When the dead roam - (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 115 - It's called a bolt

The only light coming from the grounds of Hilltop came from the damaged school bus. The Saviours were hiding behind the vehicles and most of the community that occupied the war ground were hiding deep within Barrington House. They were biding their time, waiting until the very last second to strike and hopefully take out the rest of the Saviours that remained inside the walls. Simon was still at large, Negan was nowhere to be found, Lou was injured. Nothing had gone according to plan.

"I can't see shit" Simon's voice echoed as he took a few steps from behind the school bus. "Stay on your guard, these people have run before. Arat, take a team around back. I want the place surrounded. Gary, your group goes for the trailers. Slow and quiet, capiche?"

Simon moved closer to his leader. "What about the rest of us?"

"The rest of us are making a house call. Well...if anybody's home, it's time to do some proper slaughtering"

As they'd heard countless times before, the whistling tone of the Saviours war call echoed around the grounds of the Hilltop. Two notes. One warning. They were out for blood.

Maggie held one hand up in the air, effectively silencing her soldiers for what felt like an eternity. The seconds passed slower than minutes but the moment she brought her hand down, every light they had turned on and every bullet they possessed rained down the Saviours. They dropped like bowling pins, one consecutively after the other, bashing off limbs as they piled on top of each other on the dirt.

It was then that Rick charged into the compound with Jesus and his group, firing from the sidelines and screaming commands at his people. Simon ran to the nearest working vehicle with the few Saviours that remained only to be cornered off once again. They retreated in the other direction and clambered into their trucks. Their doors barely had time to close before they skidded off down the dirt path and away from the war.

"I wanted them dead" Maggie breathed as Rick came to a halt beside her. "Did you see Negan?"

"He wasn't here" Rick shook his head, guilt all over his features. "I saw him out there. I broke away and tried to kill him" he took a deep breath. "I didn't...but I tried"

Maggie sniffled. "Thank you"

Inside Barrington House, Lou was having difficulty convincing Sidiq to pull the bolt from her shoulder. Back in the days of useful technology she would've had continuous expensive scans until the doctor had deemed it apropriate to pull the foreign object from her body but in this post apocalyptic world, such luxuries weren't available. She'd spent ten minutes going back and forth, snapping at him to 'pull the damn thing out!' whilst he rolled his eyes and argued that he couldn't tell if it was safe yet.

"You're a doctor, right?" She huffed. When he nodded, she continued. "So do the doctorly thing and fix it"

"You could bleed out"

"It's a bolt, not a bullet. Pull it out"

"Louise, I cannot in good conscience pull it out before I assess the-"

"If you don't, I'll do it myself"

"Has anyone ever told you you're a horrible patient?" He asked as he rolled his eyes. The smallest of smiles appeared on her face as her mind scanned through images of Denise and the countless times she'd threatened to staple her to the examination table.

She hummed in response. "Actually, yeah"

"Give me a second to assess the damage okay?" He moved so he was standing in front of her to make sure she was actually listening to him. "Then and only then, will I take the arrow out"

"Bolt"

He exhaled sharply. "What?"

Lou pointed towards the weapon lodged in her shoulder. "It's called a bolt..."