Lost Too Much 【REDONE】 ║ Daryl/OC or Shane/OC

Chapter 95: God damn, Darlin'.

We had been moving non-stop since the Reapers infiltrated the satellite house. The sun had gone down and we rested for a little while, but the second we could see again, we were on the move.

I was feeling okay, just not amazing. We were out of food now. We were all hungry. Most of my small group had managed the symptoms of their injuries, but my arm was still in rough shape. It wasn't swollen at least, but it was still red and burning. I was able to walk on my own, and that was all I could ask for.

We were in the woods, dodging walkers and moving non-stop to get to where we were going. Of course, we hadn't really discussed what we'd do next. We hadn't actually spoken of continuing the mission after the Reapers nearly caught us. I wasn't sure where to go from here, but I knew we had to keep going. At this point, Maggie was taking the lead on our plan. She knew more about the area and more about the enemy than I did. I had to trust her decisions this time around.

"Wait. Take a minute, then we're almost there," Maggie commanded, looking around at the forest around us. For just a moment, there were no walkers. "About three miles out."

We were really almost there. We didn't have much of a plan anymore, considering we were heavily outnumbered by our enemy. I had considered the idea of causing a distraction while others snuck in for the food, but I knew it wouldn't work. For us to be able to carry enough of the food home that it made an actual difference, we had to take all of it. There wasn't enough of us for that.

"You can't be serious," Negan interjected. The other four of us turned to look at him simultaneously. "Daryl just told us to go home."

Maggie retorted, "I didn't hear that."

"Well, I think he was being subtle. He said they were armed with lookouts," he reasoned. It was true that Daryl had casually warned us of what we were up against, though I wasn't sure he was necessarily telling us to give up. It might've just been him giving us vital information.

"And Daryl knows we would never turn back," Maggie argued. She was certainly right. Shane and Daryl knew we weren't going home without food. If they truly thought we had no chance of getting through this, they'd have made it clear.

"How're you gonna keep going, Maggie, huh? With what army?" Negan reasoned back. He glanced toward Gabriel. "Come on, Gabe. Back me up here."

Gabriel disagreed, which wasn't exactly surprising. "Our people are about to starve. I'm not going back to my family having failed."

Negan turned to me next. Of course, he knew I wasn't planning on giving up, either. I was just as hellbent on getting it done as Maggie. "Oh, Jesus. At least admit what you're asking of us... walking to our deaths for what, a sack of beans?"

Maggie was clearly irritated, and it was expected after Negan kept on talking about turning around. He had stayed persistent on that idea since the first problem arose. Still, I wasn't regretting bringing him along. They'd never admit to it, but we were in better shape than we would've been in if Negan hadn't come.

"If you're more interested in saving yourself than protecting the people back home, you can go," Maggie declared. "We don't need you."

"We all know that's not true," he replied. Admittedly, he was right. We needed all the help we could get right now. "Alright, tell you what. You make me a promise... in front of the goddamn priest... And I will stick around."

Negan wasn't in the position to be making demands and deals. He was at the low end of the totem pole. We did need him, yes, but that didn't put him in any sort of authority that gave him the right to start striking deals. I shouldn't have been surprised that he'd make an attempt, anyway.