The Walking Dead: Danielle Grimes

79.

When they agree to come back to Alexandria, I lead them back to where my bike is. I pull aside the brush cover and stood it up. "I can walk it down here. Till we meet up with my friends. They've got a car and you can ride with them."

"How many friends you say there were?" Dwight asks me. "I didn't. There's two of 'em." I say looking the bike over. I doesn't look like it's taken a lot of damage when I let it fall. It's a little scraped up but it should run fine.

"Where are they?" He asks.

"We're gonna find out." I respond.

Sherry's voice calls behind me, loaded with stress. "How'd you know they even got away? That they didn't get taken?" I start pushing my bike. "I don't."

They aren't following me all of the sudden and a bad feeling goes over me. Then I hear a gun click. "Damn it." I swore and push the bike away from me, trying to bring my crossbow around me quickly. But I ain't fast enough. Dwight already has the gun up and points it at me. I'm an idiot. This is why I need Dani with me. She would have spotted this way before me.

"I'm sorry." He breaths. "Give her the crossbow." He orders. I drop my hands to my side. "Ya gonna go back? Ya gonna be safe?" I challenge with disgust. They are actually going to buy into the very thing they had been running from.

"Shut up!" Dwight snaps angrily because he knows I'm right. I chuckle humorously. "Ain't no where safe no more." I tell them confidently. Sherry doesn't want to do this. I can see it in her eyes.

"Give her the crossbow." Dwight orders again. His eyes hard and resolute. So he was the one to make he call. I ain't surprised. "Ya gonna kneel?" I challenge.

He turns the gun and fires a shot over my shoulder. I don't flinch and I don't look away. I pull my crossbow over my head and hand it to Sherry. She steps towards me and grabs the crossbow from my hands. Her own shaking as she pulls the strap over her. Dwight hands the gun over to her as he picks up my bike. I shift restlessly. I don't want to watch them drive off with my stuff. Sherry climbs on to the back the bike behind him as he revs the engine.

"Patch yourself up." Sherry mutters throwing some bandages at my feet. I hold their gaze with a condemning one of my own. "We're sorry." She mutters quietly. I nod slowly. "Your gonna be." I promise glaring. She flinches and I can see the guilt on her face as they left me.

I shake my head and turn, prowling through the woods. I retrace my steps from earlier and stop where I had first dropped my bike. There is a sign covered in dirt and ash that belongs to the fuel company we were at earlier.

I see tracks in the ground. They're deep and wonky like they were made a while ago. I follow them until I come to a stop.

There's a gas tank partially hidden in the underbrush. There's a walker in the front seat and it snarls excitedly when it sees me. I pull the door open and kill it with my knife, then drag it out. The keys are still in the ignition as I jump in. I fire it up and drive my way back into town.

I roll down the main drag slowly, keeping my eyes out for Abraham and Sasha, their car or any assholes with guns. There aren't none. I slow as I see my name scratched into a door. I chuckle and pull to a stop. I pull out a half crushed cigarette out of my pocket and smoke it as I wait.

Sasha and Abraham come trotting out after a few minutes. They pull open the door and pause, looking at the truck and me. I glance at Abraham seeing him dressed in dress blues and carrying a rocket launcher.

I shake head as he tosses it in the back and climbs up behind Sasha. "Let's go home." I say tiredly. They both nod in agreement. I start driving home. "Rick?" I call into the walkie. There's no response, only static until I hear someone's voice trying to come through.

"Anybody?" I call into it again. There's a break in the static then I heard someone's voice. "Dare."

Dani.

I couldn't breath all the sudden as I grip the walkie tighter so hard it digs into my hand. "Nelle, say again." There's some kind of garbled response then I hear her voice as she speaks one word. "...Help."

As soon I as I hear the word, I nearly had my foot through the floor. We have to get back to Alexandria and fast. Dani isn't one to ask for help. Things have gone south. I drive around a corner and frown.

"Daryl." Sasha warns. "Yeah, I see." I respond. There are ten guys on motorcycles blocking the road. They were a tough looking bunch of assholes with semi-auto rifles in their hands. "What in the holy shit?" Abraham growls angrily as I stop the truck about twenty feet away from them.

"Why don't you come on out, join us on the road." The leader invites, loudly. "You know if you wanna resist, try something. I mean, it's a choice I guess. But we will end your asses, split you right in two, straight down the middle." He promises. The men behind him are carrying some serious weapons. I spot a couple a AK's and let out a tired sigh.

I just want to see my girl. Is that too much to ask?

"So come on." The leader waves us. I exchange a glance with Abraham and Sasha. Then turn off the engine as the three of us climb out of the truck. We move slowly so they don't get the wrong idea.

The leader is a small, oily asshole. "Yeah, that's great. It's going well right out of the gate. Now, step two.....hand over your weapons."

"Why should we?" I challenge lifting my chin.
The leader chuckles as though what I said is the funniest thing he's heard. "Well, they're not yours." He says simply like he makes sense. "What?" Abraham asks for the three of us, looking just as confused as I am.

"See.....your weapons, your truck, the fuel in your truck, if you've got mints in your glove compartment, if you've got open underneath your seats, change in your seats, hell even the seats themselves, floor mats, your maps, the little stash of emergency napkins you got there in the console, none of those things are yours anymore."

Sasha's shoulders tighten aggressively and Abraham takes half a step closer to her. "Who's are they?" She challenges. He flashes an aggressive smile. "Your property now belongs to Negan."

Who. The. Fuck?