Safe haven, Rick Grimes

097. WANTING TO FIGHT

Chapter ninety seven

"Wanting to fight."

Making it to Hilltop the wagon was heading up the dirt path to the gate, as the doors opened and they headed inside and came to a stop, dog, Daryl, Caroline and Rosita got out of the back, as Rick, Judith, Gracie and Aaron got out from the front, walking toward's the main building.

Where as Rosita went to get checked by the doctor, the kids headed to a room, where Daryl was sitting on the floor with dog laying next to him throwing a football into the air, while Rick was taking a nap on the bed, Judith, Gracie and Caroline were braiding each other's hair, as the sound of a familiar engine could be heard, dog's ears perked up as Daryl caught the football and stood up, walking over to the window, he looked out seeing Daryl riding up on his motorcycle with Lydia.

"Everything okay?" Gracie asked, as Daryl watched Kelly, Yumiko and Luke walk up to the bike, Lydia got off first but as Daryl did so he seemed hurt "he's hurt." he told them "what?" Judith asked, as she and Caroline got off the bed, walking over to see for themselves, catching him holding his head as he walked away from his bike "and he has no idea that mom's gone." Rick said, as the three turned and looked at him.

But soon, all the adults came and began rounding all the kids up, as Gracie was ahead of them all, dog was by Daryl's side as he and Judith walked in front, Caroline and Rick were behind them as they headed over to the wagon, where Daryl was waiting "Daryl. We wanna fight." Judith told him, Daryl looked to them all "I know you do." he said "we're not.." Daryl went to say "don't argue." Daryl told him, as he looked to Rick "Rick, come on." he told him, as Rick looked at his bandaged hand and leg "you are hurt." he said.

And as Daryl looked at them all, he knew they were worried about him "I'm all good. Come on." he told him, holding his arms out, Rick walked toward's him, letting Daryl help him into the wagon, Judith followed in after him along with Caroline then Daryl got in as dog jumped in after him, he laid down between the children "he's lying." Daryl told them all, as Daryl's motorcycle could be heard, the wagon began moving as they headed out of the Hilltop gates.

Going down the road, they began to slow down, as the sound of Daryl's motorcycle stopped, where the sound of walkers could be heard, as Judith, Daryl and Caroline looked through the wagon, seeing Daryl standing in front of a fallen tree and two walkers in kingdom armor hanging from the tree on the left and right of the road "all the roads are gonna be like this now." Daryl shared, turning to them all "we ain't getting through." he shared, walking toward's them "it's Negan. He's with her now." he added on, as Daryl, Caroline and Judith looked to each other and ducked back into the wagon.

Heading back to the hilltop, they all got out of the wagon, as the kids were bringing brought to the big building, Daryl, Caroline and Judith tried to get Rick to go with them "no! I wanna stay!" Rick voiced, as Aaron ran up to them "hey, hey, what's going on?" he asked, separating them "she blocked all the roads. Means they're closing in on us. If we had a window to get out, we just missed it." Daryl shared, as other hilltop members surrounded them "but we can't stay here." Kelly shared, looking to Daryl "you said.." she said, her voice breaking, as she looked to them all "you all said we can't stay here." she said.

"We can..we can call alexandria, right? Call alexandria, and we..they'll get fresh fighters here. And..and..and it's not just gonna be us. It's not gonna be just us, right?" Luke asked "oceanside can't get here. Alexandria, either. Not in time. Not after what happened. We're on our own." Dianne shared "divvy up your arsenals. We got catapults up on the walls. And a damn good militia. This is what you've all been practicing for. Come on, now, people! Do whatever you need to get your heads on straight! This is gonna be the fight of our lives." Earl shared, walking off.

Having headed inside Judith, Daryl, Caroline and Rick stood in a circle, as they were holding hands, their eyes were closed "Carl.." Caroline said, taking a deep breath "with mom having left and dad being...missing. It's in moments like these that we wish you were here to show us the way, but your not, so all we can ask is that you watch out for us." she shared, as silence came over them "and to dad..if you are out there..we hope were making you proud." Daryl shared "and to mom.." Rick said, as they all opened their eyes and let go of each other's hands.

Judith turned around and grabbed the walkie she had given them and turned it on, pressing the button "were trapped at Hilltop. The whisperers are coming and..Negan's with them. So whatever your first plan was we don't think it's working so..come back soon." she shared, letting go of it, none of them knew Daryl had been listening outside the door, as he knocked on it and walked in, Judith quickly turned off the radio and put it back with their stuff, dog came running in behind him.

"We're not sitting out again, Daryl. If it's the last time were all together. We're fighting." Daryl shared "I know you guys can. And I'm sorry about today. You didn't need to see those bodies like that." Daryl shared, walking further in "they were just walkers. We've killed plenty of walkers." Judith shared "I know. But they weren't just walkers." Daryl shared "we're not scared." Caroline told him "I know your not. Maybe I am, a little bit. Heard you guys talking to your family." Daryl shared "mom did." Rick told him "there ain't no shame in that. You know who you're fighting for." Daryl shared.

As Judith turned around and grabbed the vest off the bed "we made you something." she told him, turning around and showing it to him, where the wings that were worn out were now blue "it's for luck." Caroline told him, as Daryl smiled "no way." he said, grabbing it "I love it." he told them, flipping it onto his back, he stuck his arms in the holes and turned around showing it to them "how do I look?" he asked, as all four of them laughed, dog barked "badass." Daryl said, as Daryl turned back to them and leaned down "there's one other thing." he said, sighing "if during the fight, Ezekiel comes looking for you all, you go with him, whether you know where I am or not. Okay?" he asked.

As all four of them looked at each other "hey." Daryl said, as the four looked back at him "you gotta promise me." Daryl told them "we promise." all four of them told him, as Daryl brought them into a group hug, they all hugged him back, they then pulled away, as Daryl looked at dog "you keep looking out for them, alright?" he asked, as dog barked "good boy." Daryl told him, turning and walking out of the room.

Where the sun soon set and night soon came, dog was standing guard at the door, as Daryl stood by the window looking out at the walls knowing everyone they cared about were risking their lives behind them, Caroline and Judith were sitting on the bed, as Rick was lying down in the middle of them, the two were singing him to sleep

"deep in the meadow

under the willow

a bed of grass

a soft green pillow

lay down your head 

and close your eyes

and when they open

the sun will rise

here it's safe

here it's warm

here the daisies guard

you from every harm

here your dreams are sweet

and tomorrow brings them true

here is the place

where I love you."

In which Rick had fallen asleep, but the darkness outside quickly turned into a golden light that quickly began spread and Daryl knew what it was, as he quickly turned around "we gotta go." he told them "what?" Caroline asked, as Daryl grabbed his bow an arrow putting it around him "the place is on fire. Grab your stuff and grab him." he shared, as Judith and Caroline got up, the two grabbed their stuff, as Judith walked back over to the bed, picking up Rick, Daryl headed to the door, opening it, dog headed out, as Daryl followed him out so did Judith with Rick, as Caroline followed behind.

Heading down the hallway and down the stairs, they made it to the main doors, as Daryl opened them, they all headed out, feeling the heat from the fire, they turned running off toward's the back and into the woods.