Zedler, M.D. // Daryl Dixon

Chapter One Hundred and Six: Saddiq

• one hundred and six•

Beatrix

Rage overcomes my body as I look down at the man. There is absolutely nothing I want more right now than to kill him, but I know I shouldn't. Without him, we would have never made it this far. He was a mole. He helped us. That doesn't mean I don't want to see him dead, though.

"What the hell you doing here?" Daryl scoffs, keeping his gun pointed right at Dwight's head.

"I made it so you could get out the back. I can't go back, man. One of them, she got away. She'll go back and tell him, but I'm still on your side," Dwight almost pleads. "I want this over. I want Negan dead. I can still help you. I know how Negan thinks. We can get squared up after this is all over."

"How'd you get out? Was it me?" Daryl asks, getting the barrel of the gun closer and closer to Dwight's face as he speaks. "Was it what I did?"

"Eugene," Dwight answers, a grimace on his face. "He made a way out."

Without answering, Daryl reaches his hand forward. I thought he was going to grab Dwight by the hair on his head, but instead he reaches for the vest on his back, pulling it off of him. The one tiny silver lining to this is that he's going to get his vest back.

"Stand up," I lower my gun and motion for Dwight to stand up in front of me. As soon as he's on his feet, I draw back and slam my fist into his cheek as hard as I can. I immediately pull it back and hold it close to me, trying to ignore the throbbing pain. "Motherfucker that hurt. That's for what you did to Daryl, by the way."

"Yeah, I probably deserved that," Dwight nods his head and looks down.

"You definitely deserved it," I spit, almost saying something else but I hold my tongue, at least for now.

"I'm sorry," he tilts his head at me, his eyes seeming genuine, but I still don't know about him. "I am."

Daryl turns and I follow him, stopping when we get to the manhole cover on the street. The one out here connects to the one inside. That's how we get in and meet everyone. Daryl drops to the ground and pulls the cover off, tossing a rock down to see how far of a drop it is.

"I'll go first," I volunteer, and surprisingly, he moves back to let me. I lower my body down, being held up by Daryl until my legs dangle below. "I'm good. Drop me."

As soon as Daryl let's go, my feet hit the bottom, and I stumble a little. "It's okay, Dare. Not a far drop. Come on."

I stand back so that he can drop down next, followed by Tara, then Dwight, and then Rosita. Michonne covers us back up, and I can only assume she goes after Rick.

"Which way?" Tara asks, and Daryl jerks his head, using his flashlight to help us see.

The four of us follow behind Daryl as he leads us through the twists and turns of the underground tunnel. We all stop for a moment when everyone else comes into our vision. The people of Alexandria, or better yet, the people of Alexandria that are left, are all sitting, lining the walls of the tunnel on either side. They're all scared, some crying and some shaking as the explosions continue to go off above us.

"Hey, we're safe, okay? We're gonna be all right," I speak softly, promising them something that I'm not sure I can keep, but they need to hear it right now. "They won't find us. I know it's scary, but we're strong. We'll get through this. We'll rebuild if we have to."

I'm not sure if that eases their minds or not, but I can hope. Daryl leads us through everyone, stopping at the end of the tunnel near Carl and a man that I don't recognize.