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

S8Pt4 - "The Fat Lady"

Daryl got back early the next morning and instantly fell asleep. When he woke up in the afternoon, he found me in the nursery feeding Georgia. Lee was already fed and was taking a nap, so Daryl let him sleep. He then looked at me and finally got a good look at the baby.
"I can't believe it." Daryl said as he knelt on the floor next to me.
He reached his hand up and held her tiny hand and pet her leg, and then looked up at me. I looked down at him and nodded and then smiled.
"I thought of her name." I said. "I wanna know if you like it."
"Shoot." Daryl said.
"Georgia." I told him.
He nodded and then looked at the baby. "I like it."
"Really?" I asked, a little surprised.
"Yeah." He said. "It has meaning, you know."
I softly laughed and nodded. "You read my mind Daryl."
Daryl stood up and kissed my forehead, and then stood there silently. I sighed and looked up at him.
"What is it?" I asked him.
"Rick's still out there, trying to make another deal with those junk people... but I gotta go back out there." Daryl said, but I could tell in his voice he didn't want to leave us.
"I know you do." I said and he tilted his head at me. "Go. We'll be fine here."
I then set the bottle down and put Georgia in her new crib I set up for her. I then looked at Daryl, and he was still standing there. I opened my arms and gave him a hug, which he returned.
"You do what you have to do Daryl. I know why you're doing it." I said and then looked at him. "I love you. Just be careful. Don't get yourself killed."
"I won't." Daryl said.
He then cupped my face and kissed me gently. He then looked over at the babies that were napping and sighed. He looked at me one last time.
"I'll be back." Daryl said.
"I'll be waiting." I told him.
I kissed his cheek before he left, and I heard Daryl's footsteps march down the stairs. Once I heard the front door close, I began getting ready to leave too.
Little did Daryl know, I had my own plan for today. I already asked a neighbor to watch the kids, and my day was free. I was going to Negan's compound today. I had to see what it looked like, what the herd was doing, and if I could get in there to possibly just end this now.
I attached my prosthetic for the day and got on my boots. I grabbed my traveling backpack and left the house. The car I used the other day was still where I left it, so I walked over to it and threw my bag in. I sat in the drivers seat when I heard Rosita jogging over to me. I just sat in the seat and she leaned against the car and put her head through the window.
"Where you going?" She asked.
"Just gonna look." I said.
She was silent and then sighed. "You should rest. Get ready for the next fight."
"The fight never stopped." I said, and then she slowly sighed too. "I'll be back soon."
I started the car and I saw her pull away from the car, but then she opened the door and sat down in the passengers seat.
I sighed and looked over at her, but she didn't make eye contact. "You're the one who should rest. You got shot."
She just sighed and sat up in the seat. "I've been shot worse. Drive." She said.
I shrugged my shoulders and put the car in drive. "I know." I told her as we left Alexandria, and towards Negan's compound.

~~~~~~~~~~

We were halfway to the Compound when Rosita took over driving for me. It was a silent drive, and a long one, and I counted down the minutes.
"Why did you really need to come back out here?" Rosita then asked me.
I sighed and stopped looking out the window and looked at her. "I didn't see what went down there, but I know that Negan is still alive... If I have the chance, I'm taking it."
She then glanced over at me, and I knew she felt the same. "Good."
"Okay." I agreed.
I then heard some music playing in the background and a the faint voice of a woman.
"Stop the car." I said.
Rosita did and turned it off, and we listened. The music continued and we looked around.
"I don't think that sound can reach the Sanctuary." Rosita said.
"I don't either." I agreed. "But we don't know."
I unholstered my pistol and so did Rosita. We then walked into the forest and down a trail, and followed the music. Through the trees, we saw a large building and the parking lot was deserted except for a single car. The music continued and the woman's voice was singing along and we just looked at each other. I nodded and we walked out towards the building.
The music now stopped and the inside was dark and empty. We snuck around and heard clattering and bangs coming from deeper inside.
"There was an RV out front that was burned to hell." A man's voice said. "Think it was that asshole Rick's ride."
Rosita took lead and I followed her as she walked around some tall metal shelves. The shelves were filled up and stacked with materials and supplies, so we remained hidden for now.
"Okay so." A woman said. "Negan torched the piece of shit. So what—"
"Or— Or they did." The guy said. "Think about it. That gate was ripped open, and an RV bomb is one hell of a dinner bell for the dead."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean there was a fight." The woman said.
