𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐎𝐑 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑, rickyl

disagreement

Daryl gave Rick a confused glance wondering what she was talking about. The redneck hadn't been told about this sudden change of plans to head back to Alexandra. Rick let out a small sigh before answering. "Give us one minute, I'll be right there." The pitter-patter of her shoes walking down the hall filled the room.

"Why didn't ya tell me sooner that we were leavin'?" Daryl spoke up, his voice filled with confusion. Why were they sitting around while everyone else is out there getting ready to leave? Rick knew he would have to break the news to the redneck sooner or later.

"Actually, that's what I had been meaning to talk to you 'bout. Daryl, you can't come with us." Rick said, not giving him a choice, he needed to stay back. There are probably troops stationed outside Alexandra to catch the runaway redneck. And Rick didn't want to take that risk. "Why the hell not?" Daryl asked, irritation lacing his words as he spoke.

"Right now we have our hands full, we need you to stay put for your own safety." Rick tried to reason with him, this was the best option if he wanted to live. Who knows what the saviors would do to him if they found him?

"So what you're tryin' to say is that I am a liability to the group." He growled, seeing that he would be held here under the protection of civilians who weren't trained to protect. There was no way that he would be any safer here than tagging along with the group who knew how to fight.

"Listen, Negan's men are out there lookin' for you, comin' back to Alexandra would put us all at risk," Rick argued, seeing the redneck's stubbornness was getting in the way of his rational thinking. He sat up from the bed and propped himself up with his arms.

"Nah man, I ain't hidin' out like some coward." He answered annoyingly. Not seeing any reason to stay here hiding out like he was scared of Negan and his henchmen. Daryl stood from the bed and made his way toward the door.

"Daryl you're not comin' back to Alexandra, that's an order," Rick stated as a last measure to get the redneck in line with the plan. Daryl turned back for a split second, irritation spiraling in his ocean blue orbs. He scoffed slightly as if Rick had any control over what he did and when he did it.

"Pfft, you ain't my boss." He cackled. The redneck was going to leave the hilltop and no one was going to stop that from happening. Rick thought he was being irrational, putting his life on the line for no reason whatsoever. If the saviors do find him there is a good chance he would be executed on the spot.

Daryl stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. Rick let out a sigh of annoyance, he single handedly was going to throw the whole plan off balance. It was bad enough they were cooking up planning on how to end the saviors, now he needed to worry about the plan and the defiant redneck.

Pissed off with how Rick had been treating him, he didn't see a reason to stick around any longer. If he thought Daryl wouldn't be able to fend for himself when the saviors came knocking on his door, he would be wrong. He got his hands on a small handgun and a hunting knife. Then he approached the front gate where a civilian was stationed on the watch tower.

"Open 'em," Daryl asked in a less than friendly tone. The guard stationed at the watch tower looked down at the redneck. "Where are you going? I can't just permit anyone to leave." He answered, having strict orders about what to do and what not to do from Maggie.

"Huntin'." He answered dryly. Seeing no reason that he couldn't go gather some food, the recruit allowed him to leave. The gates of the community slowly creaked open and Daryl stepped out, no longer having the burden of everything placed on his shoulders. Being outside the walls made him feel free enough to do whatever he wanted...

"Has anyone seen Daryl?" Rick asked around, trying to get any clues as to where the hot headed redneck ran off to. But with everyone he asked he kept coming up dry, not even so much as a hint of where to start looking. There was one place he needed to check and hope that he would be wrong. The sheriff strolled up to the entrance to the hilltop and looked upwards at the man holding a rifle.

"Hey, has anyone left recently!?" Rick shouted up to him. The man noticed that Rick sounded a bit in a hurry so he answered, not beating around the bush with any small talk. "Yeah, only one, he said he was going out hunting for a bit." Rick froze as those words left the recruit's mouth. There was no question about it, Daryl had left the hilltop.

"Can you point me in the direction I can start lookin'?" Rick asked, the man in control of the gates recognized that this was a serious matter and opened the gates for him. Once outside the man pointed in a direction leading into the deep woods. Rick hurried along, figuring the redneck couldn't be too far away.

Knowing Daryl, he would stay close to the road so he could have some sense of direction. The real question that kept floating around in Rick's mind was where the redneck was running to? Was he dead set on going back to Alexandra even when he knew the risk? It didn't make sense.