A Survivor's Diary of the Apocalypse (TWD/Daryl Dixon)

S7Pt10 - Allies

Daryl took us to The Hilltop because that's where we thought that Negan's men wouldn't think of looking for us. Daryl pulled up to the front gates and they opened, and I saw Maggie standing there.
I got off Daryl's bike and ran over to her. We hugged each other and I swayed us back and forth.
"Oh, Maggie." I said and looked at her. "You look better. How's the baby?"
"We're okay." She said, then looked at my face. "What happened?"
"I tried to kill him, I tried to kill Negan." I said. "I fucked up.. I'm sorry."
She just nodded and wiped my tear away. She saw the bruises on my arm and quickly let go of my arm, not wanting to hurt me.
"Where the hell did you get those?" She asked.
Daryl came back from hiding his motorcycle and stood behind me, gently touching my shoulder. I just shook my head and didn't want to remember it, but wanted to tell her everything.
"Negan took me, like he did with Daryl. I was there for a week maybe, I don't even remember. But..." I explained and sighed. "His men raped me... and I--"
"Kelley, don't." Maggie said and grabbed my hand. "You don't have to say any more."
"Thank you." I whispered.
Maggie nodded and then looked at Daryl. He nodded at her and I knew he felt guilty for Glenn's death, and I saw his eyes tearing up. Maggie just slightly smiled and hugged Daryl, letting him know she wasn't mad at him. She was just mad at Negan, like everyone was.
"You look like shit." Maggie said, looking at his cut lip and black eye. "Let's go get you guys checked out."
We nodded and followed her to one of the trailers, and as we passed by the house, I saw Gregory suspiciously watching us.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was the next morning and we heard a vehicle park out front of the main gate to The Hilltop.
"Stay here." Maggie said.
We nodded and Daryl and I stayed hidden behind one of the buildings. I leaned against the wall and just stared at a tree. Daryl paced in front of me, and I began to watch him.
"How are you?" I asked him.
He stopped walking and looked at me, then shrugged.
"Daryl, when I first saw you at the Compound you looked bad." I said, being honest. "Something changed about you... so, how are you doing?"
Daryl sighed and scratched his chin anxiously. He sighed and began shaking his head.
"It was hell there. It was bad Kell, and I didn't know what to do." He said.
I just nodded and looked at him, letting him talk.
"I tried to escape once... They beat the shit out of me. Negan almost, almost broke me. Then I saw you there." He said and looked into my eyes. "He pushed you around, touched you, forced you to change into that dress in front of everyone.. and that rapist--" Daryl said and had to take a deep breath. "I feel guilty Kell."
I just nodded and listened to him, and he kept talking.
"I couldn't leave you there another second Kell, it was killing me." He said and sighed. "I just wish I didn't wait so long."
I nodded again and opened my arm out to him.
"Come here." I said.
He walked forwards and I grabbed his hand. I pulled him close and he grabbed my hips, gently pulling himself closer until he was touching my skin.
"I thought about you everyday." He said.
"I love you." I said and lightly kissed his cheek.
"You changed there too." Daryl said and looked me in the eyes.
Before he could talk, I cleared my throat. "Lee misses you..." I said, changing the subject.
"How has he been?" Daryl asked. "Since I was gone."
"He was good. Still eating, sleeping, and happy." I said and remembered the last time I saw him.
"I miss him..." Daryl said.
I nodded and cupped his cheek. "I know you do... We'll see him again soon."
"We just have to lay low." Daryl finished my sentence.
"Exactly." I said and managed a smile.
In the distance I then heard a familiar voice, and sighed with relief.
"You were right." The voice said. "Right from the start. You told us to get ready to fight. I didn't listen and I couldn't... but I can now."
I chuckled to myself and pulled out the Colt Python from my gun holster, and put it in Daryl's hand. "You're gonna want this."
Daryl then stepped out from behind the building and I slowly followed. At the front gate standing in front of Maggie was Rick and some of the group. He met eyes with us and stared at Daryl. They began walking towards each other and hugged once they met. Daryl then pulled away and Rick tilted his head at me. I walked closer and he pulled me in for a hug.
"How's Lee?" I asked him.
"He's good. Safe." Rick said and then pulled away, looking me in the eyes. "How are you?"
I caught him looking at the bruises and I just nodded my head.
"I'm ready to fight." I said.
Rick nodded his head at me and then looked at Daryl, who pulled out Rick's gun. He sighed in surprise and took it from Daryl, getting the feel of his gun back. He smiled at he holstered it away and then stared walking forwards. We all followed him until we were inside of Gregory's office.
Gregory sighed at us from behind his desk and stood up.
"What is it now?" He asked annoyed.
"We have a plan on how to deal with the Saviors, and we need the Hilltop's help." Rick said.
We all spread out around the room, and Daryl and I ended up leaning against a bookshelf on the back wall. Gregory just stared at us and shook his head stupidly and raised his hands.
"We need to kill Negan." Rick said.
"No! No way in hell. That was not the deal." Gregory started to rant. "You people swore you could take the Saviors out and you failed. Now you want to go after Negan. No. Any arrangement you think we had is now done. Null and void, hmm. We aren't trade partners, we aren't friends, and we never met. We don't know each other." Gregory said and sat down in his chair.
