Kang made sure Daryl did all the cooking in reality or in dreams. He was even pouring people coffee. He looked after and cared for Carol this whole episode.
That was specifically a 🖕🏻to all the “Mom dynamic” douche bags out there. 😁
Just imagine if the roles were reversed. Angela Kang, destroyer of haters narrow minds.
Summary: After crossing Alpha’s border, the communities have to deal with the consequences and both Negan and the Reader have to find their roles in fighting the new threats
the last part /all other previous parts
(You don’t have to read any previous parts to understand the plot! Hope you all like it and enjoy reading)
Crossing Alpha’s border had consequences, consequences Alexandria quickly got to experience the hard way.
It started at sunrise, not more than a few days after the fire at Oceanside, when the first wave of walkers hit Alexandria. It wasn’t a horde, yet still big enough to need more than ten people to get it under control and kill every last one of the decaying corpses. More followed, sometimes after only a half hour, other times after up to three hours but they came, sometimes more, sometimes less but each time enough to stir the whole community up.
At first you stayed at the infirmary, the threat manageable enough to not pull more people from their tasks but in night two of the walker waves, you got pulled in and it only seemed to get worse from that point on.
The span in between the waves got shorter, the amount of walkers grew oppositely to the amount of sleep you’d got and that got it’s revenge as you found yourself at the walls, only half awake and exhausted after the last wave of walkers had been managed, only a few lonely dead stumbling over the streets that had been attracted by the sounds of their companions.
Running your hand over your face you tried to work against the weight that got heavier on your eyelids and the urge in you to fall into the next bed. Only from the corner of your eyes you caught Negan as he heft one of the dead walkers into a wagon, letting the pile of corpses grow bigger before a small yawn left his lips as soon he turned around as got back to picking another up. He’d gotten some more sleep than you last night, still not enough to be well rested, though you envied him a little for just those few hours he got more.
Yawning yourself you walked along the wall, tossing bloody crowbar you’d just used to kill one of the last walkers to the side, hoping to find something with more grip for the next wave as your shoe suddenly hooked against a sward and nearly made you trip over your own feet for a second, bringing you back on alert for a second as adrenaline rushed through you.
”Shit”, you grumbled, getting steady on your feet again before you felt a large hand gently wrapping around your wrist.
”Hey, you okay?”, you heard Negan’s voice ask as he shifted next to you, letting you meet his concerned glance as soon as you looked up at him and felt his hand slipping from your wrist to your neck, raising your jaw with his thumb to get a look at you.
”Yeah, just tired”, you said with a small, exhausted smile, giving him a nod that got slightly mirrored by him.
”Alright”, he said, his eyes still wandering with some worry stuck in them over your face as you leaned a little into his touch, trying to let his warmth work a bit against your exhaustion though it elicited more the wish to fall into bed with him and get more of that comfort.
You sighed, trying to force your eyes to stay open as Negan leaned in for a second, pressing a quick kiss to your temple before he leaned back, giving you a small smirk as his hand dropped from your neck.
”Gotta get back to work. Still can’t wait for that bed though”, he chuckled, giving you another grin before he urged himself to finally walk past you.
Still feeling his touch on you for another moment you glanced back up to the wooden spikes, suddenly flinching as your eyes caught Daryl’s who’d been carefully watching you, and most certainly your moment with Negan as well.
He didn’t say anything, he just stared for a second longer before he got back to the spikes, leaving you glued to the ground for a moment.
You still didn’t talk much and that little situation right there displayed your relationship at the moment pretty well. Though his small apology after the storm for what he’d once screamed at you all this time ago had been a beginning, oppositely for what a tiny part in you had hopped, it didn’t flourish in something bigger yet. Your half brother was still keeping his distance, talking to you mostly only when it was necessary but at least he was and even though it seemed like nothing to others, it was still something good for you.
Sighing you shifted from foot to foot, fighting the exhaustion as your eyes laid on Daryl a little longer and just as they swayed from him again his voice made your glance suddenly snap back to him again.
“Hey, heads up”, he called out, his eyes fixed to something on the road, and while you first thought it would be another wave of walkers and already made your way tiredly back to the pikes to get rid of them, you startled as you saw one person walking towards the wall that only looked like the dead with the mask she was wearing over her face.
“The north border. Now”, she demanded, staring at Michonne as your eyes wandered over her, over the torn clothes and the rotting skin and hair that was covering her head as she stood there like it was no big deal to show up at your doorstep.
“Call off your walkers”, Michonne said as she joined Daryl’s side, glaring at the women as she remained weirdly calm.
“Not us”, she insisted, an odd monotonous sound in her voice as Daryl huffed thickly.
“Yeah, right.”
“Not. Us.”, she said with more force now, though neither you nor anybody else at the gates seemed to believe any word that slipped out of her lips.
“Go to the border, lay down your weapons, and wait”, she said, her pair of blue eyes staring though the holes in the skin at Michonne and Daryl, only the spikes parting her from them.
“Wait for what?”, Michonne asked, her eyes not moving from the Whisperer as the Woman’s eyes narrowed for a small moment.
“Her.”
With that, she turned around, and shuffled down the street, fitting into the dead she completely resembled as soon as she reached them until she slowly made her way back into the woods, leaving each and everybody speechless for a second, an atmosphere laying in the air that seemed to be more than icy until the silence got broken by Michonne.
”Community meeting, now.”
