The Walking Dead: Danielle Grimes

135. Oceanside

Danielle's POV

"Go through it again." I growl at Tara. I tighten my hands into fists as I try to contain my anger. It's all I can do to try and not shove past Rick and Michonne to let my fist hit Tara's jaw. Daryl knows though as he moves so he's in between me and her while she tells her story.

Smart man.

Tara had selfishly endangered us all and even worse she doesn't seem to understand.

Daryl is leaning against the kitchen island, to any one he looks like he's listening casually. But his arms are crossed over his chest as he listens and I can see the tension in his shoulders. He's just as infuriated as I am, he's just doing a better job of hiding it than I am.

Tara flinches at my words. Her eyes land on my face for a few seconds before she turns her wide eyes back to Rick. Rick clears his throat and licks his lips but doesn't disagree with my request. Though he looks a lot more patient than I am. He nods to Tara telling her to tell it again.

She tells us about this woman's colony. She tells us about their resources, their food stores, the layout of their huts and their guns. All of their guns. An entire armoury of guns. She explains how they tried to kill her and how, despite that she made a promise. I don't know where she got this loyalty from because they had tried to kill her and yet she was willing to not say anything about them.

"I-I know I screwed up." Tara stutters once she's finished telling the story. Her eyes turn to mine imploringly. "I know that okay? Just...." She clears her throat and looks back to Rick. "Please, try not to hurt anyone if you can help it okay? Promise me."

I've had enough. "Promise you?" I snarl stepping towards her. Daryl straightens, not exactly stopping me but making it so I would have to step around him to get to her. "Promise you? You caused me and Daryl to have an unnecessary argument all for a bunch of people who tried to kill you. Do you understand what you've caused?"

Tara's eyes widen in shock before they narrow in anger. "Off course I understand what I've caused. I'm not an idiot...."

Could've fooled me.

"....Our lives are on the line but so is our humanity! We don't just have to fight The Saviours, we have to be better than them." She argues.

I roll my eyes at her as Rick answers. "Tara we will come up with a plan that will allow us to do this with the least amount of damage." He promises. "Okay?" He asks glances between all of us.

Tara sighs and drops down onto one of the kitchen stools, pressing her forehead into her hands. "What do you need from me?" She asks, her voice muffled from her hands.

Rick pulls out a pad from one of the drawers and sets it a few inches from her. "I need you to start over." He says motioning to the paper. "But this time, I need you to draw it out for me."

******

It's another three days before we had a plan in place and the man power to execute it. The morning we planned to leave I was dressed before dawn. Somehow I had managed to slip out of bed without waking Daryl but Jesus stayed over and is asleep in the spare room. I didn't want to wake anyone up so I stayed in the living room to throw my knives.

I throw my knives over and over again until I hear the bedroom door click open behind me. I throw the last one in my hand and stalk up to the target, sheathing my knives.

I turn around and see Daryl leaning against the door frame watching me. I can't help the small smile that graces my face. He's dressed to go with his backpack over one shoulder. His hair hangs down in his face and my fingers itch to brush it out of his eyes. In this instant I'm so overwhelmed with the need to touch, to feel him.