Chapter 11-The day before

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl woke up the next day and saw Rosita lying on the couch, staring up at the wall. "Hey," He says softly, making her look at him.

"Hey," She says as she throws her legs over the couch. "Sorry about last night."

"Don't be," Daryl says. "You doing okay?"

"No, he just left, Daryl. After everything we've been through, he just left. The reason why hurts more than anything."

"What'd he say?" Daryl asks her.

"He told me that I wasn't the only woman left and left," Rosita says. Daryl stays silent for a minute before he stands up. "What are you doing?"

"Don't worry about it. Stay here," Daryl tells her as he leaves the house. Daryl walks to Sasha's house and knocks on the door. He waits a minute before the door opens, and Abraham looks at him. Before he can speak, Daryl punches him in the face. Abraham stumbles back and wipes the blood from his lip as Sasha stares at the two men.

"I deserved that," Abraham says. "Can we talk outside?"

Daryl nods as Abraham walks outside and shuts the door. "I should do a whole lot more to you."

"I handled that wrong. I'll admit that, but I didn't know what else to do," Abraham tells him as he sits down. "I don't love her, Daryl. At least not the way she loves me."

"So you go to the first girl who gives you some attention?" Daryl asks him.

"It isn't like that," Abraham tells him as he stands up. "I feel something for her, stronger than Rosita."

"You're gonna to apologize to her and tell her the same thing you told me. Tell her the truth, at least. You owe her that. Do it before this run," Daryl tells him before he leaves.

Rick's P.O.V

Rick found Ron by the pond staring at it. The teenager saw him and got up to leave. "Stay," Rick says. "I think it's about time you and I had a talk."

"Just because you're with my Mom doesn't mean I need to like you," Ron growls.

"It doesn't, but we need to talk, Ron. Sit," Rick tells him firmly. The teenager glares at him before he sits down. Rick sits down beside him. "Your Dad was an asshole, Ron."

"He didn't deserve to die," Ron tells him.

"He killed Reg. He had to die. He would have killed more," Rick says. "While we were on the road, we ran into a group of men, I killed one of them a while back, and they were hunting me. They found me. They were going to kill me and rape Carl and Michonne before they killed them," Ron stares at Rick in shock before Rick continues to speak. "We killed them because we had to. Because they were a threat, and so was your Dad. He was a threat, to Alexandria, to your Mom, and to you and Sam. There are people in this world that shouldn't be alive, those men and your Dad were some of them. I don't care if you like me but accept that, and if you want, I'm still willing to teach you how to survive," Rick tells him. He pats his shoulder and stands up before he walks away, leaving Ron to his thoughts.

Merle's P.O.V

Merle walks downstairs and into the kitchen, where Rosita is making a pot of coffee. "You and my brother, do you dirty?" Merle asks with a smirk.

"No, we didn't, asshole, I needed a friend, and he was there for me," Rosita answers. Merle nods as he sits down.

"How long have you known my brother?" Merle asks.

"A couple of weeks," Rosita answers.

"But you came to him first? After the big guy left you?" Merle asks.

"Yeah, because I don't trust anybody more than your brother, here and out in that shit," Rosita answers as she looks at him. "You'll see during this run. Nobody is better than Daryl out there. He's the person you want watching your back, and you'll see how good of a leader he's become."

Merle doesn't say anything as the door opens, and Daryl walks inside. "What did you do?" Merle asks him.

"Punched him," Daryl tells him as he looks at Rosita. "Why don't you grab what you need for the run and bring it here? You can stay here tonight."

"Okay, thanks," Rosita says as she leaves the house.

"You ready for tomorrow?" Daryl asks Merle, who nods.

Abraham's P.O.V

Abraham sat on Rosita's porch and looked at her as she walked up the stairs. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Please, I'll leave right after I'm done," Rosita crosses her arms and nods. "I shouldn't have done what I did last night. You deserve better, Rosita. I'm sorry," Abraham says before he walks past her.

"Did anything happen between you two in that building?"

"No, nothing happened last night. I just know that I don't have the same feelings as you do," Abraham tells her. Rosita nods before Abraham walks away, and she goes inside.

Rick's P.O.V

Rick walked into his house and looked at Carl, who was putting his hat on. He had his coat on and put his gun in his holster. "Where are you going?" Rick asks.

"Out with Enid. We'll be safe."

Rick nods. "Carl, if you wanna go outside of the walls, I won't stop you. Just don't go too far," Rick tells Carl, who nods.

"I'll be safe," He says as he goes to the door and opens it. He looks at Carol, who is waiting. "Hey, Carol."

Carol smiles at the boy before she walks inside and shuts the door. "Michonne," She calls out. After a moment, she looks at Rick. "We need to talk."

