A/N: Here is the next chapter! I know it has been a while, but I think we can all agree 2020 was a rough one. I am an essential worker so I have been working my butt off during this pandemic, and honestly when I haven't been working, I've been too depressed from all the bullshit to want to write. I also just had Covid and the entire time I was quarantined, I wanted to write, but didn't have the energy. Now that I'm recovered, it is the perfect time to get this chapter posted!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything other than Thea Ellis and her storyline. All rights to The Walking Dead remain with Robert Kirkman and Co.
For a brief moment, Thea and Tara were locked in a staring contest, each waiting for the other to relent. Thea had heard enough to know that Tara was hiding something, and Tara clearly had something to protect…they were both stubborn enough to stare at each other all night.
Finally, Thea repeated herself firmly. "Tara, what are you hiding?" she kept her voice calm. "What is Oceanside?"
Judith was content to play with the toy she had in front of her as Tara appeared to weigh her options. Thea couldn't blame her, she had sounded very conflicted as she'd spoken to Judith, so clearly hiding this information wasn't something she did lightly, but they needed all the help they could get.
"It's a community I found…or they found me, I guess." Tara spoke softly, nervously.
Thea tried to keep the same energy, tried not to seem as frustrated as she felt. "Where?"
Tara swallowed. "There's this little island. Heath and I got separated and I washed up on their shore. They took me in."
The doctor nodded and got to the point. "And they have guns?"
"Guns…and a lot of people."
She felt a bit of relief. This was what they needed. "Why didn't you say something before?"
Tara stood from where she'd been sitting with Judith and shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest. "Because I promised if they let me go, I wouldn't say anything. That I wouldn't tell anyone about them."
Thea frowned. "Hold on, what do you mean by 'let you go'? They kidnapped you?"
First, she had said they'd taken her in, now she was saying she had to promise secrecy to be released. What was Tara leaving out?
It only took a few seconds before it was revealed.
"It was all women and children. Negan killed all of their men, so they fled to the island. They don't want to fight, and they didn't want Negan finding out where they went. I promised I wouldn't tell anyone, that I wouldn't go back. I told them they would be safe, but that was before I knew what had happened to Glenn and Abraham…and Denise. Now we need those guns…and I don't know what to do."
Thea sighed softly, her eyes wandering down to Judith as she thought it over. Tara had made a promise, and as much as Thea would like to help her keep that promise, she knew that if they wanted to survive, they needed to have as many resources as they could at their disposal.
"Tara, I'm sorry," she said quietly. "You have to tell Rick and the others."
With a shuddering breath, the other woman nodded. "I know."
After getting Tara to agree to tell Rick in the morning, Thea decided she'd had enough excitement for one day and headed towards her house to get some much-needed rest. The streets were empty and a hush had fallen over the community, perhaps due to the stress of having Saviors show up and turn everything upside down again.
She realized that she hadn't eaten anything tonight, but found she wasn't that hungry anyways. With Daryl hiding out at the Kingdom and Simon doing his best to make her uncomfortable in the short time they'd been alone together, Thea's appetite was definitely on the back burner for the time being. She needed sleep.
Stopping in her room, she changed into a pair of sweat pants and a loose t-shirt—it was one of the only shirts she'd found in Daryl's room that he hadn't managed to rip the sleeves off of yet—before slipping down the hall and into Daryl's room. She still didn't feel comfortable in her own room after Negan had left it alone when they'd first visited; and with Simon being in there it definitely wasn't a place she wanted to sleep. Sure, Negan's right-hand-man had gone into all the rooms, but he hadn't paid as special attention to them as he had hers.
Thea sighed heavily and got comfortable beneath the blanket from Daryl's bed, still placed on top of a sheet on the floor. His pillows had started smelling less like him and more like her, but there was still enough of him lingering behind that she felt safe here. She turned onto her side, back to the door, and tried her best to fall asleep.
She hadn't been laying there very long when she heard the door to the room open. Frowning, she rolled onto her back and was surprised to see Daryl standing in the doorway. She gasped, sitting upright and blinking at him like maybe he was some kind of mirage.
"Daryl? What are you doing here?" She asked, once she had decided he was not a hallucination.
He shrugged. "I'm not hiding. If Negan wants me, he can come get me." He said simply.
