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

S9Pt5 - The Bridge Showdown

It's been almost a month since the herd plowed through us, and since the hanging, so we've been busy repairing. The main project was the bridge that went down, and we were halfway done with it now. Maggie made a deal with Rick to give more food to the Saviors only if they put in most of the labor on the bridge. They didn't have any other option, so we've been working with the Saviors since construction started.
After the fall at the museum, the cuts from the glass healed up nicely and left no scars. Once I got back to Alexandria, Rosita gladly cut my hair for me, said it gave her something nice to do, and I've got to say it's my favorite so far. She evened it out with the chop I did with my prosthetic, so my hair reached just above my shoulders, and for fun I let her give it some layers. As always, Daryl said he liked it. Since then, I didn't waste my time being upset with Daryl anymore. He did still annoy the shit out of me occasionally, but that's just a normal thing that happens now, and we move on from it.
Today we had a good morning together. We fed the kids and made sure they were all set for while we were gone. Daryl put my hair up for me and we both got on our work clothes, and left Alexandria to meet the construction group at the bridge.
Workers were already there and it was about 11 in the afternoon now. Daryl and I got to work right away, and I helped him put the floorboards in. I would then hand him nails and he pounded the boards into the frame. Everything was running smoothly, and Henry was walking around offering water to everyone. He gave some to us, Daryl nodded gratefully and I thanked him.
"Keep up the good work Henry." I said and smiled at him.
"Thank you Kelley." He said and smiled back, and walked away to hand out more water.
I observed around me that he gave water to the Saviors, and one woman kindly thanked him and continued working. He then walked over to another and offered water.
"Thanks." He said and poured some water into a cup.
He chugged the water down and Henry went to grab the cup when the Savior pushed his hand away.
"Easy there, buddy. I'm still thirsty." He said.
"No. No." Henry told him. "There's not enough. You can't."
"Give it a rest, kid." The Savior said, and pushed Henry onto the ground.
He took the water jug and stared at the kid on the group. Tools clattered on the ground and I looked up from my work to see what happened. He started pouring the water from the jug straight into his mouth, and that's when Henry got up and hit the guy's legs with his wooden staff, knocking him onto the ground.
"Back off." Henry said and grabbed the jug that rolled away.
Others around then started laughing and the man rolled over on the ground. Another Savior walked over to him and laughed.
"Ahh. Hey man, it's cool. I got my ass handed to me by a kid one time, too." He said. "Of course, I was six at the time."
The Saviors just got up and started walking after Henry, and that's when Daryl instantly stood up. He jogged after him, and pulled him back by his shirt. The Savior turned around and stared at Daryl. In the moment when they looked at each other, I remembered that this guy was the same one who disrespected Daryl at the Sanctuary a month ago now, Justin.
"Fucking Justin, man." I muttered in my head.
"Hey. Kids just doing his job." Daryl said. "Get back to work."
"I don't need your people telling me what to do. You're not my babysitter anymore." Justin said and turned around to go after Henry again.
Daryl got protective and grabbed Justin again to stop him. Justin then spun around and swung out his arm at Daryl. Daryl ducked down and dodged it, and then punched him square in the face. Justin grunted and fell backwards, landing on a pile of saw dust. He then grabbed a fistful, throwing it at Daryl's face, who then covered his eyes.
"Ahh!" He yelled and ran at Daryl, trying to tackle him to the ground.
Daryl grunted at the impact as he fell to the ground and still covered his face from the dust. I instantly got up and walked to the front of the circle that was starting to form around their fight. People around us were yelling and chanting, edging the fight on. The guys began socking each other in the face, and Justin got a hold on Daryl and tried to shove him over the edge.
"Hey!" I then yelled, taking a step forward. "That's enough!"
Another Savior grabbed me by the strap of my prosthetic over my shoulder and yanked me backwards.
"You fucker!" I yelled out.
I struggled as I tried to shake loose, but the guy wasn't letting go. Rick then ran in and pushed through the crowd.
"Hey, break it up!" Rick said and got through to the center. "Hey, cut it out."
I watched as the Savior held Daryl's face and punched him hard, and then Rick pinned Justin's arms behind his head. Daryl spit out blood and ran forwards, but Aaron jumped in and held him back with the help of Jerry. The Savior still had me by my prosthetic, so I decided to unstrap it and shook my arm loose. He stared at me as I slipped away, and he stood there awkwardly just holding my prosthetic arm.
"I said enough!" Rick said and held the two guys apart. "Enough."
But I wasn't done. I didn't get a turn to give him a piece of disrespect like he just gave out to Daryl. I then stomped into the center of the circle, my feet loudly shaking the planks underneath me, and I had my eyes locked on Justin. He saw me coming and before anyone could stop me, I raised my fist.
"You piece of shit!" I yelled and punched him as hard as I could in the face.
He twirled around and fell on the ground, and the crowed hollered as I stomp on Justin and kicked him while he was down. Rick then ran forwards and tried to pull me back.
"You like that?!" I yelled at Justin.
Rick wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me backwards, but I didn't budge.
"You fucking dick!" I yelled.
Rick tightened his grip around me and grunted as I tried to shake him, but he picked me up off my feet.
"What did I say? What did I fucking say? Fuck with my husband again, see what happens!" I yelled at Justin and Rick lifted me back.
"Kelley!" Rick yelled at me and put me down, placing him between us.
As soon as he set me down, I lunged forwards again and yelled over Rick's shoulder at Justin who was still on the ground.
"That's right! Stay down bitch! Stay down you fucking pussy! Fucking bastard!" I yelled, but Rick just pushed me back.
"Enough!" He yelled at me.