The meeting room was filled up to the rim with people, some of them talking, whispering to each other, while others stayed completely silent, occupied with their thoughts. You shifted over your chair next to Siddiq by the other council members, noticing him fumbled nervously on his hands before Michonne finally rose her voice as he glanced at Lydia at the first table in front of you.
“Alright...is this your mother?”
“No. I don't think it is”, she shook her had, leaning a little back into her chair as Daryl leaned against the wooden pillar next to her and glanced down at her.
“Why'd she want to talk with us?”, he asked, seemingly all eyes in the room on them as Lydia shifted a little over her chair, just before glancing up at Daryl.
“You crossed into her land. Again. You have to answer for that.”
“We don't have to do anything. We could just not go”, Aaron said, his voice tense, the blood splatters of the dead still sticking to his face as Lydia shook her head again.
“That's a bad idea.”
“We're already under attack”, Dante spoke up from a little further back, his voice calmer than usual, completely oppositely to what those few words of his elicited within the crowd.
“Yeah!”, screamed one before a couple other voices joined in, only shut down as Lydia raised hers again.
“It isn't her. If she wanted you dead, she'd send the horde. All of it, not just a few waves at a time.”
“Maybe she's trying to wear us down first”, Carol said, shifting uncomfortably as she glanced into the round before the eyes wandered to Eugene as he pushed his chair with a squeaking sound back and stood up.
“Or, as I relayed to you all at the beginning of this meeting, there's plausible reason to believe that the satellite and fire -”
“I don't want to hear about the damn satellite anymore, Eugene!”, the woman next to Carol called out, Margo, someone you’d never seen with something else than a frown on her face but the one today was especially bad ,”My friends died trying to save yours and ended up with their heads on spikes.”
She glared at all of you, as if you were the enemy while you could feel Siddiq shifting uncomfortably next to you, so much that you were nearly about to ask if he was okay before Margo shot up from her chair and screamed through the room.
“The Highwaymen want justice!”
“Yeah!”, some more of them joined in, their voices pitching so high it almost hurt your ears while her eyes scanned over you and the rest of the council, especially Michonne with a look in her eyes as if she was ready to tear you apart if she didn't get the answer she wanted.
“So all I want to hear from you is that you're gonna take a dozen of us to meet these freaks at the border and that we're gonna take that lead bitch's head off!”
“We cut it off!”, “And then we'll put their heads on spikes!”, those were just a few of the calls that echoed through the room, almost giving you the feeling as if you weren’t in some actual town meeting but rather a medieval movie that was about to get a bit too much out of hand.
Your eyes were stuck to Margo for a moment, already deeply annoyed by her, her claims and her acting as if she knew it all even though a dozen people would barely stand against the army of undead and fake undead Alpha had. They stayed there just before their corners suddenly caught Siddiq rushing up from his chair, clutching his chest.
”You’re alright?”, Michonne asked, concerned as she glanced up at him while Siddiq nodded, even though there was definitely not everything alright.
”Yeah, yeah, just need some fresh air”, he nearly panted before he rushed outside, the echoes of the voices still sounding through the room as you watched him disappearing, right before Michonne stood up from her chair and silenced the room just with that Movement.
“How many walkers did you see in Alpha's horde?”, she asked, looking at Daryl as she propped her hands on the wooden surface of the table.
“Tens of thousands.”
“Ah. So What's your plan for taking them out?”, Michonne asked as she looked from Daryl to Margo, who suddenly got real quiet and lowered her eyes, confirming that anything that had just left her lips was nothing but hot air.
“Oh, that wasn't rhetorical”, Michonne said, her voice firm and though you couldn’t do it outwardly, inside you were cheering for her to but that woman back on her butt.
“I don't have one”, Margo said as she shifted over her chair, glancing up Michonne like a pouting toddler.
“Ah. Does anybody else?
“I just think it’s odd that we have this council and yet no one else says anything”, Margo suddenly spoke up again, glancing into the round, a bit too snotty again for your tired out mind, fed up with her bullshit and just as her eyes met yours, you finally opened your mouth.
“Because we agree”, you said calmly yet with enough pressure to sound firm, feeling your dislike against her growing even more and it just continued to grow as she shot you a glare and a sarcastic grin.
“Oh because you’re such an expert”, she hissed, narrowing her glance as he looked at you,”As far as I know did you end up in bed with the enemy last time”
“Enough!”, Michonne shut her down again just as you could feel heat boiling in you up again, being confronted with that fucking ol’ lyre you couldn’t hear anymore that felt even worse now that Negan was trying his best to somehow integrate himself into the community. A part of you wanted to say something, but instead you stayed quiet, unsure what to say, unsure what to exactly tell her that wouldn’t end up in a backfire.
“If she sends that horde, that's it! Right now, all she wants to do is talk. And we are going to listen”, Michonne said, slowly letting you calm down again and stay silent, trying to not meet Margo’s glare to not get yourself upset over that bitch again and instead trying to pay attention to what Michonne added, “Now, while we are doing that, everyone here needs to focus on what's coming in from the north and the south. We're tired. We are on edge. And it is going to get worse before it gets better. But we aren't gonna get through it at all if we do not act as one.”
No one said anything after that, didn’t try to talk back and you were glad about it, even more so as the room finally emptied and you walked back into the fresh air along with Michonne,
”Thank you, didn’t really know what to say”, you mumbled as soon as you stepped down into the soft grass, strolling over the the street as she shook her head softly.
