Daughter of the Fallen

Do Not Send Us Astray Part 3

After composing myself, I was walking through Hilltop when I saw Siddiq.

The sight made me stop. I hadn't said a word to him since we left Alexandria. I immediately felt bad.

"Siddiq!" I called. He turned and I jogged up to him.

"Hey, Bree," he greeted, seeming surprised that I wanted to talk to him.

I crossed my arms awkwardly. "How are things going in the infirmary?"

He nodded. "Good. Everyone's in stable condition. Enid's watching them right now."

"Enid?" I asked in surprise. I chuckled softly. "I never took her for a doctor."

He smiled but it quickly faded. "Hey, um...I just wanted to say...I'm sorry."

I sighed, immediately knowing what he was talking about.

"It's not your fault," I responded.

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not," I said firmly. "It was Carl's choice to come and get you." I put my hand on his arm. "And I'm glad he did. You belong with us, Siddiq."

A smile inched its way on his face. "Thank you. I'm glad we have people like you and Rick leading us."

We talked for a little more before parting and as I walked away, I kept thinking one thing.

You picked good, Carl.

•••

That night, I was reading in bed when Rick burst in the door.

"Bree!" he called. "You gotta come now, there's walkers swarming the Big House!"

"What?" I asked in alarm as I quickly stood up and pulled on a coat. "How?? That's impossible!"

"People must have died and turned," he explained in a panic.

I quickly grabbed my knife and we raced to the Big House, meeting with Daryl.

We burst in the door and Siddiq quickly grabbed Rick to help amputate a bitten arm while Daryl and I got to work taking down the walkers.

I couldn't believe how many there were. It didn't make any sense.

I kept killing the dead as tears blurred my vision.

•••

Rick, Daryl, Morgan and I took down the last of the walkers and stood to catch our breath.

"What the h*ll happened?" Daryl asked in shock.

"I don't know," Rick answered. "Maybe walkers got in."

"Maybe during the fight," Morgan added.

"These are all our own people, though," I countered.

Suddenly, we heard growling and yelling upstairs and we all exchanged a glance before meeting Maggie and running upstairs.

We entered a bedroom to see Bertie and Carol, who was standing over Tobin's dead body.

"You alright?" Daryl asked her.

"Yeah," she panted. "It's just...he wasn't bit. But he turned."

There was a moment of silence before Rick spoke up.

"Negan's bat," he said. "When I was out there with him, it was covered in walker blood. I just thought he'd crossed some, but maybe..."

"They have us working for them again," Maggie finished, hate in her voice. "Killing our own."

"It's the fever," Bruce, a member of Hilltop who was laying in the bed, spoke up. "That's what it is. It makes sense now."

Just by looking at him, I could tell he had the fever.

As he talked again, his voice started breaking. "One of you are gonna have to do it. I can't. You're gonna have to do it for me. Please."

Maggie walked over and grabbed his hand.

"Bree," Rick said. "There's a small group in the downstairs bedroom. You should go check on them."

I nodded and touched Maggie's arm before heading down.

As I opened the door, I saw Enid, Tara, and Rosita, as well as two other members of Hilltop. Enid and Rosita immediately raised their guns when they saw me but lowered them when they realized it was me.

"Bree," Enid said in relief and pulled me into a tight hug, which I reciprocated.

We pulled away and I kept my hand on her shoulder.

"Everyone okay?" I asked.

Rosita nodded. "Everything good out there?"

"House is clear," I confirmed. Rick and Daryl followed me inside.

"How'd this happen?" Tara asked as Daryl shut the door.

I couldn't bring myself to explain so Daryl did for me.

"The Saviors did something to their weapons. Everyone they cut up, or got shot, they all got sick. Some of them turned."

"What?" Enid asked in shock. "No."

I stayed silent but gave her hand a squeeze.

Though she seemed shocked, as well, Tara simply muttered, "Okay."

"When we were out there," Daryl continued, looking right at her. "And you said you were done waiting, I could've killed him. I should've."

"Daryl," I scolded, knowing he was talking about Dwight.

"No," Tara denied. "He wanted to be here with us. And no matter what he did or how hard he tried, I wanted him dead. I just couldn't have it be anything else. Karma's a b*tch, right?"

I suddenly had a flashback to when Negan told me that after he killed my dad and I had the desire to be anywhere else.

"Um," I spoke up. "So if this is all done, I'll just...go back to sleep."

I left the room before anyone could stop me.