As much as she hated that idea, it was such a relief to be back in the same room as him. She had grown so attached to him without realizing it.
Sighing softly, she pushed the blanket off and stood, moving across the room to him. She was usually so cautious and careful with how she approached him intimately, but the day had been rough and she was happy to see him. Without her usual hesitation, she fisted her hands in the front of his shirt and stretched onto her toes to press her lips against his firmly.
The last time they'd kissed, in his room at Hilltop, he'd put his hand on her shoulder awkwardly like he had wanted to do something else; this time he didn't hold back. It wasn't a lot—she suspected Daryl Dixon didn't have a lot of experience in the intimacy department—but it was a step in the right direction. His right hand was at her waist as his other hand clumsily brushed her hair back before he cupped her face, the heel resting against her cheek as his calloused fingers curled around the base of her neck.
It felt good to have him respond in a way other than standing there awkwardly, it felt like he was starting to relax into whatever this was between them. Thea knew it would take a long time before either of them was comfortable with anything beyond just kissing, but it was nice to know that perhaps that was a possibility down the line.
Embarrassed that that thought had crossed her mind, Thea broke the kiss and instead buried her face in his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him tightly.
Daryl's arms wound around her as well, and they stood in the doorway in a tight embrace for a good minute before he spoke.
"You were sleeping in here?" He wondered, his voice low in her ear as if he didn't want to startle her.
She realized she would probably have to go back to her room now and the idea almost made her shudder in his arms. Instead, she sighed and pulled back from him, glancing back at the makeshift bed on the floor.
"Um…yeah," she replied. "After Negan came the first time, he took everyone's beds but mine. He even left a note so I would know that he'd done it for me or something. I gave the bed to Mrs. Cavanaugh down the block, but I guess I still didn't feel comfortable in there. And…and I didn't know when you were gonna be back. I missed you."
She said the last sentence quietly, almost like admitting it meant more than three words should.
Daryl nodded, appearing thoughtful as he chewed on his bottom lip. "Okay, we can switch. I'll take your room."
She'd be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed to hear that. Some part of her had imagined him staying in this room with her; the idea now sounded silly like she had planned them moving in together before they'd even gone very far into their relationship. But his presence soothed her immensely, and she didn't want that to go away just yet.
"Okay," she spoke softly, nervously. "But maybe tonight…you could stay here?"
It only took him a second to respond with a nod, and she felt relieved he didn't want to escape from her clinginess. "I'll be right back."
As he stepped out of the room, Thea turned back to the makeshift bed and kneeled to rearrange the pillows. She had been sleeping with one pillow in the center of the sheet, the second pillow up against the wall as she usually only needed one. She put the two pillows side-by-side and paused. Would Daryl have a side preference? Would he want to be against the wall so he couldn't be snuck up on? Or would he prefer the side closest to the door?
Hearing the sink running in the bathroom down the hall, she made a split-second decision and crawled under the blanket in the spot next to the wall, resting back against the pillow and staring up at the ceiling as she listened to his footsteps coming down the hall.
When he came back in the room, he didn't glance her way. Instead, he sat on the chair by the desk and started unlacing his boots, pulling them off and placing them against the wall neatly. He was still wearing the button-up shirt and his jeans, but didn't seem to mind as he turned and crawled in next to her, pulling the blanket over himself so they were both laying under its warmth.
The room was silent, save for their breathing, and Thea wondered what he was thinking about. She couldn't help but picture Negan running down the gates at any moment and finding his escaped prisoner and raining hell down upon them all.
She took a deep breath and then turned her head slightly to look over at the archer. "As much as I hate you being in danger, I'm really glad you're here." She said softly. "It's good to have you home."
Daryl didn't turn the look at her, she suspected because he was already feeling awkward about their current sleeping arrangement. "It's good to be home." His voice was low, throat gravelly. "No place I'd rather be."
Thea found herself smiling softy at his profile. She was so happy to see him, so happy to have him under the same roof, and so happy to be lying next to him. If Negan came tomorrow, they'd deal with it; they'd deal with whatever came their way.
Thea stirred in her sleep the next morning, warm enough under the covers that she didn't want to get up. She lay there awake for several moments before she remembered that Daryl had come home last night, that he had laid down beside her and gone to sleep. She found herself frozen as she wondered if he had stayed all night or if he'd left after she was asleep like he had last time they were in this position.
