compounds." Dwight says quietly, closing the door to the brownstone he and Sherry share. "Rick asked me to meet with them tonight. He's got some guy from Hilltop who is going to try and draw 'em a map. I think this is our chance Sher."
"Dwight…I…" Sherry begins to speak, but trails off.
She is comfortable in Alexandria.
The people are good. Aside from their two month long lack of decent meals, they were doing okay.
Sherry had been helping Maggie with the crops they were starting. Ali was teaching her to fight. Dwight had been filling in where he was needed, scavenging, keeping watch.
The thought of returning to their ex dictator made her want to claw her skin off.
"We're safe here. We are." She pleads. Trying to convince herself more than anything.
"Stop." He cuts her off. "We are not safe. They're setting themselves up for the shitstorm of all time and we are not going to be caught up in it. We leave after they do."
"And then what?! Huh?! What the fuck do you think is going to happen when we show up at the sanctuary?" She screams, tears welling in her eyes, emotion exploding from months of repression. She knew this day was coming.
She had relationships with these people, respected them.
Maggie and Ali had become her friends.
"What am I supposed to tell Maggie? Or Ali?"
"You don't fucking tell them anything. You keep your mouth shut, you go about your business, you get your shit together and we leave."
"D. If I go back there. You know what will happen." She says calmly.
"No. I'm going to give him this place." Dwight holds his hand out placatingly.
Silent tears drop down her face. She knows they aren't safe. She knows. But the decision to betray people who helped them, who they had lived beside for months, is more than she can bear. She questions how it had come to this. And if offering Alexandria would even be an equal exchange.
"Their best fighters will all be gone. Anyone who has any pull around here will be with them. They leave for the outpost, and we go over the wall." He answers her silent tears.
People were going to die here. And Saviors were going to die there.
There is no way out.
Daryl leaves the meeting.
The man, Andy, from Hilltop drew a map of the compound from what he could remember. Dwight gave them advice as to where the armory would likely be, though he'd never been to that particular location.
They secure the armory, and they end it.
He walks to their own armory, where Ali works cleaning and preparing guns.
She's putting pistols back in their case when she feels a presence behind her. Turning around, she sees him.
Leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, crossbow over his shoulder, she smiles at the sight of him.
"Hey." She breathes.
"C'mon." He nods towards the door. "It's late."
She closes the case and puts it back where it belongs. Turning off the tiny light, she joins him in the doorway and together they leave.
The tension between them is palpable. The walk back to her room is silent, yet heavy with unspoken thoughts.
In the darkness of her room, they seek refuge. Feeling the gravity of what they're about to do. Feeling the weight of the lives they're about to take.
In cold blood.
Daryl sets his crossbow down beside the table, and takes his vest off, draping it over the chair they use mostly for their clothes.
"If you wanna stay outside with Maggie…" He begins. Setting his pocket contents onto the table.
"I've killed before."
"It's different." He turns to look at her.
"It's no different. It's them or us. And I'll be damned if it's us." She stands close. Eyes dark. Resigned.
He doesn't argue. Just looks at the woman before him. Knowing he would go to the ends of the earth for her.
He can feel the heat coming off of her body. The sexual energy she exudes.
"Just want you to be safe." He says to the ground, quietly. He's emotional.
"I'm going to be safe. I'm going to be with you."
She takes his face in her hands, and he closes his eyes.
Kissing him gently, she unbuttons his shirt.
He removes her belt.
Tonight, they're going to be together. They're going to give and take, and need and feel.
After tonight, there's no going back.
They're going to war and she knows it, whether he believes it or not.
In the darkness of her room, she gives him her body.
And he gives her his heart.
The Saviors demand Gregory's head.
So a walker will have to do.
Daryl drives a truck at the end of the convoy. The most capable against the dead are piled in vehicles. They will comb the woods in pairs, until they find one that matches well enough.
Windows down, Daryl smokes, and thinks. He steals glances at Ali. She's leaned against the edge of the window, eyes closed, resting her head on her arm. His crossbow rests across her lap.
The wind blows stray hair that escaped her thick bun, as she rests. She looks peaceful, as though her mind isn't complete chaos.
He clenches his jaw and takes a draw of his cigarette. Thinking of the things they have done in the dark.
When they come to a stop, and he nudges her leg with the back of his hand.
She takes a deep breath in, and sits up. Readying her machete as Daryl lays on the horn.
"Alright." He says. "Let's go."
She hands him the weapon, and their hands touch.
They look at each other a moment, before climbing out to join the others.
In the woods, they are perfectly in sync.
She left her bow behind in favor of her machete, though it's normally her weapon of choice when they're together.
He wears his crossbow on his back. In case they need it.
They kill several walkers, though most are either too decayed or bear no resemblance whatsoever.
"We should head on back." He says, wiping his knife on the shirt of a walker he recently killed.
"Okay."
The way she looks at him, sets his libido on fire.
