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

Imperfection

     "Are you insane?" I exclaimed as we made our way towards the armory. "There are innocent people in there, Daryl. Workers. They didn't want to have any part of this, but they had no choice. And let's not forget Gabriel and Carson-"

     "They'll be fine." Daryl reassured.

     "Gabriel and Carson, maybe, but not the workers."

     "If they're smart, they'll run." Daryl opened. Door to the armor and led me inside.

     "Daryl, just stop!" Daryl turned and looked at me. "Are ya sure about this? I mean, Rick's got a plan, a good one, too. If we just give Rick more time-"

     "The more time we spend waitin', the more time they have to figure a way out, we can't waste anymore time."

     "But-" Daryl suddenly placed his hand over my mouth and dragged me over to a closet, pushing me inside as he shut the door behind us. "What the hell?"

     "Shush." Footsteps echoed from the hallway as someone walked into the room and grabbed a pistol and some ammo. Daryl cracked the door open and I peered out into the hall, My eyes instantly landing on Rosita.

     "What the hell is she doin'?" I quietly asked out loud. I watched as she picked up Kindness and tossed it into the trash bin behind her. "That stupid-" Daryl quickly covered my mouth again and pulled me against him as he shut the door. We stood in silence for a moment, until Rosita walked out of the armory and shut the door behind her. Daryl and I finally released the breaths we were holding. "That stupid bitch touched Kindness." I began to walk out of the closet, but stopped as Daryl pulled me back. "Daryl?" Daryl stayed silent, resting his forehead against mine.

     "Do ya trust me?"

     "What?" I could faintly make out his face through the darkness. His eyes were closed, but his lips were pursed together. He wanted to say something, but he thought against it. Finally, Daryl let out a sigh.

     "Never mind." Daryl pulled away and opened the door, stepping out into the hall. I walked past him and walked over to the trash can and pulled out Kindness, dusting her off. "We need to get goin'."  Gently nodded and quietly followed Daryl, ducking behind houses and buildings until we reached the storm grate. Daryl motioned me to go down first. As usual, a tight squeeze, but I made it down. Daryl followed soon after.

     "Soon I'm gonna be too big for this shit." I chuckled. Daryl didn't respond and pulled out a flashlight from his pocket and illuminated the tunnels as we made our way to the exit. Once we made it out the exit, I softly smiled. "Ya got a new truck?"

     "Kinda had to when ya trashed our car. I mean, it's a garbage truck, but it's still a truck." I followed Daryl to the truck and we climbed in.

     "Daryl." I spoke up, stopping him from starting the truck. "I do trust ya, it's just... there are a lot of innocent people in there who are gonna die because of this, a lot of people who would be more than willin' to switch sides. I just need to know if it's worth it."

     "I've thought about it a lot. Ways to get ya outta there, This was one of 'em. I was gonna do this and then storm the property until I found ya. I didn't have to do that, but this plan? I still believe it can work. We can end this war, Michaela."

     "But what if somethin' goes wrong? What if the plan fails or backfires? What if after all this, Negan lives through it? What then, Daryl? Is the deaths worth it?"

     "If it takes down his numbers, I'd say it's a win." I let out a sigh and sunk down into my seat. "I'm sorry, Michaela, but in the end, we've gotta come out of this alive, we have to win this." I gently nodded and Daryl started the truck and sped off through Bren Mar Park.