“All good, thanks for jumping in”, she said, giving a slight smile before she let out a small sigh,”Stay put, alright? We’ll head out later, I want you to join the group, keep walkers off our back as soon as we’re at the border.”
“Okay”, you nodded as you stepped onto the blacktop stopping as Michonne halted for a moment while you actually couldn’t deny that part of you was almost something like glad for that task that would be something outside the infirmary and a bit more in the active fight against the threat.
“We’ll meet at the gates later, alright?”
“Yeah, gonna get a bow and then I’ll wait there”, you nodded, just before Michonne gulped thickly and slowly shook her head.
“No, we have to go unarmed, can’t take the risk, only knives”, she said, still a little restless and tense, maybe even expecting you to question her for going unarmed but instead you nodded again, understanding her plea even though you couldn’t say you were completely comfortable with it, especially not with the waves of walkers that were still coming and that you’d for sure meet on your way to the northern border.
“Okay, gotta get to Judith and RJ, see you later”, she finally said, suppressing a yawn as she slowly forced herself to get going.
“Yeah, see you later”, you said, nodding as you felt a yawn coming up as well, pushing it’s way up your throat as you finally made your way down the streets and to the gates, while a part of you asked yourself how the hell you were going to stay awake all night.
You felt like you had taken way longer than usual to reach the gates as you finally got to them, searching for Negan to make sure you got to talk to him before you had to head out. Your tired eyes were scanning over the cars, the piles of corpses and boxes, until you caught him a bit off from everybody else, barely visible from your spot between the wall and the fence.
As fast as you could you moved over to him, passing through the men and women who either got read to head out or were dragging corpses to the piles until you finally reached Negan who stood with his back to you, on his way to collect some utensils by the fence.
“Negan?”, you said, watching as Negan turned around as you gave him a soft smile ,”Wanted to see you before going outside...gonna join Michonne’s group.”
His eyes softened for a moment as he leaned in, pressing a quick kiss over your lips before he let out a thick sigh and ran his hand over his jaw.
“Well, news flash, Gabey boy made me join team with fuckin’ pouty pout Aaron, can place my ass the whole damn night at the south border”, he said, his voice annoyed by the Gabriels crossing of his plan to keep his head low and instead, putting him right into the battle.
“Just think of it as an opportunity”, you tried to put some positive light onto that situation as you wrapped your arms around his torso and stepped a little closer as Negan slowly nodded.
“Mhmm”, he grumbled, slinging his arms around your figure and quirking a corner of his mouth a little up before he nodded to a stick behind him that leaned against the fence,”Ain’t nothing gonna go wrong cause I get to fight with that great ass broom stick here.”
“Maybe you’ll find something better outside”, you said, giving him some kind of mix between a soft smile and a crooked grin to cheer him a little more up.
“Hope so, feel like that thing’s gonna break first time I’ll crack a skull...for sure isn’t as hard as some other wood”, he said, responding with a bigger grin as he squeezed your waist teasingly.
“Probably”, you chuckled, grinning right back at him before you could feel his mien growing a little more serious again as soon as you could hear the people behind the cars and boxes of utensils beginning to move out.
“Take care, alright? Need ya back safe and sound”, Negan said, pulling you a little closer, holding you tight as his eyes flooded with a bit concern as you slowly nodded.
“You too”, you mumbled before he leaned in to press another kiss over your lips, deepening it for a moment as you huddled closer, trying to get the most of him before you had to leave until you slowly parted lips again.
“I love you”, Negan rasped against your lips, pecking them once more as you gave him a soft smile back, feeling as if those three words were giving you another little boost for the fight outside.
“I love you too”, you mumbled, before you finally urged yourself to step away and let him loose his hold on you, reluctantly even though you knew you had to leave.
“See ya in the morning, Baby”, he said, giving you a small grin as his arms slowly dropped from your body.
“Yeah, can’t wait for you and that bed, really”, you chuckled, yawning a little as Negan let out a soft laugh just before you heard Diane calling out for you, “Shit, gotta go.”
You let out one last sigh and smiled at him, quickly moving towards him to steal another small kiss before you finally peeled yourself off him and rushed through the boxes and cars, to your group that was becoming bigger as you and a couple more Alexandrian’s joined in just waiting for the last ones until you could get going.
The sun had long vanished behind the skyline of the trees and darkness had begun to settle in the sky as you walked off the road into the woods, heading closer to the northern border with every single step.
There was an odd tension stuck in the group, an uncertainty of what to exactly await at the border and for you, it was a bit more suspense on top of it since the very moment you realized Daryl joined in too.
Step by step you made your way further into the dark, taking care to not trip in the underwood before oddly familiar growls and groans began to sound through the air, foreshadowing another wave of walkers coming towards you, only now in the woods with no walls around you, no protection from one side.
It took only a second for each and every one in the group to reach for their knives and drag them up, just moments before your eyes captured the first dead stumbling towards you, bumping past the trees and beginning to raise their arms towards you, ready to grab you and rip you to their rotting mouths.
Your whole body was on alert, though you could still feel the exhaustion lingering within you as you stepped towards the closest walker and let your knife shoot up, digging it through its jaw into its head, letting its body go limp within a second while you could catch the others doing the same.
Just as you watched Carol smashing a walkers head open at a tree you forced yourself to snap back towards your side and focus on the threat that was stumbling right towards you, taking it out as fast as you could before slowly, the inrush slowed down, giving you some time to breath as you glanced around trying to see if more threat was coming from any other side.
