[Finished] Living Among the Dead

41. The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

"Rick sent me to get you. He wants your opinion. Wants Dwight to help us. Dwight says it's why he's here."
I glance up at Daryl, "Do you believe him?"
"He ain't lyin'... Least don't think he is."
"Okay... take me to Rick."
"He thinks it's best you be holdin' Hope when Dwight walks past to get in his truck."
I roll my eyes, but make my way to grab my daughter.

"We just started it;" Rick tell me. "The whole thing."
"What if he's lying?" I ask.
"If he's lyin', I'm gonna kill him real slow." Daryl explains. "When this is done, I don't give a damn if he's sorry. I will kill that son of a bitch."
"If he's lying, this is already over." Rick corrects, then walks away.

"You'll be staying here?" Daryl asks.
"Do you want me to?" I ask, softly.
"I want Hope here. And Mason."
"Mason wants to fight... I don't want to stop him."
"If he dies-"
I cut him off, "Carl's fighting, Rick said he'd keep an eye out for him-"
"You want me to be a dad to him? He stays."
I can't help my small smile, "Okay. He can stay, but your breaking the news to him."
"Alright. As long as he's safe."
"If he stays, can I come?"
He hesitates, "Your asking my permission?"
I shake my head, "More like... your opinion."
"I want you to stay... but know that's not who you are." I smile.

We hear the turkey calls letting us know it's go time.
Rick looks down from his perch on a vehicle, "Rosita. Get into position. I'll signal you. And the wall's gonna hold?"
"It'll hold." Rosita agrees.
As a car approaches we all hear Eugene's voice, "All points are covered. Every contingency is already met. I come armed with two barrels of the truth. A test is upon you, and I'm giving out the cheat sheet." The vehicle stops and the speaker with which Eugene is speaking through stops so it's only Eugenes voice, "H-Hello. I come salved with the hope that it is my dropped knowledge that you heed. Options are zero to none. Compliance and fealty are your only escape. Bottom-lining it; you may thrive, or you may die. I sincerely wish for the former. For everyone's sake. The jig is up and in full effect. Will you comply, Rick?"
"Where's Negan?" Rick responds after a few moments pause.
"I'm Negan."
Daryl and I exchange looks and I mouth, "I love you." He nods, it's go time, we brace ourselves for the explosion.... that doesn't come.
Instead the clicks of weapons surround us and the dumpster people have us all at gunpoint.
One of them let in Negan and his men, we've been double crossed.
"You ever hear the one about the stupid little prick named Rick; who thought he knew shit but didn't know shit and got everyone he that gave a shit about killed?" Megan asks, "It's about you. You're all gonna wanna put your guns down now."
"No one drops anything." Rick responds, evenly. I hear him continue, "We had a deal."
"Tamiel came for the boat things," the garbage leader replies. "Followed ones who took. Made a better deal."
"You push me, and you push me." Negan says. "And you push me, Rick. You just tried to blow us up, right? I mean, I get me, my people. But Eugene? He's one of yours. And after what he did; he stepped up. You people are animals. Universe gives you a sign, and you just shove your finger right up its ass." He laughs, "Dwight, Simon, chop-chop."
We watch as they pick up a coffin and turn it upright. "So, you don't like Eugene anymore. You guys gotta like Sasha. I do, too." He taps on the coffin, "Got her right here packaged for your convenience, alive and well. Now, I brought her so I wouldn't have to kill all of you, and not killing all of you could get complicated. See, I know there's a lot of firepower left in there, Rick. So I'm gonna make this simple. I want all the guns you've managed to scrape up. Yep, I know about those, too. I want every last grain of lemonade you got left. I want a person of your own choosing for Lucille." He turns to Daryl, "Daryl. Ooh, I gotta get me my Daryl back. I see you. And the pool table and all the pool cues and chalk. And I want it now or Sasha dies, and then all of you. Probably. C'mon, Rick. Just because I brought her in a casket doesn't mean she has to leave in it." He sighs when Rick doesn't respond. "You know what? You suck ass, Rick. You really do. I don't want to have to kill her, but that's exactly what you're gonna make me do."
"Let me see her." Rick demands.
"Oh. All right. Just give me a second. I might have to get her up to speed. You can't hear shit inside this thing."
"Sash." I hear Negan say. "You're not gonna believe this crap."
I shake my head, but he mouths "Run!" Again I look around me, everyone is looking at Negan and the coffin. I start slowly backing away.
But that's just as I hear, "Holy! Goddamn!" I look up at the truck with Negan and the coffin on it, and see a very much reanimated dead Sasha bursting out of the coffin attacking Negan.
And just like how at the shooting starts, "Run! Anne fucking Run, Woman!" Daryl says, shouting at me S he shoots the people around us. I shake my head but he shoves me towards the exit. I take off, shooting everyone in sight. When I glance up I see Rick falling off his stand, but I'm running, I know where Daryl wants to meet, and I will be damned if I let him down. I'm shooting everyone I can on my way. Hoping to take out a good portion of Negan's men. I make it out of Alexandria and out into the woods, making my feet move even quicker as I hear the gunfire stop. Praying my people won. Praying that just this once we won.

