Die For You

Previously…

Dwight brought the bike to life and we rolled past where Daryl stood waiting to load up. "You can have it back." Dwight said, motioning to the bike, then he rested his hand on my knee for emphasis. "Just say the word." Daryl didn't say anything, but after a moment of staring at Dwight, dropped his gaze back to the ground. Dwight patted my knee before kicking off from the pavement.

The asshole revved the bike, speeding forward with such force that I was forced to wrap my arms around him unless I wanted to tumble off the back. "Sorry!" Dwight shouted back to me. I could practically hear the smug smirk on his face.

Yeah right, asshat. I thought. Before leaning back to put some distance between us, I murmured in his ear. "You're gonna be."

Chapter 10

Life at the Sanctuary was difficult. Daryl was allowed out of his cell, but he wasn't free by any stretch of the imagination. He worked the fence, moving and putting new walkers in place. I knew he could handle that, but it didn't stop me from having nightmares. The hardest thing to stomach was Negan's absolute power. Oh, there were rules and guidelines to follow, but they were his rules, his way of doing things. I had a hard time wrapping my mind around why someone would choose to live in a place like this. What was recruitment like? Where did all these people come from? Something told me the Sanctuary wasn't around from the beginning of the turn, there had to be other communities like Alexandria and the Hilltop.

The second morning after we went to Alexandria, Dr. Carson didn't have any patients so I found myself outside on the balcony overlooking where the motorcycles were parked. Second cup of coffee in hand, I watched as Daryl worked along the Walker encrusted fence. It baffled me that it was common practice to put their own people up along the fence, gave me the creeps. I guess it was a good way to ensure cooperation. We killed people dead, ensuring they didn't turn. I guess Negan figured a resource was a resource, no matter what form it took.

I'd just finished my coffee when a small box truck pulled in through the back gate and came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. Looks like Simon had returned from the Hilltop. Suddenly machine gun fire exploded from the back of it. I stashed my mug and unsheathed two knives, slinking down the stairs. I flattened myself against the side of the truck and kept my feet moving so I reached the back in a matter of seconds. I took a deep breath and launched myself around the corner, knives at the ready.

Carl Grimes stood on the tailgate, brandishing an automatic rifle. "I only want Negan," Carl explained, keeping his gun up, "He killed my friends." He looked around the crowd, "No one else needs to die."

Negan strode into view letting lose a signature Savior whistle. "Damn." He whispered. "You, are adorable." He told Carl, "Did you pick that gun 'cause it looks cool?" He asked with a grin. "You totally did, right?" Carl looked unimpressed. Negan scoffed. "Kid, I ain't gonna lie, you scare the shit outta me."

Suddenly, Dwight tackled Carl to the ground. "Dwight!" Negan exclaimed, "Back off." Dwight disarmed Carl, taking his gun and the knife off his belt. Then he stepped away as instructed. I sheathed my knives, and crossed my arms, locking eyes with Daryl across the lot. Negan stood over Carl and held out his hand. "Is that any way to treat our new guest?" He asked. "C'mon kid, I'll show you around."

Negan took Carl under his wing, and from the way he seemed to admire the kid, I didn't fear for the kid's safety. The almost feral look on Daryl's face told me he thought otherwise. I didn't blame him. It disappointed me immensely that Negan thought he had to break Daryl. If anything, bringing him alongside like he was doing with Carl, would have made greater strides than stuffing him in a dark cell, naked and afraid. I guess that was just Negan's way of asserting dominance. Maybe he figured by bringing the kid in close, he could manipulate him, try to get to Rick. Arrogance did have its downfalls.

I stayed behind to help Dr. Carson with the wounded. Carl killed two men, who had yet to reanimate and wounded three others. Negan instructed Dwight to make sure the dead ones ended up on the fence. Daryl placed a bucket over each man's head to minimize the threat when they awoke. I helped those who were injured make it up the steps to the infirmary. I returned outside once the men were resting comfortably to make sure everyone had been cared for.

Daryl was struggling to get the second man on the fence so I rushed down the steps and offered my help. "Easy there, Ace." I murmured, pinning the walker's reaching arms behind it's back.

