RIDE OR DIE | DARYL DIXON

the day will come when you won't be

NEGAN REARED BACK, and another hit came, more blood splattering and painting the gravel beneath them red. 

Willow's eyes darted between Ash standing amidst the rest of the saviors and Abraham's body, stiff and face down against the ground beside her. She flinched with each swing Negan took, the bat and wire tearing apart Abraham until he was nothing but a bloody puddle. 

She was too scared to move. Too scared to wipe his blood from her face and eyes. She blinked through the stinging red film that made the world around her a dark maroon, quickly becoming replaced with tears. It flushed her eyes, but the world was still blurry.

She refused to look back down at Abraham, the gruesome image already embedded in her memory. Her eyes were set on her brother. She imagined him running to her and stopping this, but it never happened. Through her blurry vision, she could see he was completely relaxed and content with everything, and it made her stomach twist. 

She replayed her thoughts of finding him, the ones that came before now. She'd find him close by, holing up somewhere shitty until she found him, and when she did, it was like the world was okay again. She'd bring him back to Alexandria. Her family would be his. He'd get to see just how big his niece has gotten.

She was torn from her thoughts when more blood splattered on her face when Negan swung his bat around for everyone to see. It was coated in blood with flesh dangling and entangled in the wire. 

"Oh, my goodness!" Negan laughed. "Look at this! You guys, look at my dirty girl!"

He trailed over to Rosita, sticking the bat in her face as she cried. "Sweetheart... lay your eyes on this. Oh, damn. Were you- were you together? That sucks. But if you were, you should know there was a reason for all this. Red- and hell, he was, is, and will ever be red. He just took one or six or seven for the team! So take... a damn look."

Rosita was hunched over, tears streaming down her face as she refused to look at the bloody bat.

Negan waved it around again, his voice booming. "Take a damn look!"

Within a second, Daryl got up to his feet and lunged at Negan, his fist connecting with his jaw. Negan stumbled back as two other Saviors grabbed Daryl and beat him to the ground.

"Daryl-" Willow cried, watching the men lay kicks to his stomach until he finally gave up. 

"No!" Negan yelled, pointing his bat at Daryl. "Oh, no. That? Oh, my! That... is a no-no. The whole thing- not one bit of that shit flies here."

She stared at the men holding him down, Negan and his bat dangerously close to him.  

Dwight ran up from behind one of the men, aiming the crossbow down at Daryl. "Do you want me to do it? Right here."

Negan grabbed a fistful of Daryl's hair, pulling his head back for a moment before releasing him. "No. No, you don't kill them... not until you try a little."

Willow's heart was still as they dragged Daryl back into line and forced him back down to his knees.

"And anyway... that's not how it works." Negan said as he stood back up. "Now, I already told you people- first one's free, then- what'd I say? I said I would shut that shit down! No exceptions."

They all watched as he walked towards the end of the line with his bat, anger radiating off of him like a furnace. 

"Now, I don't know what kind of lying assholes you've been dealing with... but I'm a man of my word. First impressions are important. I need you to know me. So... back to it."

The bat was in the air for a split second before it came down on Glenn's head. Willow and Maggie jumped, cries escaping their mouths as screams. Before they could even comprehend it, another blow was landed.