A Survivor's Diary of the Apocalypse (TWD/Daryl Dixon)

S3Pt18 - The Governor's Trade

The group dispersed but Rick called me, Daryl, and Hershel out into the courtyard. We stood in a circle and stared at Rick who was clearly hiding something.
"The Governor wants Michonne." Rick said.
"I thought he wanted the prison?" I said.
"Michonne is the key. He'll stop if he gets Michonne." He explained.
I shook my head and wasn't comfortable with this idea. We all knew the Governor was going to kill her, get revenge for his eye.
"It's the only way. No one else knows." Rick said.
"You gonna tell them?" Daryl asked.
"Not until after." Rick said. "But we have to do it today. It has to be quiet."
"You got a plan?" Daryl asked.
Rick sighed and nodded. "Tell her we need to talk. Away from the others."
I shook my head and felt bad. This was wrong, and we all knew it. Hershel was quiet and Daryl shook his head.
"Just ain't us man." He said.
"No." Hershel said. "No, it isn't."
Hershel turned around on his crutches and walked away. We all sighed and I couldn't stand with this. I looked at Rick and gave him the look, the 'we don't have to' kind of look.
"If we do this, we avoid a fight. No one else dies." He said and looked at Daryl. "Is Michonne really worth your life? Kelley's? Judith-" Rick couldn't finish.
"Alright." Daryl mumbled.
I looked at him and he hated the look on my face. I still thought there would have to be another way. I finally nodded my head, but refused to let us do this.
"We aren't like this." I said and looked at them, Daryl specifically. "We need someone else."
They nodded their heads and Daryl sighed. "I'll talk to Merle."
"No. I will." Rick said.
"Then I'll go with you." Daryl said.
"No." Rick held his hand out. "Just me."
He walked away to go find Merle and talk to him. I stood by Daryl and looked at him. He shrugged, sighed, and walked away, and I was left alone thinking about our decision.
I was standing by the gate and looked at the walkers that were in the yard. I looked at the broken fence and remembered what the Governor did to our home. I was getting angry just thinking about it. At that moment, Glenn, Maggie, Carl, Michonne, and Daryl walked over to me and looked into the yard too.
Michonne tilted her head and smiled, thinking about something.
"What are you thinking?" I asked.
"We should put spikes in front of the gate, so if they come back they can't drive away." She said.
"That's a good idea." I said.
We smiled at each other, but I quickly looked away. I couldn't help but think about what we were setting up for her.
"Okay." Glenn agreed. "Daryl, Michonne, Maggie, and I will set the traps. Carl and Kelley, distract the walkers and keep them off of us." He said.
We all agreed and went to our positions. Daryl and Glenn nailed spikes into several boards and Maggie and Michonne got a truck. Carl and I walked in between the fences and started making a lot of noise, drawing the walkers away from them. Carl had a makeshift spear and I had my knife, and we stabbed the walkers through the fence. They drove the truck into the field, and they boys set the traps and the girls killed a few stray walkers. In a few minutes, they were done and drove back to the courtyard where me and Carl met them. Rick walked out and saw us all gathered around.
"What's going on?" Rick asked.
"We set some traps by the front gate. If they come here again, blown tires might stop them." Glenn said.
"Good idea." Rick said.
"Yeah. It was Michonne's." Daryl said.
Rick looked at Daryl and quickly looked away from the group.
"Oh, what a comeback." I thought and hid my smirk.
Rick walked away and I nodded at Daryl to follow me. We walked away together and were going to talk to Merle. We searched the entire prison and found him alone in the boiler room.
"Merle!" Daryl called out.
We turned the corner and found him searching around the room.
"Hey little brother. I was just about to holler back at you." He said and looked at us. "I see you still have your girl with you."
"Yeah, I do." Daryl said. "What the hell are you doing down here?" He asked.
"Just looking for a little crystal meth." Merle shrugged.
Daryl sighed and I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah. Yeah, I know." He said and waved his hand. "Shit will mess up my life when everything is going so sweet, right?" Merle said sarcastically.
"You talk to Rick yet?" I asked and changed the topic.
"Yeah, I'm in." Merle said. "But he's gonna buckle."
"I know." Daryl said and I nodded in agreement.
We all knew Rick wasn't evil and he couldn't go through with this. He was already probably thinking about another way out of this.
"You want him to?" Merle asked.
"Whatever he says goes." Daryl shrugged.
Merle scoffed and looked at his brother. "Man? Do you even possess a pair of balls little brother? Are they even attached? Because if they are, they're yours." Merle said. "You used to fall people like that sheep. What happened to you?"
