"I need to speak with Daryl alone," Morgan said, walking toward Anna and Daryl as they came to stand at the end of the porch. "That okay?" He asked Benjamin.
"Yeah, sure," Benjamin said.
"Benjamin," Anna called before he could walk away.
She and Daryl started down the steps.
"Do you want to train with me?" She asked. "I haven't had anyone to spar with in a long time."
"Yeah," Benjamin said, gesturing for her to follow him.
Daryl watched as Anna walked away with the kid before he turned his attention back to Morgan.
"You went to see them, right?" Daryl asked.
"Yeah," Morgan admitted.
"Part of your deal?" He sneered. "What the hell's wrong with you? You're bleedin'. They did that to you. You know what they are."
"I do," Morgan nodded.
"You know, if Carol were here, she saw all that—" he waved his hand at Morgan. "—if she knew about Abraham and Glenn, she'd be leading us right to them, ready to kill them all."
"She would," Morgan agreed. "And that's why she left, man."
Daryl ground his teeth, glaring at Morgan for a moment before he scoffed and stalked off.
Full of shit.
A horse whinnied in the distance as he made his way through the Kingdom, people quickly moving out of his way, until he spotted Richard at the archery range. Without much thought, he made his way over just as Richard fired an arrow into one of the targets.
"I'm practicing," Richard explained when he noticed Daryl. "Gonna have to start using these more. The Saviors are smart enough to know I shouldn't have a gun around them."
Daryl said nothing as he surveyed the bows on the table between them, his eyes lingering on a black crossbow. Richard lowered his bow and stepped up to the table.
"Morgan said you're a bowman," he said, picking up the crossbow and holding it out to Daryl.
Daryl stared at Richard for a moment, knowing there was a catch to his offer.
"Why?" Daryl asked, taking the bow.
"'Cause we want the same things," Richard said. "I need your help."
Richard and Daryl made it out of the Kingdom without drawing too much attention. No one seemed inclined to ask questions. Daryl figured that was how Ezekiel had managed to keep his deal with the Saviors a secret. The two made their way through the woods in relative silence, Richard leading the way.
"Why didn't you tell Anna about this?" Richard asked.
"She don't need to get involved," Daryl said simply.
"She wants this war, too, doesn't she?" Richard pushed. "Or is she like Morgan and thinks talking is going to solve our problems?"
"She does what she's gotta, but she don't need to be here," Daryl said firmly.
"If you say so," Richard finally relented.
Daryl hadn't told Anna about whatever Richard was planning so she would have plausible deniability. She couldn't get in trouble for something she knew nothing about. If she knew what they were doing she'd insist on helping—if only to keep him safe.
Richard stopped at a large sign leaned against some foliage and moved it aside, revealing the door to an RV. He led Daryl inside and went to a closet toward the back, taking out two assault rifles, passing one to Daryl, along with ammo.
"We need something to move Ezekiel," Richard said. "This is it. Alexandria, the Hilltop, and the Kingdom hitting first, hitting hard, and then we wipe the Saviors from the Earth. Keeping people—dozens and dozens and dozens of good people—keeping them safe."
Daryl grunted his agreement as Richard began to prepare Molotovs. He looked around at the RV, at all the supplies Richard had stored there, and knew he'd been planning something for a long time.
Once he was satisfied with the amount, Richard packed the cocktails into a pack and pulled it onto his back. Daryl grabbed another pack and filled it with the extra ammo before the two left the RV.
Richard led them to a road, and they followed it until, just past a sign which read cemetery, they came upon a semi that had been abandoned on the shoulder.
They hid behind the semi and set their packs down.
"They ride this road," Richard explained. "If we see cars, it's the Saviors. They've been coming in packs of two or three lately. That's why I need you. I can't take them alone. We're gonna hit them with the guns first, and then the Molotovs. Then back to the guns until they're dead."
"Why the fire?" He asked.
"Needs to look bad," Richard said. "The Saviors who discover what's left—we want them to be angry. I left a trail from here to the weapons cache I planted, to the cabin of someone Ezekiel cares about."
"Who's that?"
"It's just some loner he met. Sometimes he brings food," Richard shrugged, kneeling down to unpack the Molotovs.
"Why don't they live in the Kingdom?" Daryl pushed.
"I don't know. She lives out there, she'll die out there," Richard huffed.
"It's a woman?" Daryl tensed.
"What does that matter? She's got more balls than you and me," Richard snapped. "She's gonna die either way. When the Saviors come and find their buddies dead, if they know their elbow from their asshole and can follow an obvious spoor, they're gonna go to the weapons cache and then to the cabin, and they're gonna attack this woman."
"What's her name?" Daryl growled.
"Maybe they kill her, maybe they don't," Richard went on as if he hadn't heard Daryl's question, "but it's gonna show Ezekiel what he needs to do."
"Her name. What is it?" Daryl demanded.
"She's tough. Maybe she'll live."
