Chapter 15
Charlotte awoke the next morning and a groan escaped her lips; the right side of her face where Paula had struck her with the gun throbbed and it felt like it was the size of a basketball, and she could feel the beginnings of a dull headache starting behind her eye. She was sure that had she had an eye on that side, that it would have been swollen shut.
She was no wuss, and no stranger to pain, but fuck, this hurt, the last time she could remember hurting this bad was when she had her eye gouged out. Her stomach suddenly rolled with nausea and she hurried to the bathroom, hoping she could make it.
Daryl was waiting for her when she emerged about twenty minutes later.
"It's … the antibiotics, I've never been able to tolerate antibiotics very well." She said, slightly breathless as she made her way back to bed, suddenly feeling very tired. Daryl moved in front to stop her and look her over.
"I know, I look like hell." She said, looking anywhere but into his eyes.
"Naw, it's more than that. I think you're gettin' a fever." He said as he felt her head, and his suspicions were confirmed, she wasn't burning up, but her forehead was warmer than she should be.
"You … get back in bed." He said as he ushered her to the bed, and his worry deepened when she didn't even protest, she let out a ragged sigh and collapsed against the pillow as he covered her up.
"T-thanks." She said, she was shivering uncontrollably now, Daryl didn't know if it was from the fever, the pain from her injury, or maybe a combination of both.
"Go … do what you gotta do today, Daryl, I'll be fine, it ain't my first time being sick … or hurt." She said as he lay down in bed beside her.
"Ain't got nothin' to do today, anyway, Rick's all paranoid, doesn't want anyone goin' out for the next few days. He think's Negan and the Saviors are plannin' somethin'." Daryl said as he carefully pulled her close.
Charlotte didn't reply as she snuggled closer against him, but inside she was relieved he didn't have anything to do today; that he could just stay with her. She needed him, for the first time in her life since she could remember, she actually depended emotionally on another person outside her immediate family.
Daryl rested his head on top of hers, he knew her well enough now to know what she was thinking, he knew she hadn't wanted him to go, that she had just put on a front so he wouldn't have felt guilty if he had had somewhere to be today.
Her selflessness, her willingness to put others before herself, it was one of the things he loved most about her.
"It's okay, Pirate girl, I ain't goin' nowhere today, I know you don't want me to." He said.
A warm, fuzzy feeling flooded through Charlotte's body and she placed her small, dainty hands, calloused from years in this harsh world behind his head and pulled his face down into a sweet, sensual kiss.
"I love how you just … know what I am thinking, that I don't have to say it. Fuck that sounds super lame, doesn't it?" Charlotte laughed.
Daryl didn't reply, he just tightened his embrace around her.
"Anything?" Rick said to Maggie and Michonne.
"Naw, everything's been quiet, too quiet if you ask me." Michonne said.
Rick blew out a sigh. "I know, I don't like it, either." He said, craning his head up at the two women as he rested his hands on his hips; he hated this, it was like turning the crank on a Jack in the Box, you knew what was coming, you just didn't know when.
Michonne watched the old law man leave with a troubled look on her face.
"Negan's just biding his time, he's out there right now, watching us, taking stock of our weaknesses." She said as she turned back toward the darkening forest.
Maggie nodded darkly, she knew it too, she could feel their eyes on them, she involuntarily shivered at the thought of them looking through their rifle scopes at them right now, having them in the crosshairs.
"Do you think this group has weaknesses?" Maggie asked, because they seemed like they were pretty strong to her, they did take out a whole compound of fifty men or more, and that was just with half of their forces.
"Every group has its weaknesses, what sucks is that we ain't gonna see them, but they will." Michonne replied cryptically as she nodded to the forest.
Charlotte stirred when she felt the bed move, it was pitch black inside their house, she never knew exactly what time it was anymore, but if she had to guess, it was about nine at night.
"Tried not to wake you." Daryl's soft, gruff voice came from somewhere in the darkness.
"Watch duty?" Charlotte slurred as she turned toward the direction his voice had come from.
"Yeah, Rick's got every able body takin' shifts." Daryl said, Charlotte's vision finally adjusted enough for her to see his scruffy outline, backlit against what little ambient light filtered in through the window, which wasn't much since tonight was the first night of the new moon.
"Still feel like shit?" Daryl asked, his voice laced with concern as he sat down next to her on the bed.
"Yeah, but at least I ain't tossin' my cookies anymore." Charlotte said as she rubbed her forehead.
Though, that might also be because she hadn't eaten anything substantial in four days, too. Daryl hesitated, his intense blue eyes strangely visible in the darkness.
