RIDE OR DIE | DARYL DIXON

the key

THE HOT WATER seeped into her scalp and ran down each and every stand of her hair.

She stood with her head under the water, letting it rush down her face and stream down her body, and she watched as it circled the drain. She watched it mix with the dirt and blood, a stark contrast to the white tile of the shower. 

Her eyes burned as the warm water dripped into them, but it felt like relief. She blinked at it, letting it wash away the few tears that had started to brim them again.

Bubbles of soap were scattered along her hands from the soap bar she lathered up, and she ran her hands along the top of her shoulder blades, swiping down her arms, between her fingers. They went smoothly along her stomach and down her legs, a faint smell of lavender coating her body, but quickly washed away.

Shutting off the water, she grabbed the grey towel she had set on the sink and wrapped it firmly around her body, not bothering with the water that still dripped down her legs and onto the bathroom floor. She looked in the mirror, tilting her head. Her eyes were red and irritated, and they looked tired. She didn't know how they could be. After she had laid down in the tent, she slept the rest of the day, all night, and partially into the next morning. But dark rings still circled her eyes, and her body was still lethargic. 

She slipped on a black tank top and blue jeans that Maggie had left sitting out for her before heading back downstairs. She had made up her mind that she would go lay back down, but she heard Rosita speaking in the office.

"I don't know what the hell it is."

Willow took a glance through the double doors they left open and watched Rosita hand Maggie a paper.

Maggie looked down and read from it. "If you fill the crates with food or phonograph records, I will gladly exchange them for a key to your future?"

Rosita nodded, pointing to something else on the paper. "It lists coordinates for our meeting spot."

Willow took a few steps back and grabbed the door knob to the main entrance, but Maggie called out to her. Her fingers trembled against the knob, and she thought she was about to tear the door down and book it back to her tent, but she stepped away and back to the office doors.

"You're awake." She said with a small smile.

Willow nodded and looked at all of them. "Yeah, I am."

They all stared at her, and she could feel a strange heat crawling up her stomach and her face. 

"What's-" Willow took a step into the office, gesturing to the paper. "What's that?"

Maggie looked her up and down before glancing back at the paper and handing it to Michonne. "Someone who wants to make a deal."

Michonne grabbed the paper and looked over it once. "This isn't the Saviors. They'd blow through the gates, make a big show. This isn't that."

Maggie leaned against the desk. "I wouldn't put nothing past them."

"Well, if it is a trap, it's kind of obvious." Rosita spoke.

"Which is what could make it a trap." Maggie added.

Michonne sighed, looking up from the paper. "What if... What if it's someone who actually wants to help?"

Maggie bit her lip. "If someone is trying to help us and we miss out, we miss out. If somebody's trying to kill us, we die."

"Not if we're careful."

Enid shook her head. "Being careful is staying here."

Michonne looked at each of them. "I'll go. I'll see what's up."