Her answer came when she felt the blanket shift behind her. She was laying on her side, facing the wall, and she waited until she heard the creak of the desk chair to turn around.
Daryl was putting his boots back on as she sat up and ran a hand through her hair. "Morning." She said groggily.
He didn't look up from where he was doing up the laces when he replied. "Morning."
She opened her mouth to say something more when there was a knock at the door. Thea eyed Daryl for a moment before calling out for the person to enter.
Rick's head popped in and his eyes landed on Thea before jumping to the man sitting in the desk chair, eyebrows raising in shock. "Daryl? What are you doing here?" he asked, looking between the two and the fact that they both appeared to have just woken up.
Daryl shrugged, standing as he finished with his second boot. "I ain't hidin'," he repeated what he'd said to Thea last night. "We need to take Negan down, only way to do that is to do it together."
It was very insightful, which didn't surprise Thea at all, and Rick nodded slowly. "It's good to have you back home."
He sent Thea a pointed look and the doctor rolled her eyes. "Did you need something?" She wondered, trying to divert his attentions elsewhere.
The sheriff cleared his throat and nodded. "Tara came to me this morning with some information on where we can find some weapons, possibly even allies for the fight. Some community called 'Oceanside'."
"You think they'll actually help us?" She asked, not bothering to tell him she already knew all about the women at Oceanside.
He shrugged. "We need their guns, whether they come with them or not."
Frowning, Thea exchanged a glance with Daryl. "What are you planning on doing?" She wondered with a furrowed brow.
Rick sighed and shifted to lean against the doorframe. "I don't want to fight them; if we can get them to hand over the guns freely, we will, but if not…we'll do what we have to."
It was exactly what Tara had been afraid of last night when Thea had caught her, and Thea could feel herself apprehensive of the idea that Rick would go in looking for a fight. The women of Oceanside did what they needed to do to survive, but so did they…even if it meant swooping in and stealing the guns they needed.
"Do you want to come?"
She really didn't want any part of it, and there were other things she had to worry about, so she shook her head. "No," she sighed. "I think I should stay here. If Negan sends more Saviors looking for Daryl, it will be suspicious if I'm not here. So, I guess I'll hold down the fort."
Rick seemed to agree with her reasoning. "That's probably a good idea." He turned to Daryl. "You in?"
Daryl didn't hesitate to respond. "Always."
After seeing the group headed to Oceanside off at the gates, Thea slowly made her way towards the clinic. There wasn't much to do, but she thought it would be nice to get back into some sort of normalcy for the time being. She hadn't wanted to separate from Daryl again, but the idea of attacking Oceanside if they didn't comply didn't sit well with her; she couldn't stop it, so she wouldn't be a part of it.
She vaguely recalled another time she had chosen not to take part in a plan…she had ended up with a broken nose and two people had died. Hopefully, things would go better for everyone this time around.
With nobody to take care of at the clinic, she found herself sitting at the kitchen island, spacing out as she pictured what would happen if Negan found out that Daryl was back at Alexandria after all and had evaded being recaptured by Simon and the other Saviors who had come looking for him. Would he immediately bash Daryl's head in or would he slowly torture him to death? And then what would he do to the people of Alexandria?
And then once he was done, what would he do with her? He probably wouldn't kill her, not with how obsessed he was with her and the idea that they were friends…or that they could be more. Would she be locked away at the Sanctuary and forced to be one of his wives? The idea made her shudder.
The thoughts racing through her mind were far more uncomfortable for her to bear, and she wanted nothing more than a distraction to keep her imagination from running wilder and wilder. She prayed the door would open at that moment and someone would come in with a headache, or just to have some form of conversation that didn't relate to their demise. But the door remained shut, and Thea sighed heavily before standing and retrieving a glass from the cupboard.
After draining half a glass of water, she glanced around the clinic in hopes of spotting some work that may need to be done; perhaps some rearranging, organizing, or even some cleaning. Unfortunately, things seemed to be in tip-top shape even after the Saviors' needless ransacking.
Unable to handle being alone with her thoughts for any longer, she curled up on one of the many beds they used for patients and drifted off into a nap.
When Thea woke, she wasn't sure how much time had passed. She could still see daylight outside the windows, so she hadn't been asleep long. Seeing as she had been undisturbed in her slumber, she figured it was safe to assume nobody would be needing her today.
