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AegonPotter- Don't worry, not controversial at all! I'm still toying with the idea of a spin-off story where Carl does die... just to play with the path that Rhys would end up going down— maybe even sending him and a few others over to fear twd in the spin-off after Carl dies, or maybe keeping him around for the time jump. IDK, it's hard to find the time for a whole new thing, but I guess if enough people ask for it then maybe? I'm not sure. I won't give any spoilers on the Glenn sitch, but... I will say that the Negan lineup will have its own chapter, and it will have a twist that isn't in the show. Super glad to hear you're enjoying the story! Thanks for the kind words and really interesting thoughts! :)

Quick note: For those super-duper cool folk that read the last chapter in the first hour it was up, I have actually added a little bit of Abraham and Rhys dialogue right at the end that you might have missed... just some a small bit that I forgot the first time around about Rhys' new gun.

Twice as Far: A Week Later, Final Part.

-Mikey-

"Why'd you kill it?" Rosita asks Mikey as the four of them march back along the road home.

"What do you mean— 'why did I kill it?'" Mikey responds.

Rosita looks over her shoulder at Daryl and Denise walking a few paces behind them— they're deep in conversation, which she probably notes as unusual for Daryl. Rosita turns back to Mikey.

"The walker in the backroom wasn't a danger to anyone. So why kill it? Because of the dead kid?"

"No," Mikey sighs, his face twisting into a frown like he's not sure his own reasons make any sense anymore. "I guess because she was a mom, and she probably tried everything she could before she did what she did to her son. It was likely hell. So I wanted to give her some peace."

Rosita looks sorry for him, knowing from their patrols together that he's still not used to being an orphan.

"That," Mikey continues, "and I did it for Denise."

"Why?"

He shrugs like it's obvious. "It made her sad."

Rosita does her best to smile in an attempt to cheer him up. "You're a kind kid, Mikey."

He smiles gently but looks disheartened by that.

"What?" Rosita asks.

"Don't kind people die?"

"Nah," Rosita tells him. "That only happens out here. You're safe inside Alexandria."

Mikey looks around at their surroundings, Rosita sensing the sarcastic comment about to emerge from his mouth.

"Yes," she speaks through her teeth before he can. "I know we're not in Alexandria right now, sabelotodo." She rolls her eyes. "But you're safe with us, and you're getting better at being out here."

"You think?" Mikey gets all bouncy again, it being impossible for him to stay discouraged for long.

Rosita nods at him, and he beams back at her.

They reach the crossroad from before, and Rosita walks straight over the tracks and down the twice as far route. But Daryl steps off the road and onto the gravel-filled train tracks instead.

"Hey," Rosita calls out.

"This way's faster, right?" Daryl shrugs back, pointing towards the tracks.

Rosita nods like they hadn't fallen out over it.

Denise and Mikey watch on, clearly delighted.

Part of Mikey wishes they'd taken the long way back. The tracks look exactly the same as before, and he gets bored quick.

By the time they reach the car crash they'd ignored travelling the other direction, Denise has fallen a few steps behind. Feeling brave, she steps off the tracks and goes to inspect it.

Torn jackets and holey backpacks are scattered around the wheels, like a group of hikers exploded here. Denise kicks them aside, checking under a blanket only to find more gravel. She wipes the dust off a driver side window with her hoodie sleeve, peering inside at a cooler on the passenger seat.

Thunk!

A walker jumps up in the driver's seat, bashing against the glass window and hissing at Denise, who jumps back, fumbling with her knife that's tucked itself under her hoodie. She calms down when she realises the walker is stuck.

"There's a cooler in there!" She yells to the others who are still moving away. "Might be something we can use inside."

The other three all stare at the wreck. Mikey nods. Rosita and Daryl do the opposite.

"We got what we came for," Rosita calls back.

"Ain't worth the trouble, come on." Daryl backs Rosita.

Mikey shrugs a 'sorry' Denise's way before the three keep walking.

Determined to do something today, Denise tightens her grip on the knife and moves around the vehicle, stepping over split briefcases and rugged handbags. The walker follows her inside the car, crawling along the dashboard and across the seats into the passenger side.

She throws the door open suddenly, making a grab for the cooler, but the long awaiting walker lunges for her, knocking Denise to the floor with a yelp. Her glasses go flying.

The others hear it.

Denise splutters as long stringy hair gets in her mouth, and bad breath attacks her face. She rolls them both over, ending up on top of the walker.