"What happened to Glenn, and Maggie." Daryl shot back.
"I've done worse." Merle said and leaned against the wall. "You need to grow up. Your people look at me like I'm the devil. Snatching up those two lovebirds like that. Now y'all want to do the same thing I did, deliver someone to the Governor. Just like me. People do what they have to do, or they die." Merle ranted.
"We don't want this." I stated. "We never wanted this until you screwed it up." I blamed him.
Merle just laughed at me and shook his head. "Maybe you guys need someone like me around, huh. Do the dirty work... be the bad guy." Merle said and stared at Daryl. "How's that hit you?"
Daryl shook his head and slowly backed away. "I just want my brother back." He admitted.
Merle was caught off guard and stood up. They just stared at each other, and I felt their pain.
"Get out of here, man." Merle's voice cracked.
I was the first to leave, and Daryl slowly following behind me.

~~~~~~~~~~

It was later that day and we knew it was getting closer to the time that Michonne was going to leave. Daryl and I were keeping watch when Rick ran out of the cell block towards us.
"It's off. The deal's off." Rick said. "We'll just take our chances."
I sighed with relief and Daryl nodded.
"Okay, good." I said.
"Not saying it's the wrong call, it's definitely right." Daryl said.
Rick started pacing around and we guessed something wasn't right. I grabbed Rick's shoulder and he stopped and stared at me.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I can't find them. Merle or Michonne. They're gone." Rick said.
I looked at Daryl with worry in my eyes.
"Come on." Daryl said and started running into the cellblock.
He led us to the boiler room where we saw Merle awhile ago, but he wasn't there.
"He was here. Said he was looking for drugs. Said a lot of things actually." Daryl said.
"Like what?" Rick asked.
"Said you were going to change your mind." Daryl told him.
Rick got real quiet and I saw he was regretting what he decided. I put my hand on his shoulder and looked at him.
"It's too late to go back. What we need to do now is focus on getting her back." I said.
Rick nodded his head and we searched the room for any evidence. I looked behind a machine and saw a bag made from a piece of fabric.
"Guys." I said and picked up the fabric.
They walked over and looked at the bag.
"Yeah, he took her here. Mixed it up." Daryl said and tossed the bag to the side.
"Damn it.." Rick sighed. "I'm going after them."
"You can't track for shit." Daryl said and stopped Rick from leaving.
"Then both of us." Rick said.
"What? No. I'll go with him." I cut in.
"No. Just me. I said I'll go, so I'll go. Plus, they're gonna come back and you need to be ready." Daryl said and looked at us. "You're family too."
"Babe, let me come with you." I pleaded.
He grabbed my hand and shook his head. "The group needs you here." He said.
I scoffed at him. "Don't feed me that bullshit."
"It's not bullshit Kell. Stay here." He said. "They need you."
I sighed but eventually gave in. I nodded and hugged him tight.
"You better come back." I said, and my voice was shaky.
Daryl rubbed my back and then looked at me.
"I will." He said and kissed me. "I love you."
Before I could say anything back, he turned around and left to find his brother. I tried to stay strong, but I didn't know what was going to happen. Rick put a hand on my back and I leaned against him.
"He'll be okay." Rick said and I nodded. "Let's go. I need to tell everyone what's going on."
We walked out to the courtyard and gathered everyone over. We sat at the tables and Rick stood in front of us. Carl sat down by me and handed me Judith. Rick cleared his throat and we quieted down.
"When I met with the Governor, he offered me a deal. He said- He said he would leave us alone if I gave him Michonne. And I was gonna do that... to keep us safe." Rick said.
Carl put his head down in disappointment but I rubbed his back.
"I changed my mind. But now Merle took Michonne to fulfill the deal, and Daryl went to stop them, and I don't know if it's too late." Rick said. "I was wrong not to tell you, and I'm sorry."
Everyone was quiet and soaking in the news. I could see anyone really angry about it, but for sure they were upset and scared.
"What I said last year, the first night after the farm. It can't be like that, it can't." Rick continued. "What we do, what we're willing to do, who we are.. it's not my call. It can't be. I couldn't sacrifice one of us for the greater good because we are the greater good. We're the reason we're still here, not me." Rick said and paused. "This is life and death... and how you live, how you die.. it isn't up to me. I'm not your Governor. We choose to go, we choose to stay, and we stick together... So we can stay and fight, or we can go."
Rick finished his speech and walked off to give everyone time to decide. We all looked at each other for answers, but no one had any. Though it was clear that we were here to support each other. No matter what, we were family, and a family makes sacrifices for each other.