Day 399

They fanned out around the town, sneaking through the woods like so many poisonous snakes. Daryl could feel his heart beating in his chest. He looked around at the members of his group that he could still see, knowing the bullets in their guns and the knives on their belts were dipped in the blood of a freshly killed roamer. That had not been part of the plan. Neegan had come up with that idea right before they left. There was not going to be a single shot fired today that wasn't fatal.

Rick knew they were coming. He was ready for the attack, but Daryl doubted he was really ready for what was about to hit this town. Some people climbed up into the taller trees around Alexandria. Others climbed the steel walls, hot from the heat of the afternoon sun. They hid inside the town, positioning themselves behind houses and bushes. Daryl was with them, waiting for the signal to attack that he knew was coming soon. He crouched behind a bush in someone's front yard, watching a woman sweeeping stray leaves off her sidewalk. A boy about Carl's age went around her, walking his dog down the block.

Daryl knew some of these people were not exactly battle hardened. But he was really having second thoughts about this now. There was no way these people were going to be able to stand up against what was coming. A lot of them were going to die today. Daryl heard the car horn, honking at the front gate. That was Neegan. He said he wanted to give Rick a chance to surrender. But he really just wanted to hear himself talk. The attack on the compound and Carl's subsequent escape had wounded his ego. He was going to give the signal to attack no matter what Rick said.

At the sound of the horn, the woman sweeping her sidewalk looked up. She dropped her broom and hurried inside her house. Daryl tightened the scrap of blue bandana that was tied around his arm. Tara had made a show in front of Neegan, tearing up her 'lucky' bandana and giving a scrap to Mike and Daryl. It was really a secret sign. So the Alexandrians knew not to shoot at the people wearing them. Most of them knew what Tara and Daryl looked like. He was hard to miss with the side of his face looking like cooked hamburger. And since Tara was the only woman fighter they had, she was easy to spot. But Mike could easily be mistaken for several other young black men they had with them. The bandanas were mostly for him.

The sound of Neegan's loud voice could be heard even from where Daryl was hiding. But he couldn't hear what Rick was saying back to the man. Whatever conversation was being had, it went on for a few more minutes. Then a single gunshot rang out. The signal to attack. Gunshots started ringing out in every direction, the people hiding in the trees were firing into the town. Daryl moved from his hiding spot, being careful to stay out of the mine of fire. The last thing he wanted was to be caught in the crossfire and hit with an infected bullet.

Another member of his group was hiding in the bushes next door. Daryl darted in, crouching next to him. He was a younger man, a member of Hilltop that had left with them when they moved to the factory. One of Neegan's new inner circle, or as Tara liked to call them, Neegan's yes men. She made this little joke since she thought none of them were good for anything except saying yes to whatever crazy idea Neegan had.

"Hey, we are supposed to hold position until they start shooting back," the man told Daryl. Daryl nodded. Then he brought his hunting knife up under the man's chin, cutting his throat open in one quick motion. The man flopped on the ground, a gurgle of blood bubbling out of his mouth. Daryl stabbed him through the ear, killing the brain. He wiped the blood off his hands onto his pants. Then he moved on to where he had seen the next person hide.

Tara ran between two houses, the chaos of the battle was in full swing now. People were everywhere, shooting and fighting. Another person darted out in front of her, heading the other way, and they almost collided. The person was wearing Seth's purple hooded jacket, but it wasn't Seth. He was black, and this person was white and had a scarf covering their face. They held their guns up, pointing them at each other. No member of the saviors would point a gun at Tara. She held up the arm with the blue hanky tied onto it. The person pulled the scarf down, revealing that it was the woman Daryl knew. The one that Beth had let go from the holding cells in the basement of the factory.

"Carol?," Tara asked. The woman nodded. Tara nodded back and then they both moved around each other and took off in oppposite directions. Tara came around, seeing another man kicking in the door to one of the houses. There was a woman screaming inside. Tara grabbed the top of the porch railing and swung herself onto the edge of the porch. She hopped the railing and took off inside after the man. She found him in the kitchen, pointing his gun at a blonde woman and her son. He heard her footsteps behind him and turned quickly.

"Oh hey Tara," the man said, the relief on his face obvious. She lifted her gun and shot him in the face. The back of his head exploded all of the woman and her son, splashing them with blood and bits of his brain. As his body fell, Tara locked eyes with the woman.

"Get upstairs and hide," Tara told her, "don't come down until the shooting stops." The woman nodded. Her hands were shaking. Still she managed to scoop up the gun the man had been pointing at her before she ran for the steps, herding her small son up the stairs in front of her.

Tara heard the sound of someone else entering the house. She lifted her gun back up, stepping sideways quietly towards the noise. When she saw it was only Mike, she lowered her gun and rushed into his arms. He held her close, the hilt of one of the knives on his belt digging into her hip.

The fight was not going as badly as Daryl thought it might. But the Alexandrians were not holding their own as well as Rick had insisted they would. Something needed to be done. And fast. Daryl headed down the street, looking for Neegan. He spotted the man, chasing Greg from Hilltop through someone's flower garden. Daryl had seen a few people running around that looked familiar from Hilltop, but now that he saw Greg he knew what was going on. People from Hilltop must have come to help with the fight.

Neegan wanted to beat Greg with his bare hands, but he was tired of chasing the man around. He pulled out his gun and shot him in the calf. Daryl sucked in his breath. Greg was a regular coward. Daryl was surprised he was even here. If he saw Neegan was about to kill him, he might start spilling information. And Daryl didn't know how much information Greg had. He might know everything. Daryl already had an arrow loaded in his bow. When Greg fell, grabbing at his leg and screaming, Daryl did not wait. He shot him right through the head. Neegan looked to see where the arrow was coming from and gave Daryl a smile.

"Was going to have me some fun with this fucker," Neegan declared, looking like he was a little disapointed that Greg had met his end so quickly. Daryl's bow was empty. But he still had a loaded handgun on his hip. He could kill Neegan and end this now. And he wanted to. But seeing their leader dead might insight the rest of the group to really go crazy on the people of this town. Daryl did not want that to happen. A full on slaughter of Rick and his people was most definitely not part of the plan. Daryl had to get his people out of here. And only Neegan could do that.

"Think we taught them a lesson," Daryl said, "they got the message, we should leave."

"Fuck that," Neegan said, "I ain't killed that kid yet." Daryl assumed Neegan meant Carl. Why he was on a personal mission to kill the boy was another issue. Maybe he wanted to teach Rick a lesson, or maybe he was mad the boy escaped and made him look stupid. Or maybe he was just that fucking insane. Daryl didn't really care at the moment, he just wanted them to leave.

"Kill everyone and we won't have anyone to take up fuckin' collection from," Daryl tried to remind the man, "you planning to take up farming?"

"Fuck," Neegan swore. Daryl had a fucking point. He could always kill that sneaky little fucker later. Maybe the next time they came for collection. Neegan rubbed at his chin. Then he screamed in pain, turning from the impact of a bullet wound to his shoulder. Daryl looked around. He spotted Rick leaning out from the side of a nearby house. Pulling out his gun, Daryl went after him. He could hear Neegan's voice booming out over the gunfire.

"Pack it the fuck in! Time to go!"

Daryl chased Rick around the back of the house. They pointed their guns at each other, the trust between them tentative at best.

"You were supposed to kill him," Rick told him, his tone accusatory.

"You were supposed to be winning this fight," Daryl spit back. Rick nodded.

"Time for a new plan."