Sensing his inner turmoil, Charlotte put her hand over his.
"Just go, Daryl. Rick needs every able person he can get, I'll be fine, I promise. It'll take more than a little bug to kill my tough old ass." She said as she managed a smile, which was lopsided, due to the swelling in her face.
"Besides, you know me, I'm always packin'." She said as she slipped her desert eagle out from under her pillow.
Daryl chuckled. "You're one bad ass chick, ya' know that?" he said as he brushed the hair out of her face.
"So I have been told, now get your ass out of here." She ordered.
"Hey, china man, how's everything?" Daryl said as he and Rick came to relieve Glenn and Carl.
"Quiet, just like it's been every night." Glenn said as he and Carl handed Daryl and Rick their rifles and binoculars.
"Just be careful, dad, I hate how quiet it's been, I have a terrible feeling something's going to happen." Carl said as he put a hand on his father's shoulder.
"I know son, I do too." Rick said as he blew out a sigh.
"You two go and get some sleep, eh? Ya'll look like hell." Daryl quipped.
Glenn and Carl laughed and shook their heads in response as they headed off towards their respective houses.
Charlotte awoke with a start in the quiet darkness drenched in a cold sweat, from both the fever, and from the nightmare she had been having. She couldn't even remember what it had been about, exactly, she had had so many of them since all of this shit started that they all seemed to run together.
Suddenly, her keen ears picked up the sounds of a commotion outside, so she hadn't been just dreaming it after all, adrenaline suddenly coursed through her and she reached for her desert eagle at her side.
It was then she felt the cold steel of a pistol pressed at her temple, and the metallic click of a hammer being cocked echoed through the silent bedroom.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, missy. Please don't make me splatter your pretty brains all over this bed, that's not how I want to do it, but I will if you make me." She recognized the voice as Negan's.
"My, my, you're a sight for sore eyes, aren't you?" He said as he shone his flashlight in her face and looked her over with surprisingly gentility.
"You have your people to thank for that." She replied, her tone cold and callus, her gaze never wavering from his.
"Well, they had their reasons. Now get dressed, we're going on a little stroll." Negan replied.
As the battle outside raged on, Rick, his group, and the Alexandrians were gaining the upper hand against the saviors, who had once again, grossly underestimated their adversary.
Rick, Daryl, Glenn, Michonne and Abraham had broken off into a group and were taking out Saviors in rapid succession. Suddenly, Abraham stopped in his tracks so abruptly that the others bumped into him.
"Oh … shit!" He cursed, Rick followed his gaze and his stomach came to reside in his feet as panic rose in him.
It was Negan standing on one of their guard platforms … and he was holding Charlotte hostage; Rick didn't have much of a chance to think, however because he had to grab Daryl as he let out a bellow like an angry bull and made to charge towards Negan in a blind rage that would have certainly resulted in both his and Charlotte's deaths.
Negan put his fingers to his lips and gave a long shrill whistle; everyone grew silent and turned toward him, the Saviors did so because of loyalty, the Alexandrians did so because they were afraid of what would happen to their friend if they didn't.
"Behold what I have here!" He said, his voice taking on a dramatic air as he shoved Charlotte in front of him. The mere sight of this man's hands on her drove Daryl mad with rage and it now took the combined efforts of Rick and Abraham to hold him back as he writhed and twisted like an angry animal and screamed various obscenities at Negan and what he was going to do to him if he harmed her.
"Now …" Negan said as he walked casually down the stairs of the tower with Charlotte in front of him; Charlotte, too sick and weak to fight back, had no other choice but to allow him to lead her around like a captive animal on display.
He slowly and deliberately sauntered up to Rick, his hand on Charlotte's shoulder, guiding her; he stopped, leaving about ten feet of distance between them.
"You and your group have cost me a lot over these last few months." He said as he pointed his bat, Lucille at Rick. "And the time has come for you to pay up." He added as he pushed Charlotte onto her knees in front of him.
"Take me instead, you asshole. If you gotta kill someone, kill ME!" Daryl bellowed as he fought against Rick and Abraham's hold.
A sickeningly charming smile crept its way across Negan's face. "Now why would I ever do that? I have been watching your group for a while, I know what she means to you, that you love her. So it makes more sense to leave you alive so you can replay this event in your mind every day for however long you have left on this hell on earth." He said with a chuckle, his eyes twinkling cruelly as he raised the bat above Charlotte's head.