Daryl scoffed, "You can't-"

"Watch me," I snapped back, nodding for him to secure the walker's chain to the fence. He growled and shook his head but secured the chain before letting go of the walker. "On three." I offered, cocking an eyebrow at him. He nodded. "One, two, three." I let go of the walker's wrists on three and Daryl removed the bucket and we both stepped out of the monster's reach. I sighed, "See, still a great team." I stepped closer to him, "Be ready to move. I've got things in motion to get our asses outta here." I murmured, gripping his forearm.

Daryl's eyes widened, but he just pursed his lips and nodded at me. I released my grip on his forearm and brushed past him like he wasn't the holder of my heart and made a beeline for the stairs. Who was I kidding, as much as I wanted this thing between Daryl and me to work, I knew better. When we got out of here, Daryl would inevitably push me away again. I wasn't so sure I had the strength to push back. A ghastly voice broke me out of my reverie.

"Foxy Roxy!" Dwight exclaimed, coming down the steps. "I need dear Daryl here for some food prep." He sighed, "As much as I'd love to take you with us, Dr. Carson needs your pretty little ass in the infirmary." He suddenly reached out and grabbed my right forearm. "You're bleeding, Roz." He said quietly, stepping closer to me.

I glanced down at my arm. Shit. He was right. My right bicep bloomed red, and now that I'd calmed down, hurt like a bitch. "So I am," I answered, "Son of a bitch." I swore, taking my arm back. The wound looked like just a graze, probably happened when Carl fired the AK into the crowd.

Daryl was suddenly at my side, sliding my left arm over his neck like he did the night we first met. "This takes me back." I laughed on soft breath. He grunted, eyes sliding sideways to meet mine. "Negan will take Carl back to Alexandria." I murmured, leaning into him, feigning diziness. "Be ready to move." Daryl's eyes found mine again. He looked away as we went through the outside door and gave me a single nod paired with a signature grunt.

Dwight allowed him to get me to the infirmary, but carted him away by the collar after that.

"Just a graze." Dr. Carson announced upon examining my arm. "Needs a few stitches, but you'll be fine." I grimaced as he cleaned the wound, wiping away the blood that had oozed down my arm. "Give me a few minutes and I'll have you in working order again." Hearing him prattle reassuringly on made me suddenly miss Herschel. The grief nearly knocked me over, but I kept myself from tumbling over the edge by focusing on one simple fact. Negan would be leaving the compound. I could feel it in my bones, military training and all that. "See?" Dr. Carson sighed surveying his work, "Good as new."

"Thanks Doc," I sighed, sliding off the exam table. "I'll check on Dobson, make sure the pain meds are kicking in."

Carson nodded and turned away to clean up. I slid my leather vest back on and splashed some cool water on my face. I took a moment to stare at myself in the mirror. I looked like shit, definitely felt like it too. After drying my face, I strode over to the first bed where Dobson lay. His eyes were closed but I could tell he wasn't sleeping.

"Pain meds kicking in?" I asked, gently placing my hand on his forehead. He didn't feel warm, which was a great sign. He just grunted, eyes fluttering open. "If they aren't we can give you something stronger." He just sighed and closed his eyes. I shrugged, "A'right, holler if you need anything." I smoothed his blanket and checked his pulse and blood pressure. All were normal. Dr. Carson really knew what he was doing.

The other patients were also stable and resting comfortably. Suddenly, Dwight appeared with Daryl. "Carson." Dwight addressed the doctor. "You're needed on the floor." He sighed, "The iron's almost ready."

I frowned. The iron? I knew Dwight's face had been burned as penance for desertion, but I hadn't imagined it had really been an iron. That punishment seemed medieval. Dwight shoved Daryl towards the mop sink in the corner.

I went to the refrigerator that was humming next to the sink and opened the freezer. We'd need ice to stop the burning and decrease pain. "I've got ice and gauze." I told the good doctor. "You got a salve or something?"

"Yep." The doctor held up a white jar. "Let's go." He motioned for me to follow him.

