RIDE OR DIE | DARYL DIXON

unmasked

THE TRIP BACK TO ALEXANDRIA was agonizingly awkward. The tension between the three of them was palpable, made worse by the prisoner they were dragging along. At times, though, Carol and Willow felt more like the prisoners than the man they had captured. Daryl was far more fixated on their every move than he was on the actual threat sitting with them. Carol occasionally threw snide comments over her shoulder, reminding Daryl that if she'd really wanted the prisoner dead, she would've done it already. She even went as far as to say that not even Ed, her ex-husband, had ever been so far up her ass. The second the words left her mouth, Carol seemed to regret them. It was obvious she hadn't meant to say it, and for a moment, she looked like she wanted to take it back. But Daryl had already heard them. And once the words settled in his head, they stayed there, tightening his jaw with a tension that refused to let go.

When they arrived at Alexandria, they bee-lined to the holding cell, trying to limit any prying eyes around them. Willow caught a few glimpses from others around her, including Gabriel who looked less than pleased. She also saw Sienna and Sibby pushing Hayes around in his stroller, stopping at Ms. Becker's house a few doors down from theirs, most likely to ask for more of her cookies. 

Daryl threw open the cell door, gesturing at Lydia. "Come on, get out. We need the cell."

Lydia jumped at the sudden intrusion. She sat crisscrossed on the solid concrete floor with a fairly large book in her lap, her wide eyes staring at Daryl as he waited impatiently at the cell door. 

Willow could feel her throat narrowing the longer she stood in the confined room and addressed Lydia directly. "Come on, I'll explain it outside."

The girl set the book down and brushed past Daryl and slightly faltered when she saw Carl push in with the prisoner. It was obvious she recognized him- there was a familiar flicker in her eye and she almost did a double take before walking out with Willow.

The girl maintained at least five steps ahead of Willow, traipsing across the grass before plopping down on one of the makeshift playsets for the kids. 

"This wasn't planned." Willow's voice came off a bit more tense than she had meant for it to. When her eyes set on Gabriel speed walking across the community, dead heading right towards them, she began to panic slightly. "You know him?"

Lydia brought a knee up to her chest and leaned against it, nodding. "He's one that watches the Guardians. I mean, the walkers."

"So he knows where your mother's horde is?" Carol's voice emerged from behind them both, wiping her slightly blood stained hands off on a cloth.

Lydia tracked her movement but still nodded again. "Probably."

Another set of footsteps approached them at a much quicker pace that had Willow tensing her shoulders and stepping aside.

"You put us all at risk." Gabriel announced, throwing his arms up.

Carol stood her ground. "We have to find that horde before it shows up at our gates." 

"So you decide for all of us? Knowing what it could mean?" His brows were furrowed and he was now glancing at the both of them. 

"Doesn't matter anymore." Daryl appeared now. "We still gotta find them."

Willow tried to keep her eyes anywhere but on Gabriel and Daryl, but whenever she failed, her stomach sank at the looks on their faces. She brought a hand to her stomach, unsure if she was going to be sick or simply collapse from the weight of everything pressing down on her.

"I'm sorry-"

She didn't wait for either of them to respond. Willow hurried away, offering Lydia a quick, distracted pat on the shoulder before making a beeline for her house. She slipped around back just in time to empty what little she'd managed to eat a few hours earlier into the bushes.