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

S7Pt14 - My Enemy's Enemy Is A Friend Of Mine

It's been a couple days we've been stuck at the Kingdom, and Daryl and I have been keeping to ourselves. I've been thinking about how I'm going to approach Ezekiel to get him to side with us, but Daryl had just been anxiously and impatiently waiting. But, I can't blame him, I am the same way right now.
It was late morning and Daryl and I were standing on the porch of a tall brick building. We were on the outskirts of the Kingdom, away from the normal people, when we saw a back gate open and two trucks drove in.
The doors opened and we saw Richard, Jerry, Ezekiel, Morgan, and the kid Benjamin get out. They were all talking before dispersing, and I saw Morgan still talking to the kid. Morgan then felt his ear and then shook his head and kindly smiled, and Benjamin nodded.
"What's this huh?" Daryl muttered under his breath and walked forwards. "Hey! Where'd you go in them trucks?" Daryl called out to Morgan.
Morgan looked at Daryl then back at Benjamin. "I need to talk to Daryl alone. That okay?"
"Yeah, I'll get you something for that cut." Ben said and walked away.
"Yeah." Morgan said.
I leaned against a post on the porch and crossed my feet, and let Daryl talk to Morgan. I listened in on the conversation from afar and could feel the tension between these two.
Daryl walked off the porch and met Morgan at the bottom of the steps.
"You went to see them. Right?" Daryl asked and nodded his head, already knowing the answer.
"Yeah." Morgan said.
"Part of your deal?" Daryl asked.
Morgan just looked away to avoid Daryl's look, but that made Daryl take a step closer.
"What the hell's wrong with you?" Daryl asked. "You're bleeding."
Morgan looked at Daryl and then touched his ear, feeling the blood that was dripping down his neck now.
"They did that to you." Daryl said and pointed at him. "You know what they are."
"I do." Morgan said and nodded.
"You know, if Carol were here, she saw all that... if she knew about Abraham... and Glenn... she'd be leading us right to them, ready to kill them all." Daryl said.
"She would." Morgan nodded. "And that's why she left man."
They just stared at each other for a long second before Daryl scoffed at him. He turned around and walked over towards me, grabbing my hand and leading us away from Morgan. I took one look over my shoulder before we turned the corner, and saw Morgan just looking at us and shaking his head slowly.

~~~~~~~~~~

Daryl and I walked around the Kingdom until we saw a familiar face at the archery range. Richard was practicing with a bow and arrow and we watched him from afar.
"What the hell are we even still doing here?" Daryl asked.
"Laying low, like we're supposed to." I said. "And trying to get Ezekiel on our side."
"That guy's a joke. Lost cause." Daryl muttered.
I looked over and randomly caressed Daryl's cheek, and he watched me. I then moved my hand to the back of his neck and scratched his head and behind his ear, which always relaxed him.
"He'll come around." I said.
Daryl just shrugged his shoulders, and he closed his eyes as I kept relaxing him, and I moved closer to him. I stood in front of him and hugged him, his arms tightly wrapping around my waist.
"I know someone who can help convince him." I whispered in his ear.
"Who?" He asked.
I looked over at the archery range, and nodded towards Richard, who was focused on taking his shots.
"Him." I said.
I then let go and grabbed Daryl's hand. "Come on." I said.
Daryl nodded and we walked over to Richard, dropping each other's hands once he turned around and looked at us.
"You guys settling in?" He asked.
"It's been fine." I said, trying to be civil, and Daryl didn't speak.
Richard grabbed another arrow from the table, and we noticed the table had more weapons on it, including a crossbow.
"I'm practicing." He said as he pulled back the string. "Gonna have to start using these more."
He fired the arrow and was only a few inches off from the bullseye.
"The Saviors are smart enough to know I shouldn't have a gun around them." He said.
We just watched him and he looked back at us. "Morgan said you're a bowman." He said to Daryl, and then picked up the crossbow. "Here."
Daryl just stared at him, then finally gave in and took the crossbow. He felt the weight in his hands and nodded in approval.
"Why?" Daryl asked.
"Because we want the same things." Richard said. "I need your help."
Daryl nodded and looked at the arrow that was already loaded in the crossbow. He held it up at the target, took a deep breath, and hit right in the center of the bullseye. He nodded in approval and looked up at Richard.
"Okay." Daryl said.
Daryl walked behind me and over to a straw bale, where he sat down to watch me. I then walked over to the table and saw a set of throwing knives, and ran my finger over each blade. I picked up the set and stood next to Richard. He just grabbed another arrow and aimed his bow.
"What happened to your arm?" He then asked.
He took a deep breath and released the arrow when he breathed out and then looked at me. I was looking down at the prosthetic and sighed, knowing I was gonna have to open up to get him to trust me.
"I got bit." I said, and saw Richard raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"And you survived?" He asked.
"Yeah...." I said, and then pulled a knife out of the pouch. "I'm lucky. I got to it in time."
I threw the blade at the target, hitting the outer ring, and shook my arm to loosen it up.
"You mean, you cut off your own arm?" He asked.
"I had to." I said and looked at him. "I have a husband, a baby, a family... I couldn't let that go."
He just nodded and readied another arrow, and I grabbed another throwing knife. I flipped it in my hand and looked ahead of me at the target, pretending it was Negan. At the same time, we used our weapons and both of us hit the bullseye on each of our targets.
"You have a good eye." He complimented me.
"So do you." I said back.
I grabbed another knife and threw it again, hitting the bullseye again, and noticed everything became quiet. I sighed as I grabbed another knife and just held it in my hand.
"I want to apologize for how I acted when we first met. I was out of line." I then spoke up, anxiously fidgeting with the throwing knife in my hand.
"Don't worry about it." Richard said and then nodded at me. "Hey, my enemy's enemy is a friend of mine right?"
I slightly smiled and nodded back. "Yeah... yeah that's right."