Between the Thorns

Chapter 44

Daryl felt the tension slowly building inside him as they got closer and closer to Alexandria. Even though he knew exactly where they were going, he tried in vain to convince himself that Negan could be driving his army somewhere else. But once they pulled up outside the gates, Daryl couldn't lie to himself any longer. He climbed out of the large armored truck, gripping the large automatic gun in his hands. When he saw Rick on top of the wall, his stomach bottomed out. It wasn't seeing Rick specifically that caused the reaction, though it did feel surreal staring at the man across enemy lines. But it was the woman next to him that caused Daryl to feel like he wanted to turn and spill his breakfast all over the pavement.

Rick was shouldered up next to that wacko garbage dump woman. The one that Negan made a deal with and then fucked. She was doing a good job of pretending that she and Rick were a united front. But Daryl knew better. That woman's entire group was going to turn on Alexandria the moment Negan signaled them that the jig was up. Even with the junkyard group, Rick stood little chance of defeating the saviors. Not because Daryl didn't believe in the man. But because they were severely outgunned and outmanned. But without the other group's help, Rick stood no chance. None at all. Daryl was about to watch his friends and family be picked off like fish in a barrel. He knew he had to do something to stop this. Now.

Rick watched as Negan's caravan arrived, mentally keeping count of how many soldiers the man brought and how well they were armed. He was outgunned. Even with the scavengers. But he reminded himself that one brave man defending his home was worth ten paid soldiers. And of the detonator in Rosita's hand. They didn't have to defeat an entire army. They only had to kill one man. Negan. Unfortunately, it wasn't Negan that stepped forward and climbed into the truck bed in front of the gates.

"Daryl?"

Rick's mouth was gaped open in shock. He was trying to form cohesive words. But his mind was a swirl of conflicting emotions. There was no way in hell that Daryl had actually switched sides. That he was leading an army against them. There had to be another explanation. He was the reason they knew Negan was coming. He couldn't actually be ready to join the fight against them.

"Ya gotta stop this now," Daryl hollered. "While ya still have the chance. If you don't, yer gonna get a lot of people killed. Carl. Judith. I don't wanna see that shit. Enough is enough Rick!"

Rick could hear the undertone of fear and desperation in Daryl's pleas. He was worried that the man knew something he didn't. Rick exchanged a worried glance with Rosita. She shook her head. If she blew the bomb, Daryl would die. They needed Daryl to move. And for Negan to take his place on the flatbed.

"I wanna talk to Negan," Rick demanded. He watched as Daryl shifted he weight from one foot to the other, letting out an audible sigh before he spoke again.

"I am Negan," he declared.

Rick signaled to Rosita. She hesitated for another moment, looking at Daryl with heartbreak written all over her face. Then she stepped behind the metal wall. Rick and the rest of his people ducked down, shielding themselves from the blast they thought was coming. When Rick looked up, he was staring down the barrel of a gun. The scavengers double crossed him.

"We had a deal!" Rick huffed. The woman shrugged, shaking her head when Rick started to reach for his gun.
"Made a better deal," she countered, flashing him a wicked grin.

Since there was obviously no more threat of any explosion, Negan and his other lieutenants joined Daryl at the head of the convoy. The man started up with his standard demands. He wanted all their guns. He wanted Rick to choose someone to die by his hand. He wanted powdered lemonade and a pool table. Not because he needed these things. But just because he wanted to prove he could take whatever he wanted. Do whatever he wanted. Daryl was hiding it well, but Rick saw the hurt on his face when Negan accused them of being willing to kill him. And Rick realized at that moment that Daryl must have known that Jadis and her people were going to turn on him. That's why he was trying to stop the fight before it started. When Negan had two of him men move a tarp, revealing a coffin underneath, Rick felt his stomach drop.

"You don't like Daryl anymore," Negan mocked. "...but I know you still like Carol. I like her too. I don't want to have to kill her to make my point. Just because she rode her in a coffin, doesn't mean she has to leave in one. So why don't you all go ahead and drop your guns! Right fucking now!"

"No one drops anything!," Rick hollered. His people were being held at gunpoint. But at least they were still armed. He prayed for a miracle as he stalled for time. There had to be some way he could get his people out of this without anyone being killed.

"Let me see Carol!," Rick yelled. "I need to know that she's alright." The fact that they had the woman shut up in a coffin was unsettling enough. He was worried that if he didn't surrender, Negan might bury her alive.

Negan wrapped his bat against the hard surface of the coffin a few times. Then he leaned in close and pulled the coffin open. The man stepped back, shrieking in pain and shock as he fell down onto the bed of the truck. When he eased the door to the coffin open, Carol popped out like a deranged jack in the box with a knife in her hand. Negan managed to deflect her blow. She was going for his throat. She missed that. But she didn't miss completely. Her knife was buried in his shoulder, immobilizing his dominant arm. The coffin was resting on the edge of the flatbed. When Carol lurched out, she managed to stab Negan. But she also sent herself flinging and flipping over the bottom half of the coffin top and down off the truck onto the pavement. She landed hard, her left leg bending the wrong way with a sickening crunch.

The moment Negan screamed, all hell broke loose. Gunfire rang, ricocheting off Alexandria's metal walls. With all the backfire and screaming, and the scavengers mixed into both groups and looking out for their own interests, the battle was chaotic. Daryl fought his way around the back of the truck, trying to find a way to get to Carol without opening himself up to be fired on. After he learned that Rosita and Rick were ready to blow him to bits to win this battle, he wasn't sure if he trusted his people not to shoot at him. And even if he did, there was still a chance that he might be caught in the crossfire and shot by accident.

Daryl rounded the truck, rolling and sliding under it. He saw Carol lying on the ground and he crawled towards her, dragging her under the truck with him despite her howls of pain. She was alive. And that's what mattered.

"Leave me," she huffed. "Get out of here while you can. While Negan's here, you could be getting those girls out of the Sanctuary."

"Don't be fuckin' stupid Carol," he cursed, moving his hands down over her body to check how badly she was injured. Her leg felt like it was broken in a few spots. But that was nothing a good doctor couldn't fix. He was going to take her back to the Sanctuary with him and she'd be just fine. "I'm takin' ya to the doctor. They can fix yer leg right up."

"Can they fix this?," she asked, ripping the collar of her shirt to the side and revealing a fresh bite wound. One of Negan's soldiers was shot in the chest and fell next to her. She lost consciousness when she fell and woke up with the man's reanimated form already on top of her.

Daryl started to scream. It was a horrible gut wrenching sound. Tears were already falling from his eyes. "You can't leave me like this," she pleaded. "I don't want to be one of those things."

"No," he sobbed. "I can't. Please don't ask me ta do that."

"You can," Carol replied. She leaned back against the hard concrete. The pain in her leg suddenly meant nothing to her. Despite Daryl's objection, she could see that he had his knife in his hand. "I'm ready," she said, looking up at the man that ended up being the best friend she ever had in her life for the last time. "Don't pick Negan's side. Don't pick Rick's side. Pick your own side," she advised him with a soft smile. Daryl's hand was shaking. He took a deep breath. The battle was raging around them, shoots ringing out everywhere. And somewhere inside the walls, Daryl could swear he heard the roar of a large cat. He lifted his knife, plunging it down into Carol's head and making sure she would never become just another mindless shuffling monster. Then he rolled over onto his back and screamed.