Eve's head snapped towards him like someone poked her with a hot iron sword.
"That's not what I was saying." Glenn quickly jumped.
"No him, no me." Daryl said it how it is.
"Daryl, you don't have to do that." Maggie tried to "reason" but truthfully she didn't understand. She doesn't understand why Daryl would be willing to go this far for someone like Merle, even if they are biologically siblings.
These guys don't get it. Merle's his brother, they grew up under the same roof and have been together most of their lives. It doesn't matter that he's an asshole.
Daryl had a hard enough time accepting it when he was left on the roof and if it hadn't been for Eve & him becoming partners and her always sticking with him, he would've gone off a long time ago. When they lost Sophia, he almost did — he actually had a brief falling out with even her.
He can't even fathom how they don't understand this — Maggie has siblings! Glenn had siblings, Rick had Shane & Lori — the only person who gets it and is siding with him is Eve, and she's never even had a family before!
She's not blood-related to a single one of them and yet she's proven time and again that she's willing to go to any lengths she has to to protect them.
"It was always Merle and I before this." Daryl made up his mind.
"Don't." Maggie pleaded but it sounded more like a command than she meant.
"You serious?" Glenn stared at him in disbelief. "You're just gonna leave like that?"
"You'd do the same thing." Daryl retorted.
Daryl looked at Eve and her entire body screamed 'alarm' but he was distracted by Glenn again.
"What do you want us to tell Carol?" Glenn meant for it to make Daryl reconsider, and he was right in thinking that Daryl hadn't thought that far ahead but he didn't have to think for long.
"Carol, she'll understand."
Glenn was flabbergasted.
After a beat of silence, Daryl pushed past Maggie. "Say goodbye to your pop for me."
"Daryl, are you serious? Daryl!" Glenn called after him but Eve waved them off, right on Daryl's heels.
"Hey, hey." Rick caught up with them, even walking backwards so he could keep up and still see Daryl's face. "There's gotta be another way."
Of course there is! Everyone could stop being a picky stubborn whining brat and smell the f***ing death in the air. We need as many hands as we can get, regardless if he's only got one to bring to the table. If it's a choice between putting up with Merle and losing Daryl it shouldn't be a hard choice!
Daryl stopped, staring Rick in the eyes, regretful but unwavering. "Don't ask me to leave him. I already did that once."
Daryl kept walking and Rick caught up again but didn't start speaking again until they reached the car.
"We started something last night. You realize that, huh?"
Yeah thanks Captain Obvious, I'm sure we weren't all painfully aware of that before you said it.
Daryl opened the trunk. "No him, no me. That's all I can say."
Gods— Rick, you know how loyal Daryl is and you're still pushing to leave his brother behind again?!
"Take care of yourself. Take care of little asskicker. Carl." Daryl packed up his backpack in the trunk and put it over his shoulder. "That's one tough kid."
Rick went to say something and Eve glared at him. A warning to back off.
Rick ground his teeth but backed off and moved away, back towards the others. If anyone has a chance of talking Daryl out of this, it's Eve.
He got back to them just in time for T-Dog to say, "If the two of them leave, we're gonna be at a major disadvantage when this Governor rolls up on our doorstep."
Rick clenched his fist but it seems Glenn and Maggie only just realized, with eyes wide, that if Daryl goes, Eve will go with him.
"But she made a promise to Carl — Eve always keeps her promises. She wouldn't just leave like that." Glenn looked at Maggie, desperate for confirmation, unable to accept it but his gaze fell on T-Dog instead, a look of sympathy on the man's face as he met Glenn's eyes.
"If it were you and Maggie was the one leavin' would you be able to stay, even if you wanted to?"
Several meters away, Eve finally had a chance to talk to Daryl alone since he made this crazy spur of the moment decision, and it's blatantly obvious that he is not really thinking about this, he's making a panicked decision because he doesn't want to lose his brother again.
"Are we really leaving? Now? Like this?"
