It was nightfall. They hadn't returned. I was worried and scared. I was with Rick when we both started to become fearful.
"Rick, it's 7 p.m." I didn't need to say anything else. Before he spoke, the gates opened, and only Abraham and Sasha walked through. I've never ran so quickly in my life. I approached the both of them. "Where is he?" I yelled. Before I knew it, tears were swelling in my eyes. Daryl is dead. He's gone. Why else wouldn't he be here?
"Rowan, I'm so sorry. The Saviors. They're still out there. They captured him. They've been following us for months. Out of nowhere, they came behind us. Bag over our heads. Sasha and I escaped. We tried to get Daryl, but he said to get back here. He wouldn't give us a choice." Abraham explained. I was sobbing.
"You just left him? How could you do that? He's your family! I don't care how stubborn he is, you don't leave someone out there to die!" I screamed at Abraham and Sasha. They hung their heads in defeat.
"Rowan, their leader. He told us to prepare to fight. They're coming tonight. We don't know when. But they'll have Daryl. We'll get him back, we won't let you down." Sasha promised.
"How could you do this?" Was all I could say. Rick put a protective arm around me. I fell to the ground in defeat. I would never see Daryl again. And now, we have to prepare for a battle.
The town was on edge. We didn't know when they were coming. It was nine at night. Past dark. The children and the elderly were being protected by Olivia and Carol in one of the garages of the homes set back a ways. We all gathered near the gates, waiting. I was heartbroken, upset, angry. I was prepared to kill. I haven't fought in almost two years. I haven't shot a gun in years. I was almost useless. But knowing they had Daryl. My Daryl, was all I needed to gain strength.
Gunshot. A woman screaming, and a thud. All in two seconds. I whipped around and saw Deanna's son, Aidan, on the ground. She was on her knees crying, he was dead.
"Where did that come from?" Rick looked around, frantically. Suddenly, bodies started pouring over the walls.
"They're climbing the walls!" Rosita screamed. She began frantically shooting. Everyone did. While I was shooting my gun, running for cover, I was also looking for Daryl, anywhere. I couldn't find him. But I needed to worry on protecting my people. I saw a man heading for the garage we were keeping our children and elderly in. I shot him square in the back of the head, he dropped to the ground.
I heard another scream. This time it was Spencer. Deanna was dead. That's two they have killed. These people aren't safe.
It seemed like hours passing. I was frantically shooting. Trying to watch over myself and my people. I think we have shot down more of them than ours. I took cover behind a car near the back of the community. I needed to reload. I was angry, agitated, I wanted to kill every one of those men that had to deal with taking Daryl. I hadn't seen some of the members in my group. I peaked out over the car and saw running around. Where was Rick? Abraham? Rosita? They were all here in the beginning.
I went to move from behind the car ready for more battle when suddenly, darkness over my eyes. There was a bag over my head and a string around my neck. I was being taken too. It was silent outside except for the cries of Spencer. I knew they were his. Where am I being dragged too?
"Let me go, you son of a bitch." I struggled under the arm wrapped around my neck.
"Shut it. We're just taking you and your friends on a nice drive." The sinister voice said. I was lifted into the back of a truck. It felt like a pickup. I couldn't tell if I was alone. The truck hit a bump and I felt someone hit against me. Quietly, I asked.
"Who's all here?" I wanted to cry. One by one, I heard names being called.
"Rick."
"Carl."
"Michonne."
"Rosita."
"Glenn."
"Maggie."
"Eugene."
"Sasha."
"Rosita."
"Abraham."
"Aaron."
I started crying. Why us? Did they leave the others? Are there others? Still no sound or sight of Daryl. I hesitated but asked. "Did anyone see Daryl?"
"No, Rowan. I'm sorry." I heard Abraham say. He seemed defeated. Everyone was.
After about an hour and a half on the road, the truck stopped. One by one, we were pulled out of the truck and thrown to the ground.
"On your knees!" A man yelled. I quickly sat on my knees, not knowing if there was a weapon to my head. One by one, our bags were pulled off our heads. I looked around. I couldn't even tell where we were. We were all surrounded by large men with weapons. One of them had a crossbow, it was Daryl's crossbow. Then, to my left, at the end of the row of all of us captures, I saw my Daryl.
We were all being tied up, our arms behind our backs. The knots weren't tight, loose enough to escape. They probably did that on purpose, knowing we wouldn't try anything with this many weapons on us. I looked over at Daryl until he looked at me. He had been crying, as was everyone. We didn't know our fate. We were completely defeated. Daryl and I didn't break eye contact. Aaron, Maggie, Rosita, and Glenn kneeled between us. Daryl's shirt was gone, and those weren't the jeans he left with this morning. I could see his back. There were fresh scares on him. I started crying harder. He didn't deserve this, none of us did.
