Chapter 36

"You're supposed to be gone!" Sherry shouted at Daryl who had just shut the door behind him. He was out of the dirty sweatsuit and wore normal clothes with a billed hat pulled low over his eyes.

"I ain't leavin' without her," he said gruffly. He held out a hand toward Eve. In his other hand he carried a lead pipe.

"You'll get caught," Sherry said furiously. "You could have gotten out by yourself. But with her it will be harder."

Daryl ignored her and reached for Eve.

"Wait," Eve said. "What the hell is going on?" She was looking back and forth between Sherry and Daryl, clearly missing out on something.

"It doesn't matter," Daryl said. "Let's go." He grabbed Eve roughly by the hand and tugged her out the door.

"Wait!" Eve said, again. She pulled away from Daryl and turned to Sherry. "Come with us. We can make it out together."

Sherry looked into Eve's eyes for a lingering second. "No," she said, finally. "I chose this, you didn't. Go." She turned to Daryl and nodded. He grabbed Eve's arm again and succeeded in tugging her out the door.

Breathlessly Eve followed him down the stairway and through the halls. Her mind was reeling. Where were they going? How did he get out?

Daryl led her a way she'd never gone before. He paused just outside a door and listened, then yanking her arm, they darted through another hallway, down another staircase where they nearly bumped into someone.

Looking up Eve saw that the person they'd run into was Marcus. The redhead looked from Eve in her nighty to Daryl in his stolen clothes and back again. Both Eve and Daryl stood motionless, tensely trying to decide what to do. The way Daryl re-gripped the pipe, Eve knew he was prepared to kill whoever stood in their way.

Before he could act, however, Marcus turned his back on them and walked away. He didn't even look back. It was as if he hadn't seen them at all.

Breathing a sigh of tense relief, Daryl pulled her on, continuing on their journey to freedom.

They burst through another door and into the bright sunlight. Eve squinted as her eyes adjusted to the daylight she'd seen so little of in the past weeks.

"Here," Daryl said. He handed her the button up shirt he'd been wearing. Gratefully she pulled the shirt on over her skimpy nightgown. They'd be less conspicuous if she wasn't half naked after all.

Daryl led her toward the gate where a dozen motorcycles were parked. He pulled her down next to one and she hid while he tinkered with the ignition. Suddenly the door they came out of opened and large man came out. He was distractedly humming and eating a sandwich but he stopped when he saw Eve and Daryl.

Daryl stood up slowly, thrusting Eve behind him protectively.

"Hey man," the guy said, raising his hands. "Easy. Look you can go right out that gate and I won't say anything to anyone. I'm just trying to get by out here. Same as you."

Eve stood paralyzed as Daryl raised the metal pipe and brought it down on the guy's head in such a fury that it was frightening. Again and again, he beat the life out of the guy, his blood splattering Daryl's face and clothes.

"Daryl!" a voice said. Eve looked up fearfully but was immediately relieved as she recognized the newcomer as the guy from the Hilltop: Jesus. What the hell was he doing here?

Daryl looked back at Eve, then to Jesus, then back down to the man he'd just pulverized. "It ain't about getting by," he said to the corpse as he bent down and retrieved a gun from the dead guy's belt. "It's about getting it all." He stuffed the gun in the waist of his jeans, before turning back toward Eve. He called over his shoulder to Jesus. "Come on, I got the keys."

He mounted the bike and beckoned Eve up behind him. She scrambled on and wrapped her arms so tightly around Daryl that she thought she might break him. Jesus settled behind her and the motorcycle roared to life. Daryl didn't waste any time revving the engine and taking off.

Eve gripped Daryl tightly as they rode. She was tensely waiting for disaster. To be shot and killed from behind. To hear a truck following behind them. To be beaten and dragged back to await Negan's wrath.

But nothing happened. No one followed them. They rode off, away from the sanctuary and away from Negan.

"Head toward the Hilltop," Jesus called from behind her. "Maggie and Sasha are there. It'll be safe."

It took Eve a moment for that to sink in. "Maggie?" she turned on the bike to look at Jesus. "Maggie's alive?"

Jesus looked at her solemnly before nodding. "She's alive. And the baby's fine."

Eve was so relieved by that news, by the fact that she was free, and by the fact that Daryl was alive and with her that she started crying. She sobbed into Daryl's back the rest of the ride.

When the familiar gates of the hilltop came into view, Daryl stopped the bike in front while Jesus called up to the guards to open the gates. Once they were inside, Daryl slowed the bike and came to a stop. Jesus leaped off first and turned to meet a blustering Gregory. But Eve only had eyes for the two women coming down from the lookout post.

Maggie looked good. Healthy and strong, and most importantly, alive. Eve stumbled off the bike and into her fierce embrace. Sasha was next and her hug was even fiercer.

"You got out?" Sasha asked, turning from Eve to look at Daryl who was being practically strangled by Maggie's hug.

"We got out," he answered her.

Sasha's eyes swept Eve's clothing, or lack thereof, and her face hardened. "Are you okay? What did he do to you?" she asked her seriously. Eve gulped, remembering the night before and how she'd… no. She was done thinking about that. She was gone.

