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

Savoring A Savior

DARYL'S POV

"Daryl?" Rick quietly spoke as he stepped into my room. "You alright?"

"Fine." I grumbled as I began to get dressed for bed.

"Daryl-"

"I said I'm fuckin' fine, Rick! Just fuckin' drop it!"

"It's okay to be upset, Daryl. What she said was uncalled for. You were only tryin' to help-"

"Help? I MADE SHIT WORSE!" I snarled. "I wanted 'er to be the woman I married again, but all I did was push'er further and further away from me! I RUINED 'ER LIFE! THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!"

"I know that's what she said, but she didn't mean it... at least she doesn't know she didn't. She's in this mental state that's very fragile-"

"She's in love with Negan, Rick. What if I can't get 'er back? What if all this is just a waste of time and she really is in love with 'em? What if it isn't that Stockholm syndrome shit? What if I really ruined 'er life?"

"You didn't ruin 'er life. She doesn't know it yet, but you're savin' 'er life. Negan is toxic. He's a killer, Daryl, we all know that. I don't care how good he treated 'er, I don't care how much he says he loves 'er, he isn't good for 'er."

"She's pregnant with his kid-"

"She's pregnant with yours, too." I didn't respond. "What happened to the Daryl who told me he refused to give up on 'er, even when the rest of us were sayin' she's a lost cause. Before today, it almost looked like she was startin' to adjust."

"Yeah, before today."

"So we had a setback in gettin' 'er back to normal, it happens. Rome wasn't built in a day, nor was Alexandria. This shit takes time. You can't give up now."

"Why do you fuckin' care? Ya wanted to kill 'er on sight."

"Besides the fact that we need 'er to win this war? Because I hate seein' ya like this, Daryl. You're my brother. When you're hurtin', I'm hurtin'."

"Ya want 'er dead."

"Only because of what she did to you. I mean, I liked the guy, but fuck Scott, he was the one who tormented himself and Michaela over Samantha's death. If I were Michaela, I would've killed 'em a long time ago. He did that shit to himself. But nothin' hurt me more than seein' ya in the infirmary because she tried to kill ya-"

"She didn't try to kill me. Negan pulled on 'er, makin' 'er accidentally pull the trigger."

"That proves it then, she didn't mean what she said. She can't mean it because there's somethin' deep down inside 'er that's still clingin' on to ya."

"Until today. I might've just lost the only connection we had." I let out a sigh. "I lost 'er, Rick... I dunno how to get 'er back."

"Ya will."

"How?" The room fell silent.

"I dunno."

"Dad?" Carl quickly rushed into the room.

"What is it?" Rick asked. "What's wrong? Is it Judith?"

"It's Michaela." Rick and I turned to Carl with confusion.

"Is she alright?"

"I don't know." I quickly pushed past him and ran down the stairs. "Daryl, stop!"