All Out War

Chapter 19

We were halfway to the quarry. Daryl parked to the left side of the road then Tara parked next to us. Rosita and Michonne did the same. We got down and grabbed our guns. Daryl led us into the trees.

"Line up right here. Take them out as soon as they come into view," Daryl said.

I grabbed some of the smoke grenades we had gathered and threw them behind the vehicles in order to mask them. I went and knelt down next to Daryl who had gone quiet once again. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. He was feeling guilty and I knew it. It was his plan to put a hole into the building. They didn't get out because of what we did. My bet was on Eugene. He figured out a way. I just knew it.

"They didn't get out because of what we did with the truck," Tara said.

"Even if they did, it was just a mistake. I made one too. If I hadn't gone to the Sanctuary to kill Negan, maybe Sasha would still be alive. Maybe she would have gone herself. Maybe everything would have ended up going exactly the same way. I didn't want you guys to do it but maybe you needed to. Maybe you needed to play things out to figure shit out," Rosita interjected.

She was right.

"Hey," I whispered to Daryl.

He looked over at me.

"It's not on you. It's not your fault," I said.

I placed my hand on his cheek and he sighed as he welcomed it.

"Where the hell are they?" Michonne said.

Daryl grabbed my hand and kissed it.

"They'll be here," I said looking back to the road.

I placed my right hand back on the rifle, my finger hovering the trigger. A few seconds later, we could hear their engines. Rosita and I stood up and took aim. Daryl grabbed a smoke grenade and tossed it in the middle of the road. The cars then came into view. We waited till they got just a little closer.

"Now!" Daryl shouted.

We let them have it. They all got out of their cars and started firing back. We weren't taking anymore shit. Some of them dropped but I couldn't see if we had gotten any more of them. The gunfire had come to a sudden stop. There was then the sound of single bullets being fired and then grunts. There was silence for a few seconds then another shot. We fired some more. Someone was shouting but I couldn't make out what they were saying. We fired again then it became silent.

"It's over!" someone shouted.

"Dwight that little shit," I said slowly coming out of the trees.

Daryl quickly passed me and held his rifle in front of him. We slowly rounded the corner. Dwight was sitting against the car. He had been shot and was trying to stop the bleeding. We searched for stragglers. They were all down. Michonne and I went and grabbed some of their weapons.

"I made sure you guys could get out the back. I drove the convoy right up to the road block. I knew what it was," Dwight said.

I looked over towards them and Daryl lowered his gun.

"I can't go back. One of them got away. She's gonna tell them," he said.

He looked pitiful. I felt just a little bit bad for him. But not enough to not still want him dead.

"How'd they get out? Was it what I did?" Daryl asked sternly.

I grabbed a few more rifles and pistols then headed to him.

"Eugene," Dwight said with a hint of regret.

"Dammit. That's what I was afraid of," I said.

"I can still help you. I know how they work, how Negan thinks. I want you to win. I want Negan to die. We could settle up after," Dwight said.

He looked pathetic. Daryl then reached for his vest and took it off Dwight forcefully. He took my hand and led me away from him.

"Are you okay? Any grazes whatsoever?" he asked while he put on his vest.

"No. I'm good. Are you? I had a feeling Eugene was able to figure something out," I said.

He placed both his hands on my cheeks and kissed me deeply.

"I'm good," he said.

"We have to get back. Now," Michonne said.

"Let's get going then," I said.

We started walking back. Rosita had Dwight lean on her.

"Your thoughts on that?" Daryl asked.

"We work with what we got," I said.

He nodded. The rest of the way we all walked in silence. We'd finally reached the outskirts of Alexandria. It broke my heart to see most of it up in flames. Daryl went ahead and pulled off one of the man hole covers that led to the sewers. He dropped a rock in to see how far down it was. It didn't take long to hear water. I looked at our community. There were still bombs going off. I longed to go and finish the Saviors right there and then.

"Babe, come on," Daryl said bringing me back to now.

"I'll lower you down," he said.

I nodded. I took a seat and had my legs hover over the hole. Daryl then grabbed both my hands and lowered me. I was in.

"I'm in," I whispered.

He lowered himself next. I embraced him tightly. I wanted to wait until everyone was in.

"Michonne. Michonne," Rosita whispered.

Everyone was in except for her. I went over and looked up. Her eyes were glued on Alexandria.

"Michonne. Please come down," I whispered.

She looked at both of us and knelt down. Right when I thought she was coming in, she covered the hole.

"No. No. Michonne. Michonne," I whispered loudly.

I wanted to go back up and get her. Daryl came up to me and had me look at him.

"We have to find the others. We have to get back to Carl," Daryl said pleadingly.

I hesitated.

"Dammit. You're right," I said.

"She'll be back. She just needs to figure shit out," he said.

I nodded. He held my hand while we both ventured down the tunnel. This all felt very familiar to me. My nightmare. It wasn't gonna come true. It couldn't come true. We had reached a point in which the tunnels split into two.

"Which way do we go?" I asked Daryl.

"This way," he said moving to the left.

It didn't take long to see a light.

"Carl?" I whispered loudly.

I advanced further.

"Carl," I whispered again.

"Amelia. We're down here," he said.

I picked up the pace. I rounded the corner and saw our people sitting on either side of the tunnel. Carl and Judith were at the very end. I quickly made my way over to them. I knelt down and embraced him tightly. He was here and so was she. They were okay.