Daryl's there before the other two, but Denise screams at him.

"No, don't!"

He stops, his knife ready.

The other two get there.

Denise kills the walker.

She clambers to a stand, completely out of breath. Rosita and Daryl look about ready to explode at her, but Denise holds up a finger for them to contain their anger while she vomits on the floor.

"Oh, man," Denise pants. "I threw up on my glasses."

Mikey snickers, stopping when Rosita glares at him. Daryl keeps his glare firmly on the doctor.

She picks up her oatmeal covered glasses, wiping them cautiously on her sleeve before giving up and pocketing them.

Still not ready for the lecture, and with the silence growing slightly tenser, Denise squats down to check the cooler she risked life and limb for, pulling out a dented can of orange soda and staring at it.

"Hot damn," she says.

Unable to contain himself, Daryl finally unleashes his words.

"What the hell was that?!" he barks. "You coulda died right there, you know that?"

"Yeah, I do," she huffs, still unable to catch her breath.

"Are you hearing me?!" Daryl shouts.

"Who gives a shit!?" Denise snaps back. "You could've died killing those Saviors, both of you... but you didn't! You wanna live, you take chances. That's how it works."

She points to the cooler and dead walker, lowering her voice. "That's what I did."

"For a couple of damn sodas?" Daryl grunts.

"Nope." Denise wipes her mouth clean before holding up the orange can. "Just this one."

The doctor marches past the three of them and onto the tracks, keeping the can in her hand.

Rosita chases after her, grabbing her arm and spinning her around to face them.

"Are you seriously that stupid?" Rosita asks.

"Are you?" Denise stares at the three of them.

No one answers.

"I mean it. Are you?"

Everyone still keeps quiet. Rosita and Daryl are still fuming. Mikey looks enthralled.

Denise goes back to yelling. "Do you have any idea what that was to me, what this whole thing is to me? See, I have training in this shit. I'm not making it up as I go along— like with the stitches and the surgery and the..." she trails off, realising she's off-topic.

Instead, she points to Daryl.

"I asked you to come with me because you're brave like my brother, and sometimes you actually make me feel safe."

Denise turns to Rosita.

"And I wanted you here because you're alone... probably for the first time in your life. And because you're stronger than you think you are, which gives me hope that maybe I can be, too."

Finally, she looks at Mikey.

"I'm glad you came along in the end because I can see how much you miss your parents. Your brother. You remind me of me, except you still have a brother left, and I know you want to prove yourself to him."

Everything about everyone is suddenly very small and very evaluated. Denise looks away from it all, staring back down the tracks and into the open world. Then she comes back to them, speaking her mind.

"I could have gone with Tara."

Denise shakes her head.

"I could've told her I loved her, but I didn't because I was afraid."

She laughs.

"That's what's stupid. Not coming out here, not facing my shit."

Denise points at them all.

"And it makes me sick that you guys aren't even trying..."

She smiles for a brief moment, only again hardening her expression to make them understand.

"Because you're strong and you're smart and you're all really good people and if you don't wake—"

An arrow enters the back of her head.

"up..."

But she keeps trying to speak.

"And face your..."

Trying to live.

"Face... your..."

The arrow doesn't leave her head, still inside and pointing at them all the way she was... angry, but red. Blood dribbles from her eye socket where the arrow pierced its way through the front of her face.

Daryl catches Denise as she crumbles to the ground.

Rosita raises her gun.

Mikey screams.

Denise keeps mumbling before she dies. Trying to finish her sentence. She looks so confused.

Why won't her mouth say what she needs it to say?

What she needs to tell them.

What they need to hear.

Dozens of men spill out from the trees, pointing guns and screaming for them to drop theirs.

-Rhys' POV-

Abraham and I stay hidden from sight as we follow the strangers. We watch as Eugene's hands are tied. We listen as they threaten to kill him— kill everyone back at Alexandria.

"How do they know about home?" I whisper as we dash across the street and behind the rusted shell of a car, keeping an eye on them as they head into the woods.

Squatting down and peeking over the hood with squared shoulders, Abraham shrugs.

"Maybe they're wolves?" I murmur.

"Negative," Abraham says, his military persona doubled. "Those hostiles were running light on the artillery. Looks like these guys are packing."

"Who then?" I hiss as we wait for the last of them to disappear.