"Say her damn name!"
Richard paused and sighed before standing and turning to Daryl.
"Carol," he finally said. "I hoped you didn't know her, but I didn't think you'd care, 'cause you know what needs to happen."
"No."
"Maybe she'll live. Look, this—this is how—this is how this could happen. This is how we can get rid of the Saviors, how we all can have a future," Richard reasoned. "She's living out there on her own, just waiting to die."
"No!" Daryl repeated, grabbing the pack of ammo, his rifle, and his crossbow before starting toward the woods.
"If we don't do anything, a hell of a lot more people are gonna die, people who want to live!" Richard warned.
"You stay the hell away from Carol, you hear me?" Daryl snarled, dropping the rifle and stepping towards Richard.
There was the sound of vehicles approaching and they turned, peering around the semi to see two trucks speeding toward them.
"It's them," Richard confirmed. "Look, we can wait for things to go bad, we lose people—or we can do the hard thing and choose our fate for ourselves."
"No."
"Sorry," Richard said, hoisting his rifle and readying himself.
Daryl dropped his weapons and grabbed Richard by the armor, yanking him back and throwing him to the ground. He quickly fell on top of him, holding him down as the trucks grew closer. Daryl began punching him for good measure, Richard's nose spurting blood.
Richard reached out and smashed something solid against the side of Daryl's face, knocking him off. But it was too late; the sound of the trucks was already fading into the distance.
Daryl scrambled to his feet, snatching up his crossbow and aiming it at Richard as the other man aimed his rifle.
"There'll be more. Or those—they're gonna ride back this way later," Richard said. "We'll have another chance. But we're running out of time. If you and your people want to move against the Saviors, you need to do it soon, and you need the Kingdom. What we have to do requires sacrifice one way or another. Guys like us, we've already lost so much."
"You don't know me," Daryl sneered, glaring down his sights.
"I know that Carol, living on her own like that, she might as well be dead right now."
Daryl clenched his jaw, but lowered his crossbow.
"She gets hurt, she dies, if she catches a fever, if she's taken out by a walker, if she gets hit by lightnin'—anything—anything happens to her, I'll kill you," Daryl said.
He slung his crossbow over his shoulder and grabbed his pack and rifle.
"I would die for the Kingdom," Richard insisted, lowering his gun.
"Why don't you?" Daryl sneered before turning and walking away.
Daryl quickly found and followed the trail Richard had left, making his way through the woods until he came upon a little house with a group of people standing in the yard. He immediately recognized Ezekiel as he spoke to the person standing just out of sight. The sound of Carol's voice telling them to leave only confirmed what he already knew.
He waited in the trees for Ezekiel and his entourage to finally leave before he made his way to the front door. He hesitated a moment before he finally knocked.
After a minute the door swung open, irritation on Carol's face until she realized who she was looking at. She rushed forward, pulling him into a hug.
"Okay," he said after a moment of holding her, and they pulled apart.
She wiped at her face, looking questioningly at him.
"Jesus took us to the Kingdom," he explained. "Morgan said you just left. I was out here. I saw you."
She nodded.
"Why'd you go?" He asked, and he hated the way his voice nearly broke.
"I had to."
It was dark out, and Carol busied herself with preparing dinner. She sat by the fire, waiting for the food to finish heating, while Daryl sat at the dining table.
"I couldn't lose anyone," she began after they'd been mostly quiet. "I couldn't lose any of them. I couldn't lose you. I couldn't kill them. I could," she corrected. "I would. If they hurt any of our people—any more of them—that's what I would do. And there wouldn't be anything left of me after that," she said, staring into the fire before she looked to him. "The Saviors—did they come?"
"Yeah," Daryl muttered.
"Did anyone get hurt? Is everybody okay? Did the Saviors—" Carol asked, her voice cracking. "Is everybody back home okay?"
Daryl didn't say anything—he wasn't quite sure what to say. Morgan's words came back to mind. She'd left because she couldn't do it anymore.
"Daryl," she pleaded.
He couldn't make her do it anymore.
"They came," he said. "We got 'em all. Made a deal with the rest of 'em, like Ezekiel."
It burned him to lie to Carol, but the relief that came over her assured him it was the right thing.
"Everyone's all right. Everyone's all right," he recited, as if it would make it true.
Carol wiped her face, and Daryl cleared his throat.
"We gonna eat or—or I gotta be a king or somethin' to get food around here?" He asked, changing the subject.
"Shut up," Carol laughed, picking up the pot of chili and taking it to the table.
She dished him a bowl before filling her own and sitting down.
"How's Anna? Is she with you?"
"Yeah, she's here. She's good," Daryl said through a mouthful of food.
"Just good?" She asked, raising a brow at him.
"She's—uh—" he paused and wiped his mouth. "She's been talkin'..., 'bout the future."
"The future? She ask you to marry her or somethin'?" Carol teased.
