The End of a New Beginning // Daryl Dixon

Part 63

Meredith

FINDING CAROL AND Maggie was fairy easy. We all moved over to their post where they kept watch last night, spotted a dead walker and a few extra footprints in the mud. Daryl and I teamed up and lead everyone where the tracks lead to. We found a building and kept our distance for a moment, coming together to make up a quick plan. Once we made our move to go in, we ran right into Carol and Maggie.

Everything seemed okay. But the thing is, we kept the Savior alive. We kept him alive so we could get all the answers we needed. And when we reunited with Carol and Maggie, the Savior claimed to be Negan. A short...leader with this much power over Hilltop? I could've easily kicked him down, hell, he's shorter than I am. Either way, Rick killed him the second he admitted to being Negan. And that was that. It was over. 

Things seem to be...normal now that we're all back home. We've made it clear to Gregory we took out Negan and his people, he kept his end of the deal. We got a little bit more than what we first got from them when we first made the deal. I don't know. Everyone just seems like they're on edge over something. It's like, nobody knows how to adjust over what we did. 

Added with that, Daryl and I have hardly spoken to each other. We got into an argument over the woman back at the Saviors place. I'm still not over it. You can always tell when someone is genuinely scared or simply pulling a trick. And that woman...she was petrified. Not to mention...the bruises on her arms, the busted lip, black eye. She wasn't there with them...she was being held captive. I know she was. I just...in my gut, I know she was.

I stood on the front porch, trying to figure out what I wanted to do to occupy my mind for a while. Maybe I could go help Maggie with some crops, plant some veggies, cook something. Literally anything, but I just don't know what. 

"Hey." I turn my head and see Daryl approaching me. He stops at the end of the stairs, leaning on hand on the side. "You all right? Barely said a word to each other." He says.

"Are we okay?" I ask him. He lightly shrugs.

"You gonna tell me I was right 'bout that woman?" He asks. I furrow my brows at him.

"Oh, my god. It's not about who was right and who was wrong, Daryl." I frown. 

"Seems like it." He frowns. "You're so persisted that it was wrong of me to shoot that woman." He says.

"Yeah, because she wasn't part of Negan's group." I argue. "She ran into me when I ran out of that room. And every time either of moved a muscle, we both flinched. She was covered in bruises, Daryl. There's no way she was standing with them. She didn't even have a gun or a knife on her."

"Yeah, none you coulda seen." He argues. 

"Okay, we sat together on that floor for like a minute, staring at each other, wondering who was going to make the move." I walk down a few steps, towering over him. "I already made up my mind that I wasn't going to kill her. I was going to lock her in that room and made her wait til I got back so I could talk to her. And if she was with them, then, I don't know. Maybe I was going to kill her then and there. But we don't know what was happening."

"She was with 'em, Meredith." He takes one step up a step, coming to eye level with me. "There ain't no arguin', there ain't no sparin' lives there. We did what we needed to do there, and I did just that."

"Right, because we just go for people who might've not even found us."

"She woulda done the same damn thing had I not shown up."

"No, she wasn't! She sat there, terrified to move. She didn't do anything. If she wanted to, she would've, but she didn't. Daryl, you gunned that woman down."