She rose, glanced around the clinic one last time, and then locked up for the rest of the day.
As she stepped into the street, the front gates began to open. She realized there was the revving of a motorcycle engine on the other side, and she veered in that direction. Had Daryl and the group made it back already? She wasn't sure they could even reach the island Oceanside was on and make it back that quickly.
When the gates opened, however, she was met with the sight of someone she wished she'd never see again.
Rosita was perched on the back of the motorcycle, hands loosely gripping the sides of the jacket worn by the driver…Dwight.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Thea demanded as the motorcycle came to a stop and Rosita quickly slipped off.
This was the man who had tortured Daryl with dog food and loud music. He had killed Denise with an arrow that was meant for Daryl. He had left Thea and the archer in the woods and returned to Negan despite the opportunity he had been given to escape the Saviors.
To see Rosita casually riding into Alexandria with him made her blood boil.
The woman in question stretched a hand out to her as if to calm her down. "Thea, it's fine. He helped me." She said, though she still seemed reluctant to admit it.
The doctor shook her head. "He helped you? This is the man who tortured Daryl, who killed Denise. He's a Savior."
Dwight dismounted the bike and gave Thea a sheepish look. "I'm done with the Saviors. I want Negan dead, too."
"Bullshit!" Thea exclaimed. It was a trick, it had to be. "Daryl and I gave you and Sherry the chance back in the forest, and you went crawling back to Negan anyways." She stepped forward, glaring at him hard. "You only want out now because you know when shit hits the fan, you're going down, too."
Dwight shrugged. "Maybe. But Sherry is dead now, I don't have anything left holding me to the Saviors."
She didn't feel bad for him, she didn't trust him enough to feel any emotion towards him but disgust. Turning to Rosita, she eyed the woman for a second trying to decide what made her think this was a good idea.
"Thea? Everything okay?" Tobin's voice came from behind her. He was eyeing the three of them wearily as he approached.
She threw another glance at Rosita, silently telling her they weren't done with their conversation, before nodding to Tobin. "Put him in the cell until the others get back."
Tobin gave her a simple nod before taking Dwight by the arm and leading him away.
Sighing, exhausted by the adrenaline that had rushed through her veins the moment she'd seen Dwight, she faced Rosita again with a tired, questioning look.
The other woman took a deep breath before she began to explain. "Sasha and I went to the Sanctuary to rescue Eugene. He was right in front of us, we could have brought him home, but he said no. He with them now."
"Jesus." Thea laughed incredulously.
"Sasha ran inside, she's going to try to take down Negan on her own. I tried to stop her…" she shook her head. "Dwight was there, he saw me. He could have taken me straight to Negan, but instead he got me out of there. He said he's done, and I believe him."
Thea ran a hand through her hair, glancing in the direction the two men had gone in. "I don't know if it's true, or if he's just playing us," she told her friend. "But we can't take any chances. When Rick comes back…we'll let him decide."
"They're back." Tobin announced as he approached where Thea was pacing in front of the house Dwight was locked in. "Rosita is going to bring them over. Do you want me to stay?"
She smiled appreciatively. Tobin was a good guy and had always been helpful, even when they were new to Alexandria and complete strangers. "No, you can go on home. Thank you."
With a wave goodbye, he headed in the opposite direction of the gate. Thea crossed her arms over her chest tightly, trying to fight off her shivers. She wasn't even cold, but the anxiety of how Daryl would react when he saw Dwight again was hitting her. She didn't want him getting upset, but it was inevitable.
She could hear distant voices approaching and her shoulders tensed. When they were in earshot, she heard Rick complaining.
"Why can't you just tell us what's going on, Rosita?" he was asking, his voice tired.
Thea wasn't sure if that meant the mission had gone well or if it had been a failure.
The group approaching was in view now. Rosita led the way followed by Rick, Daryl, Jesus, Michonne, and Tara. Daryl's eyes fixed onto Thea's when he spotted her, brow furrowing curiously as if he could get answers from her just from a glance.
"Just…trust me." Rosita replied, seeming just as anxious as Thea.
Taking a deep breath, Thea turned and led the way down the stairs to the basement where the cell had been built. She stepped inside, holding the door for Rosita, and moved to unlock the cell, opening it. As the others gathered inside, the cell's occupant stepped into the light from the window and everyone was frozen for a moment.
