GIVEN TO FLY [Daryl Dixon]

XXIII.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
[ merle ]

He can't help but feel disappointment at Rick's proposal. Disappointment, and guilt at being part of it. The Governor wants Michonne, and Rick is going to give her to him. Rick only told him and Hershel about it.

"Just ain't us, man," Daryl finally tells Rick, shaking his head. It's a human life, and someone who has become their friend. Someone that Misty has become very attached to. It will break her heart, and she will never forgive him for being part of it.

"No," Hershel agrees. "No it isn't."

"We do this, we avoid a fight," Rick argues. "No one else dies."

He exhales, saying finally, "okay," because he knows Rick will do it with or without him.

"We need someone else."

Merle. Shit. "I'll talk to him."

Rick shakes his head. "I'll do it."

"I'll go with you," he offers, not wanting Rick to have to deal with Merle by himself.

"No," Rick declines. "Just me." He then looks pointedly at the two of them. "Don't tell anyone else about this. Especially Misty." His eyes rest on Daryl when he says this.

"I ain't gonna lie to her," Daryl tells him, shaking his head.

"I'm not asking you to lie. I'm just asking you not to tell her." As if that isn't the same thing. As if it won't make her hate him the same.

Misty hops in the back of the pickup truck with Daryl and Glenn after they make some adjustments and try to fortify the prison as best they can against an attack. Michonne gets into the passenger seat, and they drive back up to the courtyard. It's been an awkward morning, to say the least.

Her last interaction with Glenn had been less than pleasant — it had been their first fight in years — and neither of them want to say they're sorry. So they haven't spoken. Not yet.

So she'd tried sticking with Daryl, but he'd made an effort to steer clear of her all morning. She still doesn't understand why. Even now, he won't meet her eyes.

They pull into the courtyard, and they all hop out of the truck, approaching Rick who waits for them. "They try to drive up to the gate again, maybe some blown tires will stop them," Glenn tells him.

Rick nods. "That's a good idea."

"It was Michonne's," Daryl says, a little too pointedly. A look passes between him and Rick, but she can't tell what it is.