"Come on Zee, there had to be." He said, defending his argument. "That was definitely a battle back there. And I'm betting it was all about surrounding the big house. Probably with some rots from the Herdway."
"My god, they don't even know yet." I thought to myself.
"Yeah, well, whatever happened, whatever is happening, Rick the prick or whoever, they don't know shit about the Fat Lady here." She said. "What's been done can be undone real quick."
"We get her singing, we save their asses. And I think Negan's gonna give us a leg up." The guy said.
We peeked through the shelves and saw the two people talking, and they were by an armored truck that was carrying a contraption that made that loud music we heard back on the road. Rosita and I glanced at each other because we knew what was happening.
They were planning on taking that to the Compound to get rid of the herd. If the herd is gone, the plan fails. We had to stop them.
They stopped talking and got back to work on the truck. We moved from our position and I walked around the side. I was careful not to make any noise, yet my foot hit a tennis ball that was on the ground and it rolled into the center of the room. Right at the feet of the woman. They both got out their guns and aimed around but didn't fire. It was silent as I tried to plan my attack, but I guess they saw Rosita because they started firing away from me. They stopped firing and looked around.
"Check the perimeter. Make sure no one else is here." The woman said.
"Yeah." The guy said.
I then heard him walk away and start whistling the same tune that Negan does. It pissed me off, so I tried to find him to kill him first. I snuck around some more shelves and saw the woman getting closer to me. I hid behind one of them and waited, and when she turned the corner I stuck my blade out. She dodged it and swung a lead pipe at me which I dodged.
We stared at each other and she began chuckling. "Leo, get your ass back to the Sanctuary. I got them." She said.
I ran forwards and swung my blade at her, and she dodged again. She hit my cast with the pipe and it almost knocked me down, and I stepped backwards into a shelf. She twisted the pipe in her hand and stared at me.
"Mommy's not so tough." She said.
I suddenly screamed at her and rushed forwards, grabbing her and pushing her into a shelf. I punched the girl in the face and then called out to Rosita. "Rosita, stop him!"
I realized that when I pushed her back, I stabbed my blade into her stomach and she slumped down to the ground. I then looked around because I heard Rosita's voice, and she found the guy.
"Baby girl, you're not gonna use that—" He began to say.
Next thing I knew, there was a loud explosion and the guy was blasted into pieces and flames. I took a second to look back down and noticed the woman was gone.
"Shit!" I yelled, and saw the woman limping away to the truck. "Rosita, the truck!"
I ran over there, but by the time I made it she almost ran me over before speeding out of the building. She played the music and we both ran out the building and watched her drive off.
"Fuck!" I yelled and kicked the ground. "Goddamn it!"
We watched in defeat as the truck got farther away, the music blaring, but then something unexpected happened. A giant garbage truck drove into its path from the right and flipped the other truck. The music stopped and two people got out to kill the woman and some walkers that showed up.
"Holy shit." I said out loud and began walking over to them. It was Daryl and Tara.
"Jesus, that was too close." Rosita said and walked with me.
"Yeah, it was." I sighed.
They saw us and I saw Daryl surprised he was looking at me. "The hell you doing out here?" He asked, but I knew he wasn't mad. He quickly hugged me, and then looked at the crash. "A truck full of speakers huh?" He asked.
"That was a Savior. They were scavenging when you guys attacked the Sanctuary." Rosita said.
"Yeah. Saw the walkers around it. It's a cache. They were gonna try and drive the walkers away. That's why they're out here." I finished.
"Why are you guys out here?" Tara asked us.
"... I was going to see the Sanctuary." I said, and I noticed Daryl was watching me closely. "I need to." I said and looked at him.
"We both do." Rosita added. "Why are you guys?" She then asked.
Daryl cleared his throat and held out his hand. "We got a lot more work to do. All of us." Daryl said.
I nodded and took his hand. We then all got into the truck and Daryl drove us away. He was making a plan, and we were ready to see it through.

~~~~~~~~~~

Daryl drove us to a lookout spot that looked down at the Sanctuary. It was night time and the place looked empty. There was no light, no noise, no signs of life inside.
Daryl then looked through a set of binoculars, and handed them to me. I looked through them, and the herd was still hundreds of walkers thick. I nodded and handed them to Rosita, who also nodded.
"So what's the plan?" I asked Daryl.
He looked at me and nodded. "We're ending this thing. Right now."