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

S7Pt19 - Back At Alexandria

In the near distance, we saw the front gate to Alexandria. Just seeing that familiar gate made my heart skip a few beats. I was so close to seeing my babies again.
Soon, our sign for Alexandria came into view, and I wondered if the Negan and the Saviors ever even noticed it.

"Welcome to the Alexandria Safe Zone
Mercy for the lost
Vengeance for the plunderers"

Mercy, I'm not so sure of anymore. We've all had our moments and fair share of mercy, but after all we've been through... it doesn't seem worth the risk anymore.
And vengeance, you're sure as hell right about that. I have a lot of vengeance to serve to these sick fuckers.

Daryl and I arrived at the front gate and without a word, it was opened to us. I first saw Aaron and his boyfriend Eric, and then Rick was walking towards us from our houses.
I hugged Aaron and Eric, and they welcomed us back without hesitation. But when Rick arrived, I saw the worry in his expression.
"You guys shouldn't be here." He said, yet at the same time gave me a hug.
I patted his back and he hugged Daryl and then they both shook hands. Daryl and I then looked at each other, and it looked like he wanted me to break the news to them.
"We have to get ready for some... retaliation from the Saviors." I began to explain.
"What? What's going on?" Rick asked.
I sighed and explained to Rick what happened at the Hilltop, and then told him about Sasha's plan with Rosita.
"She ran off. We don't know where she went. Sasha was nowhere to be seen... we have to assume the worse." I finished.
"We have to get ready." Daryl added on.
Rick nodded his head, and then I saw Tara walk over to us. To catch her up, I explained to her what is going on and she deeply sighed.
"We don't have enough guns. Michonne and I went out. We found a stash of weapons. Pistols, sniper rifles, automatics... but we gave them away." Rick told us.
"The hell?" Daryl asked. "To who?"
"We ran into another group. Call themselves the Scavengers." Rick began to explain this new group. "We made a deal with them, and they agreed to help us fight."
"They able to?" I asked, and Rick nodded. "Do you trust them?" I then asked.
Rick tilted his head and placed his hands on his hips and glanced away from me, and that was a clear sign that he was uncertain of his answer. I just sighed and ran my hand through my hair anxiously. Daryl lightly touched my back and I looked at him for answers, but got nothing.
"I know a place... a, umm, community actually." Tara then spoke up and interjected.
We all stared at her in disbelief and I could tell from her expression that she was nervous. She nodded her head as a way to encourage herself and kept talking.
"It's a place called Oceanside. Ran completely by women, and they have children... I was told that Negan killed all of their men." She said, and it got really quiet as we were taking in this news. "They—" Tara continued and sighed. "They have guns. A lot of them. I saw it."
"What?" Daryl asked, the first to speak up and obviously slightly pissed off.
"That group I met. After I left when... Denise died." She said and sighed again. "They have an armory. They have guns."
"And you decided to bring this up now?" I asked, unintentionally raising my voice at her. "What the hell Tara?"
"I made a promise Kelley." She said.
"Why are you telling us this now?" Rick asked.
"They have guns. We need guns. I'm trying to help us win this fight." Tara said, and she glanced in my direction.
I just ran my hand through my hair and took a deep breath. My anxiety was popping off and I just needed to try and keep it together.
"Will you be ready if this goes south?" Rick asked Tara.
"It won't." She said.
"If it does, you don't need to feel bad." Rick said.
"I do feel bad." Tara said. "I will." She insisted.
"Tara. You don't have to." He said.
She just took a deep breath and stared at Rick, who eventually nodded in agreement. She nodded back and walked off, probably to prepare her go bag.
"Alright, the group leaves in an hour. We go there, get this done right, and we come back with the guns." Rick stated, and the rest of us nodded in agreement.