I'm going to tell you guys right now that I've lost the will to write TWD fanfiction. I've been sitting on this beta edit from Siancore (thanks girl) for about two months now asking myself 'what the fuck am I doing, this is not fun anymore.' For those of you who follow/fav this story; YOU ARE THE VERY BEST OF THE BEST - THANK YOU!
This story is going on temporary hiatus, that is until I can find my happy and enjoy writing fanfiction again. eMMe
"The Sign"
Daryl was willing and able to leave and make the trip; he wanted to leave anyway, more now than ever before, because of the things he has seen the previous week. One simply could not un-see a person's flesh falling off on its own; it has been haunting his sleep and Daryl enjoys his sleep, when he finds the time. Besides, this is what Daryl does anyway: always ready to fight and always there when someone calls for help. He can just imagine what Rick is going through; he couldn't even remember the last time Rick had a full night's sleep.
Daryl left The Bandit Hunter on bike the same day they got word on Alexandria needing help; the ship wouldn't arrive for at least two maybe three days. There was no plan set in motion when he took fifteen men with him to make the trip back. The question they had asked Morales was why Screams of Lucille was still there. He could not give them an answer.
The wolf was careful with his kills; it was always take three each night and then leave quickly. They track it into the nearby forest but then lose the trail.
"Get as much Intel, kill as many of his men you can and we'll formulate a thorough plan when we arrive," Rick said before Daryl left.
They stopped once for a break and then rode on all through the night, arriving at the home of The Williams by midday. They settle their bikes in a neat row alongside the dirt path leading up to the house, which was also a few feet away from the dock.
'Feels like we never left.' Daryl thought as he glances out the water's edge. He faces the house again when he hears the front door open. It is The Williams; they are sophisticatedly dressed for the day. He watches as Tyrese and his sister, Sasha, walk down the path to greet them warmly. Tyrese gives him a firm handshake, "Thought it wouldn't be this soon to see you again but we are grateful."
"We came once we got word," Daryl answers, then glance over to Sasha, "Hello Ms. Williams."
Sasha smiles and walks up to Daryl, "Hello Mr. Dixon, it's been a while."
She sticks her gloved hand out expecting him to take it, but he does not. Daryl does the unexpected instead: he pulls Sasha into his arms and embraces her tightly. He inhales deeply, taking in her scent of the country air and lavender. This hug, this most public display of affection surprised not only the men, who tried to look busy, but Sasha too. It was what Sasha needed, considering the mess they have been dealing with the past week; both the werewolf prowling and killing just about everything in sight of an evening, and the tyrannical demands of the Saviors during the day.
Letting her go, Daryl looks up to see Morales standing off to the side and nods his head his way.
"Any chance we could get something to eat and someplace to clean up?"
"Sure," Tyrese answers as they lead them all into their home.
Upon entry, Daryl's stomach grumbles loudly as he smells something appetizing cooking on the stove.
Sasha chuckles. "How about we feed you guys first and then you can get cleaned up," she advises; the men around Daryl agree wholeheartedly.
The men spoke of the hellish week they had especially with young Grimes turning, not witnessing the turn but from the expression on Daryl there was no more talk of the week the ship crew had of that night.
Daryl faces Tyrese and Sasha, "Anything happen last night?"
They both shook their heads but Tyrese spoke up, "Nothing, it was quiet but we have received a new set of demands nailed to our front door. Saw it when I went to call on my fiancé."
"Show me the demand," Daryl instructs as he tapes Abe to hand him a bowl. There was a slight scraping of chairs so there was a place for Daryl to sit and he begins spooning the meal on to his plate.
Tyrese leaves the room and returns a moment later with the note and hands it to Daryl to read it He frown a few times while reading the demands he slides the paper over to everyone else to look over.
After finishing his meal, Tyrese motions to the very back of the house, "We have two bathrooms in the back and three upstairs. We'll get toiletries out for you guys."
"I'll have Daryl use the one off the property," Sasha added. A few of the men exchange looks that Tyrese could not have missed; with his brow creased, he purses his lips together.
"Hey," Daryl raises his hand in the air and looks around the room, "Forgive them for the crude like looks, Ty. I am not going to wait around for one of these sorry asses to finish cleaning up; we have work to do and little time to do it."