At first your tired eyes caught nothing alerting, everybody managed their part until your heart suddenly skipped a beat as it landed on the person only a couple meters to your right, Daryl. He was shoving one large walker to the ground that was eyeing his throat, throwing it off to take care of it later just so he could pay attention to the next walker that was coming way too close to him, stretching his arms out to grip him just as he let his knife shoot up into its skull. Blood was flowing over his hand as the walker put on a fight, not completely gone yet while the one on the floor began to reach towards his ankle while more walkers streamed out of the forest towards him.
“Shit”, it fell from your lips as you found yourself rushing towards him, following your instincts and the inner panic that fueled your fear of seeing him hurt.
Your knife was still securely in your hand as you reached him and moved down, gripping into the rotting flesh of the walker’s shoulder to turn it away from Daryl, quickly turning its attention from your half brother to you.
Its dead eyes met yours just in the very moment you rose your knife up, feeling your hand that was still gripping it slipping through the decaying mix of blood and muscles, enough to get you off guard for a bare second and give the walker the upper hand. Your exhausted mind made you witness the next moments only in a blur until you found yourself on your back, pressed against the cold forest ground, feeling how the protruding innards of the walkers stomach dripped against your body as it snapped with its rotting teeth towards you, snapping you back into the survival modus.
Groaning you gripped your knife harder, pushing the dead away with your other hand, trying to not slip again until you could free your arm enough to reach up and dig your knife into its skull, letting the tense body on top of you go limp as more dark red blood flowed down your arm before you pushed the walker off you, still breathing so heavily your breath seemed to cut crannies into your throat.
“Fuck”, you exhaled, lifting your upper body up as you first caught Daryl staring down at you just as he let go of another dead walker, the last one for him, while his eyes wandered between the dead one beside your body and you, almost as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened.
Still breathing heavily you gulped thickly, unsure what to say as you slowly bobbed yourself back on your feet, wincing a little as you could feel your body taking revenge on you for that fall against the ground.
“Why’d ya do that?”, Daryl finally grumbled as soon as you dared to glance back up at him while his eyes were scanning carefully over your face as you stroked the dirt off your pants,”Thing could’ve gotten you”
“It didn’t”, you just mumbled, gulping thickly as you glimpsed at him, putting your knife back into the holster as Daryl remained quiet, his eyes still stuck on you as if he didn’t know how to interpret your action yet while all those thoughts and emotions you’d bottled up over the years were beginning to poke you again, and with the exhaustion stuck within you, they had an easier game than usual. And not even the small part in you that meant to hold you back couldn’t do much against it as the hurt grew a bit more within you, watching him look at you with suspicion.
“I’d still risk my life for you”, you finally mumbled, not loud, but enough for him to hear you as instead of stopping there, as you wished, the exhaustion was allowing more emotions to slowly break through as you glimpsed at him in the faint light,”Daryl, I know I made mistakes, I probably could’ve handled things back then way better, I could’ve said things better but I didn’t know how, I still don’t know, It’s like walking through a mine field...but I’m sorry.”
Your voice was a bit shaky, scared to trip on one of the mines again while Daryl just glanced at you, completely still while the bottled up thoughts found more and more of their valve paired up with the desperation to finally get a reaction from him.
“You’re still one of the most important people in my life”, you softly, yet reluctantly mumbled, even more hesitant and most of all filled up with a stinging pain as you raised your voice for the next words, ”I know I’m not one of yours anymore...but that doesn’t change that I’d do anything to keep you out of danger, believe it or not.”
It got silent, and suddenly your tired mind realized that not only you but every one else in the group had killed the walkers from their sides once for all as well, leaving them to capture the little scene between Daryl and you, or at least its end, though that was enough to let goosebumps of discomfort rush over your skin. You could tell they were trying not to stare at you both and make the situation more awkward, completely beside the fact that they were all too tired to grapple with that additionally to the meeting with the whisperers, still it didn’t let the heat in your cheeks weaken.
“We should keep going”, Michonne finally said, freeing you a bit from that awkwardness while you nodded along with the others, glad as they finally began to walk again as you inwardly still half cringed, half hurt as that suspicious glance in Daryl’s eyes creeped back up in your head.
Thickly gulping you stumbled through the dark, following the others as someone caught up on you, letting you flinch slightly as soon as you felt their hand wrapping around your wrist.
“Thanks...for that walker”, you heard Daryl grumble soon as your eyes caught him by your side, letting go of you again in the very second your eyes met his while some of the hurt beat retreat as his glance grew a little softer, no suspiciousness of before left.
“Anytime”, you mumbled back, trying to put a sleepy smile on your lips as he slowly nodded while you emerged deeper into the woods.
“Just a couple more meters”, you heard Michonne mumble after a few more minutes, her voice low and tense as you finally approached the clearing, closer with each step until you made your way carefully out of the woods.
It was a spooky atmosphere there on the foot of the hill, the pikes siting enthroned on its peak while mist surrounded them, enlightening them a little in the light of the moon. With that one step, that step that put you on the clearing, the suspense within the group rose even higher, growing continuously as you made your way through the damp grass up the hill.
A bit after its middle, Michonne glanced back at you, giving you and two others the signal to stop and make sure to keep your guards up at this spot, while the others walked a bit higher, halting only just before the pikes before they seemed to freeze to the spot.