Once they're gone, Abraham turns to confront me, his face stern.

"The back and forth wisecracks have been fun up 'till now, but if we want to remove these assholes and keep our nutsacks intact, you gotta listen to my every word. Understood?"

I glance at the tree line peeling away from the town. I turn to nod. "Understood."

We follow them for a few hours, ducking behind trees and waiting as they take piss breaks and complain about some factory being too cold to live in. The guy in charge has a fierce burn covering half his face, his stringy blonde hair falls around it and almost reaches the tattered denim vest he's wearing. His weapon catches my eye.

"That's Daryl's crossbow," I point it out to Abraham as we hide between two holly bushes.

"Affirmative. Means that ugly is the guy that took his bike."

"Means these guys are Saviors," I gasp. "We didn't get them all."

Maybe he's Negan?

I hear a woman yelling.

So do the Saviors.

The group I count as thirteen heads for the sound. We follow, alongside but out of sight.

The yells lead us out of the woods, light spilling onto a long clearing, a train line spanning it.

I see Denise. She's shouting at Mikey, Daryl, and Rosita.

"Fuck... we have to warn them," I grit my teeth and prepare to burst from the trees.

Abraham grabs my shoulder.

"Too risky," he grumbles, glancing around suspiciously at the forest. The Saviors are gone from sight.

"But—"

"Can it!" Abraham growls.

I do.

Denise is still yelling.

Unable to do anything else, I listen.

"I could have gone with Tara."

Denise is yelling at the others.

"I could've told her I loved her, but I didn't because I was afraid."

I strain my good ear to hear her, grimacing as I look around for the enemy.

"That's what's stupid. Not coming out here, not facing my shit."

She's pointing at them.

"And it makes me sick that you guys aren't even trying..."

Abraham's grip gets tighter on my shoulder.

"Because you're strong and you're smart and you're all really good people and if you don't wake—"

A bolt from Daryl's crossbow fires from the tree line we're hiding in.

"up..."

I'm searching for who it hit.

"And face your..."

Then I see her fall.

I almost yell as all the air in my lungs leaves me. I rush from the tree line, but Abraham tackles me to the floor. A pile of stacked up discarded barrels lying just past the tree line keep us hidden from sight.

Somehow, by some grace, we remain undetected.

The Saviors step out into the open with guns up. Eugene is forced to his knees on the tracks by the scarred leader, he and Daryl sharing a look of recognition.

"Well, hell," the leader sighs.

Daryl looks like he's ready to grab the guy and beat the other side of his face off.

The leader catches it.

"You got something to say to me?" the burnt guy taunts. "You gonna clear the air? Step up on that high horse?"

Daryl's shoulders are hunched like a cat. He stays deadly silent.

"No," the leader breathes. "You don't talk much."

Then he nods, and two Saviors strip the three of their weapons. Yanking Daryl's and Rosita's from their hands. Mikey's from his holster.

Scarface holds up Daryl's crossbow. "Still getting the hang of her. Kicks like a bitch, but, uh—"

Daryl mumbles something we can't hear from behind the barrels.

"Oh, what's that?" scarface asks. "Seriously, I didn't catch what you said."

"I should've killed you," Daryl says louder.

"Yeah, you probably should've," scarface nods. "Kind of begs the question, right? Who brought this on who?"

He peers at Denise's corpse on the tracks behind them.

"I mean, I get that you'll just have to take my word for this... but, erm, she wasn't even the one I was aimin' for. Like I said... kicks like a bitch."

He grins.

I try to get up again, and Abraham stops me again.

"We have to do something," I hiss.

He nods. "I'm gonna flank these assholes. You hold here and unload when I do."

Remembering our agreement, I nod. I watch as Abraham slowly creeps back into the forest. When he vanishes, I watch the Saviors.

"Look," scarface reasons. "This isn't how we like to start new business arrangements... but, well, you pricks kinda set the tone, didn't you?"

"What do you want?" Rosita asks.

"I'm sorry, darlin', I didn't catch your name. Or the kid's." He grins another shit-eating grin. "I'm D, or Dwight. You can call me either. So? What're your names?"

Mikey is a statue, frozen in place, watching the interactions between everyone. Unable to speak. Some of the Saviors find it funny.

"He's Mikey," Rosita tells Dwight. "I'm Rosita. What do you want?"

