rag doll | TWD

[74] wrath

the chain --- fleetwood mac

♮♮♮
[JJ]

Siddiq placed his hands where the bruising had been on my throat. The outline was still darker than my usual skin tone, but it was healing. Plus, the nasty tea that I'd been given every hour- although, I hate to admit it- was working. 

"Your throat still feels swollen, so don't overdo it," Siddiq sighed, "but you should be fine to start adding back some talking. Keep it to a whisper, and when your voice begins to crack, go back to the pen and paper."

"Soun-" I cleared my throat. It had been a minute since I'd said anything. "Thank you." I whispered. 

After Siddiq gave me the go ahead, I made my way out to meet up with the others.

I was surprised they were letting me go with them. Daryl was the one who convinced Rick that I needed this. That I needed to see it. 

Rick, Michonne, Daryl, Rosita and Carol were loosely huddled around the map that Dwight had sent, going over the plan and making sure everyone was clear on what to do. 

As I joined them, they looked to me for an update. 

"Siddiq clear you?" Rick asked. 

I nodded, "even told me I could whisper."

As soon as Rick smirked, I knew he was about to make a smart-ass comment. "Sure that's a good idea? Another week or two of not talking might do you good."

"Have you ever tried not talking?" huffed, "Might not do you any good, but it would the rest of us."

Michonne snickered under her breath. 

"Quit arguin'. We got things to cover." Daryl told us, unenthusiastically. 

I mumbled, "he started it," like I did when Rick and I were kids. 

Daryl pointed to the map, "All right. We'll stick to this road, keep to the trees, we'll get there quicker. Plus, we can keep an eye on the road that way."

"Yeah, if they're planning anything, we'll see it." Rosita included. 

Michonne looked to Maggie, "You think you can trust Gregory? What he told us?"

"I locked him up inside the house. He knew I wouldn't let him walk around free. He knew he was coming back to that. He doesn't believe in anything except himself, and he'd have to believe in the saviors a whole lot to send us into a trap and think it'd work out for him."

"Unless Dwight didn't tell him." Daryl posed. "That asshole could be setting us up."

I sighed, "Could be a trap."

"Yeah," Rick nodded, agreeing, "We'll check it out. Stick to the plan. Either way, it all ends today."

♮♮♮

We left the Hilltop, a small group of us, to check out the intel Dwight had slipped up. 

The way we moved through the woods was like a pack of soldiers- dropping at every foreign sound, scanning the woods with rifles- it just made the ending feel so close. So real. 

We'd finally made it to the spot marked on the map. A crew of saviors were busy forming a roadblock with walkers tied to dead cars. They were preparing for us. 

Carol counted us down to the attack- our rifles ending the majority of them right of the bat. Morgan took care of them remaining one... brutally. His mind was anywhere but present. 

"Good people, found something on our quarry." Ezekiel announced, showing us yet another map with markings. 

"What is it?" Michonne questioned as we looked over his shoulder.