Exhaling a little shakily you stared up the hill, wondering when they would come, when you’d see the woman who was putting you all into this awful situation for the first time before you suddenly caught some of the others flinching, just as quiet groans began to echo through the night. Almost, you moved to grip your knife before you caught the direction they were coming from, catching the tiny yet noticeable difference in the groans if you listened close enough and that let you realize that they were here; the whisperers had arrived.
Goosebumps covered your body as you stared up the hill, through the others that were lined up in two rows at the pikes, in the first Carol, Daryl and Michonne, behind them more Alexandrians that didn’t let you see the Whisperers and their leader at first, before you suddenly did.
You didn’t know how you’d imagined her to be, only heard a couple remarks here and there about her shaved head and the torn clothes that all of them wore but still, for an odd reason you hadn’t imagined her like that.
Like a predator she was creeping along the pikes as you heard Michonne talking to her about crossing their border, her eyes blinking up here and there in the moonlight despite the dirt that was smeared around them and her lips, the only parts that weren’t covered when she wore the mask.
Her voice really rather was a whisper, a threatening, blood freezing whisper, too silent for you to figure her exact words out, yet loud enough to let the sound of it and the odd accent that was lacing her voice spread more goosebumps over your body.
You could see the others in front of you growing more tense as you tried to keep yourself on alert to keep your guards up for actual walkers until Alpha suddenly stopped in front of Carol. A shudder ran down your back as they faced each other, the pike Henry’s head had must have stuck on between them while a heavy breath fell from your lips as you felt like you could cut the tension in the air. You could feel yourself fumbling on your wedding band, trying to figure out what they were saying before you suddenly froze again as your eyes caught Carol reaching back, grabbing something out of her back pocket before a loud shot sounded through the dark.
Flinching, you widened your eyes, nearly gasping and expecting to see a body fall but instead your eyes caught Michonne by Carol’s side, still holding her arm that now aimed at the ground where the bullet must be buried that was supposed to stick in Alpha’s head.
“We apologize for out friend!”, you could only hear Michonne call out, her voice nearly panicking as you stared at the scene in front of you, feeling more suspense rising in you as you felt like you could already see the whisperers attacking, but instead they remained silent as you could hear Michonne apologizing, her voice growing quieter again, so quiet that you had trouble hearing them.
“Shit, this is it”, the guard next to you mumbled, gulping thickly as he stared worriedly up the hill, guiding your eyes for a moment from the scene before another voice, the awful voice that had made your blood freeze already minutes ago suddenly sounded louder through to you.
“What are they still doing in the back? I hope you have nothing planned”, you heard Alpha say, anger soaking her voice as it snapped your eyes back up, your glance meeting hers for a bare second but it was enough to give you the chills all over again.
“We don’t, they’re guarding us from walkers from the woods”, Michonne said, glancing down at you, talking just loud enough for you three to hear her as Alpha’s glance swayed over you again, her eyes narrowing before they fell back on Michonne.
“I will not continue until they are not up here”, she said, stepping closer to the pikes as she shrugged her shoulders slightly ,”After what your friend just did...you have to understand, we have to be sure they hear what I have to say.”
It took nothing more than a second for Michonne to glimpse down at you again, nodding to tell you to follow Alpha’s order this time and so you stomped up the hill, gradually while the Whisperers’ eyes followed you, step for step until you reached the group.
An odd grin flashed over her lips, giving a hint of how much she seemed to enjoy the force she was holding over you all before she glanced back to Carol who was one bundle of tension.
“I forgive you”, Alpha said, the grin forming into a smile so disturbing you could barely describe it while the next words that fell from her lips let a shudder of the ugly kind run down your back,”Mother to mother.”
She almost seemed theatrical, in a way ridiculous with this threatening yet syrupy accent that made the feeling you had about here even more odd, so odd that you couldn’t even describe what to think of her other than a weird mix of confusion, hatred and disgust.
Within a bare second the smile snapped off her face as she stepped towards the pike, grabbing the one that was parting her from Carol as the other whisperers followed, ripping each one out of the ground before her voice sounded one last time though the dark.
“This is my land now. You better run”
The night was still young when you found yourself back on the road, only with your two guard companions from the hill, heading towards home again. Michonne had insisted to stay outside with some others, make sure everything was fine while you could walk back to Alexandria and be there if Siddiq needed you.
It was still pitch black as you walked back inside the gates, a part of you glad the you could go back home instead of spending the night in some warehouse or any other shelter that would have you and your tried head on alert all night, even though you knew that you had to stay up either way.
You parted ways with the others quickly, watching them taking up spots at the walls for more guardshifts before you made your way down the street and towards the infirmary where the lights were still burning and you could see Dante and Siddiq standing inside while you climbed up the porch.
“Hey”, you mumbled as you finally slowly opened the infirmary’s door, watching as Siddiq and Dante turned around to you from their spot at the counter, their eyes widening a little as they caught the blood that was still all over your clothes.
“Just walker blood...Michonne wanted me to head back and help here”, you said, slowly walking in and closing the door carefully behind you as Siddiq nodded.
“Good, we can need another pair of hands”, he said reaching for a cup that rested on the counter, probably another coffee to keep him awake before he his eyes wandered back to the blood on your clothes, just the sight enough to let him gulp thickly and grip the mug tight enough to let the white of his knuckles show, and you could tell there was more behind it than just the sight of blood.
“Well, I better get cleaned up”, you said, letting out a small chuckle, trying to loose the tense atmosphere a little up, “Gonna take a quick shower if that’s okay, just need to wake up again.”
