Certainty of safety

Chapter 3

The night rolled on too slow and too quiet as Daryl lay on his mattress in the attic. He woke not too long ago once again from a morbid nightmare. They happened most nights and if he was lucky, he wouldnt wake up yelling. He wasnt sure how no one heard him, or if they did they never said anything.

He stare out the window before closing his eyes. Daryl let the sleep creep in once again, but was interrupted sudden clatter and footsteps below. Something was wrong. Quickly he put his vest and pants back on and raced down stairs. His family was frantically running about in the dark, collecting their weapons, and putting on clothes. Daryl bumped into Rick while making his way through the kitchen.

"Negan and his men, they were spotted by a scout from the Kingdom on his way here. There's a lot of them and theres not much time. Decided to attack at night, bastards." Rick shook his head, "we should have seen this coming."

"We didnt know when they would be back, we all doubted they would be so soon. But we have to get out there and fight. Even is there are more of them then us." Maggie spoke full of determination.

Paul admired his friend so much, she was so strong despite all of her troubles. But he knew that just like him, she worked hard to distract herself from the pain

Daryl looked around at his family standing, frozen, around their leader. They knew what they were fighting for, they all knew the risk.

"Okay. lets go."

Rick wiped his brow and they all made their way out of the house.

People were swarming everywhere, preparing themselves for the battle. Faces flashed by as the group made their way to the front gates to meet.

Ezekiel,carol, morgan, Tara and Rosita stood waiting for them.

"Rosita are you sure you're well enough to fight?" Rick questioned

"Even if i wasnt. I have to." She crossed her arms.

"Alright well heres the game plan." RIck went on

They had decided to turn out all lights, and hide, make it look like the place had been abandoned, even leave the gate unlocked. Lure them in and attack. Paul liked this plan, he could put his training to work, even though he was still a bit sore from the other day.

"We need to be in teams, just in case." As soon as Rick said this Daryl knew just exactly who he was to be paired up with.

"Jesus and Daryl, you two work best together." Daryl groaned and looked at the long haired man whose smirk was visible even in the dark. He looked back at Rick with spiteful eyes. Rick only raised his brow and continued paring everyone off.
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They all had been given places to stake out and told signals for when to attack. They were told to keep alexandria quiet and abandon looking as long as possible. Paul and Daryl trudged along in the dark quietly towards their point, which was around the Monroes old place and the church, until Paul spoke up.

"You think we will win?" the bearded man looked up at the sky.

Daryl grumbled and continued looking at his feet. "We gotta, i guess."

"Well. i wanna win. I want to win for Sasha." he sighed and looked at the rugged man walking beside him, usually Paul didnt mind that he was the only one to fill the silence. "My whole life i fought for myself to survive. But now i know what its like to fight for other people." He wasnt sure why he was opening up to Daryl like this. He'd grown to like Daryl but he wasnt sure if the feeling was mutual. But lately the redneck had been nicer to him.

"Stop being all sappy and shit." They were nearing their destination. Paul stopped in his tracks.

"Why are you such an ass all the sudden. After oceanside and yesterday i thought you liked me at least a little." Paul folded his arms. He wasnt sure why Daryl was so cold all the sudden.