When Angels Fall: D.D

29

"It's the only way" Rick said lowly, "no one else knows"

"You gonna tell 'em?" Daryl asked, looking at him

"Not till after" he replied honestly "we have to do it today. It has to be quiet"

"You got a plan?" Riley asked softly

"We tell her we need to talk" Rick answered "away from the others"

"Just ain't us, man" Daryl said

"No" he replied, shaking his head slightly "no, it isn't"

"Rick, we've never done something like this before" Riley said "just hand her over? To him?"

"We do this, we avoid a fight" he tried to reason "no one else dies"

"What makes you think he's just going to leave us alone?" She countered "after we killed their men? When he killed ours? If we give him Michonne, he's probably going to catch us with our guard down and kill all of us"

"We need to take that chance, Riley" he replied "I'm doing this to protect everyone, our family. We need someone else"

"We'll talk to him" Daryl said, instantly knowing who Rick was talking about

"I'll do it" Rick replied

"We'll go with you" he said

"No" he replied, shaking his head slightly "just me" turning around and walking off without another word

His footstep's faded into the distance, a small sigh emitting from Riley's nose, shaking her head slightly as she turned to walk in the other direction. A hand grasped her arm, causing her to look at Daryl,

". . You know I'm right" Riley said softly "I may not like it, but . . ." shrugging slightly "it doesn't mean I'm not part of this" his hand releasing her arm "she's one of us, Dare"

He gave her a small nod, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and gently pulling her to his chest, causing her to wrap her free arm around his waist, closing her eyes as she relaxed into his touch. Daryl wasn't one for PDA, neither was Riley, but in this world they lived in, she supposed nothing else mattered anymore. He would hold her hand in front of the others, she would sit in between his legs if he sat in the stairs, they would just be relaxed with each other. If this whole thing never happened, they would be the exact opposite, but people would know they were together, which would give them more of a reason to not mess with her. She honestly couldn't imagine how she would be if they were separated.

•

"Merle!" Riley called out as they walked through the tombs

"You down here?" Daryl asked "Merle" looking into one of the rooms

As Riley guessed, Merle was looking through one of the rooms for drugs, the exact things that messed up his life before everything, and the things that made him put me in a coma,

"Hey, little brother" Merle greeted with the traditional Dixon smirk

"What the hell?" Riley asked, gesturing to what he was doing

"I was just about to holler back at ya" he replied

"What're you doing down here?" Daryl asked, looking at his brother

"Just looking for a little crystal meth" Merle replied as if it wasn't a big deal, seeing the look Riley was giving him "yeah, yeah, I know. Shit mess my life up when everything is going so sweet, right?"

". . You talk to Rick yet?" Riley asked, leaning back against the wall

"Yeah" he answered "oh, yeah. I'm in. But, uh, he ain't got the stomach for it. He's gonna buckle. You know that, right?"