Daryl paused and his eyes wandered over Eve's face. Her beautiful, swollen, bashed up face and couldn't stand to look at her when he said this.
"You need Hershel to look at you."
"I've had worse — don't change the subject." Eve didn't even bother to veil her intolerance. Her patience is gone, she's in no mood to beat about the bush.
"I'm not." Daryl's eyes drifted to the ground, his lips pressed into a foreboding thin line.
Eve's shoulders fell as she stared at him. Not another word was needed. She's not stupid, she could sense what he was implying. She was just hoping he wasn't.
"Hell no."
"Eve," Daryl tried but she cut him off.
"What part of no don't you understand? Haven't we been separated enough? Look what happens to the both of us the minute we leave each other's sides!"
"So don't even think about expecting me to go back without you. We're staying together. End of stor—"
Eve suddenly stopped in the middle of her sentence.
Daryl's posture perked up. He knows that face, that's her epiphany face.
"What are you thinkin'?"
'...Alright, fine. If the universe is determined to separate the two of us. Maybe we need to not stick together, to stay together.' Eve's mind churned over the idea that struck her like lightning. A giddy, evil genius sort of feeling bubbling up in her gut. Like the cat who schemed to catch the canary.
The problem right now is that they need Merle but nobody wants him to live with them…So… maybe he doesn't need to live with them.
It's a risky play but… she can't think of another option and she doesn't have the time to.
'I'd eat a raw squirrel right here and now if someone could give me a favorable choice, but if this is all I've got...'
Eve chewed on her thumbnail, mulling over the idea in her head. Sorting through details and risks like someone in charge of bank loans, until she finally reached her conclusion and dropped her dirty nail from her lips.
"I've got an idea." Eve stepped closer to Daryl, the trunk providing some privacy for them to lower their voices and carefully explain the evolving plan in her head.
Daryl leaned on his arm against the back, tilting his head down to listen closely.
"I'll go back to the prison and see Hershel on one condition. While we're dealing with this homicidal bureaucrat from Hell, you stay somewhere nearby with Merle. Stay in the area around the prison."
The tight knot in Daryl's gut eased a little, starting to see a little of where she's going with this. Her tone gives him hope that this plan is a bit more complicated than just living separately, but even just living separately from the rest of the group is a much better idea than straight up leaving.
"Every day at sunrise we can meet at the train tracks on the ridge by the prison, at that spot where we first saw the prison."
"I remember it." Daryl nodded, the beginnings of a smile even starting to bubble up now.
"I'll try to come up with something better and reason with the rest of the group while we see if we can't do something about this warmongering would-be Governor."
This time he actually did smile.
Merle could learn a thing or two about insults from her.
His amusement went unnoticed by Eve as she continued,
"If this doesn't work…."
Daryl pulled her head towards him and leaned forward, placing his lips against her head as if kissing her mind. This is why he loves her. Such a simple, obvious 3rd option and not one of them saw it but her.
He still however, needs to stop her from getting ahead of herself. So he pulled back and stopped this brain of hers in its tracks. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there."
Eve nodded, conceding but turned towards him with a more serious face again.
"I mean sunrise every day, Snowflake. I won't be there to help you if you fall in a hole."
Daryl got halfway through a nod before the words actually registered to him and he did a double take at her.
"What did you just say, Twinkle Toes?"
Daryl's jaw dropped as a savage smirk slid across her lips, amber eyes shining with mirth.
"Oh don't look so indignant. Snowflake is a lot better than 'Swamp Monster' dont'cha think?"
Daryl's eyes widened and Eve smiled, reading his mind 'But I've never called you that out loud'.
"I'm not the only one who talks in their sleep sometimes, Legolas."
'Take that. I've been holding onto this one for a long time, son. You thought I forgot about that little 'Die in a hole' comment back at the farm, didn't you? Paybacks a b**ch.'
(See chp-36 for what she's referring to)
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Jessica Taylor
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