Ephemeral - Alia Dixon

16

I smile at Benjamin as we stand a little further away from him while talking to Ezekiel. I wasn't really listening though. 
"I offer your friend Daryl asylum for as long as he requires it. He will be safe here. The Saviors do not set foor inside our walls" he says.
"How long do you think that's gonna last?" my dad says a little angry before stomping away. I want to walk after him but Rick stops me. He gives me a look before walking after my dad first, while Allen and I follow last. Everyone starts walking after my dad as we start passing through the Kingdom again. 

They open the doors for us and me and my brother watch as Rick stops my dad from leaving. 
"You don't" Rick says.
"I'm not staying here" my dad says.
"You have to. It's the smartest play. You know it is. Try to talk to Ezekiel. Or stare him into submission, whatever it takes"
My dad looks at Rick before he looks at Allen and me. "Dad it's best" Allen says.
"We'll get through. Rick's with us. And you're safe here" I say with a smile before we both hug him. He holds us tight before letting go again.
"I trust you, Rick" he says and they share one of their looks before we leave the property. I watch as the doors close, my dad vanishing behind them. At least he's safe now.

We start driving until we stop as a few cars are lined up on the street, making it impossible to pass. Negan's talking about someone named fat Joey or something, giving him a minute of silence. 
"Someone's trying to block the way. Gotta be the Saviors" Jesus says before Carl speaks up. 
"Look. I think that's their base over there" he says as we all look at the tall building not far away from here.
"Yeah, that's it. Must be trying to make it hard to get to them" Jesus states.
"Must be making it hard to get to them. We'll move them, and then we'll move them back. They don't need to know we were here" Rick says as we all get out of the car and start moving the blocking ones. 
We soon notice that they even have a steel cable along the road for a herd, armed with explosives. Rosita crouches down and starts picking on the cables, trying to disarm it. I watch her movements closely, trying to memorize what she's done, just in case I could use it again anytime in my life. You never know these days.
Soon we hear Negan's voice, him searching my dad. Simon responds, telling him that he'll be there soon. Rosita pulls out something of the box before telling us what to do. Carefully, we start taking off the explosives one by one and start loading them into the car. 
"Dad, look!" Carl says and I look back to see a herd approaching us.
"They're far. We have time" Rick says as we continue to disarm them.
"You sure?" Sasha asks.
"We need these" he states and I nod as Allen and I disarm another one while the others put the cars back how they were. Nervously, I glance back from time to time, watching as the herd gets closer and closer.
"Uh, Rick" Sasha says as hundreds of walkers have appeared now.
"Alright, Sasha, Jesus, Alia, can you get back to the Hilltop on foot?"
"Why me?"
"Because I don't want to risk you killing another one of them. We need you for what's coming" Rick says to me and I nod. 
I look at Jesus and Sasha, who nod at me before we start running. I look at my brother one last time, just in case anything happens, as we nod at eachother before I start running with the others. 

...

It's been a few days now. I've been living with Enid and Maggie and Sasha. It's nice having some sort of normality at the moment. Though, I miss my brother and the others, especially dad. 

I spent my days doing some chores around this place and even got some shifts. It's nice just standing here and looking outside. Sometimes Maggie or Enid even join me, mostly Enid though. I didn't realize how much I've missed her. 

I haven't heard anything. Only when Rosita came, I knew what was up. I didn't try to stop them though, they wouldn't listen to me anyways. I asked them if they want me to come with them, they said no and told them that it's a stupid idea. 
Rosita told me to mind my own business and walked away while Sasha looked at me sypathetically. Honestly, Rosita can be happy I had a somehow good day otherwise this would've gotten really ugly. Normally I wouldn't have had any nerve for this sort of thing but the past few days have been so calming and refreshing. I know I can't see away while everything is happening but Rick sent me here for a reason. 
I needed a break. A well deserverd break. 
I haven't been sleeping better but hey, progress is progress. Either Enid or Maggie slept next to me at night which soothed my nerves at least a little bit. I'd like to believe it did.