The floor was just slang for the large common area that was used for meals and trade during the day. It looked like the whole community was gathered for the event. A blubbering man, whom I learned was named Mark, sat tied to a chair next to a piping hot furnace. Negan and Carl were already down next to the man. I followed Dr. Carson to the front of the crowd where Negan pointed for us to stand so we were ready when the task was completed.

Negan slid on a heat protective glove. "Okay, D." Dwight handed him the iron from the furnace on an iron pole. "Mark, I'm sorry." Negan crooned, picking up the iron. "But it is, what it is." He brought the super heated metal close to Mark's face. The man blubbered in terror. Without mercy, Negan pressed the hot iron to Mark's face and the man let out a blood curdling scream. He continued to scream as Negan pressed the iron more firmly to his face. After a few moments Mark passed out, probably from the intense pain.

"Now that wasn't so bad, was it?" Negan chuckled darkly, handing the iron back to Dwight. "Jesus, pissed himself." He strode over to where Daryl waited with the mop. "Clean that up." He instructed. Daryl nodded and began washing the floor. "Doc," He called to Dr. Carson waiving us over, "I'm all done, do your thing."

I joined the Doc in front of the passed out man, handing him the ice pack. I tried to focus on getting the man stable as Negan continued to wax philosophically about what had just happened. I moved over to the man's right side and took his pulse. "Pulse is 79 and steady." The smell of burnt and charred flesh making my stomach flip.

"Well, the pussy passed out." Negan sighed, "But its settled, we're square, everything is cool." He explained, "Let Mark's face be a daily reminder to him and to everyone else that the rules matter." He looked pointedly over at Dwight. "I hope that we all learned something today because I don't ever wanna have to do that again."

A few men stepped forward and helped us get Mark on a gurney to take him to the infirmary to begin the healing process. My mind reeled with the brutality of what I'd just witnessed. Yes, rules were rules, but this reaction just seemed barbaric. Negan's power was definitely fear based. Didn't he know that respect and honor went way further, way deeper than fear?

Negan whispered something to Carl about 'crazy shit,' before escorting the kid upstairs. "Roz!" He called out across the crowd of people. "Come see me after the good doctor's done with ya."

I bit my lip and nodded, giving Carl a reassuring smile.

Dr. Carson shooed me away once Mark had an iv and his wound was dressed. I smoothed my hair and headed upstairs to Negan's private quarters. My mind drifted to my first trek up these stairs. I was scared shitless. Now I was just worried about Carl. The kid had a mouth on him, especially when it came to our enemies. He knew who we were. We were a group of scary, bad ass mother fuckers. We proved that over and over again, enemy after enemy. We were still standing, they were dead.

I raised my hand and knocked on the door. "Come in," Negan called from inside. I took a last deep breath and pushed the door open. Negan sat on the couch, Carl was perched on a chair opposite him. Negan sighed, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, "You're a smart kid." He smirked, "What do you think I should do?" He asked, "You know I can't let you go. So," He pursed his lips, "Do I kill you? Iron your face? Chop off your arm?" He gave Carl some ludacris options. "Tell me, what do you think?"

Suddenly Carl shot to his feet, motioning to the bank of windows to his right. "I think you should jump out the window to save me the trouble of killing you." He suggested in a deadly voice.

Negan chuckled with a quick clap, "Now there's the kid that impressed the hell outta me."

"I think you're not saying what you're going to do to me, because you're not going to do anything." Carl continued perceptively. "If you knew us." His eye flicked towards me then back to Negan. "If you knew anything, you would kill us." He leaned down so he was face to face with Negan, "but you can't."

Negan smirked, "Maybe you're right." He shrugged, "Maybe I can't." He stood up and faced me. "Hey sweet cheeks." he greeted me with a warm, come hither smile. "Just wanted you to see that no harm has come to the kid while he's been here." He winked at Carl. "You seemed concerned, so I wanted you to know that I'm taking him back home."

"Appreciate that." I murmured, watching him warily. Carl had said some pretty bold things. Looks like Negan was taking them in stride, for now.