Charlotte's gaze met Daryl's and she mouthed 'I love you' to him as tears began to stream down her face. Daryl's legs gave out, and he fell to his knees, almost pulling Rick and Abraham down with him, the woman he loved was going to be beaten to death right in front of him and there was nothing he could do.
"NO!" The word came out as a strangled cry as hot tears of pain and anguish streamed down his handsome face.
Charlotte shook her head in despair as she averted her gaze from his, unable to bear seeing him in so much pain, she couldn't believe this was how it was going to end for them, and her heart ached for the pain Daryl was going to endure. she blew out a breath, closed her eyes, and waited for the impact of Negan's bat against her skull, knowing it would probably be a slow and painful death.
"WAIT!" a voice rang out over the crowd, he was Glenn.
"Take me instead, kill me. I am an important member of the group, I have been with them since the beginning, my death would be as equally as painful as hers, maybe even more." He said as he strode forward without an inkling of hesitation, his face was stony and without emotion.
"Glenn, no!" Maggie said, tears streaming down her face as she tried to stop him, he turned to her.
"I'm sorry, Maggie, but I have to do this, for Daryl and Charlotte, and for our baby. If this is what it's going to take to being about a truce, then so be it. Remember, I love you, I will always love you, and if it turns out that there is a heaven, I'll wait for you there, no matter how long it takes." He said as he gave her one final kiss before walking up to Negan.
"The husband of the pregnant wife! Yes, yes, I do like this better indeed!" He said as he hauled Charlotte up and pushed her toward Daryl, who wasted no time enveloping her in a protective embrace.
Rosita put her arms around Maggie's shoulders as she sobbed hysterically.
"Don't think this is personal, it's just business." Negan hissed into Glenn's ear as he smashed his head with swing after vicious swing from Lucille.
Maggie couldn't watch and buried her face in Rosita's shoulder, sobbing while the rest of the group looked on, too horrified to look away.
"Let this be a lesson to you who the real ramrod is around here." He said as he pointed Lucille, now dripping with Glenn's blood at Rick, who held his gaze as angry tears streamed down his weathered face.
Negan then turned and left without another word, his Saviors obediently followed.
Rick's trembling hand hovered over his 357, wanting so badly to avenge Glenn's death here and now, but the rational voice advised against it and his hand dropped to his side.
Maggie dropped to her knees next to Glenn's body, sobbing uncontrollably.
Through his stupor of grief and thirst for revenge, Rick felt someone nudge him, he turn to see Abraham, who jerked his head toward Glenn's body, Rick nodded in understanding and they both stepped forward. Through her own tears, Rosita moved a sobbing Maggie out of the way as Rick and Abraham picked up his body as gently as they possibly could and carried him toward the cemetery.
Everyone stood around the fresh grave in Alexandria's small cemetery, as the first rays of light dawned over the mountains; the morning was oddly beautiful, rays from the sunrise painted a stunning mosaic of various pinks, oranges and yellows across the mountain sky.
Deanna stepped forward and cleared her throat.
"I didn't know Glenn as well as some of you here, but I do know that he was a good man, he always volunteered to go out on scouting missions with my sons because he knew that it made me feel better knowing that he, or Daryl was with them. Now I have talked with Maggie, and she wanted to read some verses from the bible, but, regrettably, it was too painful for her, so she asked me if I would do it." She said as she dug a small bible out of the pocket of her coat and cleared her throat.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord." She finished as she closed the small bible and tucked it away.
Various members of Alexandria, and members of Rick's group did signs of respect as dictated by their followed faith before the crowd gradually started to disperse for the day in lieu of their scheduled activities and duties. Death did not stop the earth from turning, it carried on, and so must they, as well.
Maggie was the last to leave; she lingered at Glenn's grave, silent tears streaming down her face. Michonne came up behind her and put her arm around her shoulders.
"Come on, girl, I have a shitload of things to do today, and I could use the help, and you could use the distraction instead of sittin' in that empty house all by yourself." She said, Maggie nodded numbly as she allowed herself to be led away, but not before pausing to lay a Cherokee rose against Glenn's headstone.
Notes: and there you have it, folks, another volume is complete! I decided to end this volume here partly because I will be getting super busy in the coming spring and summer months, and I don't know when I will be able to write again, I also don't want them to get too terribly long, not like the first one, which was over seventy chapters! Wow! Since then, I have tried to make them shorter, so they are more reader friendly.
Thank you to everyone who followed, faved, and reviewed this series so far, you guys rock! Like I said this is NOT the end, not by a long shot, I just will be taking a hiatus for a while, maybe work on some of my other stories that I have been grossly neglecting.
Until next time!