The Fallen Queen || Negan || The Walking Dead

XXXIX

Hellen didn't sleep much that night. After what she had went through with the girl she found that sleeping wasn't much on her mind right now. Daryl staid up all night as well, making sure that everything was going to be okay with their little prisoner. When the sun rose up over the walls of Hilltop it seemed almost as if it was a sign for the both of them to rise without saying a word to one another.

It wasn't until Hellen turned to look at Daryl did the man actually speak to her.

"You didn't sleep."

He noted. Hellen found it rather funny as she gave a snort and shrugged.

"Neither did you."

Daryl didn't say anything as he just looked at her for a moment more before going and opening up the cellar doors. That's when he disappeared from her sight. She wasn't sure what his plan was but she knew that maybe the kid would end up keeping her end and talking to them both about what Alpha was planning.

Following Daryl down into the cellar Hellen kept close to the wall as she walked inside and seen the girl. Lydia looked from Daryl to her before she shifted on the floor a bit. She was still in the same position that Hellen had left her in last night making her wonder if the kid had slept in this manner.

"You said you'd tell me about your mom. You still going to keep your end of the deal?"

Hellen questioned the younger girl. She didn't budge a bit when asked the question, but her eyes didn't leave Hellen's either. The two females just looked at one another while Daryl leaned against the wall beside the cell.

"She's not going to bend easily if that's what you're thinking. Not her or her people."

"How man of em are there?"

Daryl questioned causing Lydia to become silent again. Hellen could tell that Lydia was hesitant around Daryl and she worried that if Daryl tried to speak to her too much that the girl would clam up again and it would be harder than pulling teeth to get her to talk to them again.

"We need to know. We have our own people we need to protect."

Hellen explained her mind lingering to Negan. God forbid those walkers ever came into Alexandria while Negan was locked up. She honestly didn't think she would be able to protect him in his cell.

"We're many. The dead we use them to blend in. They protect us as we walk with them."

What Lydia just said sent chills down Hellen's spine. She couldn't believe that these people were actually walking with the dead in means to try and stay alive. Sure they had walked with the dead before, well, Negan had but that was to save his own skin. The idea of doing it for a living was what turned her the wrong way.

"Many. Many as in twenty? Fifty? How many is many?"

"Us and the dead – hundreds."

It felt like the room fell cold. Her heart she swore stopped in her chest. The idea that there were hundreds of them compared to the very few that they had spread out between several communities they would be at such a disadvantage. A disadvantage that could get every single one of them killed if not handled carefully.

"Is your mom the type of mom that she'd come after you?"

"I'm weak... She wouldn't be interested."

She explained. There was a rising in Hellen's chest. Why didn't she believe her? The girl acted like it was the truth, but deep down Hellen felt as if she was wrong about it. That her mother would end up coming for her.

"We need to let the other's know."

"Yeah."

Daryl agreed. The both of them left without another word and Lydia didn't seem to want to continue on talking to them anyway. When they came up and out of the cellar Hellen and Daryl went directly toward the main house. They would have to radio back to Alexandria so to get the word back sooner.

"You did good back there."

Daryl said walking along side of Hellen as they were speed walking toward the house. Hellen just glanced at Daryl over her shoulder. It had been a weird day and longer night with him and needless to say she honestly began to believe that he was slowly starting to side with her. Maybe it was just her tired brain playing tricks on her because she was overly exhausted, but perhaps Daryl was siding with her after what she tried doing for him.

"Thanks. The sooner we can get back the better. Negan will think I've abandoned him."

He didn't reply to that and Hellen was thankful. She knew how Daryl felt about the man that had locked him up for days on end. The man that had killed his friends. But that was a long time ago and Negan was different now, Hellen could tell.

"We tell Alexandria what we know then head back ourselves."

"Agreed."

Hellen nodded her head more than ready to return back to the place she now called home.