Tyrese says nothing for a moment, before offering a simple, "Accepted."
It took a lot for Sasha not to roll her eyes and give an exasperated sigh; her brother knows how deeply she feels for Daryl. Having been so independent and single, Sasha did things her way; always has and always will. She did not see the big deal in leading Daryl off the property. Sasha gets up from her seat and Daryl follows; they head toward the very back of the house.
They walk side by side in silence, passing a small garden; Sasha stops and plucks a single flower, before continuing on. Her trail got smaller with Daryl having to follow behind her. He takes the opportunity to take in the sight before him and smiles when he realizes that she was wearing a gold color dress. It seems she favors that color very much and the dress did very little to conceal what was obviously there. He never understood the complexity of women's fashion, but he was never one to complain about it either. Daryl nearly collides into her when she stops in front of a shed. Upon entry, it was like a mini home: it had a tiny kitchen and a table with a single chair.
"What's this?"
Sasha shrugs, "It's just another place to clean up," She then motions to the back, "Beyond those curtains is everything you need; hurry up."
The shower system was different from the ship, it wasn't a pulley cord system, but a water well crank. When Daryl was done he had expected to see her still in the room, but instead saw her shadow through the shed door.
"Clean clothes waiting for me and in my size too, how did you manage that? You really didn't have too," Daryl says as he makes his way out the door, dressed in the garments she had provided; his worn clothing rolled and tucked under his arm. He places his goggle around his neck. He does nothing to his hair, given its short length.
Sasha leans into him and smiles secretly, "I know, let's just say I pay attention to everything. Come, I want to show you something and this you will love."
Daryl follows her around the shed and watches in silence as she remove a board from the wall of the shed,she reach inside to turn the handles, Sasha steps back and pulls back the artificial soil from the earth; hidden below was a door that was open. He once again follows her lead but takes a hold of her hand to help her walk down the flight of stairs; he is worried her heels may give her cause to stumble and fall.
Sasha knew where she was stepping, but thanks Daryl for aiding her. They make their way to the very underbelly of the earth and, to his wonder and amazement; he was staring at an arsenal of weapons.
Daryl walks around the room grinning the whole time. "This is nice, really nice. A woman after my own heart," Daryl says; he then realizes it was too late to take it back so he plays it off as he walks the room. He pulls out a few random weapons and glances over them; he notices a few were dated but still good.
"What is that smile doing on your face? A momentous moment indeed Mr. Dixon, no scowls, not even frowns." Sasha teasing replied.
Daryl chuckles and glances her way, before looking back at the wall, "Give me a second," Daryl places his hand on his head, "I was really worried back there, about not bringing enough fire power, but we can do a lot of damage with what you have in storage."
"Thought you should know where we stored our weapons," Sasha says as she places her hand on her favorite sniper rifle that Jesus personally modified just for her, "There was more but we supplied the Alexandrian community."
"Good." Daryl would have done the same.
"Come, we should head back. My brother will think something other than what I said I would do is happening. I told him nothing was going to happen considering how much of a prude you are."
Daryl balks at that lie, "What? That is not a very nice thing to say Ms. Williams, I was being a gentleman. Had you been a man…" Daryl voice trails off.
"Yes, had I been a man, you'd what? Sock me in the jaw," Sasha laughs she walks up to Daryl, "I gave you so many hints too; I knew you were interested but…"
"You are correct, I would sock you and I did get your hints especially from the words you wrote in that letter, I responded to that letter as a gentleman should do."
Sasha was surprised, "You sent me a letter?"
"Of course I did. I kept replaying what you whispered in my ear over and over again, I had to write to you."
Sasha smiles, "Good, it was meant to be memorable."
"Ms. Williams, let's test this prude theory of yours. No one is here, why don't you say what you whispered in my ear out loud."
Well what a predicament Sasha had placed herself in, 'He thinks now I am the prude, She thought, Well he's wrong.
Looking him straight in his eyes, Sasha had repeated what was whispered in his ear.
"Daryl Dixon if only we had a little more time together, all the things we can show and do for each other. Could you hurry back when the need calls for it."
