Red // Daryl Dixon

The Undoing

Fate, destiny, fortuity. This may be how it was always going to end up happening. Everything we had gone through was always going to end up bringing us to this very moment. Or maybe... maybe if we had just done one thing differently we could have avoided this situation entirely. I chose to not let myself think about it, not to spiral into nothingness when thinking about all the what-ifs.

I sucked in a deep breath, trying to pull myself together, trying to get my body to stop shaking for just a second. If I could just focus long enough to slow my breathing then I would be able to regain control over my body. I didn't have a clue what was coming for us and there was nothing I could do to change the situation. My legs tremble underneath me again, the pebbles on the ground slicing into my kneecaps. Breathe God dammit. Just breathe. My head slid to my left, looking directly at my brother who knelt beside me. His eyes were wide, the rims of his eyes welling up with tears. A shutter went up my spine.

"Dwight!" the Saviour yelled. My bones jumped from underneath my skin, my head whipping back to the right.

"Yeah!" Dwight answered, stepping forward from the circle. His eyes landed on me, holding my stare as he walked by like he already knew what his order was. A half smile slid up his face before he turned away, walking toward one of the vans.

"Chop-chop," the Saviour ushered him.

Dwight popped open the two doors of the trunk, his body blocking my view of what had been concealed inside. "Come on. You got people to meet." He reached into the trunk, yanking an arm out.

The tears finally spilled over my eyes, any little bit of control I had over my body nearly shooting into a convulsion as Daryl stumbled out from the back. His right shoulder and entire arm had been drenched in blood, a bullet lodged into the socket. A dirty blanket had been wrapped around his shoulders, keeping him warm from the concerning amount of blood loss. They shot him. They fucking shot him. He ripped his arm away from Dwight, stumbling out of the van. It wasn't until he looked up, his eyes locking on mine that he muttered, "Red?" His face turned ghostly, his stare not leaving mine as he finally allowed one of the Saviours to push him to his knees. I sucked in my bottom lip, shaking my head at him as the tears continued to pool down my face.

My stare only tore away from his when I saw three more people being dragged out of the van. My mouth gaped as my heart threatened to leap straight from my throat as Michonne, Rosita, and Glenn were thrown to their knees. Glenn's eyes went wide when he finally saw Maggie on the other side of the line.

"On your knees!" Dwight shoved him between the shoulder blades, setting him into place.

"Alright! We got a full boat," the Saviour bellowed, now having us all where he wanted us. He slowly backed away toward our RV. "Let's meet the man," he smiled before laying his knuckles down on the campervan door, knocking twice.

It seemed like minutes had passed by, my hands clutching on tight to my knees, my nails digging into the skin through my jeans. The door clicked open, the shadows of the night concealing the man who stood in the doorway. Negan. He stepped out further into the light, a baseball bat thrown over his shoulder. Not just any baseball bat though, one that had been fashioned into a deadly weapon. The sleek wood is armed head to toe in barbed wire. Even just the sight of him was intimidating. His tall and muscular stature, his black combat boots, his black leather jacket, and the way he stood. He had this curve in his step, a slight lean backward like he didn't have a care in the world. He had all the power and he knew it.

"Pissing our pants yet?" he asked, an amused smile creeping up his face. He walked closer to us, the headlights finally reaching him. His hair had been slicked back, a thick salt and pepper beard covering the bottom half of his face. "Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close." He stopped a few feet away from us, walking down the line to take a look at each one of us individually. "Yep. It's gonna be pee-pee pants city here real soon." The smile didn't leave his face as he spoke. The torment and our suffering were enjoyable for him. "Which one of you pricks is the leader?"