Chapter 123-Thank You
Carl's P.O.V
Carl woke up early the next morning and climbed out of the bed he was staying in. He stood up and walked out of the room, rubbing his eye as he walked down the hall. He walked over to Arya's door and knocked. "Arya!" Carl says, and after a moment, he pushes the door open. "Arya," Carl says as he looks around the room, bare and the bed not slept in, a bad feeling rising in his stomach.
"Arya!" Carl shouts. He quickly runs out of the room and to Daryl's room which was closer to his than his father's. He starts to pound on the door, and Daryl opens the door and looks at him with a disheveled grumpy scowl. "Arya's gone," He says before Daryl can speak.
"What?" Daryl asks as if not hearing right.
"She's gone, Daryl."
"Did you check Clementine's room?" Daryl asks Carl, a worrying look across his gruff features, who shakes his head. Daryl pushes past the man and runs down the hall until he reaches Clementine's room. He pushes the door open and inside sees another unmade room, Daryl snarling. "Dammit."
"Where the hell are they?" Carl asks looking around "Arya's always been a late sleeper and their beds haven't been slept in.
"They must have gone after the girl," Daryl growled, rubbing his head. "Get a group."
"Who?" Carl asks.
"Anyone who is fucking awake, now go!" Daryl tells him. Carl nods as he runs away.
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl, Carl, Negan, Alden, Dwight, Jesus, Magna, Connie, Gabriel, and Carol stand around a table.. "Where's your Dad?" Daryl asks.
Before Carl could answer they heard footsteps and Rick ran into the room with horror on his face "Judith, Judith's gone."
"All three of them went after her. Are you fucking kidding me?" Daryl punched the table.
"I get Arya. She's always been rash." Rick says. "But Clementine and Judith, they know better."
"They knew that if they tried to get us, Arya would have been gone." Negan rubbed his eyes.
"So we track them," Daryl says. "We don't know how many people these fuckers have. We have no idea about what we are walking into, the girl only said they use the Walkers as their weapons."
"We have to go, now. We don't know when they left. We might be able to catch them." Carol says.
"Make sure everybody has a gun, ammo, and whatever else we might need. We leave in ten minutes." Carl says.
Gabriel paused "Wait what about Maggie, that's her granddaughter out there as well."
Daryl shook his head "No time, everyone whose here is our group, move!"
Judith's P.O.V
Judith, Arya, and Clementine crept through the woods, following the Whispererss as they walk through the woods with ease as if they were the dead themselves "We have to be close to their camp." Arya says.
"Shh." Judith hisses. Clementine nods as they hear footsteps behind them, causing Clementine swings her knife back, but it is caught. They turn around as the man pulls her into his chest and presses the knife up against her throat.
It wasn't a man but a Monster almost, well over 7 feet tall, Judith realizing he was bigger then even Uncle Negan. He wore the same mask as the rest with a short beard with a flowing dark coat, staring at the girls as he dug the knife into Clementine's neck.
"Drop them." He growls.
Arya stared wide eyed and slowly dropped her blades "OK ok we're dropping them, dropping."
Judith looked at her brother's daughter then back up at the man defiantly...slowly lowering her gun to the ground as well.
"Beta." The girls saw that Alpha had walked up to them. "Do not kill them." 'Beta nods as he pushes Clementine to the ground, the girls seeing Lydia a short distance away, a hand covering her mouth in horror.
Alpha looked at the girls, maskless and curious "Well look who we have here. Why are you here?"
Arya stared up at her "We're not here to fight, we're not here for trouble. We just wanted to make sure Lydia was alright."
"Tie them up," Alpha responded after a moment gesturing to several of her people, who nod as they grab the girls.
Clementine said "OK please don't touch Judith leave her alone!"
Judith sat staring at Arya and Clementine as they were dragged away with worry despite Arya's reassuring gaze. She looks at Alpha as she walks up to her. "You are a small one." Alpha says as she bends down. "What are you doing out here? You never know what monsters lurk out here."
"Saving a friend." Judith says.
"My daughter is not your friend." Alpha says flatly, not impressed by the answer. "You should fear me, child but yet...I don't see fear at all in you."
"It's cause I'm not afraid of you." Judith said defiantly.
"You'll learn," Alpha says. "We are the end of the world."
"You won't end our world. Your no different then the other bad people my parents and family faced." Judith says.
"Oh I assure you little one, I am not like anyone you've met," Alpha says as he looks at Beta. "Get them prepared to move. And bring me my daughter, I have questions for her."
Tara's P.O.V
Tara rides into Hilltop and drops down from the horse as Beth walks outside. "Hey." Beth says as she walks down to her, she stops when she sees the baby confusion on her features. "Where did you get a baby?"