It was only for a moment.
While everyone's faces seemed confused by the sight of Dwight in Alexandria, one person had a completely different reaction. Daryl let out an angry growl shoving past Tara and Thea as he charged towards the Savior, who flinched back against the wall.
"Woah, woah!" Rick exclaimed as he helped Michonne and Jesus hold Daryl back.
Thea knew he would react this way, that he would want to kill Dwight on sight, but seeing him so upset only made her more anxious. She wished Dwight had never come to Alexandria, had never run into Rosita at the Sanctuary.
Rosita spoke up from the back of the group. "He says he wants to help us."
Daryl was panting, shifting from foot to foot as Rick held him back with a single hand on his chest.
The sheriff looked over his shoulder at Dwight. "That true? You want to help?" he asked, unbelieving.
"I do." Dwight answered simply.
Rick nodded, facing the blond man. "Okay." He pulled his gun from its holster and pointed it in the man's face, cocking it. "Get on your knees."
As Dwight complied, Thea wondered if this was as far as the potential allyship would go.
"Look at me." Rick commanded, waiting for him to do so before speaking again. "Why?"
Dwight repeated what he'd told Thea at the gates. "'Cause I want it stopped. I want Negan dead."
"So why don't you kill him?"
The Savior shook his head. "Can't just be me. They're all Negan."
Tara came forward, leaning down to eye level with Dwight and sneering in his face. "That girl you murdered…she had a name. Her name was Denise, and she was a doctor. And she helped people."
Thea's eyes dropped to her feet, the thought of what happened to Denise still not sitting right with her.
Dwight's reply was a mistake. "I wasn't aiming for her."
Daryl pulled his knife and lunged forward once again, grabbing Dwight by the collar and shoving him against the wall, knife poised at his face as he breathed heavily, angrily.
"Do it. Do it." Tara urged him, just as angry at those five words.
Thea's heart leapt in her throat and she wasn't sure why. She didn't care about Dwight; he had killed her friend and was one of Negan's men. She did care about Daryl, though, and she didn't want him to do this out of anger and then feel guilty later.
"You wanna end it this way…you go ahead. I'm sorry. I am. I know you want to." Dwight said softly.
Rick's eyes narrowed. "He could just be here to see if you were here."
Eyes widening, Thea felt panic spike within her. He was right…Dwight could just be a spy looking for Daryl. This wasn't good at all.
Michonne agreed. "We can't trust him."
Dwight began to plead his case. "He owned me, but not anymore. What I did, I was doing it for someone else. She just got away. So now I'm here." He looked at Daryl. "So are you, because of her."
He meant Sherry. Had Sherry been the one to let Daryl go?
Tara was growing antsy. "Do it!" She said again.
"There's another choice." Dwight countered.
Tara shook her head. "Daryl. Daryl, you knew her."
Thea wished Tara would stop trying to egg him on, let him make his own decision.
"Negan trusts me. We work together, we can stop him." Dwight said before pausing. "You knew me then, and you know me now. You know I'm not lying. I'm not."
"Do it! Do it!" Tara exclaimed once more.
Thea had enough. "Tara, stop!"
Daryl was breathing heavily, as if he'd just run a marathon, but he dropped the knife. His arm still held Dwight against the wall, and Rick moved to stand beside them, eyes trained on Daryl.
Before he could say anything, Rosita spoke up. "They have Sasha, if she's even alive."
"Why didn't you say something?" Jesus gasped. He turned to Dwight. "He could be our only chance to get her back."
Rosita's next words were ones Thea could agree with. "Because I don't trust him, but I trust Daryl."
She had been conducting a little test, it seemed. If Daryl had killed Dwight, that was the end of it; if Dwight was allowed to live, she knew it was a good deal.
"Negan's coming soon." Dwight warned Rick. "Tomorrow. Three trucks, probably. Twenty Saviors and him. I can slow them down, bring some trees down in the road, buy a little time for you guys to get ready. If you can take them out, that's where we start. You kill them, I'll radio back to the Sanctuary."
Rick frowned. "The Sanctuary?"
"Where Negan lives. That what they call it. I can radio back to them and say everything's okay. You drive the trucks back, and I can lead you right inside and, with the right plan, we can wipe out the rest. Check to see if your friend's still alive. Then, we get the workers on our side, build our numbers up, and go from outpost to outpost and end this."
