All Out War

Chapter 33

Daryl came up to me and hugged me tightly the second I set foot in the house.

"You okay?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Where's Tara?" I said.

"Upstairs with Judith, Gracie and Enid," he replied.

"And Carl?" I asked.

"He's up there with them," he said.

I made my way upstairs. Daryl led me to the room they were in.

"Carl," I said once I was in.

He came up and hugged me.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. I stayed up here to look after Judith and Gracie," he said.

"Good," I said.

"How many people did we lose?" he asked.

I went silent.

"I'm sorry I didn't help. I just wanted to make sure they were safe," he said.

"You don't need to apologize. I'm glad you were up here, looking after them," I said hugging him again.

I then turned over and saw Tara sitting on the bed. I went and sat next to her.

"Did you get that looked at?" I asked.

"Yeah. Siddiq is a miracle worker," she replied.

"Siddiq has medical experience?" I asked looking over at Carl.

"He stepped up the second he got here," Carl answered.

"Thank you. For bringing him to us," I said smiling.

I looked back at Tara.

"Did you see who it was that shot you?" I asked.

"Yeah...but that doesn't mean he meant to," she said.

"Tara, he shot you. After everything we did for him, he. Shot. You," I said sternly.

"He could have shot me in the head. Why would he shoot me in the back? He must have known that this wouldn't kill me," she said.

"Why did he shoot you in the first place?" I asked.

"I know why, cause he's one of them. That's who he is and who he always will be," Daryl said.

"You guys, I get where you're at right now but you did see the other guy he was with right? He had an ax and that could have taken me out quicker than this and probably harder to tend to," she said pointing to her right shoulder blade.

I sighed. Simon did look like he wanted to take her out. Maybe Dwight did her a favor by shooting her in the back.

"Regardless, I want the chance to find that out for myself. And then, he can rot in hell for all I care," I said.

"You don't mean that," Carl came up and said.

"You didn't see what we did, Carl," I said.

"But I did see him. When he was with us. And when he said that he hated the Saviors, he meant that. He wanted to help us and I'm sure he still does," he said.

I looked at Carl. He didn't want us killing if we didn't have to. I remembered what Dwight did for us back at the swamps. He could have told those Saviors we were just through those bushes but he didn't. He had the opportunity to put an end to us if he wanted. I mean if he really wanted to but he decided to lead them away. Maybe he wasn't really with them. Maybe it was all just a front to make them think he was. I wanted believe that he was sincere. But after everything he's done, that was going to be extremely hard to do. I told Carl I would try. So be it.

"Fine. If we ever corner him, I'll give him the chance to explain himself," I said.

Daryl scoffed then headed out. He was there. We watched the whole thing unfold at the same time. But knowing Daryl, this was all he needed to hold another grudge against the guy.

"You gotta get him to calm down," Carl said.

I nodded.

"You all should be getting ready for bed. We've got a lot to do in a few hours. I'll talk to him," I said.

I hugged them all then headed out. I tried the first place that came to mind. The room we stayed in for a while before we attacked the Saviors back in Alexandria. Once I opened the door, I saw him pacing back and forth. I closed the door and waited for him to say something. When he didn't, I spoke.

"You gonna tell me what's going on in that head of yours? Or are you gonna make me guess?" I asked.

"You saw what he did. Why the hell would you give him the chance to explain himself?" he retorted still pacing back and forth.

I went up to him and made him stop.

"I saw what he did. But I also saw what he did back at the swamps. He led those Saviors away, Daryl. And he didn't have to," I said.

"So what are you saying? You trust him now?" he said.

"Hell no. It's gonna take a lot more than that to ever trust that son of a bitch again. But that doesn't mean we can't give him the chance to explain himself. We owe him that after all. I want to know why he shot Tara, I assure you, but we can't just kill him the minute he decides to show his face again," I said.

"If he does," he said.

"You know after it happened and I went after that asshole, Simon, he could have killed me. Simon had an ax and could have easily placed me in the infirmary. Maybe worse. But Dwight pulled him away," I said thinking back on it.

"Cause I started firing at them," he said.

"Yeah. Maybe. Or maybe it was something else. They could have ducked and still taken me out," I said.

"Why are you defending him? With everything he did, what? Is that all passed you now?" he asked sternly.

I knew he was referring to Denise and what Dwight did to him.

"You're really gonna stand there and remind me of what he did? To Denise? To you? You honestly think I could forget any of that?" I retorted with my arms crossed.

"Well why else would you be willing to give him a chance?" he asked.

"Because I'm thinking about what Carl told us, Daryl! Killing one another will only get us so far. If that's how we handle things, then we won't last very long. I almost lost sight of that when he shot her. But then I saw Carl and realized that it was stupid of me to want Dwight dead at that very instant," I argued.

I took in a few deep breathes.

"You need to think about that. I'm gonna go and check on our people in the infirmary. Find me when you're ready to have a reasonable discussion about all this," I said calmly.

I left the room and headed downstairs and to the infirmary.