RIDE OR DIE | DARYL DIXON

honor

SIENNA INSISTED on taking a walk outside with Willow. She said she wanted to 'stretch her legs' but she really just wanted to play in the mud. So Willow stood by while Sienna sat on her knees, her hands wrist deep in the warm, brown mud, slinging it around and building small mud castles. She heard Daryl talking to Michonne a few houses down, but she didn't look. She didn't so much as acknowledge him when he first got back, and now that he strolled to her side, she didn't acknowledge him then, either. 

Sienna jumped up from the mud and allowed herself to get picked up. Daryl teased her about how messy she is, and in response, Sienna wiped her dirty hands all over his black button-up. 

"Hey." Daryl was the first to say something, but she only gave him a quick glance as her greeting. 

He set Sienna down and told her to go play as he pulled Willow aside. He only stared at her for a few moments before he spoke again. "We needed to make the first move before they could get back onto their feet."

She looked down at her boots and processed his words. She had processed the whole plan all night, and as mad as she was that they did this without telling anyone, she couldn't stay mad. She understood why they did it, as much as it pained her to think or even say it.

"I know." She said quietly, kicking a stick to the side of the road. 

"But?" Daryl said, waiting for her to say more.

She looked at him, ignoring the mud that smothered into the fabric of his shirt. "I went to Maggie yesterday. We were gonna get my brother there and hold him until he was ready."

He tilted his head. "He ain't dead, Wills."

She shook her head. "You don't know that."

"Yeah, I do." He countered. "I sent Dwight my word about him before. He's keepin' him in his sight. He ain't dead."

"You did?" She said quietly, her lungs gasping in relief. 

He nodded, tucking a strand of her hair over her shoulder and behind her ear. "After you told me you couldn't do it, I knew that wouldn't change."

She smiled, but still shoved him. "You still should've told us. You could've died, asshole."

He smirked, slinging his arm over her shoulder and tugging her into his side while they watched Sienna pack more mud into large mound. "Still here, aren't I?"

She snorted, pinching his side. "For now. If the Saviors or those walkers didn't kill you, I was going to."

A low laugh came from his chest. "Yeah, okay."

-

The day went by far quicker than anyone had expected. The sun went down, and the moon quickly took its place, and they knew what it meant. They had been trying to put it off as long as possible, but they knew they had to hit now while they were still down.

Willow carried her gun down the street along with a few remaining boxes of ammo when she spotted Carl hunched over in the the grass. "Carl?"

He stood up and adjusted the sheriff's hat on his head.

"What are you doing?" She set down the crates and looked down at the manhole he had been messing with in the ground.

"I'm helping someone." He looked down at the manhole cover and the few supplies he had sitting around. "The traveler."

Willow tilted her head, knowing exactly who he was talking about. "You're-"

Three sharp knocks came from the front gates, they've heard it before. The wood of his bat hitting the metal of their gates was loud and ear piercing along with the feedback from a microphone beyond their wall.