"Wanna come with?" Negan asked, wiggling his eyebrows, striding over to me.

"No," I waved him off, "Not necessary." I sighed, twirling the end of my braid. "Dr. Carson needs me so…." I trailed off with a shrug.

Negan sighed. "Well, guess we'll have to catch up when I get back." He winked, leaning into me, pressing a soft kiss to my cheek. Then he shouldered Lucille. "C'mon kid, let's go for a ride."

"You tell your Pops to keep his chin up, kid." I play punched Carl in the shoulder as he followed Negan out of the room. I tried to communicate everything was going according to plan. Now that Negan was leaving, I was definitely going to get Daryl out of here.

Carl nodded, "Sure, Roz." He sighed. "See you later."

"Sooner rather than later, kid." I smiled wrapping my arm around his shoulders in a brief hug. Then I left the two men and went to my room before returning to the infirmary. I knew Sherry would be along any moment. News of Negan traveled fast, especially to someone as important as her. I shouldered my small bag and made sure I had all of my weapons in place.

Dr. Carson was taking notes in a patient chart when I burst back through the door. He glanced up from his papers. "Everyone's asleep." He murmured, going back to his notes.

I simply nodded and busied myself with wiping down the counters and disinfecting them. A few minutes later, Sherry entered the infirmary, clutching her head and stomach. I rushed to greet her. "Hey, easy there." I gently led her over to the exam table. Dr. Carson got up from his desk. "What's going on, Sherry?"

"I've got a huge headache and my stomach is really upset." She explained, giving Dr. Carson her best grimace.

He nodded. "Alright, no need to worry." He placed a thermometer under her tongue and I took her blood pressure.

"98 over 64." I announced after a few moments, totally fudging the numbers so her pressure was low but not hook her up to a monitor stat, low.

"Ah that's a little low, which is probably why you're feeling so crummy." Dr. Carson observed. "You are probably dehydrated. Second case today." He wrote down the reading. He handed her a glass of water and two white pills. "Take these for your headache and you'll need to drink plenty of fluids." He sighed, "It's pretty hot out of there today. " He gave her a reassuring smile. "You need to get some rest, probably just over did it."

Sherry nodded, swallowing the pain medication. "C-can Roz help me back to my room?"

Dr. Carson looked up sharply from his notes. "Uh, sure." He blinked, "That's fine." He waved me away, turning back towards his desk.

Sherry slid off the exam table and I let her lean on me for support. We maneuvered our way out the door and once the door clicked shut, Sherry straightened up away from me. "We need to move." She murmured. "I've slipped a note and motorcycle key under Daryl's door. He's probably on the move or about to be." I nodded and moved to sprint down the hall but she reached out and gripped my forearm. "Fat Joey is on back gate duty. Threaten him and he'll back down."

From what I knew of Fat Joey, that seemed true enough. "Awesome." I sighed gratefully. "See you around, bambi." I gave her a mock salute and took off down the hall, clutching my bag so I could move as silently as possible. I glanced back at her just before I turned the corner to go down the stairs and the hallway was empty. Smart chick, that one.

I rushed down the stairs and into the hall, practically plowing over a poor sap carrying supplies in the process. Glass jars tumbled to the floor, shattering their contents all over the freshly mopped floor. "Oh shit." I swore. "I'm so sorry, geez louise…" I sighed, backing my way through the mess. "I've got to get back to the infirmary, but I'll send someone over to help, straight away." I shot around the corner before the man could speak. I tried the first door knob I came to and it was unlocked so I opened it and swung it softly shut behind me as to not alert anyone around where I'd disappeared to.

I pressed my back against the door for a moment, taking a deep breath. I opened my eyes and my heart stopped. Daryl stood before me, dressed in what looked like were Dwight's clothes. He had his fingers stuck in a jar of peanut butter and he looked ready to swing it at me if necessary. "There ya are, Ace!" I exclaimed softly, launching myself at him. He quickly licked his fingers, dropped the jar and caught me. I let him hold me to him for a few moments before I leaned back and looked up into his eyes. "Move it or lose it, baby." I reached down and playfully swatted his ass. "You got the key?" I asked, taking a step back. He nodded, showing me the key before stowing it back in his pants pocket. "Awesome." I glanced around the room, there in the corner by the door, stood a slim length of pipe. "Here." I picked it up and tossed it at him. He caught it with ease and nodded with understanding. I unsheathed a knife and held it firmly in my palm, brandishing the blade out in front of me. I headed for the door and Daryl followed me.

