Chapter 124- Chokepoint
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl stared at Dwight for several long moments then turned his head, and looked at Lydia, who was staring at him then at Dwight, backing behind Arya. Daryl stands up and stares at her. "Daryl," Negan said calmly.
"Shut the hell up!" Daryl says harshly then pointed accusingly at Lydia. "Two of my people have died in two days! One because of your fucking people and the other one saving your ass!"
"I'm sorry," Lydia says quietly.
"That doesn't matter!" Daryl shouts. "Two good men are dead, one of them because of you."
"It's not her fault! Leave her alone!" Arya stood in front of Lydia protectively, snarling at Daryl defiantly.
"Not her alone," Daryl says as he looks at the three of them and then at Arya. "What the hell were you thinking?! Going after this girl?!"
"She needed our help!" Arya shouts back.
"And now Dwight is dead!" Daryl stepped forward.
"Daryl, you need to back the hell up," Carl growls in warning.
"If it was Gabriel or Negan, you would feel the same damn way" Daryl growls. "What the hell were any of you thinking!?" Daryl asks as he looks at the girls. "You kids went after a girl you barely knew, not knowing the enemy, and because of that, we had to follow. This was so fucking stupid! Dwight shouldn't be dead. We should all be back at the Kingdom, not chasing after this fucking girl!" He shouts. Daryl looks at them, and they all stare at him. "Take him back," Daryl says as he grabs his crossbow and a rifle.
"Daryl, what are you doing?" Rick asks in concern.
"They're gonna come after her. We aren't being trapped in the Kingdom this time waiting for that insane bitch to come to us." Daryl growls. "I'm going to set a trap. There's a town near here with a high building we can use as a chokepoint. I'm going kill every single one of them."
"My mother won't send an army," Lydia says, and they all look at her. "She won't send one because she doesn't have to. She'll send Beta, the one you fought."
Negan looked over, brow furrowed. "The Sasquatch massive motherfucker? That's worrying."
"This Beta, he there best?" Daryl asks Lydia, who nods. "I'll kill him first."
"Daryl, we are needed back at home, we need to regroup." Rick tried to reason.
"No, Rick, you are. You go and get the defenses shored up in case that bitch comes back." Daryl says. "I ain't hiding in walls anymore waiting for them to kill someone else!"
"You can't do it alone." Negan says.
"I won't," Daryl says as he looks at Clementine. "Dwight died so you guys could save that girl. Beta will be after her. You're coming with me,"
Clementine nods quickly. "I'm in," Alden says. Connie taps Daryl on his shoulder, and he looks at her. She nods, and Daryl nods back.
"Daryl, this is stupid." Carol says to her best friend sternly. "They could kill you. Alicia and your kids need you."
"I ain't watching them die, too." Daryl says.
"She's right, Daryl. You can't do this. We need to head back and come up with a rational plan, all of us." Rick says.
"I'm sorry, but I gotta do this." Daryl says as he walks towards the woods.
"Daryl! Carol yells, but he ignores them as Alden, Connie, and Clementine follow.
"Daryl!" Rick shouts. "Dammit."
"We gotta go, Dad. They'll be on us any second." Carl says, and Rick nods reluctantly as he gave the woods a final look as Jesus and Negan put Dwight's body in the truck, and start to climb in.
"If he doesn't come back, I'm breaking his bike." Negan says to Carl, who smirks.
Alden's P.O.V
Alden walks up to Daryl and walks beside the man. "This isn't just about stopping them, is it?" Alden asks.
"I couldn't be there. I couldn't face Amanda." Daryl admits softly. "I know it's wrong to blame the girls, Lydia too. I'm just tired of losing people."
"I am, too." Alden says. "You know, when the war ended, I thought my place was at Hilltop, but I was wrong. My place was at the Campgrounds, with you."
"I'm glad you stayed," Daryl says. "You've become one of my best friends."
"You wanted to kill me at one point." Alden reminded.