Daryl raises his arms in the air, "Well, here I am."
Oh the shame, the scandal, especially being along with this man but who could possibly know about this moment right here, Sasha knew she would take this moment to the grave and she knows Daryl would too.
Sasha angles her head and leans forward and kisses Daryl on the lips. Daryl wasn't ready but he quickly recovers and wraps his arms around her; he returns the kiss.
'Such soft lips.' He thought, probing her mouth open with his tongue; she breaks the kiss and steps back.
"It's evident that I am not a prude considering how good it was getting," Daryl smiles good-naturedly.
Sasha laughs, "Agreed, you're not a prude and I apologize for that."
They banter the whole way back to the house but the kiss was still on both of their minds. Everyone was waiting for them and once again Daryl got serious.
"It's time we pay a visit the Alexandrians," Daryl says to the group.
They were standing at the very front of the community center of Alexandria and again, Daryl is tasked with talking to a group and he still hates doing this shit. Again, all eyes eagerly watching him and waiting for the entire problem to be solved.
Carter introduces him as the voice of the community which got both Tyrese and Sash raising their brows, and he began to list all the Saviors' demands.
Tyrese leans in to whisper in Daryl's ear, "WE don't even know him."
"They want all of our livestock and our recent harvest of barley and hops. We are known for our beer across Virginia, we need that barley and hops," Carter voiced.
Daryl was hoping it would end soon, but then Carter got in to talking about their beer again and then he had to stop him.
"Look, the whole point of this meeting is NOT to supply this group with anything. Captain Grimes will be here in a day or two along with Captain Rhee and until then does anyone here know how to defend themselves, or use any kind of fire power like a ray-gun or maybe some aether?
"I took up boxing in my youth, but I gave that up a long time ago," a man shouted in the back.
"What is this aether?" another shouted.
"We can fight and we're really good with guns, knives too," a woman to the very right of Daryl said.
"Good, what's your name?"
"I'm Rosita." She then proceeds to introduce the other ladies, "And this is Jaqui, Holly and Frances."
Daryl tips his head at them, "Nice to meet you ladies."
"Oh the pleasure is all mine, handsome." Holly smiles warmly at Daryl.
Daryl clears his throat and could clearly see Sasha frowning at the one name Holly.
Daryl faces the crowd again, "Is there a doctor in the house?"
"Why? Are you sick?" Carter hollers back, "Oh God, they sent a sick man to us." Carter looks around frantically; it was obvious he was trying to get the room to panic. Instead, they look to Daryl anxiously.
Daryl sighs, "Carter, would you please shut your mouth. I am asking if you have a doctor because most doctors have aether on hand or a really sophisticated chemistry lab. Does this doctor have those things, why is the doctor not here?"
The room got eerily quiet.
Daryl face Sasha and Tyrese and saw they were quiet and thoughtful, "What, what happened?"
"He was killed by the werewolf on the first night," Tyrese said.
'Great,' Daryl thinks.
"Well, show me where the recently departed worked?"
Holly spoke up eagerly, "I'll show you!"
"No, you may not," Sasha shakes her head, "Unless you know exactly what Mr. Dixon is looking for. One wrong move and that liquid can do some serious damage. I've seen it happen; it can even melt the bones off that pretty face of yours," Sasha says slowly and sweetly, "Terrible scene, I had to leave right away." Sasha covers her mouth while she shakes her head.
Daryl did not know Sasha was aware of this chemical and will talk to her later about it.
"As co leader of this community and for yours and everyone safety we will show him the doctors' lab," Sasha added.
Holly was about to say something but changes her mind. 'Daryl most certainly has his handsfull,' Tyrese thought as he looks at his sister trying to keep a straight face.
"Well that settles it, any chance I can get you four armed and station at the gate, we need eyes and this place doesn't haven't any."
"Yes, where do need us?" Jaqui asks.
Daryl faces the community, "We are not giving this group anything," Daryl points to the crew of men behind him, "These men know how to kill and protect but they cannot do it by themselves. You are going to listen to them. T-Dog, Axel, show these ladies where exactly they'll be stationed."
