Last One Standing ~ TWD Daryl Dixon

147

Happy season 8 premier! We did it guys. We made it to October!
To celebrate the 100th episode and season 8 premier I give you an update! Hope you enjoy it!
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Jo

"Go over it again," I growled. I tightened my hands into fists as I fought to contain my fury. I paced another angry line across the back of the kitchen. It was all I could do not to shove past Rick and Michonne and Daryl and slap Tara across the face. Daryl knew of course, he always seemed to know. He could read my emotions often faster than I could sort them out. He had made it a point to stand between me and Tara while she told her story. Smart man. Tara had selfishly endangered us all and even worse didn't seem to understand.

Daryl was leaning against the kitchen island, to anyone else he looked like he was casually listening. But his arms were crossed over his chest and I could read his tension in the set of his shoulders. He was just as infuriated as I was, he was just doing a better job of hiding it from the rest of the room.

I normally had better control over my emotions, but I didn't really see the point. Tara had done something epically stupid and pretending like everything was fine wasn't going to help anyone.

Tara flinched at my words. Her eyes landed on my face only for a few seconds before she turned her wide eyes back to Rick. Rick cleared his throat and licked his lips but he didn't disagree with my request. Though to be honest he looked significantly more patient than I was at this moment. He nodded his head at Tara encouraging her to tell it again.

So she told us about the woman's colony. She told us about their resources, their food stores, the layout of their huts and their guns. All of their guns. An entire armory fully of guns. More than enough guns to outfit our people twice over plus the garbage people. She explained how they tried to kill her, and how, despite that she still had made a promise. A promise even know she was torn about breaking. Where she got this unfounded loyalty was beyond me. They had tried to kill her, twice. She owed these people nothing.

"I know I screwed up," she said once she was done telling the story a second time. Her eyes turned imploringly to me. "I know that, okay? Just..." she cleared her throat and she looked away from me, back to Rick. "Please, try not to hurt anyone if you can help it, okay? Promise me."

I had had enough. "Promise you?" I snarled, stalking towards her. Daryl straightened. Not exactly stopping me, but making it so I was going to have to step around him to get to her. "Promise you? You and your naive idealism nearly killed us. Do you even understand what's at stake?"

Tara's eyes widened first in shock and then narrowed in anger. It was the first time tonight she looked anything but scared and guilty. "Of course I understand, I'm not an idiot. Our lives are on the line, but so is our humanity! We don't just have to fight The Saviors, we have to be better than them" she argued.

"Save it," I growled taking another step closer. Daryl moved his shoulder in front of mine, but he was facing her, not me. He was providing a unified front with me, but I was also pretty sure he was making it so I didn't do anything rash. "These people, our people, trust us with their lives, we can't afford to think like that," I told Tara shaking my head. "If you aren't prepared to make the hard decisions then go home and hide."

"Jo enough!" Rick yelled and I flinched. Rick had never yelled at me before and I wasn't expecting it. I was too worked up, too blinded by my own anger it caught me by surprise. I flinched back a step. Daryl noticed and he steadied me with a warm hand pressed against my low back.

Rick cast me a quick regret filled look before he turned back to Tara. "Tara, we will come up with a plan that will allow us to do this with the least amount of damage possible," he promised. "Okay?" he asked, and he glanced back and forth between us.