Thea crossed her arms. "Sounds like you've really thought this through." She commented, wondering if he had been thinking this up for longer than the Alexandrians had been involved.
Rick nodded in agreement. "Keep talking."
After Dwight had laid out an entire plan and Rick had agreed, they let him go. Thea and Daryl stood near the gates and watched Rick send him off, the doctor weary of the entire plan. What if it was a trap? What if Dwight had made the entire thing up just to escape and make it back to Negan to report that Daryl was in Alexandria after all? It made her nervous just thinking of the many ways this could go wrong.
"We just started it—the whole thing." Rick said as he approached the two of them.
Daryl didn't hesitate. "If he's lying, I'm gonna kill him real slow. When this is done, I don't give a damn if he's sorry. I will kill that son of a bitch." He was staring after Dwight as he drove out of Alexandria, not even blinking until Rosita had closed both gates.
As Rick turned to walk away, he sighed. "If he's lyin', this is already over."
He was right, they had already lost if Dwight had fabricated the whole plot to help them take down Negan. The worry was eating away at her; not knowing was horrible.
Daryl turned and glanced back at Tara, who was sitting on the steps of the clinic, glaring hard at them all. They stared at each other for a moment before the archer turned and walked away. Thea only spared the angry woman a passing glance before she followed after him.
They slept in his room together again that night.
The next morning things began to escalate. With the looming threat of Negan and the Saviors coming, and not knowing if Dwight had followed through with his end of the plan by knocking trees into the road, everyone was on edge.
The group they had made a deal with, who lived at the dump, arrived to help in three large dump trucks, along with bicycles. Thea hadn't met them yet, so she took the time to look them over. They were all dressed in long black coats, their hair cut in unusual fashion, and a serious expression on their faces. It was only slightly weird to her.
The leader, a woman named Jadis, approached Rick and Michonne where they stood not far from Thea. "What you fight for." She said, glancing around the community.
"Not the place—the people, each other. You're a part of that now." Rick explained, sounding like a salesman.
Jadis eyed him. "We take. We don't bother—our way. Maybe another way."
Although Thea understood what she was saying, she was uncomfortable with the odd way she spoke. Perhaps it was easier to get to the point, but it also felt off-putting that she wasn't using full sentences.
"Yours?" Jadis asked Michonne, motioning to Rick.
Michonne and Rick shared a glance before the former nodding. "Yeah, we're together."
Jadis's next words were unexpected, and made Thea choke back a laugh. "I lay with him after. You care?"
If her words weren't funny enough, Rick's reaction took the cake. He shifted uncomfortably, eyes flickering between Michonne and Jadis, almost begging Michonne to save him.
"We should get back to work." Michonne swooped in, her posture seeming to challenge Jadis before she turned to walk away, Rick quickly following after her.
Thea cleared her throat and turned away as well, heading towards the gates. Rosita, Daryl, and Aaron were in a moving van just outside the gates, rigging it with explosives to catch the Saviors by surprise. She watched them set everything up for a moment before moving out of the way so Tara could park a car horizontally in front of the gates. They could use it for cover.
"Thea!" Tobin called out as he approached her. He was carrying two automatic rifles in his hands, which he held out to her. "One for you, one for Daryl."
She took the guns, one in each hand, and offered him a small smile. "Thanks, Tobin."
It would be a lie if she said she wasn't nervous. This was serious business. If they attacked the Saviors and lost, it would be the end of Alexandria. And if Dwight had been lying and the Saviors knew about the plan, they were even more screwed. Her mind was reeling with the different possible outcomes, and she had to take a deep breath to steady herself.
She ran her eyes over all the people that were on their side, the Alexandrians and Jadis's group, and hoped it would be enough. They were gathering around, weapons at the ready. Some were on the perches along the wall that they usually used as posts for lookouts, Rick and Jadis together on the one closest to the gate.
Maybe they could do this.
Movement in her peripheral vision alerted her to Daryl's presence. She turned and held one of the rifles out to him. "You ready?" she asked, although she was the one who wasn't sure.
He took the gun, eyeing her in the way he did most often, like he was reading every thought in her head. "Are you ready?" he questioned instead of answering her.
