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Daryl, Beth, and Michonne had been told by Gamma in secret that Alpha wanted to show them something at the border, and Daryl had a sick feeling in his stomach that what Alpha wanted them to see wasn't anything good. Isabelle insisted on going as soon as they were told to meet her, and even though Daryl protested, she said that she had to face her demons eventually and didn't feel safe with Daryl going without more people.
So he said yes like the bitch he was. And then of course once Isabelle said she was going, her whole ass family did. Although Daryl was grateful for the support, as were his two comrades, this felt more serious than anything else. And he had a feeling that Isabelle's family wasn't going to like what they saw.
They cautiously walked up the hill far from their home, only to see Alfred and Gage tied up to a tree, looking bloodied and bruised. But as Daryl looked on ahead at the border, he felt his stomach drop at seeing something new. As soon as he did, he swallowed back bile.
Andy and Scarlet's decapitated heads were on pikes and had turned. They growled and snarled at them. As he heard footsteps, he turned around to see Tammy running down the hill with Isabelle.
"No! No, don't look Tammy!" Will shouted pleadingly, running towards her but the damage was already done. Tammy froze at seeing her little brother's head on a pike.
"How did this happen?" Beth asked horrified. Daryl saw Alpha coming towards them from her side of the border, with multiple people backing her up.
"Why don't you ask those two men?"
They look over to see Alfred and Gage both passed out from the pain. Daryl felt sudden anger take over him. They had lured Scarlet and Andy out to screw with them, but Alpha had caught them near the border.
"They didn't cross it!" Michonne yells at them. Alpha's brow raises.
"Oh, did they? I told I took more land. You have less than ideal areas now. But they crossed over the new land I took with those two dead people. These heads now just mark more of the border," she hisses at them.
Isabelle steps forward, feeling herself grow numb. Scarlet's head chomps at her, trying to get a bite, and Isabelle felt a lone tear streak down her cheek.
Tammy was crying in Will's arms, looking away. Isabelle couldn't speak. James walked over, ready to kill, but Beth held him back. "It's what she wants you to do, don't!" she whispers fiercely into his ear.
He doesn't stop his angry expression, but he does stop his movements.
Alpha then suddenly looks over at Isabelle. And then her eyes raise in realization.
"You."
Isabelle looks up, and Alpha approaches her from her side of the border, walking right up to her face. Isabelle doesn't move. She stays exactly where she was. But she could feel herself shaking. Alpha stares at her directly in the eyes, not advancing towards her. Just staring.
"You fucking escaped. You were Beta's plaything and somehow you got out," she states. She suddenly reaches over and touches Isabelle's hair, soft and gentle, like a mother would, except this was no mother. This was nothing like that. "You always did have pretty hair."
"Get away from her."
Alpha looks over to see Daryl coming forward, not moving once Alpha turned her glare to him. "Why? She's our property. She was Beta's."
"She ain't a fucking piece of furniture. She's a human being. And ya hurt her." Considering she was shaking with fear, Daryl instead moved Isabelle behind him, not wanting her to be in the line of fire in case this turned even fucking messier than it already was. "Ya can hurt me, or anyone else here, but ya ain't hurtin' Isabelle no more."
Alpha stares him down, trying to see what he was getting at before she just chuckles and steps back. "You're pathetic. You're protecting a girl who can barely even protect herself. You'd do well with people like us if you stopped doing this."
"I ain't ever gonna wanna be with you," Daryl growls.
Alpha hums before turning back to Michonne. "This is the last warning. I only took land last time. This time, I took lives. Ya cross my border again, I am going to send much worse things. We are always watching."
At that point, they leave, all of them standing there in shock or anger. Daryl turns to Isabelle, who was as silent as the day he met her. He sighs and moves her away, but she shakes her head.
"No." She grabs her knife and then stabs it into the head of Scarlet, feeling the wall break and more tears flow. She then turns to Andy and stabs his head too. Both still. By the time she's done, she steps back and walks away. Daryl watches her leave before turning to Beth and Michonne.
She was yanking the tied down men from the tree, dragging them back. "We're going to have a word with these two."
~%~
When they got back to Alexandria that night, everything was quiet. Isabelle had gone up to her room without saying a word. Lydia had come out to ask what happened. Daryl had told her. Lydia had cried. Daryl held her.
The next morning, everything was sullen. Daryl had taken a walk around to see what was happening. He had talked to James, who revealed that Tammy was in the infirmary.
"Why?" he asked him.
"She tried to kill herself last night," James admitted to the archer, his voice so low no one else could hear. "Seeing her dead brother's head after all this time did some messed up shit. That was her only true family member left beside us and she took a knife and…well, you know the rest. I found her in time…brought her here."
Daryl had gone inside to see Tammy turned on her side, her head in the pillow. Beth had pulled him aside and confided in him that Tammy wasn't taking any pills, or talking to anyone.
"This is turning serious," she whispered.
Daryl had agreed and left, looking around for what else was happening. Michonne had locked Alfred and Gage in their homes, not allowing them to leave for the sake of the other people. Daryl also saw Will coming out of the cell where the Whisperer was, his hands bloody.
He walked into the house and slammed the door behind him. From how he was reacting, Daryl could tell that he wasn't happy with how this Whisperer was speaking to him.
Eventually, he made his way back to his home. He took off his shoes and then went upstairs. Lydia had left to talk with the little kids – Judith had wanted to learn how to wield a stick more. Isabelle, on the other hand, hadn't left her room.
Daryl quietly walks over and knocks on her door. "Belle?" he asks, trying to hear any sort of movement. "Ya in there?"
There's no response. Thinking back to Tammy, he goes to see if the door was opened, and luckily, it was. He gently creaks inside, looking around to see Isabelle on her bed, glancing outside. She glances over at him, and he sees she had been crying.