“Sure, sure. After that we’ll just pump you full with coffee, you got a lot to catch up there”, Dante laughed as he raised his cup while Siddiq remained dead silent, enough to let you decide to quickly vanish out of the room, to not whirl him up more than he already seemed to be.
As fast as you could you hauled the bloody clothes off your body and onto the bathroom floor and slipped into the shower, groaning softly in delight as soon as the hot water hit your skin. Closing your eyes you enjoyed the sensation of it for a moment, before you dared to fall asleep as the hot water seemed to wrap around you like a warm hug and instead forced yourself to rub the last remains of blood and dirt with some soap of your body while your thoughts got easily distracted again through the exhaustion of your whole mind and body.
For a moment, you asked yourself what Negan was doing right now, if he was still killing walkers or if he was maybe in some shelter by now, keeping watch or trying to catch a tiny bit of sleep until the next wave of walkers hit.
And Negan kept occupying your mind, mostly the most innocent thing of just yearning to cuddle up in bed with him and falling asleep like that, until you wrapped towels around your body and hair before stepping out of the shower though you missed the hot water the second it had turned off.
From that moment on, as you could hear the Doctors’ voices again they slipped back into your head, along with Siddiq’s odd behavior that had been flaring up since the whisperer mask washed up by Oceanside’s beach.
You could only imagine that it brought back the pikes to him, the day only he survived and had to watch them all die, and this left scars, traumatizing scars that slowly and with the deadly threat around the corner again, manifested into something that couldn’t just be brushed off again.
You hadn’t seen enough of him to know for sure, but this wasn’t just the coping all of you did in these times, if your guesses were right, he was either on his way or already deep in the ptsd hell that would only get worse as long as he’d try to shove it away.
You sighed as you dried yourself off, too exhausted and with too much weight resting on your eyelids to properly think about it further, nor of a possible way to be at least a little help for him with what you knew about this shit, but you postponed this part to some time in the next days, when you were more well rested and no shallow figure that just yearned for sleep.
Nearly in slow motion like movements you finally stroked your clothes over your body, actually struggling to not lose balance until you were all ready again and slowly made your ways down the stairs, anticipating your well deserved coffee more than ever.
You were already on your second cup as a bunch of sudden and harsh knocks on the door made you flinch up and put the mug for the first time in minutes down, though Dante, fueled with more caffeine, acted faster than you and rushed towards the door, nearly ripping it open as your heart skipped a small beat as soon as you caught was laid behind it.
“She fell, cut herself real bad”, Daryl panted as he already carried Carol with Michonne inside, the clothes at her back soaked with blood while some glass shards that still stuck in her skin flimmered in the light.
“Easy, easy”, Siddiq said as he rushed towards them while you got wide awake for a moment, falling back into the usual routine as you grabbed all utensils you could need as fast as possible while you could only catch from the corners of your eyes how the lowered Carol stomach first onto one of the cots.
“I’m gonna need you all to leave”, you heard Siddiq say as you hurried with the utensils towards the cot, placing them beside Carol as you caught Daryl’s glance for a bare second before it swayed back to her right as Michonne placed her hand on his back and lead him outside, though only reluctantly.
The door fell back into it’s lock as you shifted closer watching as Siddiq took a deep breath and glanced at you, then Dante.
“You’ll pull out the shards”, he nodded towards the man before his eyes fell back on you, “And we two open the wound, go in and close it up, alright.”
“Alright”, you quickly nodded, only hearing Dante agree as well as you grabbed the right tools and leaned over Carol, getting ready right as Dante placed his forceps at the first shard that was bored into her back,
“Okay, here we go”, Dante slowly mumbled, just before you suddenly heard Siddiq’s breath speeding up, forming into pants while his eyes widened before shut them tightly, trying to fight his way back from what seemed to torment him.
“Siddiq”, Dante mumbled, moving his hand from the shard as the other man shook his head.
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not”, Dante said while you slowly nodded, glancing at Siddiq who was trying to keep his cool as best as he could.
“I can open them with Dante if you’re alright with that, you pull the shards, it’s okay”, you said, catching his glance before he slowly nodded, gulping before he mumbled a soft “okay.”
From this moment on it slowly began to work out as you all pushed the best you could through your exhaustion, until Carol was fully patched up and ready to be carried to Michonne’s house, a quieter place to recover than the infirmary.
Time flew whenever someone came in and slowed down to the bare minimum as soon as it got quiet again until you finally caught the sun rising behind the horizon, enlightening the infirmary and putting an end to the night, giving you hope that soon enough you’d be able to fall into bed and give in to the weight that kept pushing down on your eyelids, begging you to close them and get some rest.
Just as the whole infirmary was filled with morning light you gulped the last sip of your coffee down that was already awfully cold, leaning against the counter and letting your eyes wander over the room, trying to keep it busy enough to not fall into a second-sleep, just before footsteps outside made brought more of your consciousness back.
“Ya still got time for more patients?”, you suddenly heard a familiar deep voice say, snapping you wide awake as your glance rushed to the door.
“Negan”, you breathed out as soon as you caught him in the door, propping Aaron over his shoulders while he shifted to keep him steadily upright.
“This one’s got hogweed in his eyes and my arm got it good too”, Negan said, shifting inside the room as you finally could let your eyes sway further over him, catch the blood splatters on his face and clothes and the exhausted look in his eyes.
“I’ll take Aaron”,Dante quickly said as he rushed towards the two men, taking Aaron out of Negan’s grip and instead wrapping an arm around him to guide the man who was still blinking and rubbing his eyes with his hand,”C’mon buddy.”
