Surviving All Out War (BOOK FIVE IN THE SURVIVING THE WALKING DEAD SERIES)

Lost Cause

MICHAELA'S POV

"Hey." Tobin smiled as he entered my cell. "I brought you that ziti I told you about." I didn't respond. "Brought you some lemonade, too." I glanced up at Tobin and turned away. "Come on, Michaela, you can trust me."

"I can't trust anyone... not here, at least." I grumbled.

"Since when have I ever put you in danger? Have I ever hurt you ? Put my hands on you? Tried to kill you? No, so why would I try now?"

"Because I'm Negan's wife."

"I don't care who you're married to, I'm not the type of person who kills pregnant women."

"No, but you are the type who'll attack an outpost, kill everyone there without question."

"You're wrong, I did question it. I asked myself if it was the right move, if killing those people would make a difference. I'm not happy about what I did, but I had to do it."

"NO, YA DIDN'T! YA DIDN'T HAVE TO KILL ANYONE!"

"Neither did you." The room fell silent as Tobin gently placed my food onto the wooden bench. "Like I said, I don't like what I did, but if it means keeping these people here alive, I'll do it. We don't want to hurt you or the babies. The sooner you realize that, the faster you can get back to normal."

"Normal?" I scoffed. "Right, because I'm messed up. Ya know, I totally needed that reminder that I'm crazy. Thanks, Tobin. Why don't ya tell me ya think I'm fat, or how about that ya think I look like a warthog?"

"Michaela-"

"Get out."

"Are you gonna eat?"

"I said get out." Tobin let out a sigh and walked out of my cell, locking it before walking out of the building. My stomach churned with hunger, I haven't ate anything except a small amount of leftover lentils from this morning, but that was hours ago. I glanced over at my food, going over the scenarios in my head. If I eat it, I could die because someone Tobin poisoned me. If I eat it, I get fed and nothing happens. If I eat it, it could be drugged with a sleeping pill and I pass out and they take me to the Sanctuary for Rick to torture in front of Negan

"Just eat it, already." Daryl's voice grumbled. I looked towards the cell door and my eyes met Daryl's. "We're not tryin' to kill ya, just tryin' to feed ya. I can hear your stomach growlin', ya know you're hungry." I looked back over at my food tray and grabbed it, shoving it over to the door. "Michaela-"

"If I'm dyin', you're goin' down with me." Daryl let out a sigh and got down on one knee, reaching through the door to grab the fork and took a bite. "The drink, too." Daryl grabbed the straw from the tray and placed it in my cup and took a drink. Once Daryl pulled his arm out, I slowly crawled over to the tray and pulled it back, taking my place back in the corner and began to eat. Daryl sat against the wall across the hall and watched me in silence.

"How are the babies?"

"Fine."

"Healthy?"

"The last time I checked they were. Then again, it's been a while since I have seen Dr. Carson. You should probably take me for a check up here soon." Daryl didn't respond and I resumed eating.

"The plan wasn't bullshit." Daryl mumbled. "Shit just happened that wasn't supposed to happen. The plan was that we got our numbers up, we were in talks with a place called Oceanside, but they refused to help. All we had was the Kingdom and the Hilltop. We were gonna invade and get ya back. Rick had to keep ya in the dark about our plan. He was afraid that if ya had any knowledge of anythin', it could possibly compromise the plan since ya talk in your sleep, that and just in case Negan pressed ya for answers. We were gonna go on a dry run when ya came to Alexandria and shot Scott. Rick was furious after ya left. At himself mostly. We didn't act fast enough, we could've had ya back way before this and Negan wouldn't have corrupted your mind."