Daryl then faces Carter, "Carter, show Abe the supplies room; we will need everyone in this room with a weapon, no one walks around here empty handed. Everyone meet back here in an hour so Abe and Oscar can properly show you how to use them."
Negan wakes up bright and early, feeling light and relaxed after a turn. He is in good spirits; he props his foot on the table while reading the list of hauls they received from the surrounding communities. It was looking really good until he saw gold.
'Gold? I'll be damn?' he thought. He lowers the paper so all they could see were his eyes and glares at Dwight, Arat and Simon. Then back at the piece of paper.
"Which one of you brought me gold?"
Arat step forward, "That would be me sir."
Negan slams the paper on the desk, "I specifically ask for alcohol, provisions, livestock, weapons like ray guns, more livestock and money but this," Negan grins, "This is much better."
Arat beams.
"You two can learn a few things from Arat, I expect better from you, especially you Dwight. You brought me the smallest haul from this Alexandrian place. You're slipping."
Dwight says nothing and Negan allows it; he faces Arat again.
"Arat, you and I are going to pay a visit to Gregory today and send word to Alpha to meet us there as well. I haven't seen that sneaky bitch in a while and I need to know what she has been up too."
"Simon, I want you to visit Alexandria today; take everything from that place and burn it to the ground." Negan eyes Dwight, "You, you, you," Negan shakes his head while moving his index finger side to side and clicks his tongue, "What to do with you? I can't very well have you sitting on this ship doing nothing. You know what; you can come with me and Arat. You can learn a thing or two from her."
'Well at least he didn't remove my rank or throw me overboard or some shit like that.' Dwight thought, 'Still safe, still alive.'
Dwight sat quietly in the back while Negan did most of the talking during the drive to The Hilltop; it was in some contraption Gregory gifted to Negan in "good faith". Negan had laughed when he first saw the vehicle; he laughs even more now when he walks around the machine on four wheels and thought about scraping in.
"What the hell; let's see how this works."
And here they are, about to die in any moment. Arat did most of the responding while Negan swerves left, then swiftly to the right as he works the stick in front of him and pedals at the bottom of his feet.
'What the hell is this contraption?' Dwight thought, 'A death trap is what it is.'
Negan just laughs. Dwight can see the fear in Arat's face when she glances his way but continues to smile.
Dwight was beyond happy when he saw the hedges of The Hilltop in sight, Negan slows the contraption down then reaches for his bat between his leg and whacks a dead on the head. He then hands the bat to Arat so she clean it off.
They wait for the gate to open and Negan practically rides the machine right into several rose bushes at the front of the home of Gregory.
They walk right up to the door. Negan reaches for the knob just as it is opened by Gregory himself; he moves to the side to let them enter his home. Gregory was all smiles and so was Negan.
"I know how you love our social calls, Gregory, come, we need to talk." Negan raises Lucille and rest her over his shoulder; he wraps the other hand around Gregory's shoulder and motions him towards the veranda.
Negan unbuttons his dark waist coat, but doesn't remove it as he sits down; he props Lucille right next to him. Dwight leans against the pillars facing Gregory's vast property, while Arat takes a seat next to Gregory and across from Negan
Negan places his feet on the table in front of him, having no care of his dusty black boots making a mess on the clean surface before raising his arm to rest comfortably over his seat, "Alpha should be here shortly."
Gregory stiffens, "Alpha, Alpha is coming here?" Gregory reaches in his breast coat pocket for his handkerchief.
"Afraid of a little magic Gregory; she isn't going to hurt you." Negan laughs then reaches over and grabs the handkerchief from Gregory before throwing it to the ground, "Grow some balls. Now go fetch someone and have them bring us something to eat for lunch, and a nice refreshing drink. And none of that mini sandwich shit, I want something hearty and filling."
'But it's still morning, what is in the kitchen that is already cooked?' Gregory thought; he stood up immediately, leaving them to relax on the veranda.
Gregory returns with a trolley cart and Alpha in tow, and she was dressed impeccably. This takes Negan by surprise.
'Probably thought I dressed up for him', Alpha muses and tries not to show any expression of disgust.