"I wanted to kill Dwight too," Daryl says as they get into the town. "That building," Daryl says as they walk towards the building. "We'll set up there."
Rick's P.O.V
The cars drove into the Kingdom, and Negan was riding Daryl's bike. They stop the cars. They look at Alicia as she runs up to them with Maggie. "Where is he?" Alicia asks looking around to see her husband not there.
"He's okay." Rick says as Jesus looks at Amanda.
"He died trying to save me," Jesus tells her. She stares at him for a moment before she realizes.
"Dwight? He's dead?" Sherry asks Rick, who nods as Amanda starts to cry and tears go down Sherry's face, pulling Amanda into a tight hug
"Where...is...Daryl?" Amanda asks through her cries.
"He's going to kill the man who killed Dwight with Alden, Connie, and Clem." Carl says. "He went to kill Beta."
"Beta?" Alicia asks confused. "You fought him?" Alicia asks Jesus, who nods. "Can he win?"
"I don't know." Jesus answered honestly before he walks away.
"I tried, Alicia." Rick reasoned, shaking his head in frustration. "We all did, but he wouldn't listen."
"It's in his blood not to listen." Alicia says before she walks away from them, fists clenched.
Seeing this, Shane shook his head "I do not want to be in his shoes if he's alive."
Judith's P.O.V
Judith sat against the wall looking at the ground, Arya sitting next to her, rubbing her shoulders. Hearing footsteps, the girls looked up at Rick as he walked up to them. "What's wrong?" Rick asks gently.
"Uncle Daryl was right. It's our fault that Uncle Dwight is dead." Judith sadly says.
Arya looked up "Grandpa I didn't...I just wanted to help."
"I know you did...Uncle Daryl was mad." Rick says as he bends down to reason with the girls. "Uncle Dwight meant a lot to him. He didn't mean what he said. He has a way of letting his temper get the best of him when it comes to someone he loves. You did what you thought was right. Uncle Dwight would have agreed. He was proud of you for doing that, sometimes doing what's right has a cost." Judith doesn't say anything, and Rick sighs sitting across from them. "Judith, when you were a baby, we were at a prison against a really bad man, and I told the others, Carl, Aunt Beth, and Aunt Maggie, and others that we are the greater good, we are, and that means we have to do the right thing, even if it comes at a cost. Your Uncle Daryl knows that. He was just sad. He'll be better when he comes back."
"If." Judith says.
"When." Rick says firmly. "Ask your Aunt Beth. She'll tell you Uncle Daryl is going to be the last man standing, her words, not mine," Rick says as he kisses her head. "It isn't your fault, either of yours."
Judith nods As Arya stood looking up "Grandpa what's going to happen with Lydia?"
Rick looked at the Kingdom's buildings, softly saying "I don't know sweetie, I don't."
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl stood outside on a balcony staring at the woods. He looks at Clementine as she walks out to the balcony next to him. For a minute they stared out into the woods until Clementine whispered "I'm sorry."
"You don't need to apologize." Daryl sighed loudly, shaking his head. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have blamed you, Judith, Arya, or Lydia. Shit happened. I was angry, not at any of you, just at the fucking world," Daryl says as he turns to look at her. "I love you, Clem, like you're, my own daughter. I can deal with Dwight and Troy. But I can't lose you, or Alicia, or my kids. What you guys did was reckless and stupid, but your heart was in the right place."
"Dwight is still dead because of what we did but I couldn't let it happen again."
Daryl paused "Again?"
Clementine looked at Daryl fully "When I was little, a few months into this...I was kidnapped by some crazy man, Lee, Kenny, and some friends of theirs had to save me. Lee...he died trying to save me. I'll never forgive myself for that. I couldn't let another kid go through what I almost did."
For a long moment, he stared at her...then says. "We gotta move past it. For now, worry about the real threat."
"What is going to happen to Lydia?" Clementine asks Daryl, who looks at her.
"We'll keep her safe," Daryl answers after a moment. "We'll kill Alpha and Beta and keep her safe."
