The start

Repairing the bridge

A month had passed as we were making good progress on the bridge. As much as she didn't want to Maggie let some of her people come to help fix the bridge. People from all kingdoms and groups set up camp in the woods to make repairs. Daryl worked on the bridge with Aaron. I passed out food as Henry helped with water. Henry was Ezekiel and Carol's 'child'. His family died so they took him in as their own. It was very sweet of them to do that. I'm not sure if Daryl and I could ever do that.

We reached the bridge as I passed out sandwiches. Henry followed behind passing out the water. He carried a water canten and a single metal cup. We all had to share and take turns with the water. We go up to Regina and a few others.

"Thanks kid." She tells Henry and nods her head to me. I haven't been able to reconnect with the saviors or sould I say the people of the sanctuary. But we do agree silently that we will be civil. Henry hands Justin the cup as he pours himself some water. I hand him his sandwich and move onto the next person.

"Easy there, buddy. I'm still thirsty." I could hear Justin say behind me as I hand another sandwich out.

"No. No. There's not enough. You can't." Henry says. I felt a thud behind me as I turn around briskly. Henry was on the ground as Justin held the water canten above his head. He was finishing off the last remaining clean water we gathered. Before I could even respond Henry got back up and knocked Justin over with his stick. I was a bit shocked at how strong the small child was. Carol definitely taught him well.

"Hey, man, it's cool. I got my ass handed to me by a kid one time, too. Of course, I was at the time." Jed chuckles. He was stirring the pot.  Justin gets up quickly as charges after the boy I pull Henry behind me. Daryl runs up and grabs Justin's shoulder stopping him from coming any closer to us.

"Hey. Kid's just doing his job. Get back to work." Daryl says as he spins Justin around to face him.

"I don't need your people telling me what to do. You're not my babysitter anymore." Justin spat toward Daryl as he turns back to face Henry and I. Daryl spins him around once more but this time Justin threw his fist at Daryl. Daryl dodges it and throws one back nailing Justin in the face. Justin falls on to the pile of sand and throws a clump at Daryl's face. This blinded Daryl temporary as Justin took the advantage and charged at Daryl.

"Stop this!" I yell. I tried to pull Justin off of Daryl. He was way too strong. He turned quickly and smacks me across the face sending me to the ground. That made Daryl lose his shit. The two men rolled on the bridge hitting each other. I scrambled to my feet not sure of what to do. The next thing I knew Aaron and Jed were now pushing each other back and forth. The men were definitely not going to stop anytime soon. They were just getting more aggressive. I could hear Eugene and Rick from down below as I poke my head over the bridge.

"Rick!" I yelled. For a split second he saw the fear and panic in my eyes. He and Eugene run onto the bridge pulling the two men apart. The group that surrounded us pulled Aaron and Jed off each other.

"Break it up right now! Hey! I said enough! I said enough. Enough. Go back to work." Rick tells everyone as Daryl walks off the bridge and straight to camp.

"Finish this for me I have to," I started as I hand the basket of sandwiches to Eugene.

"Disengage the bomb. Roger that." He repsonded as I give him a small smile and run after Daryl. I watched him enter the HQ tent as I followed after him. Carol was in there already wiping his face off. He waves her off and rushes over to me. He gently reaches up amd examines my face.

"Hurts like a bitch." I chuckled and winced. Daryl frowned.

"He's gonna get it. Putting his hands on you. He's gonna wish he was dead." Daryl says as he tries to go out the tent I pull him back. I could see the anger building up inside him. Rick comes in behind us as we all stood in silence.

"So, that asshole just gets a free pass? Is that it?" Daryl asked Rick. He started pacing the room. When Daryl paces a room normally I wouldn't mess with him. Thats him trying to calm down before he does something stupid or risky.

"It's just a few more days. I don't like it, either, but we're in a rush to get that work done. He's strong. The Saviors are over half the workforce, and we've had too many walk offs already." Rick expresses to Carol, Daryl and I.

"Yeah. 'Cause that's who they are. Some of them ain't ever gonna fall in line just 'cause you say so." Daryl scoffed and stops pacing.

"Daryl's right. These people have never had to live together. And we can't expect them to just forget what's happened." Carol shrugged her shoulders.

"That's why I didn't want to stay there. They remind me every day, every hour and every second that Negan is still around. Just because you have that man locked up does not mean I do not fear for my life around them. They don't want to change. They don't want to forget. They want us to live in fear." I look at Rick softly. He has to understand that they wont change.

"It hasn't been easy. I know. It won't be, not for a while, but it's not about forgetting. It's about moving ahead, all of us, together. We keep doing that, they'll see we're all on the same side." Rick says as the room goes quiet. He doesn't understand. He is set in his own ways.

"Are we, though? Are we on the same side, Rick?" Daryl asked but it seemed to be sarcastic. I look at Daryl but he held a stone cold face. It seemed like he wanted to pick a fight with Rick.

"Well, you tell me." Rick asked back in the same manner.

"Thing is, man, I've been tryin' to. But you don't seem to want to hear it." Daryl says back as he walks out of the tent.

"Daryl." Rick tries to stop him but Daryl didnt stop.

"I got this." I go to leave the tent but Rick grabs my arm.

"Are you ok?" He asked as he points to my face. I nod my head.

"I tried to break up the fight. Justin hits pretty hard." I shrug my shoulder and go after Daryl.