Silent warrior: A Daryl Dixon Fan fiction

Chapter 14: In Plain Sight

We get to the edge of the fence and I take a deep breath, "stay here." He directs before opening the entrance and leaving me alone. He's gone for about a minute before I hear him, "okay, come through" he whispers through the wall. We make our way slowly into the compound. Daryl stands next to me, shading me from any window in case the three men are near the home. We walk around the side of the house and up the balcony. When we get inside, a few people look at us. "Rick?" He asks and demands at the same time. Just a moment passes before his heavy boots come through an archway, "we need to talk" the two men have serious looks on their face and Rick nods. He leads the way and the three of us walk up the stairs.

Everyone goes back to what they are doing and I'm thankful for their willingness to ignore the clearly obvious tension our entrance aroused. Rick opens the door to one of the bedrooms and the three of us step inside. The bedroom is set up like the others only there are more chairs surrounding the desk. The desk is also not pushed against the wall. Rick walks around and sits behind it. Daryl and I sit in the chairs across from it, "this is kind of weird" I suggest once we're sitting.

"Ya, sorry about all this stuff. We use what we have" he shrugs, "what's going on?" He directs his question to the both of us but he looks directly to Daryl.

He looks to me and I nod slowly to encourage myself to speak, "it's about the new guys"

"huh?" Rick asks sitting up in the chair and resting his hands on his chin interested.

"The men Deanna let in here, they aren't good people." I state calmly saying this, even though I want to shout it out.

"We did the same screening with them as we did with you. They seem fine" he says in return.

"Here's what they didn't tell you." I say and then proceed to tell Rick most of what I told Daryl. His eyes stay focused on mine and he doesn't ask any questions as I speak.

"and you believe this?" he asks Daryl when I finish. His eyes move to my left. My eyes follow his in shock and my mouth gape opens a little bit thinking why the hell would I make this up? Daryl nods in response, "I do too. I Just wanted to make sure we agreed" he says. I shut my mouth quickly relieved. "Why are you coming with this to me and not Deanna? She is the one who makes the decisions here."

"Cause then everyone will know" Daryl returns to him.

Rick nods and I wait in anticipation for someone to speak again. When I can't take it anymore I speak out myself, "forget it, I should just leave anyway. If they see me, I'm dead. Or at least I'll wish I was" I ramble.

"You're not leaving" Daryl gets defensive in a grumble.

Rick stands up and the both of us look to him, "relax" he says to the both of us. "So, they are not who they say they are. What are their real names?" He asks me now.

I shake my head, "I only know the name of one of them. I've never seen the other 2 before." I tell him. He stares at me waiting, oh! Right, his names Clint" I swallow the bile churning in my stomach another time today.

"Which one was he?" He asks next.

"The taller man" I reply remembering the weight of him on top of me. I scoot uncomfortably in the chair, "with the tattoos." I add on trying to give more detail.

"Ok. We can figure the rest out tomorrow." Rick turns and heads towards the door. He opens it and leaves.

I turn my face to Daryl and his cheeks are puffed out with anger, "thank you for being here for this" I say to him. He looks back to me for a second, nods and then gets up and leaves the room. I sit for a few moments silently. When I walk down the stairs there are a few people lingering in the living space, just passing time before they go to sleep or off to do their jobs. Some are playing board games and 2 others are reading a book. I make my way to the corner of the room where I slept the night before and huddle against the wall, picking at the crochet blanket I have around my legs.