Alpha has returned from her morning in Downtown; she doesn't venture out from her confines since she is well known throughout the parts as a witch; she has never denied it. She was dressed in her signature color: green. Even her gloves were green. The only thing different was the lace hat on her red head, it was a bright yellow.
Negan stands up and tries greeting Alpha expressively, by wrapping his arms around her. Appalled by such a brash behavior, and the fact that he would even try touching her, Alpha raise both her arms up and pushes Negan off from her, nearly causing her to fall over his shadow number two: Arat.
Alpha pushes herself off Arat and scowls at Negan, "Don't you ever do that again, honor my space, Negan." She then shakes herself off and whispers a few words before taking a seat closes to his shadow number one: Dwight, "Why do you provoke me so?"
"I want to see how much power you can release, come on, give us a taste," Negan says; he eggs her on hoping to get some kind of reaction, smiling the whole time.
'I could just kill him but then I won't know the guarantee of what is rightly mine, oh, how I hate him, I should kill him.' Alpha thought.
She ignores his taunts. Not getting her to take the bait, Negan faces Gregory, "Well?! Are you going to serve us or am I to do it myself? Dwight go help the man and pour us all a drink."
"Oh right, sorry," Gregory stands up again and lifts the tray of the pork; he begins to cut into the tender meat, making sure the portions were large. Once satisfied, he removes plates from the bottom of the cart and spoon cut pieces of veggies and mixed greens next to the pork and serves a plate to Alpha and Arat first. Negan observe this quietly, and even thanks Gregory for his plate. Once everyone is served, they all eat in silence keeping their own thoughts company.
'Why won't Alpha just kill him, is she even a witch, witch my ass' Gregory thought, 'or why hasn't this Rick Grimes fellow killed him, if he had just join me on the veranda for a drink and give me a chance to know him and simply just save me from getting my hands dirty.'
'Where is he hiding her?" Alpha thought, 'if I can just get a piece of information, maybe one of his shadows can tell me something.'
'This meal is a joke, you're all a joke every single one of you. Especially you Dwight, so close to him and won't even try to stick a piece of silver in his side.' Arat thought, 'coward, hell I'm a coward too. Now after this I'm going to have to stay with Negan in town watching and probably partaking in things I have no business doing.'
'Join me be a part of an elite team I call the Saviors he said, I can only count on you he said, pay those boys to lure that Carl Grimes he'll be fine he said, What a fucking mess you got yourself in Dwight, Dwight thought, 'haven't seen my wife in months, now he's talking about London, going even much further away from home.
'Fuck! This one delicious piece of pork, I should trade the cook Joe for his cook.' Negan thought, Ha I wonder if Alpha is trying to figure out how to obtain information on the where I hid her daughter's body. She'll never see her until I am good and done with her.'
Negan finishes his meal first and hands his plate over to Dwight, who barely touched his; he got comfortable in his seat and began his meeting.
"Listen, Gregory, I know you've been funneling money to your state senator and in turn this senator would help you in regards to connections, but things have been moving slow since we obtained those documents from that doctor down in Georgia. You need to think bigger, like from a global scale. What if I told you that you can do this? You sell this formula to the highest bidder and weare getting something in return. You find a chemist to test it out, make sure it works, and I will financially back it up, everything. Everybody wants to rule the world, so why can't we?"
Gregory wipes his mouth with his napkin and covers his half-eaten plate, "This will take a lot of money."
"Find a chemist and get the formula tested, if it works I'll fund you."
"If I do this, I want some kind of failsafe, something to protects me."
"Fuck no; funding you is your failsafe," Negan retorts, "Don't try growing a pair now."
"I have a few chemists in mind."
"Not a few, "Negan raise his index finger, "You just need one."
"Have you seen the formula? It will take weeks, months in fact, if one chemist were to work on it."
Negan sighs and reaches for Lucille, "Christ, get however many you need. I don't care, they're all dead once it's confirmed."
Gregory purses his lips and says nothing.
Negan then faces Alpha and raises his hand in the air, "Well?"
"Nothing new to report."
Negan glares at Alpha, "What do you mean nothing new to report?"
Placing the half empty plate on the coffee table, Alpha sits back and crosses her legs, "I told you everything I know in our last note."
