The End of a New Beginning // Daryl Dixon

Part 71

Meredith

We all climbed out of the cars and walked along the dirt path. Rick had some thoughts, knew he needed to get his head together and get people together. He came to me last night said he wanted to fight against Negan. So, the way we're gonna do that, is get the numbers, get the strength and make it happen. I didn't exactly want to get out of bed. My house is empty. Daryl's with Negan, not knowing when he'll come back. Harley's gone. He's really gone. I don't know what to do at this point. I wanna fight, I do. But I just didn't have the strength to go. But...when you'r surrounded by people who really love you and care for you, they worm their way into your head and the next thing you know, you're getting dressed, lacing up your boots and going with them.

The doors open up and we see Maggie waiting for us. She approach Rick and they embrace in a tight hug.

"You were right. At the beginning. You told us to get ready for a fight. I couldn't listen, I didn't. But I'm here now." Rick tells her. The pair turn their heads and Rick pulls away from her. Maggie and the others hug it out. But when Maggie approaches me, she could see the hurt in my eyes. Noticed how swollen and red they were. She grabs my shoulders and holds onto them, looking me in the eyes.

"Breathe." She says softly. "Because he's gonna need you." I pull my eyes to the side and noticed Jesus walking over to Rick and the others. Rick opens his arms and he wraps them around a body. I slowly pull away and began walking over. Jesus held a smile with me as he watched me walk across the grass. Rick breaks the hug and he turns back to me, revealing Daryl. Daryl lightly jogs his way and he wraps his arms around me, hugging me tightly. For a moment, everything felt perfect. It was okay. I felt safe, whole, okay. Nothing else in the world mattered. It was just Daryl and I in our own little moment, our okay place. But that little bubble bursted when I knew I had to tell him.

I break the hug and he brings his hand up to my cheek. His brows pull together as his eyes searched around. He softly asks me if Harley was back at home, asking me if he was okay and safe. Daryl pulls me a bit closer as I finally opened my mouth and tell him everything that happened. His eyes fill with tears and he shakes his head. He lowers his face and hides in the crook of my neck, letting out a few sobs and whimpers. His grip tightens around me as we both finally let out the cries together.

*****

We all enter inside Barrington House. Jesus guides us into the study room where Gregory sat at his desk, giving us all an odd look.

"Did I miss something important?" He asks. "I guess I missed the memo."

"Rick Grimes and his people have something they wanna talk about, Gregory." Jesus begins. He turns over to Rick. Rick nods and steps forward.

"We're gonna fight Negan and the Saviors. We're gonna win. And we'd like to ask for Hilltop to join us." Rick lays it all out clear. He was confident, straight forward. Gregory on the other hand, a laugh escapes his lips.

"That's the funniest thing I've ever heard of." He says. He continues to laugh, his eyes searching all of us. His laughter fades and he clears his throat. "Oh, you're serious about this." He nods.

"What we've lost, Alexandria and Hilltop, nobody deserves any of it." Rick explains.

"No." Gregory shakes his head.

"Gregory, if you could just-" Jesus begins before Gregory explodes.

"No! No way in hell." He stands up from his chair. "That was not the deal. You people were swore you could take the Saviors out, and you failed. So any arrangement we had is now done- null and void. We aren't trade partners, we aren't friends, we never met. Hmm? We don't know each other. I owe you nothing. In facet, you owe me for taking in the refugees, at great personal risk."