Thea glanced around once more at the people gathered at the ready. Rosita was standing by the trunk of the car that was in front of the gates, one of Jadis's people stood to Thea's right, and Tara stood with a group behind them. Thea and Daryl were by the driver's side of the car, waiting for the action to start.
"I have to be," she told Daryl. "Even if I can't stop picturing this blowing up in our faces."
Their eyes remained locked and Thea had the urge to kiss him, whether as a goodbye or for good luck, but she didn't want to make him uncomfortable in front of all the people that were around them. She wondered if he was having the same thoughts.
Before either of them could make any moves or say anything more, a turkey call came from outside the walls. It was one of Jadis's men alerting them that the Saviors were arriving.
It was time.
"Rosita," Rick called down from the perch. "Get into position, I'll signal you."
Rosita was the one with the detonator to the truck rigged with explosives, she would be the one to blow it.
"And the wall's gonna hold?" the sheriff asked.
Rosita nodded confidently. "It'll hold."
Trucks came into view, and then a voice rang out over a speaker. It was Eugene, he was standing on the back of one of the trucks.
"All points are covered. Every contingency is already met. I came armed with two barrels of truth. A test is upon you and I'm giving out the cheat sheet." The truck he was standing on came to a stop and he looked up at Rick, megaphone poised. "H-Hello. I come salved with the hope that it is my dropped knowledge that you heed. Options are zero to none. Compliance and fealty are your only escape. Bottom-lining it—you may thrive, or you may die. I sincerely wish for the former for everyone's sake. The jig is up and in full effect. Will you comply, Rick?"
Thea had forgotten how Eugene talked; she hadn't missed it. And more concerning was the fact that he seemed to be working for Negan.
"Where's Negan?" Rick called down, ignoring Eugene's question.
There was no hesitation in his response, though he didn't use the megaphone this time. "I'm Negan."
Thea's jaw dropped slightly in shock. He had betrayed them and now he was with Negan. How could he do such a thing when Negan had killed one of his closest friends brutally.
Rick appeared to be in thought for a moment before he looked down at Rosita and nodded. Rosita pushed the button on the detonator and Rick ducked down, but nothing happened. The two of them shared confused glances before Rick reached for the gun in the back of his pants.
It happened in a split second. Jadis trained her gun on Rick as the rest of her group quickly turned their weapons on the Alexandrians.
"Shit." Thea whispered to herself, instinctively stepping closer to Daryl.
One of Jadis's men opened the gates as Negan got out of one of the trucks, followed by Dwight. A few of the Saviors opened up the truck with the explosives and began retrieving them.
"You ever hear the one about the stupid little prick named Rick who thought he knew shit, but didn't know shit and got everyone that he gave a shit about killed?" Negan asked, pointing at Rick. "It's about you. You're all gonna want to put your guns down now."
"No one drops anything." Rick said quickly, turning to Jadis. "We had a deal."
The woman shrugged. "Tamiel came for the boat things. Followed the ones who took. Made a better deal."
Had Dwight known about this? Had this entire thing been a huge trap?
"You push me, and you push me, and you push me, Rick." Negan began again. "You just tried to blow us up, right? I mean, I get me, my people. But Eugene? He's one of yours. And after what he did—He stepped up. You people…are animals. Universe gives you a sign and you just—" he flipped Rick off. "Shove your finger right up its ass." He chuckled, but then it was right to business. "Dwight, Simon, chop-chop."
The two Saviors climbed onto the flatbed that Eugene stood on and moved towards something beneath a tarp. After unhooking it, they pulled the tarp off and revealed it to be a coffin. It was on a dolly, and they stood it up in the center of the flatbed, hopping down as Negan climbed up and stood beside it, sighing.
"So, you don't like Eugene anymore." He shrugged, arms outstretched. "You guys gotta like Sasha."
Thea's eyes widened. Was Sasha in the coffin? Was she dead or was she trapped in there?
Negan put a hand over his chest. "I do, too." He stated before knocking on the casket with his bat. "Got her right here, packaged for your convenience, alive and well."
It was only a small relief to hear the woman was still alive.
"Now, I brought her so I wouldn't have to kill all of you, and not killing all of you could get complicated. See, I know there's a lot of firepower left in there, Rick. So, I'm gonna make this simple. I want all the guns you've managed to scrape up. Yep, I know about those, too. I want every last grain of lemonade you got left. I want a person of your own choosing…" he pointed to his bat. "For Lucille."