Dante groaned a little as he got him over to the hallway, about to lead him to one of the other patient doors, shooting both Negan and you a wide grin before he vanished in the hallway.
“Let’s leave those two lovebirds alone, huh?”
“What the-”, you only heard Negan grumble, looking a little confused, chuckling though as a laugh fell from your lips as you reached his side.
“Yeah, that’s what I meant”, you chuckled, shrugging your shoulders as Negan leaned himself against the nearest cot, reached out for you and slowly pulled you closer ,”But turns out he’s alright so it’s okay.”
“Hmm okay”, he said, nodding as you gave him a soft smile, simply relieved to have him back again as you cupped his jaw with your hands, stroking over the stubble before you leaned in to caress your lips over his, quickly receiving a deep, content hum from him as he pulled you closer, wrapping his arms tighter around you as you slowly melted into him, relishing in his touch before you slowly let go again.
“Needed that”, you mumbled against his lips, humming as he leaned in to peck them one more time.
“Fuck, me too”, he groaned, the exhaustion deeply stuck in his eyes before he suddenly grimaced in pain as soon as he shifted his forearm a little too much.
“Oh shit, the rash, we gotta get to that”, you said, only reluctantly peeling yourself from him as you moved to the counters and grabbed the right utensils and wetted a towel to get the blood off him, hearing Negan’s voice again as soon as you closed the drawers again and strolled back to his side.
“Shit grew out of the walkers, there was a ton of them”, he huffed, pushing his shirt up, revealing the reddened skin before he nodded at you as soon as you’d placed the meds next to him on the cot ,”Doesn’t look like you got so many though.”
“Oh I did, was covered in blood, just got back a couple hours ago and took a shower right away. Figured the patients wouldn’t like that too much...or my nose”, you mumbled, chuckling softly as Negan slowly nodded.
“Wouldn’t mind if you’d get some of that crap off my face too, fuckin’ dead assholes”, he huffed, giving you a small smirk though as you grabbed the wet towel from beside him.
“Yeah, that’s the plan”, you chuckled, reaching up to dab the wet cloth over his face, your other hand cupping his jaw to keep him still as he slowly closed his eyes as soon as you ran your thumb over his stubble and got the last bit of blood off his skin.
“Do that a little longer and I’ll fall asleep right fuckin’ here”, he mumbled, keeping his eyes closed as he leaned a bit more into your touch.
“Me too...can’t wait for bed”, you said, unable to suppress a big yawn to fall from your lips as Negan slowly opened his eyes again.
“Fuck...let’s get that rash done before I fall asleep”, you said, another tired chuckle falling from your lips as you tossed the towel back to the cot and grabbed the disinfection spray instead and some clean cloth before glancing at Negan,”Alright, gonna burn a bit now.”
“Alrighty, guess-...fuck!”, he called out as soon as the spray hit his reddened skin, his relaxed even a little cocky face grimacing in a mix of surprise and pain as you already began to dab the cloth softly over his wound, sure to get it all clean and ready for a salve.
“Told you”, you said, giving him a small grin as he shifted uncomfortably over the cot, gritting his teeth and looking more uncomfortable with some disinfection spray on his reddened skin than any time you’d seen this man suffer from something that actually deserved that reaction, but that had been downplayed instead.
“C’mon big man, you want me to blow on it?”, you chuckled, immediately loosening his tense face up that had a big grin form quickly on it instead.
“Nah, but you could head a little more south for that”, he chuckled, as you let out a laugh that quickly paired with a yawn again as you set the disinfection spray and the cloth aside.
“Yeah, I’ll definitely do that when I’m awake enough again to not fall asleep while I’m at it”, you joked back, receiving another grin from him as he let out a just as big yawn as you had just seconds before.
“Yeah, good idea...fuck, I’m tired”, he groaned, rubbing his eyes with one hand as you forced yourself to keep going and not forget any step as you reached for the right salve and raised it up so Negan could take a look at it.
”Gonna get better as the disinfection stuff now, the salve cools so that should be nice.”
“Sure as shit hope so”, Negan chuckled, as you swirled the cap off and leaned a little closer in.
“Well, then lets get started.”
You kept going, step by step treating Negan’s rash as you began to talk about your nights, about the walker incident with Daryl, about the whisperers and Alpha at the old border and their move to make a new one. And after you finished the version of your night, Negan started with his, rambling about the damn broomstick that broke and the crowbar he hadn’t been allowed to use and about the hogweed walkers that turned the undead into a nastier threat than they already were, and about his fight with Aaron in the dead of the night.
“He told me to fuck off after those crappy comments of his so I did”, Negan shrugged as you wrapped the bandage around his arm, listening to him as he rambled on, “Got myself comfy in some armchair in that cabin we were staying by...well, no one could know he got that hogweed crap in his eyes fighting those dead assholes and so Aaron boy stumbled in that damn house like some idiot.”
“And you did what? Just watched him?”
“For a bit”, Negan grumbled, his lips forming into a small roguish grin as your lips fell open for a moment.
“Negan, you petty bitch”, you could only chuckle, eliciting a throaty laugh to fall from his lips as he shrugged his shoulders again and reached his free hand up to run it for a second over his beard stubble.
“Were only few moments, I was pissed, but I didn’t let anything happen to him. Soon as walkers got in and tried to turn him into some late night snack, I killed ‘em and took watch the whole damn night till the asscrack of dawn. Even let him sleep on that comfy armchair”, Negan said, reassuring in a way as you slowly nodded.