Rick just put his hands on his hips and looked at Gregory.
He then turned around and stared back at Rick. "I owe you nothing. In fact, you owe me for taking in the refugees at great personal risk." Gregory said.
"Oh, you were very brave staying in here when Maggie and Sasha saved this place. And very hospital hiding from Daryl and Kelley when they got here." Jesus said sarcastically and crossed his arms.
"Hey, don't you work for me?" Gregory asked him. "Aren't we friends?"
"Gregory." Rick interrupted. "We already started this."
"You started this." Gregory said.
"We did." Rick raised his voice. "And we're gonna win."
"These are killers." Gregory said and laid his hands on the desk.
"This is how you wanna live? Under their thumbs, killing your people." Rick asked.
"Sometimes we don't get to chose what our life looks like. Sometimes we just have to count the blessings we have." Gregory said.
"How many people can we spare?" Maggie then interjected. "How many people here can fight?"
"We?" Gregory said rudely. "I don't even know how many people we have Margaret. And does it even matter? I mean, wh-what are you gonna do? Start a platoon of sorghum farmers, because that's what we got. They grow things. They're not gonna wanna fight." He said.
"You're wrong." Tara then said. "When people have the choice to do the right thing, they usually stand up. I mean—"
"Let me stop you right there before you break into song, okay." Gregory interrupted and held up his hand.
"Huh, let me stop you—" I said and stepped forwards, but Daryl held me back.
He then tilted his head at me and waved his hands around, pissing me off even more. "Who would train all this cannon fire?" Gregory asked us.
"I will." I said, along with a few others in the room.
"Rhetoricallll, okay." Gregory said annoyingly. "I don't wanna know. I never wanna hear another word about any of this. Ever."
"Would we be better off without the Saviors?" Rick then asked. "Yes or no?"
"Yeah." Gregory shrugged. "Sure, okay."
"Okay, so, what will you do to fix the problem?" Michonne asked, stepping in front of Rick who backed away.
"I didn't say we had a problem, you did." He said and pointed at her. "And what happens outside of per view is outside of my per view."
"What the hell man?" Daryl finally spoke up. "You either with us or you ain't. You sitting over there talking out both sides of your mouth."
Gregory slowly stood up and fixed his sleeves. "I-I- I think I've made my decision very clear. And I wanna thank you all for not being here today, or not having this meeting with me, or not being seen on the way out... In other words, go out the back."
Rick looked at us and was about to walk out when I was the first to move. Everyone watched me as I slowly walked over to Gregory's desk and put my hand on the tabletop.
"Oh, you made it very clear..." I said and put my hand on a book, then looked him in the eyes. "You're a goddamn coward!"
I dragged the book across the desk, pushing everything off it, and then threw it at the wall. Papers flew in the air and fell to the floor, and I walked out of the room. Daryl grabbed another book from off the desk and shoved it at Gregory, and more stuff fell at his feet. The rest of the group followed us out and we all met in the hallway, then Gregory closed the door behind us.
"Gonna knock that idiots teeth out." I said through gritted teeth.
"We don't need him anyways." Daryl said right next to me.
"That's right." Rick said. "Because we have Maggie, Sasha, and Jesus here."
"And Enid." Maggie said, and we all looked at Enid who walked through the front doors.
"Hey, umm." She said, and we could tell she was excited about something.
"What?" I said, still seeming angry.
"Nothing, just..." She said and then smiled at us. "Come outside."
I took a deep breath as we followed her to the steps, and we saw the people of the Hilltop waiting for us.
"What's going on?" Maggie asked them.
"Hey." One lady said. "So, if you don't remember, I'm Birdie, and I owe my life to you all. Twice over, a bunch of us do.. Enid says that you want Gregory to get us to fight the Saviors with you. Is that true?" She asked.
"Yes." Maggie said confidently.
"Do you think we can win?" Birdie asked. "That we really could beat them. Us?"
"I do." Maggie said.
Birdie took a deep breath and then smiled. "Enid says you can show us the way. I'm ready."
"Me too." A guy said, and quickly the whole group chimed in. "Let's do it."
Rick and Maggie nodded at each other. Michonne then looked at Rick and smiled lovingly. I just stared at Daryl, and he could see all my emotions I was trying to hide.
The crowd dispersed and we began walking back towards the gate.
"It's a start." Michonne said.
"It's not enough." I said, and the group could sense my anger.
"We'll get more." Tara said, trying to make me feel better.
"You guys don't understand." I said harshly and stopped, making them stop with me. "It's NOT enough. Negan's strong, his men are... we need 10 times the size of this, and even that may not be enough."
"Maybe." Daryl said then shrugged. "But if we have the right stuff, then it doesn't have to be about the numbers. Blow 'em up. Burn them to the ground."
"We still need more hands. Another group." Rick then said. "Negan has outposts. The geography, the distance, works against us. We gotta get back. They're gonna come looking for Daryl and Kelley."
"You don't have to get back. Not yet." Jesus then said, and held up a radio. "It's one of theirs, long range. We can listen in. Keep track of them."
"So if we're not going back, what are we doing then?" I asked.
"I think it's time I introduce you to Ezekiel. King Ezekiel." Jesus said.
"King?"