"Yes, The Bandit Hunter left Virginia soon after getting Carl, but I need to know if he is dead. Is Rick dead?"
"I don't know."
"What the fuck do you mean by you don't know, you are practically my eyes on that fucking ship, so what do you mean by you don't know." Negan was getting upset.
"Like I said, I don't-."
Negan cuts her off while he grips the bat tighter, "And don't you fucking tell me I don't know again, I gave you one simple task, Alpha."
Alpha, feeling indifferent, eyes his bat, "You kill me and that animal you mysteriously know how to control won't be controlled anymore and that protection spell I cast, yes, gone too. And that precious silver bat you're holding, remember what silver can do to you. Don't forgot I have things over you too."
"I should still kill you!" Negan angrily shouts.
"Yes, do it Negan, do it." Alpha says egging him on the same way he tried provoking her on earlier.
Realizing what she was doing, Negan begins to laugh, shaking his index finger at her, "Soon Alpha, I promise."
"I cannot wait," she answers smugly.
Negan, annoyed that the second part of the meeting did not go well, stands immediately; he tucks Lucille under his arms and begins to button his coat, "Arat, Dwight, let's go."
Alpha stands, too, happy that the meeting went well for herG glancing down at her wrist, pieces of both Arat's and Dwight's hair is wrapped around her bracelet.
Down on his knees, Simon screams as he pulls the mini arrow out from the palm of his hand and drops it to the ground. Blood gushes from the wound; he closes his hand tightly to stop the flow. He looks up at the man and shouts in anger, "You'll pay for that."
"No, you'll pay for that," the man says as he picks up the dropped arrow, raises his arm again, and pierces his other hand with the same bolt, "And leave it where it is."
Simon feels a tingling first, followed by a painful burning sensation in his hand, "My hands are burning."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," The man looks down at the crossbow, "It was the first weapon I grabbed. The captain had this weapon fashioned for a lady guest on our ship, and it seems, like me, she has a thing for weapons. Came on board with just a sword, now her cabin is…" The man whistle, "I thought it was my crossbow, looks very similar just as light too."
The man flips it between hands to prove his point, "The difference between hers and mine is the obvious. Poison, it's in the tip of all these arrows," The man tilts his crossbow to show Simon the series of arrows in their chamber, all in a neat row, minus one. "I was going to just shoot you, but dying painfully is fine too."
Simon looks up at the man, "What? Why?"
"What do you mean by what and why, because you're a dick who refuses to listen."
"I'm going to die?" Simon asks in disbelief.
"Don't act surprised; without a doubt you're going to die."
Simon cringes in pain and immediately starts to beg for his life, causing the man to chuckle.
"You want to come here making demands, killing people and then turn around and beg for your life."
Simon coughs and spits up blood, "Well I have learned my lesson, I won't bother you anymore. Or, or, let me plead my case with you captain, a deal perhaps, mercy on a parley."
The man leans back and starts laughing. "Parley?" then he looks back at the men behind him, "He just asks us for a parley like we're pirates."
A roar of laughter erupts from the men.
The man squats down and got at eye level with Simon, he was eerily calm. "This is not the high seas and we are not air pirates either. We lost good men on The Bandit Hunter, your leader Negan marked the captain's son, who by the way is my nephew, and you're telling me, with pierced flesh, that miraculously, you see the error of your ways."
Daryl saw the realization on the man face, "Good, so glad you'll die knowing who killed you. There is a saying somewhere about poison being a lady's choice for a slow revenge."
Simon gripes in pain and looks around for help; any sign of life from the group of men and women he brought along for the trip to the they were all dead, their heads and body parts burned into nothing from the rays of the guns that was used.
"I overestimated you," Simon screams from the pain. It felt like his insides were being turned inside out, he held his abdomen with his bloody arms.
Daryl stands back up, lifts the crossbow and rests it on his shoulder, "Yes, yes, you did. And when you die, you will come back as the dead too."
Daryl turns his back as the man screams in pain; he and the others casually stroll back towards the town of Alexandria.
Simon coughs brought forth more blood, he tries to speak "Ne, Negan won't like, he'll find…" He doesn't finish, the poison has taken effect and expires his life.
Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year! - eMMe