"Those people took Gabriel and Anne. The girl Daryl took after Troy, that was the leader's daughter. Alpha, they came to the Kingdom for a hostage exchange, they had him, and they left him for the walkers. I saved him. You said you've always wanted kids."
"Does he have a name?" Beth asks as she takes the baby, looking up in awe and bewilderment at this course of events.
"No," Tara says. "You have one in mind?"
"Noah." Beth says after a moment with a soft look at the cooing baby. Tara looks at her and smiles.
"Noah Greene Chambler," Tara says with a smile.
Enid's P.O.V
Enid was helping Aaron get their food ready for the fair with Andrea running back and forth trying to help between them as Michonne walked in. "Hey," Enid says with a smile. The smile drops when she sees the look on her face. "What is it?"
At seeing Aaron's concerned look, Michonne took Enid's hand and led her to their backyard "The girl that they took hostage, Alpha got her back, and Arya, Judith, and Clementine went after them."
"Oh god." Enid gasped. "Who went after the girls?"
"Carl, Rick, Daryl, Negan, Alden, Magna, Jesus, Gabriel, Dwight, Connie, and Carol," Michonne tells her.
"We have to go to the Kingdom, right now" Enid started to turn.
"We can't," Michonne grabbed her and spun her around. "We have to get everything ready for the fair. It means too much and it might cause a panic. I want to go too, Judith is out there, but we gotta trust our husbands to get our girls back safely," Michonne says as she lays her hand on Enid's shoulder. "We have to."
After a moment, Enid sighed and nodded "alright, but if their gone longer then a day we go after them."
"Read my mind." Michonne gave a smile at that.
Alicia's P.O.V
Alicia sat on a bench watching the kids. She looks at Maggie as she walks over to her and sits down. "What is it?" Maggie asks.
"I'm worried," Alicia says as he looks at Merle, Ofelia, and Charlie with Charlie pointing out several books for the twins to read. "I married the most selfless man on the planet."
"Carl and Rick might argue." Maggie snorted
"You get my point." Alicia rolled her eyes. "Every time he goes out there, I worry that I won't see him again, that my kids won't see their Dad again. I wanna tie him up and put him in a cell. There are so many people that could have gone and saved those girls, but he was the first person who decided to go."
"When I first met Daryl, he was a gruff redneck who was kind of an asshole. At first, I thought he might have been a bad guy, but my opinion changed very quickly after I saw him every day. No matter what going out there to find Sophia, she wasn't his, and he barely knew her, but he tried to find her because it was important to the group. That's when I knew Daryl Dixon was one of the best men I would ever meet, and I wasn't wrong."
"I just wish I could keep him safe."
"He needs to do stuff like this. It's in his blood. It's who Daryl is. It's who he'll always be till the day he dies. If his kids grow up to be like him, the world will be a better place. Glenn thought the same thing. I know that. He knew that Daryl was one of best men he had ever met."
"He was right."
Alicia paused and closed her eyes "Maggie I...I know we have this to worry about but I...still need to talk to you about something."
Maggie looked at her friend, confused "OK?"
"...It's about something the Twins saw and talked to me about."
Daryl's P.O.V
The group watched the Whisperer Camp in the distance as they moved around, Alden lowering his binoculars as they all gathered in a large ditch "They're in there."
"They have a lot of people," Dwight says. "We need a plan."
Rick gritted his teeth "And leave them alone longer with these people?"
Negan said "Hey Rick relax, those three are tough as nails. They'll be fine."
Gabriel then said hesitantly "And..what about the girl? Lydia was her name yes?"
"What about her?" Daryl said, not looking at Gabriel as he took Alden's binoculars as well.
"Daryl, Arya clearly came after her with Clementine and Judith. She might not leave without her."
Daryl turned "She ain't our problem. Look I'm sorry she got a shit deal, but the priority are the girls."
Carol softly said. "Daryl has a point Gabriel, we need to get the three out of there."
Magna, from behind a tree on top of the ditch keeping watch, looked down "So we have a plan?"
"We wait till dark," Daryl says. "We'll make some masks like theirs. Carl, Negan, and I will lead that herd into their camp. The rest of you pick 'em off with their guns, keep 'em distracted, and we'll get the girls and get out."
Rick turned wide-eyed "Daryl-"
"Rick, I know. But you and Carol are probably our best shots and can pick them off easier. And Negan you grab them if they decide to protest."
Negan stared then nodded once, looking back in the distance as Rick closed his eyes and nodded.
Night
No one's P.O.V
Daryl, Carl, and Negan walked through the herd, Negan muttering curses about how 'gross this shit was' The herd slowly started to follow them as they walked to the camp.