"Roz." Daryl ground out, fingers wrapping around the wrist that held my knife and I turned my head to look at him. Suddenly he pressed his lips to mine and the world stopped. He pressed closer to me, flattening me against the door.

"Missed you." I murmured against his lips. "So much." He just hummed in response, lips never leaving mine. He deepened the kiss and my knife slipped from my fingers. It clattered to the floor, the sudden noise bringing us back to reality.

"To be continued, yeah?" I offered, taking a deep breath, trying to get my breathing back under control. I flashed him a wide smile, squatting down to retrieve my knife. I straightened and cupped his cheek with my knife-free hand. "We're gonna make it, Ace." I murmured firmly, eyes boring into his. He nodded and I turned away from him, grasping the door knob, readying myself for our sprint down the hall. "We go right, then left. Straight down the hall to the back of the complex. The motorcycles are all parked out there and we'll be able to negotiate our way through the back gate, Fat Joey is on duty."

Daryl scoffed, "Let's go." He nodded to me.

I took a deep breath and turned the knob. No Saviors in sight. We slunk down the eerily deserted hallway and took a right, then the next left. We made it all the way outside to the bikes and Daryl rushed over to end of the row where his bike from Alexandria was parked.

"The Hell?" Fat Joey scoffed coming into view, eating a sandwich. Daryl straightened up away from the bike, adjusting his grip on the pipe. "Whoa." Fat Joey exclaimed, hands out to his sides in surrender. "Whoa!" He dropped his sandwich as Daryl moved closer. "It's cool, I swear." He insisted as Daryl continued come at him. "Buddy, you can walk right out that back gate right there and I won't say anything to anybody." He insisted while Daryl sized him up. "I'm supposed to be there now, but listen." He swallowed, "I'm just trying to get by, just like you."

Daryl wasn't having any of it. I could tell by the look in his eyes that Fat Joey was already dead, there was nothing I could do to stop him. Daryl swung the pipe and hit Fat Joey directly in the head, knocking him on his knees, very reminiscent of when Negan murdered Abraham and Glenn. He swung again, laying Fat Joey out, face down in the dirt. I turned away when I heard footsteps, readying myself to throw as many knives as necessary to get our asses out of there.

"Daryl!" Jesus shouted quietly, suddenly appeared around the corner. I lowered my knives. Jesus was definitely a friend of mine.

Daryl dropped the pipe and bent down to fish out the gun Fat Joey was carrying. He shoved the gun into his waistband. "It's not about just gettin' by here." Daryl spoke over Fat Joey's corpse. "It's about gettin' it all." He turned back to the motorcycle. "I've got the key," He announced, mounting the bike. "Let's go."

I turned to Jesus. "You ride?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Jesus sighed, bending down to pick up Fat Joey's walkie talkie. Smart. "Not well." He shrugged. "Plus, how are three of us going to fit-"

I pulled out the key I'd stashed in my back pocket from being out here the other day when we returned from Alexandria. Someone had left the keys in the ignition and I'd swiped them on a whim. "Yahtzee." I smirked, stalking over to the black Harley. Wasn't my first choice, it was a bit loud, but it'd at least get us out of here. I mounted the bike, rolling it backwards so we could make our exit quietly. I looked up to see Jesus watching me with wide eyes. "Now, you gonna be Daryl's bitch or mine, pretty boy?"

Dearest Readers,

And away we go! Gah! I'm so happy to get Daryl and Roz out of the Sanctuary. Up next is a little R&R for our favorite couple and a tearful reunion with the rest of the gang.

Thank you for your support and reviews! I love hearing from you.

xoxo

Lumora The White