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

S7Pt11 - The Kingdom

Myself and some of the group all fit ourselves into one van and began driving to "The Kingdom". I didn't know what the plan was at this point, or who the hell these people were, but I was just hoping they'd be able to help us fight.
It was a silent car ride, and no one wanted to talk. Rick took a deep breath and finally looked at me and Daryl.
"I'm glad to have you guys back." He said.
Daryl nodded at him and sighed. "Glad to be back brother." He said.
I just nodded and rubbed my arm anxiously, but not hard enough to press on the bruises. Rick looked at my arms, up to my shoulders, then at my cheek when my stitches were.
"What happened to you there?" He asked.
I looked up at Rick and stared him in the eyes. "You really want to know?" I said through gritted teeth.
I felt Daryl lightly put his hand on my shoulder and Rick slowly nodded his head. Before I could say anything, the van jolted to a stop and Jesus looked at us.
"We're here." He said and got out of the car.
Rick looked at me still expecting an answer, but I opened the door and quickly got out of the van. I saw in the corner of my eye Rick and Daryl shaking their heads and I just scoffed in annoyance.
Yes, I have to admit, I changed at Negan's compound. What happened there was... unlike anything I had to endure before. I became ruder, bitchier, and maybe a little more heartless, but maybe that's a good thing at this point.
Eventually we were all standing in a circle, and we didn't see anyone show up. I noticed we were just waiting in an abandoned parking lot that was empty as far as the eye could see.
"So it's called the Kingdom?" Rick asked.
"I didn't name it." Jesus said and shrugged. "But here we are. The Kingdom. Well it's outer edge."
"What the hell are we waiting on?" Daryl asked.
Jesus just nodded towards the distance and pointed, then we heard the sound of horse hooves.
"Waiting for them." He said.
We all turned around and saw two men with spears riding horses, and they were trotting towards us.
"Who dares to trespass on the sovereign land of the—" One man began to shout, pointing out his spear, then he stopped. "Oh, shit. Jesus, is that you?"
Jesus just waved and the men on horseback stopped in front of us.
"Who are all these people Paul?" The other man asked.
"Hi Richard. Nice to see you." Jesus said and walked forwards, standing in front of our group.
"It's good to see you too." This man, Richard, said and nodded at us. "Your friends, who are they?"
"This is Rick Grimes." He said and pointed at Rick. "He's the leader of a like-minded community. These are some of his people. We would like to request an audience with King Ezekiel."
Richard just stared at us and got off his horse. He walked forwards, holding his pistol at his side, and looked inside of the van.
"You said like-minded community. Like-minded how?" Richard asked.
"We live, we trade, and we fight the dead." Jesus said. "Sometimes others."
The two guys nodded at each other, as if they knew what Jesus was thinking, and Richard then looked at us.
"Line up." He said.
I just shook my head. "This is a waste of time. Come on, let's go." I said and turned around.
"Maybe you're right. The King is a busy man." Richard said to me.
I then turned around and found that the group made a line around me. It was Tara, Rosita, Sasha, Michonne, Rick, Carl, myself, and Daryl, and it seems like they were all going along with this.
"Listen, I don't know what the hell you guys are doing, but there is no more Kings and Queens bullshit. It's just us and the dead, shouldn't that be enough?" I asked rudely.
Richard and the other man stared at me, and then cautiously looked at my prosthetic and scar on my neck and face.
"Listen." He said, as to mimic me. "We don't usually allow a pack of strangers to waltz through our door."
"We." Michonne spoke up. "Just want to make the world less dangerous, and we are all here to show the King," She said, and then stared at me. "how serious we are about that."
The men looked at all of us and then Richard nodded in agreement. "The car stays outside. You gotta hand over your guns."
"We only have a few." Rick said.
He handed over his gun, followed by Carl, and then they looked at me. I sighed and took out my pistol, and willingly gave it over to them.
"Okay." Richard said. "Follow me."
We started following them and Jesus was walking next to Richard. I was walking behind them and heard Richard start talking to him.
"Before we go in, you have a brain and a backbone, so I'm talking to you, not Gregory." Richard said.
"He's an ass, but at least he's not stupid." I thought to myself.
"Whatever you're trying to start here, another protection pack, a trade, none of it matters if we don't start dealing with the real problem... the Saviors."
"Okay, he's not stupid at all." I thought again, and a smirk grew on my face.
"What are you smirking at?" Daryl asked and looked at me.
"Nothing." I said, getting rid of my smirk and looking straight ahead.
Daryl just sighed and then kindly put his hand on my shoulder, rubbing it a few times before dropping his hand next to mine.
"You know Richard, I've never seen you smile." I then heard Jesus say. "I think that's gonna change today."
We got to the gates of the Kingdom and were welcomed inside. The men lead us down the main street and we took a glimpse at what this place was.
It was a walled off section of a town, similar to Alexandria, and it was filled with people. Women and kids were gardening in a massive vegetable garden. A group of men, young and old, were jogging now the streets in armor, as if in training.
"They have the numbers." Michonne said.
"But can they fight?" I asked.
"Oh, they can fight." Jesus said.
"Maybe." Daryl then said.
We were observing the people when Tara lightly chuckled to herself. "Morgan?" She asked.
Rick then turned around and saw Morgan walking from behind, towards us.
"Hey." He said and hugged her. "Hi." He said and hugged Sasha.
"How do you know each other?" Richard asked.
"We go back to the start." Rick said, still staring at Morgan, who nodded at him.
"Well, the King is ready to see you." Richard said and began walking away, at which we followed him, and Morgan followed us next to Rick.
"Did you find Carol?" Rick asked, knowing that he sent Morgan out to find her awhile ago.
"I did, yeah." He said.
"Where is she?" Daryl asked.
"She was here, and then she left. You know, she wasn't too happy, me following her. She wanted to get away from us, from everyone. But when I found her, she was shot. It was just a graze. I brought her back here. They got doctors, they're good." Morgan explained.
"Was it them?" I asked, asking if it was the Saviors.
"It was." He said. "She had crossed with them. One of them followed her, tried to kill her, but I stopped him. I killed him. I had to."
I felt bad for Morgan, because I knew he was trying out a path of not killing the living, and it seems like he broke that promise to himself. Yet, at the same moment, I was angry. Negan's men were everywhere, just trying to kill anyone and everyone.
"Goddamn bastards." I muttered under my breath and walked ahead of them, not wanting to hear more of that conversation.