I stopped to catch a breath and stared into Rick's eyes, and felt myself breathing heavy. I just glared at him and acted as if I was peering through him to give the death glare to Justin. Daryl then stood next to me and had the same look on his face. Daryl then grunted as he wiped his hand across his mouth and spit out blood. He then walked away from the circle, I just grumbled under my breath as I followed him. I passed by the Savior who was holding my prosthetic and he held it out in front of him.
"I'm sor—" He began to say, but I just yanked my prosthetic away from him.
"Shut the fuck up." I said through gritted teeth.
Everyone remained still and began slightly murmuring when Rick waved them all off.
"Go back to work." Rick said.
They all agreed and got back to work on the bridge. Daryl was walking back to the camp in the woods we had set up for the duration of the construction. He stomped inside of our tent and I followed behind him. He grabbed a bottle of water that was on the table and threw it against the side of the tent in frustration.
"Daryl." I said and he turned around to look at me, and I pointed at a chair. "Sit down."
He just muttered under his breath and sat down, and I tossed my prosthetic arm onto the table. I then grabbed the bottle of water Daryl threw off of the floor and a cloth. I grabbed an empty cup and set it down on the table next to us, and then stood in front of Daryl.
"Any dizziness, headache, wanting to throw up?" I asked him.
"No." He grumbled.
"Lose a tooth?" I asked.
"Nope." He grumbled again.
"Okay." I said, and held out the bottle. "Drink." I said.
He did and then I held out the cup. "Spit." He did and I nodded at him. "Again."
Once he rinsed his mouth and no more blood came out, I dumped the cup outside, only to see Rick looking for us in the distance. I sighed as I stepped back inside and stood in front of Daryl again. I poured some water on the rag and began lightly wiping the blood away from his lip and corner of his eye.
"Fucking bullshit." Daryl muttered and shook his head. "Can't believe that guy."
"Head still, please." I then said and he stopped and shut his mouth. "But, continue."
"That guy is no good. All he is, is trouble. Turning on a kid like that." Daryl scoffed as lightly shook his head.
I then squished Daryl's cheek with my fingers to keep his head still again, and Daryl just looked up at me.
I let go of his face and continued cleaning his cuts and I nodded and sighed. "I get ya', that was stupid. Guy's a fucking prick." I muttered.
Daryl closed his eyes and sighed, trying his best not to move his head for me.
"You would've won though." I said and smirked at him. "Would've loved to see that shit."
"Yeah, me too." He muttered and scoffed under his breath.
By now, Rick should've been close to finding us, but I continued to clean up Daryl's face as I counted down the seconds.
"Just letting you know, that Rick is going to be here in 3, 2,—" I said and finished cleaning his face when the flaps go the tent flew open.
"Daryl." Rick then said.
"1." I whispered and smirked as I set the rag down and took a step to the side.
Daryl just stared at Rick who put his hands on his hips.
"What the hell happened?" Rick asked, and I could tell he was pissed.
"The prick pushed the kid down, tried to fight him. I wasn't going to let that happen." Daryl huffed at Rick.
"So you fought him?" Rick asked.
"Dude swung at me." Daryl said and waved as if Justin was standing right next to him.
Rick just shook his head and sighed. "You're off bridge duty until they're done with the build." Rick said.
Daryl then stood up and grabbed his crossbow from the corner defensively, and looked at Rick.
"The hell does that mean?" Daryl asked, raising his voice in anger.
"What do you expect me to do?" Rick asked and waved his arm out.
"So, that asshole just gets a free pass? Is that it?" Daryl asked.
I just sat down in the chair Daryl was in, and kept quiet as I put my prosthetic back on and secured it tightly to my arm.
"It's just a few more days." Rick said. "I don't like it either, but we're in a rush to get that work done. He's strong. The Saviors are over half the workforce and we've had too many walk off already."
"Yeah, 'cause that's who they are." Daryl said. "Some of them ain't ever gonna fall in line just 'cause you say so." He said and pointed at Rick.
Rick just stared at him and I sighed. They looked over at me and I stood up after reattaching my prosthetic.
"Daryl's right." I said.
"See?" Daryl said and waved at me, but I put my hand up to quiet him down.
I then looked at Rick who was already looking at me. "These people have never had to live together, and we can't just expect them to forget what's happened." I said and shrugged.
"It hasn't been easy. I know." Rick sighed, then glanced between Daryl and I. "It won't be, not for a while but— it's not about forgetting. It's about moving ahead, all of us, together. We keep doing that, they'll see we're all on the same side."
We were quiet and Daryl paced back and forth. "Are we, though?" He asked, and stopped to look at Rick. "Are we on the same side, Rick?"
"Well, you tell me." Rick retaliated and put his hands on his hips, now staring at Daryl.
"Thing is man, I've been tryin' to. But you don't seem to want to hear it." Daryl took a step forwards towards Rick and told him.
Daryl then turned around and stormed out of the tent.
"Daryl." Rick called out, but then sighed.
I just rolled my neck around to relax it and sighed, taking a deep breath in. Rick then looked at me and I just put up my arms.
"He's stubborn." I said. "We all know that."
"Yeah, you are too." He said and scoffed, but then I saw a smirk forming. "You were part of that up there, too."
"I told that guy before, that if he messes with Daryl, he messes with me, too. He asked for it." I said.
I then grabbed my rifle from our tent and slung it over my shoulder, and began walking away.
"Kelley." Rick called out.
I turned around and waited for him to speak, and he was looking at me anxiously.
"Are you on the same side?" He asked and tilted his head.
I just sighed and shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not on any side but my own." I said and Rick bowed his head silently. "Sorry, Rick, but I've started to do what feels right to me, not what I'm told is right by others."
I then turned around and left Rick alone in the tent, and went off to find Daryl.