Her legs were to her chest, and she was holding them close to her body. Her head rested on top of her knees, still in the pajamas from the night before. Daryl sighs and walks over to her, sitting next to her.
"I'm so sorry this happened to yer family, Belle," he says to her, not really knowing how to start. How do you apologize for the beheading of a family member? You don't. "We didn't think somethin' like this would happen."
"It's not your fault, Daryl," she says, sniffling. "Really…don't blame yourself for something you couldn't have prevented. It was their choice to help out…they're just…gone. My cousin is gone. My best friend's brother is gone. And I'm just going to have to deal with it. People die all the time in this world…it shouldn't be a big deal…right?"
She turns to him, and for the first time in forever, he had seen she was crying incredibly hard. The tear streaks were there, and there were still tears clearly evident in her eyes. Daryl wordlessly takes her into his arms, and she cries into his shirt.
He had been taking care of Lydia for at least this long now. A crying person didn't affect him as much as it used to. But seeing Isabelle cry hurt a lot more.
"It doesn't make it any easier, Isabelle," he admits to her gently, rubbing her back. "No matter what, ya still lost someone close to ya. It's still going to hurt." She doesn't lift her head up, her arms wrapped around his center. She felt so tiny in his arms – she really needed to eat more.
He gently tilts her head up and she wipes away her tears, trying to compose herself. "I know…but I have to be strong and…"
"Belle, that woman was taunting yah. Usin' yer past against yah. And at the same time, ya saw yer family's heads…it's gonna fuck up yer head," he puts out bluntly. "She was pissed ya got out. That ya survived. So she was usin' that against ya…yer allowed to be angry. Yer allowed being scared."
She swallows and looks at the ground, wiping at her cheeks again. "I just…I hate feeling this way." She looks over at him. "We need…some sort of plan. Anything. I can't have her on my mind again. I can't have that tall fucking man on my mind again. I just…can't…they fucked me over so good and I…I…"
She was starting to breathe fast. Daryl stood up and walks over, placing his hands gently on her shoulders. "Breathe, Isabelle. It's alright. Don't freak out."
Isabelle takes a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. She looks up at him and then feels her shoulders drop. "We need a plan, Daryl. We need...to take them on or…something. I don't know."
Daryl looks down at her and then glances outside. "Will's been interrogating that Whisperer we caught a little while ago. Think he might be getting somewhere. We should join 'em while he's interrogating. Find out what's goin' on. When we find that out, then we can figure this all out."
Isabelle nods, looking down. She then gingerly takes Daryl's hand in hers.
"I'm sorry for being such a fucking burden."
Daryl stares down at her in shock at her words, before tilting her head up back towards his again. "Belle, yer lettin' her words get to ya again. Ya know how to protect yourself. Ya know all this shit. If ya didn't, ya wouldn't have survived out there by yourself."
"I only know how to use a knife and a bow and arrow," she whispers, shaking her head. "I barely know how to use a gun well. I'm not good at fighting. I feel so useless…they ruined me…"
"Then we'll train," Daryl states to her, gesturing outside. "I'll help ya get better. But don't think just cause ya don't know everythin' 'bout survival it makes ya a burden. Ya've been hurt and you're recoverin'. Besides, ya make people happy. Lydia loves ya, can ask her anytime. Judith thinks yer cool. Yer whole family is here…Sides, I'm gettin' used to ya bein' here, so don't suddenly wanna go on me."
Isabelle smiles a little at that, but then sighs, removing her hand from his. The loss of heat felt weird, but Daryl shook it off. "You promise me you'll train me?"
"On my mamma's grave."
Isabelle nods. "Fine…let's go to where the Whisperer is. I wanna know what's happening."
~%~
After Isabelle changed, the two went to where Will was interrogating the Whisperer, joining him downstairs in the cell. They found the man with bruised knuckles, and the Whisperer tied up against the wall, spitting blood from his mouth.
"Will," Daryl states, moving forward. Will glances up. "We all gotta work together to make this fucker talk. I know yer angry, but we can help."
Will said nothing but nodded, and wiped his bruised knuckles. The Whisperer glared at them all fearfully. It was clear to Daryl that this woman was breaking after five hours of interrogation, but he knew that Daryl needed to do just that little extra to make her talk.
Daryl opened up the cell, walked in, and suddenly slammed the woman against the wall. Her head hit the hard concrete with a thud, and Isabelle could see the blood coming down from her forehead. She yelled out in pain, but Daryl didn't move a single bit of his stance, glaring at her.
"Ya tell us what yer group's been up too, and what they're planning, then we'll make yer death quick. Lie to us, and yer gonna end wishing that ya were dead," Daryl warned menacingly, causing the woman to break out in a sweat.
"I'll tell you everything, I swear to God that I will!" she swore. "Just please don't kill me!"
Daryl glares at her, his eyes trying to find some kind of lie, but she seemed to be telling the truth. Daryl dropped the woman to the ground, glaring at her, but within seconds, she began telling them everything. She told the. how it was Alpha who had cut down the tree and sent it crashing into the gates around Hilltop.
How Gamma, one of the main people behind Alpha, had contaminated Alexandria's water supply by killing a walker and spilling its guts into the water reserve, and how Aaron had given Gamma a bandage to heal her.
How Alpha really had sent those walkers in waves, and had made their lives a living hell for days.
Everything had been because of them.
Daryl looks over at Isabelle, who looked fearful of what the woman was talking to. They were going to have some conversations with some of the others.
Well everyone can't be alive, can they?
Thank you guys for reading and don't forget to follow, favorite and leave a review to let me know what you think! I'll be getting another chapter up in a couple of days. Happy New Year and I hope you guys have a great day :)