"No," Daryl said quickly. "She just… I don't know."
"Whatever she said," Carol sighed, "Were you okay with it?"
Daryl shoveled more of the chili into his mouth, if only to give him more time to think. He wasn't unhappy with what she had envisioned for them—in fact, it sounded nice. Being away from all the shit, just hunting and living and existing together in the woods; it sounded right.
"Yeah," he finally said.
"So, what's bothering you about it?" Carol asked.
He tapped his fingers against the bowl.
Daryl couldn't tell her that the thought of a future hadn't occurred to him. That he was too angry to think of something so good, or to even hope that he'd live long enough to have it. If he told Carol any of that, he'd have to tell her that it was the Saviors that stood in the way of it. He'd have to tell her what happened.
And, he would have to tell her that he was scared—not of the Saviors, or of dying. He was scared that he wouldn't be able to give Anna that future.
"Nothin'." Daryl lied.
Carol pressed her lips together but nodded, turning back to her dinner.
"Ezekiel—is he okay?" Daryl asked.
"Yeah, I think he is," Carol said.
After dinner, Daryl grabbed his things, and Carol walked him to the door. He started down the walkway and paused, turning back to see Carol standing on the porch, hands in her pockets. Before he could talk himself out of it, Daryl went back and wrapped an arm around her, feeling her hugging him back. He almost didn't want to let go, but he pulled away.
"Watch out for yourself, alright?" He said.
"You too," she said, nodding.
Finally, he turned and started back down the path to the Kingdom. He made himself keep looking straight ahead; if he turned around, he may just tell Carol everything. He couldn't do that to her.
Daryl sat on the floor in front of the cage, Shiva pacing back and forth before approaching him. He wasn't quite sure why he had come here.
"Well, you're good with her."
He looked to the door to see Morgan walking in.
"Ezekiel will be impressed," Morgan said.
"Well, figure any guy that has a pet tiger can't be that bad," Daryl shrugged, looking back to Shiva for a moment before turning his attention fully on Morgan. "He's okay by Carol."
Morgan pressed his lips together.
"Yeah, I found her—out in that little house," Daryl explained.
"Look, what I said," Morgan started. "When I said she just went away—it's what she told me to do."
"No, I get it," Daryl assured. "We need the Kingdom. You gotta make that happen."
"I'm sorry. I mean, I—I really am, but, uh—" Morgan stammered, shaking his head. "It can't be me."
Daryl got to his feet with a sigh.
"Look, whatever it is you're holdin' on to—it's already gone, man," he said. "Wake the hell up."
He turned and grabbed his pack and crossbow, preparing to leave.
"You're the same as me, Daryl," Morgan said, and Daryl paused.
"You don't know shit about me," Daryl snapped.
"No, I do," he corrected. "'Cause you didn't tell Carol what happened. You didn't, 'cause she'd be here otherwise. And I'm glad for that. See, we're all holdin' on to somethin'."
Daryl felt a nudge against his hand, and his eyes darted down to see Shiva pressing her face against the bars. He turned his hand to let his fingers brush over her fur.
"I'm goin' back to Hilltop in the mornin' and gettin' ready," Daryl declared.
He pulled away from Shiva and without another word he left, steering himself toward the living quarters. When he got to the door to his and Anna's room, he saw the light shining from the bottom.
Rather than delay the inevitable, Daryl pushed the door open to find her sitting cross-legged on the bed, one of her knees bouncing.
"Where have you been?" She asked the moment he stepped through the door.
"Out," he said, mentally kicking himself for the flippant response. "I went with Richard," he elaborated.
"Richard came back hours ago," she said before taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound like the crazy girlfriend. It's just after—I was worried."
Daryl set his pack and crossbow on the table and turned to lean against it, facing her.
"He wanted to get Ezekiel to help us. I stopped him," Daryl said.
"Why?" Anna asked, furrowing her brow.
"'Cause he was gonna get Carol killed."
"Carol?" She asked, sitting straighter.
"Yeah, I found her," Daryl nodded.
"Is she okay?"
"She will be," Daryl assured. "She's where she needs to be. And we're not gonna tell anyone where that is."
"You didn't tell her what happened," she said, and he knew she understood.
"Look, we ain't gettin' anywhere with Ezekiel. We're wastin' our time. We need to be gettin' ready, not hidin' out in Disneyland," Daryl said.
"So, we leave in the morning?" Anna asked.
"For Hilltop, yeah," Daryl said, surprised that she didn't argue. "You're good with that?"
"You're right," Anna shrugged, scooting to the edge of the bed to start pulling her boots off. "We need the Kingdom, but we can't waste our time trying to convince someone who's already made up his mind."
Daryl nodded and sat down beside her, kicking his own boots off before they stretched out beside each other on the small bed.
"Break of day, we're gone," Anna yawned, sliding her hand into his. He curled his fingers around hers and looked at her.
"Whatever she said, were you okay with it?"