Savior

(19) Daryl

"Excuse me." I harshly spit as I pushed past two men standing in the middle of the corridor.
"Where you off to in a hurry?" One said, taking a puff of his cigarette and blowing his smoke in my face.
"Doesn't concern you." I quickly replied as I kept walking, occasionally glancing towards their direction to see if they had moved, they didn't. Instead, they watched me turn down the corridor and head towards where Daryl was being kept. Dwight stood next to the locked door, his arms crossed, not moving an inch. He reminded me of a soldier guarding the queen in Britain, standing still as a wall, like Stonewall Jackson.

"No visitors." He said in a monotone voice, not even sending an eye toward me.
"Negan said I could." I felt like a child saying their parent said they could do something, all proud and satisfied, like it was the greatest thing in the world. He rolled his eyes and stepped away from the door, practically breathing down my neck.
"Open the door." He stood in place. "Please." I added, which resulted in Dwight's face changing, it was no longer blank, his stone cold eyes were now bright and gleaming.
"Before I do, we have to talk."
"About?"
"Dwighty boy!" Negan's perky shout echoed down the corridor, preventing Dwight from speaking.
"Yes sir." Dwight knelt in front of us, and I began to do the same.
"Oh darlin, you don't have to kneel for me." He rubbed his bearded chin and a grin spread across his face. "At least, not until later." He chuckled and held a hand out, taking mine and pulling me to my feet. "Dwight, go load up. Head to the Hilltop, make sure Simon goes as well."
"Yes sir." Dwight stood up and began walking away, not before Negan could say something else.
"Dwight. Where are your manners? Open the door for Alice!"
  "Yes sir." He stammered as he pulled out his keys and unlocked the door.
   "I'll uh, give you two a moment." Negan said awkwardly, taking off down the hall, whistling a tune and swinging Lucille. A weight fell on my chest as I stared at the metal door that separated me from my friend. I realized I didn't know him anymore, through all that's happened, he's changed. The door squealed as I pulled it open, Daryl shielded his eyes as the light flooded in.
    "What do you want?" He mumbled keeping his eyes glued to the cement floor.
    "I want to talk." I said as I sat in the door way, crossing my legs and sighing.
    "I ain't got anything to say to you." He mumbled and turned away, pouting like a child.
    "Daryl." I breathed out, fighting back tears. My voice shook and he turned towards me.
    "Why are you here? With him? You saw what he did!" His voice louder now, taking me by surprise. 
    "You wouldn't understand."
  "No you don't understand! I've been fed dog food, I haven't slept because of him playing some garbage song on repeat! Your pal Dwight left this too." He tossed a Polaroid at me and my breath was taken away. With shaking hands I picked it up and stared at the lifeless body of my best friend.
    "You doing all this, Glenn wouldn't want this." He spit, turning away. "He's probably ashamed of you." Tears began rolling down my cheeks and my throat ached as I held back the sob building up, clawing its way deeper into me. I stood up and shut the door, twisting the lock and wiping a tear away. As I walked away, a sob escaped my throat, echoing off the walls, making it sound like a horrified shriek. The two men still hadn't left their place, I kept my head down as I passed them, trying to hold in the sobs. One escaped as I turned the corner and I heard the inaudible voice of one of the men echo.

   --
   I sat on the steps with my head in my hands, ignoring the men hollering at me and laughing. A sob escaped my mouth as I continued to weep.
    "Alice." Negan said in a soft voice, making the weight on my chest lighten.
    "Look at me." I wiped my eyes and looked up at him, the way the sun was shining, it looked like he had a halo over his head. "What's wrong?"
    "Glenn." I stammered out, ready for the argument that was about to begin. He sighed and scratched the back of his neck like he was nervous.
   "Just–not out here." He said, clearing his throat. "Now." He said sternly, like a switch was flipped inside of him. I pulled myself up and crossed my arms as I followed him up the metal stairs leading to his room. He opened his bedroom door and gestured for me to go in first, then shut the door behind him.
     "You killed him." I mumbled, wiping a tear away.
    "Yes, I killed him. But it's your friend Daryl's fault, I told him I would shut that shit down and boy, did I fucking shut that shit down. I had to prove a point to them and my men. You think I was supposed to let that shit fly? Or would you rather Daryl be dead right now? Because those were the only options, kill the man who did it or pick someone else, so I picked someone else because I knew how much you cared about Daryl. I didn't know who any of those people were besides Rick and Daryl. I'm not going to apologize for teaching him a lesson." Tears were streaming down my face as he spoke, I wanted all of this to be some twisted dream, but this was reality. A knock on the door interrupted us, "Sir, the supplies are here."

  Negan looked over at me, unsure of what to say or to do. He approached me and moved my hands from my face and stared into my eyes.
    "Look, I know that I killed someone you deeply cared about, and I know a part of you will never forgive me for that. But I'm trying, okay? I don't want to kill any more of your friends, but that's up to them, not me." He grabbed Lucille and opened the door, gently closing it behind him. I wiped my eyes with my sleeve and began heading downstairs towards the trucks.

Gunfire blasted from the outside, did a walker get in? There's no way, my eyes widened and I began running towards the trucks. Standing on the back of the truck I saw Carl, who was holding a machine gun.