Rick nods as they walk into the kitchen and sit down. "What is it, Carol?"

"What happened to the plan?" Carol asks him.

"The plan?" Rick asks, and then he realizes what she is talking about. "We were wrong, Carol."

"No, we weren't, Rick. These people are weak. If that herd had gotten in here, they would have died, if we weren't here, they would have died, and they will die to the Saviors," Carol says.

"We can show them how to survive. You know we can," Rick says as he pushes his chair back and stands up.

"We are better off taking this place," Carol tells him.

"No, we're not! We were wrong, Carol. Even if I wanted to, do you think we would be able to? That Glenn, Maggie, Abraham, Sasha, Tara, Noah, Rosita, Eugene, Gabriel Carl, or Michonne would stand with us," Rick growls.

"Daryl would. He'll follow you," Carol says.

"No, he won't. He's getting closer to Deanna every day. He already cares about these people, this place. He's finally seeing this place as a home, and I won't take that away from him, Carl, or anybody else. We are working with Deanna. This is our home, and they are our people now. I don't want to hear anything else about it," Rick tells her. Carol stays silent for a second before she leaves.

Glenn's P.O.V

Glenn finds Daryl as he is walking toward Rick's house. "Hey, can we talk for a minute? About the run," Glenn says, making Daryl stop and nod. "I don't know if it's smart for you to take Negan and Merle."

"Why not? They both know what they are doing out there."

"I don't trust them, Daryl. Neither should you, I know Merle is your brother, but you haven't seen him in a long time, and he was one of Negan's men and Negan, come on, man. You heard the stories," Glenn says.

"I don't trust, Negan. I don't need to trust him. He's going to fight for this place because he knows that if we lose, he will die, and Merle, he'll be fine after he gets a few days away from Rick. You don't need to trust him, either. I just need you to trust me."

"Of course, I trust you, Daryl. Okay, just be careful."

"I will," Daryl tells him as he pats his shoulder and walks away.

Noah's P.O.V

Noah knocked on Deanna's door and looked at her as she opened the door. "What can I do for you, Noah?" Deanna asks as she steps outside.

"I've been reading Reg's journal," Noah tells her as he sits down. "I had some ideas I wanted to share with you."

"Okay," Deanna says.

"I think we should expand, make room for more housing and a farm. As well as a training zone. Somewhere for people to learn how to shoot and fight walkers. We should clear the sewers underneath of walkers, and we can use them as an escape route if needed. We need to make it harder for people to climb the walls, as the wolves did," Noah tells her. Deanna smiles and nods.

"I think those are great ideas, Noah. Let me talk with Tobin and see what we can do. Maybe while we are on the road, you can draw up some plans," Deanna tells him with a grin on her face.

"Yeah, I can do that," Noah says as he stands up.

"Thank you, Noah. For keeping Reg's memory alive. He would be proud," Deanna tells the young man, who nods as he walks away.

T-dog's P.O.V

T-dog stood in his room packing a bag. He looked at the door and saw Benjamin standing there. "You know, you are great at playing the pissed-off teenager," T-dog tells him.

"I should be coming."

"I need you here, and they will need you on the run to D.C. Also, you have to stay to watch your brother," T-dog tells him. "Look, I don't know who will come back from this run. I also don't trust Negan, Merle, or any of the saviors. I want to be there to help Daryl if he needs it."

Benjamin nods as he sighs. "What happens after all this is over? What do we do to them?"

"I don't know," T-dog answers.

Rick's P.O.V

Rick opened his door and looked at Ron, who was standing on the other side of it. "These men who are coming after us, what will they do to us if they win."

"If you're alive. They'll probably make you work for them if they get your Mom. She'll wish she was dead," Rick answers honestly. "But that's not going to happen. We'll beat them."

"When do we start?" Ron asks him.

"Tomorrow, after Daryl leaves," Rick tells Ron, who nods as he walks away.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl set his crossbow down by the couch and sat down as Rosita walked in with Merle behind her. "You can take my bed," Daryl tells her.

"I'm not taking your bed."

"You are, only for the night. We need to get some rest," Daryl tells her. Rosita sighs but nods as she walks upstairs, and Daryl looks at Merle. "Can we beat them?"

Merle looks at him and stays silent for a moment. "Yeah, baby brother. We can beat them," Merle says before he goes to his room, and Daryl lays down.

Simon's P.O.V

Simon sat in his room with a glass of whiskey and a plate of food in front of him. He grinned as he ate, and there was a knock at the door. "What?"

Jared walks into the room and looks at him. "We found something."

Thanks for reading. Next chapter, the group leaves for the prison. The planning for D.C starts, and we see how the Santuarcy is running under Simon and what they found. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.