Daryl's Angel: Saviour (Book Two)

Chapter 51: For Now

The Saviours prepare to leave. There are a lot of trucks for them to drive, a lot of items to haul. Once again, I trail after Rick and Negan from a distance like a lost puppy. Rosita and Spencer come back from their run, parking their van.

There's a blond man with a burn scar that takes up most of the left side of his face hanging around Daryl, dragging him around. I didn't see him earlier, but I notice him now. He's carrying Daryl's crossbow and wearing Daryl's angel wings vest, and I wish I could rip them away from him.

"Hell of a place you got here, Rick," Negan says as his men and women pile into their vehicles and our people climb out of ours.

"Give me a second," Rick says.

Negan looks over his shoulder, smirking at something I can't make out. "No," he says.

Rick bows his head. "Please, can you just...give me a second?"

Negan seems pleased with the extra begging sprinkled on top and allows Rick to move past him. While we wait, more and more Saviours pull up. I watch as Spencer unloads Daryl's motorcycle from the back of their van.

When Rick returns, he's with Michonne. She's carrying a doe on her shoulders, and Rick has a rifle.

"Look at this!" Negan says.

"I thought she was scavenging, but she was hunting," Rick says. He holds the rifle out to Negan. "This one never came inside. We kept it near the line."

"Look at this," Negan repeats. "This is something to build a relationship on. Good for you, Rick. This is reading the room and getting the message. I've said it before, and I'll say it again." He uses the rifle to point at Rick. "You, sir...are special."

Rick bows his head. "Now that you know we can follow your rules..." he says.

"Yes?" Negan asks, dragging the word out.

"I'd like to ask you if Daryl can stay."

Negan chuckles. "Not happening," he says. Rick sags, and Negan's gaze flickers to me, his smirk growing. "You know what? I don't know. Maybe Daryl can plead his case. Maybe...Daryl can sway me."

He doesn't mean that. He can't. He just told me that there's nothing I can do to free Daryl—he wants him to be a Saviour that badly. But foolish, stupid hope bubbles up inside me.

Negan turns at looks at Daryl, but Daryl stays silent, head down. I bite my tongue too hard. I already know what he'll do. Dixons don't beg for anything.

"Daryl?" Negan coaxes. When he stays silent, Negan laughs and turns back to Rick with a shrug. "Well, you tried. Now, all you've gotta do is get over that tall wall of yours and try harder out there. Earn for me. Because we're coming back soon, and when we do, you better have something interesting for us, or Lucille, she's gonna have her way."

We obey, we get killed. We try, we get killed.

"I want you to hear that again. If you don't have something interesting for us...somebody's gonna die. And no more magic guns," he says. Rick nods, and Negan lets out a happy sigh. "Arat, grab that deer. It's getting late! Let's go home."

Michonne's lip curls as she throws the deer down and storms off.

Negan never seems to stop talking. "Man, I love a woman who buys me dinner and doesn't expect me to put out," he says. He chuckles as he saunters off, admiring the view.

The blond Daryl-impersonator approaches Spencer, who's still lingering around Daryl's motorcycle, and he takes hold of the handlebars, mounting it. A flash of rage burns inside me all over again. I hate it. I hate all of this. I hate it all so damn much that it's killing me.