She barely managed to nod before Sasha and Maggie began fretting over her, asking if she needed the doctor. "I'm fine," she insisted. "I'm fine."

"Come on," Jesus said to Eve and Daryl. "Let's get you two cleaned up."

Eve and Daryl followed Jesus to a trailer and climbed inside. It was sparsely furnished with just a twin bed and a small sofa.

"This is my house," Jesus said. "Daryl, there are some clothes in the corner. Help yourself to whatever. Eve, I doubt my stuff will fit you. I'll go see if I can find something more suitable."

Bowing slightly with his hands behind his back, Jesus left the trailer.

Eve turned to Daryl but he had headed straight to the bathroom. There was a shower in there, but no running water. Instead there was a bucket of water sitting on the floor. Daryl began stripping off the clothes he was wearing as if they were tainted by some kind of virus. He flung them on the floor in such a fury that Eve jumped. He practically dumped the bucket of water on his head while standing in the shower before taking the loan bar of soap and lathering up vigorously. He scrubbed away the blood, the sweat, the grime...everything he'd been forced to endure at the sanctuary. He rinsed off and began dressing in the first pieces of clothing he could grab from a neatly stacked pile on the floor. He didn't even bother to fully dry off so that soon the blue button up shirt was saturated with water.

Once he was dressed he grabbed the toothbrush off the sink, and heedless to the fact that the toothbrush was most definitely Jesus's, he began brushing his teeth with it.

Eve watched him warily. He was pretty beat up still, but now that he was clean and had his hair out of his face, he looked much better. She only wished he would look at her.

Jesus came back carrying a pair of black leggings, a gray camisole, and a loose button up shirt. "This is the best I could come up with, for now," Jesus explained. He looked to Daryl who was still using his toothbrush and balked slightly, but he chose not to say anything. "I'll just...give you some privacy," he said before the leaving again.

Eve looked down at the clothes, then back up at Daryl. He spit in the sink and washed his mouth out with some leftover water from the bucket.

"Daryl-" Eve started. But he still wouldn't look at her. She took a deep breath. "Daryl...about Negan. About what happened-"
Daryl turned to her then. He reached out and took her face in his hands. "Hey," he said, cutting her off. "It don't matter."

Eve exhaled and looked down, fighting the lump in her throat.

"Hey," Daryl said again, firmer this time. "Look at me. It don't matter."

Eve met his eyes. She saw the anguish there. She saw the fury, the anger, the frustration. But none of it was directed at her. All she saw in his eyes was love.

The trailer door burst open again and Jesus poked his head it. "Hey guys," he said. "You're gonna want to see this."

Eve and Daryl separated and followed Jesus outside. They came around the corner and what they saw had them both speechless.

Standing at the gate were Rick, Michonne, Tara, Rosita, and Carl.

They both started forward quickly, Daryl quickly overtaking Eve. He paused a few yards from Rick and nodded at him. Rick's eyes swam with tears and he held his arms open. Daryl responded immediately, burying his head in Rick's neck and they hugged tightly, a world of feeling and emotion passing between them.

With a final firm pat on Daryl's back, Rick stepped back and turned to Eve. He gathered her into his arms and held her close. Eve relaxed into his embrace. Despite it all, Rick was still the leader. Rick still meant hope.

After a beat, Rick stepped back and looked down at her clothing. His face darkened. She was still wearing the skimpy nightgown with Daryl's stolen shirt hanging on her like a sad robe. Her bare legs were skinned and dirty, covered in fresh mosquito bites. She had to look a complete mess. Rick shook his head and gathered her into another hug, firmer this time.

Then Michonne was there. And Rosita, and Tara. They were laughing, they were crying. It was the reunion that Eve had dreamed of ever since she'd been taken.

"Are we fighting?" Eve asked Michonne.

Michonne's face shone with exuberance. "We're fighting."

A/N: Okay. So. I've been writing this chapter for a long time now, going back and forth and back and forth on if Eve would submit to Negan. And while I desperately didn't want her to...while I wanted so bad for her to tough it out, to stay aloof and loyal and strong and not to give in to Negan's antics...I just didn't think it was realistic. Eve is a prisoner. She is being mentally tortured and manipulated and even though she realizes what he's doing, she can't help herself. It's a phenomenon that many captive people admit to...feeling a strange loyalty and compassion for their captor. Eve is not immune to this. Negan is purposefully isolating her to make her vulnerable. He's pitting the wives against her, ignoring her, limiting her freedom. Ultimately making her crazy and skewing her judgment. I'm trying to portray the fact that while Negan is not actively holding her down, he is still raping her. It's an important thing to determine. Sexual coercion is rape. She feels guilty, but it's not her fault. And I think Daryl, who has suffered not only physical abuse, but emotional and mental abuse his entire life, would understand that. At this point he doesn't know how the rape went down, but as he says, it doesn't matter.

On the upside though...I just couldn't resist having Eve ride off on that motorcycle sandwiched between Daryl and Jesus. Sigh…. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

Also, shout out to Akoslows for Marcus! I hope you like!