The End of a New Beginning // Daryl Dixon

Part 66

Meredith

WE ALL CLIMBED out of the RV. We came to another dead end, seeing a wall of cut down trees, turned to logs blocking the road. We come to a stop, looking for a way around this if it was even possible.

"These tracks..." Eugene sighs. "they would indicate they not only have people, but some big ass toys and capabilities."

"What it indicates is we are neck deep up shit creek with our mouths wide open." Abraham claims. Chains rattle and a scream fills our ears. We all turn around and look up to see a man hanging by the chains around his neck. Not only was it just some man, it was the same man who was spray pained with the large X over his body.

"Don't." Abraham calls.

"I can try and break the chains." Aaron argues, aiming his gun up.

"It won't work." Abraham shakes his head.

"I can try." Aaron claims.

"It won't work." Rick steps in. Finally, Aaron lowers his gun. "And we need the bullets. We all watched in silence, watching this man suffer, choking, coughing, gagging til his very last breath. A wave of heat hits our backs and we turn around to see the wall of logs burning away.

"You're treating your people good, right?" A Savior calls. I had a feeling it was the same group we first ran into. "Like it was your last day on Earth? Or maybe one of theirs? You better go. It's gonna get hot. You go get where you're going."

"Go, go." Rick demands. We all turn away and head off into the RV. Abraham jumps in the drivers seat, starting the engine and putting the vehicle in reverse. 

We're stuck. We've found a small little dirt road just off the main one. We drive through it til we hit a dead end, keeping the RV hidden within the trees to make sure couldn't be spotted. We gathered around, looking down at the map to try and find a new way to get to Hilltop. But we've hit a dead end.

"So, what's the play?" Abraham asks, leaning on the table.

"She needs a doctor." I say.

"There isn't anything you can do to help?" Sasha asks me.

"I'm a general surgeon. I operated on people who needed their kidney's removed. I did very little training in OB. I know a few things, but nothing what Maggie's going through. I have an idea of what it is, but if I'm wrong, I could kill her."

"Doing nothing now is killing her." Sasha shakes her head.

"Giving her medication for whatever is happening could do more harm than good. She needs Dr. Carson. He knows more. He's got a better ultrasound than we do. We'll get a fraction of the picture. What we need is the whole picture in order to diagnose her and treat her properly." I argue. Sasha let's out a sigh, turning her head down to the map.

"There are two more routes north from here." She begins. "They're probably waiting for us right now."

"So they're ahead of us, probably behind us." Eugene says. "But they're not waiting on us, per se, they're waiting on this rust bucket. And they don't know the moment-to-moment occupancy of said rust bucket. And the sun sets soon." I let out a sigh, shaking my head.

"So you're saying...one of us should drive the RV to wherever...while the rest of us just walk Maggie to Hilltop?" I ask. Everyone's silence seemed to answer my question. I shake my head at Eugene's idea. "We...We shouldn't. We should-we'll figure out another way."

"It seems like the only idea we've got." Rick shrugs his shoulders. "I don't like it, believe me, Mer, I don't. But if we can get Maggie to Hilltop, tricking the Saviors..." I roll my eyes and let out a sigh.