"Well, Mikey and Ro-si-ta. It's not what I want. It's what you two and Daryl are going to do," he explains. "You're gonna let us into your little complex. It looks like it's just beautiful in there. And then... you're going to let us take whatever and whoever we want."

Dwight grabs the scruff of Eugene's neck, squeezing tightly.

"—or we blow Eugene's brains out..."

He nods to Rosita.

"—then yours."

He grins at Daryl.

"—then his."

His head finally rolls to look at Mikey.

"Then the kid's."

Dwight shakes his head after letting them think about that.

"I hope it doesn't come to that... really. Nobody else has to die. We just try and start with one. You know... maximum impact to get our point across."

Dwight stares back down at Denise's husk. I sense pride in his work, and I truly consider shooting him for it.

"What's it gonna be?" Dwight shrugs, awaiting an answer to the impossible question.

"Y-you wanna k-kill someone..." Eugene asks up, still kneeling before Dwight. "You should start with our companions hiding over there behind the oil barrels. They are both first-class a-holes and deserve it so much more than us four."

Dwight swerves his body violently in my direction. I drop to the floor, watching through cracks between the rusted barrels.

He doesn't spot me.

But he does draw his gun.

"Check it out..." Dwight tells two of his men.

The two Saviors draw closer, one giant and bearded, the other skinny and bucktoothed. My knuckles are white as I clutch my rifle. I can't aim it because I'm lying on it. I can't move, in case they see me.

I can still see Eugene... everyone, actually. Daryl and Rosita are staring at the barrels I'm behind. He looks tense, while she looks scared of what they'll find. Mikey's eyes are closed, and his head hangs low. He looks like he thinks the less he can see, the less can see him back.

The men are feet away.

I hold my breath.

I hear gravel move as someone lunges forward.

Everyone is shouting.

I look, and Eugene is latched to Dwight's crotch by his teeth. Dwight screams as he tries to tear him away. Just as other Saviors point their guns his way and men rush to help their shrieking leader, the beard is blown off the man standing near me, his whole bottom jaw exploding into cartilage and blood. Abraham's silhouette darts between trees as people shoot back at him.

I jump up, shooting at the leaner man, but he jumps into the tree line and out of my fire.

Daryl wastes no time, stealing the knife from a Savior with his back to him and slitting the guy's throat, blood spraying across the tracks as Daryl takes his gun next and shoots another in the back. Rosita jumps on Mikey when he doesn't move, bullets pinging off the metal tracks as they land between them. The guy shooting at them is the one I missed. I try again, but Rosita has her gun now, shooting from the floor and taking him down. I do my best to give cover fire as she drags Mikey behind some wrecked cars on the far side of the tracks. Walkers are swarming us. Dwight and his men are running to the trees.

"FALL BACK! FALL BACK!"

I stumble out of cover, clobbering a walker across the head with my hammer as it comes out of the forest.

Daryl grabs his crossbow, ready to chase, but Rosita stops him.

Denise is dead.

Eugene has a bullet in his side.

Mikey is crying.

Abraham grabs Eugene's arm, and Daryl gets the other. Rosita has his feet.

I'm pulling Mikey with us.

"We— can't— we can't leave her..." he sobs.

But we do. Eugene needs help, so we do.

'I'm going to get married today,

The chapel is full of flowers and sage,

He'll lift up my veil and he will say,

"Are you sure that you love me?"

"Are you sure you can wait?"

He cuts into the wedding cake,

And licks the frosting off the blade,

He cuts into our palms, drops our blood into the lake,

We stand on the bridge and give ourselves away.

I can be good, I can be true,

You know I don't love anyone, but I love you,

I can be good, I can be true,

You know I don't love anyone, but I love you.'

I knock on his glowing yellow door, and he opens it with a sad smile that says he knows.

"Hi," I say.

"Hi," Carl whispers.

"They need your dad at the infirmary."

"They do?"

I swallow.

"Eugene's been shot," I tell the slightly taller boy before me. "Denise... she's dead."

His eyebrows turn upward. "I heard. I'm sorry," he tells me.

"We had to leave her body... we're going back to get it in an hour... just me and Daryl."

"That's good."

"Tell your dad to go to the infirmary?"

"I will."

I nod slowly, scratching at Eugene's blood on the palm of my right hand and kicking at nothing for a second. I smile at him, and then I turn to leave.

"Rhys..."

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to come in?"

"Yeah."

A/N

The song was Chapel By Nicole Dollanganger.