When the dead roam - (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 88 - Whoops

Louise never thought that they would get Daryl back. The thought of being able to see him again was something that had tormented her for weeks and now that it was actually happening, the couldn't convince herself that it was real. She found herself subconsciously ensuring that they were touching, whether it be their shoulders or her hand on arm, anything to know that he was there because the second he wasn't in her eyeline, she panicked.

So, as the group sat in Barrington House, arguing with Gregory, she made sure to stay as close to Daryl as she could. The two stood at the back, leaning against an extremely cluttered bookshelf and rolling their eyes at the Hill Top's leader as he argued with Rick.

The group had devised a plan to take out the Saviours...but they couldn't do it alone – and getting help from the old man was proving more difficult than they could've anticipated.

"No. No way in hell. That was not the deal!" Gregory shouted as he paced back and forth behind his desk, using it as a shield. "You people swore you could take the Saviours out and you failed. So, any arrangement that we had is now done. Null and void, alright? We aren't trade partners, we aren't friends and we never met. We don't know each other" he took to the seat next to him and spun it around to look at Rick. "I owe you nothing. In fact, you owe me for taking in the refugees at great personal risk"

"Oh, you were very brave, staying in here while Maggie and Sasha saved this place" Jesus scoffed loudly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Your courage was inspiring"

"Hey, don't you work for me? Aren't we friends?"

"Gregory, we already started this" Rick tried, stepping closer to their (unfortunately) needed ally.

The greying man rolled his eyes. "No, you started it"

"We did. And we're gonna win!"

"These are killers"

"Is this how you wanna live? Under their thumb, killing your people?" Louise asked.

Gregory rested his elbows on his desk and slouched slightly, getting a little too calm for Lou's comfort. "Sometimes, we don't get to choose what our life looks like. Sometimes, Ricky, you have to count the blessings you have"

Maggie sighed and stepped forwards. "How many people can we spare? How many people here can fight?"

"We?" he laughed, glaring at her in disbelief. "I don't even know how many people we have, Margaret and does it even matter? I mean...what are you gonna do? Start a platoon of Sorghum farmers? 'Cause that's what we got. They grow things. They're not gonna wanna fight"

"Have you even asked them?" Louise questioned, unfolding her arms. "When people have the chance to do the right thing, usually they step up. People-"

"Alright, let me stop you before you break into song, okay?" Gregory said, holding a hand out and halting her mid sentence. Her eyebrows raised and she took a threatening step towards.

"The hell did you just say to me?"

Rick shook his head at her, silently asking her to stand down so that the could find a reasoning with the difficult man. Even through the hatred in her eyes, he knew she understood that starting a fight wasn't going to help their cause.

"Who would even train all this cannon fodder?" Gregory laughed.

"Me. I will" Maggie said, determination dripping from her response.

"Rhetorical" Gregory sang back.

The smallest of scoffs escaped Lou's lips and she muttered under her breath. "Now look who's bursting into song"

"I never want to hear another word about this, ever"

"Would we be better off without the Saviours?" Rick asked, raising his voice slightly as his patience began to wear thin. "Yes or no?"

Gregory sighed heavily. "Yeah. Sure. Okay"

"So, what will fix the problem?"

"I didn't say we had a problem. You did" he replied, swinging annoyingly in his chair. "And what happens outside of my purview...is outside of my purview"

Daryl shook his head, finally speaking up, his anger rising rapidly as he listened to the cowardly male talk so nonchalantly about the group that held him captive for so long. He straitened up and took a few steps forwards, his bicep brushing against Louise as he moved. "What the hell man? You're either with us or yer ain't. Yer sittin' over there talkin' outa' both sides of yer mouth"

Gregory stood up slowly, adjusted his cufflinks and dropped his palms to the desk, resting on his arms as he spoke calmly. "I think I've made my position very clear and I want to thank all of you for not being here today and not having this meeting with me...or being seen on your way out. In other words, go out the back"

The group huffed at the 'leader' and made their way out of the room. Daryl walked in front of Louise, looking back briefly as the sound of a glass artifact hitting the tiles echoed behind him. His eyes travelled to her outstretched hand and then back up to her smirking lips.

"Whoops" she said casually, shrugging her shoulders and shutting the door closed behind her friends. Daryl tried to hide the smile that crept onto his face as the group gathered together into the hallway.

"Walking ballsack" Rosita grumbled, earning a nod of agreement from Sasha who mumbled her own insults.

"I wanna know that idiots teeth out"

"Yeah, well, we don't need 'im anyway" Daryl stated, moving through the group and resting against the bannister.

"That's right" Rick agreed. "'cause we have Maggie and Sasha and Jesus here"

"And..Enid" Maggie said as the young girl walked through the front door. The look on her face was hard to place but Maggie was sure it wasn't good. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing...just come outside" she said before turning on her heel and walking back the way she came.

Nobody was sure what they were going to find outside of the building but what they found definitely wasn't high on their list. A group of Hill Top's residents stood just in front of the steps, all watching the team of misfits and waiting patiently to talk to them.

"So...if you don't remember, I'm Bertie" a dark skinned, middle aged woman said. She wore a blood red over-shirt over a thin top that was only a shade darker than the other fabric. "I owe my life to you all, twice over. A bunch of us do. Enid says that you want Gregory to get us to fight the Saviours with you. Is that true?"

"Yes" Maggie replied, matter-of-factly.

"Do you think that we could win? That we could beat them, us?"

"I do" She was so sure in her words that even Louise would've joined her fight – though she was already certain that killing the Saviours would be the highlight of her week.

"Enid said that you could show us the way" he said. "I'm ready"

The woman's words were followed by a chorus of 'me too's' from the people surrounding her and Louise couldn't help but smile. Even if Gregory didn't want to fight...his people did - and they sure as hell weren't going to turn them away. She allowed Rick and Maggie the time to strategize with each other before they began to walk towards large wooden gates.

"We still need more hands. Another group" Rick sighed, looking back over his shoulder as he moved. "Negan has outposts. The geography, the distance works against us. We gotta get back. If they come looking for Daryl, we need to be there"

"You don't have to get back. Not yet" Jesus called after them, stopping them in their tracks as they reached the exit. He help up a small black radio and waved it around slightly. "It's one of theirs, long range. We can listen in, keep track of them"

"So, if we're not going back, what we doing then?"

"I think it's time we introduced you to Ezekiel" he said, a smile on his face. "King Ezekiel