There was a long pause, and then the next word he spoke was like ice to Thea's veins.
"Daryl—"
Thea inched forward, as if to put herself between Daryl and Negan, the latter eyeing her in amusement.
"Ooh, I gotta get me my Daryl back." He smirked, motioning with his fingers from his eyes to Daryl. "I see you. And the pool table, and all the pool cues and chalk. And I want it now or Sasha dies, and then all of you, probably."
Thea couldn't stop herself from speaking up, it was like she had gotten so used to talking back to Negan that she was incapable of not doing so. "What about the balls? You don't have any of those."
A few of the Saviors stiffened at her words, as if they were ready for Negan to strike. She felt Daryl step closer to her, almost protectively in case he needed to jump in front of her.
But Negan wasn't upset by her words. In fact, when his eyes met hers, they were lit up, a large grin breaking out on his face as he chuckled. That was the only response he gave before facing Rick again, face sobering.
"C'mon, Rick. Just because I brought her in a casket doesn't mean she has to leave in it." He continued on about Sasha. When Rick didn't immediately comply, he sighed and scratched his forehead. "You know what? You suck ass, Rick. You really do. I don't want to have to kill her, but that's exactly what you're gonna make me do."
"Let me see her." Rick demanded.
Negan chuckled. "Oh, all right. Just give me a second, I might have to get her up to speed. You can't hear shit inside this thing." He grinned, turning and knocking on the casket with Lucille. "Sash. You're not gonna believe this crap."
He opened the casket slowly, exclaiming suddenly. "Holy goddamn!"
Sasha stepped out of the coffin, only it wasn't Sasha anymore…she was a walker. Negan seemed genuinely surprised by that development, perhaps she had really gone into the coffin alive. Walker Sasha tackled him off the trailer, and then all hell broke loose.
She wasn't sure who fired first, but gunfire suddenly erupted around them. She reacted accordingly, raising her own gun and firing at a group of Saviors before she and Daryl ducked behind the car and fired upon some of Jadis's group. She had known it would come to this, but it didn't stop her from being shocked by the suddenness of it all.
After that, it all seemed to blur together. She stuck with Daryl as they moved through Alexandria, shooting down any enemy that crossed their paths. It was methodical, she followed his lead and did as he did, whether that meant ducking, running, or firing. Her ears were ringing from all the noise, but it didn't matter in that moment.
Perhaps they were going to win this after all.
She wasn't sure how it happened. One second, she was battling the Saviors at Daryl's side and the next she was being knocked over the head with something. She didn't lose consciousness, but the dizziness that overwhelmed her was enough to send her to her knees. She groaned as her head pounded something fierce. The gunfire and shouting around her was muffled, it sounded like she was underwater hearing a fight occurring above the surface.
A hand gripped her upper arm and she turned her head slowly to see if it was Daryl helping her up, instead she was met with the sneer of an unknown Savior. Before she had time to try to struggle against his hold, his fist flew at her face and connected with her right eye hard. Thea almost fell back against the grass, but his hold on her arm kept her upright. She panted, dazed further by the punch, and barely registered as his fist came forward again and split her lip.
This time he let go and allowed her to fall back, standing over her with a smirk on his face. He said something, but she couldn't make it out over the ringing in her ears, and then he was grabbing her by the ankles. Another Savior came from out of nowhere and leaned over her, sitting her up despite her weak struggles and hooking his arms under hers; together the two men picked her up and began to carry her in the direction of the gates.
"Daryl," She called weakly as she tried to kick at the Savior who had hit her. Her limbs were heavy, her head was spinning, and she was fighting to stay conscious, but she managed to call out a bit louder the second time. "Daryl!"
It didn't seem to matter as the two men quickly tossed her into the back of one of the Saviors' trucks. She landed with a groan, her head only spinning further as she smacked it against the truck bed. The men climbed in behind her and pulled her limp body behind crates that were stacked in the very back. That's when she realized how utterly screwed she was.
A/N: Things have started to escalate! I don't know about you guys, but I have been wanting to get Thea to The Sanctuary for a while now and I finally found the opportunity to do it! I would love to read what you guys thought of the chapter, so don't be afraid to review and, as always, thank you guys so much for reading and continuing to read my story! I promise I won't wait a year to update again!
