Chapter 18-Returning to Alexandria

Rosita's P.O.V

Daryl woke up when he felt someone shaking his shoulder. He looks at Rosita, who is lying beside him with one of the blankets that Maggie and Glenn left up there. "Hey," Daryl says softly.

"Hey," Rosita says as he takes her hand and kisses it. "We gotta get up. Abraham and Sasha are coming out soon."

Daryl nods as he stands up and starts to put his clothes back on. Once he had his pants back on, he looked at the field and saw that there were no walkers. He grabs his shirt and vest and puts them on. Rosita looks at him. "Was this a one-time thing?" Rosita asks.

"Do you want it to be?" Daryl asks.

"No," Rosita says. "I trust you more than anybody else, more than Abraham, Eugene, Rick. I know that you are strong. I want to give this a chance, but only if you do."

"I do," Daryl says as he kisses her. They hear the door open and pull apart. Abraham walks up the stairs.

"Where is Sasha?" Rosita asks.

"Killing the walkers in the field," Abraham says. "Go get some sleep," Daryl nods as he leaves. Abraham grabs Rosita's hand. "Might want to fix your hair. Looks like you were just manhandled," Abraham says with a smirk.

"Thanks," Rosita says. "You can use the mattress and the blanket," She says with a smirk. "Abraham," She says as she stops by the stairs. "He was amazing," She says, making Abraham roar with laughter as she goes down the stairs with a smirk on her face. She walked inside of the prison and saw Daryl standing outside his cell.

"You coming?" He asks her. She smirks as she walks to his cell and lays down beside him. He wraps his arms around her and kisses the back of her head as they fall to sleep.

One week later

Rick's P.O.V

"Dad!" Carl shouts as he runs up to the house. Rick looks at Sam as he helps the boy clean his gun and runs outside. "They're back,"

Rick nods as he runs toward the gate with Carl beside him as Daryl's bike comes into Alexandria and then the rest of the cars. Rick smiles at Daryl as he takes his hand. "Looks like you did good."

"Better than good," Abraham says as he climbs out of the truck. "We got enough firepower to kill everybody here ten times over."

"What about food, medicine, fuel, ammo, water."

"Enough of that to last us two months, maybe more," Merle says. Rick looks at the older Dixon brother and nods.

"So what do you think? You think we're ready to hit them?" Rick asks.

"We have the weapons, but not the people, and not yet," Negan says. "Simon is expecting some sort of attack. We give him a little while longer, and when he isn't expecting it, we attack. We still need Ezekiel, and having Hilltop would help."

"You said their leader would never go for it," Glenn says.

"We could kill him," Rick says.

"Rick-" Deanna says.

"We need all the people we can get," Rick says. "We'll talk about it. You guys have been on the road for a while. Let's take the next two days to unload and rest. We'll plan more then."

Everybody nods as they walk away.

Carol's P.O.V

Carol stood in front of Barrington with Jesus and Bertie beside her. The trucks pulled into the Sanctuary, and Simon climbed out with a woman beside him. "I have somewhere else I gotta be, but I do want to see if all of this was worth it," Simon says as he walks up to Carol.

"It was," Carol says as she motions for him to follow her. She leads him to the back of Barrington house, where there are two trailers. "More food than you have ever got from this place. Twelve guns, two boxes of ammo, water, and fuel. I kept ten guns for the people we trained and watch," Carol says. Simon looks at her and grins.

"That wasn't part of the deal."

"A lot of the places we need to clear for this kind of supplies is filled with walkers. We'll lose people without guns, and that means you lose these supplies," Carol says with a smile.

Simon stares at her for a moment. "Load it up, boys," Simon says as he pulls Carol aside. "You get to keep this place and your life. Keep it up. But next time I'm here, I would watch how you talk to me. You don't want to piss me off. Arat is in charge. See you next week," Simon says before he walks away.

Carol nods as he leaves, and she looks at Arat. "Can we talk?" Carol asks her. Arat stares at her for a moment before she nods as they walk inside Carol's office. Carol shuts the door. "Does Simon know?"

"Does Simon know what?" Arat asks.

"That you let Negan go," Carol says. Arat's eyes widen as Carol withdraws her gun and aims it at her. "If you yell or anything, I will kill you. I just wanna talk, sit," Carol tells the woman, who nods as she takes her weapons off and sets them down.

"How do you know that?" Arat asks.

"Because I know Negan, Alden, D.J, Laura, Paula, Dwight, Sherry, Merle, Tina, and Gavin," Carol says.

"They're alive?" Arat asks.