Negan's P.O.V
Negan leads Lydia into the place he was living at with Kate, thankfully empty as she was at the medical area. "You'll stay here," Negan says. "There's an extra room. You'll be safe I promise."
"Why are you helping me?"
Stopping as he put his bag down, he looked at her confused What?"
"Dwight is dead because of me, why are you helping me? I...was with her, I helped my mother. We...killed so many." Lydia says.
"It wasn't your fault. And seriously kid? You think you're the only one who did bad things." Negan says. "I was a bad man before I met this group. Hell, I killed two of them when I first met them. Maggie has a son, his name is Hershel. I killed his father, his name was Glenn, and I killed another, Rosita's ex, A good man from what I hear. His name was Abraham. Since Daryl let me out of my cell they put me in, I have been doing my best to redeem myself. You're a good kid, already a hell of a lot better than I was. You deserve a better life. Now go change."
Lydia stared for a moment, then silently nods as he walks away.
"Thank you."
Negan paused then looked at her "Don't mention it kid."
Sherry's P.O.V
Sherry stood by Dwight's grave after they finished the burial. "He went out as he would have wanted," Amanda says from behind her making Sherry look at her. "He went out fighting, saving the people he loved."
"Yeah, but he didn't deserve to die." Sherry bowed her head
"A lot of people who have died didn't deserve it, that's how things work" Amanda says as she lays a flower on Dwight's grave. "I loved him with all of my heart."
"I know you did," Sherry says. "I will always love him."
"So will I, and I know he never stopped caring about you," Amanda reassured her.
Sherry gave Amanda a weak smile but then she froze...then turned and made a hasty retreat.
Amanda looked behind her to see Kate coming up, with a flower herself "Hey Amanda, Negan's getting Lydia settled so I figured I should pay my respects to him too."
"Oh thanks." Amanda nodded at her, giving a wary eye to where Sherry had run too at least not causing a scene.
Tara's P.O.V
Tara stood outside, holding Noah. She looked at the door as Beth came outside. "What happened?" She asks, seeing the look on her face.
"They saved the girls." Tara let out a sigh of relief that they especially Judith were alive "but Dwight...He died saving Jesus," Beth says. Tara stares at her in shock and then looks at Tammy. "Can you take him?"
"Absolutely dearie." Tammy answered gently as she takes the baby, and Tara walks away. Beth follows her as she walks inside and into the office.
"There was a time I would have thrown a party for Dwight's death." Tara says. "He was a good man, and even if I still hated him, he would have just made me love him by saving one of my best friends."
"He was a good man," Beth says, holding her hand
"He was, but what about the skins?" Tara says.
Beth sat back, her face in a scowl "Daryl apparently took off."
"He What?!"
Alden's P.O.V
Alden and Connie were getting the building ready, barricading a door currently "You show Daryl that stash?" Alden asks Connie making sure to look at her, who nods. "Good, we can take that back with us. It will help at the Kingdom."
Conne writes in her notepad. "Are you scared?" She wrote.
"I would be an idiot if I wasn't. Dwight was one of the strongest men I knew. I didn't think anything would kill him, but Beta, he killed him. We've never dealt with anything like Beta and Alpha before. We're going to lose more people before all of this is over."
"He seemed like a strong man." Connie wrote. "How long did you know him?"
"Longer than I knew anybody else besides Negan. Dwight was one of the first Saviors I worked with. He had his demons, but we all have our demons. He did his best to get rid of his, and in the end, I think he did get rid of them." Alden says as they hear a faint whistle. They run outside and see Daryl and Clementine staring down at the road, where they see a group of walkers and Beta and some Whisperers behind them.
"They're here. Time to kill this some of a bitch," Daryl says as he aims the crossbow at the herd.
The next chapter will be Daryl and Beta's first fight, and the rest of the group figures out a plan to deal with the Whisperers, and John and Michonne make a hard suggestion to Ezekiel. Also, realized I didn't post chapter 123 so you get two today. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.