“I know, you did good saving him there”, you said, stopping to wrap the bandage for a moment to give him a small grin, watching as he shifted a little uncomfortably over this spot on the cot, enough to show that there was a little more to the one part he had brushed over.
“What was the comment?”, you finally asked, glancing at him as you finished the bandage up and heard him sigh, hesitate for a moment before he let his eyes meet yours.
“About Lucille“, he mumbled as he scratched his stubbly jaw, reluctant as he raised his voice again ,“and you.”
He exhaled thickly, letting his eyes run over the room for a moment before he glanced up at you again.
“Said I failed her and she died hating me....fuck, and that I’d fail you too, sooner or later.“
He shifted again, visibly bothered that Aaron’s comments made in rage bothered him so much and it got only confirmed as he shrugged his shoulders once more.
“I know he was just pissed off and those remarks are boiled up shit but that crap just rubs me the wrong way“, he scoffed before clenched his jaw slightly,“‘specially cause I got no clue how Aaron got that info, probably Gabey boy that gossipy bitch.“
“Mhmm“,you mumbled, reaching up to cup the sides of his neck with your hands, make him look at you as you caressed him softly,“ Either way, his info was wrong.“
He looked up as you gave him a small smile, stepping a little closer.
“Cause I got a much more reliable source“, you said, nodding towards him as your voice grew a little gentler,“ She didn’t die hating you, that’s bullshit.“
“And you won’t fail me, that’s not even possible“,you added, giving him another small, uplifting smile as you stroke your thumbs slowly over the skin of his neck ,“in no damn way.“
Negan nodded, giving you a small but warm smile back before wrapping his arms around you as he pulled you closer, enough to lean his head against your shoulder, hold you close as you hugged him back, moving one hand to let it caress through his hair.
”Been waiting for that all night”, he grumbled, holding onto you a little tighter as you chuckled softly and slowly nodded, nuzzling your nose into his hair.
”Mhmm, me too”, you said, leaning into his touch before another yawn slipped out of your lips, reminding you of the place you’ve wanted to slip in with him for way too long already.
“I’ve been waiting for something else too all night”, you chuckled, feeling Negan backing a little away, a small grin on his face as he pulled you closer.
“It’s not your dick, I’m sorry”, you mumbled with a laugh, teasing him only to feel him pinch you in the side as revenge, before he pulled you a little closer.
“Gonna get back at ya for that when we’ve had some fuckin’ sleep, be sure of that”, he teased back, though he couldn’t keep another big yawn to fall from his lips.
“Head to bed?”, he asked, gesturing outside as you nodded, giving him as much of an enthusiastic smile as your exhaustion allowed, already imagining to finally cuddle up in that bed with him.
“Yes!”
Part 55 / “Silence The Whisperers”
(The gif isn’t mine/ it was originally posted by dancing-at-the-funeralparty)
tagging:
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Ok but.... I’ve gotta ask. Are people seriously upset with the way Aaron reacted to Negan in the last episode? Like, flipping out 'cause he didn’t want Negan wielding a crowbar around him? Really?
First off: yes, Negan should not have been out there if he wasn’t armed to defend himself. He was completely justified in picking up the crowbar to fight the walkers, and wanting to hold onto it. But Aaron was also completely justified in freaking out at the sight of it. Because, straight up, Aaron should not have been alone out there with Negan. He clearly did not want to be working with him, it was a situation he was obviously uncomfortable with, but he was pushed into it anyway. And... honestly I was shocked when I saw just the two of them out there together. When Gabriel said “you need the manpower” I’d assumed Negan would be joining a group of several people that Aaron was leading, wherein they could all feel comfortable and be there to back each other up if Negan tried something.
But asking Aaron to go out there, one on one, with a criminal, someone he was clearly traumatized by, who he (not wrongly) blamed for his boyfriend’s death, who he personally saw bash two people’s skulls to bloody pulp with a blunt object? That’s such an unrealistic ask, guys, and I was completely sympathetic to Aaron getting upset at the sight of Negan with that crowbar. You don’t order the victim of a crime to go spend one on one time with their attacker, even if the attacker is “having character growth” or “becoming a better person.”
Both things can be true at the same time: yes, Negan should have been well-armed if he was out there, and yes Aaron was completely justified in not wanting Negan near him with a weapon. Because it’s a complicated situation with a lot of history and trauma involved. Because Aaron should never have been put in that situation in the first place. And you can’t ask the characters Negan traumatized to forgive him just because we, as the viewers, like Negan or see him becoming better.
Why do spiteshippers want the ring to be Zeke’s so badly? Do they not realize how bad that is for their dead ship? Wearing a symbol of marriage from the ex, but dreaming of another man as husband and father?? ouch Basically saying she had wished all along it was Daryl who proposed, even as far back as when she took the ring. If it’s Zeke’s ring the whole purpose would be to invalidate the entire relationship of CZ, not just at the end. The whole thing. I know Angela Kang is wicked, but would she really mock CZers that hard?
It honestly doesn’t matter if she’s wearing Rick’s ring. She has on symbol of marriage and the man in her dream is Daryl. End of story. It’s not like Khary/Zeke wasn’t available for this scene. lol He’s missing for a reason.
Maybe Daryl is the maid because he’s cooking? Or her Dad because he gave her money? I mean you haters/sexist ageists do see how blatantly Kang set this scene up just for you, right?