"Yeah, how'd you get away with it?"

Arat lifts her wound and shows a bandage on her side. "I killed the other one# and shot myself, made it look like they fought out. I hate Simon, I trusted, Negan, but I didn't want to die."

"Good. I'm gonna lower this. You gonna keep your mouth shut?" Carol asks the woman, who nods. "Good, so here is my offer. You help me beat Simon."

"It doesn't matter what you do here. This place will never be able to take on the Saviors."

"It won't just be us. We need a spy. If you complete a task for me, I'll know I can trust you, and then I'll bring you in. I'll tell you about the plan, about Negan, all of it, and when it is all over, Simon will be dead, and Negan will lead again."

"What do you need?" Arat asks.

"A list of all the outposts that are being used," Carol says.

"I can get that," Arat says. "When I do this, you let me talk to, Negan."

"Deal," Carol says. Arat nods as she stands up, grabs her weapons, and leaves.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl was putting his stuff back in his room when there was a knock on his door. He looked at the door and saw Rosita standing by it. "Hey," He says. "I thought you would be home."

"Well, we don't have any empty houses, we're still getting them ready, and with everybody we've been bringing in, we're running out of room," Rosita says. "I'm going to offer Amanda my place with Eugene if you're okay with me coming to stay here."

"We've been sharing the same bed for a week now," Daryl says. "I don't got a problem with it. Bring your shit here. Got plenty of room in here."

Rosita smiles as she walks away. Daryl continues to put his stuff away. "Not bad, baby brother," He looks at Merle.

"Fuck off. Go get your shit in your room."

"Yes, sir," Merle says with a mock salute before he walks away.

T-dog's P.O.V

T-dog walked out of his house and saw Henry and Sam walking down the road. "They have been good for each other," T-dog looks at Glenn as he walks up to him.

"He mostly hung out with him brother," T-dog says.

"How did you end up here, at the Kingdom?" Glenn asks him.

"I was by myself for about six months after the farm. I was losing hope in finding all of you. I knew you guys were alive. I found Otis's truck on the highway, I just kept looking, and I actually walked all the way to Virginia. One day I got trapped by a herd in a car, and I thought it was the end, I was ready to end it, give up hope on living, finding the rest of you, and then I heard someone shout, and the walkers fell, it was Ezekiel, Jerry, and Richard, they saved me, took me back to the Kingdom, and I stayed because I owed them my life," T-dog says.

"We always kept an eye out for you, some kind of sign that you were alive, that you were out there. I knew you were alive."

"How?" T-dog asks.

"Because you're a survivor, T-dog. Everything that has happened since the farm to both of us. What we've had to do so we could survive. It doesn't matter. You're back with us. You're back where you belong."

T-dog nods as he pats his shoulder, and they continue to walk.

Rick's P.O.V

Rick looks at his door as there is a knock. He opens it and looks at Daryl. "I was looking for Carol. Glenn said come find you," Daryl said. Rick nods as he lets him inside.

"She's gone."

"What do you mean she's gone?" Daryl asks.

"When she raided the armory, she threatened Sam. She told him she would take him out to the woods, tie him to the tree and leave him to the walkers," Rick says.

"That ain't her, man," Daryl says.

"She admitted it to me. She killed Lizzie, Daryl. After Lizzie killed Mika, Jessie attacked her, and we decided that we would talk about it when you all came back. She left, and Glenn and I tried to find her. She left a message and told us to live our lives. She told me to tell you that this was her choice and she loved you," Rick says.

Daryl stares at him and leaves the house slamming the door shut.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl walked inside his house and walked up the stairs. He looked at Rosita, who was putting her things away as he grabbed his crossbow and bag. "Hey," Rosita says as she grabs his arm. "What's wrong?"

"Carol left," Daryl says. "I gotta find her."

"I know," Rosita says, making Daryl look at her. "Glenn told me a couple of minutes before you came. He told me to make sure you didn't leave."

"I need to find her," Daryl says.

"She doesn't want to be found," Rosita says softly. "You can't go out there. We need you here. A million things could go wrong. The Saviors could find you. You could run into a herd. Carol is strong, and she is smart. She'll be okay and when this is over. You and I will go looking, and we will stay out there until we find her. I promise," Rosita tells him. Daryl looks at her and nods.

"Okay," Daryl says.

Rosita nods as she kisses him. "Come on, I need help," Daryl nods as he starts to help her.

Thanks for reading. We are getting closer and closer to the start of the fight. Next chapter, the group will start to plan. Simon will find a group, and Daryl will deal with Carol being gone. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.