The Whisperers turned around as the walkers entered the camp some of them shouting. "Guardians!" Daryl, Carl, and Negan walked through the camp and up to the four girls. "Hey," Carl says as he taps Arya's arm and the gunshots start to go off.
Arya looked up, staring through the mask, and gasped "Dad? Uncle Daryl? Uncle Negan?"
Judith looked worried "We-"
"Save it for later Little Ass Kicker." Daryl barked as he started to cut through the rope
Jesus shot a Whisperer as it ran out of camp, heading into the horde, dodging a knife and kicking a Whisperer away. He grabbed another arm and judo threw him over his shoulder, but then saw a big one heading towards the others. He threw his gun around his back and ran towards him. Then in a jump on top of a downed look, Kicked the big one in the face, sending him to the ground. "Jesus!" Dwight shouts.
"We gotta move," Daryl says to the girls as he finished cutting. "Let's go."
"Not without her." Arya snapped defiantly.
"Nah, we ain't taking her!" Daryl snapped back.
"I won't go if we don't."
Negan said, "Well little lady spoke her piece."
Jesus lowered his small sword but Beta blocked it with two massive knives, standing up, Jesus realizing how large the man was. He swings his knife at Jesus with almost inhuman speed, but Jesus dodges the swing, rolling out of the way.
"Daryl, we have to go!" Carl says, already drawing his Colt and shooting as the Walkers started coming to them now.
"...God, Fuck fine." Daryl shook his head and grabbed his crossbow.
Jesus dodges another swing from Beta and kicks him in the stomach. Beta takes a step back with a stumble and swing's, cutting Jesus's arm, and then kicks Jesus in the stomach knocking him to the ground. "You will walk." Beta says as he raises his knife, but then Dwight grabs his arm and punches him in the face. Beta brings his second knife into Dwight's stomach.
"Dwight!" Jesus shouts as he kicks Beta in the stomach, making him withdraw the knife. He pulls out his handgun and shoots Beta in the shoulder, and Dwight knocks Beta to the ground and then falls. Jesus stands up and grabs Dwight helping him stand as they move toward the group. With an enraged snarl Beta was already getting back up but stopped immediately
"No," Alpha says. "We must move."
Beta nods but then paused as he saw his Alpha still as can be then her head moved back and forth.
"WHERE'S MY DAUGHTER!?" She suddenly let out a rare scream of fury.
Negan's P.O.V
Negan and Jesus move toward the woods, helping Dwight move, an arm over each shoulder. "You're gonna be just fine, Dwight, just breath in and out." Negan says as they quickly move through the woods.
"It's okay." Dwight says as he coughs and blood goes onto his hands.
"We have to keep moving, they'll be on us any second." Jesus says, glancing over his shoulder, likely hearing the scream of fury from only a moment before
"Negan." Dwight weakly coughed, making the man look at him. "I forgive you for everything. Have the life I couldn't, give Kate the life I wish I couldn't give Sherry and Amanda."
"Stop talking like that, Dwight. You're gonna be fine." Negan growls.
Daryl's P.O.V
They get back to the cars in a hurry, Rick and Carl on the rear quickly looking behind them. "Get him in the truck." Daryl says.
"No." Dwight coughed causing the group to look at him. "Set me down."
"Dwight-"
"It's okay," Dwight reassured, his head down. "Set me down."
Negan and Jesus look at Daryl, who nods, and they set Dwight down against the truck. Daryl bends down beside him. "Dwight, we could get you back."
"The ride would kill me." Dwight laid back, his eyes closed. "Thank you, Daryl."
"For what? I got you into this damn mess," Daryl says confused and his voice gets hoarse.
"No, you didn't," Dwight says. "You gave me this great life after everything I did to you in those woods, Denise, at the Sanctuary. Carl and Rick talk about mercy over wrath. You showed me mercy." He paused to cough and his head fell back into the seat. "Even though I didn't deserve it. Back then, I thought meeting you was the worst thing to ever happen to me, but I was wrong. It was the best thing to ever happen to me. You may not see me as one, but you're my brother, Daryl."
"You're mine too," Daryl says as tears start going down his face.
"Take care of them, Amanda and Sherry. You have a great family, Daryl. You're gonna beat them. I know you will. Thank you, Daryl Dixon, for a chance at a better life. For showing me that things could be better. For giving me a family, for showing me that we can be redeemed cause I was redeemed, that's because of you, Daryl. Thank you," Dwight says as his eyes close and his breathing stops. Daryl lays his head on Dwight's shoulder and cries as the group watch him.
Thanks for reading, Dwight is dead, and that is two dead characters very quickly. I felt like Dwight's last conversation should have been with Daryl. Dwight had a full circle, and I loved those final scenes with him. Next chapter, the group deals with the death of Dwight, and Daryl deals with losing another loved one. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.