𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝗼𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧

𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐞

rory

"it won't work." rick shook his head. i bit my lip and played with daryls fingers.

"it's gotta." daryl says.

"it'll stir things up." he places his hands on his hips.

"look, the governor is probably on his way to the prison right now. merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle."

"i'm not haven't him at the prison." glenn shakes his head. "do you really want him sleeping in a cell next to rory, the twins, beth or carol."

"he ain't no rapist." daryl spat.

"well his buddy is." glenn looks at me.

"stop." i state firmly. "look, i'm guessing the governor and merle ain't friends anymore after last night. can't we keep him in outside the cell block? or even in the cell block we cleared for the prisoners?"

"there's no way merle is gone live there without putting everyone at each other's throats." rick says. i give daryl a look that said 'i tried'.

"so you're gonna cut merle loose and bring the last samurai home with us?"

"no, she's not coming back with us." i shake my head. it wasn't fair to daryl if michonne could come back but merle couldn't.

"she's not in a state to be on her own." maggie spoke up. "she did bring you guys to us."

"yeah, then ditched us. came back all fucking beat up." i say.

"at least let my dad stitch her up."

"she's to unpredictable." rick argues.

"that's right. we don't know who she's is. but merle. merle is blood."

"no, merle is your blood." glenn says harshly. "my blood, my family. is standing right here and waiting for us back at the prison. and you're part of that family. but he's not."

"man, y'all don't know." he looks behind us, seeing merle leaning against a tree. "fine, we'll fend for ourselves."

"what? no, i'm sure we can figure something out!" my grip on his hand tightened.

"that's not what i was saying." glenn says.

"no him. no me."

"wait, can't we think this through a little bit more." i look between the four of them frantically, tears brimming my eyes.

he was going to leave. leave me. leave ellie and evie. just like that.

"daryl, you don't have to do that. please." i put my hand on his chest, he looks down at me with soft eyes.

"don't cry, please. it's better this way. it was always me and merle before this." he reaches up and wipes a tear from my face, only for it to be replaced with another one.

"you're just gonna leave like that?" rick asks.

"you'd do the same."

"what do you want us to tell carol?" glenn asks.

"she'll understand. say goodbye to your pop for me." he tells maggie before letting go of my hand and walking away.

"so you're not even gonna give me a goodbye. huh?" i ask, following him.

"daryl, are you serious! hey!" i hear glenn shout after us.

"daryl, don't fucking ignore me. not right now." i grab his shoulder, turning to me.

"what do you want me to stay rory? fucking what?" he yells at me. i flinch a little, backing up.

"you're not gonna say goodbye." my voice cracks and my voice is barely above a whisper. i see his hard gaze falter, and his eyes soften.

"please don't leave. i need you right now." i had just gone through something traumatic. i needed him here, with me.

"no you don't rory." he shook his head. "you don't need me. you want me."

"daryl—"

"goodbye aurora." he cuts me off. walking away from me. i tried to form a sentence but it didn't work out. i sigh, rubbing my head and wiping my tears. i watch as rick walks past me and do daryl. they argued a bit before daryl flung his backpack over his shoulder and walked to merle. when he starts to walk off, glenn, maggie and me start to make our way to where rick stands.

"daryl! come on bro!" glenn yells. rick harshly takes his gun off and throws it in the back. maggie takes the gun off of her back and hands it to rick. i do the same.

"we patch you up and then you are gone." rick tells michonne. who nods and gets into the back seat of the car.

"we should check those cars for some stuff." rick says, pointing to the other cars on the highway. we make our way over to a red truck.

"get the breaks." rick says, placing his hands on the hood. he opens the door and a walked jumps out. he lets it fall to the ground and starts to stomp its head in.

"you didn't kill him." glenn points out, hinting to the governor.

"that's not why we went back." rick says.

"no. you're right. you went back for daryl. and now he's gone again and the governor is still alive." glenns voice start to get louder, angrier.

"daryl was the priority." rick points out.

"i should have been there with you!"

"you were in no condition!"

"no but your sister was!"

"glenn, this isn't about us." i tell him.

"i should have been there!"

"hey, hey, you couldn't come back with us because you could barely walk."

"what about her?" he points to me.

"what about me!"

"do you know what he did to her?"

"leave it alone!" i shout.

"do you know?"

"let's go." maggie says.

"please, can we go?"

"after all that effort, all that risk we took, daryl just leaves with merle?"

"well, he had his reasons."

"keep telling yourself that rick. doesn't change that we're up to our neck in shit!"

"you want me to turn the car around, beg him to come back? throw down the welcome mat to merle? this is the hand we've been dealt!" he yells in glenns face.

"let's just get this out of here and get back. get some rest. we can talk it out there." maggie suggests.

"no, you guys do all the talking you want. i'm done." he storms off. i sigh and rub my forehead.

"let's just go back. we're all tired and need rest. probably haven't slept in days." i say, also walking back. i hear both of them sigh and follow behind me.

i sit in the back, between rick and michonne. i yawn a little, putting my head on ricks shoulder. i fell asleep within minutes.

i have rewrote this chapter multiple times-