I hide out in the spot Daryl and I would go to get away from the gates. That's when the gunfire starts again, and I can't help but run my ass back, run to make sure Daryl is okay.
I get there to see not only Hilltop fighters but also the Kingdom, I start shooting, all the men from Negan's group, back to back with Daryl who is very much alive. Shoot the garbage dwellers as well.
The saviors begin throwing smoke bombs and retreating and I know we just won.
"They're falling back," Rick states.
"Eduardo, Bertie, between the houses;" Maggie orders, "Cover the gate! Let's go."
As Ezekiel yells, "Now we finish this!" I realize I've lost sight of Daryl again, and just hope he's okay, following behind Ezekiel and his men, shooting as I do, more men, more shots. I follow Morgan over towards the gates, finding Daryl once more. He gestures towards a truck, yelling now, "Now!" Some men go to close the gates, and I follow Daryl up onto the truck, we look out to see no remaining Saviors. "We did it," I whisper hoarsely.
He pulls me into him and kisses me, deeply. When he pulls away, he has his hands still on my cheeks and his mutters, "I love you." My heart soars and I kiss him again, pulling him even closer to me, not letting him move an inch.
When we pull away once more, I smile and only realize I've started crying when he wipes my tears from my cheeks.

I help Daryl close the gate, and when he sees wooden carved soldier, with Didn't Know written on it, we exchange looks.
"I need to tell you something, and your not going to be happy."
Daryl looks at me, "Your pregnant?" He guesses.
I shrug, "I don't know for sure... but..." I take a deep breath and then sigh. "I had a dream of a little boy last night... he looked an awful lot like you."
He nods, "Okay."
"That's it?" I look at him worried, thinking I was going to be starting another fight.
"We did alright with Hope, you did good with Mason. We'll be here for another kid. But we ain't namin' him Meryl."
I laugh softly, "Then what are we naming him?"
"Can we name him Glenn?"
"Can his name be Glenn Paul Dixon? Because Jesus isn't using his real name, and I'd kinda like to call a kid Paul?"
Daryl nods, "Glenn Paul Dixon it is, I guess." I smile.
"You know, we never gave Hope a middle name."
"What's Mason's?"
"Tyler, after his dad."
"Mason Tyler Andrews? What was Aaron's?"
"Zachariah. After one of my brothers."
"And Tonia's?"
"Anna, for me."
"Could we call him Dimitri then? After my middle name? Our new baby?"
I nod, "I like that the best."
"Dimitri Paul Dixon... and Denise Hope Dixon, call 'em both by middle names?"
"So your name is Daryl Dimitri Dixon?" I tease.
"Yeah, well what's your middle name?" He asks gruffly.
"May."
"So your name is Antionette May Dixon... which isn't as bad." We both grin at that.
"We best not tell Maggie we almost named our kid after Glenn then decided with Dimitri."
"I won't say shit, that's for sure." He pauses, "Have you told Mason of our marriage?"
My heart stops momentarily, "No... we can tell him both news at the same time. Two birds one stone."