RIDE OR DIE | DARYL DIXON

a long shot

IT WAS A LONG SHOT, but it was their only shot.

Willow bit her nail, running through Rick's plan in her head a second time. She searched for any room that would allow errors, and there was many, but it was the best they could do with what little time they had.

"All right, we do it." She finally said, removing her hand from her mouth and crossing her arms. "When do we do this?"

Rick's face was stern, but still offered her a thankful smile. "We do this in two days. We don't have time to wait any longer than that. We work on barricading and fortifying today, do a dry run tomorrow, and we'll be ready the next day."

Carter shook his head from across the room, still in a disagreement, but he finally gave in. "All right. If it's the best shot we have, then fine."

"It is." Rick assured him again. "You got a map?"

Carter looked over to Heath who began to nod, already heading out the door. The living room began to clear out. Those who weren't a part of the plan returned to their own homes while the rest stayed close.

"I need to show you something." Willow said quietly, leaning close to Daryl.

He looked at her through the shaggy strands of hair that always fell in front of his face, a small nod as his answer.

They stepped out of the living room and into their bedroom, Willow closing the door behind the both of them. He stood in front of her, waiting for her to say something, but she only pulled the picture out and showed it to him. He took it from her, examining it closely.

"A picture?" His eyes darted up to hers after he looked at it long enough.

She nodded slowly. "I found it in the shack Spencer and I visited earlier."

His eyes were more intense now. "What?"

She took the picture back, looking at it once again before folding it back up and stuffing it into her pocket. "I don't know why or how it got there, but my best guess is my brother."

"Your brother?" He repeated, trying to process everything.

She nodded, a sense of eagerness showing through it. "There's no other explanation, right? Only he would have that picture, Daryl." She paused for a moment, realization finally hitting her. "There's a chance that he's alive, and close."

"Wills, I dont-"

"I want to go back out there, Daryl." She interrupted him. "We burned the place down, but there could be something else close by. I need to see if there's anything else that could explain this."

He shook his head, pacing slowly across the room. "Not until we control this thing, you're not. You ain't goin' back out there with those walkers a few minutes down the road. No."

She felt a brief moment of anger show itself as heat in the pit of her stomach for a moment, but it went away quickly. Everything he was saying was right.

She lowered her head, looking at the front pocket of her jeans. "Okay. You're right."

He finally stopped pacing, and she could see his muscles relaxing in relief. "Yeah?"

She nodded, looking up at him, a slightly sad smile displayed on her lips. "Yeah."

-

Rick pointed to a spot on the map, two roads intersecting. "Marshall and Redding. We force them west here."

"How?" Deanna asked quietly.

"We block it off so they can only go one way, west, away from the community." Rick explained.

"Block it off with what?" Carter asked with his usual suspicions.