The start

Vandalism

Daryl rides ahead to clear for the horses as we meet up with Rosita on her fourwheeler. We head back to stop the rest of the group. We go to the bridge as it look like it was tear down by the herd.

"Two other herds merged into "Silvia," so now it's even bigger. One of them came through here, and the back end took down the bridge. Took the walkie repeater with it." Rosita tells us. Yes, we name out walker herds like they used to name hurricanes.

"What about Route A? Is that clear yet?" Daryl asked.

"It's still too close to the herd." Rosita answers.

"We can get to Alexandria from this side, stay there till it passes." Michonne looked at everyone as Maggie shook her head.

"No. Route A has taken days to clear before. I need to get home to Hershel." Maggie said.

"We could take Route D. It's early enough in the day." Carol suggest.

"Keep an eye on the trade road in case anyone else tries to move through. Gabriel, y'all can head back to Alexandria from here. The rest of us... we can go to the Sanctuary or Hilltop, stay the night, and head off from there. Take care. Get home safe." Rick tells us as Rosita paints the sign.

We head toward route D and notice that it was getting more muddier. The ground was soft as the carriage was having difficulty rolling through.

"Rick, the horses can't pull the wagon through this mud." Michonne says.

"Maggie, I think they need a break." Someone shouts.

"Maybe we should leave the supplies, send a group back in a day or two." Maggie suggest.

"It's risky. We've seen herds run through and destroy bigger things than this." Michonne warns her.

"We can swap out the horses, split up, take 'em out in the clear, give 'em a rest while we see what we can do about the trailers." Rick says as we untie the horses from the carriage. we unload the carriage to make it less heavy. We grip onto the carriage and push it through the mud.

"One, two, three." Rick counts as we push as hard as we can.

"Rick." Michonne warns him as we turn around and see a small herd.

"Good. Let's get out of here. Daryl, Michonne, Harley." Rick says as the small herd gets closer. The rest of the group loads the carriage back up. We whip out our weapons and take on the closest walkers and run back to the group. They try their best to tie the horses back up to the carriage but there wasn't enough time.

"We gotta go. Leave the wagon!" Rick says as we run away from the herd.  I could hear screaming as I turn around briskly and see a boy get bitten and kicked by a horse. I run back and start taking out the walkers. Rick, Michonne and Daryl join me. After the herd was cleared we turn around and noticed the boy wasn't breathing anymore. He's dead. They took his body back to hilltop as Rick, Michonne, Carol, Ezekiel and a few from their group join us at sanctuary.

"Rick Grimes is here!" Arat shouts as we enter the building.

"That's the man that ended the war. Is Negan suffering? I hope he damn well is." Porter says as we pass by him.

"Now's not a good time, Porter." I whispered.

"Hello. All was well in y'alls absence, other than a certain cabal of Saviors slingin' me some serious stink-eye, but I've compiled a list of items that need y'alls semi-immediate attention." Eugene says as he informs Daryl and I.

"Not now, man." Daryl waves him off.

"Its been a long day. A rough one at that. I'll look over it. Thank you." I assure Eugene as I reach for the list.

"I checked out the supplies. It's a pretty good haul. You should let everybody know." Laura says as she tries to stop Daryl from walking.

"I ain't getting up on a stage and giving a damn speech like him. It's bad timing. We just lost someone out there." Daryl goes off.

"It's getting dark. We should get lights out soon." I tell her as she nods her head.

"Daryl. Does this happen often?" Michonne asked as I turn around as see the  Graffiti on the wall. 'Saviors save us!' And 'We are Negan'

"More and more since the crops been dyin'. Eugene, Jerry! You know who did that?" Daryl asked as he looked at the two.

"Don't know, man." Jerry shakes his head.

"That would be a negative." Eugene responded.

"Justin. Clean that up." Daryl ordered.

"How?" Justin asked as he stayed seated.

"What do you mean, how? Paint over it." Daryl responded back.

"We just used up all the paint." Justin said back.

"Figure it out." Daryl said as he walks off. Porter and a few others walk up to Rick.

"You see our crops, Rick?" Porter asked.

"I did." Rick nodded his head.

"The spring storms will be here in a few weeks, help us out, but we need a boost in the meantime." Porter informs him.   Everyone that surrounded them was judging Rick and how he responded.

"And you'll have it. We came back with farming tools, heirloom seeds. We're looking to the past to help us with the present. We're all gonna pitch in and make sure that Sanctuary has what it needs so you all can get back on your feet." Rick tells them.

"Bless you, Rick Grimes. Thank you." Porter shakes Ricks hand as a few of them clap theirs. Daryl stands off alone as I walk over to him.

"You ok?" I asked as he nods his head and kisses my forhead.

"Gonna talk to Rick. You go ahead and get something to eat and settle. See you in a bit." Daryl says as Rick walks over.

"Mkay, don't be long. Might take a hot shower." I whisper in his ear as I gave him a kiss on his cheek. Honestly if it wasn't so dim in here I could tell he was blushing. I head over and grab a sandwich and walk over to Michonne and Carol.

"There's a couple of spare bedrooms up on the second floor. You guys pick whatever you want. I'm heading to bed let me know when you guys leave in the morning." I tell them as Michonne nods her head. Carol thanks me quietly as she looked around.

I walk up the stairs and to our bedroom. Minutes had passed maybe even an hour. I might fall asleep before Daryl could even get up here. After taking my shower, change my hand bandages I went ahead and climbed into bed. My body finally relaxing it made me sigh in relief. I was definitely getting old. I closed my eyes for a split second to hear the door open and close. I sit up and see Daryl undressing himself.

"Hey you." I murmured with my tired eyes.

"Hey, go back to sleep." He tells me as I lay back down. Daryl lays himself down as I coil into his side.  He sighs in relief as his body finally sinks into the mattress.

"You ok?" I asked as I nozzled my head onto his shoulder. He gently grabs my hand placing it onto his chest. I could feel the rhythm of his heart beating.

"Yeah. Talked to Rick about us going to Hilltop." His voice grumbled.

"What did he say about that?" I asked.

"Not happy that we want to leave. Said someone needed to stay here but Carol said she will for us." I sit my head up to look him in the eyes.

"What about Ezekiel?" I asked.

"She's going to talk to him but she wants us to go and get out of here. she knows what this place did to us." Daryl said as I nod my head.

"So were going to Hilltop?" I smiled as he nodded his head.

"Tomorrow morning after we show Carol everything." Daryl said as I give him a kiss.

Finally we get freedom from this nightmare.