When the dead roam - (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 91 - Explosives

"For anyone out there who loved the obese bastard as much as I did, I just wanna say a few words. Fat Joey was not the most badass son of a bitch but he was loyal. He had a great sense of humor, in fact, we were just joking about oral sex with Lucille the other day. Things will not be the same now that he's dead. Without Fat Joey...Skinny Joey is just...Joey. So it's a god damn tragedy. So, let's have a moment of silence" Negan's voice crackled over the long-range radio that Jesus had stolen. He stood behind Louise, who was studying a multitude of explosives that had been blocking the road, ultimately stopping them in their travel back to Alexandria. Each block of TNT was cable-tied to a long metal wire that was wrapped around the wing mirror of two separate cars. It ran about six or seven meters long and cordoned off the entirety of the highway.

Normally, being forced into changing their plans would've brushed straight off of her shoulders but this time it just made her angry. The Saviors had already taken so much, so something as simple as a broken routine was enough to send her crazy.

"Absolute prick" she snarled, ignoring the smirk Jesus was throwing her way at the outburst. "How about a moment of silence for the people you killed?"

"When I was back in the back of the truck, I heard them talking about this" Carl said, walking down the wire and stopping next to his dad. "They said something about a herd"

"Explains why it's steel, it's for multiple walkers, not just one" Lou sighed, moving away slightly and taking Jesus's hand to stand back up. "Rick, we need these explosives"

Before Rick could reply, Negan's voice echoed through the speaker once more, resulting in an over dramatic eye roll from the archer. "We got ourselves a red situation. I need a search party, see if Daryl ran home like the dumb animal that he is"

"On it. Be there in time for lunch" Simon replied.

"We gotta go. We need to be back before them" Michonne said, anxious about their closing deadline.

"You guys go, me and Lou have got this" Rosita said from her spot in front of Lou. She was carefully threading her knife underneath the coloured wires of the fuse box, debating the correct one to detach first – one wrong move and they all went up in flames.

Rick shook his head and moved to a crouch next to her. She removed the fuse happily and placed the disconnected box on the concrete beside them. Once satisfied he was semi-safe, he pulled out his pocket knife, slid it underneath a cable tie and pulled gently. "No. We do this together and we do it fast"

"Load them into the truck as long as they're in good shape. No dents, no tears. They're not live. They still need to be triggered to be set off" Rosita instructed before everyone scattered.

The group strategically positioned themselves across the road, each focusing on a selective amount of the much-needed explosives. Louise took a deep breath, pulled the knife from her boot and took to her task. Very cautiously, she glided the blade across the plastic tie, held her spare hand directly underneath the red sticks and caught them before they had time to drop. She exhaled deeply and closed her eyes, half-expecting the dynamite to explode.

However worried she had been, the blissful silence that followed caused her adrenaline to instantly take over and she found herself moving onto the next before her nerves heightened again. Her hands moved quickly and steadily, never once trembling by under the pressure and even as her knife snagged, she didn't once let the fear back in.

"Uh...dad?" Carl called, bringing his fathers attention to the horde that had began to make its way up the highway.

"Alright" Rick said, standing up to get a better look. "They're there but they're far. We've got time"