"Don't look at me like that." He says.
She closes the distance between them, her face as though she has no idea what he's talking about.
"Like what?"
"You know…" He puts his knife back in its sheath. "We gotta focus."
Arousal builds like a freight train inside him, and the best he can do is let it run him down.
"Oh. Yeah. We do." She breathes.
He looks into her eyes, heart pounding, breathing hard. He grabs onto her forearm, while she moves so their bodies completely touch.
Without much warning, his lips crash into hers and he shoves her back against a large pine tree. Ali yelps from the impact. The pain from the bark sending waves of pleasurable pain through her body.
He kisses her with a desperation she's never felt.
And she's high on the sensation.
She pulls back the waistband of his pants, opening his belt to reach her hand in and grab him. Her strokes are firm and frenzied. He grabs a handful of her hair, and pulls her head aside to kiss and gently bite her neck.
She struggles to keep quiet.
Feeling his release building, she moves her hand to grab his shoulders as he lifts her up.
She wraps her legs around his waist, grinding against him with her overly excited center. One hand on the tree at her shoulder for support, he reaches his other hand up her shirt. He caresses and squeezes her breasts before pulling her bra aside, lightly pinching one of her nipples. She moans quietly, hands tangled in his hair.
The sounds she makes, the way he's making her feel, spurs him on. He sets her down and turns her to face the tree. She grinds herself into him as he reaches around to undo her belt. He has to have her. Now.
"Um. Guys?"
They freeze.
They're teenagers. Unable to keep their hands off each other.
Caught. Again.
Daryl steps back. He zips his pants and buckles his belt before turning around.
Glenn and a quietly laughing Heath stand behind them.
"I uh… we- we found one I think." Glenn extends the head, holding it by the hair.
"Great." Daryl says, his tone dripping with irritation.
He stalks off, leaving Ali adjusting her tank top. She leans against the tree, smiling from embarrassment, feeling like she could burst into flames.
"C'mon." Glenn says, sympathetically, and they start walking, Heath behind them.
"You guys, uh…" He trails off.
"Yeah." She answers the question he didn't ask.
"Good." He smiles at her. "I mean good that you're together, not good that we just ruined your um, moment. Back there." He stumbles over his words, trying to clarify.
Ali smiles sheepishly and nods.
It feels good to have friends.
They walk back in silence. All three laughing periodically.
When they reach the road, Glenn gives Rick his contender and Ali walks over to Daryl. He sits on the hood of the truck, smoking. She doesn't say anything, just takes her place beside him.
He passes his cigarette to her, and she looks up at him.
His half smile tells her everything she needs to know.
"We roll out at midnight." Rick addresses the group. "We attack just before dawn. The guards will be tired, everyone else will be sleeping. We don't like what we see, we head back and make a new plan. We'll keep Jesus in the shadows."
Rick looks at the faces before him. Tired. Scared. Determined. A range of emotions stare back at him.
"This is how we eat." He reminds them.
Everyone disperses.
"I'm sorry." Ali says quietly. "I um…" She breathes out a laugh.
"It ain't your fault." He says, looking down at his cigarette.
He takes one last draw and flicks it away before climbing back into the truck.
She gets in beside him, and they leave to begin their preparation.
Daryl gives Ali a gentle shake.
They lay in the dark. Neither of them has spoken for a while, and Daryl assumes she's asleep. Her head rests on his shoulder and, unable to sleep, she instead tries to calm her anxiety by listening to his heart.
"I'm awake." She whispers.
He unwraps his arm and sits up on the side of the bed.
She looks at his scars in the darkness, brows pulled together. Her back hurts looking at them.
She's been beaten senseless by a tyrant before.
He looks at her from over his shoulder. She leans back against the headboard, chewing her nails in contemplation.
The bed sheet is gently draped up over her breasts, and the rest of her skin glows silvery in the filtered moonlight. Her hair is loose and disheveled, her eyes are dark, and expression grim.
He pulls his pants on, and stands to buckle his belt.
Just looking at him makes her emotional. She's never loved like this before.
Sighing, she pulls herself from the bed to dress, and he can't take his eyes off of her.
"I'm gonna be right there with you." He says quietly.
"I know." She pulls a thin, black long sleeve shirt over her head.
"This will be over. Tonight."
She pulls her pants up and looks to him, expression deadly serious.
"It won't. Nothing is this simple."
He sits quietly. Watching the way she pulls her hair into a thick bun on her head, the curtain of hair no longer hiding her pained expression.
She opens up the floorboard where her pistols hide, handing him one, and hiding the other in her waistband.
She grabs her small pack and moves to the door. Daryl blocks her exit, and she doesn't try to move around him. His hand circles her bicep and she closes her eyes.
"I hope you're wrong." He rasps.
He opens the door, and they leave the solace of the bedroom behind.
He believes this will be their last fight against the Saviors.
She believes this will be the first of many.
But they both know they will fight to the death for the other.