𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧, daryl dixon

fifty-seven

"You're wrong!" Tara sounded from beside Murph and Daryl. Everyone in the room turned in the direction of her impassioned voice. "When people have the chance to do the right thing, they usually step up."

Murphy pressed her lips together in a small smile of pride. She knew of Tara's involvement with the so called "Governor" years ago, although the details were never discussed. But she had worked through some of the nagging guilt and regret that Tara faced as repercussions for the events at the prison, as well as the loss she had experienced. Tara's resiliency and introspection had brought about valuable growth, and Murphy commended her for this strength. It is never easy to recognize your mistakes and change for the better because of them.

"Let me stop you before you break into song, okay?" Gregory interrupted while raising a palm toward her.

Tara held her hands out and let them fall against her thighs once more in disbelief. Murphy shared an irritated look with her.

Gregory continued his useless monologuing. "Who would train all this cannon fodder?"

"I will," Sasha promised.

At the same time, Rosita announced, "Give me a week!"

"Rhetorical!" Gregory sang with a painfully obvious offending tone. "Okay? I don't want to know! I never want to hear another word about any of it, ever."

"You're ignoring the goddamn problem," Murphy insisted, doing her best to keep calm like she always aspired to. "Will it take Negan standing over you with a bat to realize what's going on here?"

"I didn't say we had a problem. You did! And what stays outside of my purview stays outside of my purview."

"What the hell, man?" Daryl grumbled, letting his hand slip from Murphy's shoulder to rest on her lower back. "You're either with us or you ain't. You're sittin' over there talkin' outta both sides of your mouth!"

Gregory stood from his seat and adjusted the cuffs of his dress shirt sleeves. "I-I think I've made my position very clear. And I want to thank all of you for not being here today and not having this meeting with me, or-or being seen on your way out. In other words, go out the back."

Rick stood before the group with his hands perched on his hips. He stared at Gregory for a moment through his slanted brows, but finally turned to the others and sent them a singular nod of consent. They slowly filed out of the office. One after the other, they shot Hilltop's leader glares before relieving themselves of his draining presence.

Daryl's hand slipped out of Murphy's as they entered the foyer of Barrington House, and he muttered, "Well, we don' need him anyway."

"Yeah, that's right. 'Cause we got Maggie, Sasha, Murph, and Jesus here."

Murphy stepped forward, her green eyes flickering between her friends. "Actually, uh... I was thinking that I should be in Alexandria. I'm the only doctor there and Carson is here. So I think I should head back as soon as things are settled and we have some plans in place for... everything."

She glanced over at Daryl, who had already been looking at her. Rick nodded in understanding. Maggie led the way and outside of the house stood a small gathering of people waiting expectantly. Maggie made her way down the steps and squinted in the bright Virginian sun, pulling down her cap a little more to shade her eyes.

"What's goin' on?" she asked.

"Hey," a kind woman stepped forward and made herself known. "If you don't remember, I'm Bertie. And I owe my life to you all, twice over. A bunch of us do. Enid says that you want Gregory to get us to fight the Saviors with you. Is that true?"